Chương 167: Welcome to the Midnight Kingdom’s Capital

Before the group set out on the special raid event to seize the second fortress—before Luke had even left the new area of the tutorial—things had been anything but simple. The journey up to that point had been long, marked by loss, choices, and a silence that never quite left him. And now, as his steps carried him toward the entrance of the second mechanism's fortress, his mind betrayed him—dragging him back to where it had all begun.

To the exact moment he opened the barrier gate—shoving the severed arm of a Midnight Warden into the slit of the lock. That's when he heard the voice.

"Hmm... was that the end of your little edgy monologue?" The female voice cut through the air like a dagger.

"Who's there?" he asked, spinning around. His eyes scanned the darkness ahead. The reply came with a dry, impatient tone.

"I'm down here, genius," the voice replied, flat with boredom.

"Took you long enough to notice." There was no echo. The words didn't travel through the air. They landed directly in his skull—clear, sharp, almost artificial. Around him, the forest remained perfectly still, as if the world outside hadn't heard a thing. Luke froze. He looked around—nothing. No one was there. For a split second, he even glanced at Charlie, startled, thinking she might've spoken. But even she was turning her head, trying to locate the source.

"Don't make me repeat myself." the voice said.

"Down here. Around your neck." His gaze dropped slowly—then stopped.

"The necklace…?" he murmured.

"Yes. Congrats, genius. It's me. The necklace. Nice to meet you. Name's Artemis." He stood frozen, eyes fixed on the object around his neck like he was seeing it for the first time.

"You're like… alive?" he asked, still trying to process.

"Define alive. Like, beating heart? Blood pumping? No. But if self-awareness counts, then yeah—I'm very much alive." Luke remained at the edge of the new Wild Zone region, Charlie still at his side. But the sudden realization that the necklace he'd been wearing was sentient… that was a lot to digest.

"When could you start talking?" he asked. It was the most obvious, stupid thing to say, but at that moment, it was the only question that made any sense.

"Do you remember the first time you spoke? Yeah. Neither do I. And frankly, I don't care."

"You know what I meant," he muttered. Charlie stood close, watching intently at the necklace, as if expecting it to start floating midair. Around them, the narrow path wove between twisted trunks and thick roots. A soft breeze stirred the fallen leaves, carrying the scent of damp earth and moss. Whatever fascination Luke had felt for the Midnight Kingdom's capital faded in the face of this new discovery.

"I wasn't always a necklace, if that's what you're wondering," Artemis continued.

"And now that we can finally talk, why don't you go ahead and open your inventory? Read the description." Luke frowned but complied. He summoned the interface and tapped on the necklace icon. A window opened before him. Lines of text began to form, one after another, glowing against the dark interface. The window's edges shimmered faintly, as if reacting to some unstable magical force within the item. Tiny glyphs spun slowly in the corners of the screen, marking the type of enchantments woven into its core.

[Artemis Invention (Unique) Description: A prototype crafted by Samael, the Inventor.' A gift to help you on your journey. Good luck. It was collecting dust in my workshop anyway.' PS: I am not liable for any discomfort it causes. – Samael Enchantments: Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. [Spatial Storage (Rare)]: Grants access to a pocket dimension where items can be stored. [Artemis (Unique)]: This necklace contains the soul of Artemis. Requirement: Soulbound]"'The soul of Artemis...'" Luke muttered under his breath.

"See? I used to have a body," said the voice, oozing sarcasm.

"Then I did... some things. Not exactly great. A guy named General Icarus nearly wiped me out, my soul wandered the multiverse for—I don't know—forever, until Samael decided to seal me inside this necklace. Long story." Luke blinked slowly. He'd heard a lot of bizarre things since arriving in this world, but a talking soul trapped in jewelry was definitely a new one. He raised an eyebrow.

"So why are you only speaking now?"

"Because Samael told me to shut up. I wasn't allowed to speak until you made it past this part of the tutorial."

"Samael the Inventor...? I thought this necklace was just... I don't know, some random system item."

"Not everything here is from the system, champ," Artemis replied.

"Some items, yeah—made by the rules of the tutorial. But others... were left behind by those who've invested in this world."

"Investors?" Luke repeated, frowning.

"Yep. But... I'm not allowed to tell you much more than that. Honestly. My only purpose is to guide you to Samael."

"Guide me? What do you mean, guide me to him?"

"Open the quest and see for yourself." Luke pulled up the system interface and accessed the Special Quest Orb. A new window unfolded before his eyes. The glow of the screen lit up his face as he scanned the floating data in translucent panels. The only sound around him was the rustling of leaves in the quiet forest. He took a slow breath and read carefully. [Special Mission Orb: Locate the Inventor Objective: Find Samael, the Inventor of Artemis Location: (???) Reward: Profession] The panel hovered for a few seconds as if slowly processing the request. The letters shimmered momentarily before settling into place. No coordinates. No clues. But that wasn't a problem. He had a clue the entire time. This was just an update to the original quest that had led him to the strange necklace in the first place.

"There it is. Straight to the point. I'll take you to him. Don't worry—I've got... a kind of spiritual GPS," Artemis said, pausing briefly.

"Am I a little lost right now? Yes. But I feel the general direction. Just keep going straight, maybe turn left... or right? Eh, whatever. We'll figure it out on the way." Luke honestly couldn't decide what was worse—relying on the instinct of a disembodied spirit or her complete lack of directional confidence. Still, it was more than he had before.

"Let me ask you something," he said, his tone suddenly serious.

"I've been wearing this necklace since I found it. I've never taken it off."

"... And?" Artemis replied, hesitant.

"Every time I took a shower... you were watching?"

"WHAT?! Absolutely not!" she yelled, utterly offended. The indignation in her voice was so over-the-top, he could almost picture the necklace throwing its hands on imaginary hips.

"You don't sound very convincing." Artemis cleared her throat.

"Look, relax. I don't see anything. The only thing I'm aware of is whatever enters the pocket dimension. Outside of that, all I sense is... energy, vibrations, mystic stuff, you know?" Luke kept walking along the narrow forest trail. The ground creaked under his boots, covered in a blanket of old leaves and broken twigs. Sunlight barely pierced through the dense canopy overhead, casting shifting patterns of shadow with every step he took.

A distant sound now and then—maybe an insect or a small creature—briefly interrupted the heavy silence. His eyes stayed focused on the path, but his thoughts were still tangled in that strange conversation he couldn't quite ignore.

"So... the food that kept disappearing from my pocket dimension. That was you, wasn't it?"

"I proudly plead guilty," Artemis replied, her tone shameless.

"Even as a soul, I still have cravings. I'm a woman—I have desires. Food just happens to be high on that list. Especially sweets. And meat. And anything crunchy." Luke sighed, resigned.

"Alright… just promise me one thing. Don't touch the corpse I stored in there."

"Gross. Give me some credit. I only eat food, not roadkill. What do you think I am, the Recycle Bin?" He narrowed his eyes.

"You... know what the Recycle Bin is?" She let out a triumphant laugh.

"Thanks to the whole 'Soulbound' enchantment and being tethered to your soul, I've had access to bits of your memories from Earth. So yeah. I know what Windows is. And pizza. And smartphones. And streaming. And now I want all of it. So, pretty please—don't die." Luke raised an eyebrow.

"So in all those near-death moments... you were just quiet?"

"Quiet? Me?" she scoffed.

"I was losing my mind! Screaming, cursing, growling, begging the universe to give you just a little more common sense. Do you know how stressful it is to be stuck inside a suicidal protagonist-wannabe?" He went silent for a few seconds.

"In my defense… I really did try my best to survive."

"Sure, sure," she replied, dripping with sarcasm.

"Like when you decided to take on that giant mantis alone? Or when you had the brilliant idea to charge straight at the Orc General even though you could've just—oh, I don't know—run away? Or maybe when you dove off a cliff without knowing what was below? Honestly, some days I think Samael gave me to you as punishment." Luke let out a small laugh.

"Okay... maybe I flirted with death a few too many times."