Legacy of the Betelgeuse

I'm waiting for everyone at Grisell's house. The pub that is built next to the house is now crowded with players for a meeting point or to find a party. The shop next to the pub is also crowded with players since Grisell is known to be the best blacksmith in the game and because she's selling so many good types of equipment at a low price. I'm watching those players have good times in this place, which makes me happy for some reason.

Someone is logging in. I turn around and it's Chelsea with her short pants and white shirt. She loves to not wear her equipment if it's not necessary and I have no idea why she does that. She's sitting at the table and grabs some cake in her inventory while staring at her screen. I then look at the players through the window again.

I can tell that she's stealing glances at me. I scoff and smirk while keep facing the window.

"What is it, Chelsea? You keep stealing glances at me."

Chelsea is humming for quite a long time.

"Nothing..."

I'm humming with understanding. But I can tell that she keeps staring at me and that makes me a bit uncomfortable. Chelsea then leans on the table.

"How did you know that I was staring at you? That's kind of cool."

I look at her and smile.

"It's because my DEX is high enough to sense anything. You know, when someone is staring at you, you can feel it? That was what I feel when you steal a glance at me."

Chelsea is humming with understanding.

"Is that so? That's neat. I should increase my DEX more then."

I smile and just shrug at her.

Ivonna and the others are logging in. Chelsea then grabs her leftovers and puts them into her inventory. Ivonna is looking at us and then nods.

"Okay, let's do this..."

We all nod and go to the teleportation device in Fjel town.

We teleport to the capital city of the Aarus Empire, Algebar. We need to use another teleportation device that is exclusively for getting to certain places that will lead to any kind of open quest for the players to take no matter from which faction they are. They called that teleportation device an Open Quest Device or OQD. Each sovereignty has OQD and they're located in every capital city in Orion.

We use the OQD and teleport to the nearest village from the Klaagliad Forest. The village that used to be a part of Besanrault Town. The town that was plagued by the [Alucard's Heart].

As soon as we put out feet on the ground. Ivonna who is standing next to me sighs while clenching her fist. Both of her hands are slightly trembling. This is the first time for me to see her like this. Chelsea, Francesca, and Grisell notice and immediately approach her and wraps their arms and hands on her. I'm very curious, but I don't think I can ask her about it or to Francesca, Grisell, or Chelsea. I believe it must be some kind of trauma or something similar.

We are on our way to the Klaagliad Forest. This place, if I didn't read the document, I don't think I would be able to find it at this time as well. I wonder if there's a single clue related to [Alucard's Heart] in this place. Maybe I will check this place after we clear the Klaagliad Forest quest.

Chelsea is walking in front of me, and then she suddenly looks back for no reason. I look at her and raise my eyebrows. She looks at me and then looks around, then she shakes her head. I scoff because I think she wants to check if anyone is staring at her from behind.

Chelsea is slowing her walk and then walks beside me.

"Is your friend going to join us, Trev?"

I raise my eyebrows.

"Max? I don't know. You want me to invite him?"

Chelsea is tilting her head and shrugging.

"Well, he's your friend, right? It doesn't feel right if we are doing this without inviting him. At least we have to invite him even if he can't join us."

I smile and nod.

"Okay, I'll try to invite him."

I open my friend list and message Becker.

[Are you free right now?]

-

[I'm currently in a party with newbies. What's up, Trev?]

-

[Oh, never mind then. We are going to enter the Klaagliad Forest, I just thought that you want to join us.]

-

[Uhh...]

[Are you sure about it, Trev? That time you were scared me to death.]

-

[Yeah I think I'll be fine now.]

-

[If you can't handle it. Message me as soon as possible and I'll come to save you. To tell you the truth, the system that takes control of the Klaagliad Forest has adapted and improvised. I'm afraid that what you're about to deal with is no longer the same as back then. So please if you really can't handle it, just message me.]

-

[...]

[Are you being serious right now? Most of us here are already nervous to just think about entering the forest, and now you're telling me the forest is now worse than before?]

-

[Hehehe...]

[Well, good luck over there.]

-

Chelsea is looking at me while waiting for confirmation. I close the chat and look at Chelsea.

"He's not coming. He's currently in a party with other players."

Chelsea is humming with understanding.

"Oh, okay."

We are in front of the forest. There are so many players standing in front of the forest. Most of them are planning to enter the forest, but they're rethinking if they're ready for this or not because how the forest looks from here is pretty dark and it's gloomy in there. While the rest of them just sitting on the sides with their pale faces. The forest is like a different dimension. Once a group of players enters the forest, another group of players that enter the forest after them will not meet with each other.

We can only see a few meters inside the forest, and the fog covers the rest. What makes it worse is that we can hear the players' screams coming from inside the forest. Those are the screams that are recorded by the system to make the player from outside the forest feel frightened. Even for myself, it gives me chills all over my body. I look at the other and everyone's faces are turning pale, except for Chelsea who's smiling with excitement.

Chelsea is walking towards the forest and then looks back.

"Let's go!"

Everyone is looking at me. I take a deep breath and exhale deeply. I look at them and nod.

"Let's go..."

We are walking into the forest and this feeling gives me PTSD. The cold is chilling us to the bone. Chelsea who was excited to enter the forest is now hugging and rubbing her arms to warm her body while looking around. Grisell immediately walks in between Francesca and Emma, then she grabs their hands to comfort herself.

Michael is sneakingly walking into the middle of the group to keep himself safe from anything that will appear. Hans and Leonardo are standing next to each other and look around while William is on the back on his own. It surprises me that he's so calm and not one bit feels scared of the atmosphere in here.

There's a big rock in the middle, and there's something written on it.

[What you have forgotten will be rise once more.]

A quest screen appears in front of us.

[Open Quest: Hidden and Forgotten.]

[Find an item that used to be the most important thing for the people of Orion. It is said once a human is nearby it will try to hide. It is also said, that item is actually a living being, but nobody knows since it has been forgotten.]

[Rewards: 10 Status Points.]

[Failed: None.]

Then a notification appears.

[Generating the forest...]

[The forest has been generated.]

[Beware of the dark and May the Betelgeuse Bless You!]

The fog is suddenly thickened. We barely see anything a meter in front of us. Everyone is starting to get worried and we are grouping up to avoid being separated by a mistake. The wind becomes colder and we start to cold breathe. Leonardo starts to cast fire to warm our bodies.

We are walking into the forest where we can barely see anything that is in front of us. But then we can hear something is crawling around us that seems to have more than 4 legs. It's the same sounds of the centipede made from the Pit of Hell. Emma immediately runs toward me and hugs me from behind. She's startled me that my chest is hurt.

Emma is whining.

"F*ck! Those are centipedes! Why the f*ck they're here!"

I scoff.

"Because the system knows what you're scared of. Thanks to your fear of centipedes, the forest is now filled with those things."

Before anyone can say anything, the ground is shaking heavily. We look around to see what's going on, but we can't see anything.

The ground finally stops shaking. We then continue walking deeper into the forest, but then tall shrubs are blocking our path. We turn around and another tall shrub is blocking our path. We are looking at each other and now we know what happened when the ground is shaking.

Michael is gulping and walks closer to us.

"Guys... I think I made this thing... I have claustrophobia."

This forest has become a narrow maze that is filled with centipedes, and that is just the beginning. There are still 7 of us who haven't seen our own fear, and that soon will makes everything a living nightmare for every one of us.