*The Archmage Tyrant’s research notes have had their contents appended. At the top of the new editions of ‘Nature of Hexes and their countermeasures’ sat a scribbled in message.

‘This paper does not apply to the Witch Tyrant. I would have thought that went without saying.’

*Internet sleuths have identified the man that has deleted his accounts. He has refused any and all comments despite being questioned by journalists and government bodies alike.

A loud humming emanating from Ryan’s body. A sphere appeared in his vision, invisible to everyone else but him. If he moved out of it, the skill would cancel. This was the way the Trial System ensured you weren’t using [Return to Earth] as a convenient escape tool.

His mind was stuck on a different issue, he ranted at Gamielle while he waited.

“How is that any different from lying? How has this not been recorded?”

“Because the Manager does it rarely. Most people think they misunderstood the Manager and got it wrong themselves. The others get caught by my mother.”

“Of course they do.”

“Don’t be so angry. You’re still a Destined with everything to gain. The Realm is a beautiful place, terrifying in places, but it truly is better than Earth in every way. Dinosaurs the size of mountains, floating islands large enough that when they collapse, they fall down with the force of a thousand nuclear warheads.”

“I know. I’ve seen the videos on Realmnet.”

Gamielle ignored him. “I can see what the Manager is going for… a path taken by too few. Even the Tyrants had to work together. You will have to forge it alone.”

Something in Gamielle’s tone annoyed him. She was staring up at the dirt ceiling like she could see his future through the dirt ceiling. Ryan was absolutely sick of being manipulated and pushed around. He swore things were going to change.

Gamielle’s gaze snapped back to him. Her lip twitched.

“Twelve hours until Zedart revives. Don’t expect aid.”

“I won’t.”

The timer ticked down

As the skill activated and pulled his body through an entire dimension, his last moments on Earth flashed through his eyes. Him diving down to save the orc’s life and getting shot instead. For a moment he wondered if Gamielle was wrong, maybe the Manager hadn’t mislead him.

And then he woke up.

Completely fine and not dead. The Manager had well and truly lied to him. Ryan raised the hospital gown over his chest and found no wound there. Now that was odd, even a low grade healing potion would leave at least a small mark.

Then he noticed someone sitting by the foot of his bed. Her brown locks covering her puffy face.

“Hey Mom.”

“Just five more minutes.” She grumbled.

Ryan smiled and put his hand over hers. His mother jerked awake, eyes wide like she was looking at a miracle.

“Oh my God, Ryan!”

His excited mother slammed him with an enormous hug. Then she jumped back, as if he were made of glass.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. You’re awake! A-are you okay?”

She’d been crying, her face puffy and red with no makeup on. Ryan felt a flash of anger at the Manager but he suppressed it. That wasn’t what was important now.

He hugged her back.

–

“I recommend you stay here for a little longer.”

“I feel fine, besides my insurance isn’t that good and I don’t want to risk increasing the costs.”

They’d been going back and forth until Ryan passed all the examinations with flying colors. He was worried that his Trial enhancements would kick in and completely blow his status. The last thing he needed was media attention. How the hell was he supposed to get his affairs in order in 12 hours? There was no damn time to rest.

The doctor tried to argue with him.

“It will cost more if it turns out-”

“My chest feels fine, the potion must have been decent.”

“That orc did not use a Trial-looted potion. Non standardized potions can be hazardous to normal constitutions. I cannot in good conscience let you go.”

An hour had already gone by before they had managed to see Dr. Sani. Another half hour for the tests and the ensuing argument. Two hours gone just like that.

His mother took the doctor’s side.

“Ryan, honey, you should listen to the doctor.”

When the doctor had realized he was adamant about leaving, she had excused herself. Then she brought in his mom. Now that was a foul play he almost approved of. He tried to play it off despite knowing the futility of arguing with either of them.

“You said it yourself doctor, the MRI scan showed no problems, please, Doctor Sani. Mom, I’d like to go home. I feel uncomfortable here.”

“Ryan, you will listen to Dr. Sani. Your dad’s on the speakerphone.”

Then his mom brought out her own backup. Great.

“Son, you will listen to the doctor. Don’t worry about the hospital costs. If the insurance doesn’t pay we’ll raise hell.”

Damned caring parents, they were ruining everything.

Fine, plan B it is. Sorry, Mom.

“Do you have my phone? I need to tell my friends I’m okay.”

–

Two hours and another strong hug later, his two friends from Manaburger stood by his bed. Both Clara and Milock had clearly been worried sick. Ryan relaxed as they brought in what he’d asked for.

“Thanks, guys, you two are lifesavers.”

“Oh my gosh Ryan, I can’t believe you’re okay, the doctor said they couldn’t find anything wrong with you and said sometimes crafted healing potions actually don’t work that well on ordinary humans, they were arguing with the orc guy and had said they cut you open to drain some of the remaining amount. Things were crazy and-”

“Do you have his number?” Ryan interrupted her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on NovelBin. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Clara had said all of that in one breath, and probably would have continued until she passed out. He swore he’d almost seen it happen once. Clara took another deep breath.

“Oh yeah, he wanted to know when you woke up. I think he felt bad that it all happened?”

Good old friendly Clara, the second sentence she spoke to anyone was to ask if they wanted to add each other on social media..

“Are you really okay?” Milock asked him.

He grinned. “I’m better than ever, hey Clara could I get the orc’s number?”

Clara frowned at the sudden request, then rolled her eyes. “Of course, the first thing when you come back from a coma is to want to continue to talk to the great ex-adventurer. Here, his name’s Barry by the way.”

“I just wanted to thank him for the healing potion.” Ryan lied. “Anyway, enough about me. How are you guys doing?”

That was probably the worst attempt at steering the conversation away from himself that he had ever tried. In his defense, he hated lying to his friends.

Thankfully, Clara took the bait. A bubbly [Mage] that was secretly the daughter of a Tyrant she was not.

“Oh my gosh, Edward’s expecting us to go back to work tomorrow. The work group chat’s going crazy. Lots of people are quitting, and it looks like they’re going to have to hire a temp crew. But who’s going to want to work there now? Eve was on the news talking about that homeless guy waving a gun a few months back.”

Ryan winced. The shooting was on the local news? Well, that would make it easier for Gamielle if she wanted to identify him. Also, Eve? The goth girl who talked to nobody went on the news?

He shook his head. “What about you guys, you’re all quitting right?”

The three of them had become close friends, three lost young adults who were just trying to figure out what they wanted to do. Ryan wasn’t sure if he could go back to working at Manaburger without them.

Wait, going back to work at Manaburger? Was he out of his mind?

Milock responded first. “Yeah, I think that’s a wake-up call for me to go back to college. Try programming again, you know?”

Clara took a second. “I’ve had a new job lined up for ages,” she bit her lip. “My folks haven’t contacted me yet. They might not have seen the news.”

Ryan didn’t say anything, that wasn’t a minefield he could help navigate right now. He sighed.

“Is it weird I kind of want to go back to work?”

Both Milock and Clara looked at him.

“Uh, yea,” Clara started. “That place was horrible, remember when Ed yelled at Eve when he thought she was slacking off, and it turned out she was cleaning poop from the walls without mentioning it to anyone?”

Milock laughed. “Yeah, or when we made the idiot newbie clean the frozen patties?”

“Hah, wait! That was me!” Clara said.

“And Ryan when he first started and came up with a ridiculous plan to sneak out some patties?” Milock teased, having the most dirt on them all. They all laughed.

When the laughter died down, Ryan felt a lot better.

“Hey guys, can I ask for a favor?”

–

The operation began with Clara throwing a barrage of words at Mrs Robinson.

“Hello Mrs Robinson! It’s so good to see you again. Would you like to exchange Earthnet profiles? It might be helpful if you’re not here and we’re here and something happens and we need to contact you. If you don’t have one, we can just exchange phone numbers.”

Ryan’s mother had been waiting outside. She had left to let the trio of friends chat without her presence. Clara had gone out as bait, and his mother took it hook, line and sinker. She had been in an elated mood and saw a pretty girl who clearly cared for her son.

They could hear the conversation from inside the room. Clara was, honestly, unnervingly good at acting. There was no difference between the way she talked to him and the way she talked when she tried to distract his mother. He narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. He was starting to get paranoid of everyone now.

“Oh my gosh, Ryan looks so cute swinging that stick around.”

His eye twitched, Clara was squealing excitedly as she was being shown one of his childhood videos. Okay, she definitely wasn’t acting.

“Are you sure about this?” Milock asked. “Your mom is going to kill us when she finds out.”

Milock, who knew his mother better than Clara, was worried, as he should be. His mother was terrifying when angered. Ryan sighed. It was unfortunate, but there wasn’t much he could do.

“Yeah, I’ll explain later.”

He changed into some of Milock’s clothes. He couldn’t ask for his regular clothes from the doctor or his mom. That would have put them on alert. The room he was in had two entrances. They weren’t too far away from each other, so his mother could easily spot him if he’d left.

Milock stepped outside to talk to his mom as both he and Clara took turns to completely distract his mother.

He stepped out of the other entrance and briskly followed the line to the hospital reception. They couldn’t legally stop him if he wanted to check out. He didn’t even need to be obnoxious, they just took one look at his serious face and let him sign out.

He dialed the number Clara had given him.

“Who is this?.”

“Hi Barry, this is Ryan, the guy you used a crappy healing potion on.”

“That wasn’t a crappy healing potion.” Barry paused. “Well, congratulations, anyway.”

The tone indicated that Barry wasn’t congratulating him on his recovery. Ryan had guessed the ex-adventurer might have suspected something.

“Yeah, I owe you one. Can we talk?”

“I don’t meet with strangers, I won’t talk about it. If you’re trying to keep a low profile, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Look, something went wrong and I need help.”

Ryan was trying not to be explicit over the phone. He just hadn’t expected Barry to be so paranoid about meeting him.

“And why should I believe you?”

“I’m not sure why you’re so paranoid, if it makes you feel better, we can meet in public.”

Silence.

Did the orc think that he would try to kill the orc for knowing he was a Destined? He checked his phone, the call was still ongoing. Ryan began to think. I don’t have time for this. Barry was originally human. A [Berserker], one in control, one that cared enough to use a decent healing potion on a stranger that had just gotten shot. That was his in.

“Look, believe it or not, I need some serious help. Are you going to leave a kid that’s in danger to fend for themselves?”

The call disconnected, and he received a text with an address.

–

Ryan waited by Milock’s car as he thought his plan over. He was in well over his head, he needed help from someone, and Barry was the obvious choice. Someone from the actual war. The last thing the orc had mentioned to him was that he had lost his life to the Tyrants.

He gritted his teeth, still unable to get rid of the idea that he was following a path that the Manager had laid out for him.

Milock was running at him, sprinting as if a monster was chasing him. Ryan tensed and reached for a throwing knife… that he didn’t have.

The car unlocked.

“Get in the car!”

Milock jumped in after Ryan and started the car.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was trying to walk outside then I heard screaming from your mom. Clara stayed behind to play defense.”

“Oh shit, rest in peace.”

“Yeah, you owe her big time.”

“I swear to not let her sacrifice be in vain.” Ryan said solemnly.

Despite the sprinting, Milock was backing out carefully. He was looking behind him while reversing and turned to look at him.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Well, fair enough, I’m a Destined now.”

“You’re a what?!”

Out of anyone, his friend Milock deserved to know. He had always had his back, and Ryan did have to tell someone.

Arguably, what he should have done was wait until Milock wasn’t driving a one tonne vehicle.

Milock tried to slam the brakes, but pressed down on the accelerator instead. The car speeding backwards before his friend could correct the mistake. He braked far too late, as they rear-ended the car parked behind them. Ryan turned around eyes wide open.

“Oh, fuck, Milo, that’s a Lexus!”

“Oh no, that’s a new Lexus. Oh shitshitshitshit.”

They stared for a second, then Ryan got out of the car as Milock tried to figure out what exactly he should be reacting to more.

“It actually doesn’t look too bad.” Ryan said. “You got a pen and paper? We should leave your contact details for insurance.”

That was when a very distant, yet somehow very audible voice yelled out to him.

“Ryan Robinson! Where do you think you’re going!? YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE MISTER!”

Mrs. Robinson had Clara’s ear pinched in her hand, dragging the poor girl along as she squealed in pain.

“Oh god.” Ryan jumped back into the car. “Drive now!”

“Dude, maybe we should-”

“I’ll explain when you’re not driving, go now!”

Barry’s house was fifteen minutes away. Ryan was hoping for no more surprises as he tried to get his thoughts in order. Something he was finding hard to do while Milock kept pelting him with questions.

The second time Milock stopped the car and tried to get an explanation out of him, he summoned his soulsword. The glittering blade appearing in thin air seemed to put an end to most of the doubt.

“No, I didn’t dream it, yes it’s a soulweapon and yes you need to keep quiet about everything. I’ll explain more when we’re there. Please Milo just give me some time to think.”

“Damn, alright.”

The peace lasted for only a minute.

“What class did you pick? Did you choose to stay human?”

Ryan smiled and shook his head in exasperation. “Yeah I chose to stay human, elves are too fragile against the first boss and I picked [Rogue]. The standard Destined build you know.”

“Bread and butter build.” Milock nodded sagely. “Make the bread early then still have enough to go for the butter later.”

“Well, it’s all fucked now, there’s zero chance of me being able to stick with a bread and butter build. That’s why I wanted to meet someone that might know more. There’s too much I don’t know and I need help.”

Milock was trying very hard not to stare at the enchanted soulweapon while he drove.

“Did you steal it?”

“No, I, I’ll explain later. I don’t know how much I can say…”

Ryan trailed off as they pulled over at the address. In all the excitement he had forgotten about a few things. Barry the ex eighth realm adventurer had struggled to pay for his Manaburger meal. Yet somehow the orc had a custom healing potion to heal Ryan with. Two very conflicting thoughts collided in his head as they stopped in a neighborhood with cracked pavement, run down houses and disfigured lawns.

It wasn’t a place where an ex-adventurer should’ve been staying. Actually, it wasn’t a place anyone should be staying at.

7 hours 40 minutes left until he was blacklisted.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep