In the Resting Grounds, Felix was looking all around himself, confused. He was up on his feet and, if he was being honest, he was... pretty shaken up. Where the hell was Kim? The Blank said they'd be put in a party together again after the Fifth Floor ended, right? Right?! So where was he? He... didn't know. Felix let out a frustrated grunt, punching a nearby pillar as he walked past it, and to the huge doors that rested idly on the wall.
"Waiting for Kim... ain't gonna get me anywhere, is it?"
He pushed the doors open with ease this time, almost pushing them off their hinges as he walked through the white void that sat behind them. Felix's expression... was sour. He looked pissed, annoyed. Probably because he was. He kept going through the white void, before he suddenly stopped – but not because he wanted to. He got stopped.
A huge Blank opened up in front of him, to his surprise, a blue one. It was the same as that wall back on the First Floor. Felix looked up at it, his expression still emotionless, aside the obvious annoyment.
[Team partner {Kim Jaehyun} is currently unavailable. Do you still wish to proceed to the next Floor?]
"Shut it, you asshole."
Felix reached into the air, opening up his inventory Blank and pulling out a crimson sword made of blood from inside it. He cut the Blank in front of him in half before turning the blade into a sphere again and throwing it back in his inventory, walking past the blue Blank wall – which was now cut in two – as it started leaning over and falling, shattering on the floor behind him.
"I'm done following your rules, God."
As he finally walked past the white void, his shoe hit a grassy field. Felix then fully stepped out of the void, with it closing behind him, leaving him alone in this grand field. Felix sighs, looking around him with his hands placed on his hips. Somewhere in the distance, he manages to spot a village hidden away in a small forest.
He raised his hand while muttering "{Clear Vision.}" then puts it above his eyes to block the sun. Felix then squints, his eyes managing to zoom in on the village, to which he lets out a small "Oooh..." followed by him removing his hand from his face. He then starts walking in that direction, not even bothering to check the two Blanks to his side, introducing the Floor's name and whatever else – if he was being honest, he didn't really care.
"So it does that too, huh... Zooming in... Talk about overpowered, sheesh."
As Felix walks through the field, bored, he soon enters the forest in which the village resides. And as he does, he pauses – he frantically looks around himself, listening carefully... but he can't see anyone. Though that hardly matters – he knows someone, something is here. Just as he lets out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders, it was just as he thought – something jumps out of the tree next to him with a dagger in its hand, aiming straight for Felix's throat. He lets out a small, amused "Pfft." and catches his attacker by the throat, then staring them in the eye. He glares at it, at the goblin, as he smirks, then disarms it by slapping the knife away from its hands.
"If you're not to the sides, it's obvious you're above me, duuumbass."
And, well, today is a wonderful, sunny day. In the village hidden away in the small forest, a young woman just so happens to wake up and stretch, yawning. Her face and body are all covered in natural tattoos she's had since birth, and her teeth are sharper than most. Her white, long hair fluttered all around her, because of the wind coming from her open window, only getting slightly blocked by the red horns on her head. Her red skin is basically sparkling because of the sunlight.
She gets up, her purple eyes glancing around as she walks up to the window, as she goes to close it with a small sigh. As she reaches for it, she can hear the screech of a small creature somewhere in the distance, yelling out in what seems to be pain, and she can't help but let out yet another sigh as she slams the window closed and walks out her room's door.
"Damned goblins... They're getting way too close to the village nowadays, ain't they..."
As she makes her way past the living room, she sees her dad sitting idly on the sofa – their house wasn't that big, even though her dad was the village chief. He's never wanted that much luxury, and she wasn't gonna complain as long as she had a roof over her head. She lets out a small "Morning, pops." as she walks past, but her dad doesn't respond. Huh, weird... He likes looking out the window while sipping on his usual drinks, sure, but he's not mute, now is he?
She stops, eyebrow raised, turning back and sticking her head through the door as she asks, "Uh, dad? You alright?"
She waits... and waits... but no response comes through. What, is he sleeping or something? Well, no, his snoring is as loud as a goblin, and the house is dead quiet right now. She lets out an "Uhh?" then fully enters the room. She starts walking towards her dad, speaking as she does, "C'mon, dad, you're not funny... You never are, your jokes stink. What, you mad at me? Eh?"
As the woman reaches him, she suddenly pulls the blanket that was covering him to the side, yelling out as she does, "Wakey, wakey!"
The oni suddenly paused. She dropped the blanket, being left speechless. She looked down at her motionless dad, his face somehow even paler than hers. The village chief, her dad... was dead. There was a huge, scarlet stain on his chest, straight on his heart. He's been murdered. The woman just couldn't believe her eyes, as she dropped to her knees and took her father's face in her palms, panicking. She spoke up, her voice quiet and shaky, "Da— Dad...? Dad...! Hey... I said hey...!"
A huge sigh escapes Felix's mouth as he takes his sword out of the goblin's head, annoyed and with a disgusted look on his face. He throws the body to the side, before molding the blade back into a ball, throwing it in his inventory again as he speaks, slightly uneasy, "That makes seven. Fuck, you guys are pissing me off..." before he continued walking. He was getting closer and closer to the village, and he was finally pushing away the last branches left in his face before his foot hit a small road made of stone – Felix has reached the village.
"Well... I'm here, sure, but..."
Felix looked around, but the whole village was... absolutely empty. Not one person on the streets. What the hell...? He sighed, then he started walking through the village. And, now that he was here, it was actually a lot bigger than he would've expected. They had a lot of stuff too – a blacksmith, some bakeries, shops... And this just on the street he was on. The village was packed.
"That's cool and all, yeah, but it's all closed down and empty... And what's with the gloomy atmosphere? Jeez, where am I, at a funeral?"
As he turned a corner, he finally found where everybody went, mostly because he almost went nose first into a big, red skinned oni. Felix stopped, raising an eyebrow as he looked at everyone around – and as far as his eyes could see, everybody was an oni. This... must've been an oni village, obviously. Before he got to ask anyone anything, though, all of them moved to the side to make way, and two big, bulky onis walked through the middle of the street, holding a... Cough. A coffin.
"...I think I just sinned?"
Felix made his way through the crowd, letting out a big "Excuseee me, human coming through!" as he bumped into everyone in his path. Soon enough, he finally managed to get past all the onis, and was now sitting in the middle of the road, looking at the back of the two bulky onis carrying the... coffin. He let out a huge sigh, putting a finger on his chin – he was sorry he jinxed it, sure, but he wasn't about to start praying. Not anymore.
"So, everyone's gathered here... for just one death. Must've been someone important, then?"
Right then, someone tapped him on the shoulder, with a big and heavy hand. Felix turned around with a scared "Eh?" only to be met by somebody's chest. He raised an eyebrow, surprised, then looked up at the tall woman standing in front of him. She had white hair, purple eyes, red skin, and tattoos all over her red body. Before he got to say anything, though, she let out a sigh and extended her hand out toward him.
"Thank goodness you're here! You were sent by the Empire, right? You're Detective Crow?"
"Hah? Crow? I'm named after an animal, sure, but—"
Felix suddenly got interrupted by a Blank opening up right in his face, one which he skipped back at the field. He should... probably stop doing that.
[Plot - Help The Village!
Requirements - Help the people of the village help out who figured their village chief! Pose as agent Crow and discover the truth. The last people seen with the chief are his daughter, Nijiri, his best friend, Dono, and his gardener, Ajim.
Punishment Upon Failure - ???]
"—Cough, cough. Ahem. But, I prefer to go by my first name, Felix. Yup. I am Crow. He is me."
["Damn this System for not having a text to speech option..."]
The woman teared up a little, quickly wiping the tears away and clearing her throat as Felix shook her hand. She spoke up, her voice a bit more stern now, "Thank you, Felix. Thank you. I'll be going to the... funeral, now. Please, go to our house and conduct whatever investigation you need to. As for what information you need to know... I think—"
She cut herself off, putting a hand over her mouth and taking in a deep breath. She then continued, trying to keep her voice from shaking, "I think he was murdered in his sleep, or... or..."
Felix nodded, a stern expression on his face. As he did, a small Blank opened up above her head, reading [Nijiri]. Great, just like the Fifth Floor with Kim, then? Kim... No, there's no time to think about that. After Nijiri pointed him in the direction of her house, Felix started heading in that way, looking for what she described. As he passed by the village square, in a dark alleyway, he saw two shadows talking amongst themselves. Felix stopped, glaring at them – or, above them. They quickly noticed him staring, before running off into the dark. He looked in that direction a bit, lingering there... before chuckling. Soon enough, he started full-on laughing, holding his stomach in pure amusement. It took Felix a while to stop, but after he did, he started walking away, wiping a tear away from his eye as he did.
"Pfft. Hahah... Man, if only they knew..."
Felix kept walking, glancing back at the alley one last time as the two floating Blanks ran off deep into the dark. He let out another snicker, then continued making his way towards Nijiri's house, shrugging his shoulders while placing his hands in his pockets, uncaring.
As Felix walked the empty streets of this village, he couldn't help but look around himself while he did. And, just as he thought, the way he used to live in Seattle, and how these people – or, oni, lived... It wasn't all that different after all, was it? They woke up, they got out of bed, they went to their job... Felix sighed, dropping his shoulders slightly as he kept walking.
"Man... I miss that cramped apartment..."
He wasn't on The Line for all that long, or at least he didn't think so. In his head, maybe a day had passed in the real world, maybe more. Maybe... time hasn't been passing at all. Well, if this was God's playground, he could do whatever he wanted to Earth, right? Or... the whole Solar System, for that matter.
Felix finally turned the last corner, and he started looking for whatever building suited Nijiri's description – small, pretty darn ugly, but, with a beautiful garden. About five minutes later, his eyes spotted that same building... and Nijiri was definitely right. It was pretty ugly.
Felix let out a small chuckle, then couldn't help but murmur "She wasn't lying..." as he shook his head with a smirk on his face, before pushing the fence's door open. He walked in, one hand in his pocket and the other one still on the fence. He stopped the second his foot entered the garden, pausing as he frowned. Felix's smirk immediately disappeared, and his hand tightened on the fence.
"This smell... It stinks, damn it...! But then, why's it so familiar...?"
Felix's hand left the fence, finally, and he walked up to the front door hesitantly. He then reached his right hand out, and as he touched the door, he noticed something – the glove, from the Fifth Floor, started glowing slightly. He raised an eyebrow, confused, forgetting he even had it on because of how well it fit him, but he examined it closer nevertheless. Though, the second it left the door, the light dimmed. He put it back, growing more confused by the second, and the crimson hue reappeared on it. Now that he looked closer, this color looked... similar?
"This light... Ah, wait."
He took his left hand out of his pocket and reached out into the air, pulling out the small blood sphere from his inventory. He placed it next to the glove, which was still touching the door, and sure enough, the hue matched perfectly.
This house... There was a demon inside it.
"But it didn't react to the oni... did it? No, I shook her hand and it stayed black... So, why the switch now?"
Felix threw the sphere back in his inventory and sighed, before taking a step back and kicking the door in. He walked in and checked behind it – clear, nobody there. He frowned in annoyance and walked in further. This place, even though it was mid-day outside... This place was in pitch darkness. Not a single ray of sunlight inside. Felix let out an annoyed "Tch." as his eyes slowly, way too slowly, got accustomed to the dark, before he facepalmed, annoyed at himself.
"No, wait, fuckin'... {Clear Vision.}"
His eyes immediately turned green, as suddenly everything started gaining form, and he could see in the dark. He muttered something else about overpowered, then he walked in further, investigating the rooms and checking every corner for any intruders. Or worse... The demon. Yet, still, he wasn't seeing anybody. After about ten minutes, the whole house was cleared, and he couldn't find absolutely anything – or anyone.
Felix tapped his chin, growing more annoyed by the second, as he paced around the living room. Given the state it was in, this was probably where it happened. A huge struggle was visible around, as everything was thrown out and about randomly. There was blood on the sofa, the walls, the floor... But, suddenly, Felix stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening.
"Wait a minute. Struggle?"
Felix started looking around at the mess, and... Was this supposed to be here? Signs of struggle? Felix talked with Nijiri about the case pretty briefly, sure, but... she never mentioned a struggle. No, screw that, actually – she said that he got murdered in his sleep. So, who caused the mess?
"Signs of fighting back... I mean, the old man was an oni, sure, but he was... well, old. He couldn't have caused all of this... especially when asleep. No... It's not that he couldn't... He didn't."
Felix thought and thought, racking his brains about what could've possibly happened here. So far, he knew... That a fake struggle was created here to throw him off, the house is reeking of demonic energy, and it's pitch black in here, and meanwhile, outside, the sun's out and shining... Well, that's easy then. That leaves one option. In this oni village, this whole murder... It was s—
Creak.
Felix's eyes immediately bolted backwards at the sound, the creak in the floor, and he saw it – a hooded creature sat maybe a few feet away from him, and since it didn't have a Blank above it, it meant it wasn't the chiefs friend nor the gardener. So, then...!
"Man, finally showing up, huh! You fucking stink, demon!"
Felix immediately reached out into the air and pulled out his weapon, molding it into a sword and pointing it at the hooded demon. He took in a big breath, preparing himself and taking on another, more offensive stance, ready to jump at the demon.
"Well. Don't just stay there, huh? C'mon, de—"
The demon looked at Felix from below its hood, as a pink light started shining through. Though, before attacking, the demon... dropped to its knees. Felix let out a small, confused "Eh?" as he cut himself off halfway through his sentence, and then, suddenly, the demon started... crying?
"...Huh? What? Hah?! The demon is... crying?! What the fuuu..."
The demon, through sobs, took its hood off, revealing the face of a small girl with red horns, long white hair, and pink eyes. Well, she was a demon alright, but... why was it a child? Was she the Mini Boss of this Floor, then? What kinda lazy writing is that, he just fought a demon a few floors ago?!
Felix sighed, his stance softening as he retracted the crimson blade, but still keeping the sphere in his hand – just in case. He rubbed the back of his neck, confused, an eyebrow raised as he spoke, "Are you okay, miss... uh... demon?"
The small demon sniffled her nose, and she yelled out at him, as the crying picked back up in loudness, "I am not okay! You are so cruel, Felix!"
"Why the fu— Ahem, I mean... How... exactly do you know my name?"
"What do you mean how, you... you big, ugly meanie! It was at the start of the Floor! On the Blank!"
Felix skipped over the insult, barely, instead focusing on the second half of her sentence, "What? A Blank told you my name?"
Felix thought for a second, putting his finger on his chin. He did remember some Blanks at the start of the Floor, which he... ahem, skipped. He blinked twice as he looked at the girl, his face nothing more than two dots and a line, as he let out a small "Ah."
The wheels in his head continued spinning, slowly making more and more sense. He was alone... so the Blank paired him up with someone... who was alone, too. He punched his left palm with his right fist, and let out another, more scared "Ah." nodding as he threw the sphere back in his inventory, as if he never even pointed it at her. Nope, wasn't him, didn't happen!
"Miss, you're... a Liner, then?"
"What else, you monster?!" she yelled at Felix, still crying and pouting, now standing on her butt with her knees to her chest and her arms around them – basically in the fetal position, blocking herself off from him.
Felix went to say something, but remained silent, with his mouth wide open. He turned around for a second, let out the biggest sigh of his life, then did another 180 and faced the small demon again, a somewhat apologetic look on his face.
"Sooo, uh... Why are you alone?"
The demon stayed silent for a second, looking down at the floor. She sniffled again, and spoke with a soft and shaky voice, "My... sister died on the Fourth Floor... That big... big...! Big orc got her... He was almost as big of a meanie as you..."
Felix let out an "Argh—" and placed a palm on his chest, as if a sword went through it. He soon regained his senses and cleared his throat, shaking his head and taking a step closer to her as he spoke, "Hey, look, I'm sorry, alright? For calling you... stinky..."
"You don't mean it!"
"Na— Nah, I do... My nose is just, uh, really sensitive, okay?"
"...Is it?"
"Yeah, yeah, so... I'm sorry, okay? I am, really."
The small demon sat there for another second, thinking about his words with a puzzled look on her face. She let out a small sigh, and wiped her eyes with her way-too-long sleeves of her hoodie, then stopped pouting... about halfway.
"Fine. But you're still a meanie."
"Ugh... I..." he started, but just sighed instead, before reaching his hand out towards her.
"Sure, I'm the absolute worst of the worst. C'mon, upsies."
The demoness grabbed his hand and got up to her feet, stabilizing herself with a "There, there." under her breath. Felix cleared his throat again before speaking, still unsure of how to go about this whole thing.
"So. What exactly were you doing in here? Before I came around."
"I was looking! For clues!" she says all proudly, puffing her chest and putting her hands on her hips as she almost jumps up and down.
"Oh, oh? Clues, then! And, did you find any?"
"Not at all! This place is just thrashed!"
Felix remained silent again, cursing the Blanks and God for giving him such a... useful teammate. He sighed internally, deeply, before looking around themselves a bit.
"That is true, I suppose. Then, you didn't do this?"
"Of course not! I have manners!"
Felix looked at her again, a look on disbelief on his face and his mouth wide open once again, but he quickly cleared his throat and closed it.
["Was this brat not almost rolling on the floor like ten seconds ago?"]
"...Right. Of course. So, who do you think did it?"
"Has to be one of the two men! Niji would never!"
["...Niji. Of course she'd give her a nickname."]
"Yeah, I figured as much. They were whispering in an alley about twenty minutes ago."
The demon placed a hand on her chest, acting surprised and offended before speaking – or more like yelling, "And you didn't think to tell me, Felix?!"
"...I didn't know you even existed until five minutes ago, okay? I don't... really like reading Blanks."
The demon looked at him, this time it was her turn to look in disbelief. She frowned and turned away, crossing her arms and pouting as she did, "Hmph! You are a meanie after all, Felix!"
Felix cut his head off, in his imagination, to free himself from this nightmare, then cleared his throat in real life and started looking around the room. He crouched down next to the blood and the sofa, taking some on his fingers and rubbing it between them, a sour look on his face as he did. The demon girl noticed this, leaning in closer somewhere above him.
"Oh? What is it, what is it?"
Felix thought for a second, running the blood between his fingers one more time before wiping it off on the sofa and getting up while speaking, "That's not blood. Smells like it, sure, but it feels way too watery."
"You're good at handling blood, huh? Thought that was supposed to be my job!"
"That's friendly fire to your people. And racist."
Felix inspected the room some more, even though the small girl next to him was throwing a tantrum again, pouting and yelling to no end. He put a hand on his chin, thinking... before it finally clicked.
"Oh. Wait, I see. It's a mirage."
"Huh, mirage? An illusion?"
"Something like that. It's not real, either way."
Before Felix got to say anything else, he immediately reached out into the air and pulled out his crimson spear from his inventory, pointing it at the door. His eyes were wide open, annoyed, and the hairs on his arms were standing up, as his stance was on the offensive.
"Miss. How'd you hide from me before?"
"Huh? I— A Skill! I used a Skill...!"
"Use it again, please."
The demon girl stepped back, disappearing into the shadows as she muttered something. At the same time she did that, the front door opened, and just as he thought, a few men walked in, followed by onis. Felix quickly hid behind the sofa, spear in hand, watching intensely. The men, unaware of his presence, started talking to the two onis, quite happy.
"Heh... Seems our magic is working quite well, right, gentlemen?"
Both of the onis, obviously, had a floating Blank above them. Ajim and Dono. Felix almost chuckled at the sight, but he barely kept it in. The two of them laughed with the humans, before Dono spoke up, "It's wonderful. The magic of the Empire knows no bounds, truly... Have you managed to conceal the basement?"
"Who do you take us for, mister Dono? Obviously. He's... down there, right now."
Ajim elbowed Dono, then they both started laughing with booming voices fitting of onis. They laughed for a good while, with some sinister smirks on their faces, before Ajim spoke up.
"Great! That's great! That old man... I cannot wait to take him apart with my own bare hands!"
One of the humans laughed, tapping another on the shoulder, "Heheh, as long as Tham here is alive and well, the spell won't fall. Ever! He's our best magician rookie of the year! No, the decade!"
Dono laughed too, joining the human with his loud voice, "Hahahah! He does look reliable, doesn't he! Plus, we already sent down one of our own... He's keeping an eye on that old fart as we speak. And Nijiri... We won't have to worry about her. She's preoccupied... with burying a fake! Hah!"
Everybody started laughing, both humans and onis. The human who tapped Tham the mage on the shoulder was laughing the hardest, now slapping him on the back as his voice echoed through the empty house, "You hear that, Tham?! Your illusions are top notch! You'll climb to the... the... top...?"
The human suddenly stopped laughing, or speaking, as he looked to his right and saw a headless Tham standing there. Tham then fell forwards on his stomach, his head landing somewhere near his legs. Now, with the illusion slowly fading, natural light from the sun was filling the room, allowing them all to see an annoyed Felix standing down on the sofa, his spear sat between his crossed arms, resting on the floor. The blade was redder than the rest of the weapon, even though it was made of blood.
"My apologies, Tham. If your friends would've held their tongue, you would've lived... for another two minutes."
Too bad for them. The house was not empty.