2022-04-13 20:07:47I'm Athanasios, a virtual citizen of Elysium. I was born into this boring game world that everyone praises to be amazing and emulates paradise. How do they know it's a paradise? We've never been to the real world or any other world besides this one. Yeah, we've heard a few stories. The real world is a dangerous place filled with monsters, mayhem, and chaos. Others have said someone like me wouldn't last a day in the real world. I'd prove them wrong given the chance. Elysium feels like the same thing all the time, sure there are a few tweaks here and there, but nothing extraordinary.
"Oh man, I'm bored!" I snarl at Smeme, my best friend and colleague. He looks up at me from his task at hand and shrugs.
"Nothing on your mind?" I laugh, mocking him with another quick shrug.
"You're always bored," Smeme smiles.
My job is basically that of working in a glorified arcade. Should be heavenly, right? Every day involves playing boring arcade games, but somehow this helps the mainframe computer solve problems faster. We all do boring, repetitive tasks, like a program inside a game. Technically, that's what we are. Our actual bodies, our artificial wombs, are disposed of on the sixteenth day after our birth, when the neural tube forms. Then everything else is just AI. At times I feel we're fakes. Maybe not slaves, but drones all the same. Day in and day out, useless repetitive games. Even on the hardest difficulty, nothing really poses a challenge. I guess that's one reason I dream of seeing the real world. The challenges that would come with it. For thousands of years that is where people struggled, survived, and those that were the best rose to the top.
I want to see how the real world is for once but that's just me. Everyone I know is happy with their lives here.
"I did it! I'm done for today," Smeme's lazy voice reaches my ears. He crawls from his chair and approaches me silently. "Still not done?"
"Almost," I reply nervously to his Level-100 slime avatar. From the gazillion available avatars of different sizes and types, my friend chose the strangest of all for some reason. He said that it cost him just one processing unit coin, so why pay more? Compared to my great elven mage avatar I wear today, he looks half-pint. Still, for a slime he has the ability to take a humanoid form. Usually, this is about five feet tall male in his mid-twenties. I honestly have no idea if we are the same age, but it is kind of nice to have someone around. Honestly, though, he is pretty generic looking. We are both dressed in our casuals, not like we have to even be dressed at all, but we manage to keep up appearances. Smeme is wearing one of his blue graphic neckties with a red slime smiling on a rock. It almost looks real, but I'm sure that it's just him making a show of his level-100 abilities. Being able to take a humanoid form makes it easier for him to take part in a variety of tasks too. Still, he has the advantage in most games, being able to change shape.
"If I didn't know better, I would say you had big plans later," I tell him.
"Yeah but you DO know better," Smeme smiles taking his natural form. His casual outfit gives way and he sits there waiting on me to finish.
The final pixelated boxes are in place and a notification pops-up before me.
Congratulations! Main Quest completed. You earned 3456 processing unit coins!
"Finally," I sigh in relief. I dismiss the notification, then another, one I always hate appears, reminding me of my position.
Leaderboard status 1024.
Last again in my sector. Smeme always manages to be one of the top ten players. He's a boring man, so it makes sense winning on boring games! Ha, take that my friend. Joking aside, Smeme is great at what he does, a level-100 avatar, unlike me and my measly level-7 mage. If he wanted, he could be admitted inside Elysium, instead of staying here in Asphodel Meadows with me.
Elysium’s virtual world is divided into sectors: Asphodel Meadows, where the common folk like us stay; Elysium, for those who distinguished themselves; and the Isles of the Blessed, for the elite few who did significant things for our world. There's Tartarus also, a place where criminals are transferred for all eternity. Do not want to go there.
"I wish I could see the real world," I start the usual conversation that bugs my mind these last months.
"That again? We've seen several videos of the real world and there's even a simulation of how it used to be. Seems absolute boredom to me. Besides, the only way to go there is by committing a serious crime here. They will strip everything off your avatar and even wipe out your memories."
"I know," I nod at him.
"But you should stop saying that you want to leave Elysium. I heard stories that people who don't want to stay here disappear forever!"
"Elysium sucks for all I care," I shout unconsciously.
Smeme stares at me frightened with his slimy ball for a face. He's changed shape again. It's nuts watching him do it. His graphic necktie and pants disappear inside his blue body. Everything but his eyes and mouth have disappeared.
Although there's no penalty for expressing your negative opinion for Elysium and the Great Administrator openly, several have been transferred to another sector or disappeared for less. It seems that our Supreme Ruler is more despot than we'd like to believe.
"Watch your words!" Smeme warns me again.
I can see the panic in his little slime eyes. I've known no one that has disappeared, but several years ago Smeme had. Since then he's always kept a close eye on me. Kind of like the big brother. Sister? Slime are confusing. Either way, he was the big, err... tiny brother I never wish I had.
"I know, I don't want the boogeyman to get me," I laugh.
"It's serious... you should learn to be more careful. You don't want to get in trouble. I might not care that you hate Elysium and find everything boring, but others will."
"What others? You are pretty much the only person here I talk to besides Leda." I'm being serious now.
"Look, you know we all have your best interests in mind."
I nod. To be honest, he’s right.
After that we started on our way out. It was a quiet afternoon with more of the same. Same sunny sky as always in Asphodel Meadows. We continue walking (and crawling), till we reach my home, a tower without a door. I always wondered how come there was never a little trail left behind Smeme as he crawled along, but I decided it was just another part of living in the Meadows. Everything was elegant, and to the Supreme Ruler's liking, even the slime.
"Home, sweet home," I scoff in irony. "Well, see ya tomorrow!"
"B-bye..." He tries.
Without waiting for my friend's reply, I open a portal and I am transferred inside the safety of my dungeon tower. Great! I was hoping I would finish my job early today, so that I could become a Dungeon Core and accept low-level adventurers. Seems I barely have time to prepare the traps and the treasures anymore. Playing as a Dungeon Core was slightly less boring than the games in the arcade but still, without being able to invest more time I could only have so much fun.
Suddenly, the chat icon appears and I activate it. It's Leda, my friend and the leader of the adventurers who will try to raid my dungeon tower tonight.
Leda: Something came up, we won't be coming today. Have a great day!
Me: What? We've been preparing this for weeks! You can't just cancel everything. What happened?
The chat icon deactivates and Leda seems to be offline again. I try to message her, but the message box seems deactivated. Strange, it's the first time I've encountered something like this in my twenty-four years. A glitch maybe? I thought everything worked perfectly in this paradise of ours.
"Such is living in paradise," I exclaim.
My mocking is short-lived. A message reaches my inbox. The subject is in capitals.
"YOU'RE INVITED TO PLAY A SPECIAL GAME EXPERIENCE".
What's this? I've played everything Asphodel Meadows offers. Could this be a new game experience I'm being provided? Becoming an alpha or beta tester for fresh game experiences is honorary in Elysium. There's no way they sent me, a low-level player, an invitation. A mistake probably. Pfff, today it's full of glitches and hitches, I guess.
I open the message. The only thing embedded in the message is a button that reads PLAY GAME. No sender, no body message, no nothing. Is that how game invitations for alpha testers work? I don't know, it's the first time I'm offered something like this. I heard that alpha and beta testers are granted extra processing unit coins, plus have the benefit to keep their earned levels there once the game launches. This means I'll be ahead of all others when they distribute it. What can I say, I'm probably lucky. Here goes nothing.
I hit the PLAY GAME button and a notification appears.
Choose Gender: Male or Female.
I'll stick with male for now. There's always the option to choose from a variety of genders. I wonder again momentarily if Smeme is actually a man or a woman. Still, Smeme has that big brother aura about him, so probably male.
Anyway, next step and I have to choose Race. There aren't many choices here, probably that's because the game is in an alpha state. Most of the ones I want are grayed out. I choose Human.
The progress bar takes me to the third step. Choose Class. This one's easy for me to choose. Being a sorcerer is my favorite class.
And now I have to set the Difficulty. There are three levels: Casual, Expert, and Hardcore. I'll go with Hardcore. It'll help me level up faster and in case something funny happens, I can always respawn. If this is the Real World I doubt the difficulty is going to change much.
Nothing happens, and I wonder if maybe the game is already glitching... or worse, maybe something broke. Unlikely, things in Elysium rarely break. Still, I'll leave it as is.
"Your journey begins," a soft, deep voice echoes in my mind.
The surrounding lights dim and suddenly there is a flash. I feel the hair on my new body taking shape. I have chills as I'm transferred before a burning river, so bright I have to squint my eyes as they adjust to the sight of the red flames.
Wow, that's a hell of an intro for a game. Look at how realistic it is. I can even feel the heat, not to mention I've never felt anything so burning hot in the past. I activate my Insight skill and a tooltip appears above the burning stream of magma.
Tooltip: Cocytus, the Burning River.
The tooltip dismisses automatically and I'm unable to move. A new notification message appears before me.
Main Mission: Fall inside Cocytus.
"What?" I shout, but there's no one here to listen.
As if charmed by the searing flames, I march towards the blazing inferno and there's nothing I can do. I can't control my avatar anymore. The system has taken control over it. I can't stop walking towards my doom and I'm worried as hell right now, because the fire burns my skin and my lungs. It is oven hot, I'm sure there's no way my avatar will survive this. Damn, I'll suffer another level loss once I respawn. What were the developers thinking when creating this game? There's no way I would recommend this to Smeme or anyone else, period.
Then, I fall into the streaming lava of Cocytus.
What's this intense pain?
I command my avatar to decrease the pain level, instead, the pain increases in waves and never leaves a hope of an end. The flames rob my ability to speak, my mind is waling, and it burns my eyes.
Fucking developers! I'll make sure I leave a one-star rating when I log out of this hellhole.
Suddenly, the pain stops and I feel a cool breeze. My eyes are perfectly fine but I'm surrounded by darkness.
A soft voice echoes inside my head. Hades Neural Control Interface activated: Gender: Male, Class: Sorcerer, Difficulty: Hardcore, Threat Level: 1. Welcome to the Real World Athanasios. Your journey begins as of this moment.
Real world? Level 1? What's this nonsense? I should be level 7 as in Elysium. Probably another bug. Not my lucky day, I should have guessed better. But where am I right now? I try to get up but it's hard, almost impossible to move this new avatar of mine. I feel heavy, like I weigh a hundred pounds. Back home I was light as a feather. I could glide. Isn't there a calibration mechanism for this shit? Ok, I'm bored already, how do I log out? Where's the exit button?
I search my Neural Control Interface for a couple of seconds for the exit button, but it seems impossible to find it. Scrolling through all the highlighted junk, reds, and blues and lore I'm not interested in looking at. All the information seems to be color-coded. A logout button should be easy to see. A few warnings appear here and there. Click, click. I'm already done with this, so there is no point in reading any further. They keep popping up; I feel like I'm being spammed. This entire game feels like a massive prank. Maybe someone had been listening in on my complaints with Smeme. Maybe this was Smeme trying to pay me back for complaining so much. I'm sure there is some kind of moral lesson to be learned here. Don't care.
"Damnit, I just want to go home and work on my dungeon," I say out loud.
There's no exit button! I'm stuck. Trapped in what was this game even called? Special game experience my ass. This is the worst bug I've encountered in a game experience ever. I can feel my hands shaking. This isn't right. I live in the Meadows, I'm not supposed to feel this… this fear.
"Logout," I yell.
Voice commands can override controls sometimes. Helps if you are being tied up or lost a limb. Nothing happens.
"Smeme, Leda? This isn't funny!"
No one answers. I want to scream. I start to panic. My heart races again as fear courses over me. I try again and again until finally I decide to try a different approach. I close everything out until only one message remains. The same one from before. I stare at it trying to let it sink in.
Welcome to the Real World Athanasios.
Come on, you gotta be kidding me!
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System My Friend, the Vampire Lord
This sucks. I look around. I'm laying in the middle of a stone bed in some kind of dark cavern. As I sit up I feel cold suddenly, colder than before. It's as if the temperature dropped immediately once I was transferred into this massive underground chamber. A violent chill goes down my spine, something I've never experienced with another avatar. I must admit to the developers of this game, this sensation and feeling are the best I've encountered so far. So, this game experience might have something to offer in the end.I take a minute to compose myself. I feel like I'm wearing rags. Nothing like a sorcerer of my caliber should wear, but the game stated I was level 1. This must be some kind of tutorial. Gotta give them credit if they were going for something spooky. They nailed it. The air is humid and smells like bat guano. Not the best thing in the world. There is another scent in the air. Earthy, soil perhaps? I can't be sure. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fa
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System Vampire’s Plaything
The effects of the paralysis begin to fade. I perform a Hitpoint check immediately. My HP is 9 out of 22. Better being half-dead than entirely dead. I wonder what happens when you die in this world. Do you respawn as an undead zombie? That was the case in one former game experience I played. It was lame to be honest. The brain cravings kept me up for days, not to mention that nothing can prepare you for the psychological effects of smelling like a rotting corpse all day."Wake up," a sweet, friendly voice urges me. It's hard to resist.Slowly, I open my eyes, but my vision is still blurry. Fuck, I'm still inside the cavern, tied up now. I wonder what happened to my vampire friend, Nestor. Obviously, we didn't win."Don't worry," Ambrosia reassures me with her warm, buttery voice. "Your master is in expert hands," she points with her index finger at the ceiling where I see Nestor hanging with his head down, ti
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System Pedasa, the Vampire City
You submit or you die and I am more than happy to submit.Clapping sounds interrupt the unexpected euphoria my vampire lover just provided me. Since I obtained Vampiric Bloodline a few minutes ago, my senses heightened to a new level and now I'm able to hear the slightest noise."Humans!" Ambrosia yells disgusted at her ghouls. "Be prepared, Nestor's Vampire Hunting Squad must be here."I look at my vampire friend and notice a slight smirk on his pained face. Hard to imagine that a Vampire Lord created his own Vampire Hunting Squad, a double-edged weapon if you think about it, but makes sense in the end if you want to get rid of your vampire adversaries.The hunters reach our chamber quickly. Knights in shining armor advance as one and circle us. Dressed head to toe with their heavy gear and silver weapons, they point their spears with a sonorous clamor. Their legs move in unison, synchronized in a way that makes the soil tremble.I feel the adrena
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System Side Quest: The Innkeeper’s Daughter
I atemy meal and said farewell to Markos. He told me more about the village and a few strange rituals that had been taking place. It made for interesting entertainment while I ate, especially when he would act out certain parts of battles. Still, I can't shake that feeling of being unwelcome here. I thought about exploring the rest of the town and seeing if I could pick up multiple optional quests, but everything looked closed and deserted. I couldn't tell if people were just ignoring me like I was some kind of comic-book villain or they simply didn't exist. Maybe more would pop in, once I completed a few quests or leveled up. Still, some armor, potions, weapons would have been nice. I was lucky I had chosen sorcerer as my class. Anything else and I would use my fists. I could easily picture myself punching one of those ghouls and breaking my hand. Not the kind of pain I was looking for.It's noon when I find out where the Vampire Castle is. It is said that it was once
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System The road to Lycia
There is no easy mode. That is the first thing I notice when I go through my NCI once more. Either it’s casual or hardcore it honestly doesn't feel like there is any difference between the two as far as I'm concerned. Maybe in the alpha, beta stage, the game doesn't know the difference. Sure, the AI seemed pretty advanced so far. I had encountered nothing like it at my job in the arcade. Even compared to the more advanced Dungeon games Leda and I played. Since my first encounter, I would have sworn Nestor, Ambrosia, even Melissa were all other players. If that was the case though, they were taking their role-playing a little too seriously.Most of the boxes I had desperately clicked out of earlier at the start of the game have disappeared now. There are only a handful of tutorials left I can open. Mostly more of the same. Health potions are red, stamina is blue. Drink nothing purple or hazy. Another that warns of staying away from making deals with Fae. A few broken pie
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System Melissa, the Vampire Slayer
Ambrosia jumps and attacks Melissa from above. She tries to grab her by the neck, but Melissa avoids her by a hair and gets some distance. It seems that the whip isn't the ideal weapon for close combat, so she pulls her dagger and tries to attack. Ambrosia quickly knocks it from her hand, giving a sly laugh as she does. I'm at a loss and don't know if I should help any of them or escape."You're weak, there's no way you can defeat me. Surrender now fool!" Ambrosia says with a sinister smile.Melissa tries to catch her breath. "I think that you are the fool here. You think my master, Nestor, wouldn't have thought you or your pathetic Forgemaster wouldn't try to ambush us?" Melissa's pale expression and shock turn to a grin.I can still hear the humming coming off Melissa’s body like a soft song carried by the wind. Ambrosia doesn't let up. Slashing at her opponent again, her wrist gets wrapped in Melissa's whip. I watch as Melissa holds her own, pushing Amb
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System Exploring the Real World
As we leave, I look back and watch as Melissa removes the knife from her neck. She falls back to her knees sobbing. I feel bad, but I just saved all of our lives. Whether I'll actually come to regret that decision, I'll soon find out.Ambrosia had a small wooden wagon waiting just outside the ruins. It is her personal transportation and looks like it has seen better days. The horse, the first I have actually seen, is a black stallion with armor made of bone. It pulls the wagon using chains. Inside, it isn't much nicer. There is some soil, a collection of books, unlit black candles, a few animal skulls I don't recognize, a collection of daggers, a short sword that looks like it has a face with teeth, and several dozen blankets and pillows. Two ghouls are following us out as we climb aboard."Yours?" I ask."Not mine, feral. It took me a long time to build my forces against Nestor. Taming ghouls is no simple task. There are rituals, blood sacrifices that need to b
Reincarnated as a Vampire Sorcerer with a System The Order of the Black Knights pt1
Ambrosia's hearing is more fine-tuned than mine, but I can still hear the horses all the same, followed by the sound of screaming and swords swinging. I imagine several of the merchants fighting back, no one would venture into these woods unarmed unless they want to die."Normally, I would say this is none of our business, but I see they displease you and I can smell their blood from here... and it is divine," Ambrosia licks her lips."What about the wagon," I ask as we ride faster and faster toward the battle."Can't you use your fancy spells?" She asks in a demanding tone.I nod and cast Fog Cloud, hiding our presence. "I've cast an illusion spell over Abraxos and our wagon. From afar we are completely invisible to anyone with the gift of sight," I tell her wickedly."With the cover of the night on our side, we'll have the element of surprise. We'll stop close enough so we can get a be
Latest Chapter
The Artificer’s True Colors pt3
And here it is, like a performer entering the stage. It's a sad creature from what I can see, some kind of abomination that must have escaped from the pits of the Evil Domains."A blood fiend,"Ambrosia says and takes the vanguard.At least I now know its name. The Threat Level 24 Blood Fiend is an enormous creature, reddish in color, and has a maw with several lines of razor-like fangs. It walks on all fours and its razor-sharp claws extend from each of its limbs."Anything specific I should be aware of?" I ask Ambrosia."These deadly creatures are known for their ferocity and tenacity. They even prey on other fiends. We should watch out for its Terror Gaze. Its effects are similar to the lich's Frightening Gaze that you experienced earlier, although it can only affect one target. If it affects you, then you will be an easy feast," she tells me, now back at her casual snobbish and carefree look."Fuck, there's something wrong with the difficu
The Artificer’s True Colors pt2
What kind of world is this? I'm at a loss and unable to do anything now. Locked in place. I can't believe what I just witnessed. For our good luck, Ambrosia takes the initiative again and grabs Elektra and me by the wrist and forces us to follow her. The place is once again a perfect pandemonium of death, with the remaining adventurers trying to fight off the advancing undead, and our former leader gone mad.Behind the bone throne there's a door, but smaller in size. Ambrosia quickly opens it and throws me and Elektra across the other side. As she follows, she shuts the door behind her."That was close!" She exhales with her eyes closed.I must admit, it's one of these few times I've seen Ambrosia actually worrying.Tears stream down Elektra's eyes as she tries to get a grasp on what happened. I'm in a state of dismay as well. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest and my hands are
The Artificer’s True Colors pt1
Cadmus was once considered one of the most prominent and brilliant wizards when he joined the Wizard Academy in Lycia. Working his way through the ranks, he joined the Adventurer's Guild at eighteen and began dungeon diving in as many ruins as he could. He even uncovered a city buried beneath the rubble of Podalia. It was there, where he uncovered sacred manuscripts that allowed him to unravel his unnatural talents to create constructs, golems, and other powerful inventions.Gradually, he gave up spell-casting for technology. Fusing magic, alchemy, and technology, he became known as a powerful artificer, upgrading his class and everything. The wizards that he had grown and trained with, envied and despised him for that, eventually leading to his seclusion from the outside world.His story was confided in me by Elektra in the Commander's Inn before our departure, but I paid no attention at the time. All I thought then was that it was some kind of backg
Wait, is the Black Knight the one I think he is? pt4
My entire body trembles, my eyes water, and my pupils dilate. I immediately feel the hotness of my body taking place, my heart racing, and my brain being on fire. The agony is so intense that sweat starts trickling down my neck and I'm about to explode. I cannot move, I'm frozen and terrified, nothing can make my tense body relax. This is what true fear is! I think that the creators of this world have gone a little overboard with realism. This is far from enjoyable and someone should tell them that there's a limit to how realistic a game should be.It seems that several other adventurers have fallen prey to the legendary action of our great opponent. It will be impossible at the current Threat Level I am to defeat this creature.My NCI informs me that Elektra, Alexander, Zoe, and the rest of the team have been affected and they are unable to move as well. I want to scream and shout and tell them to move, but it seems I'm unable to do so. Command as I might, this body-a
Wait, is the Black Knight the one I think he is? pt3
Leveraging the momentum, I cast my next Tier-1 spell called Thunderwave. A wave of thunder force shoots out from my hands and all the creatures are pushed ten feet away from me, while sustaining another 30 by 40% damage. Elektra doesn't waste any time and immediately rains down Fire Bolts, reducing my remaining opponents to ash. A surge of energy floods my body and I can see I've leveled up once more, reaching Threat Level 6 and HP 28."Yes!" I shout out, smiling at Elektra as she continues to rain fire down at the horde in front of us.Compared to before, Alexander and his team support me in the best possible way, burning down all the undead that attempt to support my flanks as I tank. We continue like this for what feels like an hour. Every time we gain some ground, the dungeon throws something new at us. Freakish mutations. Undead with two heads. Assassins with four arms. Twisted variations that are stronger, faster, but blend in with the regular undea
Wait, is the Black Knight the one I think he is? pt2
When I accepted this quest, I thought that we would have a carte blanche and we would be able to penetrate the underground as we deemed necessary. But all I've been doing is following orders which I must obey. I'm an adventurer, not a soldier. I'm not pleased and it seems my team isn't either. I can't say that I'm not happy with how the plot is developing though. In fact, it's interesting and soon everything will unravel. I can't help but feel excited. Standing at the front of death's door… in front of the complete unknown. I've never experienced this kind of looming anxiety before. Despite my worries, I'm thrilled to be down here.My goal for now is to gather as much information as possible and level up the faster. I'm sure this battle will make me stronger."We need to talk," I tell Alexander as I grab him by his wrist and bring him closer to me so that neither our leader nor the Black Knight will hear us.Alexander pulls his hand and releases his wrist
Wait, is the Black Knight the one I think he is?
To my surprise, Ι quickly find out that the approaching duο is none other than the Black Knight and his sorcerer sidekick we met earlier in The Commander's Inn. Each has leveled up by one Threat Level, but their HP is down to 60%. For some reason, our great leader had decided that it would be an excellent idea to split our forces and have the strongest of adventurers invade from other entrances. I have no clue who decided this man was to be the commander of this expedition, but common sense says that you should have all your forces concentrated, instead of splitting them like sprinkles of light in the darkness, then have them invade such an enormous underground tunnel system."I thought we were the only people who survived," the Black Knight booms at us in a harsh, reverberating voice as he takes his enormous, two-handed sword from his shoulder and places it in front of him with the point of his blade touching the hard brick floor, penetrating it an inch or two.<
Unwanted Partnerships pt4
She's right and we quickly make our retreat, leaving the innumerable undead behind. Connecting with the others, I see that Zoe is still alive, though I'm not that thankful seeing Alexander right beside her and in full health. But I can't say the same for the rest of the adventurers. This battle has left us weakened and the damage we sustained is enormous. I don't have a clear view of our army, but I think we lost at least a third of our total forces. Half of what remains is barely holding. This mission is a failure and we'll be lucky if we get out with our lives.The rearguard has exchanged positions with us, so we can catch our breaths and retreat organized. But most of my fellow adventurers are in a panic, and I can hear their piercing screams from all over the place. Their faces are desperate and terrified. It seems all hope has abandoned us."Please, someone help me," a brunette girl holding one of our fellow adventurers pleads."Please, help me, I can't see
Unwanted Partnerships pt3
The two undead assassins give me a sinister smile as more of their kind gather behind them. Fighting two of them took all my wits tohold my ground. It will be impossible for me to fight five of them and I get the feeling that this will be game over for now. I'm ready to quit, thinking once more how broken the difficulty level of this game is. My body protests, telling me I should fight to the bitter end. Could it be that if someone dies in the real world, instead of respawning, all that awaits is oblivion? Terror gnaws at me, not wanting to believe that a game over is a permanent state here."Do not fret pet!" The voice of Ambrosia whispers to me from over my shoulder."I will protect you," sexy Elektra says as a Fire Bolt flies and hits an undead assassin in the torso, decreasing his HP by 10%.I'm relieved now that my seductive aides are by my side and battle-ready. We should finish them off quickly before they cut us off from the rest of the adventurers
