Chronicles of Forgotten Extra-Chapter 140: Dance of Disharmony?

Alden was seated on a chair, peacefully sipping tea.

The chair was situated right under a magnificently beautiful golden tree.

His expression was one of utmost calm, as if he had reached some sort of Nirvana.

World is illusionary. Truth is false. False is also false. What's within oneself is the only truth.

He muttered some philosophical lines within his mind which made absolutely no sense.

Well, how could they?

It was just some random gibberish he had thought of at the moment.

He was fed up with this trial.

This damned monkey was like the final boss of some undefeatable game.

Alden had been trying to defeat that guy for the last two days. He had used up seven of his tries, and only three chances remained.

So his mind had short-circuited and he had reached Nirvana…

In the past few days, he had learned a few things.

First of all— only challenger could enter this place. According to what Mokah had told him.

Most challenger had entered from some random dungeon or some demonic swords. There had been no incident of someone entering this trial through their skill.

So Alden didn't reveal anything either.

He just told Mokah that he had gotten in his hand on a sword which sent him here.

But still a question bugged him.

Why did my supreme skill sent me here?

Does this place have something to do with whatever that cryptic part in the name of my skill is?

Alden wanted to check his skill information to check if anything had changed.

But nothing.

It's not that there was no change.

It was that he couldn't summon the status window.

Why can't I summon system?

Is this place perhaps out of system jurisdiction?

Alden didn't understand anything so he just dismissed it for now.

He couldn't just waste time thinking about some useless information.

The second thing he had learnt was that this place was only accessible to soul forms, and no physical body could even hope to enter here.

Well, except Mokah, obviously.

That guy was present here in his physical form.

Alden had tried to dig for as much information as he could.

But the only thing he got was— "I was the protagonist of the world, so the world decided to nerf me to make it more interesting."

This was the only line Mokah ever said.

That mot—

Calm down. You can't curse that guy. He's strong.

Phew.

Alden took a deep breath.

Don't think about it… Don't…

Alden decided to recount his losses in order to calm himself down…

Mokah had gotten too much on his nerves.

He didn't just defeat Alden.

Nope.

He played with him. He humiliated him thoroughly.

After the combat challenge was completed, Alden understood he couldn't defeat Mokah in battle, so he decided to take another way.

He challenged him to a chess match.

Alden wasn't someone who liked to brag (according to him), but he was a good chess player in his previous life as Damien—before becoming a NEET.

So he was confident in his chess skills.

He challenged Mokah to it with a confident smirk, thinking he was going to win.

Alden didn't know where to find a chessboard, but that problem was solved when Mokah told him that this space could conjure anything necessary for the challenge.

This space could summon any object or absolutely anything from the memory of the challenger.

But there was one restriction—the summoned object could only be used for the challenge, and once it was completed, it would vanish.

With that problem solved, the space summoned a chessboard for the challenge.

Soon, the match started.

Throughout the whole game, Mokah just stayed silent, occasionally gulping wine from his gourd.

Alden took that as a sign that Mokah was having a hard time.

But man, he was wrong.

Just when Alden thought he was going to win, Mokah pulled out an extraordinary move and mated him within the next three turns.

Alden could only stare at the vanishing chessboard with his jaw open and eyes wide.

It took him a full three hours to recover from the loss. But once he did, he thought of another idea.

What about cooking?

He can't be better at it too… right?

Alden recalled how much of a fool he had been when he asked Mokah for a cooking challenge.

I should have known better than to underestimate that damned monkey.

But humans are made up of mistakes—and Alden was no exception.

He had faced another crushing defeat in a cooking challenge as well.

Alden had decided to cook a dish from his homeworld.

Biryani.

It was one of the dishes Alden liked the most from back then.

Making it was easy enough—especially when this mystical space conjured up an entire outdoor kitchen near the lake the moment he issued the challenge.

It had everything: fresh herbs, spices, vegetables, meat, even copper-bottom pots and a clay stove.

Alden was briefly worried about who would even judge the food, but Mokah had just smiled.

"Don't worry. It'll be fair."

That should have been a warning sign.

So Alden focused. He poured all his skill and memory into the dish. Using the finest saffron, frying the onions to a perfect golden brown, layering rice with care and grace—he created a dish that made even his soul salivate.

Meanwhile, Mokah hadn't moved a finger.

Not until Alden was more than halfway through.

Only then did he stroll into the kitchen zone like a sleepy tourist. He looked over Alden's shoulder with exaggerated curiosity, nodding thoughtfully.

"Oh? You added cloves? Bold. Risky," he muttered.

Then Mokah just... copied Alden's recipe.

Step by step. Move by move. But faster.

He even whistled while doing it.

They both finished at the same time. Alden was stunned.

What the hell?

His dish was the best he'd ever made. He knew it.

But Mokah's… Mokah's biryani looked identical. Not just good—perfect.

Alden didn't want to admit it, but it was flawless.

Then came the judging part.

Mokah took both dishes and casually strolled toward the golden tree.

At first, Alden was confused.

Is that tree going to judge now or what?

He had said it sarcastically.

But then it happened.

The tree rustled its glowing leaves. As soon as the plates were set down, both dishes vanished without a trace.

Plates and all.

Alden blinked. "You've got to be kidding—"

Before he could finish, a soft chime echoed in the air.

A holographic screen shimmered into existence above them.

[Winner: Mokah]

A second later, detailed review text started scrolling down:

"Mokah's dish displayed an exceptional balance of flavor and soul harmony. Slightly more aromatic, with better layering technique. Alden's biryani had potential but failed to evoke the same resonance."

Alden's jaw dropped. He stared at the screen like it had personally betrayed him.

What the FK?

How the hell did this tree that long of review?

__

After the culinary crisis, Alden hadn't given up.

Oh no.

Instead, he went on a losing spree.

The first challenge after that was rock-paper-scissors, which he lost spectacularly.

Then he challenged Mokah to a staring contest, thinking this drunkard monkey couldn't keep his eyes open for long.

But wrong again.

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Mokah just made some stupid gestures to make Alden laugh, which caused him to blink and lose.

The losing streak went on for a while.

Alden challenged Mokah to some ridiculous games and lost hopelessly.

And worse? Every time he lost, Mokah only offered one cryptic comment:

"Rhythm is necessary."

What rhythm?

What was this damn monkey even talking about?

Alden didn't know. And at this point, he didn't care.

That damned monkey had won seven challenges already.

Only three chances were left.

And so now, here he was—sitting under a golden tree, sipping lukewarm tea like some wise monk while contemplating the meaning of existence.

Or more like pretending to sip because in his soul form he couldn't actually eat or drink anything.

So he was just acting to sip some imaginary tea to calm his nerves down.

This space restricts Mokah… he said that, didn't he?

Alden thought.

"I was the protagonist of the world, so the world decided to nerf me to make it more interesting."

Alden started analyzing each and every interaction he had with Mokah.

So he's limited, huh?

He can't go all out. He was only limited at my level.

But there has to be a way to twist that limitation in my favor.

And then it struck him.

Another thing Mokah spoke.

Rhythm?

He keeps talking about rhythm.

What if…?

A slow, mischievous grin spread across Alden's face.

What if I challenge him to a dance battle… but the winner is whoever dances the worst?

He almost choked on his imaginary tea from the sheer brilliance.

Mokah, by his very nature, couldn't break rhythm.

He was a being of rhythm.

Even when drunk, even when lazy, even when humming nonsense—he followed rhythm effortlessly.

But if the challenge required anti-rhythm…

Alden stood up with the grace of a man who had just solved the universe.

He was confident because he was going to utilize Gretta's teaching now.

Using teaching of Gorilla to defeat a monkey.

"Mokah," he called with mock solemnity, "I challenge you."

The monkey, casually sleeping on a floating boulder while tossing grapes into his mouth, raised a brow. "Hm? What now?"

"A dance battle," Alden said, his tone deadly serious. "But… the winner will be whoever dances the worst."

There was a pause.

Mokah blinked.

Then smirked. "Interesting."

And so, the next round—the ultimate Dance of Disharmony—was about to begin.