“What the fuck…?” Foster muttered as he looked into the distance. In front of him, he could see nothing but a forest stretching out for miles, before hitting an unfamiliar mountain-range.

“Was there something in my drink..?” Confused, he rubbed his eyes, hoping to maybe wake himself up. Maybe he was just staring at some kind of random poster on the wall in front of him and didn’t notice. Clearly, that was just an empty wish. He somehow ended up on a mountain. Maybe he went back to the bar Jon worked at and got so drunk he blacked out and forgot most of the night.

But as he was thinking about all of this, Foster noticed the fresh blood that was still smeared around on his hands. It was still a bit wet, and in the exact same spots as when he smacked the bottle over that moron’s head. If this blood was still fresh, then not more than a few minutes could have passed.

Foster’s mind started running at high speed as he tried to figure out what was going on. And that was when he noticed something going on right behind himself. It was a growling noise, that immediately made Foster think of some kind of wild animal. He turned his body around without hesitation, but what he saw wasn’t an animal.

It was… not something that Foster was able to understand. This creature was standing on four legs with a beast-like body, but it didn’t have any fur and instead a slick, slimy skin that was giving off a faint glow. It was as if this was an animal created through some kind of atomic fallout.

Foster’s whole body had frozen up as he stared at this creature. Slowly but surely, it opened its maw, revealing shark-like rows of razor sharp teeth. The creature unhinged its own jaw, as if trying to make sure it could swallow Foster whole.

To sum it up… Foster was fucked. Losing control over his own body, he took a few steps backward in fear. The creature kept proceeding forward while creeping toward him, until he lost his footing.

He had been standing at an edge this whole time, but now he no longer was. Instead, he was now dropping down the edge.

“Fu- oh, shit- goddammit!” Foster freaked out as the fear of this monstrous creature was swiftly replaced by the panic that came with another feeling of imminent death. Having to face that creature felt unreal, but Foster certainly knew the feeling of falling.

His body felt weightless for a while, until all of that weight crashed down onto his leg at once. Foster could hear his bones cracking throughout his whole body as he tumbled down the edge. The blood that had been stuck on his hand soon got company, but this time, it was Foster’s own.

The world twisted around and around, over and over again, until it stopped with a loud thud. Foster was laying there, staring up into the sky. He was unsure about what exactly just happened. He seemed fine, at least he wasn’t in any pain right now.

“Of course!” Foster thought to himself, “This is just another nightmare… hah… haha… how silly of me…” He tried to mutter out.

“I guess it’s… just about time… I woke up…” Foster chuckled inwardly, but nothing happened. For a few moments, at least, until he was able to hear the ringing of a bell in his ears.

—

[Ping Received]

[The system is attempting to connect to the Archaic Records]

—

“Huh..?” Foster wasn’t sure what exactly was happening right now, “This dream is kinda weird…”

—

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[The system is requesting a full diagnostic]

[Requesting… Request Accepted]

[Scanning… Scan complete]

[Warning: Fatal damage to host detected]

—

Foster couldn’t believe his eyes. Or rather, he couldn’t even see all that well in the first place. But he knew what exactly was written on those floating, translucent boxes. Fatal damage? Was Foster the host? If that was the case, then did that mean he was really about to die?

“N-No, that can’t…” He muttered with his broken jaw, trying to move his mangled body. But he couldn’t, of course. Simply because his body was not in a state that allowed him to move.

—

[The system is requesting a recovery of the host to safe vital levels]

[Requesting… Request Accepted]

[The host will now be recovered to safe vital levels]

—

“Re… covery..?” Foster muttered. That was something good, right? Did it mean that he was going to be healed?

His mind was racing as he was trying to figure out what exactly was going on, but he was interrupted by the sound of cracking branches. It seemed like someone, or something, was approaching him again.

Or rather, there were quite a few… The cracking didn’t seem to stop, after all.

“Ah…” Soon, Foster realized what was going on. It wasn’t that there was someone approaching him. The sound was coming directly from himself. The sound of cracking was created by his bones setting themselves back into place. Somewhere in the middle, he recovered his sense of pain, although he really wished he hadn’t. This seemed even worse than breaking every bone in his body in the first place.

But that was nothing compared to when his flesh started to heal. It felt like Foster was burning alive, or being stabbed a dozen times a second.

His whole body soon cramped up, twisting him deeper into the blood-covered dirt he was laying on, and making it quite literally impossible for him to breathe.

And then, it suddenly stopped. Just like that, he had been healed somehow. At the very least, Foster’s pain subsided to a large extent, and he could move his body around just so slightly again.

—

[The host has been recovered to safe vital levels]

[The system is attempting to connect to the Archaic Records]

—

There it was again, the same thing from before. That floating, translucent pane. The writing on it said something about ‘Archaic Records’…

“The knowledge of… everything? Was that it..?” Foster muttered, exhausted. He tried to slowly sit up, as his mind really caught up with the situation.

“Hah… Hahah…” Nervously and unsure what else to do, Foster started to laugh. This situation was ridiculous, and ridiculous things were supposed to be funny, right? So what else should he do but laugh?

Foster’s voice echoed through this thick forest, and he was uncaring about what that noise might end up attracting.

—

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[Attempting… Attempt failed]

[The system is requesting a full diagnostic]

[Requesting… Request Accepted]

[Scanning… Scan complete]

[Warning: Mental Deliria in the host has been detected]

[The system is requesting a full recovery of the host’s mind for safe connection to the Archaic Records]

[Requesting… Request Accepted]

—

Those transluctent, floating message-boxes kept appearing and replacing each other, barely giving Foster enough time to even realise they were there in the first place. Not that it mattered, since Foster hadn’t even stopped laughing yet.

—

[The host’s mind will be fully recovered]

—

And just like that, everything stopped. Foster’s mind went practically blank. He felt no emotions, and not a single thought crossed his mind. As if he just underwent a complete mental reset. Slowly, Foster’s thoughts returned, but he still had no idea what was going on. And then, more of those messages appeared.

—

[The system is attempting to connect to the Archaic Records]

[Attempting… Attempt successful]

[The system will now connect to the Archaic Records]

[Connecting…]

[Connecting…]

[Connecting…]

[Connection established]

[The system will synchronise with the Archaic Records]

[Synchronising…]

[Synchronising…]

[Synchronising…]

[Synchronisation successful]

—

Raging pain suddenly flowed through Foster’s mind, as if his mind was melting and turning into goo. Blood started pouring out of his nose as if it was a water-tap, and his eyes twisted around to show nothing but white.

Foster’s whole body started shivering and shaking, until it suddenly stopped, all at once. And that was when his mind finally faded away, while those message boxes kept on appearing in front of him.

—

[The system is requesting information about the host to feed to the Archaic Records]

[Name: Foster Odin Locke]

[Age: 23]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[Health Points: Error]

[Mana Points: Error]

[Stamina Points: Error]

[Attributes: Error]

…

…

…

[Numerous Errors have been recorded]

[The system will draw on information from the Archaic Records to replace the recored Errors]

[Replacing Errors… Replaced]

[Congratulations! The Archaic Records have found a unique feat and are endowing a title onto the Host {Foster Odin Locke}]

[Unique Title {He who is one with Death} has been received]