"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 player skill…..what goddess now? "If you come with me, I'll explain everything. I have ancient books written by our ancestors, they'll guide us on how to use our gifts to the fullest" she offered "What!? She's not going with you?" Jason objected "That's my choice to make, Jason," Gabbie hissed; what's up with him all of a sudden? "Will there be food?" Derrick asked They all looked at him and yelled simultaneously, "DERRICK!" "I'm starving, common!" He yelled back at them. DoHyun giggled and assured with a nod, "There will be plenty." Eiden narrowed his eyes. "Group huddle!" he called out, and they huddled together, with their heads down and hands on each other's shoulders. "Do we go with her?" Eiden started "yes, she said there's food" Derrick responded Jason snapped. "It's not about the food, Derrick, she might be dangerous!" Gabbie scoffed "I doubt that. She looks really small like a delicate flower, I don't think she's dangerous" Derrick threw a look at Gabbie, sneering, "I bet you looked even more delicate in front of that ass, Zhiheng, and guess what? You still beat him up" Eiden nodded "Derrick's right, she said earlier she didn't mean to hurt anyone, she might be lying" "We shouldn't trust her" Jason added "But the food, though," Derrick whined, his stomach twisted in hunger….all their stomachs did, but they couldn't trust DoHyun; she was a stranger. "Yeah, I'm quite hungry" Eiden sighed in defeat. "Say, did anyone notice it smells a lot like flowers now?" "Yeah, but it's faint" replied Derrick "I don't smell a thing" Gabbie shrugged, and neither did Jason. "Back to the topic, Kora seems nice," said Jason "Yeah, her name sounds unique." Gabbie peeked out of the huddle and looked at DoHyun; she was just standing there waiting. "I think we should follow her" Derrick suggested Jason snorted. "You shouldn't be talking, Derrick; right now, you're thinking with your belly." he rolled his eyes. "I say we go with her," said Gabbie, "if she tries anything, I can just use my special skill" Eiden bit his lower lip, contemplating. DoHyun was suspicious, and following a stranger is dangerous, yes, but did they have a choice? They were in a strange land they knew nothing about, and they needed food and direction. Sighing in frustration, Eiden said "Well, if we should go with her, say aye" "Aye" "Aye" "I am not a part of this," Jason fumed. Another sigh escaped Eiden's lips, "Aye. It's settled then, three against one". Jason shook his head. They broke apart. "Alright," said Gabbie, her hands akimbo. "I'm Gabbie, and these dorks are Derrick, Jason, and Eiden." They waved at her. Eiden frowned slightly, he could swear she was intentionally avoiding eye contact with him. "What were you doing here originally?" He asked She looked to the ground below them while muffling an answer. "I come to the old temple to train every now and then," she replied. There was an odd silence between them. "Great!" Derrick clapped his hand, "Now that we've introduced ourselves, flame princess can you take us to the food now?" He asked She nodded with a small smile, "Follow me" Carefully and cautiously, they followed behind her, skipping and jumping rubbles. Eiden noticed that the flower scent grew stronger now that they were close to DoHyun. Which led to the conclusion that she was the one who smelled like flowers. It was a peculiar scent, familiar, yet he couldn't place his finger on it. "The ancient people sure knew how to make women dress so much," Derick whispered, "I can barely see anything from here." he was referring to DoHyun's backside while she was walking in front. Eiden chuckled, "Tell me about it, back at home, I can't walk two blocks from my house without seeing five girls on tight leggings and crop tops" "It's no wonder men of our generation have no control" Jason shook his head Derrick tilted his head, "It's still a good sight," he smirked. DoHyun could hardly hear what they were saying behind, but still, it made her a whole lot more conscious. Gabbie's lips twitched at the guy's choice of topic, 'women and their dress codes'. She cursed and ditched them, hurrying to DoHyun at the front. "Hey, don't mind those morons," she said DoHyun smiled. "You and your friends dress so differently, where are you from?" She asked Gabbie's brows shot up and she responded reluctantly "Uh…very, very far away" "Ah, so you're refugees then?" DoHyun asked and Gabbie nodded helplessly. "How did you get your firepower?" asked Gabbie A smile crept up DoHyun's face as she said "As I said earlier, it was the goddess that bestowed it upon me, I discovered it years back and I've been trying to train ever since" "And you've still not mastered it?" Gabbie was a bit surprised DoHyun sighed, "It's complicated". Gabbie sensed she wasn't feeling comfortable with the discussion so she nodded and let it go, before whispering "You know, between us girls, I know you've got an eye for my friend Eiden," Gabbie smiled a cheeky smile, "What?" DoHyun, flustered, was quick to deny "Ah! No, I don't, I merely admire his looks" She averted her eyes. Gabbie smiled at her childish behavior, Eiden's probably her first crush…. merely admire his looks? Yeah, right; next thing you see, you're daydreaming about your marriage. Soon, they arrived at a wall….it looked more like a guarded fence. "This…." Derrick gaped at the heightened wall. DoHyun smiled and exposed a secret passageway fit for a person to pass through. She saw their questioning looks and answered "I'm a flower maidenThey glanced at each other, "a flower maiden?" Gabbie repeated her words. 'Is that why she keeps emitting flower scents?' Eiden asked inwardly. DoHyun nodded "Flower maidens aren't supposed to leave the night bloom garden for whatever reason but I can't train inside so I created this secret passway" "Creative", Derrick nodded with an acknowledging smirk. "Outsiders apart from nobles and the imperial family are not allowed in" she added "And if we get caught?" Jason asked She stopped smiling "If we get caught, I'll be hanged, and you four will be decapitated for encroachment." Her words changed their expressions, but she assured them, "But that won't happen; I'll make sure it doesn't." Still feeling uneasy, Derrick forced a smile. "Haha, we trust you, flame princess." the rest nodded in agreement…. the rest except Jason. One at a time, they went through the secret passage. DoHyun kept her word, although they kept running into guards and other maidens of the garden.
Minutes later….. "May we come in now?" Asked DoHyun as she stood outside of her dressing space. Gabbie was beside her, beaming with excitement. She couldn't wait to see them. There weren't any males in the night bloom garden; the flower maidens were all females, and they had to wear pretty dresses if they valued their lives. Leaving them unattended in DoHyun's chambers wasn't an option, servants who clean up every now and then might come in and find them. Pretending they're maidens was the only way. The door creaked open slowly; once it opened, there was a short silence before Gabbie snorted….."HA!" Gabbie pointed and laughed out loudly upon seeing them. Their faces turned red as she laughed uncontrollably, holding her stomach and pointing. "HAHAHA…!" "Gosh, Gabbie," Jason folded his arms. Jason in a blue bob wig, Derrick wearing long wavy red hair, and Eiden in shoulder-length yellow hair, the three of them stood in shame; their red faces were covered in a way only their eyes
In the underbelly of a bustling city while the sunset. A squad of teenagers sat while rummaging through their bags in an alley between two tall apartment buildings.They were what society often referred to as rebels, though they weren't. One could tell from their distressed looks that things weren't going the way they planned.“I hope it's enough this time,” Jason, a tall blonde-haired guy with blue-hue eyes, groaned.The rest shared his thoughts. They've been involved in different and extreme part-time jobs to save enough money for something they deemed crucial. It was really important to them. Gabbie, the only girl in their group, dropped the stack of money she was counting. Her expression spoke the very thing the rest didn't want to hear.“We've already gathered so many, it's just remaining one-third” she assured them, trying to sound hopeful.Derrick sighed into the cold air, cursing “This is so damn overwhelming, I can't even
Eiden met his friends on a long line leading out of Stripe's VR store. At the beginning of the year, it was just like any normal game store, but when The Wisher's Death became available there, its popularity sprung up. The owner, being greedy, decided to increase the price of the game every four weeks.The people at the back of the line were already setting up camp, everyone wanted a chance.“Eiden!” Jason called out to his attention. Of all of them, Jason was the closest to Eiden.“You made it” Derrick punched his shoulder in a friendly gesture.“Wouldn't miss it for the world,” Eiden said.Derrick and Gabbie were the first to arrive, followed by Jason. They got into the line and kept a waiting space for Eiden.The line kept moving and the four engaged in trivial chatter.“I'm still bothered about when we took..you know what..from..you know who,” said Gabbie, her voice laced with guilt.Derrick smiled, “the saying i
Weren't they supposed to appear like the characters they customized? Jason dusted his clothes, “and surprisingly painful, too,” he added. He took a deep breath and exhaled, “Wow, even the air feels normal” he smiled.“Ah yes, I knew doing all that hard work would pay off,” Derrick said and placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. He pointed to the sky excitedly, “Look at those clouds, man! They're freaking real!”.Eiden nodded in agreement, he adored the design team because the game's graphics were simply out of this world. The temperature, the way the grass fluttered underneath the wind, it felt real…maybe too real.“Something's off”, Eiden's voice caught their attention. “I can tell it's you guys, I don't get it. Why didn't you guys characterize?”Confused, Jason, Derrick, and Gabbie checked themselves. They were shocked. Gabbie furrowed her brows, “I swear I chose blue armor and a crossbow, I even added an animal sidekick”“What
Gabbie arched her brows, "which is?" She inquired"Simple," he smiled, "Girls are weak."She flew off the handle, and all her pent-up anger spilled. "I swear to god, Derrick, I'll pull out all your hair!"She charged towards him in anger but Jason blocked her path.Her anger sprung. "What are you doing!? Let me go! I'll kill this bastard!"Derrick made faces at her while she struggled with Jason.Eiden stared at them with a wry smile, they were like siblings, always fighting and quarreling with each other.He averted his eyes to their surroundings. The land was grass-filled, the trees were scarce, and there were no houses in sight. The sun shone brightly, not harshly, and light clouds filled the sky.Wisher's Death is a multiplayer game; they were fortunate that there were no players nearby, or else they'd get killed and start all over.Eiden looked back at them, still squabbling."You guys know we're sitting ducks right?" No weapon, no spells; they were simply prey waiting to be diss
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
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