Her breath hitched, The visions still tearing at her vision. A scream clawed its way up her throat, but—
“Be not afraid.”
The voice cut through the chaos. Smooth. Calm. Too calm. It wasn’t spoken aloud, yet it resonated inside her skull, snapping her back to the present like a whip crack.
Ashe bolted upright, staggering as her eyes darted wildly around the room. Walls of solid stone. No doors. No windows. Just emptiness. Just stone confines.
“You are in no danger here,” the voice assured.
Her heart still pounded, her breaths coming fast and uneven. No danger? No danger?
She spun, her back slamming against the wall. Cold stone pressed against her spine, grounding her—but only barely.
“W-Who are you!?” she demanded, her voice raw. “What are you!? What did you do to me!?”
No answer. Only silence stretching too long, suffocating.
She turned, reaching for the doorway she had come through—only to find it gone. In its place: solid rock. No seams. Not a trace it had ever existed.
Her stomach dropped.
No way out.
Panic surged again, her fingers curling into fists as she pounded on the wall. “Let me out!”
“But asset, you have not completed your quest,” the voice replied, its tone filled with genuine confusion.
A flicker of light bloomed before her, and suddenly, text swam into her vision—floating, translucent, as if projected onto the air itself.
[Objective: Locate and Capture a Lesser Duskfang]
Reward: Lacrima Extract (Healing Catalyst)
Complication: Host Symbiosis – Greater Duskfang Herd Nearby
Ashe’s breath caught. What the hell was this?
Her hands shot up, instinctively trying to pull the viewfinder —but there was nothing to grab. No glass. No headset. Just words hovering in her sight like they were inside her eyes.
She rubbed her temples, then raked a shaky hand through her hair. “Get out of my head!”
“I’m sorry,” the voice said, perfectly polite. “I did not mean to offend you, Asset. Please enjoy some calming puppies.”
The air shifted. A soft whimper. The sound of tiny paws against stone.
Then—
A sea of golden retriever puppies.
Dozens of them. Fuzzy. Wriggling. Wagging tails and warm, round eyes.
Ashe barely had time to process before one toppled into her leg, sending her sprawling. She landed hard, only for the weight of countless fluffy bodies to pile on top of her—tongues lapping at her hands, noses pressing against her cheek.
EXCITEMENT. JOY. HAPPINESS.
Their emotions hit her in a wave. Pure, unfiltered joy. The kind only man’s best friend was capable of feeling.
For the first time since stepping into this nightmare, she wasn’t drowning in fear, grief, or pain. Just warmth. Levity that seemed to steady in forever. Just laughter. Just—
No. No, this isn’t real.
She swallowed, fingers still tangled in soft fur. Her mind warred against itself. She wanted to stay here, just a little longer. Just to feel this warmth. But—
“This is a trick,” she murmured, even as her hands still moved, scratching behind floppy ears. “This is a trap.”
“They are real,” the voice said smoothly. “But if they do not please you—”
The puppies vanished.
One by one.
Gone.
Her hand clapped around empty air. She felt cold again. But loose fur still clung to her clothes.
“Would you like kittens instead?”
Ashe jolted upright. “Wait!” She twisted, scanning the empty floor. “They were real!? Where did they go!? Did you—did you just kill the puppies!?”
“No! No, of course not!” The voice sounded almost offended. “I merely put them back. Would you like me to retrieve them?”
Ashe hesitated.
She almost said yes.
But she clenched her jaw, forcing herself to stand. “No. No, thank you. I have a job to do”
It was harder than she expected.
She exhaled. Focus. “Speaking of…” she crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow, “…if you can spawn things, teleport things... however it works... why not, i don't know, just hand over what I came here for? You knew about what I came here for. My quest and all that jazz. And it seems you want to be helpful so-”
The response was instant. Cold.
“Request denied. Personal quests must be completed personally.”
Ashe squinted at the glowing screen in front of her, her expression flat with disbelief.
“Are you serious?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“A quest must be completed in order to earn a reward. Would you like to use a hint token?”
Ashe let out a slow, suffering sigh, rubbing her temples before dragging a hand down her face. This was going to be a long night.
“Fine. If we’re gonna gamify this whole thing, might as well go all in.”
“Would you like me to display it on your HUD, or will you get mad again?”
She scowled. “Okay, first of all—what was that? I know hunters have those scout-finder headset thingies to track monsters and weak spots or whatever. But I don’t have one. I did—sold it. Got us two months’ worth of food. Totally worth it.
“But then this screen just shows up in front of me? Floating in the air? No wires, no projectors? How?”
“HUD stands for Heads-Up Display. It is designed to assist assets in tracking tasks, avoiding dangers, and boosting productivity.”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t need the sales pitch. How are you doing it? I’m not wearing anything, and there’s nothing around me projecting this junk.”
“HUD access is available to all current and active assets! Though… now that you mention it… most opt for physical interfaces.”
Ashe narrowed her eyes. “So… you’re telling me anyone can just see this? No hardware, no implants? It just appears?”
“All active assets. Correct.”
She exhaled sharply, rolling her eyes. “More of that magic BS… But why make it look like a game screen? The bars, the stats—who designed this?”
“Your kind are… prone to number-based motivation.”
There was a pause. If a disembodied voice could shrug, it probably did.
“Seeing numbers gradually increase often encourages growth. I wish I could offer a more thorough explanation… but I lack a true understanding of it myself.”
“There seems to be all sorts of stuff you don’t understand… But enough with all the lore farming distractions. You never did answer my question. Don’t think I didn’t notice.” She wagged a finger. “Who are you exactly? Why bring me here?”
“I am called by many names. The system. The machine. Taskmaster.”
“And you? What do you call yourself?”
“Oracle. You can call me Oracle.”
Ashe rolled the name around on her tongue, repeating it under her breath. “Oracles were spokespeople for the gods. Is that what you are? A messenger?”
“I do not serve gods,” Oracle corrected. “There is only one God. One true purpose.”
Ashe snorted. “Yeah? And what purpose would that be?”
“To prepare you.”
The voice carried no emotion, no urgency—just a simple, absolute certainty.
A prickle crawled up Ashe’s spine. She hesitated, scanning the ruins around her as if expecting something to lurch from the shadows. But nothing came. Only the wind howling through the broken stone, the faint, rhythmic pulse of the rift behind her.
Oracle had gone silent. Waiting. Expectant.
She exhaled sharply through her nose. “Alright, Oracle… I’ll bite. Prepare me for what?”
“I showed you already. Would you like to see it again?”
Ashe’s stomach twisted. Those images—visions of cities swallowed whole, the sky split open, legions of monsters unlike anything she had ever seen—flashed in her mind.
She clenched her fists. “That was all real? What the hell do you expect me to do about it?”
“Everything I have shown you is the truth. Perhaps not the truth here and now… but if I cannot fulfill my mission—if I cannot prepare this world—it will fall, just as all the rest have.”
Ashe swallowed, her throat dry.
This wasn’t her problem.
This wasn’t her fight.
“Listen, Oracle… Can I call you Ori? Listen Ori, I get you have this grand mission. I do. But I can’t help you.” She threw out her arms, laughing bitterly. “I’m no hero. I don’t have crazy powers. I’m a nobody. I can barely save myself.”
She turned away, rubbing the back of her neck. “But I’ll make you a deal.”
Silence.
She smirked, tilting her head. “You help me get what I’m after, and I’ll send somebody who actually can help you. Maybe one of those fancy mages from Aegis Corp. or one of those hunters for hire! Sound good?”
Nothing.
“Come on, just spawn me some medicine like you spawned those puppies, and I’ll—”
“Request Denied..”
The weight of the word settled over her, heavier than it had any right to be.
Oracle wasn’t refusing out of malice. It was just… a fact. A line it wouldn’t cross.
Ashe sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Figures.”
She planted her hands on her hips, shifting her weight. “Alright. If you won’t just give me what I came for, can you at least point me toward the easiest way to get it? Maybe an old or sick Duskfang? Something I can take down fast? Does that align with your almighty directive?”
A brief pause. Then—
“I will locate a challenge appropriate to your skill level… Calculating. Please wait…”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Take your time.”*
A strange sensation washed over her, like a thousand tiny feathers brushing against her skin. Then, numbers appeared on the HUD.
[Experience gained: 2,750]
She smirked. Not bad.
[intelligence +7]
Pretty good.
[Strength +2]
Her smirk faltered.
[Level: 0]
Her smirk disappeared entirely.
[Skills: 0]
…Damn.
[Stamina: 3]
[Max Mana: 35]
Then, at the bottom of the screen, a final, blinking number caught her eye.
[Final Assessment Complete!]
Ashe groaned, rubbing her temples. “Okay, okay, damn! I get it! No need to rub it in! Chill out! Couldn't you at least throw me a gold star for effort or something?”
A golden, sparkling party hat materialized above her head, floating mockingly before landing with a soft plop. Across the front, in obnoxiously cheerful letters, it read: “You Tried!”
She scowled. “Oh, so that’s how it is? You can’t give me what I actually need, but when it comes to trolling me, you pull out all the stops?” Her lips twisted into a frown—then she paused, her eyes catching something near the bottom of the display.
[Unclaimed Experience: 27,535… 27,720… 28,005…]
Her heart skipped a beat. “Wait… Unclaimed experience? What is it? Why is it still going up?”
The voice responded in its usual detached, matter-of-fact tone.
“They are still burning.”
A dull ache settled in her chest.
“…Oh. Right. The spiders.”
A heavy silence stretched between them. She exhaled sharply, shaking off the thought. Nothing I can do about that now.
“Anyway! Moving on! Let’s talk about that hint, shall we?”
A new notification flashed before her eyes.
[Hint: Lesser Duskfang. 30 meters. Time remaining: 1:57:43]
Her stomach twisted. “Woah, woah, woah! What’s with the time limit!?”
“You are here to heal Asset 224.5XB, Eulis Grant, are you not?”
Ashe nodded, “yeah, what about it!?”
“If she does not receive the antidote before the allotted time, she will expire.”
The words hit like a hammer to the chest. Cold. Clinical. Absolute.
Three hours. That was all the time she had.
A lump formed in her throat, but she forced it down. No time to freeze up. No time to hesitate.
“I have to go. Now.” She spun on her heel, already bolting toward the exit. “It’s this way, right!?”
As she hurried through the dimly lit chamber, the voice chimed again.
“Would you like to claim your unclaimed experience points? They may aid you in your quest.”
“Yes, yes, just do it!” she snapped, barely paying attention.
A rush of unseen energy pulsed through her, but she barely noticed as the notifications flickered past.
[Level 0 >> Level 1]
[Congratulations!]
[Skill points available—]
She shoved the thought aside. No time for that now.
If an omnipotent being gives you a few dozen possible unethically sourced puppies do you pet them?
