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n“It’s finally arrived…” muttered Valyr as he watched the man look around the room for a bit to see where the voice was from. Though, by the time a screen had appeared in front of the man’s vision, all notions of confusion on the man’s face swiftly disappeared.

nInstead, the man was greatly enamored by the sight before him, opening and closing a few more screens in front of him before returning his sights beyond the small window in his room. Taking in a deep breath, the man’s expression turned calm yet determined. “Today.”

n‘Today…’ Having witnessed a week of the man’s daily routine of physical torture and confinement, Valyr gradually began to notice that he was counting down with every passing night. At first, he was confused as to what the human was counting down for since nothing different went on during the week that had passed. However, now that the man had gained access to the system…

nHim counting down had gained another meaning.

n‘Does this mean the First Forger has knowledge of the awakening of the system in advance?’ asked the young man to himself, wondering how the human would even get his hands on information that even the orcs had no clue about. Thankfully, just like before, the disembodied voice began to resound in his mind once more, giving Valyr greater detail as to what was going on.

n‘Though the Gates of Enlightenment do not know exactly as to why the man known as the First Forger counted down till the awakening of the system, many speculate that the man has received providence from the heavens after being subjected to torture and confinement for so long,’ the voice told him.

nIn response, Valyr slightly furrowed his brows, his impressions of the Gates of Enlightenment knowing everything that happened within the memory swiftly crumbling down. “Speculate? Does that mean the Gates of Enlightenment don’t know why he’s counting down as well?”

nSurprisingly, the disembodied voice responded to his question. ‘Though the Gates of Enlightenment has received this opportunity from the being himself to access their memories, the being has not divulged every piece of information that occurs within the memories to the Gates of Enlightenment. However, it is said that those with higher authority within the Gates of Enlightenment or those from the higher gates may have information on the matter.’

n“Higher authority…” Listening to the voice’s response, Valyr thought back to the reward he had gained from completing the First Forger quest.

nAt this point, he felt like more information regarding the memory he was currently witnessing was the actual reward he would gain from having increased authority within the Gates of Enlightenment. Though, with how uncertain the voice was in its response, he decided to take the hypothesis with a grain of salt for the meantime.

nAside from that, the voice mentioning something about higher gates prompted Valyr to think about the other reward he had gained from completing the First Forger quest. With how the description phrased the reward he was going to get regarding information about the Gates of Enlightenment, he had a strong feeling that he would undoubtedly gain more answers there related to the memory.

n‘It is accepted by many that the First Forger has been made privy to the awakening of the system in advance due to his unique constitution of being able to regenerate his own wounds quickly.’ By the time Valyr was finished dwelling in his thoughts, the voice continued its explanation from where it left off.

n‘Aside from that, many also speculated that the heavens had chosen him due to his great yearning to avenge all of his fellow humans after seeing them being maltreated and killed like livestock by the orcs.’

n‘Though many people argued behind the real reason for the man’s advanced knowledge, everyone agrees that the man’s actions the following morning had become one of many, if not the sole impetus for the next era in human history: the Age of Uprising.’ Hearing these words come from the disembodied voice, the young man instantly became eager to find out what would happen the following morning, keeping an eye on the human as the night slowly passed.

nUnexpectedly, after the human had obtained the system, the man did not do any of the weird gestures he had been doing the past few days. Instead, he constantly stared at the moonlit sky beyond the small window in his room, muttering a few words from time to time as his gaze gradually turned tranquil.

nEventually, after waiting for long enough, the sun gradually began to peek out of the horizon.

nWith the voice’s earlier words still lingering in his mind, Valyr kept his eyes peeled as the orc named Brh’zaak unlocked the door from the other side. From what he had seen so far, the man would slowly make his way to the door, timidly accept the bits of food and water he had been given, then slowly leave the room after that with the orc dragging him along.

nHowever, after the system had awakened, as if a switch inside his mind had been flipped on, the man instead tackled the door the instant he heard the orc unlock it. Due to how sudden it was, the orc was left stumbling backwards as the door was swung wide open.

n“You little **… I knew it was a mistake to keep yo—!” Feeling rage gradually fill the entirety of its body, Brh’zaak started to scream out a flurry of curses in its own language, only for it to be cut short as the man tightly gripped the orc on the neck. Though surprised by the man’s sudden action, the orc swiftly stood up before moving his body back and forth, hoping to shake the man off and extricate himself from the hold.

nSadly, the man held strong, gripping even tighter after Brh’zaak began to madly shake its body. Slightly panicking after noticing how it was getting harder to breathe, the orc unsheathed the shortsword around its waist, summoning all of the strength in its body as it aimed to cut off the man’s arms.

nUnfortunately for the orc, the man had seemingly expected it to wield its sword, letting go of his grip for a brief moment to avoid the strike before gripping around its neck even tighter than before.

nAfter attempting to land a few more strikes on the man to extricate itself from its untimely demise, it was only after feeling his consciousness turning sluggish did Brh’zaak finally accept what was going on, scraping the remnants of consciousness it still had to keep itself awake for a bit longer.

n“Why… did you do this?” Staring directly into the man’s eyes, the orc asked him a question. “Have I not… treated you well?”

nRecalling all the pain his mind and body had accrued over the past few years under the orc, the man subconsciously tightened his grip around the orc’s neck, pushing the latter to the brink of unconsciousness. However, before the orc could truly embrace darkness, the man responded back to him in the orc language he had picked up over the past few years, gazing at Brh’zaak as if he was telling the orc that he was only the beginning of what’s to come.

n“Treat me well? You really thought you treated me well? Don’t fool yourself.” Gripping even tighter around the orc’s neck with every passing word, the man eventually stared at the unconscious orc with death-filled eyes, releasing his grip around the orc before spitting at it in disgust. “As for my reason… what other reason would I even have?”

n“This is just your long-awaited retribution.”𝐎𝑽𝑙xt.𝒞𝒐𝗆

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