The calm was just a fragile breath, hanging between two gusts, a deceptive pause hiding the chaos yet to come. Jinra lay there, broken, her body battered and numb from the dull pain pulsing through her tired limbs. The forest wrapped around her like a living coffin, its dancing shadows slowly swallowing the fading light left inside her. Yet, in the hollow of that suffocating silence, an unchanging truth weighed heavily on her mind: the key to the second floor still slipped away.
Her blurry gaze, drowned in a sea of endless fatigue, scanned the shifting darkness around her. Then a cold shiver ran through her as the system's mechanical voice sounded, relentless and distant, slipping into the maze of her consciousness.
"Alert: Access key to second floor missing. Analysis… failed. Objective incomplete."
Jinra let out a hoarse, trembling breath, almost desperate, like a leaf tossed by a cruel wind.
"Something's missing… This second floor… it's not over."
An electronic silence echoed, heavy and oppressive, before the system resumed with a cold, emotionless tone:
"Instruction: Eliminate all monsters. Destroy the goblin village."
These words echoed in her head, heavy with grim inevitability, like an irreversible sentence. Jinra felt an invisible blade tighten around her throat. She slowly nodded, her strength unraveling like a thread about to snap. Closing her eyelids, her voice escaped in a nearly pleading whisper:
"First… I need to rest."
She then surrendered to the surrounding darkness of sleep, slipping slowly into a deep coma where hours and days blurred, erasing the boundary between dream and reality. Three days of oblivion, suspended between shadow and light.
When at last she opened her eyes, the world wavered around her. A dull, throbbing pain crossed her face, marked by fresh scars, mute witnesses of the fierce battles she had just fought. Her wounds refused to close, as if the forest itself wanted to keep her captive.
With a trembling hand, she brushed her bruised cheek, feeling broken flesh beneath her fingers.
The system's mechanical voice intruded again, cold and calculating.
"Healing level: insufficient. Activation recommended of skill 'Healing' level 3 to accelerate recovery."
Jinra breathed deeply, gritting her teeth with fierce determination despite her weakness.
"Alright. Let's do it."
A faint, almost ethereal glow emerged from her palms, wrapping her wounds in a gentle soothing warmth. Little by little, the flesh sealed, pain fading away to give room to deep exhaustion, but also to a reborn strength.
A more human voice, almost timid, slipped from her lips.
"System… I'm hungry."
Silence followed, then a response tinged with a strange note of digital exasperation.
"Arber fruits are edible. You may consume them."
A faint smile broke the mask of pain on her scarred face. She slowly sat up, her numb limbs protesting every movement. The forest, vast and imposing, seemed both threatening and fascinating, like a world apart, filled with ancient secrets and lurking dangers.
The trees whispered forgotten legends, and on a branch hung a strange fruit, both hideous and mysterious—rough, deep black, twisted shapes like a waking nightmare.
Jinra reached out hesitantly, then bit into the fruit with a nearly childlike innocence long forgotten. The taste, sweet and gentle, surprised her palate, like a cruel gift in this ravaged world.
For a fleeting moment, the light of naivety brightened her weary face.
As she moved forward through this living forest, Jinra engaged in an intimate dialogue with the system, seeking to fill the void weighing within her.
"Tell me… who created you?"
Silence. Then finally, a clear but emotionless answer.
"I was designed to assist Guardians in their development and progression."
Jinra gave a bitter smile.
"I know. I'm here because of this system, this imposed destiny of being a Guardian…"
A brief silence, then the robotic voice resumed.
"You are a Guardian. Your exact identity will be revealed in due time."
She sighed, her gaze lost in the foliage filtered by a veiled sky's light.
"Show me my status window."
Instantly, numbers and words appeared, forming a clear and cold table in her mind.
Name: Jinra
Species: Human
Class: Guardian (Unknown)
Level: 11
Strength: 29
Agility: 28
Endurance: 34
Intelligence: 17
Skills:
Elemental Mastery: Level 3
Gravitational Manipulation: Level 3
Healing: Level 3
Heightened Senses: Level 2
Steel Mind: Rooted
She remained silent for a long time, absorbing this new reality, each number engraving itself inside her like a fragile promise. Then, with a glimmer of challenge mixed with amusement, she broke the silence, as if to ward off a curse.
"Well… looks like I'm getting pretty strong."
The system gave a faint approval signal, almost like a conspirator. Jinra stood up, stronger, ready to face what the forest and her destiny had in store.
The forest was no longer just a place of shadows and danger. It became the stage of a new struggle, a dance between the flickering light of her hope and the omnipresent darkness of her uncertain future.