A Chance at Life

Evil Dragon Bar was far livelier in the evening than during the day.

After a hard day's work, many salaried workers came to Evil Dragon Bar for a drink, some bragging, and relief from the pressure of their jobs.

Swain had none of a proprietor's airs. Holding a bottle of Nibos, he was laughing and chatting loudly with several patrons in a corner. Though he had already downed four bottles of strong liquor in a row, Swain showed no sign of drunkenness—one favored by the sea would not be numbed by alcohol. His drunkenness was merely an act.

Suddenly, Swain's intuition was stirred.

He cracked his knuckles and discreetly activated his Spirit Vision, only to find Melvin's overwhelmingly oppressive messenger perched on the table before him.

Swain instinctively started to bow to the terrifying messenger, then remembered that he was drinking with others and froze mid-motion. Fortunately, the strange bird paid no attention to him. It merely opened its long, pointed beak and spat out a translucent skull.

The skull spirit's jaw quivered, and a familiar voice rang out. "Megose, who carries the True Creator's child, and her protector, suspected to be Mr. A, have appeared in the East Borough..."

Melvin's voice? He had found Mr. A and Megose? So quickly?

Swain was somewhat surprised. After hearing the message, he instinctively looked around and found the patrons acting as they always did. It seemed that only he could hear those words.

The two spirits dissipated before him, and Swain's expression grew solemn. He set down the bottle, hurried into a billiards room, grabbed two subordinates, and quietly instructed them to immediately inform the Mandated Punishers and the other churches' Beyonder teams of Megose's whereabouts.

As for Swain himself, he rushed out of Evil Dragon Bar without hesitation.

Although he had retired, he was still one of the Mandated Punishers.

Moreover, while hunting Megose, he also wanted to try finding the injured Melvin, lest other official Beyonders mistake him for a cultist and shoot him dead.

In that instant, Aster felt that time was both unbearably long and fleetingly short.

He had thought that when he was near death, he would either cry horribly or give a carefree smile. Yet he had never expected to face death so calmly, as though he had died countless times before and was thoroughly accustomed to it.

Death drew ever closer, and vitality drained from his body. Yet Aster still showed no reaction, as if even his desire to live had vanished.

Just then, he suddenly heard a voice by his ear, speaking in Ancient Hermes. "Your injuries are severe. Death is imminent."

Aster recognized the owner of the voice. His lips moved faintly as he uttered in a weak voice, "Alidibus...?"

"You can enter a deeper contract with me," Alidibus said without denying it. "You can gain more from me, and I will take your death."

"I agree..." Aster's body answered faster than his mind. Come to think of it, he was about to die anyway. What was there that he could not give up?

A faint crackling sound came from beside his ear. He could tell that it was the sound of Underworld Fire burning the contract.

Then, in what seemed like a single instant yet also several hours, Aster was astonished to feel warmth flood into his limbs. His numb arms, which had nearly lost all sensation, regained their strength and pushed him upright from the ground. His icy legs once more possessed the warmth of a living person.

He opened his eyes and stared at his hands in astonishment—if bloodstains had not remained on them, he would almost have believed that he had never been injured, that the so-called "discovery of Megose and severe injuries suffered from glimpsing the divine child" had merely been a dream created by a Beyonder of the Darkness Pathway.

Aster touched his eyes through his eyelids. The pain had completely vanished, and his vision was clearer than ever.

"What kind of ability is this... It's so incredible..." Aster exclaimed as he touched his arms. The pain from his wounds had vanished as well, making him wonder whether he was still in the game and had simply respawned after dying.

When he looked at Alidibus again, the being suspected to be an Ancient Phoenix was still floating in midair, his wings as tattered as ever. Saving Aster just now seemed to have been no more effort than lifting a hand.

Such power deeply shook Aster. He bent at the waist and bowed to this great being. "Thank you for your gift. Praise your existence... Is there anything I can do for you?"

After saying that, Aster instinctively found it a little strange: who exactly was whose messenger?

"You will understand in the future." Alidibus flapped his wings. "Find another messenger. The original messenger contract between us has been replaced by the new contract."

At that moment, Aster's first thought was not the contents of the contract, but rather, Now that the messenger contract is gone, do all those messenger-summoning whistles I commissioned from Artisan Roland need to be redone...?

Alidibus flapped his wings and vanished from the spot. Aster brushed the mud and blood from his trousers, then touched his head and discovered that the headache caused by his damaged spirit body had vanished without a trace.

"It's practically a miracle... I've never heard of an ability like this. Is it an NPC-exclusive skill...?" Without spending much time cleaning himself up, Aster quickly headed toward the city.

Until Mr. A was captured or driven out of Tingen, he could not guarantee his own safety.

Alidibus had only restored Aster's body and spirit body to their original condition; he could not replenish the spirituality Aster had expended. Pinching his throbbing temples, which had begun to ache because his blue bar was empty, Aster used his last bit of spirituality to summon an Anti-Divination undead spirit and conceal himself. Though Aster guessed that, as a player, he possessed Anti-Divination and anti-prophecy traits, that was ultimately only a logical assumption. He would not treat speculation without solid proof as fact.

If he did not possess such traits and failed to use Anti-Divination, he would be in trouble if someone came looking for him.

Worried that Aurora Order lookouts who had noticed his appearance might lead Mr. A to him, Aster removed his wig, set it alight with spiritual flames, and took a roundabout route into Tingen City's West Borough.

After finishing combat practice, Klein returned home, ate dinner, and reviewed the Beyonder knowledge he had learned during the day at his desk.

Just then, he suddenly felt his intuition stir.

"What is that..." Klein raised his head, slightly closed his eyes, and discovered that the source of the strange sensation was outside the window.

He stood up and pulled the curtains open a crack, peering outside through the gap. To his surprise, he saw a familiar figure passing below his home.

The man in a short black coat had his head slightly lowered and was walking in a hurry. Klein narrowed his eyes and found half of the man's profile somewhat familiar.

That face was—Melvin?! No, his hair... How had it changed from long black hair to short brown hair...? Klein was first startled, then suspected that he had mistaken him for someone else.

The man's hair color felt familiar, but Klein could not recall why at the moment.

Perhaps the man's intuition had been stirred by Klein's observation, for he suddenly raised his head and looked toward the window of Klein's room with a sharp gaze.

Fortunately, Klein had not fully opened the curtains, so he was not discovered.

"Wait... What am I afraid of? This is my home!" After hiding behind the curtains for several seconds, Klein suddenly realized that he had no reason to be afraid at all. He angrily pulled open the curtains, but the man who resembled Melvin had already disappeared completely.

"That guy was ninety-nine percent Melvin..." Klein frowned as he recalled what he had seen in that instant. He knew very well that if someone looked like Melvin and could stir his spiritual intuition, then he was most likely Melvin himself.

One reason Klein could not be entirely certain was that although the man looked very much like Melvin, his facial features had clearly been much softer.

Moreover, in the instant he turned his head, Klein had clearly seen his right eye.

His right eye was bronze-colored.

That gaze just now... Could it have been an Aurora Order lookout?

Aster felt a lingering fear.

His current condition was not suitable for battle. To be safe, Aster quickened his pace. After circling around the West Borough a few times, he made his way to Golden Sycamore Borough, found a new inn, and rented a new room under a false identity.

After returning to his room, he did as usual: released several undead spirits to stand guard, then quickly lay down on the bed and used meditation techniques to fall asleep and replenish his spirituality.

To be honest, he slept very uneasily that night, constantly dreaming that Mr. A found him and came to kill him.

The next day, Aster got up early. Only after confirming that he was temporarily safe did he cautiously leave the inn in the West Borough.

He hailed a horse-drawn carriage by the roadside, controlled his voice, and said hoarsely, "Evil Dragon Bar."

He decided to first find Swain and learn about the Mandated Punishers' actions from the previous day.

Leaning back against the carriage seat, Aster opened his character panel.

He had fled too hurriedly yesterday and had not had time to properly study the new contract he had made with Alidibus. Aster was actually somewhat apprehensive, afraid that he had signed some kind of contract selling himself away. But on second thought, he had been someone about to die in the first place. Having recovered his life was already enough to satisfy him.

Besides, Alidibus did not look like some unknown white, long-eared creature that loved screwing people over...

His gaze quickly swept over the character panel, and Aster discovered in surprise that his level had somehow risen to Level 30. Perhaps it was a benefit of forming a contract with Alidibus, or perhaps walking through the forest while blind by communicating with natural spirits had greatly aligned with the Spirit Medium's acting principles. But none of that mattered anymore. What mattered was that he could now advance to Spirit Guide!