A clock appeared in the top corner of his screen, counting down from 24 hours in real time. His heart thudded in his chest as he started moving through the forest, his HUD glowing red, indicating enemies were near. "Just stay calm", Wesley muttered. "It's just an event driven quest." But this time the enemies weren't mindless AI-controlled mons. They were ruthless adapting to his tactics. He switched between stealth and combat mode, landing critical backstabs and counter-parries, but they just kept coming, their movements more erratic, as if the game's AI was learning faster than any other game he'd played. For the first time in years, he felt like he was outmatched. Finally after what felt like hours of endless fighting, he reached a clearing. In the center stood a towering black beast, Tador. It's body a mass of writhing shadows, its glowing eyes locked on a figure bound to a pillar of light. His mother. Wesley's breath caught in his throat. She looked exactly like his real mom.
"Alright, inventory check," Wesley muttered to himself as he pulled up his HUD, his health was low and he was running out of potions. He still had a handful of bombs and traps but they wouldn't be enough if he ran into another pack of enemies. With a sigh, Wesley closed the menu and leaned back against the wall, thinking. He had recently received a message from another player, someone named Zilor, claiming there was a way out. The message was cryptic, filled with strange coordinates and warnings. But Wesley had nothing to lose. He was desperate for any lead that could get him out of this nightmare. "Okay",he whispered, glancing at the waypoint marker that blinked on his mini map. "Just follow the path. Easy enough." He stood and began to move cautiously through the hallways of the castle, his boots tapping lightly on the stone floor. He kept his sword drawn and his eyes darted around every corner. The castle was quiet, too quiet.In games like this, that was a very bad sign. After
Wesley knew he didn't have much time left. He was thus determined to fight any mini-bosses that might be left lurking in the shadows. He had a strong resolve to ensure he made his family proud. Coming from a home where games were prioritized even by his father he was thus determined to ensure he kept to the mark. He would then tell his victory story of how he was able to make it out of a game that meant to lock him up forever.He had countless mini-bosses ahead of him to fight. So he was bent on being as prepared as possible. He had just confronted some of the strongest of them. That meant that those ones he was yet to confront might even be stronger than the ones he had fought and won. And they also weren't easy battles. He continued on his way. Making sure to keep to all guidelines and rules given. He was bent on being the winner. He was stopped in his way by a clawed hand. The hand was very muscular and he kept wondering how this hand located him and who exactly the hand belonged
"What ember? I don't have any ember that you may need." "Of course you do. It's right here." The mini-boss replied calmly, pointing softly to the fine, shining ember on Wesley's sword. "The ember on my sword! That of all things? Is what you want me to give to you?" We both know that's not possible. So soak it all in." Wesley said as he flashed his sword at the mini-boss who tried to strangle him."What are you trying to do? Get away? News flash! I lied! There's no way out in this game. There's no turning back. You're in, you are in and that's the final fate of all players. You'll be eaten by Shadow and that is the end of the story! The earlier you get used to and understand that, the better for you!" "And for you too." The mini-boss had told the truth. He never envisaged Wesley would be able to escape. He was now bent on making sure he'd kill Wesley, seeing that he had passed on very vital information to him."There's no way you're making it out of here alive. Seeing what you know,
'You are welcome to the bridge of Despair' a notification read on the screen as the AI voice read rhythmically. Wesley was filled with an awe he was so intrigued at and overwhelmed with. He thought so much that he was close to finding the exit portal for the game. Little did he know he was close but not yet as close as he thought. The grounds immediately began to shake and tumble. He was terrified. The ember was weak and he was yet to exit this level so there was no upgrading or gifting till he did. "What do we do?" Wesley asked, looking frantically at Thorn. "We might need to seek the help of the goddess. This seems like doom if we don't find a way out." "Ta-da? I'm here!" Lily said from behind Wesley's ears. "You scared me Lily! What did you do? The ground is suddenly steadied!" "I did what I had to do to help a dying hero!" Lily mocked. "You mustn't mock me! C'mon! That's what you Lightans do! Help people! Ain't it?" "Yeah, so is it a crime if we take some feather
Wesley mistakenly stepped on a trap. It pinned him to the ground, he groaned in pains. He looked around, wondering where everyone went. The funny thing about the game was that they all were separated but didn't really know that they were at different locations. "Strong! Lily! Zily! What's going on? Goddess White! I don't understand the game anymore!" He screamed. In that moment everything returned to normalcy. They were together again. "What happened?" Strong asked. "I can't really tell, but I think something went savage with the game. "What do you think went savage?" Strong inquired, "I don't know, maybe there was a glitch or something." "There's something going on. It has never happened before in the history of the game." "What is that?" Wesley asked, fiddling with his sword, scared. "Players are being displaced. Some of these players are lucky enough to be placed back to where they were displaced from, some are not. It's like taking a fish out of water and placing it on lan
"Wow! Incredible!" "You deserve it. Your courage amazes me, even as a Lightan. Kudos." Wesley walked through the bridge with Lily behind him. They walked for a long distance, the bridge was getting despairingly long. Now they understand why it was named the Bridge of Despair. Wesley was getting weak. "Wesley! Come on, don't do that! Let's keep going. Don't despair! That's what the bridge wants, for you to despair." "The ember! It can boost my strength, I'm sure." Wesley highlighted as he reached into his bag pack for the ember, it wasn't there. He searched frantically for the ember, it was gone. And Lily was gone too. "No way!" "Yes way! You're our prey now. There's no going back. You're ours to feast on. We didn't kill you. Just something you should know in advance before you die." "Die? Do you really know me?" "We don't, we don't care to. We just want to party!" A host of weird looking creatures creeped out in their numbers from under the bridge. They crept out from all direct
"I don't know Son, please save me, don't let them have me, I saw them kill a young lady, right in front of me. I think she was a player or a relative to one of the players who couldn't meet up to their request." "Mother, I'm sorry you have to go through this. Please try to stay as calm as possible, I've got this. I'm gonna get you out of here. What was the request the player failed to fulfill?" "I can't remember!" She answered, amidst sobs. "That's the weirdest part of it all, I can't even remember what it was, if I could everything would have been a lot easier, I guess." "How did we get in here?" "I would explain that later Mom, please just put yourself together. This is not the end of the world. Now here's what we are going to do. I think I've figured this out. The game wants you to cry, so don't. Laugh instead. That would create an imbalance and thus we can escape. Are your hands tied?" "Yes they are." "With a rope? Or?" "I don't know what they call the material with