Jason kept looking back as he ran, he couldn't grasp the fact that Gabbie was gone. Tears whelmed up his eyes, blurring his vision. He wiped his eyes constantly, he still couldn't afford to be trampled.
It was no longer as exciting, was she really gone? Derrick thought. Too bad, she'll just have to wait for them to finish playing the game. But it won't be as fun though, since they all planned on playing it together. The stampede was getting closer and closer, and they could not keep up, they were losing speed gradually. If only they could just stop the stampede. Derrick's system suddenly appeared before him, "the hell!? Why now!?"He didn't use the keyword, why did it appear all of a sudden? A daily quest popped up [Use player skill_2coins] Seeing this, Eiden shouted, "Don't!" and Derrick ignored him. They couldn't guarantee what and how powerful his ability was. Spacetime manipulation was a rare skill, if misused, things might end in peril. "Close system," said Derrick. The system disappeared and appeared again. He became enraged, it was blocking his view of the path he was running on. "Close system!" he said again, his voice entwined with annoyance. It disappeared and appeared again. He grunted loudly. "Watch out!" Jason warned Derrick about stepping on one of the crystal thingys. Spontaneously, Derrick leaped over it, but he landed on another one by mistake, and just like Gabbie, he warped with a blue hue surrounding him. He disappeared, leaving behind Eiden and Jason. Jason cursed; now Derrick, too? It's just a game but he didn't want either of them to leave like that. It's just him and Eiden now. Without Gabbie's high-spirited and confident aura and Derrick's jackass behavior, it won't be as fun as they anticipated. Panting, Jason asked, "What are we going to do now?" "I don't know, I don't see a way out of this," Eiden replied in one breath; the running was seriously getting to him. "What about my lightning summon?" Jason suggested "Can you use it?" Eiden asked He shook his head, he only suggested. It wasn't an option for them. The system indicated no limit to his ability, but it was a lightning summon, and lightning usually happens during heavy storms and rainfall. It's not certain whether he'd be able to use it here and now. After a lengthy pause, Eiden spoke "We'll have to let the crystal touch us" "Wouldn't we be logged out and lose?" Asked Jason "Which is better?" Eiden returned the question. Which was better? Getting trampled by weird-looking creatures or warping in serenity? "To think we worked so hard for it to end like this" Jason lamented. If the glitch hadn't happened at the beginning then he would have used spells or potions or something to teleport to safety. With the decision made, they were ready to leave the game. Then, all of a sudden, they noticed the scarcity of the falling crystals, and soon, none fell at all. "They stopped!" Eiden panicked "Shit! What now?" Jason cursed; they could already feel the heaviness of the beasts and the dust wind it carried. Soon, they would be lost among feet. Fortunately, the strange crystals began to fall again. Relieved, Jason didn't even battle an eyelid, he reached out desperately and grabbed one that fell before him while Eiden stepped on the crystal. They disappeared just before the stampede had its course. ….. In the next instant, Eiden opened his eyes. The experience wasn't at all as rough as he thought it'd be. He opened his eyes fully. His face turned serious at the sight of an adult man standing near Derrick and Gabbie. Eiden stood up, his demeanor was calm but he stared at the man suspiciously. In contrast, Jason was enraged: "What did you do to her!?" He roared, why was Gabbie lying unconscious and Derrick kneeling next to her? Eiden wanted to know as well. The man, unbothered about Jason's anger, responded in a calm tone, "I have done nothing to your friend, her body cohesion could not keep up with the vitality of teleportation". The way he spoke, acknowledging his eloquent utterance was simply inevitable. He stood tall, wearing ancient-like clothing, and his hair, decorated with archaic ornaments, was smooth and cascaded down his shoulder and back. The glasses he wore proved he might be a professor. Dissatisfied with his answer, Jason carried on ranting, "Teleportation? What are you talking about? How did we get here?" He asked The man sighed, untold ennui lingered. "I can manipulate mana crystals, and this…" A little light show brightened at the surface of his palm; white and blue tints merged and formed a crystal similar to the ones Eiden and his friends encountered. He showed them, "This is a teleportation crystal; I was able to bring you here using this," and then it disappeared in an instant. So the crystal didn't harm them. Instead, it brought them here.......to safety? "Are you a player?" Eiden finally aired his troubling thoughts. He canceled his mind on him being a nonplaying character; his dialogue just now with Jason felt repulsive rather than a default. Plus, if he was a player, why did he save them? The man's brows furrowed at Eiden's question, "A player? Do you not know who I am?" He asked. They all kept silent. The man neither said no nor yes; he expected them to know who he was; why? They were beginners who just logged in for the first time, perhaps he was an old player who is widely known…this was an inkling on Eiden's side. "Why did you save us?" Eiden changed the question. Don't players get bonus points for eliminating other players? The man observed him, his blue eyes sparkled in bewilderment. "Did you just ask me why I saved you and your friends? If it wasn't for me, you all would have been flattened by the Hexamyths" "Hex…amyths?" Eiden repeated his words. *********************** Mind you, many of the author's wordings are strictly fictional. Non-dictionary words will be encountered on different occasions. -Hexamyth- a large six-legged creature, 14 feet long, almost 9 feet tall, with dark coarse skin, and weighing about 4,000lb. Heavily clawed feet possessing the head of a Mammoth with the trunk absent and gnarled horns sticking out of its head. -they don't normally stampede- ***********************The man folded his arms, "the rummaging beasts that chased you and your friends" he responded before mumbling "I don't expect commoners to be fond of the name"Hexamyths….Eiden repeated the word inwardly, the game didn't indicate such a creature. People in their school who could afford the game spoke endlessly of it, but never did they mention the presence of a 'Hexamyth'; it was mainly trolls, dragons, humanoid beasts, and other common creatures, but a Hexamyth? Never.."Speaking of, what were you all doing there? The laws given to us are for our protection, they are not to be toyed with. Youths of now are very daring; if you feel the need to gamble with your life, you're free to visit again," he warned.Something was wrong somewhere and it bothered Eiden. What laws did he speak of?"And the beasts? "The man's attention was drawn from Eiden to the hotheaded boy, he seemed calm now.Jason continued, "Those crystals of yours fell
The traders sure were optimistic, calling on passers-by to check on their goods. "Woah!" Derrick exclaimed. His stomach grumbled to a fault, indicating he needed something to eat and fast. The place was filled with different varieties, jewels, food, veggies, name it, but all except actual game stuff.Eiden stopped in his tracks upon seeing a poster with a familiar face. It was painted and attached to a wooden platform. The man on it resembled the one who had saved them earlier.Although there were slight changes. In the painting, he had shiny armor and wielded a sword and shield. It was very well-detailed, almost like it was taken as a picture and not a painting.Eiden sighed out, pondering. He thought of retracing his steps from the very beginning.First, right when he was about to enter the game, the status screen changed its color, and he went through a painful teleportation into the game, something no one who had played the game ever spoke of.Next were the sudden changes in thei
Gabbie let her anger dissipate and averted her eyes to Jason "Don't apologize In his stead, to me he's still the one at fault" she pouted and mumbled under her breath "douche bag" Eiden recollected Jason's words, 'People might still be after us'. Eiden had thought of a way to prove that they were still in the game but he couldn't bring himself to decide. Whenever a person, be it a player or an NPC, dies in a game, their bodies disappear, leaving behind colored fragments. If he were to stab a person to death now, will they disappear as such or will they bleed to death? He wanted to share his thoughts with the others but wasn't it too ridiculous? "Eiden!" Gabbie called for the fourth time. His mind snapped back to reality, he looked at them, their faces filled with worry. "What's the matter?" Jason asked "Yeah, you've been seeming lost lately," Derrick added; the same thing happened minutes ago at the market. Running his hand through his hair, Eiden sighed. "It's just...I don't…
"I don't know how I did it; I only thought of my system, and it just appeared. Maybe we're able to summon it voluntarily through our will instead of speaking". What he said made quite the sense. "Let me try," said Derrick. They watched him. He closed his eyes and centered his mind on calling forth his system. Afterward, he opened his eyes to peek, "Did it work?" He asked and opened his eyes fully. To his satisfaction, it did. Which meant Jason was right. "Wait, Derrick, you have a quest," said Gabbie, her eyes searching all over the status screen. "Oh, this?" He let out a dry chuckle. "It popped up as soon as that Crystal thingy took you," he explained, though it sounded shabby. Her brows creased. "Why didn't you perform the quest?" She asked "My limitation, remember?" Derrick recalled, She sighed and leaned back on the wall. She was still quite lost, and the fact that they escaped the stampede didn't make much sense, but she trusted them. Back to Jason, "Is there a logout i
They spread out to different parts of the broken temple and minutes later, met back at the front yard."Couldn't find anything" Gabbie reported"Me neither," said Eiden, and the same with Jason and Derrick. The place was a total mess, debris here and there, almost like a nuclear energy was released there."What's going on here?" Someone spoke.The gang turned to face the voice, and a hint of familiarity and annoyance flashed in Derrick's eyes. "You guys again?" He sneered.The ones who bumped into him and blamed him. There were four then but now they're missing a member."You must have not learned your lesson before; this place belongs to us; it's our territory, and I'll forgive you if you apologize and leave," said the guy who stood at the front."That's a whole load of crap—" Derrick moved forward but Eiden blocked his path. Derrick must have forgotten, these weren't NPCs but actual people. People who threatened to have them hanged."We're not here to cause trouble, we'll leave calm
What are you planning to do?" Jason asked with furrowed brows.Gabbie gave him a sideways glance, her eyes gleaming with a hint of mischief. "You know exactly what I'm planning to do," she said, a sly smile spreading across her face.Jason's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "You can't be serious! You're going to use your special skill, aren't you?"She smirked. Her system wanted her to bruise three people….almost like it knew their current situation. She just happened to have a skill, one where she could take control of people's minds and turn them into her puppets…how convenient."You know it. I'm going to teach these knuckleheads some lessons."Eiden's eyes narrowed. "Gabbie, that's not a good idea. You haven't even mastered it yet, how are you sure it'll work?."Gabbie was undeterred. She had a score to settle with these guys for embarrassing Eiden, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it."You can't!" Jason objected, "w..what about your limitation?"Gabbie's eyes t
With one thought, her system disappeared. She faced the three and pouted, "Alright, alright, I'll let them off this time easily."She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled slowly. A fist hung right above Zhiheng's face, they stopped fighting and the glow in their eyes vanished. Disoriented and in excruciating pain, they tried to recollect themselves. They couldn't remember anything right after Gabbie took a position in front.She couldn't have done this, they reassured themselves; she was just a woman, after all. Women had no right to stand before men, more or less beat up three.They stared at her with fright. The mischievous look that lingered in her eyes spoke of her evil nature and cruelty. They were fine minutes ago, how did they end up in bruises?Without being told, they ran away frightened.Gabbie waved them off while grinning, "Bye-bye, little piggies." She had fun, yes but she never forgot her skill limit."This might not end well" Eiden sighed."Derrick", Gabbie
"Um…who are you?" Gabbie asked.The girl stood gracefully, adorned in traditional Chinese maiden attire that betoned her delicate features. Her long brown hair was braided and swept to one side, revealing a porcelain complexion and striking crimson-red eyes that showed excitement.Her slender figure and calm demeanor evoked a sense of vulnerability, yet, those eyes carried a hint of wisdom and hidden potential.She bowed slightly, "Pardon me, my name is Kora, Kora DoHyun".Gabbie exchanged glances with the other before looking at DoHyun. "Nice name," she said. "What do you mean by 'I'm just like you', I don't get it"DoHyun smiled widely. "You and I, we are products of the goddess's compassion. Just as the goddess gave me the power to control fire at will, she gave you the power of mind control. You and I are the same, do you get it?" "Uh-huh…" Gabbie nodded while squinting, she understood nothing."What do you mean by that?" Jason asked, Gabbie's mind manipulation was a special play