One Month Later
The warm glow of sunlight slowly began to peel away the thick fog blanketing the morning in a volcanic mountain slope located on the far eastern edge of the Sovereign's Province.
Hundreds of miles away from the Crown Capital Special Region—the very heart of the great island.
That mountain was called Mount Arjuno. It was known as one of the most haunted peaks in the land of Nusantara, wrapped in eerie legends whispered through generations.
One of the most infamous stories was the tale of hikers who vanished without a trace after setting foot in the Forest of Lost Souls, a cursed stretch of woods near the summit of the mountain.
They said that during the rainy season, a mysterious fog would descend at dusk, cloaking the forest in a haunting atmosphere.
That fog was not ordinary mist—it was mystical and disorienting, leading hikers astray and pulling them into what seemed to be another world. A world with no exits. A world from which no one ever returned.
The disappearances were so frequent that the royal authorities had been forced to ban any attempts to climb the mountain years ago.
And yet, there were always those who defied the law, whether for the thrill or in pursuit of something hidden deep within the grandeur of Mount Arjuno.
Just like the three young men now packed into the bed of a truck, wedged between large baskets of tea leaves, hitching a ride on a farm truck delivering harvests.
Kairav sat in silence, his thoughts adrift as he stared emptily at the vast tea plantation rolling by.
A voice—faint but unforgettable—kept echoing in his head. The voice of a figure the system had scanned as 'The nameless young man'.
No matter how much he tried to suppress it, the words refused to fade away, ultimately drawing him here.
"If you want to know, meet me in the Forest of Lost Souls when the rainy season arrives..."
He let out a soft sigh in the middle of his thoughts, weighed down by the barrage of strange events that had consumed his life lately: Astral Conjurers, animal spirits, and an odd system that had abruptly manifested within him.
Thinking about that system triggered a sudden memory.
"Display my status window," he commanded in his mind.
Ping!
[ System: Memory fragments ]
[ User Information ]
Name: Kairav Pikatan
Race: Human
Age: 18 years old
Title: Astral Conjurer (Host of the Unicorn Spirit)
Element: Ice
Affiliation: Pure-Hearted Clan (Descendant of the Eternalush Kingdom)
[ System: Scanning User's Body… ]
Analyzing: 85%... 92%... 100% Successful!
[ Locked Attributes: ]
Stellar Essence: Locked
User Energy: 0%
Crimson Sphere Essence Energy: 0%
Animal Spirit: Locked
[ Available Skills: ]
Radiant Soulforge Awakening: Locked
[ Fate Gauge: ]
Good Karma: 0 / 10 (Reward)
Bad Karma: 0 / 10 (Consequence)
[ Balance: ]
Unicorn's Blood Blessing: Locked
[ Memory fragments: 0% ]
The holographic screen floating in front of him left Kairav blinking, confused and irritated.
"Why are my Stellar Essence, animal spirit, and Radiant Soulforge Awakening skill locked again? Didn't I already complete the mission that unlocked those as a reward?" he muttered, frowning.
"System, are you messing with me? Are you seriously cheating right now?!"
[ System: I Am Not Cheating. The Stellar Essence And Radiant Soulforge Awakening Skill Have Been Locked Again For A Reason. ]
Kairav's brow twitched in annoyance. "So now you can defend yourself, huh? I thought you were only good for tossing out useless commands."
"Then tell me. What's the reason behind them being locked again?"
[ System: Sorry, I Cannot Disclose That Information. It Is Beyond My Clearance. You Must Discover The Cause Yourself. ]
"Why?!"
[ System: So That You Can Become Independent. ]
He stared at the screen in disbelief. "Independent?! What are you, my parent now?! Trying to teach me a life lesson like some lousy dad?!"
[ System: … ]
Kairav groaned and rubbed his face in frustration.
His eyes drifted downward, scanning the screen again. "Memory fragments... zero percent? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! What memories?!"
"Ugh! Damn it. Even the system's name is Memory Fragments..." he grumbled, only now realizing it.
Drrttt… Drrttt…
His phone buzzed in the pocket of his white jacket, tearing through the fog in his head.
He sighed in defeat when his almond-shaped eyes landed on the name flashing across the screen. "What now?"
"You little brat! Where the hell have you run off to this time?! Are you trying to put your father back in the hospital?!"
Kairav instantly winced and pulled the phone away from his ear, the familiar shouting causing a sharp pain in his head.
"Dad, enough. Don't make me rush home just because you're threatening me with a fake hospital trip again! I really need to complete this research on the short man of Enchanted this time!"
"Don't think your old man is stupid!" his father, Satya, shot back from the other end.
"You didn't buy a plane ticket or book a ship! Do you think you crawled your way to Enchanted?! Get your ass home right now!"
"I'll come home if you tell me everything you know!" Kairav said firmly.
"I already told you everything!"
"Liar!" Kairav hissed, wiping his face again in frustration.
"What makes you say that?!"
"The extra wrinkles on your face say it all!"
"You devil child!"
"And you're the demon king!" Kairav snapped, ending the call and shoving his phone back into his jacket with a scowl.
From beside him, Gavin—his expedition partner and long-time friend—shook his head and scoffed, "Tsk. You're such a disgraceful son..."
Kairav grunted in response. Something about that word—'disgraceful son'—cut deeper than he expected.
Maybe because of what he had learned just a month ago. A revelation that felt like a nightmare come to life, when the man he'd always believed was his real father finally confessed—
"I don't want to hide the truth from you anymore…"
"You're... not my biological son. I was just someone entrusted to raise you. You're actually a descendant of the Eternalush Kingdom, destroyed centuries ago…"
"You know," Gavin said suddenly, pulling Kairav from his thoughts. "This feels like déjà vu."
"Back then, our team had just come down the mountain when we heard the news that your plane exploded. We were already preparing to scatter flowers into the sea…"
"But then, one night, you just suddenly showed up in front of Baron and me—like a damn ghost!"
"Nearly gave us both heart attacks! All those tears we cried over your fake death were completely wasted!" Gavin grumbled, visibly annoyed.
Instead of feeling guilty, Kairav simply burst out laughing without a care in the world.
That only made Gavin even more irritated. "The rest of the expedition team thought you were dead! How are you going to deal with that?" he snapped.
Kairav just shrugged nonchalantly. "Just tell them the information they got was wrong. That I actually came back by ship, not by plane," he replied casually.
Gavin let out a tired sigh and shook his head. "That sounds ridiculous… but still somewhat believable," he muttered.
Then he furrowed his brows and turned back toward Kairav beside him. "But you know what sounds even more unbelievable? When you suddenly started talking about things that Baron and I could barely wrap our heads around…"
"Animal spirits, Eternalush… I thought that was all just nonsense. Some crazy rambling you made up—or maybe just a hallucination from when you encountered that short man from Enchanted," Gavin continued.
Kairav raised a brow in confusion. "If you didn't believe me, then why'd you agree to come with me here?" he asked.
"Because we wanted to see for ourselves whether what you said was real or not," Gavin answered.
He then let out a slow breath, focusing once more on the camera in his hands. "Because even if none of it turns out to be real, it's still worth it to spend time together like this," he added softly.
Baron—the tall, thin guy with glasses who'd been resting with his eyes closed between them—suddenly spoke up in his sleep.
"Make the most of times like these. Enjoy it with us while you can. Because maybe you'll still be around for a long, long time… while the two of us have become ancient relics."
Kairav immediately shot him a sharp glare and snapped, "Go back to sleep!"
"He'll still look like he's twenty when we've already turned into fossils," Gavin added dryly, clearly mocking.
Kairav grew even more annoyed, but strangely, a shadow of melancholy passed through his eyes as he fell silent for a moment.
"Don't say things like that," he murmured. "Because for some reason… the thought of living without an end feels terrifying."
He paused, then continued in a much quieter voice—barely loud enough for anyone but himself to hear. "As if I'd only be alive… to watch everyone else around me die."
Suddenly, the truck they were riding in slowed to a halt, causing all three of them to sway slightly.
Sensing that they had arrived, the trio immediately jumped down, each carrying a large hiking backpack on their backs.
The eastern hiking trail was now clearly visible ahead. Just beyond the edge of the tea plantation, a coffee plantation could be seen—marking the main entrance to the trail.
Ping!
[ System: Detecting Current Location... ]
Detection: 85%... 95%... 100% Complete!
Location: Mount Arjuno
Side Quests: Several Quests Incoming! You will receive various quests during your adventure on this mountain. Get ready!
"More side quests? I already got a side quest before… so where's the main quest supposed to be?" Kairav frowned, confused by the notification.
Meanwhile, seeing the trail ahead, Gavin drew a deep breath and shouted with burning excitement, "Mount Arjuno, here we come!"
But that enthusiasm was quickly dampened by the truck driver, who rushed over to them with a concerned look on his face.
"Are you three really planning to climb that mountain?" the middle-aged man asked, double-checking the risky decision made by the trio in front of him.
"You might want to reconsider. A lot of climbers—and even residents—have gone missing up there. And those who do make it back… they return 'empty.' Like walking corpses. As if their souls were left behind on that mountain."
"Don't worry, sir. We're cryptozoologists. We've gone on plenty of expeditions into forests and mountains," Gavin replied confidently.
"Besides, we've got weapons and complete gear—look!" He then pointed to the three rifles slung across his shoulder and those of his two friends.
The graying man could only let out a weary sigh, clearly fed up with the stubbornness of the youths before him.
Meanwhile, Kairav smirked slyly at the man's expression. He pulled out several red bills from his wallet and handed them over.
"As agreed, the ride costs 300 Krisnala," he said. With that, he and his friends slowly began walking away.
And as they walked, Kairav suddenly turned and waved at the man, calling out, "Oh, and if anyone comes looking for us—better stay quiet. You know what happens to someone who helps with illegal activities, right?"
"You little brat!!"