Leave The Monster Alone

"Missed us? We decided that since you were not going to visit us first then we will have to be the ones to do so" Yun looked back at him, his eyes laughing at Mark's current position. Kuro just affirmed her position on top of Mark's body by putting her weight more firmly on top of him.

Mark let out a small laugh, his eyes pulling up in amusement as Kuro affirmed her position and Mark found it difficult to breathe. Kuro seemed not to notice but Yun did and he pushed at Kuro to let him go. The feline growled but finally let him go.

"If you are here now then that means you have your memory intact as well? How did that happen?" Yun shrugged, his eyes looking worried as well. Kuro did not answer, her emotions too content to give way to anything else. Mark knew she had no idea this all happened as well.

"Did you meet that other human yet? The one who was with you and survived till the end with us?" Mark knew he was talking about Luna and he nodded and then shook his head. He needed to make this distinction clear.

"He does not have his memories intact. Only I have my memories from this side" which was weird and not weird at the same time. There could be too many reasons to pinpoint this situation on which was a waste of time to think when there were more important things to occupy their minds with.

"Both I and Alex remembered and he is working to remove Nathan from his position. Do you feel your core?" Yun's question was met with a shake of his head. Did Mark still even have that core? He was not sure anymore. Since everything had reset, it was safe to say that his core should also have been reset.

"Sorry, I was just confirming. Hold tight" Mark came up from under Kuro only to be met with a searing and familiar pain in his chest. His eyes watered as the surroundings faded back to the black.

"Do not resist him for now. We need him not to question our words" Mark knew exactly what the other was suggesting and he agreed to follow his words. He did not like agreeing with someone like 'him' but even he knew that alerting him right now would be a mistake to make.

There was static all around him before he felt the familiar feeling of connection. He knew what it was but he dared not to hope. Not as long as he did not feel it settle all over himself. Only then, did he relax. Familiar faces did make everything better for him.

"So, you are the one chosen as the owner of the core? Do you know who I am?" the voice asked and Mark wanted to say that he did know but it would be better to pretend to be ignorant for now. He could not let the other side take advantage of it all.

"Yes. I have no idea who you are though" there was silence on the other side which made Mark nervous. Had the other discovered his lie? Was he going to die now or worst? Was there no way out of this situation without fighting?

"I see. You can call me as god then. Plead yourself to me and receive this system as a blessing" the glowing band made its way toward Mark and he extended his hand to receive it. He had faced this monster once before and he knew he had to be cautious this time around.

But he had to wonder why the other had not reset along with him? If the world had reset only the default player and not Kuro or Yun, then why had it decided to rest this entity? Was it human at all? Or was there something more to this whole thing?

Mark had to wonder this while the world around him shifted as it twisted around him. The scene in front of him phased in and out of glitch before it settled down into the normal scene with Yun and Kuro. Twin looks of worry were faced at him and he grinned back at them.

"It worked. He hopefully did not suspect anything and I got crucial information as well" the other two looked a little spectacle at his claim but they did not refute his claims as well. So Mark told them his theory and he saw their faces twisted into worry.

"So, it is an AI gone out of control? I'm sorry but it is so tough to believe" Mark could see where the spectacle was coming from. It was a pill he found hard to swallow as well and he had been the one to think about it at first.

And yet, this is the only thing that made sense right now. Mark was confident that he had this code cracked out and all he had to do was to let the others in on this secret as well.

Which he had already and now there was nothing much left for them to do at this point but to wait for an opportunity. The most important thing would be to not let the others, namely, their enemies know about this regression and to always be ready for any kind of opportunity to retaliate.

"We should work on introducing you to the others now. Come, I will lead you to our new, well, old base of operations" Noah felt nervous about this whole endeavour. The last time he had been up having ended up not been pleasant. He had to calm his nerves down, lease he do something foolish.

The party moved through the town, soulless eyes looking back at him wherever they went and Mark had to stop the shudder that passed through his body. Things were about to become even more dangerous. He had to hold back his eyes and had to look at the other way to avoid them.

"We are here. Alex would be happy to see you as well" Noah was not sure about that but he was happy to see the other at least. The feeling of failure was also something he had to get under control. He felt as if he had failed the other and he could not see the other in the face clearly.

But as soon as the other came into focus, it all melted away into nothing. The other seemed really glad to see Mark and the crew inside him pulsed again at the familiar core in front of him.

"I am so relieved. You look alive and well. Did you accept the core yet?" Mark nodded, his mouth not opening at the other's enthusiasm. He had never seen anyone be this glad to see him before and he had to swallow back his words of wonder.

"We are all alright. What we need to do is to focus on the enemy in front of us for now. We can do this and we can do this well as well. Everyone, focus because our enemy is right in front of us now.

The biggest of all enemies for them was about to come and it was time for them to consider their options. That, and they had to try to get things in order once again. They had a lot of enemies to counter after all and there was no time to lose focus on.

It was the end, and it was nearer than any one of them would like it to be. Mark had it all calculated and he had to focus his best on the offer he had to present the other side with. With nothing else left, this was the only chance he had left of his new life and to make it better than the first one.

Liam and En were counting on him to make things right and he couldn't let them down. So he focused on the thing in front of him. The kingdom of monsters was calling out to him and Mark could not let them down before he had torn them apart from this cruel fate.

Their master needed to learn that what he was doing was not right and if he was incapable of learning this, then he needed to be put down permanently without any second thought. If it fell to Keito to make this possible, then make it possible he will. 

After all, this was his world with his rules and his expectations. He had to make sure he did not betray them to himself or to the others in this world. His mind raced with various emotions and questions he needed to be answered but most importantly of all, there seemed to be something wrong still in the air.

He still felt as if there were things he was not aware of and he could not help but shudder at the thought of it all affecting him in the longer run.