The Eye That Saw The End (1)

Atlas held out his hand.Sin nervously froze in the air, but did not try to stop him.

His fingers touched the metal.As soon as he squeezed the artifact in his palm, the world around him darkened.The air became as thick as water.

A whisper... far away, as if it came from another time.

~They... tried to seal me...

~But time... it always slips away...

Atlas felt a sharp stab in his temples. Information flooded into his mind, chaotic and disjointed.

[You have received a Unique Artifact: the "Eye of Silence."]

[This item is related to the disappearance of the Seekers. His true nature remains unknown.]

[A new quest is available to you: "The Eye that saw the End."]

[Explore the history of the artifact and find out its purpose.]

Atlas slowly opened his eyes.The air shark circled him cautiously, but there was no longer any threat.

The place was empty.The shadows were gone.And now only he had the opportunity to reveal the truth.Atlas felt tired.

"There is too much information at one time."

He took a deep breath, lifted his head up.The sky was gray and overcast.An aerial shark hovered nearby, its fins shimmering with a soft light.

"This quest is obviously difficult, as few players have completed it.It takes time to think about everything."

Atlas opened the system menu.

[Do you really want to quit the game?]

[Yes / No]

He clicked Yes.The world around him wavered, then began to disappear.

The colors dissolved, the details blurred.The air shark turned its head towards him at the last moment, as if saying goodbye.

[Come back soon.]

The last thing he heard before leaving.Her eyes snapped open.

The white ceiling.A familiar room.Atlas took off his VR helmet and rubbed his temples.

"Coming back to reality is always a bit strange.Especially after such events."

He looked around.The room was quiet.It was already dark outside.

A lamp was blinking on the table, and an empty coffee cup was next to it.

"How long have I been in the game? He reached out and turned on the monitor.

The clock showed 3:17 a.m.

–Well settled. – Atlas leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Silence.

Only the quiet hum of the system and the faint creak of a chair.

"Too many things have happened.

This camp, the shadow, the artifact..."

He felt like he was involved in something more than just an easy quest.But what's the point?

Atlas repeated the details in his mind.

"The artifact was hidden. Who hid it?

The seekers had disappeared. They found it... but couldn't use it? The shadow saidYou came too late.Too late for what?So it's something from the past.

Maybe he stumbled upon the consequences of someone else's mistake?"

His hands automatically reached for the keyboard, but he didn't look for anything.

–No guides will help here. I want to do it on my own without anyone's help.The answers are only inside the game.

Atlas leaned back again, staring at the ceiling.Should he even go further?On the other hand…

"Since I've already started, I need to finish it."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face.I felt tired, but a strange curiosity flared up inside.

"Okay.Rest first. Then come back."

He looked at the time. 3:24.

–Tomorrow is a new day.Hence, new answers.

Atlas reached for the notebook that was lying on the edge of the table.

–Writing on the phone? No, you'll forget faster that way.Pen and paper are safer.

He opened the page, quickly sketched out the title.

The Eye of Silence: What is known?

– The artifact was hidden in the Seekers' camp.

– The disappeared group was clearly trying to use it or study it.

–The shadow was talking about 'sealing'. So someone was trying to hide the artifact?

– The system has given a new quest: "The Eye that saw the end." So, does this have a global connection?

– Connection with magic: it suppresses magical traces.

"What kind of late?" What happened earlier?

Questions:

Who created the artifact?

What happened to the Seekers?

What role do I play in this?

Atlas put his pen on the table and reread the notes.

"Something's obviously wrong."

Normal quests don't work that way.If the system has given you a task that you can complete only once, it means that it was planned by someone in the game.But why exactly did he find it?

An accident? Or... did someone bring him here?

Going further without preparation is stupid.The next step is to find at least some information about the background of this artifact.The best option is the Dra'mira library.

He took a deep breath and closed his notebook.

"Okay. There is a plan.

Tomorrow is the game."

Now he could go to bed in peace... but he was interested and he couldn't just go to bed, he needed more information: "Damn, you can't do without the Internet after all."

Atlas glanced at his watch–3:40.

"Okay, just a little more."

Sleep could wait.If this artifact is not just part of a random assignment, then someone could have already written about it.He turned on his laptop and opened a search engine.

"Flanard-Ford Online artifact Eye of Silence"

"FFO disappeared Seekers"

"Unique FFD quests with sealed artifacts"

[Search...]

[Uploading the results...]

[Forum topics]

Someone mentioned the strange disappearances of players during rare quests.No confirmation, but there are rumors.Mention of ancient artifacts

There are several artifacts related to the sealing of dark magic in the game.One of them is the Blade of Oblivion, which disappeared from the game after one update.

Someone was looking for his early oldest player posts under the nickname "Renard," who wrote that he had come across information about "Eyes that see the end."

Last activity was a year ago.

Atlas frowned.

"Where is this Renard now?Why is no one responding to his posts?

Did someone else find the Eye, but then disappeared?"

Atlas found Renard's profile.Last activity: 1 year ago.

Last message: "I found something... in the FFO game."

"An empty page?"

"No new messages, no replies.Did he just leave? Or did something happen?"

I should have tried.Atlas wrote a message:

"Hey. I've seen your old posts about the Eye that Sees the End.

I think I came across this quest too.

If you're still here, write."

He sent it.

There was no reaction.No notification about reading, no movement in the profile.

Just silence.Atlas put his laptop on the table and rubbed his face with his hands.

"Okay... it's definitely time to sleep now."

Atlas closed his laptop and stretched.My eyes were already closing.

"If Renard answers, I'll find out tomorrow."

He got up and walked around the room.My legs were numb after sitting for a long time.

It was already light outside–the first rays of the sun were making their way through the curtains.

"I spent the night at the screen again..."

He took one last look at the monitor, turned off the light and lay down, but the mental storm in his head did not leave him.

"What's going to happen next?"

"What's the next step?"

"Dra'Myr is a library."

"The Eye of Silence is its properties.

"Renard–what happened to him?"

"There are answers. We just need to find them."

This time he wasn't dreaming about the game.Just endless darkness.And someone's quiet voice.

"...you came too late..."

Atlas stretched, yawned, and looked at his phone.

10:42 a.m.

There were no messages from Renard.

"Well, as expected."

He opened the news about the game. Maybe there were some updates or discussions about similar cases.

[Mini Patch: Balance and Bug Fixes]

[Fixed a bug with flight animations for aerial creatures.]

[Minor damage adjustments for some classes.]

[Players discuss "missing quests"]

In one of the threads, someone wrote that their unique assignment had suddenly disappeared from the magazine.For others, the quests changed their descriptions without explanation.

[Rumors of hidden NPCs]

[Some players claim to have found NPCs that are not in the official guides.]

[These characters appear only at certain times and give strange cues.]

To be continued, please like and save…