Oh what a beautiful morning, What a beautiful day..... Everything is going my way

My first visitor was Thomlin himself and he came bearing good news — words I’d long since stopped believing existed in this Kingdom.

He explained, as casually as if he were ordering tea, that he was my registered contact. That he and Grinn had paid the balance of my Thrallship.

I was saved.

For a second I waited for the catch. The cruel twist. When none came, I didn’t even think to ask why he hadn’t come sooner or how they’d scraped together that much coin.

To put it into perspective: after all those days of slogging through dungeons, pulling corpses, bleeding or rather watching other people bleed, I’d only managed to scrape off one hundred coins of my debt. A hundred. No wonder no one ever escaped Thrallship.

But who cared? I was free.

An apprentice came to unseal. I recognized her — same inexpressive face I’d seen the day I woke up in this place. Don’t remember her name though.

“Congratulations,” she spoke, unlatching the collar and the Heart-seal from my chest.

When it came off, my chest expanded I thought it might burst. I sucked in the air like a drowning man finally reaching the surface. For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the robes they’d given me, grinning like an idiot.

Freedom tasted bittersweet. I’m kidding, it was sweet all the way.

And that was it. Goodbye Guild.

Crossing the gate was the strangest part. Silence pressed so hard against my ears, for a split second, I thought I’d gone deaf. Maybe it was the Magna-soaked air of the Silver Ring finally lifting off me. Or maybe this was what happiness sounded like—silence.

Then we stepped into Copper and the noise came roaring back in.

Hawkers yelling about miracle tonics, blacksmiths hammering, mercenaries shouting out for contracts The whole street was a market of beautiful disharmony.

It wasn’t long before Grinn decided to leave. Apparently, he was making a proper career of this whole killing-for-coin thing. A stamped, signed Mercenary of the Church. He owed me nothing, yet he’d risked his life for me, then gone so far as to help settle my debt for free. What a great guy.

We clasped wrists, said our goodbyes. And then it was just me and Thomlin.

I thought he’d follow Grinn, but he didn’t. He stayed, shadowing my steps like he had a reason. Maybe he just wanted to make sure I got home safely.

Didn’t matter, I was home.

The great, grand, pristine…

The smelly, depraved, weird, loser-packed — I’m running out of words —

The Bronze Ring.

Oh, how I’d missed this place.

The beggars wrapped in layers of shit, smelling like more shit, still sat in the muddy streets begging for coin. If I had any, I might have actually given them some, just out of pure nostalgia.

Thomlin followed me into my room. It felt bigger than I remembered—or maybe that was just me. I knelt, searching for my priceless collection of junk but they were gone. Figures.

Behind me, Thomlin exhaled slowly, like someone bracing to set a heavy stone down.

“…Ash,” he said, sitting on the edge of my bunk. “We need to talk.”

Either he was about to break up with me or something serious was up.

I was home. I was free. And then Thomlin opened his mouth and shattered it all with five simple words:

“I know who you are.”

Oh shit.

I froze, turning slowly. “What do you mean?”

Please, let this be some vague metaphorical nonsense and not what I was thinking.

But the look on his face told me I wasn’t that lucky.

“Before I explain,” he said, “I want to tell you the story of Hareeth Kassim.”

“Who?”

“A hero. One of the legendary first six.” His fingers drummed against his staff before stopping. “But before even that, you won’t believe me but…. this world is a ….game.”

Crickets.

“You hear what I said?” he said after a beat. “ I just told you this entire world is running on code and you don’t seem surprised. Do you know what a game is?”

“Yeah, I know that already.”

That got him. His brows shot up, his whole face caught between shock and confusion.

“But…but how?”

I could’ve suspected him of lying—hell, part of me did. Maybe he was the Orchestrator or even worked with them. Who’s to say a hero cannot be corrupted? But that reaction was too raw, too genuine. Besides, if he wanted me dead, he could have left me to rot in the Guild.

So I told him everything.

About Callen, Ryder, CIX. About Resonance and how their memories bled into mine, how their weapons spoke to me.

When I finished, Thomlin stood so fast the bunk creaked. “That’s…Ash, that’s incredible. I can’t believe it. I guessed you weren’t just some background character after that day but… this?”

I stared at him. “So….you’ve known about me this whole time?”

He blinked, then smiled faintly. “I hardly remember much but I’m pretty sure I saw you one shot that Spinehound. When I woke up, I went to see an old friend…and I was surprised that you were levelling up. I knew then you weren’t a normal backgrounder.”

Despite myself, I snorted. This wasn’t the time for this.

I had a thousand questions burning holes in my brain. And in front of me, was someone who possibly could answer them but what did I do? I sat there, thinking in my head instead of asking them.

“Well,” Thomlin said, leaning back, “since you know who I am… do you have any questions for me?”

“Plenty. First who is Hareeth? How long have you been in this world? Are the other heroes alive? Where on Earth are you from? And how did you become my registered contact?”

“Alrighty then,” He grinned crookedly. “Hareeth is my real name. As of being in this world, I was never any good with dates….and I don’t know if you noticed but I haven’t exactly been in the best headspace these past couple years. If I had to guess, I would say ten, maybe twenty years. You see time passes differently here. Arisu used to theorize that we also aged slower that we could back home….on Earth. I came here from a little country called Kenya. That answer everything?”

The name Sapporo surfaced in my mind. So he wasn’t the hero I was looking for. Guess I still need to find Sid.

“Almost,” I replied. “You didn’t say where the others are?”

“Ahh, right,” he hesitated. “I didn’t really keep track of where everyone went. The last time all six of us met was five years ago. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even know CIX and Ryder were dead. As for me… I spent those years gathering information, learning how this world works.” His voice went quiet, hollow. “But eventually, every level-up became stale. It all started to feel…. pointless. So I gave up.”

Looking back, when I met Thomlin that day in the tavern. I’d almost given up on him too, I mean everyone called him useless. But something about him, his aura was similar to Callen’s and now I knew why.

Thomlin suddenly stood up, holding his staff.

“Anyway. That’s all in the past. We need to look to the future …. and the future is you, Ash.”

Well, that was a quick change of mood. And just as I was gathering to deliver the best speech ever. It’s fine, I’ll keep it for a rainy day, maybe motivate Keiji with it. I miss that kid.

“So what’s the plan?” Thomlin asked. “What did Ryder tell you to do?”

“It wasn’t a solid plan or anything. There’s just too many questions, not enough time to answer them all. But I think we should start by finding the Mourner’s pack. Without their weapons I can’t talk to the others…”

“Good place to start.” Thomlin nodded. “I asked around the Guild …..they said you were brought in by a Mage from the Crimson Order. She named me your registered contact. I think her name was…Veera?”

“Verra!” I blurted it out. “Yeah, she’s my friend. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Let’s go, she probably has my stuff…..”

“Slow down. She’s not there, none of your friends are. Didn’t you hear? The new hero’s been tearing through dungeons. Word is they’ll be back in a month or so.”

“Another month? What do we do until then?”

He grinned.

“Oh, that’s easy, Ash. Old-fashioned, soul-crushing training arc. Not just fighting but weaving runes too.”

“And who’s going to teach me all that? I can’t exactly walk into the Guild and ask for lessons.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Thomlin smiled waving his hands. “You’ll be taught by one of the Six. I may not be as powerful as the others, but I know things they don’t. techniques I learned on my travels.”

“You mean like the fire-water fusion?”

“Exactly.” A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

“Training starts tomorrow. And you better keep up, Ash. Because I’m going to destroy you.”

Great. I’d just gotten my freedom back and I was already about to lose my life.