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 the..” said Derrick, his voice muttering, “My sword.” Jason also didn't look like the character he chose. He looked at Eiden, “Speak for yourself Eiden, you still look a lot like yourself” Eiden immediately objected, “That's impossible, I-” his words ceased; Jason was right! He still had on his old gray hoodie and worn-out jeans. Where was his Golden armor, sword, and shield? “Something doesn't feel right,” Gabbie said with uneasiness. “Maybe it's a glitch in the game?” Jason suggested Derrick got angry at his words “I didn't just pay a huge amount for a rip-off!” Eiden pondered before speaking “No, it's not a rip-off. Others have played this game before us, if it was a fraud, its popularity should have shrunk. Maybe we missed something” His mind trailed back to when the status screen changed its color just before the game started. That could be the problem. “What if we try logging out and in again?” Jason suggested Gabbie shook her head “We can't guarantee they'll let us come in again, they might say we've had our turn and kick us out” The four of them stood in confusion. Derrick folded his arms across his chest, “I'm not leaving this place,” he fumed. “I thought this game was supposed to be high-rank stuff; why glitches then?” “What do you think we should do?” They turned to Eiden, who was in deep thought. “Jason's right,” he started, “it could be a glitch in the game. As for our lost equipment, we could just gather them the old-fashioned way,” which was completing tasks and quests or defeating bosses and other players. Although they settled already Derrick still kicked up a fuss, “This character glitch is bullshit, to think I'd appear here as my uncool self” Gabbie laughed at his remark, “Don't overthink it, Derrick; it's probably just a bug in the system.” Suddenly, a blue transparent status screen appeared before her, startling her and the others. “Whoa!” She exclaimed, “Are you guys seeing this?” She asked They were. They saw it all life and direct. “How the hell did you do that?” Derrick asked She quickly denied, “How should I know? I didn't do anything.” She took a step back and it followed her. As expected, they all looked at Eiden, the brains in the squad. Unsurprised, he sighed. He already had a presumptuous conclusion, “this is the same status screen we all saw from the beginning right?” They nodded. He pondered. “this screen appeared the moment Gabbie mentioned..” he paused before continuing “system” The same status screen appeared before him, confirming his theory. “System!” Jason and Derrick chorused simultaneously and got the same status screen. Derrick stared amused. “Whoa, I take it back. This game isn't bullshit, it's crazy!” The four of them stood, with each system facing them. They all carried the same message [Player used the keyword system! Welcome to the Wisher's Death] [Continue: YES__NO__] Gabbie reached out to tap the screen but her hand effortlessly passed through it. She retrieved her hand immediately. “It's not a touch screen,” Eiden noticed. Derrick tilted his head at it, his hands akimbo. “How, then, are we supposed to operate it?” It was only a theory, but Eiden said loudly, “Yes!” And the system moved to another tab. They all did the same and the tabs changed. [Player name_Gabbie Kains] [Race_human] [Strength_20] [Stamina_20] [Level 1] [HP_10/10] [XP_???] [Special Skill_Mind manipulation: Limitation__use five times in 24hrs] [Player name_Derrick Hawkins] [Race_human] [Strength_30] [Stamina_30] [Level 1] [HP_10/10] [XP_???] [Skill_Space-time manipulation: Limitation__Deterioration] [Player name_Jason Hart] [Race_human] [Strength_30] [Stamina_30] [Level 1] [HP_10/10] [XP_???] [Skill_Lightening summon: Limitation__none] [Player name_Eiden Wells] [Race_human] [Strength_30] [Stamina_30] [Level 1] [HP_10/10] [XP_???] [Skill_Swordmaster: Limitation__Player weakens at the sight of his blood] They stood, their faces etched in confusion as they stared at the system's tabs. Derrick was the first to air his thoughts, “The hell!? This is not my player name!” Same with the rest of them, no one was that optimistic to use their real names for their characters. Gabbie folded her arm, “this is gender bias, my strength and stamina are weaker than the rest of you guys” Derrick smirked “Seems like the system agrees with my theory”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
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