by Dave Austin
He had given his life for us. We didn’t even know his name. He was a true hero and deserved to be remembered as such.
“What just happened?” Kitty asked, “Is anyone injured?”
“I don’t think so. That guy saved us.” Joannie replied, looking at him, trying to see if she recognized him.
“Wait… Isn’t that guy the bartender from yesterday?” Trent asked, surprised as he should be.
“Yes… I believe he’s more than that. He knew things about Immortuos that no one knew, and now this… He’s willing to get killed or locked up and tortured for us. He knows what the stakes are, and I suppose he’s trying to make the odds more even.” Brie told everyone.
She also shared the conversation we had with him yesterday. Everyone was listening intently when Jones suddenly fell on the ground, blood dripped out of his mouth, along with white viscous fluid. He seemed to be having a seizure, likely due to the excess of efforts he had made. Kitty did her best to heal him but nothing seemed to work.
He had full health, but he had broken his body from the inside.
We took him to a bed and discussed if we should force him to log out. He probably had a seizure in real-life as well, he needed an ambulance, not potions. We knew this could happen when we started our journey, but seeing it happen in front of us was more painful than we could have ever guessed. Brie ended up deciding that she would log out as soon as we were on high-seas and one-hundredth percent safe, and would call the ambulance to his house.
We all agreed and upon further discussion, it was also decided that we would take Foxy and her friends to Viribirus, where we would train for a day, and then our journey would continue. We weren't a match for Immortuo’s I-want-to-be-dead people.
My legs hurt, and I had trouble lifting my arms, carrying Jones had drained all my energy, and now I needed a good night of sleep. I was walking toward the deck when I heard someone talking.
“Thanks for saving us. We all appreciate what you did.” Foxy said, surging behind me. Not that I’d ever told her, but she’d scared me, I wasn’t expecting her to be so sneaky. After all, this all started with her perfectly hidden on an electric pole.
“You saved me first. We’re even.” I said and smiled
She walked up to me, leaned forward, and hugged me. Her boobs rubbed against my chest as her hand slid down my back to my ass. My cock rose, and I knew she could feel my raging boner touching her lightly. There were people around us but she didn’t seem to care. They had no idea that the sexual attraction between us existed.
“I told you I’d reward you if we got out of there.” She said and softly licked her lips.
“Next time, okay? I’ve got to rest, I can barely keep standing, much less appease you.”
“I won’t forget that, Tim.” She whispered, before winking at me.
“How do you know my name?”
“I have amazing hearing, it’s my secret. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Does that mean you listened to everything we said?”
“Yes. Even when you were deciding if you were going to help us or not. Did you think we would have let you discuss our lives without having a say in it?”
Her true nature revealed itself before me. The cry-baby she was suddenly became a grown-up woman who used her strongest abilities to get out of that hell. I couldn’t judge her for it, but I wished she had trusted me. We would have helped her anyway.
She left, and I stood there like an idiot, wondering if she had lied about anything else. Did they return the stolen items? Maybe they hid one for themselves and that was why Tillian was so angry.
Well, nothing we could do now.
Screams coming from the deck startled me. I ran to it and in front of us, there was a massive icy mountain.
“They closed the entrance. The only way to open it is with a specific sentence only captains know.” Joannie told us.
“We can’t go back. They’ll be waiting for us.” Kitty shouted. It was the first time I was seeing her truly frightened.
“Get ready for the impact. Go inside, grab something, and make sure you don’t let your hand slip.” Joannie ordered, “activate maximum speed.”
Black smoke began to come out of the chimney. The ship accelerated and sailed fearlessly toward the mountain.
We all went inside except for Joannie. “Don’t worry, I’m right behind you. I need to make sure the ship is going in the right direction. Failure is not an option, not now.”
Her voice comforted me as we moved below deck. Foxy and her friends were in my room and so was Trent. We all huddled together and waited anxiously for the outcome.
First, there was a noise, then the ship swayed, and, in the end, an avalanche destroyed everything in its way, including our shrouds and masts. It was all gone in a short amount of time and there was nothing we could do. The ship continued to sail until we were on the high-seas and safe from the danger that Tillian posed. However, it was extremely slow, and we weren’t sure if we were going in the right direction.
We were lost and directionless.
After we all moved back onto the deck, Brie used her fire to burn the icy floor as the rest of us tried to think of a plan.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Trent said, optimistic as ever.
“That’s probably our only solution. I have a map but it only says where we are, it doesn’t show where we’re headed.” Joannie replied.
“You brought us here. You don’t know how to get back?” Brie asked, clearly frustrated at Joannie.
“I told you. The ship moves on its own, if it gets disorientated, we’re fucked. It’s like it’s sailing blindly, I can’t give him orders because I also don’t know where to go. Luck is all we have.”
“Let’s rest and maybe tomorrow someone will come up with a fresh idea,” Rashida said.
We all agreed.
Foxy let me know she had heard everything by winking at me. We all went back to our rooms and after a few minutes, we all logged out.
Demi was right, my room was a mess.
Fuck. I had forgotten to warn someone that I’d be late tomorrow. No one said had said an exact time, so maybe we were free tomorrow.
It wasn’t like we could go somewhere else, our avatars were on a ship adrift.
My eyes shut down as soon as my body fell on the mattress.
Chapter VII
Demi woke me up once again with her annoying knocking on the door. She could have texted me, but instead there she was trying to break into my house again.
“Wait. I’m dressing.” I shouted.
As I walked up to the door my whole body ached, and my head rang. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any aspirin for a headache. Nice. One more thing I had to buy.
A week had gone by and I still hadn’t collected any powerful, or rare items. It was a little bit disappointing, to be honest.
I opened the door, and Demi stormed in.
“Let’s go.” She screeched.
“Sure, but choose a cheap place. I’m trying to save money.” I said as I washed my face.
“I hope it’s not for those game’s expansions you talk about. Don’t forget to buy food, and things you actually need.”
“It’s not. Let’s go, We’re wasting precious time. I’m hungry.” I said. The sooner we ate, the sooner I would be back home.
Real-life was harder. There were noisy people everywhere, and they didn’t seem to care about anything but themselves. Most people were self-centered and wouldn’t lose a second to help another person, I saw it every day. They passed right through someone in need and pretended to not see them.
Not that I was perfect, but at least I was doing something that would help others. People could say I had selfish reasons and it might be true but did the why matter as long as I did it? Lots of people could become heroes, it didn’t mean everyone was a true hero.
Demi was talking about some shitty drama show she had been watching and I couldn’t care less. The food arrived shortly and I took note of how fu
ll the restaurant was. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone there played Online Fantasy Harem.
“You aren’t even listening to me,” Demi grumbled.
“Sorry. I got distracted. The food is nice.” I said, trying to change the topic.
“It is, and I bet you were thinking about the game.”
“Maybe,” I replied. She knew me well, there was no point in lying.
“You keep being the same guy you were at 8. You haven’t grown up.” She confessed.
Fury spread through my body. Despite being in the real world I could hear the voices telling me to take her to a secluded place and kill her there. “No one will know.” They muttered, getting louder. Having a headache only made things worse. I acted like I was fine, like I was dealing with everything without a problem.
“You’re distracted again.” She said.
My hands were shaking, I had the restaurant’s knife in my hand and could slaughter her easily. If I moved my hand, fast and across her neck it would be enough to stop her from talking.
However, I couldn’t. She wasn’t perfect, but she was my best friend and I would never hurt her. The voices didn’t seem to care, their screams scratched my brain from the inside. They were begging me to do it, telling me that it would all stop if I just did it.
“You won’t even remember it. We promise," They said.
“Demi, I have to leave. Thank you for this. I’ll text you later.” I said before getting up and storming out of the restaurant.
As soon as I got outside I breathed a sigh of relief, resisting them wasn’t futile, I had done it and survived. This was real-life and killing would have severe consequences. I had to keep that in mind before I did something I’d regret forever.
I began walking toward my house, observing other people, and seeing what they were up to. They were focused on this world while I was trying to save one they probably didn’t even know existed. Addiction was a son of a bitch and I wasn’t going to let it catch me. I ended up promising myself that after saving Online Fantasy Harem I’d take a few days to myself. A well-deserved vacation.
Not that I’d go anywhere, but I’d keep myself away from the computer.
My head needed to rest.
The first thing I did when I got home was turn on the computer, then I took a shower while it made a few updates, followed by picking up the smelly clothes and putting them in the washing machine. I sat on my comfortable black reclining chair and logged in.
The sunset on the horizon was beautiful, it had an orange-reddish color, and it reflected on the crystalline blue water. Half of the team was sitting on the bow of the ship and watching. There wasn’t much else to do, and we couldn’t rebuild what had crumbled. I seized the time and distributed the points I earned after killing the guard.
Status
Level: 6
Name: Kratom
Weapon: Parfait Bow
HP: 300/300
Magic: 95/95
Attack: 80
Special attack; Triple X
Defense: 60
Knowledge: 100
Exp. To the next level: 200/700
Items; x2 Potions (40hp)
X Potion (70hp)
X Potion (90hp)
Money; 724 gold
I also made sure to make myself taller and have broader shoulders.
No one wanted to train. We were all tired and thinking about what was coming. It would be harder than anything we had ever faced.
Brie surged in from behind me, “I called an ambulance. Jones is in the hospital and he’s being taken care of. They told me he’s going to be fine, but they’re not sure when he'll be released. They’re going to monitor him and see if he has a good reaction to the things they gave him. That’s all they can do for now.” She muttered, seeming truly preoccupied but trying her best to be present and not show her worry.
“He’s strong, he’ll be fine,” I replied, trying to comfort her.
The rest of the team arrived shortly after. We ended up revising our plan, making sure we hadn’t had any breaches. At the end of the meeting, Brie said that if we were going to trust our lives to someone else, it should be someone we truly know.
Everyone agreed.
Confessions were made, secrets were spilled.
Kitty told us the reason she had chosen to be a healer was that she was a doctor in real-life and thought being one in the game would be as challenging and enthusiastic. Turns out, it never was.
Rashida confessed that he was a CEO in one of the biggest Japanese firms. He didn’t tell us which one but said he has a private room for gaming and can play all day and no one will bother him. I envied him.
Trent admitted that Loras wasn’t just his player name, but also his last name. “Everyone calls me Loras, so I decided to use it as my player name as well.” He said.
Brie told us that she had been born into an extremely wealthy family and if she wanted she wouldn’t have to work a day in her life. However, she wanted more, she wanted to help people, which her parents thought was a dumb thing to do and so they never approved her ideas. Being a hero in this game was the closest she had ever been of her goal.
“You’re doing just fine,” Joannie said and Brie thanked her. It was a rare sight watching them be nice to each other. Joannie admitted that she regretted some choices she had made in the game and that in real life she had a problem in her legs that made it impossible for her to walk.
“I’ve had it since I was a kid. I ended up getting used to it, and there’s nothing I can do. The doctors can’t fix me. They give me monthly prescriptions to help with the pain but that’s it. At least I get money to help me with the expenses. The rest I win in the game by doing a few favors here and there. I do what’s necessary to not have a bare-minimum life. Well, what about you, Tim?” She asked, and looked at me.
“Your real name is Tim? Nice name.” Kitty said, “I’m Kitty.” She added, thinking that I didn’t know it yet.
“I’m currently unemployed. I’ve saved enough money to focus on saving Online Fantasy Harem this month, and I’ll look for a job on the next one. Also, I’m 22 and I never finished college.”
“Why didn’t you?” Brie asked.
“I had to quit to help my mother. She was sick and needed someone who would take care of her. I hadn’t seen her in two years when she called but I still wasn’t able to tell her no. Maybe I should’ve. Well, that’s life.” I said.
We all lay there in silence. We were strengthening our bond despite my fear of telling them about the voices. Only Jones knew and he couldn’t tell anyone. Maybe Brie or Foxy, who was still in the bow with her friends, suspected something. However, I had to hide it from them. The voices still had some control over me and I dreaded they would lead me to kill them if they figured it out or if I told them.
I couldn’t put my friends at risk.
Two days passed. We spent the whole time talking, laughing, and sharing secrets. Even Foxy joined us and told us that she was probably the youngest of us and that she was still in college taking psychology classes.
Demi had texted me several times, but I never answered her. How could I talk to her knowing I had thought about killing her? It was too much. She didn’t come knocking at my door so I pretended she didn’t exist. It was the best thing to do until I calmed down and recovered my sanity.
After a while, it became obvious that the boat hadn’t deviated from its course, and Viribirus was before us.
“I see land. I see land.” Shouted Joannie, “I knew this ship wouldn’t disappoint me.” She said and smiled at us. We cheered, celebrated, and hugged each other. Things were finally going well.
It took hours to get there. The ship needed to be repaired, and Joannie warned us it would take at least two days for it to be ready.
“More time to train,” Brie shouted.
“We need to get stronger and work as a team. If we try to fight them alone, we won’t accomplish anything.” Joannie added.
She was right. They w
ere too strong for us or they wouldn’t have survived in Immortuos. We wouldn’t stand a chance if we didn’t use our abilities together. A familiar face stood still in the harbor despite the scorching heat.
“Isn’t that your friend?” Brie asked.
“Friends is a strong word. She helped me with the tutorial, or she was my tutorial. I never understood it well.”
I walked up to Nympha, who looked as disinterested as always. She was playing with her hair, and her lips were thicker than before. My imagination was going wild, and the thoughts of fucking her spread through my mind to the point that I got a raging boner.
“What-What are you doing here?” I asked, stumbling over my own words.
“A few days ago an unknown man gave me a letter addressed to you.” She told me and gave it to me. The first thing I noticed was a red symbol on the upper left corner; two towers next to each other and a sentence behind.
“For those who succumb
Freedom was never a choice.”
I had never heard that before, nor had I seen the symbol. The paper was soft and new. The letter was probably written less than a week ago, and whoever wrote it used black ink.
“When you get to Immortuos look for Steveinsh. He’ll help you with all you need. Make sure you don’t get killed before you meet him. He lives in the dry mountains. He has a glass eye and uses a long sword. Tell him that Debil sent you.”
“Who the hell is Debil?” I asked Nympha.
“I don’t know. The man who gave me the letter had a scar on his left cheek and was level 8. He knew who I was and left as soon as I grabbed the letter.” She told me, “Well, my job here is done. I’m heading back to the city. I’ve new pupils to teach.”
“Wait.” I said before she turned around, “You teach other people?”
“Obviously. There are several teachers, helpers, or whatever you want to call us. The time we stay with the players and how much we teach them depends on the path they choose..”
I nodded my head and watched as she went back to the city. I returned to the ship and called everyone to show them the letter. Brie read it out loud.