The light of the setting sun stained the sky orange and pink. Adam was walking along the edge of the island, staring down at the cloud layer below. Since there were also clouds above, he was fairly sure that Interim Island moved through the middle of the troposphere. Strangely, none of the clouds actually moved through the island like what he’d expected. It was as if a barrier around the floating landmass was keeping them at bay.

  While he looked out over the edge, he suddenly noticed a hole in the cliff-side about eight metres down. He was on the south-western side of the island, a part of the island he hadn’t visited before. The houses around here were the same as everywhere else, so there was nothing that really made the place stand out as special.

  Adam got down on his knees and leaned over the edge to get a better look. The landmass below the surface of the island went down straight for about twelve metres, before it tapered to a point that he couldn’t see but expected was there. The hole in the cliff-side wasn’t just some random chunk missing. No, it was a proper cave entrance with a flat landing poking out slightly, as though inviting people to investigate.

  He suddenly realised that all that land beneath his feet had the potential to hide a lot of secrets.

  After all, Alivida’s tent is already kind of a secret, so it makes sense there’d be other things hidden away on Interim Island as well.

  But… how do I get down there to investigate?

  I could use my barriers to slowly descend, but getting back up would be treacherous.

  Then he had an epiphany.

  Weaver! She’s gotta be the answer to this!

  If I unlock her, I can get her to spin me a rope that’ll let me rappel down!

  Adam looked around and saw that there were a few trees not too far away, almost as if he was meant to tie a rope to them and go down to explore.

  I wonder if Emelia knows about this.

  He turned to look at the Eye floating nearby.

  “What’s down there?” he asked.

  It did not reply, which was the same way it’d responded to his previous questions about Alivida’s tent.

  That’s as good as any confirmation I could get. There’s definitely something down there.

  Maybe another vendor that sells special items?

  Adam got back to his feet and wiped the dirt and grass off his pants.

  I’ll come back here after Stage Two when I’ve unlocked Weaver.

  As he moved on to the Garden, he continued looking over the edge for more cave openings, but didn’t spot any others.

  When he reached the dark-blue tent with the colourful Dahlias planted around it, the sun was still creeping towards the horizon. He leaned against his barrier while waiting for it to fully set. Since he wasn’t putting his full weight on the summon, it didn’t seem to take ‘damage’, which was curious.

  About 10 minutes after he arrived, darkness rolled across Interim Island and the Dahlias all lost their colour, becoming black like the night. A tiny shape descended from the clouds above, flying quickly. It paused for a second when it spotted Adam waiting in front of the tent, but then it zoomed inside.

  Purple light started to emanate from within and Adam approached the flap, letting himself inside.

  He found the black moth sitting on the chair behind the round table with the shawl and crystal ball on top of it. The purple light from the glass orb caught on the orbiting ashy scales that circled the interior.

  “You’re back… Again.”

  “Luvicidix told me you have something new in stock. I also brought another Mastery Shard.”

  “I do. My inventory expands as you achieve certain thresholds.”

  “Show me what you’ve got.”

  The moth waved a black arm over the crystal ball.

  < < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

  < Hardmode — Unlock a toggleable Stage Hardmode — 1 Shard >

  < Skipping Stone — Skip a Stage if eligible — 2 Shards >

  < Orb of Insight — View info about the upcoming Stage — 1/3 Shards >

  < Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player — 8 Shards >

  < Vanity — Turn an Interim Island Denizen into a humanoid — 10 Shards >

  Skip if ‘eligible’, I wonder what that entails.

  I’m also wondering if I should put my point into the Orb again or maybe get the Hardmode instead, since Emelia might be able to tell me all the Secrets and Stage info, rendering the Orb kind of useless.

  “Explain the Skipping Stone to me.”

  “If you are wielding a weapon you have beaten a Stage with before… and if you have found all Secrets and completed all Achievements, then you may… skip.”

  “That sounds really powerful. How does it work with Points and rewards?”

  “In order to skip, you forfeit all Points, Upgrades, and Relics.”

  That makes it pretty useless… Lots of requirements and no reward.

  “The Hardmode, how exactly is the double Points calculated? Like, what happens if I defeat a Secret Boss while it’s active?”

  “Hardmode only doubles the score given by a Stage, without considering the bonus rewards. Those are… added to the score later.”

  So, I got 1240 for Stage One, but 700 of that were from bonus rewards. With Hardmode active, that would mean I’d have gotten 1780 instead. That’s not exactly fantastic, especially if it makes a Stage much harder.

  I wonder if I should get it for Stage Two. Last time I got about 1000 Points for clearing it and that was without any bonuses, so I’d probably get 2000 for beating it with Hardmode, plus whatever bonus the Secret Boss gives. If I’m careful, I might be able to get Flawless as well. So that’d be maybe like 3000 Points in total.

  I’ve gotta do it. I’ll ask Emelia how to best defeat the Hobgoblin Lord so I’m fully prepared.

  “I’ll buy the Hardmode upgrade.”

  “Thank you,” Alivida said.

  The pyramid gem emerged from Adam’s torso, moving through his white shirt as though it wasn’t there. It was absorbed by the crystal ball on the table and the purple glow blinked once.

  < < Mastery Upgrade Unlocked > >

  < Hardmode — Unlock a toggleable Stage Hardmode >

  “I’ll be back when I have more Shards,” Adam said.

  “My twin will inform you… if you unlock more upgrades… in my shop.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Adam left the tent and was about to return to the Tavern when he remembered something.

  I never checked out what upgrades are available for Gram.

  Even though he didn’t have any Points to spend, he still wanted to know what kind of upgrades the weapon could get. He expected it to be similar to what the Defender got, just minus the shield.

  The bright light of the moon cast everything in a silvery glaze and Adam couldn’t help but think of Belamouranthe.

  I really hope I can save her.

  Right now all I can think of is giving her the All-Mother’s Wrath necklace.

  I should ask Emelia about it.

  He made it to the Market, but this time he didn’t walk in on all the vendors standing about outside their stalls.

  Yenna was playing the harp softly as he walked past her and she gave him a slight nod.

  He stopped in front of Thea’s stall and pulled Gram from his lower back. In the light of the moon, the incandescent-green beetle looked almost black.

  “Welcome back, Adam,” she greeted.

  “I’d like to see the weapon upgrades for this weapon.”

  “Sure thing.”

  The beetle waved a hand over her anvil and it lit up with four identical symbols. They all depicted a chisel striking a rock.

  < < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

  < Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

  < Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

  < Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

  < Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

  What the hell?

  “Shitbox, why doesn’t this have normal upgrades?”

  [To unlock the potential of the Mythical Weapon ‘Gram’, the stone must be carefully chipped away.]

  Let me guess, I’ll need to pick this upgrade 6 times to get it to evolve before I can use it as a normal weapon and get normal upgrades?

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Maybe I should try and find a different weapon to replace this with, because that seems like a waste of upgrades. Perhaps it makes sense if I end up with more Points than I know what to do with, but even then I’m sure investing those in meta upgrades is a better use.

  Disappointed, Adam said his goodbyes and returned to the Tavern.

  Show me everyone who got the Flawless achievement for Stage One, Adam prompted the Tavern with his mind. He figured it was best to use the mental prompting for the Tavern, since it appeared to be faster and would avoid the Eye catching on to anything he wasn’t supposed to know.

  Nearby sat Finnian, devouring everything that Charlie placed before it. The slime was totally absorbed in its mindless consumption.

  A true glutton that one…

  Six people appeared at random spots around the table, but none of them were ones he recognised, except for Emelia. She was currently talking to someone Adam couldn’t see.

  The others were: a short tan guy in his fifties who had picked Defender, based on the recognisable shield leaned against his chair; a spear-wielding black guy with short curls and a white polo shirt; an Asian woman who had a bow and wore a cocktail dress for some reason; an Asian guy with shoulder long hair and glasses whose weapon he couldn’t see; and a muscular white guy with a spray-on tan and chemically-white hair, who it seemed had picked Brawler.

  Show me everyone who got Flawless and Speedrun.

  Everyone except Emelia and the Asian guy disappeared.

  I wonder if that’s Haoyang.

  Guess I could try and befriend him perhaps, but what would I talk to him about? I don’t need any knowledge he could possibly have…

  Show me everyone who got the Secret Boss.

  Only Emelia was left.

  Figures.

  Show me everyone who knows about the Self-devouring Eye.

  Again, only Emelia.

  So, she hasn’t told anyone. I mean, I’d have done the same, since there’s only one and sharing its existence potentially complicates relationships.

  Wait, why did she have the Challenge Stone? She’d probably have to buy that from Alivida, and even if she’s done two full loops, would she really have enough Shards to spare on something like that if she wasn’t planning on using it?

  Based on how Mórrígan threatened me with it and used it to kill Lenard, it seems like it’s designed to let you fight other Players between Stages… So is there someone she wants to take out? Maybe she’s already used it after meeting me?

  Then he realised a possible explanation.

  Since there were future Stages where Players were forced to work together, there were bound to be plenty of murderers as well. If she was really trying to save as many people as possible, going after those sorts of Players was necessary.

  Adam thought of the person he’d killed in his last loop.

  Show me Charlotte Hayes.

  The pale woman with auburn hair, freckles, and large glasses appeared nearby. She was eating sushi while talking to someone. It kind of looked like she was having fun. He couldn’t see what weapon she had.

  I wonder if I have to fight her again.

  Show me Ilya Sokolov.

  The long-haired Russian appeared while Charlotte’s hologram vanished. Next to Ilya leaned a spear and he was in the middle of eating soup. Unlike last loop, the print on his band t-shirt was different, which was odd.

  That raises a lot of uncomfortable questions.

  Does that mean that it isn’t just the odds that change in every universe, but also things prior to the start of the Trials??

  Maybe some people didn’t even enter the Trials because they died just before they began?

  Adam shook his head. He realised it was better not to focus on stuff like that, since he had no control over it.

  Wait, there is something I can ask others about.

  Show me everyone who found the cave on the south-western cliff-side of Interim Island and plan to explore it.

  Ilya vanished and all the tables filled up with holograms, then they flickered and were replaced, again-and-again.

  “How many people is that?”

  [6.703 Players match the query.]

  That’s quite a lot.

  Hmm…

  Filter out everyone who didn’t find the Glass Acorn.

  The holograms flickered until about twenty were left, which was still quite a lot.

  What else can I do to narrow it down?

  Oh right, what about this…

  Filter out everyone who hasn’t discovered Alivida.

  All but one hologram vanished, leaving behind a tall white guy in his fifties or sixties, with short frizzy greyish-white hair. He had the gnarled wooden staff of the Spellcaster leaned against his chair. It was turned into a recliner like Adam’s, which was a funny coincidence.

  “Hey,” Adam said. “How do you plan to get down to the cave?”

  The guy, who had been in the middle of talking to someone else, turned to look at Adam.

  Then he flickered out and reappeared opposite him.

  “Are you planning to investigate it too?” he asked. His voice sounded a lot younger than his appearance and had kind of a playful quality to it, which somehow immediately made him seem likeable to Adam.

  Reminds me a bit of one of my bosses.

  “I am, and I know the way to do it too.”

  The guy gave him a curious look, then said, “I’m bringing someone else into the conversation.”

  “Okay?”

  Next to the tall guy appeared the short tan Defender who Adam had just seen earlier when he queried for the Flawless achievement. He looked a little younger than the other guy and his hair was pale-blonde. Unlike the tall guy who had a narrow face, his was rounder and radiated kindness.

  “I recognise you,” said the short guy. Like the other man, he sounded a lot younger than he was.

  “Really?” Adam asked.

  “I remembered the weird crown on your head. You got the Flawless bonus too, didn’t you?”

  He nodded. “That’s right.”

  The short guy turned to his tall friend. “See Beck, it wasn’t that hard to get!”

  “Shut up. At least I got the Speedrun.”

  “Flawless is worth more.”

  “Well, who found the moth!?”

  “You did.”

  “That’s right,” said the tall guy, nodding to himself smugly.

  “Did either of you get a Mastery Shard to pay Alivida with yet?” Adam asked, interrupting their back-and-forth.

  They shared a look.

  “No, what’s that?” asked the short guy.

  “I’ll tell you after you introduce yourself,” Adam said. “For starters, I’m Adam.”

  “I’m Beck,” said the tall guy.

  “And I’m Gladwyn,” said the short guy.

  “Are those your real names?”

  “No,” replied Beck. “You haven’t discovered the Nickname feature yet?”

  “The what?” Adam asked.

  “You tell the Observer that you want to change your nickname and then give it an eligible name. It’s pretty simple.”

  “Observer?” Adam asked.

  “He’s never played DnD,” Gladwyn said. “What a tragedy.”

  “Young people these days,” Beck agreed, shaking his head.

  “I’m 32,” Adam told them.

  “My point still stands,” Beck insisted.

  Guess I’ll give it a try.

  Adam turned to the Eye. “I’d like to change my nickname.”

  [Understood. What would you like your new Nickname to be? If a Nickname is already in use, you will be unable to claim it.]

  Maybe someone already took it, but I might as well try it.

  “Adam.”

  [Understood. The System will now refer to you as ‘Adam’. Other Players may locate you using this Nickname and it will be used if you try to connect to someone in the Tavern.]

  So that’s how Mórrígan got her name!

  Still, I’m surprised that I’m the first to claim that nickname.

  Wait, I wonder if it can be exploited somehow.

  “Can I connect to people who blocked me by changing my nickname?”

  [No.]

  I guess that’s good.

  But so much for trying to clear up the misunderstanding with Willow…

  “What did you change your name to?” Gladwyn asked.

  “Adam,” he replied.

  Beck made a face. “He’s one of those people. Well, hello, Adam0001, Lord of Imagination.”

  Adam laughed. “You’ve gotta do better than that if you want to hurt my feelings,” he said with a grin.

  “I’ll think of something,” Beck replied ominously. “So, what’s a Mastery Shard?”

  “You get it from evolving your weapons,” Adam said.

  “Is that at level 6?” Beck asked.

  “Yep.”

  “That explains why the beetle only sold upgrades up to that level,” Gladwyn realised.

  “What did you use your Points on?” Adam asked.

  “I spent my Points on a Luck upgrade and two Rerolls. I’m saving the rest to do that again after next Stage,” Beck said. “I think it’ll pay off.”

  “I spent mine on a damage upgrade and this glove,” Gladwyn said, showing off the Duellist’s Glove.

  “I still think that was foolish,” Beck muttered.

  “Bite me.”

  Beck fixed Adam with a look. “So, you said you knew of a way to get down to the cave?”

  “We looked around and couldn’t find any rope,” Gladwyn added.

  Adam leaned forward conspiratorially.

  “You’ll need to trust me, because I can’t tell you how I know this, but…”

  After Adam finished talking to Beck and Gladwyn, he tried to connect to Emelia. She didn’t accept his request until almost two minutes had passed.

  When she appeared opposite him, the first thing she asked was, “Why did it not include your last name in the connection request?”

  “I set my nickname to ‘Adam’, that’s why.”

  “Nickname? I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Adam tried to hide his surprise.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t be all-knowing.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” he replied, raising his hands.

  “So? Why do you want to talk to me? I’m busy helping others and there’s only 4 hours before the Tavern closes.”

  “I bought the Hardmode upgrade from Alivida and I need to know what it does in Stage Two.”

  Emelia stared at him for a moment. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she asked.

  “I need the Points for the meta upgrades.”

  “Don’t use it. You’ll die.”

  “Not if you tell me what it does.”

  She frowned. “If you use it and survive, you’ll just want to use it again.”

  “Listen, I’m not trying to die, but I need the Points. You’re using it too, aren’t you?”

  “That’s different,” she replied. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Can you please just tell me? If you want me to survive Stage Eight, I need your help getting stronger.”

  She froze and Adam knew he’d found her weak-point.

  “Fine,” she then said. “But don’t use it for Three and Four, you’ll die.”

  He nodded. “Understood.”

  “Hardmode in Stage Two gives all the goblins bone armour, which makes them harder to kill.”

  “That’s not so bad,” he replied.

  “I wasn’t finished. It also removes all the healing insects and slugs you can normally eat. But most importantly, the boss has the Fiendbarb Relic equipped. Are you familiar with how that one works?”

  “Intimately.”

  “Then you’ll know that taking on the Hardmode is a foolish idea. It’s doable in Stage One because it just doubles the number of slimes and gives the boss two extra moves. But, if you’re doing the Hardmode in Stage Two, then you’d best get rid of that crown. The Hobgoblin Lord is plenty dangerous without Hardmode active. One hit from Fiendbarb with your low Health points and you’re dead. Doesn’t even matter where it hits you.”

  “How do you know how much Health I have?”

  “Because that’s the weapon that Arturo used. He always complained about near-death experiences because of its terrible stats.”

  “It’s versatile and strong,” Adam said.

  “Sure, if you know how to use it. Have you mastered shaping yet?”

  She even knows about the evolution, Adam noted.

  “Not yet.”

  “Arturo told me that unless you can learn how to fold the barrier, it’s a useless weapon.”

  We’ll see. I don’t think she has enough experience to really make that judgement herself, and I don’t know this Arturo guy.

  “I also have Gram as backup,” Adam said.

  “You’d be better off getting the Spellcaster as your secondary Weapon Type and switching to its stats. It has more Health, Damage, and Speed. It’ll also increase the likelihood of Mana- and spell-based Relics appearing if you have two magical weapons.”

  That actually makes a lot of sense. I might do that after Stage Two when I have more Points.

  “Have you tried using Gram?” he asked.

  “Yes. Every evolution increases its base stats, but it doesn’t become a true weapon until its third evolution when all the stone is gone. It’s not a bad weapon once you get to that point, but it’s a waste of upgrades to use it early on.”

  “But won’t I lose it if I get the Spellcaster instead?”

  “You can just put Gram in your storage.”

  “In the Player House? I didn’t know you could do that. Shitbox made it sound like it’d be gone if I bought another weapon.”

  “You have to unequip it and store it in the house first, otherwise that will happen, yes.”

  “Are there any other hidden weapons to find?”

  “Of course. I know of the ones in Stage Five and Seven. The one in Five is a stone spear with a special attack that’s pretty good. The one in Seven is cursed though and always turns people into monsters, so I won’t be telling you how to get it. There’s supposedly one in Stage Four as well, but I have no idea where it’d be. It’s the only thing I’m missing from that Stage.”

  “What about inside the great tree?” Adam suggested.

  She shook her head. “I already tried chopping it down. I’ll try turning it into a Rotmaker this time around, maybe that’ll do the trick.”

  “By the way, what weapon do you use? I can’t really tell.”

  “That’s because I hide them, which you should make a habit of doing as well. If people don’t know what you have, they won’t know how to easily counter you later on. Learnt that the hard way.”

  For all her talk of wanting to help people, she sure comes across as jaded at times.

  “You won’t tell me?”

  “I use Priest and Brawler.”

  Adam frowned.

  “What?” Emelia asked.

  “That’s what Mórrígan used in my previous loop…”

  “It’s very hard to beat for the first 9 Stages,” she said. “Priest obviously works well in groups, but the Zealot evolution is what makes that particular combo powerful, since it increases damage based on proximity to an enemy. Brawler has a similar evolution called Pit Fighter and the two damage increases interact multiplicatively, allowing you to kill everything in just a few punches.”

  “Why isn’t it good for Stage Ten and later?”

  “There are better options at that point, plus a lot of the fights end up requiring superhuman reflexes to keep up with the enemies at close range. Alright, I’ve spent enough time with you, I’ve gotta go.”

  “Thanks Emelia,” he said and meant it.

  She paused and a soft expression flowed across her face so quickly that it was gone a split-second later.

  “Don’t die,” she told him.

  Then she vanished.

  Connect me to Beck and Gladwyn again, Adam prompted the Tavern.

  He spent the rest of the night talking to the pair and getting to know them better.

  When the Tavern was eventually about to close, Beck quickly issued a challenge and said that whoever got the least Points in Stage Two would have to change their nickname to whatever the winner decided.

  Adam played along, even though he knew he’d crush them both. Still, he’d told them about the Secrets like Weaver and the Lucky Stone, as well as what to watch out for, so he was sure they’d both end up with pretty high Point totals by the end.

  After leaving the Tavern, Adam went by the Player house to drop off his Cracked Slime Core in the storage. He noticed that all three trophies for Stage One were now featured on the shelves, even though he hadn’t attained the Speedrun in this loop. As predicted, the Secret Boss trophy was gold. However, there was also a glass trophy that read ‘Magical Forest Secrets’. That one hadn’t given any bonus Points, but perhaps it would’ve if he’d gotten both Secrets in the same run.

  He left the house and went to the Market where he found Yenna taking a break from playing her instrument to watch the fountain. The other vendors were out of their stalls and were busy talking and eating until they noticed him.

  He felt bad for disturbing their peace, but part of him knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without the wasp’s lullaby.

  Adam laid down on the wonky cobblestones next to the musician’s stool, his arms behind his head while he stared up at the stars. This loop was already so far off the rails for what he’d expected it to be, but he hadn’t given up on trying to get things back on track. First off he needed to find a way to get in touch with Willow and clear up the misunderstanding. He’d thought to ask Gladwyn for help, since he had a warm personality and atmosphere that’d no doubt work to convince Willow to unblock Adam. However, he was wary of making such a request before properly getting to know the guy.

  I just hope Willow makes it past Stage Two…

  Yenna knelt down next to Adam and his nose was filled with the scent of honey.

  Then she began to sing her lullaby.

  For once, he didn’t see the eye in the darkness. In fact, he didn’t dream at all.