“Look at that drunk moron! You were gone for five minutes, and here we are. You need new friends, Kim. Think about it.”

I was about to help Owen. But the voice screeching in my head had a stunning effect and got me stuck on a high start between two tables. Ok, I was sane for a few days, and now there are voices. Awesome.

“Are you going to stand here all night? Your pal doesn’t look like a fighter, all I’m saying.”

The voice was raspy and rather vile. I felt like I've heard this creaky whisper somewhere. It came from the inside but also felt like something was hissing right in my ear. As if I had some kind of transmitter there, which I was pretty sure wasn’t the case.

“What are you?” Somehow, I also became a ventriloquist for a second. I asked a question, but my lips definitely didn’t move.

“I am you. You are me. I am the Fool, and you are Arthur Kim, the man who lets some ugly fucks kick his BFF's ass unless he does something fast.”

Indeed. Drunk locals already took Owen by the arms and dragged him to the exit. The player trailed behind and smiled with all his jagged teeth.

“I am very confused right now.” I said... to myself, kinda? Again I did not understand a thing, but there was not a second to waste. "Seems like that guy is trouble.”

“Oh well. Someone’s perceptive.” confirmed The Fool. “You are on the same level, and something tells me, he's not much of a talker. Time's running out.”

“What should I do?”

“Did I overestimate you? Look at him! I don’t know what he put his points into but looks like it was strength. And even if it’s not, he’s ripped! I wouldn’t like to face this guy head on!”

Implying I did.

Well, this is not my first time at the ring. In school, there were days when I had to beat two or three guys at once. With varying success, of course. I'm not some kind of karate kid, but I had to learn how to fight back the hard way.

There are five jocks here, and it seems none of them misses the gym ever. Plus a player with some unknown bonuses.

Damn, Owen, what have you got me into? We should have stayed at the club with the clumsy bartender. Sure, the strippers were meth-tier, but the audience was much better.

“So what's the idea?”

“You still have one Wyrd's point. You take it and add to your Endurance stat, so you can take a punch and not get wrecked immediately.”

Wyrd…? Oh, shit! I have been trying to understand what this "measure of humanity" actually means. Anyway, the deal didn't look fair. It was easy to get stronger, but at the same time, the consequences looked quite ominous.

The voice in my head got mad.

“Stop hesitating! Your Wyrd won't even increase from one point, you’ll need nine more before you start to turn into something. And so you know, folks in the Cradle live with high Wyrd and they don’t complain!”

I don’t know those folks. Maybe they are chill with it, but I didn't want to turn into anything. We need to keep the masquerade, aren’t we? How’s that supposed to work?

But there was no choice. Saving Wyrd point meant leaving Owen to his fate. I couldn’t do that. He’s my partner, even if he’s a bit annoying.

Okay. Whatever happens, happens. I converted Wyrd's point to Endurance. I was mostly sober by then anyway, but the upgrade removed dizziness completely. Fine, I wasted too much time talking with hallucinations. Owen has already been taken to the pier. The whole group could be seen through a darkened window. I jumped right out of the next one.

“Hey! Let him go!”

The jocks raised their eyes and glared at me.

“Who the hell are you?” said the player, stepping forward.

Moron from the Outskirts - Level 2

“I’m with him.”

I tensed but generally remained calm.

“Your friend is a jerk, Sulu. Should’ve kept his mouth shut.”

What a pointless insult.

“He’s fucking wasted. What’s your excuse?”

Owen mumbled something, showed me a "thumbs up". This guy, I swear…!

Diplomacy failed before I even began. One of the jocks hit Owen in the gut. My partner contorted like a ragdoll. The player loomed over me. He was two meters tall, and even I, who considered myself tall enough, felt like a kid next to him.

He watched in silence, waiting for what I would do. I see. Intimidation tactic. I wonder where did this guy come from? He could not slip through the crack and blend this well, could he? Meaning, he was exactly like me. Moreover, the system did not give me any tasks on him.

I punched him in the face. This was the very first time I experienced my new speed in combat. The thrust was indeed swift. A real, sharp, precise blow to the jaw. If only it were the jaw of a mortal ... The toothless bastard grunted. My hand seemed to hit a stone wall, and my entire wrist exploded with "pseudo-pain." It certainly felt like a fracture. So much for that extra constitution. I didn't have time to think about it thoroughly. An enemy fist, as hard as his face, flew into my nose.

You, mmmotherf…!

Getting hit by such a smooth criminal is very unpleasant. Especially, when you expected supernatural monsters and not some drunk bullies. How much strength does this freak have? Two? Feels like three. I wouldn't be surprised if he was not shy about using all the available improvements.

“Change of plans!” shouted The Fool. "We can’t let him get away with that! Arthur, you have to get up and show him who's in charge."

“Yeah. I'll just pick up the brains from the ground real quick, and…”

My arm wasn't broken, but I could barely move it as if my wrist was stuffed with cotton wool. The same story happened with the face.

I only had a few seconds to roll away from the heavy boot flying straight into my chest. I jumped up and kicked him in the leg. It was harder than the parking counter. But the ringing sound from the collision sounded similar.

A fist flew right past my ear.

Meanwhile, friends of this guy had a time of their life watching our duel.

“Be careful, don’t crack this twink’s head, Steve!” bellowed one of them. At least, drunk fucks forgot about Owen.

“Really don’t want to disappoint you, but it seems like he has a Seal.” my inner voice said. “I don’t see how else he could become this tough. Unless he was born with natural armor twenty bricks of butter thick.”

“I kinda figured that wasn’t because of a healthy diet.”

I was spinning like crazy. Any lucky hit from these fortified fists could put me into a hospital bed for weeks. We both moved pretty fast, but thanks to the increased reflexes, time slowed down a bit for me. I managed to dodge and keep up with my inner voice, while looking after Owen, so he wouldn’t crawl away on his own.

“It might be Metal. In this case, we’re bonked. But it might be a Stone. Definitely some kind of primitive enhancement. He would not get anything better at his level. Looks like his skin hardens in response to physical trauma. Wait a sec, the scanner app is almost done.”

“I have no sec! What should I do?!” I was yelling in my head.

“Keep going. Dad needs to think. If only we’ve had our own seal, or…”

I had to come up with the idea on my own. Of course, this move was not fair, but what kind of fair fight can happen at The Barge? I slipped right under his arm, grabbed him, and jerked sideways towards the railing. I wanted to throw him over, but the guy was too heavy for that. It almost didn’t work. Steve put his foot on a corroded part of the pier.

“Arthur, you’re fucking genius ...! I would kiss you if ... brvrhg!”

The Fool’s voice choked when we fell into the water. A second before that, I saw the eyes of my opponent. There was certain bewilderment in them, and even, perhaps, fear. At first, I thought that he couldn't swim. As soon as emerged, I immediately returned for him. I didn’t want this freak to drown because of me.

Something bizarre happened underwater.

Later, I will get used to all that weird shit the game system brings to my gray and boring reality. What I saw there was almost as shocking as the first meeting with fishman monsters.

The player was twitching, shivering, convulsing at the bottom. Also, he was glowing like a Christmas tree.

There was that movie I once saw with my brother. The spirits took out a screaming soul from the main villain and dragged him to hell. And now, I’ve witnessed something of the sort. If I may put it that way, his "astral body" was struggling to break away from him. Some fireflies jumped out of the guy's chest and flew to the surface.

Steve opened his mouth like a huge fish, whose whole body was just bitten off by a shark. I tried to pull him up before he swallowed too much water. He spewed out a whole fountain and started whimpering.

“A sad sight.” concluded The Fool. “But that was a nice move.”

“What’s his deal?”

“Did you read everything they gave you about Seals? Those are not just advantages, but also vulnerabilities. He got the Stone Seal, so he dislikes water now, especially saltwater.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Well, use your head, agent! Once you get the Seal, you accept everything it symbolizes, good and bad. Nobody would let you spit fire in a mortal world without any kind of a drawback.”

What a heavy bastard. It took a lot of effort to drag him to the shore.

“And that’s why he is like this?”

“He has The Stone inside of him.”

“Usually, you'd need an ultrasound to reveal that,” I muttered. Damn, Alice infected me with her stupid sense of humor. The Fool ignored this beautiful joke.

One of Steve's friends held out his hand to me. It seems that the conflict was settled as suddenly as it began.

"If the player is not an idiot, he'll cover all his weak spots in time. Beginners should be more careful. You pushed him into a very hostile environment."

"Will he live? Because he doesn't look so fresh right now."

"Nah, he'll be fine. A couple of days in bed, all it takes. Maybe, he'll learn some humility after all this."

Jocks took their fallen comrade and bolted. Owen sat next to me, mindlessly rubbing his swelling nose. The police were already on the case. They were ready as always to punish the innocent and reward the uninvolved.

Officers didn’t care about my version of events, and we were quickly taken to a small district station. As usual, real bad guys ran away. I had to carry Owen to the police car and beyond since he’s gone completely limp. At least neither he nor I needed medical attention. Although, I was thinking about taking an x-ray of my face. Something had to be broken after that punch, I just had no way to tell now.

The chubby policeman didn’t like me from the start, it seems. Weird look on his face told me this much. He led us into a tiny cell on the other side of the room. One cell next to ours was empty. A homeless man was sleeping in another. The last one was full of sad and bored women, dressed like street workers.

Nobody asked me any questions. I was told to be quiet and not to try anything funny. At 3АМ it became clear, we are not leaving any time soon. I never told Alice where I was going, and even if they didn’t take our phones, mine died in the sea anyway. Not good.

Owen snored like a wounded buffalo. He was so loud, hookers asked me to shut my friend up, which I did by turning him towards the wall.

Bond Upgrade: The Moon

Current Bond Level: 2

Seriously? That’s what it takes?

“You're a master at opening cards,” said the Fool. “I’m glad I chose you.”

Since there was nothing to do anyway, I felt like I could clarify something with my imaginary friend. “What are you, again?”

“Mwahaha! Don't you get it yet? I am you. Your other self. Your guardian angel. Your Stand. Your Persona. Your starter Pokemon. Anything you like.”

“Can you stop talking in riddles?”

“In short, I’m within your link to the system. The one that helps you keep the power without going insane. You should be thankful, not every player has that. Others weren’t as lucky.”

“I kind of doubt that “without going insane” part, though.”

“Sanity is for the weak, as some wise man said.”

That didn't sound wise to me.