Chapter 29: Selective Recollection

There was a lot to digest about the book’s preface, and seemingly plenty of time to process it.

Getting out of this place was another matter. Peace didn’t know how he was supposed to escape, or what the creepy woman would do if he managed it. Nor did he particularly want to find out the answer to that second part...

The first thing he had to cope with was the fact that someone knew his identity. Worse, it was likely that the ’ghost woman’ who’d placed the book in his backpack had read it as well. That meant she knew someone named Pax was a Soul Stealer. And if she’d given the book to him specifically, then she somehow knew Pax was him.

Then there was... everything else.

Not just what was in the book, but the sheer absurdity of the situation. Things had finally calmed somewhat, giving his mind enough breathing room to question just ’what in the absolute cheeseballs’ had happened and where he was.

Because...

He’d never seen anything like this in the game.

The fact that he hadn’t swapped back meant he was likely still in the dungeon. The main question was...

"Where?"

The first level? A higher one? Which quadrant?

And...

"How much time has passed?"

Time was a little more important than it seemed, as it dictated the strength of monsters summoned.

Peace’s cuts had healed without even the faintest scars, meaning a potion must have been used on him. That also gave weight to the possibility he’d been corrupted, then healed by a purity potion.

His sister had discovered the tech. If someone got corrupted, then got doused with a purity potion, they’d get a full reset on health. Crude as it was, it was a way to save a dying character.

’Still... something tells me that isn’t what happened.’

For regular potions to have this effect, however, it would’ve had to be a pretty high-grade one.

Not that he doubted the ’ghost woman’ had one after her supersonic display...

The bigger question was why she’d use one on him when he wasn’t even that injured. His thigh and ankle were really the only points of worry. Everything else had healed up for the most part after he ate the bones.

’Damn...’

Knowing answers wouldn’t simply come to him, Peace set the book down for a moment and decided to scour the rest of the room, looking for any hidden clues. Yet, no matter how hard he searched, nothing more offered any hope of an answer.

The only thing he discovered was a faint rattling of bones coming from the corner the woman had disappeared from.

With nothing left to do, Pax sat back on the bed. His eyes eventually drifted to the ’Noble Path of a True King.’

"Alright, jackass... you said something quite shitty about my momma, but I’ll read your damn diary. But only because I’m completely lost and there’s nothing else to do but wait."

Sighing after his monologue to nobody, Peace kicked back, crossed his legs, and pulled back the cover.

***

’Oh.’

Peace stared at the final volume of the twelve-volume diary of ruin, thirteen if the prelude was included.

’This is...?’

Why the hell was he allowed to get his hands on such a thing?! This was more lore than he’d ever learned about in the game?!

Catatran? Leyran? The Scourge? The source of corruption? The dungeon’s origin? The nameless king? The seven sins? Despair and Hope?! Origin and how to become a god?! The other worlds all connected and waging one huge war against corruption? The pivotal law? The parent world?

The Wanderer of Fate...?!

’And...’

’Ixion was a king made of countless individuals’ memories. A man who could shatter and consume souls. A man who lived countless lives across worlds, all with the goal of overcoming fate.’

Yet, in the end, he was subjected to the whims of fate just like any other. However, fate had devoured him, not his will.

His dream of overcoming the corruption had been left to a man named Zayn Gatlin.

It was through him that—

"Shhh... let’s quiet that mind. You’re right, it’s too early to know such agonizing truths."

***

Peace stared at the book in his hands as he kicked back with his legs folded over one another.

For some reason, his curiosity and drive had failed him.

’Why would I waste my time reading anyway?! I’m in a life or death situation! I need to get the hell out of here!’

Plus, he felt he’d learned how to escape...

Not that he knew how he knew.