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 would show, and their dresses were long enough to cover their manly legs. Other than their broadened shoulders and Derrick's slightly bulging biceps, they looked a lot like women…. Manly women apparently, and Gabbie couldn't get enough of it. "Jeez Gabbie, you'll die laughing. It's not even funny anymore" said Derrick in spite. Gabbie's eyes were already filled with tears, and her stomach tightened, "Yes, it is! You should see faces….gawd, I wish I had my phone right now; I'll post it on every social media out there". She giggled. "You guys aren't looking too bad" DoHyun tried to hype them off their shame. Her eyes were constantly on Eiden, his face was beet red. He caught her staring and immediately averted his eyes, "this is embarrassing" he muttered. "Mymy! Derrick, I didn't know you loved feminine things" said Gabbie mockingly He narrowed his eyes at her, he had had enough of her nonsense. He struck a dramatic pose, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "you know what?" He asked Gabbie, "I'm not just a man in a dress, I'm a movement…..a movement to prove I make a better maiden than you ever could" She scoffed. "You truly have no Shame, huh? What now? Considering a gender change?" She asked him, throwing a mocking smile at his prosthetic bosom. Confidently, he held them up. "At least THESE are bigger than yours," he smirked. There was a short silence, Gabbie stopped smiling, "what did you say?" She asked, her eyes showing a hint of green. DoHyun tapped her shoulder. "Enough of the teasing; we need to get going. You also need to dress too, Gabbie," she reminded. "Hmph!" Gabbie turned away and walked out with DoHyun. Once they left, Jason sighed out….. "I never thought I'd be embarrassed in this way," he said, glancing at the full-length mirror. "I'm actually getting used to this already," said Derrick. Jason turned around slowly with a dry expression; he cringed the moment his eyes laid on Derrick, flexing his muscles. "See? I'm rocking this flower maiden thing" he said "No wonder Gabbie wants to kill you every now and then, you're freaking annoying" Jason sat down. Eiden sat, reminiscing the look in DoHyun's eyes as she stared at him. She must've thought he looked ridiculous dressed as a woman. For the fourth time, he tucked the loose strands of his wig behind his ear and cursed, how do girls always manage long hair? It's straight-up annoying. Eiden's gaze swept across the room, taking in the shelves upon shelves of books that lined the walls. It seemed that DoHyun had a passion for reading, and Eiden found himself drawn to this aspect of her personality. But it was her eyes that truly captured his attention, their unique color and sparkle were unlike anything he had ever seen before. Every feature of hers seemed to fit together in perfect harmony, from the braided hair that fell gracefully to one side to her bright, expressive eyes and her soft, gentle laughter. As Eiden took in the sum of her parts, he felt his heart beat irregularly, as if it was trying to keep pace with the sudden rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. "We're done!" DoHyun announced and she stepped in with Gabbie. Gabbie's hair was adorned to a fault with ornaments, her lower face was covered just like the rest, and her hair was braided and packed behind. She wore an attire similar to DoHyun. They both had a bright smile; it was captivating as well. "Ha!" said Derrick, "I can't believe it, you're supposed to be a girl, and yet I'm even more beautiful" Gabbie's jaw clenched, she held her fist in front of him. She was speechless. ***** Half an hour later, they were seated behind pink silk curtains. The nobles, after introduction, were seated in ornate benches around a long table. Varieties of delicious dishes were served: roasted meats, steamed fish, exotic spices, and accompaniments accompanied by the famous wine brewed from the grapes grown at the imperial house. The gigantic hall was adorned to the brim with silk curtains, lanterns, and intricate carvings on the wall and pillars. The meeting table was in the center while around, behind the pink curtains sat many flower maidens. "Shit!" Derrick cursed once more as his stomach grumbled. He lost count of how many times he gulped, the aroma of the meals served kept calling unto him. "Are we just going to sit here and watch?" Gabbie asked; the nobles have been talking for a while now, and they've been seated for so long. "We'll leave soon," DoHyun assured them. Derrick groaned, "This is so boring" he stuck his head out through the curtain; it's been hours, and the nobles were just drinking themselves into stupor. He peeked through and his gaze caught onto one of the nobles, visibly wasted. The man winked at him with a smug smile and licked his lips. Derrick cringed hard. Did that man think he was a maiden, too? "Eww" he dropped the curtain. "Seems like you caught the eyes of one of the noblemen," Eiden said with a mocking smile, "Yeah, that guy was totally checking you out," Jason chuckled. Derrick fumed, "That's freaking disgusting, stop." They mocked him. Amidst their chuckles, DoHyun called out," Gabbie?" "Yeah?" "What's a phone?"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
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…