The forest swallowed the boy whole. One minute he was there and the next he was gone. There was nothing left of him but black dust rising in the air. They all knew what it meant: death.“You’re asking me to walk into this with both my eyes wide open,” Leo said.“It’s not so bad if you think about it,” Draven replied.“Not so bad? Someone just turned it into a puff of smoke!”“Maybe it was meant just for us?”Leo shook his head. “Nope. Maybe it was meant just for you and you wanted to drag me into this.”They heard a rustle behind them. Leo and Draven turned, only to see that the other guy was running. They let him go. It wasn’t like he was going to survive long anyway. He was alone, injured and without weapons. He’d be dead either by a monster or a human. Either way, he wasn’t going to survive long.Draven and Loe looked back at the forest. It was brimming with thunder, and not inviting. Draven wished there was another way to go through this, but the system had already declared that h
Nothing happened.Leo waited for a few more minutes, his eyes closed. Nothing happened! He opened his eyes with a smile on his face, and that smile automatically froze. They were in the forest, the forest that he specifically did not want to come to. He was pushed into this, and now he was going to die in a place he did not recognize; a place that other players couldn’t see. Draven released their hands and walked forward. There was a sizzling sound and when they turned back, they saw that the curtain of the world was pulling down over them. Lara was stunned. She hadn’t seen this before, until Draven pushed them all into it. Now it felt as if that curtain stretched to accommodate her and make her one of them. Now she could see what they were talking about and she immediately regretted taking that step.She could have easily said she didn’t see any portals or whatever this place was. One thing she was sure of was that it reeked of evil, and she never did well with evil. She couldn’t ev
“I know you guys are talking about me,” Lara said. “It’s alright, I didn’t hear a single word.”“It doesn’t matter what you hear," Leo said. “But you know what? Why don’t we talk about this now that the topic is up?”“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Draven said, his hands raised palms up in mid air. “Let’s not get into a heated 6 here, alright?”Leo scowled at him. He wanted to say so many things at once, but he also knew he needed to keep his chill. Truthfully, Draven was the patient one. He would never be as patient as she was concerning any matter. Or was he just patient when it came to Lara? Leo squared his shoulder at the thought that had just entered his mind. This was serious. Was he really hesitant because it was Lara? Did he… like her? Leo internally vomited from his organs. He belched and gagged just thinking about it. It’s not that Lara is unattractive—well, she was unattractive since she’s practically bald now— but this was also a game. Everything in here would be a game; what was the
Lara was not one to regret things, but she began to feel a deep sense of regret after the last revelation. She was not ready to die of thirst or hunger or who knows what else just because they had limited time. All she wanted to do was increase her level and get the wealth she was supposed to get. Any other thing was way out of what she bargained for and now it was happening right in front of her. Not even smart ass Leo saw this part coming. Now they were all stuck in the forest to finish up their business or get swallowed up.But not Lara though. She could leave right now and nothing would happen to her; nothing at all, except that she would not be armed and she could easily get killed. Lara cannot risk it; whatever they had to go through, she would finish it to a certain point until she got what she wanted.They started to walk further and further into the forest. Sometimes it got light, sometimes it was as dark as a gloomy devil. None of them said anything until Leo decided that he
Draven pointed to one side of the map. “Look at those three dots there? I think that’s us. We’re moving, and the rest of the place is moving with us.” Leo’s face was so white with horror that if they weren’t in a crucial position, it sure would have made Draven laugh. “What do you mean by that?” He asked. “It means we better hurry the fuck up because things keep changing in here,” Draven answered. They looked at each other for a moment and they swung into action. It was the most plausible thing to do at that very moment. They jumped into the hologram portal or a thing and ran. As they went through, the hologram stretched and allowed them to pass, revealing an even more dangerous world than the one they’d just been in. This one was more creepier, more alive. Draven felt goosebumps at the back of his arms rise to his neck and thighs. [congratulations, you have won your first round of wealth and a new level.] They all jumped at the intrusive sound. It was the hologram speaking, bu
Leo refused to stay like that for one minute longer. If Draven was resigned to his fate, then that was on him. As for him, he wasn’t and won’t be resigned to waiting for death. Not when he had just attained a new level and was about to get the second one. Leo finally understood what the game was about: life and death. He was in this silly evil forest, covered in goo and forced to live or be sniffed out. Imagine dying inside the game of another game. Nope, not on his watch. He took off for the second time. Draven didn’t have to follow him, he thought. He just had to stay back there and battle the monster and he would bring them both victory. Lara was oddly quiet; maybe she’d gone into hiding just as she always did. When he glanced back behind him, he saw that Draven was chasing after him but not Lara. “I can’t just wait back there for the thing to get me!” Draven called after him. Leo however, was not focused on Draven. It was Lara, and she was not running beside Draven. That was o
Draven and Leo leaned back, harsh breaths hissing from their mouths. Draven nearly started to laugh, but he held himself back. The audacity of Beanie… Lara… whatever her name was, to take what did not belong to her. He just recently got that sword, and he swore he was going to protect it and have it protect him. She can’t just come out of nowhere and take it from them!Okay, maybe not completely out of nowhere. This was entirely his fault, really. If he had listened more to Leo, then she would have been dead by now—either by starving or the so-called monster she was so on about. Was she even serious about the monster? Was it all a lie just to have them take care of her while she recovered? Leo was suspicious. He always was, but he especially did not like this girl. Draven could understand that his grievances stemmed from past experiences with Elena and their almost death, but still, he didn’t want it to define who he would help her with or not.Where would she have been? Would she go
Draven looked around, taking in his environment. It looked like they had entered an even worse situation. Leo stood above him. A deep glare set in his face. Draven rolled his eyes and stood up, steadying himself against the muddy wall. He then saw that they had fallen into a deep, muddy hole. It wasn’t too deep but it was deep enough that the monster couldn’t see them again. Now he understood how Leo was able to just vanish out of nowhere. The beast passed over the well, screeching in loud wails. Since he was directly under them, his wails nearly topped their ears off. Draven and Leo bent down and covered their ears, hoping the beast would pass over them. The beast walked around instead, sniffing the air viciously. He knew they were there, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint the exact area they were in. Draven signaled to Leo to keep quiet and the latter rolled his eyes, knowing that he didn’t need Draven to tell him when to keep quiet. Finally the beast gave up when he didn’t see them.