After hours of refinement and nourishment, the evolution of the Alphaterium had finally come to an end. The air in the room hummed with tangible energy as Joo-Hee's forehead began to glow, a soft azure light emanating from her skin. As the light intensified, a fluid, blue core formed on her brow, its contours shifting like living goo.
The witch stood motionless, her gaze sharp as she observed the transformation. She watched as the Alphaterium slowly formed its sentient, pulsating with newfound awareness.
Its color shifted from its previous blue hue to a deeper, richer turquoise, a sign of its evolution. It floated in the air for a moment, hesitant, as though testing its new form and abilities.
But the witch wasn't done yet. With a flick of her fingers, she trapped the sentient Alphaterium in an invisible barrier, her eyes narrowing with malice and cold gaze.
"Hey, pipsqueak," she purred, her voice laced with venom. "I made a sacrifice to help you evolve, so you'd better do your work and help your host awaken his sigil, okay? You better do it fast, or I swear..."
"If you knew how much I'm restraining myself from dissecting and reverse-analyzing your existence right now, you'd be begging for mercy."
The Alphaterium, now fully aware, hovered helplessly inside the barrier, its movements frantic as it tried to escape.
It could sense the witch's overwhelming power and the murderous intent radiating from her. It quivered, its ethereal form shaking in fear as it darted back and forth, desperate to get away.
Her eyes flashed with an unsettling glint.
"And you... you'd better keep quiet about what happened here. If you dare inform your host, I'll make sure to scorch and evaporate that fluid sac of yours. Understand?!"
The Alphaterium froze mid-motion, clearly trembling from the sheer malice in her words. It understood, more than anything, the terrible consequence of disobeying her.
The witch flicked her fingers once more, dissolving the barrier with a swift gesture. The Alphaterium immediately entered Joo-Hee's forehead. It slid through her skin as if it were unhindered, sinking deep into her soul without resistance.
The witch watched in silence, her lips curling into a cruel smirk as she observed the process.
"Now, now," she murmured, her voice dripping with dark intent. "To make everything back to what it was before."
She reached out and gently touched Joo-Hee's face, her fingers brushing against her skin like a cold, calculated caress.
With a pinch to Joo-Hee's forehead, the witch extracted a wisp of ethereal energy—a fragment of memory, capturing everything that transpired after Joo-Hee entered the shop.
She gripped her ancient staff tightly and raised it high above her, invoking the power that lay dormant within it. With a thunderous thump, she slammed the staff into the ground.
The ground trembled beneath her feet, breaking the fabric of the astral space. Reality itself seemed to fracture, and in an instant, the entire astral realm began to collapse.
In the blink of an eye, everything returned to its original place. The store, with its dim lighting and eerie atmosphere, was restored. The air was thick with a sense of foreboding, but it was familiar again—unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened.
The witch stood over Joo-Hee's body, her smile still twisted with dark amusement. Her eyes gleamed with a sharp, calculating focus. "There. All set," she said softly, as if speaking to herself. "Everything's in place except this guy..."
...
Joo-Hee opened her eyes, disoriented and dazed, blinking against the dim light of the store. Her mind was foggy, like a broken film reel trying to piece together fragments of a forgotten scene.
Wait… why am I here? Her heart raced as she struggled to recall her purpose.
"I… I was supposed to…" Her thoughts felt slippery, impossible to hold onto.
She instinctively touched her neck, a shuddering breath escaping as her fingers pressed against her pulse. A strange ache throbbed there, sparking a wave of panic she couldn't explain.
She couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened—something important—yet she couldn't remember a single detail.
A beautiful woman with an almost serene expression watched her from behind the counter. Her lips curved into a warm, inviting smile. "Are you done browsing for some seeds, miss? There are also some special ones at the back of that shelf. Please, feel free to check."
Joo-Hee's gaze drifted around the shop, landing on a basket at her feet filled with seeds. Her seeds. But… she didn't remember picking them up.
How did I…? A cold sweat prickled on the back of her neck as she tried to retrace her steps, but it was like looking into a pitch-black tunnel. She could remember entering the street and looking for the third store, but after that… nothing.
Her mind whirled, but each question only deepened her confusion. How did I get here? Her hand gripped the basket tightly, feeling as though it might ground her, yet her body felt strangely heavy, as if she'd been put through something physically exhausting.
And then, her system jolted her out of her thoughts with a sudden notification.
_______________________
[The system upgrade is now in progress. Estimated time to completion: 24 hours. Temporary access restrictions are in effect.]
_______________________
Huh? The single word echoed in her mind, doing nothing to alleviate the confusion twisting through her. An upgrade? Her head throbbed, and she could barely process what was happening, even setting the notification aside.
Her instincts were screaming that something was very, very wrong, urging her to leave. But every time she tried to piece together her last memory, it felt like trying to hold water in her hands. Her mind simply went blank.
"Miss?" she managed, her voice quivering as she looked back at the woman, her throat dry. "I'd… I'd like to buy these seeds, please… Could you ring...?"
She couldn't even finish her sentence, and her gaze darted nervously around the store as if the walls themselves held secrets she couldn't see.
The woman's gaze lingered, her eyes twinkling with a strange, knowing look that made Joo-Hee's stomach twist. She simply nodded, her smile never wavering. "Of course, dear."