At some point in time, he developed a sudden headache. It felt as if something was forcefully trying to pull away from his head. The feeling was just so unexplainable. Although after some time, the pain was quick to go away.
&#... Scanning for core location ...&#
[ Core location has been detected ]
[ Core Location: At the center and heart of the sands of time ]
A map appeared on the screen through which Max's eyes ran. Looking at the map, he could see he still had a fairly long way to go before he would reach the core.
Yes, he did come across players as he moved on. The gameplay was frustrating for him as the rewind easily got him tired of a fight but he was willing to push further. Destroying the core might be the breakthrough he needed to the next level.
The areas he came across in the game location were also not left out. Sometimes, ticking clocks or clocks that had their hands still, not ticking forward nor backward, stood in the air. Harbingers Of Death surely had a world-building of shocking and strange features.
*. *. *.
Sleep?
No matter how much she tried, it wouldn't just come and sweep her into its embrace. Since it had refused to come, she sat up on her bed and looked through old pictures. There were many pictures of Max and Kayla when they were younger.
She smiled. How fast kids grow up.
She had been glancing through these photos for a long while when she heard the sound of a door creak. She didn't give a second thought to it neither did she pay it any much attention. As she took a guess, it must have been Kayla making her way to the bathroom. It was a habit of hers to do so at night.
Unperturbed she continued smiling and flipping through pictures. Soon, she had another sound. This time it wasn't the creaking sound from earlier instead it was a muffled noise, more like, a voice that was being suppressed against its will. Sure, Kayla had no health condition whatsoever so she couldn't be suffering from something asthma-related all of a sudden.
Without wasting any more time pondering if her daughter had health conditions or not, Mrs. Addison hurriedly slipped her feet into her fluffy slippers and began making her way in the direction the noise was coming from.
It happened to be Max's room. Her mind dived into a sea of thoughts. Could it be what she thinking?
She pushed her feet further and she was now in front of the door which was closed. She opened it up and walked into the room.
Her pupils dilated in shock at what her gaze met.
"Kayla!"
The sight was so unbelievable. Something she would have never imagined could happen in real life.
A black vine elongating from Max's head, someone who lay peacefully on the bed, reached out around Kayla's neck in a bid to strangle her to death.
Basking in her confused state, the poor woman tried to loosen the vine's grip on her daughter's neck but it was all in vain. Hurriedly resorting to another means, her eyes skimmed through the room and she was quick to spot a pair of scissors resting on the floor.
Swiftly grabbing onto them, she was finally able to cut through the vines. The vine had suddenly retired from trying to attack either of them and retracted back into Max's head linking itself also into the VR goggles. The few pieces that had fallen to the ground from the vine cut so far disappeared into thin air, to the surprise of both mother and daughter.
"Are you ok?" Mrs. Addison was quick to turn to her daughter, reaching out to her face and neck in case of any injuries. There was nothing but a bold red mark around Kayla's neck and it hurt from the way she winced in pain.
Kayla couldn't reply or even talk rudely to her mum since she had developed a sore throat.
"C'mon, I'll check what's wrong with Max later," Mrs. Addison said and helped her daughter out of the room.
*. *. *.
With the help of the map, he had finally come a long way. His steps had been governed by the diagrammatic representation of the game location's structure led him to a plot of land in the form of a clock.
This part of the place had no mud or soil instead the ground was replaced by a gigantic clock.
"Oh, my goodness. This place is mind-blowing!" Max was wowed at the mechanics the place had taken. It was just out of his imagination. Another strange effect was that this ground clock had several hands that ticked back and forth. The hands did nothing to affect or deter his movements as the top of the clock was coated in glass as one is supposed to be.
"So the core is supposed to be somewhere around here..." Max rubbed his chin as he walked forward. This ground clock was what the system had referred to as the center and heart of the sands of time.
Around a few more steps, the arrow on the map had come to a halt indicating that the core had been located and so did Max stop in response to the information the map had given.
There was a hole in this part of the ground clock that was the size of the foot of a giant. The hole was protected by thin lines of blue energy. Residing in the hole was a brown-coloured furry...it was a beast. The game location's core was a beast?
Max's feet drifted backward.
"What in the world does this freaking system want from me? Why is this game so challenging? If the core is a beast then I'll have to fight it. I thought it'd just be some random ball or crystal or something like that," He grumbled. He was currently at his weakest and the system was already bombarding him with tasks beyond his capacity. Even though it was meant to help him get stronger, he was tired. Well, he was born lazy.
Back at home he barely did any chores. Almost all the work was done by his mum and his sister. Wake up, eat, play games, watch movies and anime, read manga, and sleep. This continued in the same fashion for him and it had been his daily routine.
But in this world, things had changed for him.
Barely sleep, walk around aimlessly, fight, fight, and fight.
He didn't have a choice anyways.
He equipped the Beast Slayer. Monthenia now having full possession over the boy, walked forward and stared at the beast who seemed to be asleep.
"Hmph."
Lifting his sword with one hand, he aimed to bring it against the barrier protecting the beast. Before he could even implement his plans, his palm detached itself from his arm and dropped to the ground with the sword still in its grip.
Max shook his head and sighed at the bleeding cut.
"Do I need to place a signboard wherever I am that says, I hate disturbances?" He asked with a hint of anger in his tone.