"There's something else, Earth."
[Earth, what host.] System asked, confused about what its host was talking about.
"Earth, the planet earth wasn't something even remotely mentioned in the story. But now it's part of this novel setting, since I belonged there." Rio explained what he could think of as the only valuable explanation.
[These are both separate worlds, host. They don't even exist on the same plane of existence. Earth is one of the lowest grade planets in creation, while Arcadia is one of the higher ones.]
"You're right. But if sealing Ditail in another realm could lead to Emergence a 1000 years ago, didn't I do the same too? I was supposed to be on earth, in the lower plane of existence as you said. But now I'm here, in another plane, a higher one. Something where I wasn't supposed to be."
[That… ] System hearing his explanation couldn't come up with any response, what he said was unlikely, very very unlikely, but so was him reincarnating here and getting a system and 'that beings' attention.
Looking that system didn't say anything, Rio continued all the theories his brain kept cooking up. His headache was increasing with every moment but his senses were far too overwhelmed, thinking about this problem and any solution to focus on that pain.
"You said there exists a time difference between all the worlds, so what if, the 2 months that I spent here, were just 2 moments or 2 minutes back on earth. If that possibility is the case, then it would mean, __ then that would mean, that I broke the balance, just like him."
Rio's words turned into a soft whisper as he finished his sentence, and the theory he came up with. The repercussions of this reality would be far fetching and could lead to the destruction of everything.
"This world is doomed." Rio's words echoed in the system space, even though it was merely a whisper he spoke, that's how much weight it held. His stress and fatigue finally caught up to him, as his legs lost their strength and he sat down on the ground.
"And so is everyone and everything in it. There's no way anyone can stop that." He finished his words in a tone, which almost sounded like something a lost and defeated person, who simply gave up on any hope would say, and in truth that's exactly what it was.
If his theory was right, and it all led to the consequences he thought of, then there was no one who could save anyone, not even themselves. No gods, no mortals, no beasts. They'll all perish, and HE would be the only one left alive.
[That's just a theory host, and something way out of league and impossible theory. Even if what you said is right, there's nothing on earth that can give the world will of Arcadia a challenge. Something of earth could never cause a reaction like this. So stop your daydreaming and think about something that might actually get us an answer.]
System spoke in a serious tone, trying to lay down the facts for its host, who just directly jumped to the worst conclusion.
Hell the words he spoke almost gave the system a heart attack, cause it was now tied to Rio, and would suffer the same fate as him. That's why in a hurry to console itself, and its host, it started spitting out facts in a hurry.
[Earth is a waste world for a reason, host. There's no way something, or someone from there could challenge the Arcadian world will like this, not to state the obvious but Arcadia also has the protection from the law of higher existence. In every way Arcadia is superior by a degree that earth's way doesn't even come close.]
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Rio said, trying to calm himself and think something else. He understood and agreed with everything the system said, Arcadia was like a massive elephant which would crush the earth, who's like a mini ant in front of it.
But still there was this feeling, this thought that just couldn't leave him alone. Something was wrong and he had the feeling that it was definitely something related to earth. He just had no idea, what's happening there.
"Any idea on your part. You've been through so many worlds and novels, so what do you think? Don't tell me you can't since you're still level 0."
[I think it's due to… . ]
System was saying something when it stopped in between, making Rio confused. But before he could voice out his thoughts, a new wave of warming signs started playing. It felt like standing in the middle of a traffic jam, and people everywhere around you honking their horns in sync. 'So fucking annoying and infuriating'
[Host, whoever it is, here they come.]
[Breach in the barrier surrounding the world detected]
[Intrusion successful, events order destabilized]
[Major changes in plotline detected]
"System what the hell is happening now, can you tell me if it's someone from earth, or are they the people from the plot? -Rio asked, holding his heart from nearly jumping out, as an indescribable feeling rose in his heart and the headache from before went up a notch.
[Searching —----]
[Scan successful]
[Result unknown. Cause of breach undetected.]
[Host, I got good news, bad news, and the worst news, which one do you wanna hear first]
System informed its host in a calm voice, after it finished a scan of the whole Arcadia, and failed to find the root cause of whatever happened few moments ago.
"Start with something good, I don't think my brain can handle something worse for a while." Rio said, as he finally started to calm down slowly.
[This isn't the order people go for, but as you wish] system told him the joke, about how people would prefer to hear good news at last, but stopped midway, when it found its host so uninterested in its attempt to make light of this situation.
[here you go]
[The good news is, that the barrier around the Arcadia is still intact somehow, or maybe it was breached but has already recovered. So the events from the plot we were worried about will not happen. The world is safe now. And so are we.]
Hearing the system's words, it felt like a mountain of weight was taken away from him, and a small smile came to his face. "Well that's good. So we still have a lot of time to prepare for that event. Now let's hear the other ones."
[Bad news is, that whoever or whatever, was responsible for the intrusion and the breach, I cannot locate them. I cannot detect any anomaly in the world.]
"What's the effect of it on the plot, has it changed?" Rio asked the main question, stopping the system from dropping a bomb of bad news.
[No host, as I said there's no anomaly detected. Everything in Arcadia is as it should be. The plot progression which was disturbed for massive lines, has been back on track. It seems like whatever happened, didn't change a single thing in Arcadia.]
"Isn't that a good thing?"
[It is, but it's also worrisome, when you think there's someone else living here, who is not supposed to be here. I can't sense any irregularities in the plot, either because the breacher has nothing to do with the plot, or that they're stronger and secured enough, to avoid any kind of search.]
"And you believe it is the second option."
[Yes host. They're someone who can bypass the barrier of existence on their own, and defeat the world will of Arcadia in home ground. I believe they either came prepared , or they are way out of our league, and we won't know about them until we're face to face with them.]
"That's bad. Someone can literally plot and kill me behind my back, and I would have no idea who it even is."
Rio spoke, from what he could understand, was that someone entered Arcadia through some unknown methods and they've probably taken over someone's body here, just like him. And that was worrisome, if that breacher, whoever that is, taken over someone important from the plot, then it would ruin his only advantage of the novel's knowledge about that character. And it could throw everything out of control.
"What's the worst news?" He said, thinking, that there's actually something even worse from this news left.
[World's will is pissed host.]
[ Even if the barrier is fine and no one noticed anything, the breach of laws is nit something it acn ignore. So it is now pulling out a whole scan of the world through their own system.]
"It's trying to find the one who came here."
[Yes host, and I don't know about the breacher, but you'll be caught in a second and we'll be fucked.]
"Fuck."
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A/N - One little bitsy chapter more, and then we can get back to speedrunning our first birthday event promise.
Question - who do u think came knocking on arcadia's door
The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on (f)reew𝒆(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦