by M B Reid
That’s when I realised I was in the middle of a domestic. The doorway to the forest was half open, sending a sliver of midday sun onto the stairs. I activated Chameleon Cloak and sneaked forward, peeking out into the clearing.
A red haired woman stood with her back to me, her clothes dishevelled as if she’d hastily pulled them on. As far as I could tell she wasn’t carrying a weapon, so I classified her as a spellcaster and moved on to inspecting her companion. He was a big man, at least six and a half feet tall, and built like Conan the barbarian. He stood topless in the morning sun, a sword and axe on the ground near his shirt. His eyes were rimmed in red, as if he’d been crying.
From the disorganised clothing I gathered they’d just had sex. And apparently he cried afterwards, that meant he had to be a player right? No game designer in their right mind would make an NPC like that, surely.
I settled myself into the shadows in the entrance, confident they wouldn’t be able to see me, and dismissed my Chameleon Cloak. It didn’t use too much mana, but I figured I shouldn’t waste any more than necessary. I didn’t want to be caught unprepared if they worked off their aggression by dungeon diving. Though at this rate I expected one of them to logout in a puff of smoke. Who had the energy for a lovers quarrel in a videogame?
“What do you mean it’s going to be okay? We’re going to die here” The man bellowed. His voice was wavering, a remnant of his earlier tears.
“I still can’t believe you tried logging out straight afterwards” The woman yelled back with venom in her voice.
“That’s what you’re focusing on? We’re stuck here!”
“I thought you knew that? You really thought you’d wooed me with that shit? We’re stuck here, so I thought I might as well have a little fun.” The barbs in her voice cut the man down to size, and he fell silent after that.
“Look, it’s not that bad. We’ll be safe sticking around Whiteridge. Look, c’mere.” The womans voice had gone soft all of a sudden. She sounded genuine, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was up to something. I heard the man mumble something before stepping in close to hug her. She gently turned him in a circle, until she was looking over his shoulder directly at the dungeon entrance. I shrank back against the shadows, hoping I hadn’t misjudged how hidden I was. That’s when I saw the look in her eye. The crazy, wild look of someone about to do something very stupid.
A dagger appeared in the womans hand. In one swift motion she buried it in the nape of his neck. She stabbed him over and over as he shuddered and tried to push himself away. Blood sprayed from an open artery in his neck as she released him. He gave one last shove to distance himself from her but succeeded only in launching himself flat onto his back. He didn’t even reach for his weapons as she pounced on him, straddling his chest and stabbing repeatedly at his face.
A mad cackle escaped from the womans lips as he finally went still. She wiped her bloody knife on the grass and slipped it back into its hiding place. The movement was so swift I didn’t even see where she’d stashed it. Under her breath I could hear her muttering about betrayal as she patted him down, looting whatever was in his pockets.
She’d killed him. That crazy bitch had straight up murdered another player. I hadn’t even realised we were in a Player Versus Player zone, and this woman was cleaning up her kill. It definitely wasn’t her first, not with how efficient that had been.
Then she was walking toward the door.
Panic gripped me as I looked for a way to bar the door. There was no lock on this side. The only thing nearby was the small pile of unlit torches, and they weren’t big enough to block the entrance. I decided to abandon it, and ran down the stairs instead. It didn’t matter how much noise I made, I needed to get back to where Logan could back me up. This crazy bitch had killed one player already today. I didn’t want to be her second victim!
The stairway lit up behind me as she threw open the door.
“Come back!” She yelped. Clearly I hadn’t made it through the doorway before her eyes had adjusted to the gloom. Shit, I should have used Chameleon Cloak! In my haste I ran straight past the torch at the bottom of the stairs, sprinting into the dark room ahead. Through the second door I could see the light from Logan’s torch.
I made it halfway across the room before kicking the kobolds bedsheets and tripping myself. It felt like I was living in a nightmare. I couldn’t crawl forward fast enough to get to safety, and I was too panicked to get back to my feet. It was like my limbs didn’t understand what I wanted them to do. She knew I’d seen what she’d done. There was no way she could let me live to tell that tale.
I tried calling out to Logan but my voice was a hoarse whisper. All I could imagine was her closing the distance between us and driving that bloody dagger into my neck. I rolled onto my back. If I was going to die, I at least wanted to face death. Stare her down.
“Please” I whimpered into the darkness.
No knife came. Instead, she was standing at the bottom of the staircase holding up my torch. Confusion was plastered over her face. As I met her gaze, her eyes burned into me. There was madness there, cold calculated murderous insanity. I could practically see the thoughts whirring through her head.
“You’re a player” She accused.
“Please. Please don’t kill me” I pleaded. Where the fuck was Logan? Surely he must be overhearing us right now.
“I didn’t know players could be undead. Oh, this is good.” She laughed in a horribly mocking way. Her knife was glinting in the torchlight, and it was all I could focus on now that I’d seen it. She took a step forward, brandishing the torch like a weapon in front of her. As if she were chasing off ravenous wolves. It swished left, then right, and if I’d had a working bladder I was sure it would have emptied itself.
“I’m sorry pumpkin. This is a winners game, and I can’t have you telling tales.” She took another few steps towards me as I cowered in fear.
This was utterly fucking ridiculous. I was meant to be playing as a tank, and here I was cowering under the threat of a tiny woman. Admittedly, a tiny woman who also happened to be a murderous psychopath. But still, I should at least try to fight back.
A bolt of purple flashed from the doorway and hit her square in the chest. She swore as she stumbled backwards. The torch clattered to the ground. My terror broke in an instant. I was not going to go down without a fight!
I regained my footing. My axe had skittered across the room when I’d tripped, and it was now frighteningly close to where she stood. Instead of going for it, I activated my Bull Horns ability again. My forehead tingled for a moment, and I felt a sudden rush of strength. There was no place left in my mind for fear.
I lowered my head and charged at her as another bolt of purple energy zipped across the room. She was knocked back a step by the blast of magic, and I bowled her when we collided. Somehow I managed to keep my footing and stumbled past her as she went down. I snatched my axe off the floor and assumed my most intimidating pose.
Fear replaced the madness in her eyes. We’d clearly hurt her, and we outnumbered her. She looked like she’d realised this wasn’t a fight she was going to win.
“They aren’t worth it.” She announced to herself, and then she vanished.
“What the -” Logan growled, stepping into the room.
I raised a hand to shush him and strained my ears. She must have activated an ability like my chameleon cloak. Which meant she was invisible, but still here.
I heard a clatter from the stairwell and charged toward it, the speed of my bull horn ability carrying me much faster than she would be running. I sprinted up the staircase and burst out into the clearing in time to see her shimmer back into existence. She was halfway across the clearing. If I charged at her now I might be able to catch her before she disappeared into the trees. Or I might go running straight into a trap.
Footsteps slapped on the ground as Logan caught up.
“Where’d she go?” He asked as he reached the surface. She’d alr
eady disappeared into the trees.
“She got away.”
“We’ve got to chase her!” He exclaimed, looking at me like I was the insane one.
“Na man, let her go.”
“She attacked us!”
“She attacked him as well” I said, pointing to the dead guy on the ground. Logan gasped.
He approached the corpse, curiosity lighting up his face. I kept my eyes trained on the trees in case the crazy woman decided to return. Besides, the mans weapons were gone, and I’d seen her pilfer his pockets. Aside from how disrespectful it would feel, I didn’t even think there was anything to loot.
“Anyway, “ Logan began as he stepped away from the corpse with empty hands.
“I found something cool down there. Come check this out”
CHAPTER NINE
Logan led the way back down the stairs into the dungeon. I took a moment to close the door behind us before following, even though I was fairly certain that woman wouldn’t come back. I followed my friend through to the furthest room.
“I had a poke around while you were up there. Something about the dust didn’t sit right with me. And look what I found” he waved his torch over a bump in the wall. Only it wasn’t just an irregularity in the stone surface. He’d wiped the dust away and revealed a set of runes. They looked the same as the ones that had been carved into the wooden door upstairs.
“What is it?”
“According to Jira it’s a magical seal. But we don’t know what the runes mean. There’s another one over there - “ he pointed to the opposite side of the room where I could just see a dust-free patch of the wall at the edge of our torchlight.
Instead of going to the other seal, I inspected the last wall of the room. Logan hadn’t brushed any dust off it.
“Yeah, I had a look but couldn’t find anything along there. Kinda weird” he explained, as if to tell me I was wasting my time.
He was right. I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary about the wall that he’d left untouched. It was a weird architectural decision to make a T-junction, but nothing about this dungeon had seemed normal so far. We had to get behind those seals if we were going to find anything interesting.
“Do they feel hollow?” I asked.
He shook his head, and rapped a bony knuckle against the wall.
“There must be something around here. A lever maybe.”
“Nothing. It must require magic of some sort”
“So we’re stumped?”
“Yeah. Decent stopping point? It’s about dinner time, how about we take a break for an hour?”
“Yeah, alright then.”
Logan went still for a moment. He was looking at something only he could see, and I guessed that’s how I’d look while interacting with my interface. Like a raving madman. A look of confusion flickered across his face.
“Jira, log me out” he said, and his version of the pixie appeared next to him holding a scroll. It held the scroll out without a word.
“What the fuck is going on?” Logan asked, snatching the scroll from the sprite.
“What’s it say?” I stepped closer as he started to read.
Logan's jaw dropped open.
“Logan -” I started. Logan cut me off by thrusting the scroll toward me. Fingers of ice wrapped themselves around my heart as I read the short message.
You are now an inhabitant of Liorel. No players can log out until the three stones of Animasto have been reunited. Unless you have made prior arrangements with the priests of Animasto, you only have one life. Death in Liorel will result in death in the real world.
Please enjoy the game.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me” Logan cursed
“What the fuck. Jira, log me out” I commanded. My pixie appeared with an identical scroll in her hands. I snatched it away from her, almost swatting her out of the air. This couldn’t be real. This was impossible!
“This isn’t happening” I tried to reassure myself. Logan was staring at me with a look of disbelief plastered on his skull.
“They’re playing Sword Art Online with us?” I asked him. I knew full well that he didn’t have any more answers than I did, but asking stupid questions seemed like the only course of action right now.
“Jira, log me out” I tried again.
“Sorry boss. You read the scroll - you can’t log out until the stones of Animasto are reunited.”
“What the fuck!” Logan exclaimed.
It was illogical, unfeasible, impossible. You couldn’t be stuck in a game. Anime had been covering this situation for years, but everyone agreed that it couldn’t really be possible.
“Jira, I’m done fucking around. Log me out” I demanded. I couldn’t accept this. It was far to insane.
“As I’ve explained -” Her cheerful voice was enough to make me lash out at her, trying to swat her out of the air. She nimbly dodged my slap, coming to a halt a few feet out of my reach.
“If you attack me again, I will not return. Do you understand me?” She was suddenly serious. In the torchlight her eyes seemed to glow with fire as she glared daggers at me. I nodded numbly. As useless as she was being right now, she was my only lifeline.
“You are an inhabitant of Liorel until the stones of Animasto are reunited. Good day” Her cheerful voice had returned. She gave the tiniest of waves before popping out of view.
I looked at Logan for a long moment.
The argument between the murderous woman and her victim suddenly took on a whole new context. He’d been crying about how they were ‘stuck here’, had he known? I replayed the rest of their conversation in my mind. She’d been pissed because he’d tried to leave straight after - had he tried to log out as soon as he’d finished? - and she said she knew they were trapped. That could mean both of them had tried to log out, and they’d both got that stupid scroll. That meant that… holy shit, she had killed a person. A real living breathing person, from the real world, was dead because a crazy bitch had stabbed him in a video game!
“I - I think this is real.”
CHAPTER TEN
We sat in silence for a long time. What exactly could you say in a situation like this? We’d gone through disbelief and bargaining, and I couldn’t remember what the other stages of grief were meant to be. We were stuck in a god damned video game.
My mind was already trying to decompose our current problem, trying to build a list of tasks. The first step to solving any problem was to make it smaller. Surviving in a video game world was too big, it was the sort of problem I could barely wrap my head around, certainly too hard to start trying to solve. If we broke that down into smaller problems we’d have something we could tackle. Getting additional lives was the obvious first step. We could afford to make some mistakes if we could respawn. The second problem was shelter - the dungeon would do for now, so that was under control. Finally food. Everything else could wait, it would have to wait. I couldn’t deal with it all right now.
Then there were the stones, the only way of actually getting out of this hell. That should be at the top of my list, but I couldn’t focus on that now. Hopefully someone else would get to it before us.
“Reckon someone will manage it?” Logan asked, mirroring my thoughts.
“Definitely. I don’t know of any game that couldn’t be beaten.” I tried to sound sure of myself, but my voice wavered a little. Hopefully Logan was too caught up in his own concerns to notice it.
“What are we going to do?” He looked at me with the eyes of a small child lost in the crowd… If that small child also happened to have no face. And was dead. And the ‘crowd’ was a frighteningly empty silence.
Shit.
“We stay alive. The scroll said we could make arrangements with the priests of Animasto to get more lives, lets find them.”
“We’ve gotta get out of here man. Before the weekend ends. She can’t know this happened.” Logan smashed his words together, rapid-fire style. I didn’t need to ask who he was talking about
. He had a partner to get back to, and a child that needed a father.
I didn’t know what to say. How could you comfort someone in a situation like this?
“Really wish we hadn’t chosen undead” he muttered, and I fought to keep my frustration under control. We were in a shitty situation, made worse by the fact we were the most hated playable race in the game. I tried not to dwell on the fact that we’d only chosen the race because Logan had wanted to play as an undead. He was having things bad enough as it was, that last thing he needed was me blaming him.
“It’s done now. Jira seemed convinced we’d be fine as long as we kept ourself covered. We can do this.”
Somehow saying the words made me believe them. We wouldn’t achieve anything by sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves. We had to find these priests. If they could give us more lives, we would rack up as many as possible. Then we head down to the pub and wait for this all to blow over. Some power gamer somewhere would figure it out and gather the stones, all we had to do was wait it out.
“Do you think we should go into town?” Logan asked, and I could see an idea ticking over in his head.
“We need somewhere to start looking for the priests. Hell, they might be like churches in the real world. With any luck Whiteridge will have some.”
“We’re undead though. I don’t like the idea of sleeping in a tavern or something in a town full of people.”
“Shit, I hadn’t thought about sleeping.” I admitted. I pulled up my in-game character sheet. It appeared on a piece of parchment hovering in front of me. Judging by Logan’s lack of a reaction it must only be visible to me. Underneath my health and mana stats were two more scores - hunger and exhaustion. My exhaustion bar was greyed out, and my hunger was at a quarter.
“Check your character sheet” I instructed Logan.
He looked at me in confusion for a second, and then his eyes glazed over slightly. I guess that's what I looked like while I studied my own sheet.
“Hunger? Crap. Maybe we do need to go into town. What do you reckon the deal with exhaustion is?”