Irish took a small bite of the golden apple.
The moment the piece touched her tongue, a strong wave of mana rushed through her body. Her eyes widened in surprise, and a warm glow spread across her skin. She felt like her body had become light—She felt like she could run around the entire world without ever getting tired.
She blinked in amazement. "This… this is incredible! It tastes so good too!" she said with wonder in her voice.
"Honey w
But before she could enjoy it more, Scarlett interrupted her moment of joy.
"Well… can you turn him back for a moment? We totally forgot to ask him a few things," Scarlett said, raising an eyebrow.
Irish blinked. "Ohh… yeah! That's easy!" she replied quickly, putting her hands on the small, creepy creature that used to be Arthur.
With just a small push of mana, his twisted body began to shift again. Bones cracked, skin stretched, and in just a few seconds, Arthur was back to his normal human form.
As soon as he returned to normal, Arthur dropped to his knees, coughing hard.
"Cough… cough… blaargh!" He threw up on the floor, his body shaking from the shock.
Irish laughed nervously and scratched her cheek. "Umm… I kinda forgot to mention this part. Using soul manipulation messes with the soul. Vomiting is… kinda normal," she said in a guilty voice.
She quickly summoned the black chains again and tightly bound Arthur, just in case.
Scarlett stepped forward, frowning as she looked at the mess on the floor. "Clean, clean, clean!" she chanted and cast a cleaning spell. The vomit vanished instantly like it had never been there.
"Thank God these types of magic exist," she sighed with relief. "Otherwise, I'd be gagging right now."
She turned to Arthur, who was slowly calming down, breathing hard as he sat on the cold floor with his head hanging.
"Hey, you!" Scarlett said, crossing her arms. "How did you get the power to go back in time?"
Irish's eyes widened. "Oh... yeah! We totally forgot to ask that!" she added, facepalming herself.
Scarlett already knew his power was real. She had seen it with her own eyes. But the question still bothered her—how could a normal human like him have something so powerful?
Arthur looked up with anger in his eyes. "Like hell I'd tell you!" he shouted, clearly still angry and stubborn.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes. "So… that means someone really gave it to you," she said coldly. "I had a feeling. And now I'm sure."
Arthur's lips tightened. He bit them hard, refusing to speak. He turned his head away like a child who didn't want to admit they'd been caught.
Scarlett leaned in closer, her voice sharp like a knife. "You know, if someone gave you that kind of power… doesn't that mean they know all about what will happen in future too?"
"How about this—what if I just ask them why I destroyed the planet in the future, huh? Maybe that will save everyone."
Arthur stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes filled with hesitation. Then he slowly lifted his head and looked at Scarlett.
"How are you even planning to meet her?" he asked, his voice low and serious.
"Her?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow, surprised. So... it's a woman? she thought to herself, feeling like something clicked in her mind.
At this point, she had a small guess of who he meant.
"We'll figure it out once we know who she is," Scarlett replied confidently, folding her arms.
Arthur finally gave in and spoke, his voice sounding tired. "Sylvania... Sylvania Yogsothoth. She said she was a god. She gave me the power and said she wanted to write a fantastic story about my journey."
"Sylvania Yogsothoth..." Scarlett repeated the name under her breath.
Her mind flashed back to the moment she first came into this world. That strange notification—the one that warned her not to sign the contract. That message in her system. It had come from a supreme being... Sylvania Yogsothoth.
That means... Arthur was the main character of this world, she thought, staring at him. I took his place. I captured him. I even made him useless... but why hasn't she shown up? Why hasn't this Sylvania done anything? Aren't i ruining her story?"
Scarlett clenched her fists. The silence that followed was heavy.
Irish, who had been watching quietly, had a dark expression too. Her usually cheerful face was now tense.
"Someone... someone that powerful gave him that ability just because she wanted to write a story?" she whispered. "That's terrifying..."
She shivered. A strange fear crept up her spine, like something was watching them from far away.
For a few seconds, none of them spoke. The room was filled with silence.
Then Scarlett broke it.
"Anything else you know?" she asked, her tone sharp again. "Like true dragons? Or a secret group of scientists experimenting on something called true dragon blood?"
Arthur blinked. His face went blank. "True dragon?" he said with confusion. "What's that? Like... dragons that tell the truth?"
Scarlett let out a loud sigh, clearly disappointed. She rubbed her forehead.
"Irish, turn him back," she said, waving her hand.
Irish walked toward Arthur, but before she could touch him, Arthur suddenly panicked.
"W-Wait! We can cooperate!" he stammered. "I know you're not pure evil, Maybe we can make a contract or something—just hear me out!"
Scarlett didn't even turn around. She kept walking toward the bedroom, not sparing him a glance.
She knew better.
Contracts in this world were dangerous. If anyone broke one, they would either die or suffer a painful curse. But in Arthur's case, it would be a blessing—an escape.
---------------------------
After that strange and confusing talk with Arthur, three whole weeks passed.
But honestly, those days felt boring.
They didn't fight any big enemies or find out any new secrets. All they really did was travel to a few beautiful places, take in the view, eat some weird but tasty food, and just… live.
Scarlett even bought few new phones and a gaming console in one of the nearby cities. She played different kinds of video games—some silly, some scary, and some that made her laugh(Rage)—and she even taught Irish how to play. Irish was terrible at first, but she got better.
But somehow, Scarlett started to miss her base—DreadHaven. She had not much attechment to this world but DreadHaven was different, Reiza, Seirra, Li Feng, Xio Feng many peaple were there.
Now, as she sat at a small wooden desk in a cozy little room, she let out a tired sigh. A pen rested in her hand, and a diary lay open in front of her. She stared at the empty page.
"It's been three weeks," she whispered to herself, twirling the pen between her fingers. "Everyone said the Catastrophe will come in a month, right?"
She yawned and stretched her arms above her head.
Only a few days left until a full month had passed, but nothing had happened. No storms. No signs. No powerful enemies crashing down from the sky. The waiting was slowly driving her mad.
"I'm tired of this…" she muttered and leaned over the diary.
So, she decided to write something. A summary. Something that could help her feel like she'd made some kind of progress. She wanted to collect everything she knew… and everything she didn't.
She started writing.
"First question: Who and Why turned me into a girl?...Ahem...I mean why injected me with true dragon blood?"
She stared at the page for a few seconds, then wrote:
"No idea. All I have is a tiny clue… something about the third demon king."
She frowned, tapping the page.
"Second question: What even is true dragon blood? I know that true dragons don't have blood. They're supposed to be higher dimensional top-tier spirit being.
After thinking for a bit, she scribbled down:
"No idea. I guess when I find the leader of the organization that did this to me, I'll just ask them."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. The pen moved again.
"Third question: Why does the system exist? And why does everyone have a different one? Or even don't have one"
She didn't even pause this time.
"No idea."
She took a deep breath and kept writing.
"Who is the woman inside my head who looks exactly like me and calls herself me?"
"No idea."
"What about Evadne? Why does he have an ultimate skill? What race is he? Who are his parents?"
"No idea."
Her pen scratched faster now, more annoyed than before.
"Who is Sylvania Yogsothoth?"
"No idea."
"What is the origin of true dragons? How many are there?"
"No idea."
"Who are the Holy Knights? How strong are they?"
"No idea."
"Is Avion my friend… or my enemy?"
"No idea."
"No idea."
"No idea."
Her hand froze. She stared at the page.
No matter what question popped into her head, the answer was always the same.
No idea.
Scarlett's lips twitched. Her eyes slowly narrowed as her anger started to rise.
"Ughhh!" she growled, tearing the page out of her diary and crumpling it in one hand. Then, without thinking, she kicked the desk hard.
Bang!
The desk rattled and nearly fell over.
"It's been over a year!" she shouted, standing up and clenching her fists. "And I still don't have a single answer?! What kind of progress is this?! Zero!"
"When will I finally get my revenge?!" she yelled at no one in particular. Her voice echoed in the quiet room.
Then… silence.
She slowly sat back down, sighing. Her back rested against the chair as she looked up at the wooden ceiling.
"I guess… I got carried away," she whispered to herself. "It was my first time in a fantasy world. I was too excited…"
For a few seconds, she just sat there. Calm. Thoughtful.
Then her eyes lit up with a new kind of focus.
"Well, DreadHaven is built. Everything's safe. So maybe it's finally time," she said softly.
"Time to stop messing around… and start solving these mysteries for real."
Only when she felt motivated and determined, her phone ringed.
She slowly took it out from her pocket and picked up.
"Yeah—
But her line got cut off by Kozuha's voice.
"There's an massive portal had appeared, It's energy has surpassed anything we detected in past five years!"
"I think this is the one!"