"HELP!"
"PLEASE SOMEONE, SAVE ME!"
"NOOOO!! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
Screams of sheer terror rang out through the night sky, alongside the clanking of metal and splashing of blood.
These sounds went on for only a few moments until there was nothing more but the faint winds, hollow pants, and a quiet voice, "How long has it been?.."
High above the blood soaked grass, splendid lights beamed down, shooing the darkness away.
Within the night sky these source of light were spheres that hung far beyond the clouds, each individually gleaming with their own rays of red, blue, green, violet, and yellow, among many other colors.
Yet, on the land below, the stench of iron and death reeked out.
Corpses were stacked atop one another like discarded laundry, mountaining so high as if they were trying to pierce the heavens.
Yet, atop these bodies sat a caramel skinned boy whose entire body and face was coated in a thick coat of red, but as if unbothered by this his gaze remained on the spheres in the sky.
An unexplainable expression was on his face, not one of sadness, anger or delight, yet...
His lips parted as he mumbled into the sky, "Why me?"
.
.
.
[Present Day]
Within a cramped, dilapidated one-room apartment lay a young boy on a bed with an electronic white sleep mask over his face.
The bedsheets were stained in blotches of red, green and other unpleasant hues, evoking a sickening urge to vomit if one took a single whiff of it.
The paint of the wall had long since begun to rip away from the surface, with black and green rot creeping alongside it.
Within the kitchen, the sink had fungus sprouting about, clogging the faucet, slowly dripping out a viscous green liquid every so often.
The fridge hung open, bare of any sustenance and without an ounce of cool air, a shadow cast onto every crevice of its interior.
The young boy on the bed was shirtless revealing the skinny physique of his warm complexion with patches of black, purple and red welts that were spread about and still leaking, further staining the bed.
Positioned directly in front of his bed was a short round table with a miniature square TV placed on top.
Yet miraculously, despite the clear sign of any electricity in the building, its screen was lit with a fuzzy screen and cackling audio displaying news coverage.
There were two hosts, one man and one woman talking excitedly amongst each other.
The male host spoke //Today is the Grand Opening of Omnerra, said to be the most innovative game to have ever been released! Such an exciting time!//
The female host followed up //Absolutely, 100% world immersion and they're saying it's the potential for a 2nd life and even as a source of income for many!//
The boy smiled to himself, 'Another life...'
He thought back to the past few days leading up to this moment, 'I never really had one here to begin with.'
Strained breaths wheezed through the boy's nostrils as he parted his lips.
"START!"
With that, a loud boom resounded within his mind and his consciousness went white.
.
.
.
A bright flash erupted and the boy found himself floating in an empty white space.
He looked around in a daze before calming himself down, 'From what I've heard there should be a way to select your race and class at the beginning of the game, this must be it.'
Sure enough, as he finished that thought, a soothing, female voice called out to him, snapping him back to the present and grabbing his attention.
"Welcome, New Player to Omnerra! Please select your starter class and race, your affiliation can be chosen at a later time and will affect your experience, so please choose wisely."
The boy raised an eyebrow at this, 'Affiliation?'
Nonetheless, a menu appeared in front of the boy asking him a question.
[What Will Your Name Be?}
[Name:_______}
The boy upon seeing this grinned to himself, 'This is a new world, so why even use my old name, but at the same time...'
The boy silently entered his name as a voice responded to him, "Welcome to Omnerra, Crow. Please select your race."
[Please Select Starter Race]
1. Human
2. Elf
3. Dwarf
4. Beastkin (Multiple variants available)
[*Note: Advanced Race may be obtained at later time*.]
The boy whose body now resembled a white wisp that was nearly inconceivable among his all white surroundings pondered his decisions before ultimately deciding.
"I'll choose a human. Though other Races may offer different unique benefits they also offer downsides and other hidden attributes that may come to bite me in the butt, I'll choose human."
With that a light emerged from his being before the body of a caramel skinned youth, with black shoulder-length dreads and enthused onyx eyes appeared.
He looked down and examined his body in shock, "Woah... this is so real!"
A smile arose on his lips as he moved his attention onto the next prompt.
[Please Select Starter Class]
[1. Warrior]
[2. Mage]
[3. Healer]
[4. Ranger]
[5. Thief]
[6. Fighter]
[*Note: Advanced Class may be obtained at later time*.]
____
The boy rubbed his chin as he took a look over his options.
'Based on the little information that's been put out about the game, it's hard to know how each class plays, or even how races will affect those classes...'
He shot a glance at the Thief class, 'Well, to say I don't have familiarity with Thief would be a lie, a wry smirk forming on his lips.
He had made his decision, and so he leaned forward to select his option, yet at that moment:
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
The classes had gone awry, with error messages replacing them, and the previously white room now flashing red.
The soothing female voice of before was blaring loudly, shouting out, "ERROR! ERROR!"
The room began to shake as deafening horns blasted out, shaking against the boy and rocking him to his core.
Crow curled up into a fetal position, covering his ears and closing his eyes as the room spun around him, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
.
.
.
WHOOOOOOSH!!!
With a flash of white light, Crow was stunned as he looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar location.
The air was ripe with a slight gust rippling against his flesh.
The sounds of bustling footsteps and the aroma of sweat and sweet pastries tickled the boy's nose as he sniffed.
The clear blue sky was without a speck to block the various colorful orbs above.
The boy looked around to see a bustling plaza area akin to a town of medieval days; however along the sides of the cobblestone pathway that could fit 4 grown men standing side to side were particular entrances with stone walls and large wooden doors shut tight.
Each entrance had a stone block above with a symbol that looked to be carved with expert craftsmanship.
Above each entrance was a symbol engraved within the stone: a sword & shield, another had a pair of daggers, one had a staff, and so on and so forth.
Only a few moments had passed before he was bumped from behind, "Hey, where the hell'd you come from buddy? Ya ain't the only tryna see!"
Crow raised an eyebrow at this, "See what?"
The man who was a head shorter gave a cocky grin, "How naive can you be?" The arrival of the Blessed of course!"
The whole plaza was bustling and overfilled, every person trying to shove or peak over one another at each of the entrances.
Yet, before Crow could even respond, a loud WHOOOOOOOOOSH rang out through the plaza as beams of white light struck down into each area behind the wooden doors.
The crowd let out oohs and ahhs of anticipation and excitement, awaiting what lay beyond those barricades.
EEEEER
Finally, the wooden door whined as large metal chains coiled and pulled the gate upwards revealing the new visitors.
The crowd stretched out their necks to peak on as swaths of people began to emerge from the gate alongside voices.
"Yooo, this game looks so realistic, even the sun feels warm."
"Dude, yeh, I can even smell the dirt."
Emerging from each gate was a group of individuals, all sporting grey shirts and pants with plane black shoes.
Yet, perhaps most peculiar was a nearly transparent, dim halo floating above their heads.
However, when the group of new arrivals came to the entrance only to see a large crowd waiting for them, shock was on their face.
....
"WELCOME, MIGHTY BLESSED!"
"WELCOME, SAVIORS"
The crowd erupted into cheers, ushering the group out as they deeply bowed and made way for each passageway.
Crow, having witnessed all this, didn't budge from his spot, yet his eyes were nearly bursting from his eye sockets.
'Wait... those are players?.. So why didn't I come out that way too?'
.
.
.
About half an hour passed since the arrival of the "Blessed" or what Crow had gathered to be Players and apparently, they were "prophesied" to arrive today and save this world.
Many of the "Blessed" had already scattered, either in search of quests or heading out to kill monsters in order to gain experience.
Yet as the boy walked along the cobblestone street, he couldn't help but think to himself that the world is truly unfair.
He thought to himself as he walked, 'Strange… I don't even have one of those halos, so does that mean I'm really just-'
"Agggh!" a piercing scream echoed through the streets, causing Crow to whip his head towards the source of the sound.
Standing a few meters away was a human with a near transparent halo over his head stabbing an NPC male walking through the street, "Woah… this is so realistic."
Crow observed this with a raised eyebrow, 'Christ, I know these are NPC's but I didn't think Players would start killing in town so soon.'
A mischievous smirk arose on the Player's face, taking his sword in hand and widely swinging around.
Screams and the smell of blood filled the air as everyone panicked and made a run for it, Crow being unarmed, amongst the retreating crowd.
Yet, as the boy ran, he could barely make out figures donned in armor fast approaching that Player.
.
.
.
Finally…
Another 30 minutes later, the boy had long since stopped running and was making his way down the street considering everything he had just seen up until now.
'Damn, I feel so powerless, running from a newbie player like that, but without a weapon I wouldn't have been able to do anything there if he tried to attack me.'
Yet, as the boy was deep in thought…
FWOOOOOOOOOOSHHH!!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
A torrent of flames arose before him with a screaming body struggling within.
Yet, just as soon as the flames appeared, the body finally quieted down, before disintegrating and tiny specks of gold dust floating away.
Crow stood still in his tracks, cold sweat dripping down his back, yet at that moment he heard a noise from the door on his left.
"Heh, damn thieves think they can take from me."
With that, a figure with a black cloak concealing the entire body stepped out from the shop door to the boy's left.
Crow's mouth formed the shape of an 'O'.
Yet, maybe even most surprising, the man's height didn't even come up to the Crow's waist, 'A dwarf?' the boy thought to himself, though he was uncertain what lay behind the black garments…
The figure reached down and picked up a gleaming sword that lay on the ground, his hands still concealed in white bandage, and then turned to face Crow, "Haven't seen ya round these parts before, lad."
Crow's eyes widened, before realizing his situation, 'Damnit, what do I say? Am I an NPC, am I a "Blessed".
But he simply gave a kind smile, "Hello, Sir, I'm… new here, I came here from far away."
The figure's crimson eyes narrowed beneath his hood, seemingly not completely believing, yet choosing to ignore him and began to walk back into the store.
Crow's mind raced as he stood there in the still bustling streets as the corpse of the player was now gone, and the smell of burning flesh was once more replaced by that of sweet pastries, yet a chill still lingered on the back of the boy's neck.
'Strong… even as player's we don't stand a chance against these NPC's.'
The boy looked at the man's figure that was slowly disappearing into the shop.
It was a tiny shop with a metal hammer and shield icon touted on top, and in the interior Crow could spot some swords, shields, and other weapons propped on the wall behind a counter.
'Weapons!' he inwardly exclaimed.
He glanced back to where the corpse was moments ago, piecing together the reason for his death.
"Wait." Crow suddenly blurted out.
The figure who had begun walking back into the store stopped, causing the surrounding air to become hot, and a tightening sensation formed around Crow's neck.
Yet, even so he did his best to maintain a straight face,"I- I would like a weapon."
The air became normal as the man turned his body sideways to allow Crow into the store, yet the boy spoke once more, "I… don't have any money, though…"
RUMBLE
Crow could feel a slighting ringing in his ears as he felt heat and pressure on his entire body nearly causing him to kneel, "W-wait… I'm new to this area and I need to hunt and grow stronger. Please give me a weapon to defend myself and I promise to pay you back!"
The pressure finally stopped, and the figure stood there staring at Crow for what seemed like ages, yet after 5 minutes he went back into the store without uttering a word.
GASP!
After the shop owner's figure fully disappeared, Crow nearly collapsed once more gasping for breath, yet he couldn't afford to show weakness, not now.
'Scary, what power is that? Can Players even become that strong? Will I ever be able to become that strong?"
The boy stood there awkwardly waiting there for what felt like 2 minutes, yet seeing as how the man hadn't returned, he glanced one more into the store then turned to walk away.
"Wait!" a gruff voice called out to the boy, causing him to turn back and see the cloaked figure.
"Here." he handed Crow a sack, "Do stay safe, because you will be paying off this debt."
Crow inwardly gulped, yet nodded his head and thanked him before strapping the bag over his back and walking away.
As the boy walked away, he thought back to that player who met his end to the cloaked NPC, 'Thieves with eyes bigger than their stomach typically end up like that. Though I wonder what happened to that Player who was killing NPCs earlier.''
With that Crow departed deeper into the crowd, unaware of the lingering gaze from within the weapon shop…
.
.
.
Yet along the way, Crow couldn't help but feel uneasy…
As he walked he could see a player carrying a woman over his shoulder while she screamed with tears in her eyes, behind the player was a man with 2 broken legs and tears of blood crying out with an outstretched hand.
Crow shook his attention away as he continued onward.
.
.
.
Another 15 minutes later Crow finally reached the village exit where 2 guards suited in iron armor and helmets were stationed, seeing him they briefly questioned him upon not recognizing him, but seeing as he was leaving the village to hunt they gave him a temporary hunting pass for the day to return by nightfall.
With that, Crow took his 1st step towards leveling.
His mind churned as he left, 'I wonder what weapons that guy's given me.'
He reached into the bag and rustled around finding only 4 items.
Some bandages, some ointment, and a glass bottle containing a green potion with a note attached that read, "Drink only if needed, debt increased if used."
'Is this a joke?' he then brought his eyes to the last item, a tiny throwing knife that was barely longer than the boy's index finger.
'Sigh, and to think I'm indebted just for these items, though I suppose it's better than nothing.'
He stored the items back into his bag, except for the knife, which he kept in his hand as he walked.
He played with the knife as he walked, testing its sharpness on his thumb to which he paid the price, "Youch!! Definitely small, but its sharpness ain't a joke!"
Now satisfied with his miniature throwing knife the boy continued onward whilst sucking his leaky thumb.
5 minutes later after exiting the safety of the village, he was greeted by the grasslands with green whiskers that nearly came up to his shoulders, greatly obscuring his vision.
WHOOSH
The sound of movement instantly made the boy on alert as he narrowed his eyes and readied himself.
He was able to make out gray objects zipping through.
He steadied his breath as he leapt forward and punched out with his newly acquired knife, 'There!'
WHOOOOSH!!
Yet it was no use as the gray figure easily avoided his strike and continued jumping around.
Yet the field seemed to be plentiful with them as he spotted another gray figure and leaped forward again.
WHOOOOOSH!!
He was avoided again, and that scene played out for nearly 20 minutes before he collapsed onto his back in exhaustion.
'Bahh! This is too difficult, my reactions were some of the best among my peers on Earth. How can I not catch even one of these things? But… at least they seem harmless.' he thought to himself as he watched the gray figures continue dashing along.
Yet at that moment he heard a sound behind him.
RUSTLE
He slowly rose to knees and turned his head back to see a young girl that looked to be about his age walking towards him.
Her skin was fair with freckles, thin lips, and peach blonde hair that swayed with the wind and draped down to her her upper back.
She wore a simple white dress that came slightly below her knees.
Crow narrowed his eyes, 'She shouldn't know I'm here, I'll wait and see what happens.'
She hummed an optimistic tune as she frolicked on, swinging the knitted basket in her hands.
Just as he thought, the girl actually diverted her path and walked past him, unaware of his existence.
She came up to a spot with ankle-high grass and crouched down and began picking herbs in the field without a care in the world.
As she picked the herbs, the gray figures came rushing towards her and finally stopped, allowing themselves to be pet.
Crow's eyes widened as he saw what they were, 'Rabbits?!' he almost yelled out.
They were about the size of normal rabbits, yet with a strong vitality about them.
The girl smiled and continued singing her tune as she pet the rabbits in between picking herbs into her basket.
Then, he saw something that astonished him, the girl reached her hand out causing a green light to appear.
With that a bushel of lush greenery and herbs sprung from the ground causing the rabbits around the girl to bounce around in delight.
The girl who saw this chuckled to herself as she continued her harvesting.
The boy, whom she was unaware of, lay watching, astonishment still on his face as he planned his next action.
…
Finally, after 10 minutes the boy finished constructing his plan, 'She seems to be a native of the village, and an important one at that seeing as she can do… that. I could try to kill her, but with those abilities I'm not sure I'd be able to. Maybe I can befriend her? She seems knowledgeable about this world's herbs, and seeing how she is with those rabbits she must be at least somewhat easy to talk to. I'll start my network from that.'
The boy hyped himself up as he approached, 'I got this, I'm pretty much a lady's magnet, I ooze charisma, once I greet her it'll instantly make her drop her panties.'
Crow silently cleared his throat as he neared from behind and slowly began to rise to his feet, "Uhh… hey."
The rabbits jumped to their feet in shock yet the girl stayed sitting with her back facing the boy, soothing them back to laying down as she pet them and then continued gathering herbs.
The girl's voice was soft like silk sheets with an accent similar to Icelandic on Earth, "Took you long enough, I was wondering when you were going to come say hi."
Crow tilted his head, "Huh? You knew I was here?"
The girl let out a small laugh as harmonic as wind chimes as she continued picking the herbs and placing them into the basket, "Hard not to notice such a big strong boy such as yourself."
Crow face froze into that of confusion before morphing into a playful smirk his lips, "Psh, funny coming from the bunny whisperer over here "
The girl let out a light chuckle, "Is that so? Careful, don't make me sick these carnivorous beasts on you."
The boy's eyes sharpened as he adjusted his stance.
To that the girl leaned back and started laughing as she rolled on the ground, slightly dirtying her white dress, "Bahahaha, look at you so serious. I bet you put on a really scary face just now."
The girl looked back rubbing the tears of laughter out of her eyes.
Crow paused.
'Is… is she-'
Yet the boy's thought was interrupted as the girl smiled at him, "My name is Lóa, what's yours."
Crow took about 3 seconds to regain his bearings as he looked at the girl before returning the smile, "My name's Crow."
.
.
.
For what felt like the next few hours the 2 talked and talked, laughing as they did so.
Crow told his many stories of his time on Earth though describing them as having occurred in "Another place" or "Another part of town."
The girl pouted as he eyed the boy suspiciously, "There's no way that's true."
"It is." the boy smiled. "I was a Thief. Among the best there was too, especially for my age. Had never been caught before then either…" the boy stared at the ground as he subconsciously gripped the grass.
Lóa curiously blinked at Crow, "Before what?"
Crow snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly replied, "Oh nothing."
Lóa also described her boring life of being a pampered daughter stuck in a mansion not allowed to see the world.
"It's awful. Guards following me 24/7 and even maids have to bathe me." Loa groaned with a pout.
The boy couldn't help but think back to his home in the real world as he replied, "Sounds pretty rough."
She was only allowed to go out today for the arrival of the Blessed and decided to sneak out, pick some herbs, and spend some time with the rabbits now that she had the opportunity.
Yet as the 2 continued chatting the sky began to unfold into an orange tint.
Crow learned a bit as they talked, including that Lóa was granted her powers by the Goddess, whoever that was and that she was the only daughter of a pretty important family in the city.
Finally Lóa looked back at Crow once more, "You're an interesting boy, Crow."
"Hmm?" the boy raised his eyebrow.
"You're not like others I've met in the city, if anything you're more like those "Blessed" my parent's described."
Crow's eyes slightly widened at this as he responded, "Heh, must be a coincidence." his mind raced as shock surged through his heart, 'Damn this girl is perceptive.'
Finally with her back still facing him the girl spoke, "Crow I know this may be a lot to ask since we just met, but…"
Crow's alarms were blaring, 'What is she boutta ask?'
His mind didn't wanna wander but being a young boy it was hard, 'Damn did that shop owner pack breath mints, does this grass work as a contraceptive, is my-'
"C-Can you close your eyes?" The girl finally managed to squeeze out.
Crow's eyes widened before creasing to show a smile, "Sure."
The life he lived, he knew better than to fully trust someone he just met, so though he was sitting he kept his eyes a bit cracked but was still only able to make out the back of the girl on her knees and her fiddling with something in front of her, especially since he was sitting in the tall grass.
Finally after about 5 minutes she spoke up, "Okay, ready."
To that, Crow fully opened his eyes.
She eyed him carefully, "You better not have been peeking."
Crow put up both hands in defense and replied sarcastically, "I would never."
"Hmmph." Lóa pouted before putting on a smile and holding her hands behind her back.
"I-I just want to say thank you."
"Hmm?" Crow raised an eyebrow.
Lóa continued, "I know to you I may sound like just another spoiled brat who's had everything handed to them, but I can hardly see anyone."
The girl's voice started to tremble as she looked at the ground, "My parents are always busy, my guards don't really care about taking care of some useless blind girl who was pitied by the Goddess, and you're… the 1st person my age I've talked to."
Her face lifted as her milky white eyes met his onyx gaze, "And not just trying to cater favor with my Parents through me."
She then snuggled forward onto her knees and sat upright slowly revealing the item behind her back.
The distance between the 2 was now less than an arm's length apart.
"H-here." The girl slowly revealed the item behind her back.
A white flower resembling a tulip with a variety of multicolored herbs making up the stems was revealed.
TWEEEEE-
Lóa slowly extended her right hand holding the flower, tears slowly trickled down the girl's face as her soft voice spoke "Crow, thank you for you being my…"
The girl's face blushed a warm pink, "My 1st Frie-"
-KKKKK
An arrow stuck out from the back of the girl's chest causing her to look down and cough out blood, before looking back up and smiling.
THUMP
The girl fell forward to which Crow quickly caught her, "Nononono!!"
"Shhhh, it's okay." the girl said as she leaned against the boy blood splashing onto his body and face as she gently caressed the boy's cheek.
He held her arms to his face, speaking frantically, "No, I- I can take you back to your parent's mansion, they can get you better."
"No Crow." The girl responded, even now her voice was still soothing yet growing weaker by the 2nd, "A girl needs a heart to live, you know. Though, I'm glad at the end…" the girl slowly leaned forward, her soft breath tickled his nostrils as she softly pressed her lips against his, "You had mine."
She tasted like iron and her lips were lukewarm, leaving a damp sensation on the boy's bottom lip.
Her shaky hand that held the flower slowly stretched out as a warm green light emitted from it as a green gem that sparkled with a soothing aura formed at the pistil (middle) of the flower.
With that the light in her porcelain eyes dimmed and her head drooped onto his chest, "Nononono." Crow panicked as he lightly shook her body.
Yet it was no use.
RUSTLE
The sound of rustling footsteps ahead awoke the boy from his stupor; he looked down at Lóa's body, gently placing it down and taking the flower as he backed into the tall grass.
Finally the footsteps arrived.
A female voice called out ahead of him, "Yup, got her!"
"Good work." A deep voice responded.
Cheers of a group rang out as Crow could only peek out through the shrubbery.
He could only make out 5 pairs of boots in front of him through his crouched position in the tall grass.
The deep voice which seemed to come from the one with iron armor spoke up once more, "Any witnesses?"
A nasally voice coming from the figure with leather boots hopped on 1 foot as he responded, "Nuh-uh, and news has already spread, NPCs don't respawn so let's just get the loot. Can I get dibs on those herbs?"
"Hmm…" the deep voice pondered for about a minute as the party waited patiently, causing Crow's panic to grow, 'Does he know I'm here?..'
Finally, the deep voice responded, "You're free to decide amongst yourselves. Though it's up to her since she made the kill." He gestured to a figure to his right who also wore leather boots.
The group apart from the leader all chatted and negotiated with one another, and the stench of blood began to permeate from the girl before the man with the nasaly voice finally stepped forward.
The nasally voiced figure had gray skin and white spiky hair that came down past his sharp ears to his neck, he cackled as he came forward and began to collect the herbs from the girl's basket.
"All mine!" he laughed.
Finally, the group packed up and went past Crow back to the village, causing the boy to inwardly let out a sigh of both frustration and relief once they were a ways away.
"Lóa." was all the boy could whisper out as he looked down at the girl's corpse that was left to rot, a tranquil look still on her beautiful face.
Yet, after a minute of walking, the leader of the group in iron armor stopped, causing the group to halt as well.
SNIFF SNIFF
"What's wrong?" one of the members asked.
Crow slowly craned his neck back, a chilling tingle running down his spine and a numb feeling in his still leaky thumb, 'I gotta bad feeling…'
SNIFF SNIFF
The deep voice of the group's leader slowly spoke out, "That smell… I think there's someone el-"
Yet, Crow, having trusted his senses, had long since made a break for it from his patch of grass.
WHOOOOOSH!!
The group of 5 all looked back to see Crow dashing through the tall grass.
WUUUUU
The sound of an arrow string being pulled sounded out as the group stood and watched.
THWAPP!!
WHIIIIRRRR!!
The sound of an approaching arrow alarmed Crow as he dove to the ground, feeling the sensation of the arrowhead gingerly kissing him atop his bed of hair.
"Ugh!" he moaned out as he fell belly 1st yet jumped back up as fast as he fell.
He began to run in a zigzag motion with an uneven pattern as he furthered the distance.
The boss of the group upon seeing this frowned, "You!" he looked at the gray-skinned member with spiky white hair, "Since you took the loot, go solve that problem. We can't have witnesses."
He gave a sharp gaze that left no room for negotiation.
"Leave it to me, Cap!" The man said as he gave a quick salute and sped off, revealing a bloody dagger in hand.
.
.
.
.
HUFF HUFF
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!"
Pants and deranged cursing sounded out as a young boy sprinted through the grasslands.
Not far behind him, the sound of crazed laughter echoed out, "I'm gonna catch ya lil piggy, kekeke!"
The one being chased was of course Crow and for some reason, despite this being a game, he felt a burning sensation in his lungs, a cramping pain in his stomach and his legs screaming in agony.
"I'll catch you lil piggy!" Yet that was the least of his worries as he could hear his assailant gaining on him.
'Fuk! He's so fast! Is this because he's a "Blessed" or is there some sort of leveling in this game?'
Finally, after 5 minutes of running, Crow had considerably slowed down as his body was shutting down on him.
"Gah!" Saliva was churning from his mouth, snot from his nose, and tears from his eyes, 'My body… won't… fukin…movshhhh…' "MOVEEEEE" he spat out as his buckling legs weakly responded, his supply of adrenaline now nearly depleted.
OINK OINK
The sound of pigs sounded in his ears, 'Strange… why do I hear pigs before I'm about to die.'
WACKKKK!!
A strong force kicked him in the back sending him sprawling onto the ground.
SHINK!!
"Ahhhhh!" Crow let out a horrid shriek as the man stabbed him in the hamstring.
"No more running now, lil piggy." the man cackled as he turned Crow's body over with his foot, taking a look at his face.
"Oooooh? Was that bitch we just killed your girlfriend or somethin? You should have a rare loot too then right?" the man asked lackadaisically as he rested his foot on Crow's abdomen while picking his nose with one of his daggers.
"Ughh…" the world was spinning for Crow as he could still hear that sound…
OINK OINK…
He looked at the man, his deprived smile, the perverted way he licked his lips, 'How many lives had he taken? Then again, who would give a 2nd thought to killing an NPC?'
OINK…
RUMBLE…
Yet at that moment the sounds of rampaging footsteps sounded as the man looked ahead to see a hairy hog towering 4ft tall on all 4's with sharp tusks protruding out 1ft.
"What the-"
CHUNKKK!!!
"AGHHHHHH!!"
Yet, Crow took advantage of this situation to stab the bastard in the ankle with the throwing knife, and then using the last of his strength to push him off and swagger forward on all 4's.
'Al-almost there.'
There was no 'there', just that little bit of hope to give himself, to go forward… to live.
"Why you?!" Crow could hear the sounds of the man and the hog battling, yet that was of no concern to him as he continued to go on ahead.
OIIIINKKK!!
Yet, a raging screech that came from behind awoke from his daze as he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the tusk that brushed against his shoulder.
His left hamstring was still leaking blood, as he hadn't even had time to patch it yet.
He turned to face the crazed Hog in front of him, and his eyes widened seeing that one of the man's dagger was still stuck in it's left eye, yet instead of retreating to finish off the man it had chosen to chase after him, showing how territorial this beast was.
'Fuk…'
Crow's head felt heavy, and the world was still spinning causing the hog in front of him to resemble a vague mush at times, as his eyes zoned in and out of focus.
"NO!" He smacked himself in the face as he readied himself, 'I gotta stay awake… just… just a little while longer.'
The hog as if tired of waiting rushed at him, wailing as it did so and leaving a storm of uprooted grass in its wake as Crow awkwardly flopped out of the way while attempting to stab it.
Yet his pathetic blade could barely even scratch its fur, much less penetrate its skin.
'Fuk!'
The hog, caught up in its own momentum, continued forward for another 5 seconds, before turning and snorting at him, readying itself to charge again.
Crow's mind was racing as well, 'This blade is too dull and too short, where-' the blade still plunged into the pig's eyes caught his attention, 'I see.'
The hog charged once more as Crow readied himself, 'I only have one chance at this.'
He brought his arm back as his body groaned in agony, and with all his might chucked the throwing knife forward.
WHOOOOOSH!!
The knife lodged itself into the pig's right eye as it roared and crashed its tusks into the ground.
Seeing this, Crow pushed forward ignoring the blaring screams of pain from his hamstring and took hold of the dagger left by the grey-skinned man, further pushing the blade deeper and deeper inside.
"RARRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
The beast roared out, yet its cries finally ceased as Crow was left there alone, heavily breathing, and his hands covered in eye juices and brain matter.
Crow collapsed onto his knees and on all 4 fours as he vomited next to the body.
"Ughhh…" As he looked down to the ground, his pulsating headache had amplified causing his vision to become even shakier, yet as he looked up again he saw something that shocked him.
The pig's body was being eaten.
Rather, its body was being consumed by small black boxes that were causing it to disappear at a visible rate.
Yet, what he saw after that shocked him.
❏❐▊❑❒▨☳⊳░▃▀❒
◤⫸△▆▎▋▰◆
The world around him started flickering as if it were glitching out and the world was about to collapse.
Yet, as soon as it happened everything was back to normal, all except now, the pig's body was gone.
'W-what… the fuk… is going on?..'
Yet, the roaring pain from his body interrupted him from that thought, "Gah!" he yelped out as he reached into his bag, taking out his bandages and the glass bottle.
He foamed at the mouth as he applied the appointment to the wound on his hamstring before wrapping it with the bandage, and then he took a look at the bottle with the green liquid.
'It's getting late and I definitely won't be able to walk with my leg like this.'
Begrudgingly, he opened the bottle before taking a small sip.
'It tastes… like leaves… hmm.'
He quickly downed the rest of the bottle as a sense of freshness came over him, as he felt himself reinvigorated.
The boy slowly rose to his feet, taking the 2 weapons that now lay where the boar's body once was.
'I'm not in top condition, but it should be enough to find a place to sleep.' the boy thought to himself.
The boy slumbered through the grasslands for an unknown amount of time as the sky further dimmed, everything felt like a dream, till he finally stumbled across a cave.
'I wonder… if it's occupied by a… a beast.' The boy could barely form coherent thoughts as he slinked inside, his feet sliding against the floor.
After making it to the furthest edge of the cave where light was still able to leak through, he finally plopped his face onto the floor's cold hard floor.
As he lay there the day went through his mind.
The "Error" in the Character Creator, seeing the "Blessed" arrive, meeting that shopkeeper, those players trying to kill him, barely surviving against that piggy, Lóa…
The boy gave a coy grin as his consciousness began to fade, 'Why does it matter anyway? It's just a game.'
He spoke out in his mind, "Log Out!"
.
.
.
Even after 5 minutes, nothing happened.
Crow seeing this, whether calm or too fatigued to care, rescinded, "Heh, so I'm really an NPC… wow."
As he lulled into a deep sleep.
.
.
.