Chapter 232 - 226 : What The Hell Happened?

[[ System notification :

Locating server...

Server located.

Beginning Neurolink connection process…

Connecting to server Heavenly System Universal server…

Connection successful.

Verifying connection…

Connection verification successful.

Beginning mind transit in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 ]]

Once again, Sato returned to the land surrounded by a colorful fog but before he could think of his next action, a notification popped up before him.

[[ System notification :

The Caventry's Path (Series)

Due to the severe consequences and requirements of the mission, the system would like to confirm with the player on their decision.

Would you want to continue with this mission? ]]

"Another enquiry?" Sato was a bit surprised. 

"If this mission is all that deadly and stuff, then why the heck is it still rated A?" 

With a sigh, Sato re-confirmed with the System again. Of course, his decision still remained the same; a yes.

[[ System notification :

The Caventry's Path (Series)

Mission rating : A 

Mission Status : Accepted(In Progress)

System description : It is advised that the Player make this decision properly. The test would involve certain scenarios that would affect the Player negatively. If accepted, Player would be required to go offline and make preparations as the duration and structure of the mission could potentially affect the Player negatively. For preparation steps, please check *Long term Online Preparation Manual*[2].

To help set up a challenge, Player's memories would have to be read. Accepting the mission would be the same as permitting the system to access Player's memories. Personal/private information related to finances or confidential information won't be shared and shall be deleted permanently from the system's database once the mission is over. All actions and decisions are protected Alliance laws (Lois universelles de l'Alliance, Section A : Paragraphe 3. Modifié dans l'État de France).[3]

]]

[[ System notification :

Counting down till [Hiatus Feature] deactivates.

10, 9, 8, 7, …

]]

"A countdown huh? That's good I guess." Sato said as he stretched his body as he inspected the familiar rainbow mist.

Before he had logged in to the game, Sato had contacted the others and notified them that he might go AWOL for possibly a long time. Having made a majority of his preparations, Sato was ready to face the mission and the little time available via the countdown was enough for him to adjust his mental faculties.

[[ System notification :

…, 0.

Time Up.

[Hiatus Feature] deactivated. ]]

The rainbow fog went into motion again and slowly crawled in in him.

Sato stared at the fog with furrowed eyebrows as he was confused of what to do. His sense warned him of the fog but there was no way to dodge it. As for attacking it or running past it, Sato didn't know the depth of the fog but he was pretty sure that once he went in, returning back to the exact same spot he stood now might not be so easy.

With the imaginary clock ticking down to the time the entire place would be polluted by the mysterious fog, Sato was slowly running out of time and had to make a decision as soon as possible.

"Since there seems to be no other option," Sato unsheathed his sword. "Let me see what's on the other side."

Having gathered himself, Sato picked a direction and walked towards the rainbow fog. He was going to get drowned in it either way so he might as well take the initiative and try to find out what's hidden within.

The distance between him and the fog wasn't much, so within 13 steps, Sato's figure was already blurred by the fog.

'Looks like it's deeper than I thought or it might have even encompassed the entire place.' Sato thought as he kept walking within the fog with his sense on alert.

He had already been walking for more than 5 minutes but Sato had yet to see the end of the fog. This lead to him thinking in the direction that either the space covered in the fog was extremely large or the entire trial ground was actually covered in it.

If it was the first hypothesis, then there wasn't much of a problem since if he kept walking, Sato would eventually find the light at the end of the tunnel. However, if it was the second conjecture, then pointlessly walking forward would be meaningless.

'The trial can't be that pointless. It's either there's an end somewhere or there's a way out. I just have to find it.'

Sato unhesitatingly moved forward with confidence.

Sato had been walking for more than 30 minutes already but he still hadn't found a clue about an exit. He had changed directions for God knows how many times but he had discovered a few things about the place.

What was very strange about the terrain was that it was very flat and smooth; devoid of any rocks or plants. The original terrain, while still a flatland, was not totally devoid of objects. There were at least a few rocks and plants scattered all over. There were patches of grass at random intervals which added colour to the dull brown floor. However, in the land within this rainbow fog, there was no such thing. Not a single rock nor stone could be seen on the floor. It was as if Sato was walking on a perfectly flat slab of cement. Heck, when he even checked the floor, Sato didn't find any single stone or sand. The ground was very hard and perfectly flat.

'Did I get teleported elsewhere?' Sato couldn't resist thinking such.

"Hummmm*

Out of nowhere, a deep low hum resounded in the entire place. While the pitch of the tune was low yet heavy, for some reason, it adversely affected Sato and forced him to clean his ears.

'What the hell is this?' Sato complained internally as he was forced to resist the sound by any means necessary.

The problem though was that despite blocking his ears with his hands, the sound still transmitted to them perfectly, as if there was never any blockade to start with.

It went on for 5 seconds before Sato suddenly felt his conscious slipping away. He tried to run away from the sound but it felt like the sound came from everywhere. There was no singular point of origin and no matter how far he got, the pitch, volume and frequency of the sound remained constant.

4 seconds had gone by after Sato felt that he was losing his ability to stay awake, when he finally lost it. Sato uncontrollably collapsed on the ground and lost conscious. It was as if he had taken a sleep in the middle of the ground.

"Ughhh. What happened?" Sato finally awoke but with a terrible headache.

Sato placed his right hand on his forehead as he slowly stood up from the ground and surveyed his location.

"Hm?" Sato's eyes widened a bit as he noticed that the previous rainbow fog was nowhere to be found.

What was even more interesting was the fact that there was a forest behind him and in front was a hamlet, just 200-300 metres away. The land he stood on was covered in fresh green grass similar to carpet grass.

"Where am I?" Sato couldn't resist asking out loud.

'Teleportation?' Sato wondered as he began planning his next step.

"Since I'm here, I might as well check out the place."

Having come to a decision, Sato began making his way towards the hamlet in front. It wasn't that far so it wasn't a problem.

During the journey though, Sato felt that he had gotten a bit weaker than normal but was more energetic than usual. Apart from that, he also noticed that the trees were a bit bigger and taller than usual.

'This might really be a whole new place.' Sato thought as he closed in on the hamlet. He could overhear the sound of running water leading him to suspect that there was a stream or river close, something that the previous location he was in didn't have. There was even a hill in the distance which further confirmed his belief.

"Stop right there kid." A deep voice ordered just as Sato was but a few meters away from the hamlet.

"Where are you coming from and what were you doing?" The owner of the voice, a tall middle aged man with a rough beard and hunter clothings, asked Sato. From Sato's perspective though, the man was a lot taller than he was making him wonder whether he was a giant.

Sato's brain worked at a rapid pace as he came up with the most suitable reply he could think of.

"I got lost on my way and found this settlement."  He replied with an awkward face to match his words.

"Huh? A kid like you got lost?" The man asked with surprise. "Don't you know the rules?"

"Let him be, Gali. He's a kid so he probably went out to have some fun and got lost." Another man walked up to the duo while speaking.

"Kids these days don't like to listen to instructions. You would have known this if you had one of yours."

"Shut up, Drake." Gali said to his companion.

"Haha."

While the two were bickering with each other, Sato's head was experiencing a storm.

'Kid? He called me a kid? Why?! Don't tell me...'

"By the way, you look a bit familiar. Don't tell me that you are Edgar's kid?" Drake asked Sato.

"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?! Why are you running?!"

"Hey! Kid, stop!"

Sato dashed towards the stream by the side, ignoring the screams of shock from the guards. Once he was by the riverside, Sato squatted down and looked at his reflection.

'Oh damn. I was right.'

What Sato saw in the river wasn't his 21 year old self but a little cute boy with innocent features. The boy had cute cheeks with a bit of baby fat, soft shiny black hair with a perfectly paired pair of black eyes and thin lips. Sato recognized the child to be his 11 year old self. Somehow, he had appeared in a strange place in his 11 year old body!

"What the heck is up with this trial?!"