The Poet's System
Chapter 69: Loop

Chapter 69: Loop

"I think it’s just ordinary sand... just a little different," Rhea said, double-checking if the desert was safe to walk on.

"Let’s go then."

Without a moment’s hesitation, they started on their way through the desert.

The morning had already broken as they made their way through the desert. They were trying to find their way back into the forest, at least—but the worms, however, had other plans.

With nowhere else to go, they had to push forward, through the desert. The texture wasn’t quite normal, nor was it abnormal—it was too dry, yet somehow too wet, fluffy like powdered clay.

No threat came their way as they moved through it. Though they stayed alert, the oddness of the surroundings was more curious than dangerous—so they barely broke a sweat.

Even so, it felt like its own kind of torture. There was no end in sight—just an endless desert that somehow led nowhere.

No matter how much they walked, nothing showed they were getting anywhere. The wind erased their footsteps as soon as they were made, leaving no path back to the forest—even if they wished to return.

As if that weren’t enough, the heat was unbearable. Daylan had gone shirtless, and Rhea and Medora wore only their vests, their shirts hanging loosely over their shoulders.

Sweat soaked their bodies like the sun had zeroed in its burning gaze on nothing but the desert.

They endured the heat throughout the day, and before they knew it, evening had fallen.

The wind blowing made little difference from the day’s heat, but somehow, they still found a bit of warmth in it.

Even so, sleep came with struggle, and when it finally did, the heat soon yanked them back awake.

After trying and failing to sleep, Daylan chose to study the desert instead. He had a growing suspicion that it was some kind of trap.

While the others struggled to sleep, he roamed around, marking landmarks as he went. But soon, exhaustion beat the heat, and he drifted off.

Morning came not long after, and their fate hadn’t changed. The wind howled through the desert, wiping away all the sticks Daylan had left behind.

They kept moving through the wind, but with the sun blazing down like fire, Daylan was forced to do something he hadn’t wanted to.

Daylan didn’t trust Rhea enough to tell her about his orb. Sure, she was strong and shared a sentimental past with him from their childhood—but that alone wasn’t enough. He needed more.

In that moment, he had no other option—if he didn’t let them rest inside his orb, they’d all be done for. Wasting no time, he stained Rhea with his ink and teleported them into the orb, then followed right after.

As soon as Rhea arrived, she summoned her gloves and took her stance.

"Relax, girl," Medora said, easing herself onto the floor, embracing the calm and softness within the darkness.

"What do you mean, relax?" Rhea asked with a puzzled look.

"You, of all people, should know better—especially if you’re calling yourself my guardian angel," he added, settling down on the floor as well.

"So this is your doing," she muttered, stomping her foot against the floor. "What is this stuff? Water?"

"It’s ink. No more questions," he said flatly.

Daylan tried to enjoy a quiet moment, but Rhea kept asking questions nonstop.

Noticing this, Medora took over—she answered Rhea’s questions and commanded the orb to move them a little farther from Daylan. Even though he could still hear their voices, he finally managed to have his moment of peace.

The chill against his skin lulled him to sleep before long, leaving the girls to their own conversation.

"I don’t know much about it. Only Day and Asta could explain it properly," Medora said, her gaze drifting. "But I do know it’s sort of a Worth artifact—usable by anyone Daylan trusts. He made it for us."

"Wait, aren’t you his best friend? How come you don’t know about it?"

Medora sighed. "I know where this is going. No one can separate Day and me—not death, gods, or even Asta. He is my best friend, and he always will be."

"I always knew you were the brightest one," she smirked. "Wait... did you say Day created this? How?"

"I thought you were his guardian angel," Medora murmured before drifting off to sleep.

Soon, the silence reached Rhea as well, gently pulling her into sleep.

After finally getting some real, restful sleep, they ended up sleeping for almost 15 hours, waking up the next day.

They still had to keep moving, and taking detours to rest now and then was a good thing—but even then, they could not spend more than half a day.

Wasting no time, they stepped back into the desert and pressed on. But with no heavy wind this time, Daylan saw his chance to find out if they were caught in some kind of loop.

With help from the others, they tried leaving pieces of bread as markers, but even the gentlest wind scattered them. Switching strategies, they poured water onto the sand, hoping it would leave a mark—but the scorching air dried it up in seconds.

Another day passed with no progress, just the same endless path that felt more like a slow descent into doom. Daylan was desperate.

Time was slipping away, and something about the desert just didn’t sit right. He spent most of the night awake, thinking, trying to find some way—any way—to break the loop.

The next morning arrived before they realized it. Nearly six of Daylan’s fourteen days were already gone—and with his chivalry duties looming and the mission to kill Giselle being a whole separate path, rest wasn’t even a thought.

Throughout the day, Daylan experimented with different methods, all to no avail. Then Rhea offered an idea—simple, but possibly effective: walk in a straight line.

Daylan’s eyes sparkled as the idea hit him. He didn’t know if it would actually work, but the logic behind it held up—at least in theory.

To test the theory, they spaced themselves out so they could still see each other. If they were in a loop, one of them would eventually show up behind the other. If not, it would be clear soon enough.

Steeling themselves for the moment of truth, Daylan took the lead, Medora followed, and Rhea brought up the rear. They walked for a long stretch, but Daylan never showed up behind Rhea.

Frustration grew among them—it seemed there was no loop after all. But just as they were about to give up, Medora spotted something.

"The sand seems to be sloping toward the center... I think we’re walking in a circle!" she shouted, her voice tense.

Daylan was snapped out of his tired daze as he turned to Medora. He didn’t know if it was true, but they had to find out.

"Not sure if that’s true, but on three, we all run to our right!" Daylan shouted. Medora repeated it so Rhea could hear.

At Daylan’s count, they all sprinted right on three—and, to their surprise, converged at one place: the center. They breathed a collective sigh of relief—it was a loop after all.

But Daylan still wrestled with making sense of it.

He stood silent, his face unreadable as he tapped his bottom lip over and over, while Medora and Rhea talked quietly nearby.

Before he could form a single thought, the earth trembled fiercely, as though something was digging its way up from below.

"We’ve made a mistake," Daylan’s voice cracked. "The worms wanted us here. This is their territory."

Before he could finish, a seven-foot black worm erupted from the earth, blasting air all around. Its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth—a deadly trap once it clamped down.

"Oh, shit... it’s their mother," Rhea said, her eyes lighting up—finally, the fight she’d been waiting for.

Before any of them could react, the worm was already slicing through the sand, circling them with swift, fluid motion.

Watching its movement, Daylan finally realized why they seemed trapped in a circle.

There was no loop; the desert was just too immense to comprehend. It was a circular expanse, and their only escape lay through its center—like the bottom of a deep hole.

With his realization sinking in, Daylan sprinted ahead while Rhea and Medora frantically searched for a way to kill the creature.

The worm wasn’t just a monster—its strength was unknown, and the only way to find out what it could do was to face it head-on.

As Daylan snapped back to reality and recognized the threat, Medora and Rhea had already launched themselves at the worm.

Daylan seized the moment and dashed toward the center of the desert.

If this is true, then we can kill this worm easily.

The more he ran, the more his confidence gave way to despair. The desert stretched flat and endless before him, and he stopped abruptly as confusion overwhelmed him.

What was he truly facing? That question alone was enough to bring on a nosebleed. Yet one thing remained clear: they had to kill the worm.