Morning.

At the town library.

Ben was riding a book with a low voice, “Your hair is winter fire…”

While he was in the middle of his reading the librarian approached him and placed a book near him and knocked on the table to get his attention.

Knock. Knock.

The librarian asked, “Isn’t it summer vacation? I think you should also be on the break with the book, dear.”

Ben looked out of the window and saw Bill and his friend passing through the road while on their bike. He looks a bit envious yet keeps his face cold.

“I like it here,” said Ben as he moved away from his gaze from the window.

The library says to him once again, “A boy should be spending his summer with friends.”

“My book, please,” said Ben.

The librarian gave up and just gave him the book he requested then left to return to her own table.

Ben started reading the books about the history of the town he was in. All significant events were printed and recorded inside the book. The contents of the books showed more photos in black and white versions.

As he kept flipping through the pages of the books, Ben noticed something weird among the black and white photos. Hidden within those photos are weird photos of the clown hidden among the crowd which extremely creepy him out as if the clown itself is about to come out of the book.

Ben was startled as he closed his books as he saw the face of the clown getting closer in the photo.

Bam!

“What the hell was that!?” mumbled Ben in fright.

Ben could feel his heart beating so fast as he closed the book in tension. Then he suddenly felt something was looking at him then when he turned around he saw a floating red balloon moving towards the exit of the library.

It was such an interesting sight that made Ben follow the red balloon out of the library.

But by the time he had gotten out of the library, the balloon had disappeared, and instead, it was replaced by a collector badge Ben loves the most. The badges were left in areas where he could see them at first sight.

Despite his hands getting itchy at the presence of such a collector item, Ben didn’t dare to pick the badges as it felt weird it was left in the hallway as if showing a certain way or guiding him towards a direction.

Instead, he went in the direction he was being guided upon following the traces of the badges. In the end, he reached the inventory location where the library keeps records of everything regarding the story. It is a room filled with rows of metal cabinets and the atmosphere inside this room is a bit murky and dimmed-lighted place.

Ben peek inside the room and the dim lights and quietness of the room made the place eerie. Plus the lighting inside the room was old and flickering lights inside made it worse. It made Ben so uncomfortable.

“The Inventory room? This place is eerie~”

Just as he was about to leave the creepy room, the sound of footsteps came from behind him. From the staircase, he had walked down too. The inventory room is located on a lower floor which is why the room was a bit dim and had fewer people in it.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

As Ben turned around, what welcomed him wasn’t an angry librarian but instead a headless soldier. A bit similar to the men’s uniform on those black and white photos in that historical book he had read about this town.

“Shit!”

What terrified Ben too much is that the headless man comes in his direction as if he wanted to chase after him. Ben had no other choice but to run. He ran for his life wanting escape only to bump into the clown. .𝒐𝙧𝒈

Pennywise was laughing in enjoyment when he saw Ben’s terrified expression on his face. His expression at this moment is full of fear.

Woa~ Hahaha!!!

Then suddenly an arrow made of wind hit Pennywise and the headless ghost. It made the creepy shut up instantly while the headless man immediately disappeared like a cloud of smoke.

Whooshed~

AAAHHH!

Ben was stunned and looked for the source of the wind arrow and saw a little boy who was younger than him and looked more like a toddler. The chubby face of An Yuan looking so serious at his current appearance, made the tense atmosphere in the area disappear. The small bow in his hands is too small and looks like a toy which made it hard to believe that the wind arrow was made by him.

An Yuan yelled with his adorable voice, “Run towards me!”

Pfft.

“Okay!” Ben instinctively followed what he felt and kicked the clown to escape.

As asked he ran towards An Yuan who was once again pulling an invisible arrow from his toy bow. But what flew from the bow isn’t a childish arrow-like how the archers look but instead a powerful holy arrow full of light elements which is the weakness of all demonic beings.

Whooshed~

GAAAHHH!!

When the holy arrow hit Pennywise’s arm, he uncontrollably yelled in pain. An Yuan and Ben saw the clown’s arm burned by the holy energy which is the greatest weakness of all demons.

The Demonic clown was angered by the sudden injury and glared at An Yuan and this injury is much more serious than being beaten up by Ye Xiajie.

Pennywise bellowed at An Yuan, “You!! You are just a human who didn’t awaken any sacred bloodline. How can you use a holy element!!!”

An Yuan frown made his face even cuter as he placed his hands on his hips and tilt-up his neck to look at the tall clown for our small and baby protagonist shou.

“Who told you only those with sacred bloodline can use light elemental spells!? Blehhh~” said An Yuan as he grabbed Ben’s pants and used a teleport talisman to transfer locations within the library. Of course, the teleportation point is somewhere that other people inside the library couldn’t see.

Ben looked around and instantly recognized his surroundings.

“This… Are we back inside the library?” asked Ben.

An Yuan let him go and was about to walk away when Ben suddenly lifted him by his armpit. He carried him like a baby like his size.

“Don’t ignore me, please~”

“What are you doing? Put me down. Down!” said An Yuan as he struggled but he was too small to break free.

Ben twisted him and made An Yuan look at him. The two stared at each other with eyes both full of innocence.

“Why are you too small?” asked Ben.

His question was An Yuan’s current sore spot and the angered baby had kicked Ben directly on his face which left his nose bleeding. He also accidentally let go of An Yuan whom he was carrying in his hands thankfully the distance between him and the floor is not too high but a pain in the ass would not avoid.

An Yuan closed his eyes bracing for the impact but he didn’t feel the pain that comes after falling. When he opened his eyes once again, a black mist caught him from his fall. Like a soft layer of clothes, his fall was painless.

Ben and An Yuan were once again shocked; they looked at the black mist that saved An Yuan from his fall and slowly disappeared once again.

Ben, who wasn’t used to seeing unscientific things, commented, “Whoa~ is that for real? That mist came out from your back. Yes, there is a cloud-like pattern tattoo on your nape. You’re just a baby, how come you have a tattoo at this age?”

“A tattoo? Did you see one on my nape!?” asked An Yuan.

Ben who was hearing his baby voice couldn’t help but smile, he even forgot to cover his nose which is now bleeding.

An Yuan pointed to his nose and said, “Block your nose. It’s bleeding.” as he passed to him some tissues. “Are you sure you’ve seen a tattoo on my nape? What color is it?” asked An Yuan.

“It’s black,” answered Ben.

An Yuan was shocked. “Black? Pure black?” he asked as he didn’t even notice his voice trembling.

The naive nerdy boy nods his head innocently without even knowing the turmoil within An Yuan’s heart. He could still hear the words that the female ranker had told him about the imprints. A marking that looks like it resembles a tattoo yet it was created by a contract between two people.

“It can’t be~”

A contract with two meanings based on its color or shade. Pure black tattoos are imprints left by the contract made between a player and an NPC monster or entity. Colored tattoos are imprints between two players.

If his imprint is pure black. It could only mean that the one who left that energy in his body is not a human player but instead an NPC or a high-leveled abyssal monster that is feared even by players in this abyssal world.

An Yuan rubs his nape, he remembered that the only one who was able to approach his nape was only one person. And that person is the most important one for him in this world. His lover and the man he loves the most, Han Ya.

“Why do you not tell me the truth? Xiao Ya” whispered An Yuan to himself.

—

By the town’s bridge.

An Yuan received a telepathic message from Hei Anjing. He was ordered to meet the rest of the team together with his target at a certain location. This location is known as the barrens. It was a place within the town where the entrances of the sewers can be found.

Barrens are near the only river within the edges of the town. He and Ben were about to meet the rest of his team and the other targets under the protection of their group.

An Yuan explained the situation clearly to Ben. This smart boy immediately understood the reason why he is being targeted by the demonic clown. He was also understanding enough not to question the identity of An Yuan and readily agreed to meet the team together with him.

After leaving the library, and riding a bike, Ben and An Yuan went to the public bridge near a tunnel bridge just outside the center of the town. Ben was looking at the wilderness in front of him while leaning at the road fence that separates him from the road to the forest before his eyes.

Ben asked, “A-Are you sure this is the way?” He looked at the even more confused toddler An Yuan next to him.

An Yuan is currently talking to his manager, Gui.

“Gui Gui, are sure this is the way to the river?” asked An Yuan.

Manager Gui replied, I am sure. The map of the town was downloaded by me. The nearest entrance towards the river is this way. Believe me, My player.

An Yuan nods his head and then looks at Ben. “Ben, I will check ahead if there is danger within the way. Please wait here for a bit. I will be back in a minute.”

“I can go with you,” said Ben.

An Yuan said, “That is also an option but there are restrictions on my weapon. I can only use it to fight the Boss which is that clown from before. Against wild animals like wolves and such, it would be an ordinary bow. It is risky to venture inside without preparations. Stay here. I will be back soon.”

“But…”

Ben was so hesitant to separate as he treated An Yuan as his first friend. He agreed to his suggestion of meeting his team because he didn’t want to be alone in the library again. But after hearing An Yuan’s worries, Ben paused his words and just silently agreed. On the other hand, An Yuan thought that the little boy was still frightened by what happened in the library.

He pulled up some talisman from his inventory and gave it to Ben.

“These talismans can protect you. Use it well. This is a Thunder Talisman to use, just throw it towards the target. It is extremely usually against evil entities but against humans, the power would be weakened a lot. If this talisman was thrown toward a human being, the latter would feel that he was hit by a stun gun instead. So be careful when using it.” explained An Yuan.

Ben nods his head and checked the yellow papers given to him by his new friend. These pieces of paper might look silly and weird but Ben believes that it is effective as An Yuan said.

An Yuan said, “I will get Xiao Ya to come over with me to bring you over. It wouldn’t take long. Please wait here for a minute. I will leave Gui Gui with you if you are afraid of being alone.”

System Gui said, Leave it to me. I will guide him well.

“Thank you, manager.” said An Yuan before once again temporarily saying goodbye to Ben to call for Han Ya.

An Yuan disappeared within the forest. His speed is faster than the bike when they’ve driven to this place. Ben waited for him to return with the flurry fist-sized devil ball within his palm. He almost couldn’t stop himself from squeezing Manager Gui like a stress ball.

System Gui said, Please don’t squeeze me like a ball.

“Oh~ sorry~,” said Ben.