Formations and arrays—a very popular concept in fantasy literature. Maybe their idea originated from feng shui… Is feng shui not a real thing? The simulation developers should have gotten their ideas from it, if it’s also a real thing here…

  "How did you know about those two? Are they a thing in your world?" Lady Cat asked Skylar, interrupting his thoughts.

  Instead of replying right away, Skylar broke into a bright smile.

  I knew it, he thought. These developers can’t be a hundred percent original… I was thinking that with innovations like creatures crafting the heavens and the like, they were going to add completely new stuff to the idea of glyphs and runes they stole from modern literature… but no.

  "But they are things of the ancient era." From the side, Raftelia chimed in as she narrated. "Ancient records say they were a very famous creation in the empire that once ruled all these lands. Some even say they were a creation of that empire…"

  Skylar stopped listening to Raftelia. His gaze narrowed in concentration on a symbol carved into the altar, then softened a moment later.

  I can’t rush this, he concluded. Understanding these symbols might be easy, but putting them together and extracting the information they hide isn’t going to be easy…

  “Is this land called BRAVE?” Skylar asked, interrupting Raftelia mid-sentence. He then sat on the edge of the golden altar and exhaled as his expression relaxed.

  "No, it’s called the Farlands," Raftelia responded. She left her position in front of the altar’s base support and moved to stand before Skylar, her head lowered for some reason.

  Nervously, she raised her lowered head to face him and then confidently met his gaze.

  "Sky, where do you come from?" she asked.

  Lady cat stiffened.

  Intrigued by the question, she left the spot where she had been standing and gracefully approached Skylar. She climbed onto his lap and fixed her mystical eyes on his face, her expression betraying her curiosity.

  There are times I forget this world is not real—it’s just a simulation… but why do I have this feeling it should be the other way around? Skylar smiled faintly. Who knows? I’m just here to play anyway.

  “I am from nowhere. I have always been here,” he answered cryptically.

  His smile broadened as he looked down at Raftelia—far taller than him in height, yet positioned below him as he sat atop the very tall altar.

  However—

  "You—!" Lady Cat, not having it, playfully bit his abs.

  Meanwhile, Raftelia’s clear blue eyes focused on the duo, who now seemed to be having a lovers’ spat. A subtle glint flashed through her eyes as they narrowed, after which she rephrased her question.

  "Where were you exactly before you were taken by the wolves?"

  “Okay, okay, I’ll talk,” Skylar protested. His wrestling with the angry Lady Cat came to an end as she disengaged from his abs, granting him permission to explain—clearly indicated by her expression.

  “Do you know this black place with very tall trees that kind of block the heavens? A wooded region of enormous, gigantic trees?” he described, gesturing as he spoke.

  "If the whole place is black, then you’re talking about the inner region?" Lady Cat chimed in.

  “That should be it. It was where I met Mr. Rabbit,” Skylar agreed, pointing toward the big guy sitting in one corner, leaning against one of the horizontal blocks. The little guy floated beside him. Both watched silently and intently.

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  At Skylar’s words and gesture, Mr. Rabbit glared at him.

  "She’s from the wild. Are you also from the wild?" Lady Cat meowed. She seemed somewhat satisfied by his answer, obvious from the gentle swinging of her tail.

  However, Skylar smiled.

  Why does everyone think I’m from this wild place? My world is far more civilized than their savage and primitive one… Maybe they think I’m as wild as this temperamental rabbit…

  “Maybe. I don’t know,” he shrugged, replying after a brief pause.

  "Sky, are you related to the old empire’s imperial family?" Raftelia squeaked.

  What’s she talking about now? From the wild to the imperial family of some empire… How can I possibly be related to a simulated character? Wait… what if TRIBES used our data—the origin AI collected—to create some of these characters, and mine just happens to match some random one…

  "Raftelia, why do you think so?" Lady Cat asked, her interest clearly piqued.

  At the same time, the little guy in the corner subtly readjusted his posture—a clear sign that he, too, was interested in Raftelia’s reply.

  "His character and actions are sometimes like those of the Emperor of old I was told about…" she replied, casting her gaze confidently at Skylar’s face—an action very unusual for her.

  Where did this rat come from? Skylar thought. It’s like she’s a special NPC or something, just like Lady Cat. She also seems to know a lot about this world. Maybe this is my reward for choosing this path. But I’m not really interested in lore and data gathering… It’s not like I want to become a guild master or anything. I just want to play and have fun…

  "You—are you a king candidate?" Lady Cat asked, her eyes boring into his.

  Ignoring her intense gaze, Skylar stood up, holding her in his arms.

  “We’ve had enough break time,” he said, turning toward the duo who had been silently observing everything. “Mr. Rabbit, Little Guy—it’s your turn. Come over.”

  At his instruction, the two reluctantly abandoned their resting spot and approached the altar.

  “Mr. Rabbit, please dig down as far as possible—no, dig about three thousand kilometers. If you see no significant change in the earth, return,” Skylar instructed. Then he turned to the floating little guy. “Little unicorn, your task is simple. I want you to bring me a handful of soil from one of the floating rocks in the celestial heavens outside.”

  After concluding his instructions, Skylar jumped down from the altar, ignoring the duo’s confused and questioning gazes aimed at where he had been moments earlier.

  Standing on the reddish-black soil, Skylar squatted. He placed Lady Cat gently to one side and proceeded to examine the soil of the sacred ground, which was larger than five hundred football stadiums.

  A moment later, Lady Cat placed her paw atop the reddish-black soil resting in Skylar’s open palm.

  "You think the soil is unnatural?" she meowed.

  “Yes. It reminds me of something, and this might be the most important clue we need,” Skylar replied, looking at her. From behind them, Raftelia moved closer and squatted in front of them.

  “If my guess is right, this soil shouldn’t originally have this color,” he added.

  "So what do you think is responsible for the color change?" Raftelia asked, her scrutinizing gaze shifting from the soil in her own palms to Skylar.

  Before he could answer, the duo who had left to complete their tasks returned.

  They approached Skylar and simultaneously shook their heads. At their response, Skylar stood up, nodded to them, then lowered his head, squinting his eyes.

  So the mirror effect has no loophole… Then there must be some kind of spherical spatial field formed from a static source around the ruin, responsible for the reflection… Fuck! How do I even know all this?

  "If everywhere is a dead end, then how did some fellows escape from here?" Raftelia asked.

  “Sacrifice,” Skylar answered, raising his head. “If, as you mentioned, this place is a sacrificial site, what do you think they did on this altar?” He smiled at Raftelia.

  Lady Cat turned to him as he walked toward the golden cylindrical base supporting the altar and began examining it.

  "My mate, are you saying the way out of here is to offer a sacrifice on this altar?" she asked, her ruby eyes narrowing.

  Skylar turned to the group, all of them facing him, each harboring their own thoughts as they waited for his reply. He didn’t delay.

  “Yes. We offer someone,” he said with a smile, one directed particularly at the little guy. “Specifically, we spill someone’s blood on the altar, and the way will open for us—only…” He paused, then turned to the big guy. “…only there must be enough blood to power this thing.” He pointed at the golden altar.

  "So that’s why the soil is reddish-black!" Raftelia exclaimed.

  "And the ones who escaped were only those who entered as a group," Lady Cat added.

  Skylar nodded with a smile. “Exactly. They had to sacrifice some people in their group to leave.”

  Raftelia turned to Skylar, fear written across her face as she trembled nervously.

  "Sky… are we going to sacrifice someone?"

  Skylar grinned and turned toward the passive duo—the big guy and the little guy. When Mr. Rabbit saw his broad, sinister grin, he glared fiercely and revealed the sharp metallic claws on both hands. Meanwhile, the little guy had already vanished, as usual, even before the others could fully process Raftelia’s question.

  Skylar relaxed his expression, calming the group.

  “Relax. We’re sacrificing nobody.” He turned toward the altar and walked closer. “I've found a loophole in the system...”