Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Although time in Eden and the real world moved differently, it was just a very minute difference. The real disparencies happened while in towers and dungeons, and even this was different from tower to tower.

Ark had expected a stall between the time he arrived in Venaris, and the time the others did. But to his surprise, they arrived at the same time, and to quite the sight at that.

The moment Ark opened his eyes, it was as though he was being assaulted by multiple magic attacks as lights flashed in his face.

The large crowd that had gathered were screaming out at the tops of their voices, their voices filled with joy.

Reporters scrambled for the best angles, red lights indicating a live broadcast flashed everywhere here, confusing the students as they winced at the light.

”Huh? What the hell is going on?”

— Breaking news! The students of Ryklys academy have finally returned after an entire month in the tutorial!

Ark heard one reporter scream.

”One month??” Ark was baffled. Of course he knew the time was different, but to them they had spent nothing more than two days in that horrid place.

The staff of Ryklys academy blocked off the stage with their bodies, pushing back the excited, news hungry reporters, as well as the students.

But the excitement in the hall dimmed the moment the portal vanished, as once again, the hall was plunged into an eerie silence.

”Huh? Why did... Why did it close?”

One of the parents muttered. There had been two hundred students in the trial right? Right now there were only ten students in the hall.

And none of them were his son.

”Why the fuck did the portal close?!”

The hall suddenly erupted into screams once again, only that this time, they weren’t screams of joy.

Once you return to the real world after the tutorial, all your injuries vanish. But your clothes remain. The crowd had been so excited, the room too dimly lit for them to pay attention...

That was why it was only now that the parents noticed how bloodied they all were.

Some of them fell to their knees wailing, while others charged forward, faces soaked with tears as they demanded answers from the traumatised students.

— My son! Where is my son?!

— You know Mirabell, don’t you? Why aren’t you people talking for god sake? What happened to them!

— Please madam, stay back, give the students some space!

—What space! I can’t find my son and you are asking about space?!

— Please sir, stop shouting...

— Did you dare say I am shouting? AHHHH AHHHH AHHHHH AHHH AHHHHHHHH!!

In the space of a few seconds, the entire hall had broken into chaos.

Olivia covered her ears with both her hands, calling them tightly shut. ”Make it stop... please...”

Each name that was called, each scream, each tear soaked face... reminded the students of what they had encountered in the tutorial.

Some of the parents even blamed them for the death of their children.

It wasn’t long before students from top families were retrieved by members of their family.

But for those of them who did not have anyone waiting, they were left to face the mob, protected only by the teachers that were seconds away from crumbling under the pressure.

Olivia was the same, she had already bent down, covering her ears tightly.

A group of men in black suits had already come for Soo-jin. ”Miss, we should leave now, before things get messy.” The man said.

Soo-jin turned to face Ark and Olivia. ”You guys should come with me, we’ll take you out of the hall. It’s the least I can do.”

Ark shook his head. ”Thanks, but no need.” He scratched his head. ”I’ll manage.”

Soo-jin smiled and spared him one more glance. ”Things will get really busy from here on out. I don’t know when we’ll meet next...”

She paused for a moment.

”Thank you for coming back for us.”

Ark nodded and she smiled. Isabella gave him a curt nod, her eyes were filled with an emotion he did not understand, but it was not like they had any time to chat.

The men, likely players in the level 100s, surrounded the two of them, their bodies blurred, and they were gone.

’Teleportation...’ Ark swallowed. Even the most basic teleportation magic was extremely rare.

Teleportation magic that could move so many people at the same time... it couldn’t be less than S-Rank at the very least.

”The top families are really something aren’t they?”

”Alright, it’s about time we left too.” Ark suddenly picked Olivia from the floor, causing her to jerk at the sudden motion, her eyes wide in shock.

There were shimmering tears in her eyes, some had already even made a path down her cheeks. For a person who acted so cocky, she was overly sensitive.

”W-what are you doing?!” She blurted as Ark placed her on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

”We are leaving. I am helping you, the appropriate words should be thank you.”

”At least carry me properly, I’m a girl you know!” Her wings fluttered in protest.

”No.”

Their bodies suddenly fizzled into the darkness as Ark activated his skill. But unlike flashy teleportation magic, all he had was a camouflage.

He still had to gingerly make his way around the crowd, and out of the academy.

Just as Ark got to the door leading out of the hall, he glanced back at the stage to see who was left.

That was when he saw the principal, standing at the side as though frozen in time.

He was staring at the only person who hadn’t moved, nor spoken a single word since they returned.

The hero, Darius.

Ark knew why. But he turned around and walked away. There were no words that could be said to a man who had lost the only family he had left.

Nor to the one who failed to protect his betrothed.

Even after leaving the academy, Ark did not stop, he kept walking until he was at least a few blocks away from the school, before deactivating his skill and dropping Olivia.

Olivia smoothed down her clothes, a big frown on her face as she glared at him.

”I guess I’ll see you around.” She huffed before storming away.

After she had made a few steps forward, she stopped. She did not turn around, but Ark could hear the sincerity in her voice as she said, ”Thank you... thank you for everything.”

”And... sorry for the way I treated you earlier.”

Almost instantly, she spread out her large wings, and with one massive beat, she soared into the air, as though afraid to hear what his response would be.

But as Ark watched her go, he couldn’t help but wonder why no one had come for her. Last he remembered, she was also from a prestigious family...

In his case, his sister was likely still at work, or stuck in traffic. He had specifically told her not to come for him.

But Olivia’s family must have had countless high ranking players working for them. Why then was she returning home alone?

”Mommy look. A bone man, an ugly bone man is on the street.”

Ark turned around to see a mother hugging her daughter tightly, her face pale as she stared at him.

”M-monster! Monster! Someone call the association!!”

”Did a gate break occur?! How did a monster get into the city?!”

Ark jolted and took a step back. He had almost forgotten that he was in this form...

Most players carried their race like a badge of honour, so it wasn’t exactly unnatural to see a monster-like person on the streets.

But monsters were monsters, as such it was still common to get reactions like this from a lot of people.

The right thing to do would have been to show them his player identification badge, but he was just fresh out of the trial! He hadn’t even registered in the association!

Seeing the crowd had begun to grow relentless, Ark did the only sensible thing he could do at that point... he ran.

He dug into the road, and began tunneling away.

The little girl tugged on her mothers clothes. ”Mom, is the ugly bone man also a mole man?” The child giggled.

Ark held back tears as he sped away underground.

’That... that darn kid!’