Second Genesis

When Grey’s eyes fluttered open, he didn’t immediately react. There was no sun blaring its tendrils in his eyes, just clouds above covered in a pale mist that didn’t obstruct his vision all that much.

He was in a bush, or at least partially in one. All things considered, the ground felt quite comfortable.

’Might as well be comfortable if I’m going to get rolled over and fucked.’

He sighed.

Honestly, Grey didn’t know if he was angry. He was still more in shock than anything else. He had been so sure just seconds ago that he had finally run into a decent person. Only for that to happen.

Part of him thought it was Karma. Not too long ago, he had been thinking about leaving her for dead because he couldn’t risk fighting Valdris again, and now this happened.

Did he have the obligation to kill himself because he could just to save someone he felt like he could? Maybe. But...

’This sucks.’

This world had thrown a lot of bullshit at him, but somehow this woman he hadn’t even known for all that long sucked the worst, and not even in the fun bukkake sort of way.

Grey pushed himself up, groaning a bit and then finding a tree to lean on. Just as he was about to mope some more, his heart skipped a beat.

’Shit! Canon Event! How long was I out?!’

He quickly pulled up his status screen and found that it was actually very early morning. He exhaled a breath of relief.

It would take quite a bit of time to get back to the city of Zone 234. He had had to venture quite far out to find the Wicked Forest Witch in the first place, so the return trip would be its own problem.

Luckily, his stats were a lot better now.

Grey thought about whether he should kill himself and try to avoid all the bullshit. All things considered, if he could trade one betrayal for the chance to take all of the Legendary Items for himself, it might be worth it.

Even if he didn’t use them personally, the sheer amount of money he would get from selling them would be off the charts.

—

[Checkpoint selection not available]

—

Grey frowned. He was about to wonder why he couldn’t set a new one when he cursed.

—

[Energy Reserve: 1.6/20.1]

—

When had his Energy Reserve become so low? Was it because he had swapped Prometheus out?

He did have to pay units in order to set a new checkpoint, and unfortunately he didn’t have much now. Though, he had more than enough items to sell to get himself a new Cyber Core and rectify that.

’I guess I’ll have to keep that in mind for the future...’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Grey shook his head. He had just been checking, anyway. He hadn’t been planning on going back. As for why...

With a movement of his mind, the Blood Witch Tome appeared in Grey’s hands.

If Amunet had been running a con, it wasn’t a very good one. Other than the Nexis Suit and the final treasure she stole, everything else had gone to Grey. Plus, she saved his life.

’How annoying...’

Grey felt like he was being pulled in two directions.

After a while, he stood up and huffed out a breath. First he would sell some stuff, then he would make a decision. With his current Stamina, plus the help of the holy bracelet, he should be able to get back to the city quickly enough with the time he had left.

He walked up to the doors of the outpost and pressed a palm to it.

—

[Safe Room Unavailable.]

-

[Apologies, weary traveller. The Safe Room is currently under maintenance. Please return in {12:37:03}]

—

The timer continued to tick down.

Grey went stiff.

Why was the Safe Room under maintenance? How could a Safe Room be under maintenance in the first place?

The tutorial he had gone through with much more detail recently did mention that this was possible, but usually it was the result of a special event or maybe the appearance of a territory boss.

There was no such thing here. There wasn’t anyone or anything as far as the eye could see. Granted, there was a forest line not too far away, but still.

’Someone has to be fucking with me, there’s no way.’

—

[Muskrat: You really got so distracted by tits that you got backstabbed so cleanly. At least bend over if you’re going to take it like that. A nice arch would do you well]

—

Grey almost laughed when he saw the message. That’s exactly what one of his boys would have said back home if they ever found out he got bum rushed like this. But Muskrat wasn’t "his boy". He was an annoyance who wouldn’t leave him alone.

"Yeah? Why don’t you show us your arch, then? Teach me your ways, backshot king."

—

[Muskrat: No problem, no problem. You see, if you want to be an expert meat taker, it’s important to know when to cut your losses and submit.]

—

Grey’s gaze flickered. What a weird way to say that, what the hell was this guy going on about? He was just making a joke, and Muskrat sounded like he really did get bent over for a living. He was acting like a true professional meat rider.

If said meat rider also treated it with existential importance and dread.

—

[Muskrat: For example, you should listen to me more. I’ll treat your tender ass just right.]

—

Grey stood in silence for a moment and then oddly asked a question that seemed unrelated.

"Alright know-it-all. What’s the real reason the Safe Room is locked, then?"

—

[Muskrat: Are you trying to get my account banned again? Fuck you.]

—

’Again...’ Grey’s eyes narrowed.

The first time Muskrat got banned it was because he warned him about the treasures he was leaving behind. Somehow, he managed to come back, probably because he paid a ridiculous sum.

A coincidence? Or was Grey really being fucked with right now?

He looked toward the doors of the Safe Room, large and steely, they looked like the curved doors of an elevator. And yet, they were entirely inaccessible.

’If I was a Producer who really didn’t like me, and I suddenly came back from an Instance I should have died from with a shit ton of items for sale... I would probably stop the only way I could have of liquidating those funds too...’