Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Once they arrived at Olivia’s place, Thalia stared at the room for a long time before she let out a breath.

”I should have expected as much, you’re a Harrow after all...”

”Hehe. Feel at home...” Olivia said as she walked right into the bathroom.

But Thalia was still staring at the place in awe. She hadn’t even taken a single step forward since she entered.

”Guild Master, how much do you think it costs to rent a place like this?”

”Guild Master? Are you talking to me?” Ark asked, surprised by her means of address.

Thalia glanced at him. ”Yes. Would you prefer I called you by your name instead?”

”Actually...” Ark smiled internally. ”Guild Master sounds just about right.” He laughed, almost getting carried away by his chuckles.

Then he cleared his throat. ”Oh, and as for your question...”

He walked over to the couch and plopped down. ”I don’t really know. Olivia doesn’t rent the place, she owns it...”

”O-owns it...?”

Ark nodded.

”I... I see...”

When Olivia was done with her bath, Thalia took a shower next, before the two of them got right into bed, drifting into sleep the moment their heads touched the blanket.

Ark envied them both. He knew that very soon he would experience the terrible excuse for sleep that skeletons had...

He considered switching to his human form. It had been more than twelve hours since he last changed. But he decided against it.

He was going to the adventurer’s guild when he woke up, and there was a chance he would run into the association.

The perfect poker face his skeleton form gave him was the exact thing he needed to lie. So although Ark wanted to switch back and indulge himself in a steaming bowl of chicken soup, he decided to control himself.

He got into the shower next, and raised the temperature of the magic heater to high before letting out a relaxed breath as the water washed his body.

As he stood there, Ark’s mind went back to his experience in the cave.

The story related to the hidden quest had not left his mind since then. This was the second time now that the system had narrated a story about a world’s collapse.

The first one was the goblin king’s world, and now, it was another world that had fallen once more.

There was one thing that Ark had noticed about both stories.

’Is it a coincidence that there was an external factor involved in both cases?’

The water pattered down on the floor, drowning the bathroom in a soothing noise.

Ark stared at the glittering tiles, watching his reflection in them.

’And if it was not a coincidence... What was there to learn from these stories? What was the tower trying to tell him?’

Ark contemplated for a long time, encapsulated in the heat of the bathroom, his mind working for an answer he would not get.

After a few minutes, he sighed and glanced at the side of the room where he saw a number of glass bottles neatly arranged on the shelf.

”Hmm?”

He temporarily stepped out of the bathroom and picked up one of them, reading through the label.

”Shampoo?”

The second one was labeled face gel, and the last one was freckle enhancer...?

”No wonder her freckles stand out so much.”

Ark glanced at the door for a few seconds before grabbing the shampoo and the face gel. He lavishly spread the shampoo over his bald head and scrubbed it in, enjoying the nice floral scent.

Next, he made use of the face gel, massaging it into his bone before letting out a sigh.

When his bones began to trap moisture, and steam had begun to accumulate in his head, Ark finally stepped out of the shower and walked to his couch where he lay down.

He shut off his glowing eyes, the world around him turning dark.

He did not have enough information about the tower for now, but perhaps soon, when he had explored more dungeons, and conquered more towers...

Maybe it would begin to make sense.

Ark woke up several hours later feeling the same way he had felt before sleeping, well, not exactly the same way, but there was not enough improvement to make the hours wasted worthwhile.

He walked towards the window and opened the curtains, only to discover that it was night time.

The moon hung brilliantly amongst a sea of silver, shimmering stars. Among these stars were also a number of golden and red ones, which transformed the sky to a breathtaking tapestry of colours.

The city was alive, dozens of individuals going about their business, unbothered by the night.

Since many people had important roles back in the real world, and families to attend to, they often logged in late at night.

As a result, there was practically no difference in player count between night and day.

One was even more inclined to believe that Eden was even more active at night. Still, Ark felt the city was a little too active...

Ark heard someone approach him, but said nothing until she was standing right by him, staring out the window as well.

”It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” he asked.

”...”

Thalia replied a second later. ”It is. It’s been a while since I last saw this place with a clear head...”

Ark nodded. ”Is there something going on?” He could see a number of carriages traversing the road.

Thalia cocked her head to the side. ”Hmm, what exactly do you mean?”

In the dark room, the soft glow of her violet eyes brought back memories about how they had found her. But other than that, up close, Ark got to appreciate their beauty.

”There seem to be a lot of people in town today...”

”Oh, that?” Thalia’s face brightened up. ”There is actually a festival happening tomorrow, I heard about it a few weeks back.”

’A festival?’ Ark mused. ’Why didn’t I think of that?’

Issen was a city just like any other city back on earth. It made sense that they would have holidays of their own...

”It is the pre-harvest festival,” Thalia continued her explanation.

”The natives normally gather around to eat, drink and fill the atmosphere with merriment. They believe that in doing so, the joy would drift into their field and fill their crops with joy.”

Thalia clasped her hands together and smiled.

”Joy?”

”Mmhm. In doing so, the crops would become far sweeter and more nutritious.”

”Uhun.” Ark gave her a dumbfounded stare. ”Sounds like a load of bull.”

”Guild Master! It is not right to make fun of other people’s beliefs. Especially not that you are a guild master...”

”What are you two doing?” Olivia asked in a sleepy tone as she got up from bed, wiping her eyes.

Her sleepwear was hanging loosely on her body, exposing her shoulders, and her orange hair was a mess of knots that covered nearly her entire face.

Ark pointed a finger at the window. ”Did you know there was a festival happening soon? Thalia said—”

”Don’t care.” Olivia sighed as she stood up. She let out a long yawn, then stretched her wings.

But just as she was about to take a step towards them, she suddenly collapsed, falling right on her knees.

”Nghhk—!”

Her face turned pale as she let out an audible groan.

”Olivia?!”

Thalia immediately slithered over to her in panic and held her shoulders. While Ark was by her side in the space of a few seconds.

Was she still in pain due to her wings? No, that didn’t make any sense. They had visited the hero’s statue shortly after they came back, she should not have had any more injuries.

Olivia’s face twisted with discomfort, and she hugged her stomach firmly, her eyes tightly closed.

Thalia shook her gently and asked in a worried tone. ”Olivia, what is the problem? Are you okay?”

Already, her arms were glowing softly as she poured healing magic into her body, but whatever the problem was, it was apparently immune to healing magic...