The King's Mandate: Anomalous System

Chapter 72: What's Going On?!

I am back here again. Everything is the same as last time. The only difference is that day it was night, everything was dark and scary, and today it's day and still frightening. There is sun here though, everything looks beautiful, just like that night.

That day I was alone, and today Elena is here with me. Lily is here too...she was there last time too, but this time it feels different. Who would have thought that I would fall in love with her?

"Why are you looking at Lily?"

"..."

"I am here, too. Look at me too!"

[He is looking at me because I am cute]

"...."

"I am cute too!"

[I am cuter]

"....."

"I am the cutest."

"[Adas. Who is cute?]

"..."

"I am cute, right, Das?"

"...."

[Adas?]

"What's wrong, Das?"

"No...it's nothing!"

What should I do? I used both of my skills in the duel, and now they are on cool down. What if some monsters attack us?

[I am cuter!]

"I am cutest!"

And here is this thing going on. What am I supposed to answer? How am I supposed to respond?

I will just pretend that I didn't hear them.

"Hey Das, who is cuter?!"

[I am more cute, right, Adas?!]

Like I can ignore them when they are yelling in my ears.

"Das!"

[Answer!]

Well, I will just tell the truth.

"Lily is cuter."

"Wha--!"

[Yay. I am cuter than Elena!]

"Das!"

Don't look at me like that. You are the one who asked for it.

[Don't worry Elena, you are cute too]

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

"Elena is more like a...how do I say it. She is more beautiful rather than cute."

She is beautiful. In the game and the real world too. No one can beat her in beauty.

[Not fair, Adas!]

"What?"

[Call me beautiful too!]

"But you are cute."

She is pouting now. So cute!

I glanced at Elena. Her face was red. So beautiful!

"Stupid Das!"

"...."

Why?

"Didn't I say I will kiss you if you repeat cool things!"

"How does that count as cool?!"

"Everything you say is cool."

[That's right!]

"....."

Are they trying to embarrass me here? If yes, then they have succeeded.

After walking for a while, we reached where I encountered the wolves, but...

"No one is here."

Weird. I am pretty sure this is where the wolves were last time.

"Lily. Do you know anything?"

[No. They should be here]

"Maybe they went on a stroll?"

"....."

That might be possible? But from what I learned these days from programming and how a program works, they would do what they are programmed for. Even if they are something like advanced or whatever, they are nothing but a program in the end.

We walked further, this time cautiously.

The skeleton knight was in the hidden room behind the wall, so there is no way we are going there.

Now, what is left is the snails and the hybrid boss...Dragernix. The snails can also be avoided, but we have to defeat all the monsters anyway.

The reason I am trying to avoid the skeleton knight is that my skills are still on cooldown. Defeating him without my skills is impossible. The same goes for the snails; to break their shells, I need speed. I don't even want to think about the Dragernix.

All we can do is wait for the cooldown to end, but...

"Hey Elena, let's wait here for a while."

"Why?"

"My skills are on cooldown."

"So?"

"So I wouldn't be able to fight!"

"I am the one who will fight."

"....."

"You still haven't seen me in action, right?"

"I haven't."

"I have six skills. All of them are the types I can use in 1 vs. 1 battle."

"But the monsters are in a pack."

"You can hold off others, right?"

I don't have any skills to use!

We went to the cliff from which I fell, but the snails weren't there.

"What's going on?"

Did someone else come before us and transparent world 0?

That makes sense, but if someone did, then that means...

"We can't let our---"

[You are overthinking Adas]

"....."

How?

[If someone came here before us, then we would have seen them, not to mention even if someone cleared, it doesn't mean the monster will disappear]

"So why are there no monsters here?"

[I don't know, but the monsters won't disappear unless the boss is defeated, and if someone defeats the boss, that means the floor is already cleared. I don't think anyone can beat the boss that quickly]

"You are so smart, Lily!"

[Thanks, Elena]

"....."

They are close now. I am kind of jealous. Lily is even calling Elena by her real name while she still calls me Adas. Call me Das Dammit!

Did we reach the middle of the city...or the floor or the world? Nevermind that. So we reached the center of the town, and as expected, the boss was not there.

"What the hell is going on?"

Did someone really defeat the Boss? Who was it? Maybe it's different from what it was before, and the location of monsters has changed? There is still half of the city left to explore; perhaps the monsters are there?

"Hey Lily, what do you--"

I looked back to see Elena and Lily whispering to each other.

"What's going on?"

"It's nothing!"

"You are fidgeting. What are you hiding?"

"I am not hiding anything!"

"Lily?"

[Elena found the title from the ground]

"Title?"

[The badge, the 'Achiever' title]

"...."

Did she find the badge on the ground? This indeed is where I fought with the boss and dropped the badge here, but...

"Elena?"

"What?"

"Show me the badge."

"You can only look."

She showed me the badge; she didn't let me touch it!

It's the same. I am 100% sure this is the badge I dropped when the maintenance ended.

"Give me. It's mine."

"I found it! It's mine now!"

"I was the one who defeated the boss last time. Give me!"

"But I found it now!"

"It's only because I dropped it! Give it back!"

"It's your fault for dropping it! It's mine now!"

"Elena!"

"Das!"

"Give it to me!"

"It's mine now!"

[Why are you two fighting for a badge?]

"We are not fighting!"

[Then what are you doing?]

"This is called the boyfriend-girlfriend talk. We always do this when there is only one last slice or piece of any snack left."

[You both are weird]