The Fool's Time

​Retrograde Time

This whole thing is way too bizarre. Don't tell me I've stumbled into some kind of "Rules Creepypasta" horror world? In a modern, scientifically advanced society like ours, is stuff like this really supposed to happen?

Now isn't the time to get hung up on that, though. If I want to get back, my only shot is probably doing what that weird DM said—complete the quest and find a way to survive.

Getting close to that red-feathered rock right now probably isn't safe. The layout of my bedroom hasn't changed, so it should be the safest spot here. In fact, the closer the ground gets to my bedroom, the more it looks like my familiar home—veins of marble tile embedded right into the reddish-yellow dirt.

Better fall back to the bedroom first and figure out my next move.

Before stepping back inside, I casually grabbed the wooden staff and bundle leaning against the doorway and brought them in with me. Not even gonna give me a status screen or something? When other people get dropped into these instances, don't they usually get some kind of cheat skill, or an inheritance from some peerless master? I've got jack s**t. That's a bit too stingy, isn't it?

I untied the rope holding the bundle together to see what was inside. The pack wasn't big, yet the inside was pitch-black—I couldn't see a damn thing. When I reached my hand in to feel around, it actually swallowed my entire arm, with no bottom or boundary in sight.

The top of the wooden staff was carved with the number "0", while the bottom end where the bundle was tied looked more and more like an "∞".

The white dog at the door, the precipice in the distance, the rock with the red feather along the path, the surroundings growing stranger bit by bit, the pattern on my watch, and that mysterious DM—this is clearly the card art for The Fool!

Yet the faint aura of destruction and death hanging in the air tells me this place isn't nearly that simple.

After quickly sorting through what I knew so far, I decided to go check out the boulder with the red feather first.

I picked up the wooden staff, poked my head out of the bedroom, and slowly crept toward the boulder while keeping a close eye on the white dog. Common sense told me that the moment I could clearly see its three-headed black hound shadow, I'd be in extreme danger. Glancing back, all I heard were a few anxious-sounding barks.

The boulder wasn't far, yet no matter how much I walked, there was always the same stretch of distance between us. Still, the squelch of the mud and the changing texture underfoot told me I was definitely moving forward.

The clear liquid on the boulder gradually turned murky, the stench of blood in the air grew heavier and heavier, and the surrounding trees started closing in on me as I approached, giving off a super creepy, suffocating pressure.

I looked back toward my bedroom. It had only been a short walk, yet the bedroom door now looked completely out of reach. The path I had just walked was dyed a deep crimson—it was literally a trail of blood—and a ghastly, deathly white was faintly bleeding through the bushes.

When I turned my head back around, I was already standing right next to the boulder. That last little stretch of road had vanished! I literally just teleported!

The original path was gone. At some point, the trees had closed in, wrapping me tight inside the thicket. A thick stench of blood mixed with rotting flesh hung all around me, a pale sun hung high overhead, and the cawing of crows echoed every now and then.

Oh, cruel heavens, why do you have it out for me?!

Leaving me all by myself in these woods that practically have "DEATH" written all over them—you might as well just kill me on the spot! I can't even get through a college group project without people carrying me; expecting me to survive in this death-trap of a forest is giving me, Lin Luo, way too much credit.

I crouched down to inspect the boulder. Traces of blood were mixed into its grooves—and the blood was clearly super fresh, no doubt left on the surface just moments ago. Taking another look at the red bird feather... what do you mean naturally red? This thing was clearly dyed crimson with fresh blood!

"Haven't seen a rookie around here in centuries. Kid, come sit on me and keep me company for a bit."

My legs went weak and I dropped straight to my knees on the ground. Where the hell did that voice come from?! This isn't funny at all, okay?! A few centuries is enough for me to croak and reincarnate dozens of times—what kind of future corporate slave lives that long?!

"Didn't hear me, kid? No need to bow and scrape like that. Just chat with me for a while. I've been bored out of my mind for centuries. I won't take your life—come sit on me."

"S-Senior~ Forgive me for asking, but where are you? I d-don't see you... C-Could you tell me w-where this place is?"

"Are you blind?! I should just turn you to ash right here! There's enough blood in you to keep me alive for a good long while. I tell you to sit on me and chat, and it takes you forever just to find where I am—you've got some nerve!"

Trembling, I looked down at the boulder in front of me and double-, triple-checked. What the actual f**k—a raggedy piece of rock starts talking and expects me to spot it right away?! "Coming, Senior! Sorry to keep you waiting." You old, refuses-to-die piece of trash rock—just wait till I figure out what's going on here, we'll see if I still give you the time of day.

"Senior, sitting right on top of you wouldn't be very respectful. This junior will just sit on the ground here—hope you don't mind."

"Fair enough, kid. You're an interesting one."

The bloodstains on the boulder grew even clearer, faintly revealing a few words. Looks like buttering up this rock might get me some intel on this place. Initiating contact is a bit risky, sure, but it beats sitting around waiting to die.

"The Skeletal Knight walks the earth once more; the five-petaled rose has already bloomed. Wands topple, and Swords shatter at the edge. Kid, centuries—it's been centuries! The order of this world is about to shift once again!"

What the hell is he rambling about? The ground here is filthy, covered in b****y water. Better not get too close to this old rock—God knows if he'll try to pull some body-snatching bullshit on me.

"I've waited for centuries, so there's no rush right this second. If you can pull this red feather out of my body, I promise to spare your life. Right now you're unarmed and couldn't even truss a chicken—taking your little life would be effortless."

"Senior, let me think it over for a second. Could you tell me what's actually going on in this place first? And what's the deal with this red feather?"

Blood erupted violently from the boulder, and b****y water from all directions surged toward me at breakneck speed. An invisible, suffocating pressure wrapped around my neck, instantly followed by the slick, icy chill of thick liquid rising from the soles of my feet.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask! Pull it! Or die!"

Am I really gonna die here at such a young age?! There's still so much I haven't done! Come on, stupid brain, think, think! Panic mode, I'm seriously panicking here!

"Senior, let me go first! I'll pull it, I'll pull it right now!"

XIII. As familiar air rushed back into my lungs, the numeral etched onto the boulder caught my eye, and the scenery around me shifted rapidly.

Shattered glazed glass covered the ground, gold nuggets and pearls scattered everywhere. Clear liquid slowly trickled through the cracks of the lavish debris. The surrounding trees parted, the boulder beside me vanished without a trace, and following the trail of clear liquid, a winding little path appeared before my eyes.

A fierce burning sensation flared up on my wrist. I jerked my arm up to see a line of b****y words appear on my skin: Time is expensive. Between the rose and the feather, you gotta pick one.

When I looked again, the writing had vanished, leaving only the lingering burn. I glanced at my watch: the second hand was ticking backward, the "7" in the date window had dropped to a "6", and the hour hand pointed to I.

Is this... my remaining time to clear the instance? I've literally only been out of my room for half an hour, and I'm already down to six days and one hour?!

Time is expensive. The feather, the rose—what the hell are these things?

It looks safe for now. Even though I have no idea what this clear liquid is, it's definitely way better than that b****y water just now.