Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 135: Ch133. New and improved

Chapter 135: Ch133. New and improved

Miles stepped forward, and the moment his foot left the jagged ground of the Horizon, he felt a shift in the fabric of reality itself.

The very air around him twisted, reality bending and folding like a story being rewritten mid-sentence. A white-hot sensation surged through his body, and before he could even breathe, the world around him cracked apart.

And then, he was there.

Wonderland.

Yes, it was Wonderland like he knew it. With its sickly green sky, churning like a liquid nightmare, its light staining the ruins below in an eerie glow.

The land itself pulsed. Dark, jagged structures stretched toward the heavens like twisted bones, and the ground under his feet felt alive. Not in the way a thriving forest would be, but as if it were something wounded, something writhing in slow agony, waiting for someone to give it a merciful blow.

The air carried a scent of decay, coagulated blood and old iron, and the silence was oppressive, heavy.

Wonderland had always been a kingdom of stories, a land of madness and impossibility, but now? It was a corpse of what it had once been.

Even more now that Miles knew how the place looked before the war, firsthand.

He exhaled, steadying himself, and before he did anything else, he summoned the system window before him.

The HUD unfolded before him, the glowing text illuminating the dim world around him with the familiar, and yet strangely new dark light framing the soberly flourished letters.

[Name: Miles Thorn]

[Affiliation: Wonderland]

[Level: 60]

As soon as Miles read his level, it was as if he had been punched in the gut, the air in his lungs being sucked out with a deep gasp.

"Level... Sixty? But... I thought that the bottleneck was at level fifty..."

If there had been a wall nearby, Miles would have collapsed against it.

Last time he remembered checking on his stats, before being thrown to the Horizon, his level was sixteen, and yet there he was, but after a moment of pondering, everything made sense.

"So that’s what the strength that I gained from the Revenants I killed was for... It was like the experience points from the monsters back on Earth..." He did not know how to react towards it.

Because if the Horizon was outside the system’s sphere of influence, and yet it held the same properties of making people grow stronger for each enemy they killed... Then what did it mean?

"Ah..." Miles sighed. "I guess it’s no use asking these questions currently." He looked at the other lines of text, carefully placing that question in the back of his mind.

[EXP: 560/61,000]

[Classpect: Harbinger of The End; Earth’s Mad Hatter]

Miles’ eyes widened slightly.

"So that’s what the Hatter meant... Now I’m the mad hatter..." Miles shuddered a little, unsure of what to do with the information, and kept reading.

[Attributes: Ender’s Essence; Shadow of The End]

He gasped when he looked at his skills, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound escaped it.

[Skills: Weapons Proficiency (Scythe) – Level: MAX; Resilience – Level: MAX; Focus – Level MAX; Fast forward – Level: 02]

"[Fast forward]... That’s a new one." Miles smirked. "Must be from the [Harbinger’s Scythe]. "He shook his head, trying his best to believe what his eyes were seeing.

[Strength: 67]

[Agility: 62]

[Dexterity: 63]

[Perception: 69(+5)]

[Intelligence: 74(+5)]

[Inventory: Scorching Rune; Harbinger’s Scythe (Timeless); Ether Teapot; Desert Rain; Wonderland’s Key; Wonderland’s top hat; Wonderland’s mantle; Ender’s mask; Revenant’s bone (x13); Revenant’s fang (x24); Revenant’s plate (x5); Crown’s thorn (x1); Overgear]

There were a lot of new items, and even though he had seen them, Miles still wanted to check all the descriptions, but he could do it later.

Now, there were four things that mattered most in his inventory, and he was going to make sure not to let any of those pass unchecked.

[Artifact: Harbinger’s Scythe (Timeless)]

[Category: Weapon]

[Artifact Description: A weapon that ripped many lives and ended many stories, this scythe once belonged to the god of Death and Endings. However, having lost it in a game of war, it was reforged by the god of War and Progress’s blood. After a long time with its powers sealed, though, Miles Thorn imbued it with the power to wield time, which he had received after a fierce battle against the White Rabbit. Can it be that this ancient weapon still hides secrets from him?]

’Huh..." Miles felt a shiver run down his spine, even though he did not feel any hostile feelings or sensations coming from the weapon. "Not ominous. At all..."

[Artifact: Wonderland’s top hat]

[Category: Garment]

[Artifact Description: Once belonging to Wonderland’s Mad Hatter, now this beautiful top hat belongs to Miles Thorn. Although only under the condition that his heart remains sincere in its promise to avenge Wonderland, the Hatter, and its folk.]

Miles could not help but smile at the description, his memories of the Horizon and the Last verse still vivid and fresh.

[Artifact: Wonderland’s mantle]

[Category: Garment]

[Artifact Description: It once belonged to Wonderland’s Mad Hatter, working in synergy with his emblematic top hat. However, now it holds a different property. It absorbs a fraction of the ether from every enemy killed, to convert it in an instant – Level Up – when needed. It will only work under the same condition as the top hat’s.]

He kept reading, even more eager to know what his new toys were capable of, after so many new improvements.

[Artifact: Overgear]

[Category: Armor]

[Artifact Description: A relic from a world that never was. It holds the remnants of a battle long won, but still remembered. It is infused with the essence of desperate survival, and its sole purpose is to protect its wearer at all costs. Even if it costs the artifact itself.]

There were so many new things to test and use that Miles felt dizzy from the flood of information. But he steadied himself and smiled, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

There were still a few things he had to check on from his experiences before the Horizon, like the remaining two echoes that he had left untouched. But those mysteries were for later.

For now, he had something else to focus on.

The ruined castle.

Miles lifted his head, setting his sights on the horizon. In the distance, through the broken remnants of Wonderland, he could see it, the ruins of the Queen of Hearts’ castle – of Alice’s castle.

Its once pristine white walls were now cracked and crumbling, jagged spires reaching upward like broken fingers clawing at the sky. The red banners that had once flown proudly were tattered, soaked in old, dried blood. The gates hung open, unguarded, yet unwelcoming.

No, not unguarded.

Miles knew from past experiences that they were still there.

The [Card Soldiers].

And now, Miles held a special kind of hatred against them, and he was going to unleash it all today.

He clenched his jaw as memories of this place burned in his mind.

The Hatter’s downfall.

His fingers tightened around the handle of his scythe as it materialized from the familiar black sparks. But this time, there were golden sparks mixed into the black luminosity.

"You better be ready," Miles murmured, voice low but sharp, a promise wrapped in steel and bitter memories of Diego’s scream. "Because I’m here for payback."

He started walking, the [Wonderland’s top hat] and [Wonderland’s mantle] enveloping him as they materialized from blood-red sparks.

He had the [Ender’s mask], too. But this time, Miles was not sure that he wanted to use that artifact.

Not until he had unraveled its secrets. For now, his newly inherited equipment would suffice.

The land beneath him shifted unnaturally, almost as if responding to his presence. Shadows stretched, twisting around him.

And he was going to make sure that by the time he was done here, no one would be able to remember the Queen of Heart’s story.