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; if the Hexa…whatever steps on it, won't they teleport here?" He asked "No, it only works on us humans," he replied. A man walked in, dressed in a dirty brown attire, similar to what a servant or slave would have on. "Master" he greeted before engaging in a discussion with the man. Eiden took the chance and analyzed where they were. It was an open space, seemingly a throne room, or rather an abandoned throne room. The place was filled to the brim with statues of Chinese mythical creatures and pillars engraved with strange signs and words. With only light rays coming in from broken parts of the building, the entire place was poorly illuminated. Almost like a cave. The place must have been turned into a ground for training, Eiden concluded; the pillars and walls all had sword marks here and there. "Right", the man's voice caught all three of their attention. "Weyun here will take your friend to the recuperating chamber and help the rest of you find your way back to your homes" "She's coming with us," Jason objected. The man paused a bit before waving him off, "Do as you wish. I can't believe I just saved a bunch of ingrates," he mumbled and left the place. Weyun, slightly bowing, informed them politely, "If you're ready, we must leave now". The three exchanged looks before nodding at him. With Eiden's help, Jason carried Gabbie on his back. They shared the same thoughts while following behind the man, something didn't feel right, no, everything was wrong! It had to be. It turned out that the abandoned throne room was just one of the many buildings in that area. The place was designed and decorated in mainly red and golden colors. They occasionally encountered women who stared at them like they were trash, "What are commoners doing here?" One inquired upon passing by them. Eiden furrowed his brows. The game 'Wishers Death' is supposed to be a thrill-filled game with labyrinths and mysteries to unveil. Even if there was a large castle-like construction, it shouldn't be so inhabited. If anything, it should be an equipment hub packed with different players but this..? Who were these women dressed in fancy silk attire, these men wearing large robes, and these behaving like servants? Sure some games are bested in storytelling as well as fantasy featuring kings, empresses, and RPG, but Wisher's Death is in no way like those, it's mainly focused on action, strategy, character development, beast slaying It was all weird and bothersome as well. Once they arrived at the large gates, they stopped. "Mister, we can go on our own from here," said Eiden. They didn't have any home here so there was no use wasting the man's effort. The man didn't insist, he bid them good luck on their own. "Where do we go from now?" Derrick asked "I don't know," Eiden replied. It wasn't as normal for Eiden, the brainy dude not to know what to do. "Don't you find everything so far strange?" He asked them "I don't know man, I just need to rest," said Derrick. They chose to keep walking on a straight path till something came up. Unfortunately, nothing came up. They kept passing by people who were neither players nor nonplaying characters. The scenery and everything had an ancient feel to it. If they weren't in the game, where were they? This question lingered in Eiden's head. "Hey! Watch out!" Someone rudely scolded them after bumping into Derrick, and he did not take it lightly. "Hey! You bumped into me, watch your mouth" he said. It wasn't just one person; they were four in number, and they all looked about Derrick's age or more. They stopped, with intimidating looks on their faces. "What did you say?" The one who seemed to be their leader spoke first. "I said watch where you're going". Derrick wasn't the type to back down even if he caused the problem. If the four wanted a fight, he'd give it to them…. typical alpha male. The boy chuckled, "Do you know who I am?" He asked, inciting Derrick's jackass side. Eiden gently nudged him, "forget them," he said, but Derrick ignored him. "Are you perhaps a douchebag? Or a blind dog? You can choose whichever fits you more" said Derrick with a mocking smile. The boy's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Do you know my father is close to the Empress? I'll surely not forget this; you'll be hanged," he warned and left with his gang. "They're troublesome," said Jason as they left. "You're going to get us hanged" Eiden laughed dryly "Like hell! Let them try." it was just a game after all, wasn't it? He wouldn't let a bunch of NPCs have their way with their default threats. They continued. Where the ruckus was caused was the entrance to a busy market. Eiden observed Jason, his pace was sluggish, perhaps because of Gabbie's added weight. "Hey if you're tired, we could switch" he offered but Jason shook his head "It's fine. I'm not tired".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
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.