After ducking around every dark corner of the inn and winding around the outside nearly three times, Violet spotted Luke between two trees just outside the Copper Citadel.

He was beating the shit out of some slimes.

Goo was flying everywhere, painting the sides of trees.

"You're gaining a lot of XP solo for somebody who wants to be in a party," Violet said softly as she approached.

"Do I?"

"I would hope so, since you've been in a party since we met. Do you think you can win this thing by yourself?"

Begrudgingly, Luke introduced the edge of his blade to another slime, splatting the little guy into the grass. "No. That's the fucking problem, though. I can't win alone and I'm losing my chance to win with her."

Violet's shoulders sagged. "What do you mean?"

"Did I ever tell you that I took a Credit deal before I signed up for the World of Wills?"

"No," the purple girl sighed with piqued interest, bracing her back against one of the trees, "but we never really had the chance to actually get to know each other, since we partied together in Phase 1."

"Well, I did. 10,000 credits get sent to my mother for every person I kill in here, to help her pay for her treatment. But do you know what would give her the biggest payout? If I just died. The biggest payout happens when I myself die; that gives her 1 million credits instantly. And for a minute there, when I saw that NPC card, I think I just put too much hope in it-- like if we just fucking used it wisely, we could win. I could go for all the fucking marbles."

He put an impassioned fist out in front of his face, still covered in blood from the dungeon. "I've never been here to win, Violet-- I've been here to die at the right time."

"There was this challenge room in the dungeon where we had to jump from pillar to pillar, and every jump I just thought 'this is it, this is the million credit jump'. But Nikola fucking grabbed me by the cape and forced me to live, the bitch. I don't even think she knows what she did for me. But I can't help but keep thinking, well, she better fucking make it worth it."

Violet could see the tears building up around his waterline, threatening to fall just like he was considering in the dungeon. She could feel water streaking down her cheeks too.

"And I saw that damn-- that damn card, and I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to just die to give my mother a life worth living, I could win and get out of here and live a life worth living with her.

"Luke, that sounds like a tough situation to be in. I'm not going to tell you how to handle this, but let me offer an alternate perspective; you just wake up for the first time ever, and there's this angry blue-haired dude hovering over you saying he hates that you exist."

Luke wrinkled his nose and turned it up. "So you want me to consider her feelings now?"

"Well, do you not agree that she has feelings, given what she said during truth or dare? She's not going to show it for a long time, but having one of the first three people she's ever met hate her for existing is going to mess her up."

"I don't hate her, I just hate that this was the price of awakening her-- and that awakening her wasn't what was best for the party, it's what was best for Nikola. I'll get over it, though - I wouldn't want me being a huge fucking piss baby over this to be what kills us. How ironic would that be, that me being pissed over a sub-optimal gaming decision was what did us in?"

Luke punctuated his words by absolutely obliterating another innocent slime.

Violet's heart ached. She could tell that this was really eating Luke up inside, but who wasn't in pain in this place? Even the sky was still bleeding.

"How about we come up with a plan for the next few days, just you and me? The Copper Citadel has all sorts of quests for humans, and we'd probably get pretty far if we really, really focused. And they have all sorts of Health Potion rewards, so if we got enough we could go fight wandering bosses meant for players way higher leveled than we are."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Luke bobbed his chin slightly, tense but pleased they were talking strategy. He lowered his weapon and nudged the tip of his sword into the dirt. "You're thinking too small, Violet. As much as the Knightly part of me hates it, there's no denying that griefing other players has the highest EXP return, and Phase 1 is the best time for it if you don't want to catapult somebody into an early grave for some levels."

"Yeah, but..." She kicked her feet into the dirt. "That's such a balancing act. What if people think we're huge jerks and then we start becoming huge jerks and we start hating each other? That's what happened to Jiru in Season 1 when they were still learning about the Wills mechanic. He killed so many people that everyone thought he was a soulless killing machine and then everyone abandoned him, and he died like that. Cold, soulless, and completely unlike himself."

"But I'm already a huge jerk and you haven't left me yet, so I have nothing to worry about." He grinned devilishly in her direction, and the corners of her lips turned up warmly.

"That's true."

Luke shared some explicitly prolonged eye contact with the only party member of his who had stayed, staring into her deep purple eyes. They looked so kind compared to Nikola's. "Hey, if we're actually going to plan shit, we should go back to the others. Nikola is turning into a solid strategist aside from, you know, the obvious--" he made a half-perplexed-half-frustrated hand gesture with a lot of frowning eyebrow motions, "and we could really use her in the long run. Every time she gets on my nerves, I think 'would I rather be with or against an AI programmed to kill people for the voice in her basement'. And what do you know, I always choose with."

The Archer, while beginning back toward the Copper Citadel, giggled. "You live a hard life, LukeKnight64."

"We all do," he resigned, "but you know what would help with that? Mad stacks of Credits, so let's go get 'em."

Meanwhile, back at the inn...

Nikola tore the innards from her bread and handed them to Vengelica, while crunching down on the hard outer crust. They had figured out that while she enjoyed the puffy parts of the loaf, anything too crunchy put her off. She ate everything on her plate that had a wet and otherwise mushy texture, including the carrots. Nikola, not one to waste food, ate the bits she didn't want. It reminded her of when her father's meals would just be whatever her picky child-self wouldn't tolerate. It seemed Vengelica was going through that very same phase.

"Angelica, do you wish for me to call you Vengelica or Angelica?"

Angelica considered the question while chewing on the inside of a croissant, handing the ribbony skin off to the Rogue. "Is what I'm referred to as something I'm permitted to choose?"

"Yes," Nikola responded immediately, eyebrows furrowed.

"Then call me Ange or Ven. Both options result in too much time spent on referring to me."

"You are welcome to as much of my time as your name requires. You are also welcome to as much food as is required to fill your hunger bar, and water too. Once we return to our room and it is safe to idle, I will show you how to open your menu and how to navigate it."

"Vengelica, then - but I continue to prefer the shorter version Ven." Ven lowered a hand and began to rub at her stomach, which was fuller than she had ever felt it before. "My stomach is satisfied," she rumbled out, pleased to feel the feeling. She had never known that this was the feeling she was seeking, but now that it was present it was primally, deeply satisfying.

"My stomach is also satisfied. Let us return to our room, and I will show you how to open your menu, as promised."

The two of them sat on Ven's bed after scaling the stairs, butts pressed on the cushiony covers. "Many things in this world are done by drawing pictures in the air. This is the picture to summon your menu."

Nikola used her finger to draw the symbol that conjured her Red Box, the rectangle coalescing into existence before them. "Once it is open, you will be able to move through it by poking the icons. It responds to poking and swiping. If there is something you are curious about, ask me."

Ven clumsily used the tip of her finger to draw the same thing Nikola had. The game recognized it, more due to intent than proficiency. Her limbs were still unused to forming complex tasks.

While the Mage explored the menu slowly, deliberately, Nikola's eyes widened at the sight of a [1] beside her [Messages] icon.