Ayah woke up to a dull throbbing in her head. She blinked up at the ceiling and frowned in confusion. This wasn’t a hospital room. 

What was she doing inside a tent?

She slowly sat up, her eyes squinting closed as the pain in her head raised a notch. At the corner of the blankets serving as her bed was an oil lamp enveloping the tent in a dim light enough for her to inspect the thick bandages around her arm. Her blood stained clothes were folded into a neat pile at one corner. A blue long dress covered her bandaged body.

She looked at her surroundings, except for her handbag and the slightly damaged box by her side, the tent was devoid of any other belongings.

She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, recalling what had happened before she had lost consciousness. 

The monster had been killed. Ayah was sure of that. That…Heaven's wrath thing had blasted it to ashes. Ayah wondered where that bright light had come from. A military aircraft? No. She had never seen anything as powerful in her life. It was like−whatever that was−was out of some CGI movie effect.

But she had seen it. She had seen the light fall down from the sky and kill the monster. It had saved her.

Ayah startled. The kid! What had become of him?

She stumbled up to her feet, her legs getting tangled in the sheets in her haste. 

Two men with spears in hand stood vigil at her tent. She blinked confusedly at them. She frowned at their attire, navy blue armor covered their whole body, leaving only their faces. An upside down moon with a sword in the middle adorning the middle of the chestplate. None of them acknowledged her presence. They just stood there unmoving. But once she made a single step outside the tent, spears intersected together blocking her way.

Ayah glared at them. “Let me out.”

One of them glanced at her, silent. She leveled him with a stare of her own. She refused to be quelled by his height nor his shiny tool. When she didn’t back down, he sighed and his brows furrowed as if being stationed at the tent was the worst thing he ever did his entire life.

You’re free to leave, sweetheart. Ayah scowled at him. It wasn’t like she wanted to be here. They could at least tell her where this was and who they were.

“Am I a prisoner here?” she asked.

“You’re…an esteemed guest.”

“Then I can leave this place.”

He clicked his tongue. “The general has been notified and will grant you an audience at his early convenience.”

Your general can go and…

Ayah huffed. She’s had enough of this. And what was wrong with this whole setup? Did she somehow travel back in time?

She glanced at the camp. Everyone was either holding a sword, a spear, or had an arrow quiver strapped to their back.

The two out-of-time men returned to their duties, completely ignoring her presence. Ayah sighed and turned back inside. She would need to find another way out of here. And preferably out of this whole world and back to hers. But as she sat down, she heard a loud ding. She looked up and her heart nearly jumped out her throat.

A bluish semi-transparent window was floating in front of her.

 

“What the hell is this?”

 

[Welcome hero!]

[I have been tasked to help you with your quests.]

 

Ayah gawked at the screen. What was this? Was this the universe’s kind of joke?

 

[The land of Morr is rejoiced by the appearance of its latest hero!]

[for centuries Morr has been plagued by a deep rooted evil that only a hero of its choosing could save her from.]

 

Ayah stared as the words kept appearing on the screen, telling her about the evil that had befallen Morr. Ayah ran her hand over her face. That was it. She had finally gone crazy and this whole ordeal was a byproduct of her mind finally snapping after overworking herself.

 

[Would you like to receive the timed quest?]

[Time limit  24:00:00]

 

Ayah scowled. “I’m no hero. I just want to go back home.”

This…whatever it was, seemed to act like one of those games Kamal used to play. He often sneakily used his phone even while a deadline was looming over his head, crying about some time limited quest he had yet to clear.

Ayah sighed.

 

[The player can fulfill their wish once they’ve finished all the quests successfully. As agreed upon.]

 

“Oh no no no. I did not agree to anything. I want to go back to where I came from.”

 

[The player had agreed to the system’s requirement 06:35:41 ago]

[The player is required to fulfill the contract.]

 

Ayah squinted at the numbers as they kept incrementing. Was that how long she had been sleeping?

“I did not sign any contract.”

The system paused, three dots appeared and disappeared twice. Ayah raised an eyebrow at the transparent screen floating in front of her.

 

[Not fulfilling the required quests counts as failure.]

[Penalty for failure is death.]

 

Ayah gawked at the screen. Threats? Really?

She stared at the words. The word ‘death’ was in blaring red.

 

[Would the player like to proceed?]

 

Ayah glared at the screen. What kind of question was that? Was the system mocking her?

 

“No.” She huffed.

 

[Would you like to receive the timed quest?]

 

Ayah sighed. “Fine. What do I need to do?”

 

[Collect Wolfsbane x 30]

 

Ayah narrowed her eyes. What was this? A wildcrafting game?

A thought came to her. If she was a player like the system called her, shouldn’t she have a statistics interface that showed her abilities and strength? How should she ask the system to bring it up?

“Open stats window.” she tried.

A new window sprung into existence with numerous stats and numbers displayed.

 

[Player stats]

 

[Health :  50]

[Attack :  10]

[Defense : 10 ]

[Magic Attack :  10]

[Magic Defense : 10 ]

[Strength : 5 ]

[Mana : 5 ]

[Stamina : 15 ]

[Intelligence : 10 ]

[Speed : 5 ]

 

She pursed her lips. Her stats were quite low. At this point she could lose all her health points if she accidentally stubbed her toe on a rock. And what was wrong with her speed? Even a snail must be faster than her.

 

[Skill : None. ]

[Special skill: Holy Scribe Lv.Max Locked. Requirement not met.]

[Special skill: Heaven's wrath Lv.1 Skill Cooldown: 65:21:30]

 

The Heaven's wrath…there it was. The skill that had obliterated that monster. So it was hers, Ayah mused. If that was its power at level 1, she wondered how more powerful it would be if it was maxed out.

Ayah stared at the skill stats. The ‘None’ Seemed to dwarf the remaining stats, mocking her. She sighed. It couldn’t be helped. She had never held a weapon in her life. She glanced at her locked special skill, holy scribe. It seemed like a completely useless one. What writing skill could withstand monsters?

She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

The countdown for the quest kept going down on the upper part of the screen.

Well, she would better get around to doing her quest. While dying for failing to collect flowers was utterly ridiculous, she had no desire to chance her luck. Once was enough.

 

Ayah stared gloomily at the countdown as it continued. She still wasn’t allowed to exit the tent. She sat cross legged facing the opened tent door, her face nestled on her palm, looking mournfully at the busy camp as soldiers moved around half running from one side to the other. At this point, she was going to get the penalty before she even finished her first quest.

Her brows furrowed. She hoped that at least the kid made it out alive.

Boots thudded on the ground loudly and the two warriors shouted, “Your highness.” And bowed deeply, their backs nearly drawing a horizontal line.

A young man in his late twenties entered the tent. He had sharp gray eyes that spoke of thousand and one misfortune, like a lone man against the world. His black hair sat in a disorderly manner as if he had run his hands through it in frustration. Ayah wondered if it would be soft to the touch. His skin was golden from hours spent under the sun. He wore midnight blue armor with hints of gray with the same crest as her two captors on the chestplate and a long dark cape swayed gently behind him. It should have looked ridiculous but strangely enough it suited him, like those knights in fairy tales that saved the day with a swipe of their sword. If he was going for the tall, dark and mysterious, he was winning by a wide margin.

He was handsome. The kind of handsome that made people forgive his shortcomings.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

What? Can’t a woman appreciate God’s creation? She huffed.

He looked around the tent. One of the warriors straightened up.

“Your highness, I’ll bring you a chair−”

“No need,” he cut him off. His voice was deep and cold.

He sat down on the floor and faced Ayah. He stared at her, silent for a moment, then said, “Who are you? We’ve searched and searched for any whispers of your whereabouts, and yet, we found none. It’s like you’ve materialized into existence a mere moment ago.”

Ayah raised her eyebrows. If only he knew how close to the truth he was. Would he believe her if she told him she came from another world?

“So, who are you? And what brought you here?” He narrowed his eyes. “Why did you approach the crown prince?”

“Wait a moment.” Ayah held her hand up. “Is this an interrogation?” She crossed her hands in front of her. “I don’t even know you. Before you ask someone for his name, introduce yourself first.” She scowled at him.

If only his handsomeness carried beyond his looks.

“I don’t think you know the gravity of the situation.” 

He leveled her with a look that sent shivers down her back. She glanced worriedly at the warriors stationed at the tent door. Both of them had their backs to them. Ayah doubted any of them would intervene if the man decided to murder her.

“You trespassed on the lands of a sovereign kingdom, approached its crown prince and injured him. These are amply sufficient to land you a death sentence.”

Ayah swallowed around the lamp stuck in her throat. Were death threats going to be her new companion?

“I didn’t hurt anyone,” she said, her voice small.

“The crown prince’s injuries would beg to differ.”

“Listen here,” Ayah protested. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I was merely trying to stop Loaye from leaving. Then there was that monster and that poor kid that nearly got his head snapped off. I’m not trying to hurt anyone. All I want is to get back home.”

His eye twitched. “Poor kid?”

Ayah perked up. “Have you seen him? He was with me. A bit short with black hair and brown eyes. Is he fine? The poor kid could barely stay upright but still tried to fight off that beast that’s nearly the size of a car,” Ayah rambled on.

The man frowned, then sighed. “Add insult to the royal family to your list of offenses. That’s twice the death sentence.”

“What?” Ayah gawked at him. God was fair. Whatever he gave to the man in looks, he took in common sense.

“You’re just looking for excuses now.” She huffed.

“I don’t need excuses to get rid of a suspicious person.”

“How am I suspicious? You don’t even know me!”

“No one does. Which is exactly why you’re suspicious.”

“Now this is just nonsense.” Ayah threw her hands in the air in protest.

She could see the two warriors gawking at her. Ayah threw them a glare before she looked back at the unfairly handsome man.

“Okay.” She sighed. “Can you just…let me leave? Promise I’ll make sure not to offend your sensibilities.”

“Afraid you already did.” He looked at her, unimpressed. He opened his mouth to say more, probably to sentence her to a third death, when a whirlwind of gray and midnight blue barged into the tent.

“Uncle!”

The kid that Ayah had tried to save stood at the entrance, healthy and uninjured. Ayah allowed herself a breath of relief. He was fine. She smiled.

“What are you doing? I heard from the royal advisor that you were keeping her confined here. For the last time it wasn’t her that summoned the monsters.” He protested.

The man, his uncle, sighed. “We don’t know that. She appeared the same time as those monsters did. What other explanation is there?”

The kid balled his fists by his side. “She saved me.”

His uncle sent him an annoyed look. “You wouldn’t have needed saving if you hadn't darted alone, without protection, after the monsters.”

“They were threatening the safety of my people. I’m not a coward that would sit and watch my people die to ensure my own protection.”

 The man ran his hand over his face, sighing deeply, his shoulders slumped in defeat. It seemed it wasn’t the first time they were having this conversation.

“Eh…excuse me,” Ayah said.

The kid turned wide-opened eyes towards her. “You’re awake.”

“Yes, for a while now.” She shrugged.

A beaming smile blossomed on the kid’s face. He turned to his uncle and scowled at him. “This nonsense ends now. She’s my savior. There’s no need to keep her confined here.”

His uncle groaned. “Fine. But she won’t have access to camp without supervision.” He narrowed his eyes at his nephew. “Nor would she be allowed to approach you without the presence of guards.”

“I’m not a child!” he protested.

“You won’t be when your behavior reflects otherwise.” He turned to Ayah. “Beware your actions,” he said, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His nephew sputtered in protest and the man acknowledged his tantrum with rolled eyes.

He stood up and left the tent without a second word. 

 

---

 

Author’s note:

Hi guys, thanks for reading! :)

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