After arguing for what felt like an eternity, Kai finally accepted the truth:
Vivi wasn't leaving him alone.
"Fine. If you want to come with me, you must do as I say." His tone was firm.
His sister squinted at him like he'd grown a second head. "Okay, okay—but don't think you get to boss me around."
Kai ignored her half-hearted protest and took her small hand, guiding her deeper into the forest. He knew these paths—he'd read the novel a hundred times. Every hidden route, every stupid twist, every death flag disguised as a footpath.
And the Forbidden Forest was the crown jewel of disasters.
A man-made labyrinth from ancient times.
A place people entered… and simply never returned from.
Traps. Lost magic. Ancient beasts.
Basically the kind of place he had zero interest in exploring.
But all Kai needed was to step inside, get the "Quest Complete" notification, and run back out like the coward he proudly was.
"Hey… where are we going?" Vivi whispered as darkness thickened around them. Even the sunlight hesitated to enter this place.
"See? You're scared already," Kai teased, ruffling his own red hair—which looked almost black under the dim light.
Vivi puffed her cheeks. "I'm not scared of anything! I just—"
She shut her mouth abruptly, as if she nearly confessed something she wasn't ready to say.
Kai sighed. "Relax. I just need to pick a Dolon Flower. My friends dared me. I was going to do it alone, but someone insisted on tagging along." His tone was careless, but he was actually extremely worried about the tiny hand gripping his.
The feeling was… new. Uncomfortable.
Vivi snapped at him, "I came because I was worried about you!"
She slapped both hands over her mouth, horrified she actually said it.
Kai froze.
She was small. Fragile. Red curls tied in two tiny ponytails. Those little fingers gripping him like he mattered.
A sister.
A real sister.
Something he'd never had. Never dreamed of having.
His chest tightened unexpectedly.
"You… worried about me?" His voice cracked, so he forced it flat and cold. "Look at you. A little girl worrying about me? I'm three times your size, tiny pumpkin."
Vivi immediately punched his stomach. It didn't hurt—it just made him laugh.
What was this warmth in his chest supposed to be?
Better not think too hard. That always caused problems.
They kept walking—and soon, the forest swallowed them whole.
The air turned cold enough to sting. Trees twisted unnaturally, marked with faint ancient runes. A silence too perfect—like the whole forest held its breath—surrounded them.
Something was wrong.
Wait… why does it feel like we came too far? Kai thought, calling the System.
The System chimed lazily in his head:
[Yeah, you were too busy talking. Forgot to pay attention.]
Kai's eyes narrowed. You could have warned me!
The System didn't reply.
And he had every right to worry.
The original MC needed a whole guild—and still barely survived this place.
Kai, meanwhile, was an E-rank Plant Whisperer.
A man who talked to grass.
( ꈍᴗꈍ)
His grip on Vivi tightened. Something wasn't adding up.
Why hasn't the quest completed yet? I thought stepping into the forest would trigger it…
But nothing happened.
They kept walking.
"Monkey…" Vivi whispered. "I think we're walking in circles."
Kai's eyes snapped open. He finally noticed the signs.
The same oversized tree.
The same red parrot perched on the same branch.
And he'd passed it at least ten times.
A loop.
A deadly one.
This exact loop took the original MC five days to break.
Kai cursed under his breath.
Making a quick decision, he lunged toward the parrot—
and the illusion shattered like breaking glass.
The trees rearranged themselves. The ground trembled.
A half-buried stone archway revealed itself ahead, cracked down the middle.
Vines crawled over it, pulsing faintly with a sick, glitchy blue light.
Just like his System.
A notification slammed into his vision:
> [ALERT: Corrupted Ruin Detected]
[Quest: Enter the Shattered Oracle Ruins]
[Reward: Unknown]
[Punishment: Unknown]
And right after—
> [Quest Complete: Enter the Forbidden Forest]
[Reward Granted: 20 Stat Points]
[Skill Acquired: Poison Nails (Lv. 20)]
Kai's blood ran cold.
It was a trap.
A trap the System had set from the very beginning.
The moment he saw the reward, another message echoed in his mind with a playful hum:
[…Oops?]
___
Kai's eyes flicked to Vivian—tiny, confused, clinging to his sleeve—and then snapped back to the glowing red ruin.
No.
Absolutely not.
He wasn't touching another cursed quest.
Not again.
Not after how easily he walked into the first trap—just because he got emotional over a kingdom that wasn't even his.
He thought completing small quests to help the people was a good thing.
A harmless thing.
He thought he could avoid messing with the plot, keep the main story afloat, use his future knowledge for small, peaceful benefits.
But that was his biggest mistake.
He should never have accepted the System at all.
Kai turned sharply and began walking back the way they came, looking for even the smallest detail—footprints, broken twigs, a shift in the ground. His photographic memory wasn't something he controlled consciously. Even if he didn't pay attention, he still remembered every tiny detail his eyes ever captured.
That was the only reason he could still navigate this hellish forest.
Vivi practically jogged beside him, trying to match his long strides.
"Hey—wait! Slow down!"
But Kai didn't stop. Didn't even look back.
And then—there it was.
The faint outline of the exit…
The sliver of light between the trees…
He was getting them out.
They were almost—
A sharp glitch snapped across his vision.
The entire red screen cracked like broken glass.
Then came the incomplete warning:
> [WARNING]
[WARNING]
[Ultimate Punish—t: De—th of Viv—n]
[UNWILLINGNESS OF THE HOST DETECTED]
[PUNISHMENT EXECUTED: Temporary Paralysis of Host]
A deafening siren exploded inside Kai's mind.
His legs buckled.
His body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
He hit the ground hard, unable to move even a finger.
"BROTHER?!"
Vivian lunged forward to catch him, but the momentum made her stumble.
She fell with him, her small hand slamming into a jagged stone.
Blood trickled down her wrist.
Kai's heart clenched in a way pain never had.
Fuck.
"B-Brother—" Her voice shook, breaking apart as she shook him. "Hey! Wake up! We need to leave—we need to get out of here!"
He could hear the panic in her throat.
The tiny choking sobs she was trying so hard to swallow.
She was worried.
About him.
"Hey—if something happens to you," she cried, her voice cracking, "how am I supposed to answer Mom and Dad?! Get up!"
She tried again—both arms hooked under him—trying to pull him upright.
But Kai's body was too heavy for a fourteen-year-old.
Her desperation grew. Her breathing hitched. Her small shoulders trembled.
Kai forced his lips to part, his voice barely a whisper.
"Go… find the teachers. Tell them what happened. And if they ask why we came here… tell them it was the Eldergloom Siren."
Vivian sniffed loudly, wiping tears with her sleeve.
"What… what even is an Eldergloom… whatever?!"
Kai tried to move his arm—failed.
"T-They'll understand. But don't… don't tell anyone we came willingly. Just say it was the Eldergloom Siren, okay? Now go."
Vivian stood up, fists clenched, eyes red and shining.
"Don't die."
Her voice shook, but there was stubborn fire behind it.
"If you die… who am I supposed to tease? Who will I pick fights with? You're my only brother. So you stay alive until I come back… okay?"
Kai opened his mouth—then closed it.
Words would break him right now.
So he just gave her a tiny smile.
Soft.
Warm.
Reassuring.
"…Yeah," he whispered. "Come back."
Vivian took off running.
The moment she stepped past the last boundary of the forest—
the shimmering light-like entrance flickered—
—and vanished into suffocating darkness.
A cold chime echoed in his skull:
> [Temporary Paralysis Lifted]
[WARNING: Host is ordered to complete the task.]
[Failure will result in the Ultimate Punishment.]
Kai lay there, breath trembling.
The System wasn't just controlling him.
It was willing to do anything to force him forward.