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 twitched at his question; Eiden was just harassed by these dorks, and all Jason was worried about was her skill's limit. She ignored him. Gabbie positioned herself at the front, her gaze was intimidating. The guy snorted "What's this? Do you want to challenge me? Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is?" He asked She ignored his questions and asked, "Do you mind?" He arched his brow, "what do you mean by that?" "Do you mind if I bend reality?" "Huh?—" he opened his mouth to speak, but his words suddenly ceased. He stood there erect, he neither spoke nor moved, just stood there with his back facing his minions. Gabbie couldn't help the wicked smile curling up on her lips. Her system wanted her to beat people up, why should she? When she could just make them beat up themselves like her puppets. "Z..Zhiheng?" The guy on the right called out, why did Zhiheng stop talking all of a sudden? Zhiheng tilted his head and turned to face them. They flinched at the way he looked. His mouth hung open, and he wasn't blinking; his eyes weren't their usual color; they shone emerald green. "Zhiheng?" He called out again but got no response; Zhiheng just stood there staring with his eyes wide open, almost like he was being controlled. The guy looked at Gabbie angrily. "What have you done to him!?" He asked Gabbie shrugged, "I showed him what a frail female can do" She smirked "Turn him to normal now!" He roared. She shook her head, "Tsk tsk tsk, you don't get it, do you?" He and the other one took a step back, her words were frightening, and her gaze on them intensified. "Your thoughts are my playground", her eyes glimmered with emerald green. The more they stared at her glowing eyes, the more they felt like they were being sucked in by an invisible force, it was alluring, and they couldn't look away. Her smile grew wide, she loved the feeling, the feeling of engulfing someone else's subconsciousness. If only she could manipulate her parents like this to stop bugging her…. "There, this is better isn't it?" The three of them stood like tall trees. They looked like zombies, only they had glowing, green eyes. With her hands akimbo, Gabbie laughed "I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off" "That was reckless you know?" Said Eiden. He was worried when he saw that menacing look on her face, she enjoyed every moment of prying and taking over another person's mind. Though they were at fault it still worried him. She stared him him dryly "You're welcome," she said Derrick pointed at the three. "Uh…what are we going to do with the zombie dudes?" He asked "I haven't done the quest yet" Gabbie replied. Jason's eyes trailed off, "wait, so you're going to—" She cut in and nodded, "Yup." She faced the three, "hmm….let's see" she placed her hand on her chin, thinking. "Ah yes, Zhiheng, I want you to come over here and kiss my boots" she instructed "What the…?" Said Derrick "That's disgusting" Jason furrowed his brows Eiden shook his head. "When did you become this petty?" He asked her. She giggled at their reaction, and just as she instructed, Zhiheng walked over to her, bent over, and kissed her boots. Derrick cursed, "Ah shit! I'd hate to be that guy's girlfriend". Zhiheng stood back in his former position. Gabbie smiled, she tapped on her left cheek, thinking… "Okay okay. Now, you're a chicken, Zhiheng, behave like one" she ordered Eiden smacked his forehead. Zhiheng lowered his height and placed his hands on his waist, he moved his head back and forth while making clucking noises like a chicken. Gabbie laughed loudly at the display, she was downright embarrassing him. She was the only one with a happy expression, the rest thought she was just overdoing it, Zhiheng looked pathetic behaving like a chicken It wasn't funny at all; rather, it was cringeworthy. It was almost two minutes, and Zhiheng was still walking and clucking like a chicken. "Uh…Gabbie, I think he has had enough," said Jason uneasily. She wiped her teary eyes; she had laughed so hard that her eyes became watery. In her thoughts, he deserved to be treated this way, he shouldn't have forced Eiden to bow and apologize. "Okay, that's enough laughs." Zhiheng stopped and stood erect. "Now then," Gabbie's expression grew dark, and her eyes narrowed. A glint of terror flashed in her eyes, "beat yourselves up to a pulp" she ordered. The others watched in disbelief as Zhiheng and his friends began to fight each other, their fists flying as they tried to obey Gabbie's command. It was quite a show; the sound of crunching bones was yet to seize. They all watched with creased brows except Gabbie who had on a sweet smile. The three didn't spare each other. While one was punching, another was punching him also. In less than five minutes, they all had black eyes with bruises and blood on their faces. While they stood watching, Gabbie's system appeared with a notification [Quest complete: 3/3 bruised people] [Reward__2coins, 5points] [Player used special skill__level up!] Her stats came to view, [Player name_Gabbie Kains Race_human Strength_25 Stamina_25 Level 2 HP_10/20] "Woah! I leveled up!" she said excitedly. "Does that mean using our skills is the only way to move to level 2?" Eiden walked closer to her. "And your stats increased too, by five points" Jason added "So, what? You're stronger than us now?" Derrick asked While they celebrated, Eiden pondered….he couldn't get that image of Gabbie's sinister smile out of his head. Will she continue to manipulate people just like she did just now? What if she loses control? "You know, I don't get why we still have systems and need to level up, if all this is real life, why do we have video game features?" Eiden asked Gabbie's smile turned to a frown. "Eiden, why must you spoil the happy mood with questions we actually need to look into? Huh?" He averted his eyes "We've never been through something like this; I'm just exploiting the possibilities; it might be of great help sooner or later." "Yeah, but—" Gabbie tried to argue but was interrupted by a hard crunch sound. They turned at the noise, the three boys were still engrossed in disfiguring each other…. Gabbie did say they should beat each other to a pulp, although she was only just feeling the moment, acting like she was an overpowered MC. Derrick narrowed his eyes "You should…..probably get them to stopWith 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
They 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