CHAPTER 33: THE PUNISHMENT QUEST BEGINS

I feel my body healing at a rapid pace, even injuries I hadn’t noticed before surfacing just to be mended — pain included.

One minute... two minutes... Control yourself, Quill! Control! You’re better than this! Don’t let your desires rise! I yell at myself internally, feeling a certain problem growing. From the look on Anna’s face, she’s aware of it too... shit... so embarrassing. Why is it always me?! Fine—so many memories will be wiped today!

[Error — you have no author powers for the next few days]

Ah?

I blink. Why is the system screen joking? This can’t be the punishment, right? A few days... then it’s not that bad... What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like I can’t wipe their memories later...

I can feel countless gazes on me, whispers slipping into my ears from nearby. A crowd has gathered, packed together like a flock of curious birds, watching my every move. My face is probably burning red.

"I think I’m okay now! I should go!" I try to push Anna away, but her strength is somehow greater than Roxy’s. What the hell? Didn’t she say she was a priest?

"No way! Lay here!" Her tone grows sharp, and I glance at Powder, silently pleading for help. He just turns to chat with Roxy, who’s looking... a little angry? Why?

Only now do I really take in my surroundings. I’m still in the adventurer’s guild, but the place is trashed beyond recognition.

"Well... I hope you have a lot of money on you, little one. I’m grateful for subduing Glorius... but—"

Footsteps echo from the side. The guild master, Aragon, steps in with the twins. They all look at me awkwardly, especially the girl... what was her name? Tail? She—yeah, I don’t even want to talk about her. And the look she’s giving me right now is downright mysterious. Like... what? And I can’t even read her thoughts! This is so unfair...

"Money? You don’t expect me to pay for all of this...?" I barely manage to spit out.

"Of course I do. What? Did you think you could destroy my place and not repay me? Dream more. You have two days, or else I’ll hunt you down myself."

Great... this can’t be the system doing this on purpose to me... can it?

"Glorius is just as involved. Ask him for the money... he must have plenty." I try to argue, and everyone gives me a weird look.

"Glorius is gone. He left right after your fight. You got beaten up pretty badly. Lucky for you, he said he didn’t want to kill you and left as fast as he could," Bite says with a smile.

You ass... you dare claim the victory?! You... you! AHHHH! Just you wait! I’ll get back at you!

"Quill! Lay still!"

PAHHH! Anna’s arms slam into my chest so hard I feel the last bit of air leave my lungs.

Goodbye, cruel world...

I space out, the world spinning around me in a dizzy haze. When I finally blink my eyes open again, I’m... somewhere else.

I sit up slowly, scanning my surroundings with suspicion. It’s too calm here—ominously calm. Beside me lies my scythe... and nothing else. No bed, no blankets, no sign I was ever being treated. This is definitely not where a sick person wakes up.

No... around me looms a forest so dark I can barely make out shapes past a few meters.

"Hello?" My voice carries into the void, swallowed instantly by the heavy air. Which one of those bastards thought it’d be funny to dump me here? "Powder? Roxy? Anybody?"

Silence.

The ground beneath me is damp and cold, carpeted with thick moss that squishes under my fingers. The trees are almost black, their gnarled bark twisting upward into leaves so dark they might as well be shadows. And the smell... ugh, the smell. It’s sharp and metallic, coating my tongue just by breathing it in.

It’s like the entire forest is soaked in fresh blood—so much that I can taste it.

"Yeah... this is not funny at all. I need to get out of here as fast as I can, or else I might lose my sanity..." I mutter to myself, picking up my scythe. My body feels perfectly fine. At least that’s good.

I take a cautious step forward, my foot sinking slightly into the dark ground. When I lift it... my nightmare becomes reality. A sticky, slimy texture clings to my boot, and when I look down, it’s dark red—like blood. BLOOD!

I shake my leg violently, then glance at my palms from when I’d touched the ground earlier. They’re streaked with faint smears of red—not as much as my foot, but enough to make my stomach twist. What is this? Where am I?

Shhhrrrhhhhh... huuuuuuhhhhhh...

A cold, cutting wind brushes past my ear, sending a shiver racing down my spine. This can’t be the punishment quest... can it?

I turn toward where the wind came from—and freeze.

From the dark embrace of the bushes, a pair of crimson eyes stares at me in perfect, eerie stillness. Even from here, I can tell they’re eyes—shaped like a cat’s... but what kind of cat has eyes that big?

I take a slow step back, careful not to make any sudden movements.

Then the system returns—greeting me in a way I’d hoped I’d never see again.

[Welcome to the punishment quest, Author]

[Here you must survive for a whole month. This forest is called the Loom of Death; you’re free to imagine why.]

[Your objective is simple: either survive until the end of the period, or find a way to escape by killing the strongest monster in the forest—Death itself.]

I blink several times. Very simple. Sure. Just kill Death itself. Hahaha... hahaha! Death... did you see that, readers? Death looms around this forest... I smile into the air with a ridiculous grin.

[Let the punishment... begin]

[Good luck!!]

Fuck you! I jab my middle finger at the air like it’s a dagger. I hate you, system!