Vision 6 - Flipping it Over (1)
The next day, I went to meet up with Bob. It was at the same place we had met yesterday. The middle-aged man was wearing the same trekking clothes and carried two axes.
"Good morning, sir."
"Good morning, Arthur."
We greeted each other, and then he handed me one of the axes. Yesterday, I had asked him to lend me an ax for today as well. I didn't buy one since I wouldn't be needing it again.
"Let's go."
He said, and I nodded. As we walked, Bob looked me up and down. I was wearing my usual black clothes and jacket, but something else caught his attention.
"You have a fancy sword."
"Oh, this?"
I pulled out the sword that hung on my waist by the belt. It was the sword Persephone had talked about.
"It's a sword with the blessing of the church."
"Oh. Church do distribute those, I also got one for my son."
The church of Brigian distributes swords to people who want them. People usually take them to give to their children who want to practice sword arts.
But the one I have was dipped in holy water. The church always has a sword on display, constantly under running holy water.
Originally, I had planned to steal that sword, but they changed the sword one of these nights, so I asked them to give me the one they replaced.
"But you've attached a lot of keys to it." He said, curiously looking at the bundle of keys at the end of the handle.
"I wanted to symbolize it as a sword that could unlock anything."
"That's a great thought."
"Thank you," I said feeling rather embarrassed on the inside, I thought it looked cool but poorly made. I had attached a hundred keys to the hilt of the sword.
For the past two days, I had roamed around the city and picked up all the keys I could find—the ones Persephone called trash.
"Great thought? I'm telling you, you picked up garbage."
I ignored the beautiful voice that came from beside me. Anyone who didn't know would react the same way, but it would come in handy.
After walking for half an hour, we once again reached the location Bob had taken me to the day before for woodcutting.
"Are we cutting at the same place?" I calmly asked.
"Yes?"
Looking around as if observing the area, I made the observation. "I think the place has had enough woodcutting. We shouldn't overcut it."
"You think?"
The place itself wasn't overcut, but today I had a plan to cut wood at a different location.
"So, you want to cut wood somewhere else?" Perfectly asked the question I was hoping for.
"Actually, there's a place I found a while back. It has some amazing quality wood."
"Really? Where? Where is it?"
When I talked about good-quality wood, Bob's face lit up. He was practically bouncing like a kid. The forest was packed with trees, but having good-quality wood is always better.
"It's not very far. We just have to go a little deeper into the forest. We'll reach it in an hour."
"Deeper? How deep exactly?"
"Not too deep. It's near the lake. I think people call it Silver Lake."
+
[The Nubecula 'Dionysus' is listening to you.]
+
As soon as I said the words 'Silver Lake,' Bob's face lost its color. I had expected this reaction.
"Silver Lake? I don't think you know, but that lake is dangerous."
"Really?"
"Yes. There are all sorts of rumors."
What he said is true. The people of the city call it the red area. There were rumors of people going to see the lake but never returning.
Some spread rumors about the lake having a guardian, and others say the area has too many evolved animals and monsters.
"I've also heard those, but I've been to the lake myself. There was nothing."
"You've been to Silver Lake?"
"I have, and the place is beautiful."
+
[The Nubecula 'Dionysus' comments, "When did you visit the lake?"]
[The Nubecula 'Gumiho' comments, "You bad boy."]
+
[Some Nubeculas also want to know about your visit to the lake.]
+
Finally, Dionysus is commenting. Well, I've never been to the lake myself before, but I've seen it in my dreams. I need Bob there with me, but he hesitated. He thought hard about it.
"How about we just go, and you can see the place for yourself? If you find the place dangerous, we'll leave right away."
So I persuaded further. I couldn't feel his emotions like I could with Persephone, but I could tell he wanted to say no. However, my words were creating uncertainty. He's a woodcutter at heart, which is why I need him there.
"Okay. Since you're a good person and just as passionate about woodcutting, I'll go with you. I think if I say no, you'll go by yourself."
I became speechless for a second. I wasn't expecting that as an answer. Why is he thinking about my safety? Sometimes, these people are hard to understand. Anyway, I am getting what I want.
"Thank you. We'll go back if you want—don't worry."
+
[The Nubecula 'Dionysus' is curious about you.]
+
We walked deeper into the forest. Occasionally. there were sounds of animals coming from all sides. On an evolved planet like Teraa, animals have also become stronger and tougher.
Bob reacted defensively at those voices. Even though evolved animals are unusual for someone like me, they're normal for people on this planet.
He was probably more worried about the guardian animal of the lake, but it won't be a problem since there is no guardian. Well, technically, she wouldn't be a guardian.
After walking for an hour, we reached our destination—Silver Lake. The lake itself wasn't silver, but it was very clean and shone because of the sunlight.
"Amazing. It's so much more beautiful than the place before."
Looking at the scene, Bob was amazed.
The huge lake sparkled under the warm sunlight, its still water reflecting the tall trees all around. Light and shadow mixed together, shifting beautifully with every passing moment.
The middle-aged man walked toward one of the trees and rubbed his hand on its trunk.
I watched him and spoke.
"So, what do you think? Do you like it?"
"Yes. The trees here are of excellent quality. It's like life is filled into them."
"So, you'll cut wood here, Woodcutter Bob?"
"Yes."
Bob was really excited to cut the highest-quality wood. As soon as Bob agreed to cut the wood, I heard a message.
+
[You have entered the area with an exceptionally talented woodcutter.]
+
[Conditions:
+ Have a companion who is an extremely talented woodcutter: Completed
+ Have the companion possess a woodcutting skill above Lvl.4: Completed]
+
[You have fulfilled the conditions to activate the Hidden Script.]
+
[The Hidden Script is being unlocked.]
+
[Hidden Script: Story of an Honest Woodcutter
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: D
Passing Scenario: Help your honest woodcutter companion enact the story scenario.
Reward: 4000 points
Failure: 3000 points or a similar decrease in stats.]
+
As soon as I read the message, a smile formed on my face. A hidden script. I was aiming for this, even though it was here, nobody had been able to find it.
"We're on a hidden script? You said you wanted to go to a school first."
It was Persephone who complained. It was true—I had planned to go straight to Trivia, but when we arrived at Brigian, I remembered that this city had a hidden script.
+
[The Nubecula 'Dionysus' is smiling excitedly.]
+
The only person who knew about the existence of this hidden script was Dionysus. I only knew about it because I saw Dionysus talking about it in my dreams.
A part of my dream flashed through my head.
+
[Your perception has increased.]
+
<...Hermus and Dionysus were sitting at the conference table.
Dionysus was drinking from his usual fancy cup. Hermus looked at him.
"You drink too much."
"Ha. One cannot drink too much. You're just boring."
"Says the guy who always used to watch a woodcutter. Anyway, what's the deal with that?"
Dionysus looked up from his wine cup, which was just as fancy as him.
"Hmm? I'll tell you since he's already dead. He was the source of a hidden script."
"A hidden script?"
"Yeah, there was a hidden script in his town. You just have to take him there."
"It was there, and nobody found it?"
"Nobody was able to find it because one needed a companion with comparatively high woodcutting skills. He was the only one who fit the description. I was curious if anyone would be able to take him."
Dionysus explained the story of the woodcutter while drinking from his glass.
"Was it worth it?"
Hermus's question was understandable. Everyone wants to know about hidden scripts.
"Eh. It really depended on the knowledge."
It was a vague answer, but that was all Dionysus told him before going back to drinking...>
I smiled as I recalled the scene playing in my mind like a projection. I looked toward Bob, who was still rubbing his hand on the trunk.
"Since we're already here, why not reap the benefits?"
+
[The Nubecula 'Who Likes Cigars and Candy' comments, "You're just lucky."]
[The Nubecula 'Whose Heart Bleeds for the Heartbroken' comments, "Good luck."]
+
[The Nubecula 'Gumiho' is excited to watch you clear the script.]
[The Nubecula 'Hwang Jini' is observing you.]
+
"Shall we start cutting?" I said, pushing forward toward the scenario that awaits.
"Yes. As you said, this place has good wood, and it doesn't seem dangerous like the rumors mentioned."
I smiled and went toward one of the trees to stay a little farther away from Bob. Now, he would be the main character of the script.
The story of the Honest Woodcutter. It was the simplest and most popular children's story on Earth. Everyone must have heard it once as a child.
I had to recreate it and let it go according to its script.
Bob picked up the ax in his hand and positioned himself to cut the wood. Then, the scene began to change. Suddenly, I could only see Bob. His trek clothes changed to medieval-style poor clothing, and as he used his skill, his actions, and words from the story started to mix together.
+
[The lower existence 'Bob High' has used Woodcutting Lvl.5.]
+
A voice resounded in my head like an echo.
|Once, in a village, there was an honest woodcutter. He always went deep into the forest near the lake to cut wood.|
The sound of the mystical voice resounded in the midst of the ax hitting the tree trunk. Bob was cutting the wood very passionately. I could feel his passion and effort through the sweat on his forehead. The words from the script resounded again throughout the surroundings.
|The woodcutter was very poor and had no other income aside from woodcutting. He made his passion his profession.|
Suddenly, the middle-aged man who worked at a corporation agency and wore fancy trek clothes looked overly poor to me.
|One of these days, the woodcutter again went into the forest near the lake to cut wood. He was working hard. The woodcutter was swinging his ax when suddenly, his ax slipped from his hand. The ax flew from his hand and dropped into the lake.|
As the words dictated, the power of the script increased. It was also affecting Bob, as he was swinging his ax harder and harder.
Now is the time his ax should fly from his hand and fall into the river. I already had a plan. I looked toward Persephone, our eyes met, and she flew toward Bob without much reaction.
I had already told her to make Bob's ax fly into the lake. When I told her, she asked why I wanted that, but now it should be obvious. She flew toward him and very gently slapped the ax that Bob was swinging.
As the ax flew from his hand, I also threw my sword with the keys that I had. Both the ax and the sword were submerged in the lake.
Now, its time to proceed with the script, but it wouldn't end the way it did in the story. I am going to flip it over.