Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Snow fell softly from the gray sky, covering the land with a cold white blanket throughout the region. The air was sharp and hard to breathe, and the wind howled between the snow-covered pines and the towering mountains that surrounded the valley between the large, partially white peaks.

In the middle of this normally inhospitable landscape was a ghost village, abandoned long ago. The wooden houses were in ruins, windows broken and doors collapsed. Some still contained furniture and personal belongings of the former inhabitants, but they were covered in dust and ice. There was no sign of human life, only the footprints of wild animals in the snow. Normally, the silence of the place was disturbing, as if something sinister lurked in the shadows, but on the day of the tournament, the sound of clashing blades could often be heard from all directions.

After leaving the tower, Kaizen decided to go to the village. He might meet stronger people there, but he was sure he could get more kills.

On the way, the landscape was barren and desolate, but at the same time impressive and majestic. As he walked along the narrow path that snaked between the hill he was on and the village, he spotted a distant building covered in a thick layer of snow. As he got closer, it became clear that this was the abandoned village.

Snow covered everything around him, and although he had heard the sounds of distant explosions just a minute ago, the deep silence began to linger, broken only by the soft sound of Kaizen's own footsteps in the snow and the wind blowing through the village's deserted streets.

Everything seems to be frozen for a long time. Kaizen thought, only to see tracks in the lower snow as he approached the village entrance.

Beyond that, Kaizen saw the local church in the center of the village, with its tall, majestic tower. All was quiet, quieter than it should have been. Still, Kaizen was not the kind of player to hesitate to put himself in harm's way, so he made his way down the only main street in the small old village. Looking carefully inside the houses, Kaizen saw that there were still some flaming orbs left behind by players for a few minutes after they were killed, but that didn't stop him from continuing on his way. He didn't have a clear destination, he just wanted to understand what happened in this place.

When he reached the end of the avenue and stopped in front of the church, he noticed that the large wooden and iron door was ajar. Kaizen opened his left hand and created a fireball that partially illuminated the interior of the church. Through the gap, Kaizen could see that there were several long wooden pews, partially destroyed, and nothing else.

No doubt it was dangerous to enter this place, but if the person who had killed the other players in this village was inside the church and still recovering, this was a great opportunity for Kaizen to get rid of a strong opponent.

So Kaizen pulled open one of the church doors and entered cautiously, holding his sword firmly in his right hand and the fire in his left. He knew that the place could be full of traps or maybe even enemies, but he wasn't afraid of anything, he just wanted to have some fun and maybe win the legendary item.

Inside the church, he looked ahead and saw an altar with a large metal cross surrounded by lit candles and fresh flowers. There was also a man kneeling before the altar, dressed in a green robe with a black hood. He was mumbling some words with his head down as if he were praying.

Kaizen was fascinated by this scene. Who was this man? And why was he doing this at this time?

Just in case, the first thing Kaizen did was to use <Analyzing Eye>.

[Player: Orddiar

Level: ? | Race: Human | Gender: Male | Class: ?

Profession: ?

HP: ? | MP: ?

Attack: Defense: ? Defense: ? Speed: ?

Strength: ? | Wisdom: ? | Stamina: ?

Skills: [Hidden Content]]

Seeing that he couldn't even see this person's profession, Kaizen knew that he was much stronger than usual. Usually, there were many players whose stats he couldn't see because they were so many levels above him, only some of them were close to the 50 level limit of the skill, so Kaizen could still see some less important information, but this man was like the Bleeding Lily, Kaizen couldn't see anything at all.

When Kaizen took a step back and stepped on the old wooden floor, it made an involuntary sound. The man, however, did not turn and look at Kaizen with an expression of surprise or fear; he just turned his head enough to look over his left shoulder.

"Who are you?" he asked in a calm voice.

"I am Kaizen." Psyker replied firmly. "What are you doing there?" he asked in a curious voice.

"My name is Orddiar and I am a priest." He revealed with a resigned voice. "And I am here to ask for forgiveness for my sins."

Kaizen was puzzled by this answer. What sins had he committed? Was he talking about all the dead players in the village? And if that was the reason, why was he participating in a Battle Royale?

"What sins have you committed?" Kaizen asked with a suspicious voice.

"You saw. I killed a lot of people." He admitted in a guilty voice.

Psyker looked up strangely. "Man, you know you're in a game, right? It's okay to kill in here."

"I know. Still, I have to ask forgiveness not only for the hopes I just destroyed, but also for the ones I'm about to destroy." Orddiar said, and Kaizen could finally see the man's eyes.

Orddiar's eyes were not those of a normal human, for they seemed empty, lifeless, and without doubt. Only then did Kaizen realize that what he had just heard was not something cute, but a threat.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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