"Help me, someone, anyone!"

  Nathan's head instinctively turned to the right.

  A woman in a nun-like outfit, with a thick white headdress covering her hair, pressed against the wooden wall of the tavern.

  "Charity?" Nathan said.

  She gasped dramatically and all the anxiety seemed to melt off her face.

  "Nathaniel! They said you’d be here, but I wasn't sure if they'd been lying!"

  "Oy, what's all this then?"

  The two men who'd cornered her crossed their arms. The first one, a burly fellow with a beard, growled and leaned forward.

  "Who's this? A lover? I don't think Priestesses are supposed to have them."

  Charity rolled her eyes and pushed the man away with her palm of her hand. "Go away. I've already used you appropriately."

  The burly man squinted his eyes. "What did you say?"

  She waved them off like she was shooing away a fly. "Go away now."

  The man growled and grabbed her wrist. She froze in response.

  "Uh, boss." The second man said.

  "What?" the burly man said.

  "Isn't that the guy they're saying is the Fisher King?"

  "Everybody knows that the Fisher King is nothing but a myth. Don't be ridiculous."

  Nathan looked off in the direction of the wilderness. This seemed utterly inane and incredibly stupid—plus, Charity had the ability to slow people and presumably do worse given her magical training.

  But she seemed legitimately intimidated when he'd grabbed her hand.

  Nathan didn't want to be involved in the legend he'd inadvertently created, but leaving a woman alone with that look on her face rubbed him the wrong way.

  He pulled out his fishing rod and reared it back.

  "Boss? Hey boss, he's doing something!"

  The burly man looked over at Nathan and rolled his eyes. "What's that supposed to be? Are you going to—"

  Nathan shot it forward with a flick of his wrist. The hook nabbed onto the burly man's shirt with one smooth motion. Nathan pulled back and the guy was sent flying into the air. Nathan maneuvered his fishing rod and somehow unhooked the man, even as he continued sailing through the air. He reeled back in his line, then stuffed the assortment back into his inventory.

  The skinny fellow who'd been beside the burly man screamed at the top of his lungs then ran in the opposite direction.

  Charity put a hand on her chest and breathed in and out slowly. She grinned and bowed in Nathan's direction.

  "Thank you for saving me," she said.

  Nathan turned around and walked off in the other direction.

  "H—hey! Where are you going?"

  "West."

  "But aren't you going to comfort me?"

  Nathan responded without turning back. "Why would I do that?"

  "Because that's what all legendary heroes do!"

  Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's wrong with you?"

  Scurried footsteps approached him. She took up a position at his side, a small frown on her face. "Thank you, again. That was a stupid decision of me."

  "What was?"

  "Setting up that ridiculous situation. I'm not really sure why I did it myself."

  Nathan had suspected she was doing something to that effect, but it was good to hear confirmation from her.

  "So you were trying to bait me into acting?" Nathan asked.

  "Yes." She looked off to the right. "It was a bad idea. I didn't expect it to be that scary. If you hadn't been there, I'm not sure what I would have done."

  "Blow them away with your superior levels and skills? Didn't you help me take down a giant worm from outer space?"

  "Yes, and I almost died! I was terrified! The only reason I'd been able to overcome my fears was because I knew that somebody would die if I didn't slow it down."

  The implication was clear—under normal circumstances, she considered herself to be a coward.

  Nathan wasn't really sure if that was true or not, but he didn't feel like arguing with somebody about their self-esteem.

  "I still can't believe you're actually him," she muttered. "Not only are you here, but you've saved my life twice."

  "Please don't read into it."

  "I'm not! It's just..." She shook her head. "Are the rumors true? Did you actually activate the Celestial Laserbeam Generator?"

  "I have no idea what that is."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "It's sort of a giant machine that creates a concentrated beam of light? It's pointed directly at the Demon King's castle at this very moment?"

  "Never heard of it."

  "Stop lying! It's very unfitting for a hero to lie."

  Nathan suppressed the urge to grind his teeth together at her words.

  "What are you doing here?" Nathan paused and turned to his right. "Why are you following me right now? Can you just say whatever you need to say and get it over with?"

  She looked off to the side, a faint hint of red appearing on her cheeks.

  "I noticed that you're traveling alone." Her eyes flickered back toward him. "I was wondering if... perhaps—"

  "No."

  "Just like that?!"

  Nathan walked off in his original direction. "Have a good day."

  "Wait, I promise I can be useful!"

  Her voice disappeared into the distance as Nathan broke off into a light jog. Somehow, he knew she was behind him.

  The hilly biome was exactly what Nathan had been expecting.

  Hilly.

  Nathan had spent the night at an inn—and he knew where it was thanks to Harvester’s excellent directions. The next morning, he awoke and asked for information about the closest fishing hole. He was directed further north, then promptly went on his way.

  He crested the top of one of the larger hills, then looked back.

  There was a figure in the distance. A woman with a bright white headdress and chestnut hair.

  Nathan’s heart sunk like a stone in a lake.

  She was still following him.

  He’d tried everything. He'd transformed into water and flew through the air for a good 30 minutes. He’d gone in zigzags. He’d covered up his trail behind him.

  Nothing deterred her. She was always there, in the distance, never far behind him.

  If Nathan was honest, he was starting to get a little bit intimidated. There seemed to be no lengths that this woman wouldn’t go to for the sake of her stalker-like behavior. If Nathan were back on Earth, he would have called the police. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure given her class and her headdress, the only authority that could stop her was a church that would probably be on her side.

  Last time, Nathan had gone for 30 minutes in the air using his water elemental form.

  This time, he’d go for an entire hour.

  If she can still keep up with me after that, he thought. I genuinely don’t know what I’m going to do.

  With his mind made up, his body disintegrated into fine mist. He wrapped his clothes and wig into a watery cocoon, then sped off into the distance.

  Nathan touched down at a water hole he’d spotted from above—probably one of the ones that the people at the inn had told him about.

  He transformed back into a human, then pulled out his fishing rod. He chucked his line out into the middle of the lake, then leaned back against the ground.

  It was a little bit colder up here compared to the plains, and there was an almost perpetual light gust. A strong breeze hit him in the back and his wig flew into the air before he grabbed it and prevented it from sailing into parts unknown. He stuck it back onto his head extra tight with a grunt.

  A tug.

  He reeled back in the fish and it disintegrated, fulfilling yet another quest requirement.

  That had taken too long.

  Nathan pulled open his inventory. He’d try some bait and see if that would increase the odds of—

  The System Corpse stuck out like a sore thumb. In between all the net of the magical swords, the various food items, the water—this was by far the most valuable thing in his inventory. A one-of-a-kind.

  He made to slide the inventory screen up and move to the next window but was unable to make himself do it.

  Thalassa had told him that this was the only way. That he needed to revive B32.

  But Nathan hadn’t made any progress on that goal whatsoever.

  In Nathan’s defense, he didn’t even know where to start. He didn’t even know who he could talk to to find out where to start.

  It wasn’t like the mechanics of multi-dimensional beings were a topic of study for your average doctor. As far as Nathan knew, there were no courses on reviving them from the dead. You couldn’t just Google it.

  He scrolled past the System Corpse and pulled out a small sardine he’d caught on the last circle. He stuck the sardine onto the hook, then chucked it forward into the lake.

  If, Nathan thought, through some miracle, I come across someone who can help out with reviving B32, then I’ll do whatever it takes to get them to cooperate with me.

  “Fisher King, I finally caught up to you!”

  Nathan’s fishing pole went flying out of his hand and into the lake from his shock.

  He stood up, slipped into a kung-fu pose and snapped his head over in the direction of the attacker—

  He blinked.

  His hands dropped.

  “Charity?” His voice turned incredulous. “How on earth did you find me?”

  After Nathan manipulated the water to get him back his fishing pole, the two of them sat down opposite to each other in a cross-legged position. Charity had a bright and beaming smile across her face, while Nathan assumed that he had the same expression one would make if they were being held at knifepoint.

  “Seriously, how are you following me?” Nathan asked.

  “Oh!” She held her hands over her mouth. “You didn’t know? As a High Priestess, one of my spells allows me to track the target of my devotion. I always know where you are, Fisher King.”

  Nathan had no idea how to respond to this in a way that didn’t involve him running and screaming at the top of his lungs.

  “Okay. Can I ask why you’re following me?” he asked.

  “I’ve been given the opportunity to serve the Savior of the Lillards! How could I not desire to assist you in any way possible?”

  It was at this point that Nathan decided to stop beating around the bush.

  “Charity, I think you have a very different idea of what I actually am. And I don’t think you really understand what those Holy Patch Notes actually are.”

  She grinned. “I’m about to receive sacred knowledge!” She stood to her feet and spread her arms wide. “Praise be—!”

  “Sit down!”

  She sat back down, still with that insufferable grin.

  “Look—” Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Holy Patch Notes aren’t actually... holy.”

  “What do you mean by this? They’re clearly divinely inspired.”

  “They’re just the ramblings of the System!” Nathan held out his hand. “Give me the book.”

  Still with that confused expression on her face, she reached into her white robes and pulled out her copy of the Holy Patch Notes. Nathan flipped to the middle and stopped at a page where B32 was complaining about how annoying it was to implement a new monster.

  “Look. This is clearly just a really tired programmer venting in his personal diary about how exhausted he is,” Nathan said.

  “Of course it is.” She tilted her head. “B32 isn’t the prophesied savior. He’s merely the unintended messenger.”

  “...The unintended messenger. He didn’t even know he was writing divine scriptures, but that’s how you guys take it.”

  “Yes.”

  Nathan ran his hands down his face, book still between his index and middle finger.

  "I can't even begin to comprehend how your belief system works," he said. "And honestly, I'm afraid for my mental health if I try."

  "That seems very offensive."

  "Why do you even follow these scriptures? They really don't make any sense—"

  "That's ridiculous! The Holy Patch Notes provide a glimpse into the higher realms never before seen to us mortals! If anything, they're truer than any other book that I've ever read!"

  Nathan opened his mouth to respond when she flipped over to a little bit before the middle of the book.

  "See?" she said. "Take a look at this."

  It was a bunch of incoherent squiggles that Nathan had missed on his first go-around when he'd been rapidly flipping through the pages.

  "What is this supposed to be?" he asked.

  "The very fabric of the higher dimensions. Explained in a way that us mortals are able to understand."

  "What does that even mean?"

  "It's quite simple." She traced her fingers over the letters.

  "This right here explains how multi-dimensional travel is possible. And this outlines the mechanism by which the circles are created. And this is the exact composition of a System Administrator—though internally the book refers to them as using another name—unfortunately, there's no direct translation for it into any mortal tongue—"

  Nathan stiffened.

  "Did you just say the exact composition of a System Administrator?"

  "Yes! Everything that you could ever want to know about what these creatures are, where they come from, and their biological function." She giggled into her fist. "Insofar as these creatures have biology. And insofar as they can be defined as creatures. But that's something for theologians to debate."

  Nathan's jaw opened and shut multiple times.

  "Charity?" he said. "Do you think you'd be able to help me revive a System Administrator from the dead?"