*>System message:*
*>A system update has been scheduled. The servers will be shut down for maintenance in 10 minutes. Please save your progress and log out in a safe area. Servers will resume operation in 18 natural hours.*
Whether a player was in the Northeast, Southeast, Central, Southwest... This system message was delivered to every Synergy player across Etmos.
*Ah, there was something like that, wasn't there?*
Jisha knew why the system was undergoing an update - it was because she'd hit level 10 and was presumably the first player to do so.
Every once in a while, the game would undergo major updates. And with every major update, the "realism" of the experience was upped a notch.
If players felt like their current experience was realistic... it was just the beginning.
Travel, dungeons, missions and quests, NPC interactions, resource gathering and management, guild/clan warfare, "lifestyle" classes, and "pure" skills...
The surface of Synergy had yet to be scratched.
But things had to be taken one step at a time. And that step was currently looting Asunder's raid party!
*Hm...*
Jisha had killed 12 players. In the wilderness, a death resulted in the loss of a level and one item. Thanks to the "backpack" she'd recently purchased, she was able to pick up all 12 items they'd dropped.
She quickly scanned the bounty.
*Most of these are useless, but at least they'll sell for some value. But this one's a bit interesting.*
Out of the 12 items, there was one that stood above the rest.
*>Name: Jade Charm*
*>Type: Accessory, Necklace*
*>Description: A good luck charm to protect you from harm!*
*>Rating: Level 5, Epic*
*>Ability:*
*>Lacquer: Invulnerability to all attacks below level 15 for 1 second. Cooldown: 23 minutes, 2 seconds.*
It was the protective item that Castle dropped. Apparently, he'd used it already as it was on cooldown.
*It'll be a perfect gift for Syn.*
As Jisha didn't need it, she was naturally going to gift it to her best friend.
After a quick inventory cleanup, Jisha observed the world around her once more.
The forest was lush. The clearing was green. The air was clean. The light breeze brushed her cheek. The sun warmly shone down. The sky was blue without a trace of clouds.
On paper, this world seemed perfect.
But Jisha knew this was just a façade.
Beyond this greenery... towards the center of the continent... lay many wastelands and trials of hardship. She'd experienced the hellscape firsthand.
But at this moment, several emotions toiled in Jisha's heart. Even the hellscape she'd experienced in the past was preferable to what she was feeling right now.
Because as experienced as she was in the game... she realized there was something else going on underneath the surface. There were still things she didn't know.
She took the item that was the source of this turmoil from her inventory and inspected it.
*>Name: Reminiscia*
*I hope I'm wrong about this.*
As it seemed to suck all light around it, only its outline was visible. Maybe she'd misinterpreted what it was supposed to be.
*Hm...*
But after fiddling with it again, there was no mistake.
It was a vial.
Why would the game gift her a singular vial after completing the most difficult dungeon thus far?
Since difficulty in Synergy was appropriately rewarded, Jisha had to connect some dots. And these dots drew a gruesome image.
*"The Emperor is dead."*
*"Your father isn't the only one."*
*"Your mother, your sister..."*
*"... it was surprisingly easy to do this ..."*
*"I'M SORRY TO DO THIS TO YOU, SWEETHEART."*
The quotes she'd heard from right before her death swirled around in her head.
She could almost feel the cold dagger plunge into her back again.
An ordinary dagger wouldn't have done much. However, not only was this dagger enough to pierce the body of a Tier 9 player, it was also coated in a deadly poison.
Jisha stared at the vial again.
There was no way to prove it... but she highly suspected it was supposed to represent the vial of the paralysis poison that she'd been affected by.
This meant that whoever the developer of the game was knew a lot more than they let on.
If she received this clue after going back in time... it even meant that they knew about Jisha's reincarnation.
She didn't know how this was possible, but there was only one way to find out.
"I'm going to find you."
She wasn't sure if the developer was the one responsible for the death of her family, but since they knew something, she would stop at nothing to question this puppet master.
"You're going to tell me everything you know."
Jisha looked up to the sky and stretched out her hand. And as if she were crushing something, her hand formed a fist.
"And you're going to pay."
---
From a distance, a blonde fairy with blue wings observed the avatar that was labeled Fae Sol.
"Heehee... Show me more. Lose yourself in those emotions."
The fairy noticed Fae Sol look towards the sky. It was almost as if she was staring right at the fairy. But the fairy knew this was only a coincidence.
The fairy knew it was impossible for her to be detected. But...
"Ooh... Scary. You're going to find me, are you? Good luck with that. After all, I'm hiding in plain sight."
The fairy stared at Fae Sol who was still looking towards the sky with her eyes narrowed. The fairy almost believed that she was detected. Almost.
"Tch. Ok, that's enough. Time to make a few changes."
Annoyed with this farce, the fairy looked to end the game.
*>System message:*
*>The servers will shut down for maintenance in 10 seconds. Prepare for a force logout.*
*>10...*
*>9...*
*>8...*
...
*>3...*
*>2...*
*>1...*
*>Shutting down.*
With this system message, Synergy was shut down for the night. All players were forced to log out.
Some were in their beds. Some were playing in a specialized VR sleeper. And some were just sitting in a random corner of their abode. But at this moment, in the early morning, they were all returned to reality.
"I wonder if this is worth it. Jisha Slyker, you're very promising. I hope you can continue to humor me."
--- End of Volume 1 (Ending "b") ---
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