4. A Word of Advice

“That covers everything!” Cer exclaimed as she shot up from her seat. With a long, wide stretch, she peered down at Frost with a small grin. “Now you’re ready to go slay some monsters! Start questing. You know, the stuff you adventurers usually do.”

“Cer... we really should tell her about them.” Res whispered cautiously.

“I doubt she’ll get into trouble with one.” Ber assured. “They aren’t common enemies at all.”

“About what? If it’s important then I’d like to know.” Frost inquired.

A long silence followed. The three glanced at each other indecisively, not knowing whether to tell her or not. Eventually, Cer surrendered to Res’ gaze and let loose of a long sigh.

“Be glad Frost. I’m 80 hours into my overtime, so listen carefully!”

Cer exclaimed and pointed directly at Frost’s face.

“If there’s anything you should fear, it is the Corrupted. In the next 500 hours I highly doubt you’ll come across one. They’re so rare in fact that the last notable event was 15 years ago. If you can’t read the status of a particular entity, then you’re up against a Corrupted. Full stop. Run and don’t look back. I mean that in the sincerest way possible. Oh, and don’t be confused with them and other people with the Blessing. We can’t glimpse into each other’s statuses after all.”

“Are they different from any wildlife?” She refrained from calling them monsters for the time being. It was always strange to how the two terms were interchangeable in many fantasy fictions.

Perhaps if she finally saw one up close then she’d realize why.

“Monsters and wildlife don’t even compare.” Ber adamantly claimed. “They are worse. So much more worse.”

Then their faces darkened. A looming cloud blocked off the light of the sun, encasing the hub in its shadow as the following words left Cer’s lips.

“Hey Frost. Ever seen a murderous stuffed toy that strangles children? A loom that weaves thread out of flesh? A machine that sings until your head bursts? Or – better yet – a dozen-winged bird that can claim the lives of a million people in a single night?”

Her words reverberated like spoken scripture. There was a certain thrum weaved into her voice as Frost devoured all that left her mouth, etching it into her mind like a scribe.

That sounds like a nightmare. Maybe I should just stick around inside of the Nexus for a while.

“But don’t let that discourage you. I’m willing to bet my own life that you won’t come across one.” Cer followed as the sun’s bountiful light returned, as did her cheeky smile.

“Oi! If you bet yours, then I’m betting mine too.” Ber thrust a fist into the air.

“Stop it you two –”

“Alright, us 3 are betting our lives on you!” Cer suddenly exclaimed, causing Frost to softly chuckle.

Well, that’s one way to encourage someone.

“It sounds like I’m not the only one you’ve said that to.” Frost joked.

“Then how else are we going to push newbies out there? You don’t know that if you don’t make enough Nex you’ll lose access to the Nexus.”

“... wait what?” Frost tilted her head slightly.

“100 Nex a day. That’s the price of this paradise. So go out there and start questing.” Cer and the others nodded to themselves in sync.

Do these three all share the same braincell?

“Is it really ok for me to head out? I mean... well, punch is about the only offensive skill I have.” Frost wryly replied, almost embarrassed by this.

“Civilization? Hello? You think the Beholders order us to have Hyperlinks placed in the middle of nowhere?” Ber playfully belittled her.

Right. That would make sense. I can imagine someone getting ganked out of nowhere if that wasn’t the case.

“That’s what the Hyperwarp is for! Either send in a subjugation team straight to the battlefield or bring ‘em right into the Nexus directly!” Cer announced.

Never mind. They have a dedicated method for getting ganked.

“A-Are you satisfied with everything now?” Res kindly asked. Out of all of them she was the most down to Earth and... well, ‘sane’. She felt like the mother of the trio in a way.

“I think I get the gist of things. I guess the only thing left is how to get from where to where.”

“That’s easy. Invoke [Hyperlink] out loud.” Cer pointed again.

“[Hyperlink].”

“Backtalk to a Moon. Addendum to offenses...” Orh added.

“Disruption in public. Chemically unclean. Unsatisfactory role as receptionist with 38 complaints in the last 100 hours. I quote, ‘I was called an idiot for not knowing how to access the Dimensional Storage’. The likely punishment will be a wire scrub bath...” Thras calmly said as Frost stifled her laughter to the best of her strength.

Once again, she had front row seats to a comedy skit. The scene was too surreal.

“MMMMHLLLP MMUSSS!”

“MMRREESSS!”

“I’m so sorry about them. We’ll come right away.” Res lowered her head as the two were dragged off. Before she left, she turned to Frost for one last time. “Um... Frost. I hope you stay safe on your outing. If you see any Moons or Stars outside don’t be afraid to ask for help! You can always trust us with your life.”

“I’ll bother as many as I can.” Frost nodded with a pleasant grin. “Thank you for everything.”

“Don’t word it so dramatically. The pleasure was always ours. I’m glad you were our last recipient. Er... For now at least. Haaah. Good luck out there~!”

Yep. Res is definitely the mother of the trio. A shame. Frost wished she could have gotten to know them better but, in the end, what could she do? She parted ways in the end with a small wave.

She walked towards the grand entrance, savoring the spectacle that was called Nexus.

* * *

Once she returned to the white pearlescent walls of the Central Relay – Frost stood inside one of the magical circles.

“... This is going to be hard to swallow if I actually –”

Before she could finish her words; the world instantly collapsed into itself. And in the next moment –

“– Tele... port...”

< Restricted Access has been Overruled >

< Entering the Village of Virt for the First Time >

Frost’s jaws dropped. Her eyes swelled with insurmountable wonder as she observed the wonderful world around her. A large village made from simple wood and stone foundations littered the clearing she found herself in. Emerald oak trees spanned as far as they eye could see.

Sunlight blessed her fair skin, the warmth of the new world feeling no different from the one she knew back home. The murky scent of the raw earth and the uneven ground made it clear that she was indeed somewhere far away from the comfort of technology and the spanning cities of concrete.

This was the final proof that confirmed she was no longer on Earth.

And when she looked up to a familiar blue sky.

“T-That’s... megastructure? No way in hell that’s a megastructure.” Frost muttered to herself as the world suddenly fell silent. “That’s a gigastructure.”

Reverence coursed through her heart, mind, and soul as she stared up at the pale object. It was gilded in streaks of black and gold, and it rose higher than she could ever dream to imagine. The tower was rugged, uneven, and appeared like a celestial object more than a traditional tower. Its width was so massive that it pit the landscape underneath it in eternal darkness.

The towering scale of the Nexus made so that its shadow would always be cast somewhere around the world, plunging places into a second night.

“Not only a marvel... but also kind of like the world’s natural clock. T-this is a fantasy world with certain sparks of technology. Technology we don’t even have back on Earth.” Frost reminded herself, still enraptured by the Nexus.

She gulped.

“No. That can’t be right. Warped Stone’s technology? Teleportation? That has to be magic, right? Aha... I want to laugh. Fantasy. Swords and magic. Kingdoms, medieval life from the looks of this village... and then there’s things that can castrate the laws of physics at the snap of a finger.”

She needed to digest this. Mentally and physically. Her legs wobbled as her gaze lowered to the world around her, finally realizing that a small crowd had gathered behind her.

Eh?

“Papa! She appeared from thin air! How did she do that!?” A young child pointed at her with glee.

“A-A Blessed!? In this day and age!?” The person whose ragged shirt they tugged on cried in surprise.

“After 15 years they’re finally retuning to Grandis!” A woman clutched onto her chest, overwhelmed with emotion.

“They Gods have answered our prayers! At long last!” Finally, an old man dropped to his knees as if prostrating before her.

Frost knew right away that things were about to get a whole lot more interesting.