Pete huffed and puffed as he rifled through the nearest garbage can. Finally, he found a set of rejected clothes.
Luckily, nobody else had seen his transformation, or he would already be dead. The last thing he needed was to be deemed a monster and stabbed with pitchforks.
Pete's gaming system had shut down, rendering him back to his despicable version. He felt weak, hungry, and thirsty all of a sudden. Crippling fear and anxiety grabbed him.
'So, this was how I always felt in my previous life?' the boy realized. The feeling seemed alien to him.
Pete had gotten acquainted with the superior body with legendary hero attributes to the point that he had taken it for granted. Deep down, he was still miserable.
The boy somehow managed to arrest his panic and organize his thoughts. It wasn't safe for him to be outside in the dark. What if another rogue attacked him? Or he encountered a low-level monster in the alleys? One bump in the night and his last life would be gone.
Pete's skills and abilities were gone. He was like a chicken walking around in a butcher's shop.
The trash clothes were not terrible. He put them on quickly and walked towards the inn. Fortunately, the gold coins he had earned in quests were still with him.
After a cautious walk down the lane, the inn was visible.
"Safety!' he almost exclaimed aloud.
He was close to entering the establishment when someone grabbed his arm.
Pete turned sharply, fearing that a rogue had found him.
"Give me a gold coin, son," a man in tattered clothes begged. "I need to feed my family." Was he a beggar?
"I don't have time for this shit!" Pete barked and shook his arm free. The last thing he wanted to do was to spend his meager wealth on charity.
[ Virtue -2 ]
'Oh,' Pete thought with alarm. 'The system prompts are still working! What does it mean? The Robinhood System was supposed to be shut down.'
The beggar sniggered in a raspy voice. Pete stared at the man in confusion. He gave off a very familiar vibe.
"Morrigan??"
"Finally, friend, you have recognized me," the beggar said with a smile. "You can spot your friends no matter what."
Pete scratched his head. "But.. But... You look different."
Morrigan nodded. He had not appeared as his usual scary self and had taken a human form. "My role in this world is such that I must take several shapes to mingle. Don't worry about that."
Pete was close to tears. "Please help me! My system has shut down. I look disgusting again! All my skills and abilities are gone! Even a low-level monster can snuff me out!"
Morrigan tch-tched, shaking his head. "You have been foolish, my friend."
"How? I have been completing quests effectively and getting stronger!"
"That is all well. But why have you been carrying out random virtuous acts? Moreover, you have strayed quite a bit from the main storyline."
Pete was more confused than ever. "What do you mean by the main storyline? I just went with quests that came to me. I don't understand this virtue thing." The boy eyes his surroundings in apprehension as if monsters were lurking in the dark.
Morrigan grinned at him knowingly. "Don't worry, my friend. Nothing can harm you while I am around." Pete sighed in relief. The entity looked at an alley wall as if it were a bottomless hole. "I will get to your immediate concerns later, my friend. First, I must share with you the significance of Ai's decisions."
Pipe wiped his sweaty face and listened to his benefactor with increased attention.
"Gods are very powerful entities, my friend. However, they must also follow the rules. These rules are set by the Yggdrasil, the eternal tree of life."
Morrigan took a pregnant pause and continued. "Whenever destiny beckons, a chosen one is summoned to relive the glories of legendary heroes of the past. These glories are fuel for Yggdrasil and keep it brimming with life. Your world has stopped creating heroes; hence, the tree of life reiterates history to feed its hunger."
Pete gulped. The backstory was too grand and overwhelming. Was Yggdrasil malignant or benevolent?
"The roster of legendary heroes is the granary where such glorious stories are kept safe. When a chosen one signs a contract through a god, one of the hero characters is allocated to them. They must follow the specific life to its completion, bringing similar or greater glories for the Yggdrasil."
"Wow," Pete finally spoke up. "Then what went wrong with Aisling?"
"Hmm," Morrigan mused. "She seems to have signed the entire roster to you."
"The entire roster? Do you mean I can be any hero I want? Robin Hood? King Arthur? Gilgamesh, and so on?"
"In essence, yes."
"But why did she do that?"
"The only possibility is that your world has run out of chosen ones. And you are the last surviving hero."
Pete gulped. The thought of it was both staggering and frightening. "What will happen if the tree of life does not get its fill of glories?" he asked nervously.
Morrigan sighed. "It will perish. Life as we know it will also cease to exist."
The boy shrugged. "You guys chose the wrong one, it seems. I mean, look at me. Do I appear like the last surviving hero?"
"I'm afraid the gods don't make the choices. We have our pre-set responsibilities. Yggdrasil finds the chosen ones in her mysterious ways."
"Alrighty!" Pete exclaimed. "I don't know what to do with this information."
The dark entity scratched his chin. "The contract you signed with Ai gave you access to the entire roster of legendary heroes. However, she tweaked it so that you would begin with no skills, and the difficulty would be overpowering. In other words, she set you up for failure. I wonder why she would do that."
"Ermm," Pete squeaked nervously. "Since you have been such a great help, I want to be honest with you. I have a confession to make."
"Yes?"
"I… uh… kind of… saw her naked. It was a mistake!"
Morrigan broke into laughter. He laughed for an entire minute before pausing.
"What?" the boy asked.
"Ai still dresses up as a pretty girl, even though she's a timeless old hag. You have given me something to laugh about for a century, my friend. Thank you."
"Umm… But... But that explains why she sabotaged my system, right?"
Morrigan shook his head with a chuckle. "Oh, no. That is not reason enough to jeopardize the fate of the universe. Hmm… There is another possibility."
"What?"
"The legendary hero council. They must have meddled with your past. Therefore, this version of yours is being set up for failure. So that the council may get the clearance to time travel and make you better suited for the hero attributes."
Pete shook his head. "You are wrinkling my brain. Time travel? Hero council? A version of me? I don't understand any of this." He was already feeling terrible with his rolled-back body while Morrigan piled on more nonsense at him.
The entity looked up and smiled. "You don't need to bother yourself about these issues."
The boy shrugged. "Fine. Then shall we get to my problems for a change? Why did the Robinhood System shut down at sunset?"
Morrigan nodded. "That is slightly complicated. When you struck a deal with me, your system was split between Ai's supervision and mine. The daytime, when the sun shines, belongs to Ai. The night belongs to me. You'll be restored when the sun rises in the morning."
Pete breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worrying without cause. What is your share of the system called? And why didn't it activate when Aisling's shut down?"
Morrigan scratched his stubbled chin. "Let's call my half: the Dark Robinhood System for now."
The boy smirked. "That sounds cool. But tell me more about it. How can I get it to work? Surely, I can't survive the evenings and nights without a system."
"You have not reached the checkpoint."
"Oh. Another checkpoint? Where is it?"
"I will appear to you by itself, my friend."
Pete rubbed his forehead. "This isn't helping, Morrigan. Can't you just cold boot it for me or something?"
The man shook his head. "I'm afraid that is not possible." His eyes shone with evil this time. "You have gathered too much virtue."
"Oh, shit! I knew it! Those virtue points are bad for me!"
"Yes, as long as you are virtuous, you cannot activate my system share. In fact, Ai must have planned this. If you somehow activated your abilities, you'd still be powerless in the evening and perish."
"That damn bitch!" If Pete were not so weak, he would have punched a wall. "Thanks, Morrigan… For looking out for me."
"No worries. Friends help each other in need. Now go to your inn. It's been a long day." Morrigan pointed to the building in front of them. "Remember. Stay on the main storyline. And virtue is bad for you."
Pete looked at the inn and turned back. "Can you tell me a way to contact you-"
Morrigan was already gone, vanished into thin air. "Damn! His disappearing act is getting on my nerves!"
***
ARMADILLO INN was a decent establishment from the looks of it. A small signboard hovered above the entrance with its name and charges painted against it.
Pete walked in through the double doors. On the right was a serving room, and on the left was a counter where food and ale were served. The serving room looked overcrowded.
The boy approached the innkeeper, bobbing like a hippo. Every step he took was painful. 'Just have to live through the night,' he assured himself.
"I want a room for the night, please…." Now that Pete was shorter, he had to look up at people's faces.
The innkeeper was a middle-aged man with a towel hanging over his shoulder. "New in town, huh?" he asked. "Do you have coin? Charges are one gold for the night."
Pete jangled his pockets and placed a coin on the table.
[ -1💰 ]
The innkeeper took the coin and was about to turn around when Pete's stomach rumbled loudly.
"You need food and drink too?"
"Yes!" The boy was starving. Without legendary hero attributes, his boy craved overeating.
"Tables are not free yet. I will send a boy to your room with a platter. Give me another coin."
[ -1💰 ]
Pete climbed the stairs to his room. In five minutes, a boy arrived with roasted meat and gin.
Pete ate and drank voraciously, like a rabid beast. So much hunger! He asked for a second round. It reminded him of how Bree gorged on her food. Perhaps the two were not so different after all.
Pete lost track of time. He passed out from weariness.