Chapter 12: Not Everything Is What It Seems

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Not Everything Is What It Seems

Victor had returned to the group feeling a little down because of what the gacha had given him. An SSR-rarity stone wasn’t something you saw every day, not even in the most ridiculous video games. Although, judging by its description, it could actually be something good.

With the stone in his hand, Victor sighed. The stone was pretty, at the very least. It was a shiny dark blue color, as if someone had polished it for an entire day, and it had the symbol of a square carved into it in gold.

’I hope whatever this thing is hiding is good for me. I can’t imagine getting scammed by a gacha. Well... actually, I can, but I don’t want to.’

He sat down on the ground beside a tree and remained silent. It wasn’t like he knew what to say to these people either, so there wasn’t much to talk about.

Unfortunately for Victor, these dwarf twins were far too talkative and friendly. The moment Victor was staring off into nothing while Ayax organized some things from Dorian’s backpack, Darius slapped his knee.

"Hey, kid. How did you end up here? If I’m being honest, I was helping out at the forge with my brother when we suddenly appeared in a dark place where a bubble started talking to us."

"You should’ve seen this bastard’s face. He was so scared when we appeared in that place that I couldn’t stop laughing," Dorian said.

Victor frowned. That was new.

"You guys... were you just transported here?"

Both twins nodded. That led Victor to look at Ayax and ask him the same thing.

"What? Me? I fell into a hole and ended up in the same dark place with the bubble. I mean, you look kind of confused. How did you get here?"

Victor lowered his head, troubled.

"I... died and appeared in front of the talking bubble."

Ayax looked at the twins with genuine confusion. Even little Linlin, who had remained sitting beside Ayax, seemed curious about it.

"You died?" Ayax said.

Darius laughed.

"Now that’s what I call being lucky, kid. Look on the bright side. Now you have a second chance in this crazy game of the gods."

"Seriously, everyone gets here in a different way," Dorian added.

"Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal," Victor said.

Ayax sighed.

"Like Darius said, you’re lucky to have another chance. We’ll help you make sure you don’t waste it, so from now on, we need to keep moving and become much stronger."

As he began his speech, Ayax stood up and raised his fist as if he were the protagonist of the scene.

"We won’t give up no matter what kind of monster stands in our way. So let’s use our Paths and take them to the highest level possible."

"Yeah!" the twins said, raising their fists.

"Yeah..." Victor said, half-heartedly raising his fist.

"With that settled and breakfast ready, let’s keep moving," the leader concluded.

Victor put a hand on his head. These guys were especially hyperactive. It wasn’t a bad thing, but that didn’t change the fact that things might not be what they seemed. He remained cautious around them for the time being.

And so they continued farther along the road. During their journey, they came across a large plant with teeth that almost ate Linlin, but Ayax and his sword cut it in half.

There was another moment when Darius tried to hand his ax to Victor, but it was so heavy that the poor guy nearly fell flat on his face.

For three strangers and a strange creature, they weren’t bad company. Everyone was especially attentive during the journey and worked as a team whenever necessary. That made Victor think for a moment that this wasn’t so bad.

If he stayed with them, he wouldn’t be in as much danger as he would be on his own. Ayax had been right about that, and somehow, that frustrated Victor.

With the stone in his hand, he spent the next few hours continuing to think about what it could be used for.

’It doesn’t have a smell, but it feels strange to the touch. The stone has been getting a little warm for a while now. Could this be a sign that something is about to happen?’

The description said so, but he couldn’t be sure that anything would actually happen. Looking at the group, he put the stone away to think about it later and continued moving forward.

By talking with the chatty twins, he discovered several things, such as the fact that Darius was knowledgeable about rune and protection magic. He had been lucky enough to appear here with his wand, or they would’ve been lost at the very beginning.

As for the group Victor had encountered at the beginning, Ayax preferred not to talk about them, since he felt guilty for not being closer to them at the time.

After taking a few breaks, with the sun disappearing behind the crack in the sky, the group stopped near a stream surrounded by bushes. They quickly set up camp and had dinner by the light of the campfire.

’So, none of them have revealed their Path, and they don’t seem to have any need to do so. It’s a good thing the subject hasn’t come up, because I’d have to lie.’

In fact, do these people even know what a gacha system is? They probably have something similar to role-playing games, especially the dwarf twins. Ayax? He was the most mysterious one so far.

The more he thought about it, the less Victor could figure it out. The man carried an old double-edged sword with a rounded tip. It wasn’t the Promised Sword of Victory, as Victor had deduced, so it was unlikely that he had chosen that Path.

On the other hand, it was even less likely, since Victor seemed to have arrived after them and, because Systems were unique and different from one another, there was no way Ayax could have chosen it.

Eating a piece of meat, Victor continued thinking about it when he suddenly saw Linlin writing something on the ground with her finger.

’What’s that?’

He frowned when he read it, as he could understand the language too.

[He is lying.]