'No Please!. Please spare me, please!'
A princess ran in a quite forest as she looked behind at the monster that chased after her, her crown fell as she ran but she kept on running without noticing the bird above her glitching.
*No. I can't die like this, I have to survive for my family* She thought as she ran further. Soon, she reached an end. There was nowhere left to run and she was trapped. The monster soon caught up to her and slowly walked towards her, his every step causing her heartbeat to increase. Realizing she had no choice, she decided to use her last resort.
'Please, spare my life! I did nothing wrong!' The monster was completely unresponsive.
'I know you can hear me, please tell me what I can do to appease you!'.
The monster stopped in his tracks and then, he suddenly shape shifted.
The princess was shocked then became relieved and surprised.
'Your highness? Oh my, your actions have caused quite a stir in my heart'.
The princess said, the fear in her eyes were replaced with admiration.
The princess was happy momentarily to see that it was her husband.
'You were really afraid my princess'. The prince said with a smile and extended his hand towards her.
The princess, as if realizing something, stopped immediately.
'Is something the matter, my princess?'
'Since when are you able to do that, your highness?' The princess said, slowly backing away to run at any turn of event.
'I don't know what you're talking about my dear'.
'No..no..wait. How did you suddenly shape shifted from the monster to....
The prince, realizing he had been caught, smirked.
'I guess you're still quite smart'.
'What?' the princess was really confused.
'Let's get this over with, I don't have all day'.
'What are you talking about?'
Her eyes darted, confusion blooming in them.
The prince slowly pulled out his sword.
'Loving me was your biggest mistake princess. You really should've known better than to fall in love with a shadow '
'What?' the princess was confused, her husband was being weird. He never spoke to her this way. This was clearly not her 'prince charming'.
'Since you're so confused, let me refresh your memory. Don't you remember C.O.D.E?'
The princess looked surprised.
'C.O.D.E? How do you know about it?' C.O.D.E, was the biggest secret she had hidden from everyone, even her husband wasn't aware.
'If you don't remember, do you at least remember the third rule?'
'The third rule is....
Suddenly, a piece of her memory came to her.
***
'Follow these rules and you'll be safe. Remember.....d...do not...'
***
The rest of the words faded in her mind.
She looked at the person before her with suspicion in her eyes.
'Do not fall in love' she said in a whisper, slowly remembering what she had gotten herself into but before she comprehend what was happening, the sword came straight into her heart.
Her breath became slower as she fell to the ground.
She looked at her husband's face one last time and even though she knew that wasn't the person she had fallen in love with, she still smiled at him lovingly.
The prince suddenly felt uneasy as the owner of the body was struggling to come out but he managed to fight it back.
'Useless!' He said and this made the princess remember something.
'Yo...you..are the g..gg..game....
'Yeah, yeah. Save your breath princess and die quickly '.
The princess stared at him wide-eyed.
Then, she started glitching. The prince wasn't surprised to see that. He watched her with no emotion on his face until she faded completely.
'Hmph. Love.....how foolish '.
He shape shifted back into a monster and left.
***
IN A DIMLY LIT ROOM
A man sat in front of a computer screen which displayed, 'GAME OVER!'
The man watched as the princess (A character) glitched and disappeared with a calm and familiar expression on his face.
'Predictable, Fear, Panic, Desperation, Useless!'
The gamekeeper said dryly while his assistant, who was behind him, noted it all down. He leaned forward and tapped a symbol and all remaining characters disintegrated into codes including the forest scene.
'They're all the same, very disobedient'.
The assistant was nervous, 'Simulation 3.4 terminated. All twenty characters...dead. The princess was the last one of then'.
The gamekeeper remained calm, 'They failed to obey the rules'. He said without looking up.
He rose from the chair, and steps down towards a viewing window.
'Tell me Natalie. Is falling in love such a special thing? Why does everyone destroy themselves when it comes to the matter of love?'
'Well sir.....
'Nevermind. I'll find out one day'
'What do we do now Gamekeeper?' The assistant asked.
'Let's start over'.
'Understood. How many characters do we need now?'
The gamekeeper smiled faintly, 'Twenty'.
'Twenty? Sir, wouldn't that be too much?I mean, the last twenty were.....
'Too much?' The gamekeeper said in amusement and laughed.
'There can never be too much characters Natalie. Never. Now go! Look for players. Those with ambitions but can't fulfill them, I'll help them, and in return, they'll be my characters. They'll play the game'.
'Noted sir'.
The assistant, Natalie, nodded and turned to leave.
'Wait'. The gamekeeper said and turned to face her. Natalie stared at the masked face longer than usual and averted her gaze.
'Sir?'
'Do you have a family?'
'N...no sir'.
'Hmn. Good, I like that'. The gamekeeper was satisfied but then his expression changed abruptly.
'Since you don't have a family, you'll only ever be useful as an assistant '.
'Huh? Wh...what do you mean sir?
'Forget it. Go and do as I say'.
'Yes sir'. Natalie turned to leave but then she stopped.
'Can I go now sir?'
The gamekeeper smiled. 'You're very quick to catch on'.
Then he added,
'You better obey me if you want to continue living. Twenty. no more, no less'.
Natalie wasn't surprised by his threat. He had always been that way in her five years of working for him and she didn't dare to disobey him.
'Yes sir'. She left immediately.
The gamekeeper turned back to his computer.
'I have a feeling that this time, it's gonna be more fun'.
He typed something on his computer and it displayed, 'Simulation 3.5'. Then, he laughed like a maniac. His expression turned serious again.
'Let the game begin'.