Game World's Awakening
Chapter 68: Nurotaur

Chapter 68: Nurotaur

The figure seated on the throne had a human-like appearance, with two long legs and bull’s hooves where its feet should have been. Its knees were unusually wide, and its calves looked incredibly strong, but everything was covered in dark brown hair.

Its upper body resembled that of a horse, but at the same time, it looked human. Its head was not that of a horse, but rather slightly human, except that it had strange horse-like hooves on its hands, only more like human fingers, as there were five of them and they looked sturdy and rough, with a peculiar touch.

All this contrast was spine-chilling.

Jenna lowered Elliot at his request and gave him several potions, without taking her eyes off the Nurotaur in front of her.

They were already facing a race mentioned in legends about which little information is available. It is said that the race existed for millions of years but never became extinct, even though fewer than 300 specimens are left.

What exactly are they?

Very few people know.

That’s why the two of them had no choice but to try to heal themselves.

They had just escaped one danger and now... they were facing an even worse one.

He was possibly the King mentioned in those two previous things.

Bad luck had them by the hand and didn’t want to let go.

After taking about ten potions, Elliot’s stomach was full of liquid, and he couldn’t take any more.

Then, the figure who had been watching them without moving a muscle shifted.

"Type 1 race..."

He stood up and walked with palpable elegance toward the newcomers.

When he arrived, neither Elliot nor Jenna had moved. Only their heads moved upward to look at him.

Not because they didn’t want to... it was because they couldn’t.

’...Too powerful.’

They both trembled with fear. They finally realized that they could not do anything, even if they were at their best.

They were in the palm of a living being that was beyond their comprehension.

The Nurotaur looked at them for several seconds and nodded slightly.

"Can you understand me?" he asked.

They both nodded.

"Good... May I ask who you are, exactly?"

They both looked at him, confused.

They didn’t know how to respond. What were they supposed to say? Invaders of their ruin? Humans? Awakened? Players?

What was the answer he expected to hear?

The Nurotaur noticed their hesitation and smiled. "I apologize. I mean, you are human, a race classified as Type 1 by that strange system that brought us to the surface. But what exactly are you, in the eyes of the System? And is your race native to this world or foreign?"

They finally understood what he wanted to know, so they tried to answer.

But Jenna was so scared that she couldn’t do it. Her mouth was afraid to move.

The Nurotaur noticed this, so he didn’t expect an answer from her, but from the boy who was looking at him as if he wanted to study him.

But he didn’t get an answer either, even though two minutes passed.

He then looked at Elliot’s body and realized. "I see. You can’t speak because of your condition." He seemed to understand and looked around.

He raised his hand toward one of the sarcophagi, and a weapon emerged. It wasn’t really a weapon but a strange shield that seemed to have special enchanted powers.

After looking at it for a moment, he threw it at Elliot’s feet: "Touch it. It will heal you," he said, motioning for him to touch it without worry.

Elliot looked at it carefully. ’...He doesn’t seem to be lying,’ he thought.

Suddenly, his mind mocked him. ’How could he be lying? If he wanted to kill me or use me as a guinea pig, he could do it in a second.’ He didn’t hesitate and touched the shield.

Immediately, he felt a magical healing power spread over his body and mind. It was so powerful that it completely restored all the wounds on his body, even those on his legs in seconds.

These were restored at a speed visible to both of them, and it also restored all of Elliot’s mental energy. In an instant, he went from being in critical condition to being completely healthy.

’Huh?’ He couldn’t even utter a word when he noticed it.

The Nurotaur pulled the item back into his hands and looked at it carefully before sighing.

"A beautiful item blessed by the heavens turned into this... Sigh." A few confused words came out of his mouth before he threw the item back into its personal sarcophagus.

Then he looked at the young man in front of him, who was looking at himself with strange admiration.

"You can talk now, right?" he asked.

Elliot looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you... for your help." His respectful attitude pleased the Nurotaur’s eye, so he seemed to smile.

"Good. Don’t worry about it, it was just a small thing."

Elliot smiled, determined to answer his previous question.

"I’m not the best person to answer that, but... We are Players for the System."

"Players?"

"Yes. Kind of like players in a sport."

"Oh. I see. And the other question?"

Elliot looked thoughtful. He had no reason to doubt that question; they were humans, natives of this world, but what if there were other worlds and other humans in other worlds?

That’s why he gathered his thoughts before answering.

"We are natives of this world. The entire human race should be, but..." He paused momentarily and looked at him carefully, wanting to study his face, but that hairy face told him nothing, so he had to continue.

"Humans may exist in other worlds as well, although we don’t know if other worlds exist." He answered sincerely.

Then he repeated: "But we belong to this world, to Earth."

The Nurotaur nodded after hearing him.

"Natives, huh. I see. What is this Earth you speak of? Is that what you call the Little Giant now?" he asked.

Elliot was confused. "Little Giant?"

"Yes, our planet. We call it the Little Giant."

"Oh. The planet. Yes, its more common name is Earth," Elliot replied. But then he frowned and looked at him. "Are you also natives of Earth?"

The Nurotaur looked at him and nodded. "Of course. From an era that no longer exists, but we are."

’...From an era that no longer exists...’ Elliot and Jenna looked at each other, shocked.

That was a lot of information to process. It was said that Atlantis belonged to an ancient era, but it was relatively close to the point that all the races there were used in fantasy before the advent of the System.

Meanwhile... no one knew about the Nurotaurs until one of them showed up, causing several others to appear in different parts of the world. That’s why many considered them foreigners.

But if they turned out to be natives... What Era did they belong to? How many millions of years ago were we talking about?

Just thinking about it was confusing.

"Do you have any requests before the final test begins?" the Nurotaur suddenly asked, drawing the attention of both men.

"Final test?"

"That’s right. If you want to receive the rewards that my Weapon Sarcophagus can offer, you must pass all the tests."

"Eh? Receive rewards? Sir, we..."

"Do you have any requests?" El Nurotaur interrupted them just as they were about to respond, causing them to swallow their words.

Just as they both thought to speak, suddenly an additional door opened several meters away, and a large body recognizable to Elliot and Jenna crossed through. He was wounded in several parts of his body, but he had managed to cross.

As he crossed, the griffin, Elliot, and Jenna looked at each other’s faces.

The griffin’s eyes seemed to glow then.