Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 34: Turning the Golden Key in Empty Air! Entering the Forgotten Tale
But they will be going tomorrow.
Caelus did not plan on waiting that long. After all, there was a mandatory school tournament tomorrow for people that were not in Special Class, and he absolutely could not miss it. He wanted the premium rewards they handed out. Every year, the academy offered amazing loot, ranging from potent body-strengthening potions to rare reservoir fruits and valuable Profession Cards.
Hence, Caelus decided to set off today.
This Treasure Map was completely extraordinary. It was definitely hiding some sort of massive opportunity, and it was his very first time seeing a Domain item that had to be physically utilized in the real world. He could not wait to see what secrets it unlocked.
He briefly texted Albert about his sudden departure. After dressing himself in casual, inconspicuous clothes, he headed straight towards the bullet train station.
The trains in this current era could literally float. They operated entirely on advanced anti-gravity technology and could travel massive distances in a very short amount of time. The neighboring city was a thousand or so miles away, but it could easily be reached in less than an hour.
Boarding the train was incredibly easy. As an official student of Fortis-01 High, he could travel at a heavily discounted rate.
He boarded the sleek train, taking in the highly futuristic feeling the world held. There were not many passengers heading to Golden Eagle City today because the vast majority of players were completely busy clearing dungeons.
The player base across Fortis City was definitely under immense pressure after the massive World Quest announcement. But it did not affect him that much, largely because his absolute dominance was already firmly established in the early stages of development.
Time passed by rapidly. During the commute, Caelus simply relaxed and caught up on a drama series on his phone.
As soon as he stepped off the train at the station, he noticed several high-level players wearing heavy combat armor and carrying unsheathed weapons. They all had highly grim, murderous looks on their faces.
"Those damned Null players. If I see them, I will slaughter them myself," a heavily scarred man walking in front of him cursed loudly as Caelus walked past the group.
Hearing the specific term ’Null’, Caelus immediately understood why they all wore such dark expressions.
It was because of the Null Organization. It was a terrifyingly evil syndicate prominent in many locations across the world, including the Solaris Kingdom. They actively hunted and killed other players, performed gruesome rituals, and some rumors even stated that they could actively summon devils straight from hell. Of course, the general public treated those as baseless conspiracy theories.
But these Null Organization members were deeply sick people. Something was fundamentally wrong with their minds. They would always mercilessly hunt down promising players whenever they got the chance. The most prominent method of their hunting involved hiding deep inside public dungeons and ambushing weakened, exhausted parties.
No one knew to this day exactly why they, as fellow humans, actively hunted down players just like them. If it was just one or two people, it could easily be treated as a few psycho killers. But this was a massive, shadow organization with thousands of members actively coordinating to do the exact same thing. People immediately recognized the disturbing pattern and firmly believed that they were deranged devil worshippers who sacrificed players to gain dark, forbidden power.
Shaking those dark thoughts away, Caelus tightly gripped the Treasure Map key in his pocket. Hopefully, he would not run into a single Null member today.
...
Back in Fortis High. Inside a luxurious single-room dormitory, Lena sat silently in front of her vanity mirror with a uneasy look on her face.
On the side desk was her tablet, showing an active caller ID: Father.
"Yes, Father. I am absolutely certain. He has not managed to awaken any talent at all."
"Good." A deep, calculating voice came from the other side of the call. "That makes things much easier for us."
"Even if he dies in a random alley somewhere, nobody would turn their heads for a second look."
"What we have been doing is a highly serious crime punishable by the highest court of the Solaris Kingdom. We deliberately stole the lawful benefits of a son of a martyr for our own personal gain. If he ever spoke about this to someone with real authority, it would without a doubt seriously ruin us."
"Do not worry, Father. I have already contacted the underground people you mentioned. Now he just needs to step out of the school gates, and he will be permanently handled," Lena said softly, "Caelus will no longer be in the same world as us."
Lara cut the call. She stared at her image in the mirror, her expression slowly distorting unnaturally.
"Caelus... If you don’t die my life will be over. Don’t you like me? Do me a favor and die peacefully."
.... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
At the exact same time, somewhere on the other side of the world.
Inside a massive, high-tech office building, a lean man with blonde hair and piercing red eyes wore a deeply angered look on his handsome face.
"What do you mean, Vance? My sister chose a random nobody with a pathetic E-Rank Affinity?" The man was furious. He was Leonard Reign, the highly overprotective older brother to Sylvia Reign.
"That is absolutely correct, Young Heir Leonard," Vance spoke with a deep, fearful bow. "I tried to respectfully tell Miss Sylvia off, but she simply did not listen to reason."
"Huh? Tell her off?" Leonard’s expression instantly turned freezing cold. "Who the hell are you to tell her off? nobody tells off my little sister."
A terrifying, crushing pressure suddenly erupted from the blonde man. Vance violently flinched and collapsed heavily to the ground, desperately gasping for air.
"Apologies! I meant I humbly gave her suggestions," Vance sweated profusely from his forehead as he spoke in a trembling, terrified voice.
Leonard stared coldly down at the kneeling butler.
"I want to personally meet this man that my sister has chosen."
"I know her the best. She would never choose someone completely at random."
...
Golden Eagle City.
"So this is where the hidden entrance is?" Caelus looked around curiously.
Right now, he was standing entirely alone on the extreme outskirts of the Golden Eagle City.
Following the precise magical instructions of the map had led him directly to this exact spot. It was an isolated place with absolutely no people or buildings nearby, just a dense, overgrown forest.
[System: You have arrived at your destination.]
[System: Please turn the Key in the air.]
"Turn the key in the air?" Caelus raised a highly skeptical eyebrow, but he did exactly as instructed. He held the metallic key up and mimicked the exact motion of unlocking an invisible door.
Boom!
The instant he turned it, raw power violently erupted from the empty area. Dense ambient mana gathered rapidly from all directions as a massive, glowing fissure violently tore open the very fabric of reality. It generated a terrifying suction force that directly pulled Caelus off his feet without even letting him attempt to resist it.
Caelus only saw one final system message flash before his eyes before his mind went completely blank.
[System: You have entered the Ender’s Forgotten Tale.]
