A/N: "I'll be alternating between Evans and Elm in this chapter, hope no one gets confused!"

***

Elm laughed nervously. Stuck in a really sticky situation, he really didn't know what he could do.

"On a second thought, maybe you guys want to be friends instead?" he suggested meekly.

"Don't be stupid, you're going to die." Blaze sneered in reply. His fiery eyes seemed to be filled with glee at the aspect of another player dying by his hands.

"Yeah! You're going to die!" Halfling number-one shouted.

"Die! Die!" Halfling number-two added in while waving his dagger in the air.

Elm took a deep breath. There was no escaping this situation, it was make it or break it, and he certainly didn't want to break it. Dying in Horizon made your level go down by one, and your skill mastery would also take a hit! Elm didn't have any skills at the moment but he didn't want his level to go down. Elm alternately stared between Blaze and the Halfling duo, waiting for them to make a move. The situation was so tense that the players who were hunting Quills in the field walked over to see what the ruckus was about. They chattered amongst themselves, some even placing bets to see who would win.

"I bet my copper coins on the black haired guy!" one guy said earnestly.

"You're stupid, obviously the guy with that hundred dollar cosmetics is going to win." another person said in reply, and bet his coins as well.

"Are those three ganging up on him?" someone else asked his friend, but didn't do anything. It seemed to be that he was only interested in what was happening. No one bothered to help Elm, they treated this as some kind of side event. Elm gritted his teeth, so this was human nature? He already started regretting wanting to help out Leica. He stole a glance at her, and saw that she was just casually standing around, watching the fight go on. She apparently had zero interest in participating in the fight or helping Elm.

"So much for trying to be a nice guy." He thought grudgingly to himself. Ever since he was a kid, Evans had been the guy who just couldn't leave someone who was in trouble alone. It all began from the time when his parents had their first divorce.

His parents had been out of work, and they couldn't help but find themselves arguing over money problems. There was a lack of jobs in the city they were living in, especially in the line of what his father did. Evans' father had been a doctor previously, but he wasn't a fairly known one. He had been working in a small clinic near the house they were currently living in and life had been moving smoothly for them, but only for a while.

It was not only until the Year 21XX that a new wave of technology came. With it, there were new capsule machines invented that were named as the LifePod. The LifePod had two functions, diagnose, and treatment. It was invented as a way for the general populace to be able to afford cheaper healthcare methods. The government licensed it and soon, mass production of the LifePod machines began.

Of course, when it first appeared, people were skeptical of it and didn't think it would be able to compare with actual doctors. Over time, more and more people began using the LifePod because of its cheaper cost, and it was in a lot of cases more accurate than a regular doctor's diagnosis. The popularity of the LifePod machines rose, and more and more clinics began to adapt to the LifePod machines.

Even Evans father's clinic soon got rid of him, as they had acquired their own LifePod machine and they didn't need him anymore. He was out of work, and he struggled to find some other job that he could do, but during the period where he had just lost his job, he couldn't adapt to his new situation. He was stuck in disbelief, disbelief that machine replaced man. It was just like how some people in the past feared when planes were fitted with the auto-pilot function. Pilots didn't lose their jobs, however, as they were also hired as on-board technicians.

Of course, larger clinics and healthcare centres such as hospitals and the likes still hired doctors. But only medical specialists would be able to find jobs in hospitals, those that had selected a field they were devoted to. A general doctor like Evans' father wasn't exactly sought after. As for Evans' mother, she was a housewife. The only work she would do were part time jobs that she could find near her home as she had to take care of Evans. Part-time jobs that she did include waitressing, cleaning, or sometimes the odd catering for their neighbours.

The day that his parents were going to file for a divorce, Evans was outside their home playing by the roadside after school. He couldn't stand the arguments his parents had, and he was sick of crying. That was why usually after school, Evans would play by himself along the way home. Although he was only six at the time, the stage of his mentality was already above his peers at school. Evans was poking an active ant hill that had been built in the field beside the road with a stick. He found it amusing to see the numerous ants scurrying about and panicking as he poked the ant hill.

Suddenly, he cocked his head up. Staring at the road infront of him, he noticed a girl from his class at school walking in the middle of the road alone. The girl had long brown hair, and it flowed in the wind as she scurried along the road.

"Hey Milly!" he called out, suddenly interested in what she was doing. The girl, suddenly heared him shout, was startled. Walking up to him, the first thing Evans noticed were her slightly red, and puffy eyes.

"H-h-hi Evans." Her breath was shaky, and she stuttered while talking to him.

"What's wrong?" Evans asked calmly with a soothing tone. He was pretty used to this, Milly cried in school a lot because she always always bullied by the other kids for being short.

It turns out she lost her bear after coming home from school. Thinking that she must've dropped it while walking home from school, she ran along the road looking for it.

"I'll help you look for it, don't worry okay?" He said and then beamed at her. Smiling while showing all his teeth. He dropped the stick he was holding that he used to poke the ant hill with and immediately took Milly's hand. "Let's go!" Milly's eyes filled with delight, Evans had always helped her solve the problems she thought were impossible.

Ten minutes later, they found her bear sticking its leg out of some leaves in a tall bushy Elm tree by the roadside. Obviously, someone had thrown it up there on purpose.

"What do.. we do?" Milly said, tears already starting to form in her eyes again. She stared up at the tree, craning her neck.

"Maybe we could use a stick or something.. or climb?" Evans wondered aloud. He glanced around, but he couldn't find a stick that was long enough to poke the bear out of the tree. "Well, I guess I'll climb the tree and come back down quickly.." he murmured to himself.

"But.. the tree's so tall. You could hurt yourself!" she replied in shock, hearing what Evans had said softly.

After that, despite Milly's protests, Evans climbed the tree anyway. He managed to climb half the way up the tall Elm tree before he slipped a little, and Milly gasped in fright. She held her breath in anticipation, seeing Elm's grin despite the little slip up, as he continued to climb all the way up into the branches. Finally reaching a thick branch, Evans grabbed onto it, and hauled himself up to sit on it. He looked down at Milly, and saw her hugging herself in fear of him falling down. He grinned again, and looking away from Milly, he began to search for the bear.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"It should be around.. here!" he exclaimed after seeing a little bit of its head sticking out of the leaves in the tree. It was lodged a little ways higher from where Evans was sitting, and he had to stand on the branch just to reach it. "Just a little.. bit more." He stretched out his hand to the outmost while licking his lips.

"Got it!" He exclaimed again just as he managed to touch the bear. He pulled on it with his two fingers, and suddenly, Evans felt his foothold give way with a loud crack. He heard a scream, and it was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.

***

"Ugh.." Evans slowly said as he opened his eyes. His hand slowly rose up to touch his forehead. He had a wet cloth on his forehead and when he took it off, he felt there was a large bump below the cloth. "Oww.." Evans was surrounded by a familiar bedsheet that had the face of a cartoon character he liked on it, he looked around the room and recognized it immediately.

"I'm back in my room?" he thought puzzledly to himself. "I remember grabbing Milly's bear.. and then.." Suddenly, Evans felt a chill up his spine. He suddenly felt afraid.

"And then everything went dark? Did I fall asleep?" he wondered, brushing away that feeling of fear. His room door opened and his mother walked in, holding another wet cloth. Seeing him awake, his mother went wide-eyed and immediately rushed to his side and grabbed his hand.

"Are you okay dear? Does it hurt anywhere? How's your head?" She asked, with worry in her voice.

"My head hurts a little.. but I'm okay." Evans replied.

"Evans! He's awake!" his mother shouted for Evans dad. Evans had the same name as his father. He was Evans Segal Jr. while his dad was Evans Segal. His mother would call him 'dear' or 'son', she had never called Evans by his name. Suddenly, running footsteps could be heard coming towards Evans' door, and a few moments later, a man appeared inside Evans' room. He also grew wide-eyed, seeing Evans awake. The man immediately came to a kneeling position just beside Evans' mother, and also took hold of his hand, along with his mother's hand.

"Are you okay son? Does it hurt anywhere?" Evans' father had asked the same question his mother did. They were both worried about him.

"I'm okay daddy." He replied. "My head just hurts a little."

Suddenly, Evans noticed something.

"Daddy, you're holding mummy's hand!" He suddenly exclaimed and smiled at his parents. His mother and father looked at each other, and they both started laughing. That day, they decided to call off their divorce, and Milly got her bear back.

***

"If I'm gonna die here, I might as well die trying!" Elm gave a battle-cry, deciding to tackle Blaze first, since he was alone. He swung his dagger in a circular motion, trying to catch him off-guard. However, Blaze anticipated the attack since he was watching Elm's movement closely. Elm tried cutting Blaze again, but he avoided his attack, almost toying with Elm.

Miss!

Miss!

Two miss signs appeared atop Blaze's head.

Snickering at Elm's missed attacks, Blaze said. "C'mon, is this all you got?" The man was clearly having fun messing with Elm. The other players began murmuring among themselves about how bad Elm was, or how sadistic Blaze was. Though none of them bothered to try to help Elm out.

Suddenly, as Elm was focused on trying to hit Blaze with his dagger, something pricked his back from behind. It was a stab from the Halfling duo!

Critical Hit!

13!

Elm turned around angrily. It was his first time getting stabbed by another player and it didn't feel very nice. It wasn't that painful but it still felt uncomfortable. It was just like getting stabbed with a metal pipe. The Halflings cheered at the critical hit they had just scored, a few more of those and Elm's health would've been at the bottom. He swung his dagger at the duo, trying to create some distance between them. Being stuck in the middle of three players was certainly difficult to go up against.

"Fight me one on one you cowards!" Elm cried helplessly. His dagger attacks weren't landing because he had to maintain his focus on three people. If he focused on just one person, the other two would immediately move to strike him. The trio snickered and said nothing, and continued their 'baptism' on Elm.

Soon enough, Elm's health whittled away from their attacks and it reached zero. There were multiple cuts on Elm's body, and his body disintegrated starting from his feet. Elm's face contorted in horror seeing his body slowly disappear, and the trio gave loud laughs seeing his face.

"Hope you'll learn not to mess with us." Blaze snickered, and mockingly gave him a farewell salute.

Elm's vision turned into darkness and all he could see in the dark were two notification windows.

He didn't feel anything other than inexplicable embarrassment.

You have died!

As you have died in a Beginner Field Zone, you have not incurred any penalties.

Origin Crystal has not been selected.

Respawning in city of origin in 10..9..8..

Elm felt a grudge growing inside him.

Against Blaze.

Against those stupid Halflings.

Against that freaking Elf-blondie.

Against all the bloody players who were watching and laughing at his predicament.

Elm stared at the window as he listened to the sound of slow ticking, each one seemed slower than the one before, until he made a decision.

He was just going to forget about it. It would be a pain anyway.

***

A/N: "For future reference, I will not be using Evans' dad's name when they're having a conversation. I will just refer to him as Evans' father."

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