“You wait here,” Cy stared down at the harbour town below them. “I’m going to go check it out.”

  “You want me to wait here?” Max croaked out, as he remained seated underneath a bare tree. Although he had recovered from his cold over the last few days, his voice and sense of smell still hadn’t returned. At least it was a relief to escape the pungent odour dominating this world. “Didn’t you say I was expected to die today?”

  “Exactly why I told you to stay here.” Cy began chucking handfuls of sticks and fallen leaves in Max’s direction, ignoring the barely audible curses being returned. “Stay hidden while you wait. Your death date has something to do with one of your lot so don’t move from that spot.”

  “Do we even know if BB will be here?” Max pondered aloud even though the second half of his question couldn’t escape his damaged throat.

  “She will be. She’s in your fate.” There was his fate prediction again. It was funny how names never seemed like much of a problem for him to read unlike details. Apparently, he could only read parts of his upcoming death… “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Max got comfy on the floor amongst the scattered leaves. He wasn’t concealed at all, but who else would be on the mountain?

  “I mean it,” Cy said with a harsher voice. “Your death should be before sunset.” Cy was at sunrise, now Max was at sunset? “So, stay here.”

  “I’m not moving my butt from here,” Max insisted, as Cy tossed Bessie’s bag next to him before beginning his long walk to the town.

  Ever since they left the community, Cy was like a drill instructor with his constant snippy remarks about how they weren’t moving fast enough. The only real break they had was at that inn. After Max returned from the hot springs, he found the spilled soup was already cleaned, the parchment with Cy’s name was gone, and Cy was silently asleep under a thick layer of blankets on the floor. In the morning, Max was met with harsh commands, as they got going before the sun rose. They kept a steady march while Cy got the next of a continuous chain of spells ready. No breaks in between teleports. No chance to talk, as Max struggled to breathe under the physical strain and the illness he was still fighting. No opportunities to draw runes to complete his promises to Cy. When night fell and their progress slowed to a painful crawl, Cy finally called it a day and the two took turns sleeping under his order.

  By the second night in the woods, Max was certain. Cy was avoiding talking to him while Max struggled to think of ways to initiate conversation.

  Maybe they should part ways?

  As his mind weighed it up, sleep snuck up on him.

  A noise startled Max awake. Stretching while leaning against a tree, he looked around to see where the noise could have come from. There was another noise, this one was closer. There was someone hiking in the woods. Max remained seated. Cy told him to wait. His track record was more than enough of a reason to obey.

  The footsteps grew closer. It wasn’t too long before he could see a cloaked man with rolled up sleeves searching through the woods. In his hand, there was something. He was using some kind of tool. In his pocket, Max could feel the magic bone trying to spin.

  Taking a leap of faith, Max decided to call out in his croaky voice. “Miki…” his voice suddenly failed to produce any sounds. What a time to give out.

  The stranger turned to him. Max could see a scruffy beard poking out from underneath the hood. The next thing Max saw was a bright light heading in his direction. Max accepted the potential death while following Cy’s instructions.

  Around him, everything was singed. If he had moved a centimetre in any direction, he would’ve been severely injured and, worryingly, still alive. After realising he was okay, Max decided to have another jab at communication. “Ttema Ttocho!” His voice came out a lot stronger this time. Damn that blasted cold.

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  “You’re Max, right?” The guy lowered his hood to reveal a shiny dome. It was quite impressive for the times. Max didn’t move. It was difficult to decipher the tattooed number on his arm. “I don’t know what you did to piss off the system, but, boy, you got some enemies.” He geared up for another attack. “This ain’t personal kid-”

  “You’re one of Adam’s lot, aren’t you?” Despite his being barely audible, the stranger was clearly unprepared to hear one of Edric’s old names. “I can see the five, but you’re too far away for me to read the rest. Show me your number,” Max instructed.

  The stranger looked puzzled, but his hesitancy and manners were enough for Max to take an educated guess. “I don’t know how-”

  “50042, cool it. It’s Vilja.” Max watched colour drain from his face.

  “Wait… YOU are Max?” 50042 came closer to show Max the tattoo clearly. He was spot on with his guess. As a reply, Max lifted his shirt a little to show some of the runes. It was enough of a confirmation of his identity. “Bad luck with the voice this time.” He was sympathetic as he took a seat next to Max and offered him a flask.

  “Nah, just a bad cold.” Max swung back the liquid before beginning to choke; turned out it wasn’t water.

  “You still get colds?”

  “No magic this time round,” he gave as an excuse. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Looking for you, well, Max you.” 50042 handed over the tool he was holding. The size of the palm of his hand and made of magic imbued metal. Etched on top was a series of runes. As pretty as it looked, it was nothing more than a complex version of the magic bone in Max’s pocket. If the user pointed it in the general direction of one of them, then the part closest to the user would vibrate. The closer he was, the stronger it would be.

  “Adam’s going by Edric in this life. He began a hunt for ‘Max’ the moment it was declared as a sub-goal for everyone. Bit of a cock-up, eh?”

  “What exactly is the system saying about me?” Max asked, as he examined the runes. Polished and clean, Edric remembered how to draw them well. 50042’s words troubled him. Max was sure Edric could assume the sub-goal was about him. After all, they already met. He already knew his current name. This wasn’t an accident.

  “Lemme see,” he said, as he began navigating his HUD. It always took him a while to interact with it. Apparently, he was a pensioner in his first life, so his struggle with technology kept up with him through the lives, similar to Max and cooking. “The Death of Max – hunt down a person called Max and kill him. Any method of completion is acceptable. Time to complete is one year. The reward listed in an automatic completion to a random sub-goal and a penalty removal. But I also suddenly got a penalty when I approached you-”

  “Hmm,” Max interrupted. He wasn’t too interested in that part. “And what exactly was Edric’s order? What’s his plan?”

  “Firstly, find you. If we can do that, then our next priority is bringing you in. If it gets out of hand, we’re clear to kill you.” 50042 was blunt with his words. “Not to worry. When we tell Edric who you are, he’ll rescind the order. He’ll probably get completed people to come help you out.”

  Max tossed the tool back over to him. “That’s okay. I’m not planning on joining up with everyone this time.”

  “You’re not?” He was puzzled again, as he began pulling out supplies for Max to use on his journey. Max seemed more interested in Bessie’s bag next to him.

  “Nah, I’ve got a feeling I might get betrayed.”

  “Wha! We would never. No matter what the system says, orders come first.”

  “You would never,” Max agreed. 50042 was a good one and very loyal to the organisation. “Either way, I need to consult my psychic first. He says I’m going to die today.”

  “…. Is that something we do now? Consult psychics?”

  “He told me not to move.” Max gestured to the burned chaos around him. 50042 suddenly began nodding in understanding. “He’s helping me with my story.”

  “Then you better stick with him if that’s the case. Do what you need to do.” 50042 took another big swig of his flask before giving an exaggerated sigh. “No need to worry about me.” Max gave an appreciative smile as he pulled out a piece of parchment and some ink. “I’ll party and drink until the penalty ticks down.”

  Max nodded along. “We’ll get you something in compensation in the next life.” 50042 raised his flask in agreement. He understood the value of sacrifice for the greater good. The question was whose interpretation of the greater good? Was he going to keep quiet for Max’s sake? Or report to his direct superior, Edric, about what happened here?

  Max finished writing down a few runes before standing up, finally breaking Cy’s order. After stretching, he dragged 50042’s body so it would take his place under the bare tree. It would bring a nice air of mystery when they finally found him; dead and surrounded by traces of his own unique type of magic. Taking advantage of all the goods he had pulled out before his untimely death; Max stuffed them into Bessie’s bag before starting to walk in the same direction Cy went.

  When Edric came up with the idea of visibly tagging everyone with numbers, Max had been against it. It was always too… inhumane in his eyes. Too distasteful. It wasn’t until June gave him another perspective that he came around to the idea. Finding the names of people was always too troublesome. Writing numbers that the corresponding person wore on their skin was much more convenient.