Broadcasting Live From Inside An Eldritch Horror Game

Chapter 68: The First ’Obelisk’. Part-2.

’So those spatial fluctuations created a teleportation portal and threw me to the top floor of this strange building where Xinran and Layla were...’

’Well, it’s fortunate that I didn’t have to walk all the way back to get out of that basement, but I would have preferred if that teleportation portal was more stable...’

Shaking his head in helplessness, Zephyr took the cookies handed to him by Xinran and asked in a calm voice,

"I have no idea how my quest for finding water turned into a trial for inheriting an artifact belonging to a ’hero’... but can you explain what this ’obelisk’ you are referring to is in the first place?"

Hearing that question, Layla took a sip of her tea and replied in an extremely calm voice,

"I wanted to start the conversation with introductions and formalities first, but it seems that Sir Zephyr isn’t the type to beat around the bush and prefers straightforwardness more..."

"So, I guess I will skip the unnecessary and tell you the answer to your question directly..."

Zephyr already knew that Yan Xinran was the princess of the Jauregia Empire and Layla Jauregia was the chosen ’Hero’ of the empire.

He knew their backgrounds and had no need for any introduction speech at all.

The thing he wanted to know about was the strange obelisk that had suddenly appeared in front of him when he completed the trial and the strange mark that had engraved itself on the back of his palm.

"Truthfully speaking, no one in the world knows what that ’Obelisk’ actually is, and even though it’s been in my possession for nearly a century now, I still do not know about it in much detail."

Layla glanced at the tattoo on Zephyr’s hand and spoke,

"I had that tattoo too, but once you completed the trial, it disappeared and got transferred to your wrist instead... this is the first time I have actually seen these phenomena happen myself..."

"This tattoo is a symbol of the fact that you have completed the trail and have gained the recognition of this ’Obelisk’..."

"The ’Obelisk’ is now stored inside that tattoo; you can summon the ’Obelisk’ using your mana. Summoning and maintaining it consumes mana, so it’s preferable to keep it inside the tattoo unless you need it for something..."

Hearing those words, Zephyr finally realized what this strange tattoo was and where that ’Obelisk’ had disappeared to after the teleportation happened.

’It’s similar to a soul-bound artifact in games that can be summoned by the user’s will and can be used to enhance hidden attributes...’

Layla looked into Zephyr’s eyes and spoke in a solemn voice,

"Being chosen by this ’Obelisk’ granted one the status of a ’Hero’ and a ’Savior’ in the Jauregia empire..."

"This is the reason why I was called a ’Chosen Hero’ back when the empire still existed... Now, you can also be considered a ’Chosen Hero’ if we look at it from this angle..."

At those words, Zephyr frowned a bit and asked,

"If the people of Jauregia knew that someone chosen by the ’Obelisk’ is a ’Hero,’ then does that mean that the Jauregia empire had some understanding about the existence of this artifact?"

Hearing Zephyr’s question, Xinran shook her head and replied on Layla’s behalf.

"No, the Jauregia empire had no idea about this artifact... it would be wrong to even refer to this ’Obelisk’ as an ’artifact’; actually, artifacts do not have a ’will’ of their own; this thing has a solid ’will’ of its own..."

"So much so that it subtly affected this old witch’s mind and made her create the trial..."

Hearing those words, Zephyr felt unsure whether having the ’Obelisk’ stored in his body was a wise choice; he didn’t like the notion of someone or something trying to influence his mind and will.

"The only reason the people of Jauregia gave this old witch the status of a ’Chosen Hero’ was because she helped out in saving people from disasters and did a lot of heroic stuff out of her own free will..."

"Before she showed the ’Obelisk’ in front of the King, we didn’t even know that the ’Obelisk’ even existed in the first place..."

Zephyr frowned at that reply and looked at Layla before asking,

"Where did you even find such a mysterious ’object’ in the first place? And what does it even do?"

Hearing those questions, Layla smiled at Zephyr and replied in her usual sweet calm voice,

"I have been trying to find the answer to these exact questions throughout my entire life, actually..."

Layla sighed deeply and sipped her tea before continuing to speak.

"As far as I can remember, the ’Obelisk’ has existed with me since the very beginning... perhaps it entered the back of my palm before I was even born..."

"My mother died at childbirth, and the old lady who raised me often said that the mark I had on my wrist was a gift from gods and had existed since the moment I was born..."

"So, if you ask me where this ’Obelisk’ came from... even I have no answer for it..."

The more Layla explained, the more questions rose in Zephyr’s heart; the existence of this strange ’Obelisk’ was even more mysterious than he had expected.

’The mysteries of this world run too deep for me to understand it all in one go... I guess I will need to find the truth about the existence of this ’Obelisk’ in my future travels...’

Zephyr wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t be able to find the truth of this matter, because, unlike Layla, he was a ’Player’ brought into this world by the game.

’Exploring and finding the mysteries buried inside a game world are the main tasks of a player, and often times only the ’players’ can trigger most of these strange ’quests’...’

The game’s name itself was ’Obelisk Aperion,’ so Zephyr felt that whatever the story of this mysterious ’Obelisk’ was, it was definitely related to the ’Main Quest’ that Zephyr had to complete as a ’player’ in this game world!