New Year, New World, New Game

Miles tried to get up, but his limbs would not obey him.

"What… The…" Miles breathed heavily, trying to stay as calm as he could.

The system window appeared in front of him, followed by its still unexpected voice:

[The requirements for the equipment of – Scythe of the ??? – have not been met, yet]

[The weapon will drain the player's life in every attempt to do so before the requirements are met]

"Dumb… Ass…" Miles chuckled, weak and bitter.

Getting excited and trying to wield an unknown weapon with such a suspicious name was not the smartest move. Swallowing a curse, Miles thought for a moment and recalled the parchment on which Tarhut's last will was written.

… I am sure that you will find them of use in time.

"In time…" He let out a defeated sigh. "I suppose now is not the time, yet, then…"

Without touching the scythe, Miles sent it back to his inventory, opening the items' information instead, letting the curiosity as to what the ??? was supposed to mean resurface.

[Scythe of the ???]

[Category: Weapon]

[Item description: After the war against the Red Queen, ??? helped the girl take the land's throne, and for a while, the country became prosperous, happy, and wealthy.

However, everything has to come to an end, and so did the girl's reign, with time and death.

Upon a final, fatal vow, the ??? took upon himself to gather the lost powers scattered across the land, and finally became powerful enough to bring back the times gone by, but at what cost, as ??? lost his titles and powers, dying at the greedy thirst of his own weapon, never to find that, which had been lost, ever again…]

Tilting his head, Miles frowned at the scythe's description.

"No, not enigmatic at all…" A smile crept up on his face, as he felt some relief dawning on him that, at least, the weapon might have something to do with his quest, after all. "Let's leave it aside for the time being, and now… To that teapot thing."

[Ether Teapot]

[Category: Tool]

"A tool, same as the key, perhaps?" He kept reading.

[Item Description: The ??? loved having tea with the country's citizens. So, after his death, his teapot remained, carrying some of the ???'s powers.

The teapot's contents have the power to achieve random effects on the player. Some good, some bad. Some even miraculous.]

[The conditions for constant use of the item have not been met]

[Cooldown time: 365 days]

"Not like the key, it seems…" Miles scratched his chin. "Should I try it?"

His heart felt weak in his chest, and since the 'game' did not have a feature that allowed him to check on how much HP he had left, Miles only knew that he was one step away from death's door. However, it was still far before noon, so he had enough time to not only rest but to dig his own grave, in case drinking the miraculous tea ended up going wrong.

"No!" Miles greeted his teeth. "Not this time! I'm close to my goal, and I refuse to die such a shitty death right now that I'm so close!"

His heart was tight on his chest, though, fear gripping his guts like a hook. It did not matter how brave his words sounded, without anyone to hear them but Miles himself and the woods around him. So, he summoned the teapot and, even looking at it made him feel calmer, for some reason.

The teapot gleamed with an almost ethereal elegance, its crystal-clear glass housing a swirling tempest of colors that seemed alive. Hues of sapphire, emerald, amber, and amethyst danced within the steaming liquid, each shift and ripple creating a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of light and shadow.

The translucent dome-shaped lid perched on top like a delicate crown, its handle a smooth orb that caught and refracted light into tiny rainbows.

From the slender, curving spout, a fine tendril of steam curled into the air, carrying with it the faintest hint of an exotic aroma — both familiar and entirely alien.

The handle, sleek and inviting, seemed to radiate warmth, as calling Miles to lift it and pour a cup of the mysterious elixir within.

Conveniently, it came with a teacup made of the same etheric material, refracting the sunlight into a myriad of colors just like the teapot did.

Even though the liquid inside the pot was steaming hot, the teapot itself was soothing to the touch, making Miles immediately pour some of it into the cup.

The tempest of colors swirled into the cup like a dazzling kaleidoscope that made Miles feel dizzy for a second. He closed his eyes shut as he brought the cup to his lips, the part of the item description that told about bad random effects still etched into his mind, but soon after he took the first sip, his eyes opened wide, and he swallowed everything at once.

The liquid tasted like cinnamon, orange, mint, and apple cider, but it was not bad. Instead, it felt like those flavors were a perfect mix of each other, but it was not the flavor that made Miles' eyes widen.

[HP fully restored]

[+01 to all stats]

[Temporary resistance to Soul Damage]

It was a lot for Miles to take in, so he simply got up, stretched, and mulled over what a wonderful item that teapot was, even though he could only use it once a year before meeting whatever requirements it needed for its constant use.

After doing a light series of exercises, and noticing that not only his HP had been restored and his stats had increased, but also all the soreness in his muscles had vanished like it had never been there, Miles nodded to the teapot, sending it back to his inventory, and opened the hidden quest information.

[Hidden Quest: Have you seen my hat?]

[Quest description: Tricking Fate is a dangerous game that can only be won by paying the ultimate price, and for him, it was parting ways with his most trusted and loved hat.

Now, the only one who knows where the Other Forces keep the hat, is kept under lock and key. Only someone who had seen it once can free it and follow it to where the hat is kept.]

[Rewards: EXP; ???; ???]

Miles had felt curious about what the rewards were, back when he first received the quest. But now, he wanted to complete it more than ever, although not just because of its enigmatic rewards.

After reading the descriptions of the items he received from the [Guardian's Will], the quest became more and more mysterious, and Miles' curiosity burned like wildfire in his heart. He wanted to know more.

He needed to know more.

Because there was no way that the quest was actually related to whatever objective the players had to accomplish by playing and surviving through The Glitch, right?

And what was that about him having seen the prisoner once?

It felt like there was more to it than met the eye, and even though it was just a gut feeling, Miles was confident in it.

After he opened the quest map, his lips turned up in a wild grin, as the forest popped up in a hologram in front of him, with a blue dot blinking somewhere behind him.

Still grinning, Miles closed the map and turned around.

He knew exactly where to go next.