FVR
Chapter Two.
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His transition into the game felt akin to falling asleep, only to snap back awake in an instant. His eyes blinked away the remnants of flashing colors as they adjusted to the darkness of the room.
He stretched out a hand, marveling at the texture and detail. It wasn't just an image or a copy, but his actual hand - really and undeniably his own, and yet, as the moment lingered, he noticed more. He ran his thumb against his fingers, and it felt real. Every groove, every bit of moisture, no different from reality. He clicked his fingers and felt the usual twang as his middle finger hit his palm. Even the coolness in the air brushed against his skin in the same way it would normally.
Amazing. Joel ran his hands down the loose fabric on his cream-colored shirt, feeling its smooth texture against the hairs on his chest, yet so thin that it allowed a slight chill to seep through. Brown trousers hung baggily on his skinny legs, feeling heavier and denser compared to his shirt. It's so... real...
"Welcome," a young voice said, "to group twenty-seven."
Joel raised his head slightly to see the chiseled face of a boy similar to his own age.
The boy stood slightly below Joel's eyeline, sporting a goatee and clad in bronze armor which covered his body and legs but not his arms or head. The boy's broad frame partially filled the large archway he stood in, yet was dwarfed by the monumental scale of the hall. He reached out a hand and placed it on Joel's shoulder; his firm yet welcoming grip felt so real to Joel that a chill ran up his back.
"You're Simon, right?" The boy asked. "We were wondering where you were..." he paused, and tilted his head slightly to study Joel's unfamiliar face. "Why'd you change your appearance so much?"
Joel hesitated for a second, still trying to take in the sensation of looking at something he knew to be virtual, but felt real. The fine hairs on the boy's chin, the shine of the armor he wore, and the natural shadows it formed - all seemed real, yet, couldn't be.
This is a game? Joel couldn't believe it. As he looked at the boy, his attention drifted back to his own sensations. The hand on his shoulder, the air on his skin, the moisture on his face, and then... My leg! The sudden realisation hit him as he nearly toppled over. The armored boy caught him as he did.
"Sorry," Joel said shyly. He had become so accustomed to bearing weight on his left leg that he hesitated to put weight on his right, causing it to buckle beneath him out of a protective habit. He looked down, tapping the ground with his right foot, gradually increasing pressure as he acclimated to it, all the while relying on the boy for support.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked to deaf ears.
Joel took a moment before he stood upright properly; he focused on the pain - but he couldn't find it. He jumped up slightly, letting go of the boy as he did. Then squatted and jumped again, higher this time.
No pain! He thought. "NO FUCKING PAIN!" He shouted, laughing loudly, much to the bewilderment of the people around him.
"What's going on?" a girl asked as she approached. She wore a white dress and wore a hesitant smile with curious eyes. She held a short staff tightly, adorned with a blue gem at its peak. The gem matched the color of her eyes, which darted from Joel to the boy next to him and back to Joel.
"I don't know," the boy replied, "it's meant to be Simon, but..." he grabbed Joel by the shoulder again, more sternly this time, "who the heck are you?"
The three of them were so engrossed in their own thoughts that they failed to notice the sudden silence of the players chatter, or hear the echoing footsteps of something large from within the room.
The boy held his hand to his face and tilted his head down. "Whatever," he said, "let's just get this wave figured out, then we'll..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a thunderous crash shook the wall, causing bits of lose rubble and dirt to cascade from the ceiling. Joel, too distracted to see it, felt the rush of wind as something swept by his face, followed by the shower of something wet and sticky. The dust from the impact blurred his vision as he instinctively took a step backwards, feeling as though something heavy had just brushed against him.
〘Wave One. Survive The Ambush〙
〘Monsters Remaining: 10/10〙
"Huh?" Joel gasped, spitting out grit from his mouth and waving his arms in front of him to clear the dust.
He blinked rapidly, missing the message from the system - too faded behind the dust to be seen clearly - then rubbed the blood from his eyes and mouth, noting the taste of iron and a lump of something on his lip.
Opening his eyes, he saw a silhouette of a looming figure standing before him, and his heart stopped. His mind struggled to make sense of what his eyes could see - a mace the size of a person embedded into the wall; the boy who had stood inches in front of him moments ago now nowhere to be seen.
The air filled with rumbling and clashing, a cacophony of indistinguishable screams, howls, and shouting reverberating back and forth off the mossy walls to the archway where Joel stood, completely bewildered.
"Huh?" Joel repeated. It's a game, right? It's just a game? A small chuckle floated in his chest, but he couldn't let it out.
The monster grumbled and shoveled its feet. The thing seemed to teeter on the brink of imbalance as it tried to pull the mace out from the wall. Once stable, it slowly lifted the mace back up over its head, took a step to gather itself, then swung again. Joel's mind had become devoid of thought - left only with the impression of how incredibly real everything felt.
Still trapped in a dream-like state, and utterly oblivious to the girls scream, the ground on his back came with a sudden thud as he crashed down upon it. Another sharp crash and his ears continued to ring.
A sharp rock lodged itself beneath him, jolting him back to the discomfort he had momentarily escaped. Oddly, the pain felt more normal to him than the bliss he had just felt, as if the fleeting moment of relief had been the anomaly, not this current ache.
His vision was still blurry from the blood and a thicker dust cloud now screened the air around him. The lack of vision made him acutely aware of the sounds he had heard before, but the screams in the distance had no meaning to him beyond the curtain of dust and blood.
"You okay?" The girl asked, laying on top of him. Joel looked down to see the girl with her hands forcefully pushing against his chest. Her disheveled hair fell over her face and small grazes blemished her skin. "Get up, okay?" She pushed herself to her feet. Her legs shook under her own weight, but she still held out a shaking hand with an anxious smile, "we've got to get..." Before she could finish her sentence, a third crash reverberated through the room.
Joel's ears rang again, but with an uncomfortable, nearly painful press, as if someone were jamming their thumbs in his ears. He blinked uncontrollably, shaking his head as rubble hit him in the face, cutting his cheek.
Fuck. That hurts. Wait... That hurts? The thought felt natural, but the environment didn't. Feeling the air on his chest, or the moisture in his fingers is one thing. But pain... pain is something else entirely.
He pushed himself up slightly, glancing over to the spot where the girl had stood, only to find a massive mace firmly embedded in the ground instead.
What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck! His mind spun with panic and confusion as a disturbing reality sank in. Scrambling to his feet, he retreated slowly until his back tapped against the wall.
As the dust settled, the grimness of his situation became painfully clear.
Wolves were ravaging through the chaos of screams, tearing people apart as they fled in panic. Each person sought cover behind another, hoping to gain distance to use their ranged weapons. But the wolves proved too cunning, too swift, too hungry; while the people lacked leadership, formation, or strategy.
How is this a fucking game!??
Joel's gaze flickered back to the monstrous figure that loomed above him. The image of a towering green ogre emerged into view. Its immense frame, equivalent to the size of four men, draped in nothing but a tattered loincloth. Its enormous body and large arms were disproportionately juxtaposed with its tiny head and skinny legs. Its massive hands gripped a bloodied mace firmly lodged in the ground.
As the ogre strained to dislodge its weapon from the stone floor, Joel's attention became morbidly drawn to the two people who had just died. The boy, wedged firmly into the wall, crushed so mercilessly that he melded with his armor. While the girl had utterly vanished, hit with enough force that nothing remained of her but blood.
The ogre grunted and strained, still struggling to lift the mace from the ground. With a growing sense of dread, Joel's legs trembled beneath him, as if burdened by an unseen weight. His wide-open eyes darted to a narrow gap between the wall and the ogre - enough for him to squeeze through - but not if the ogre noticed him.
Fuck! His panic and confusion stunned him.
It's a game. It's a game, he tried to reassure himself. But... It hurts. Why does it hurt? The thought that dying here would actually hurt nearly made him sick, and as the ogre freed the mace from the ground, Joel's stomach churned. He kept his eyes fixed on the mace, waiting for the swing.
Would it be from the side, like the first strike, or from above, like the second and third? The moment lingered. His legs continued to shake, and a bead of sweat dripped into his unblinking eye. In such a drawn-out moment, Joel imagined diving out of the way through the small gap several times, but he kept waiting, his body shaking in a nervous anticipation.
There! He could see it, clear and slow, a downward strike.
Joel dived forwards and flung himself passed the ogre. His legs carried him as he stumbled, trying to remember how to run.
Joel didn't turn back to check if it gave chase, he simply kept running to where the others were. He noticed an unclaimed bow on the ground with a single arrow next to it and stopped abruptly to pick it up. Nocking the arrow, he tried to steady his trembling hands as he looked around the room.
He glanced around at the skirmish, tears in his eyes and cramp in his heart.
There were three groups of people: two to his front, and one to his right, and several people on their own. He had to make a choice of who to run to, but as his fear rose, doubt filled his mind.
The largest of the groups fought to his right, with four people fighting two wolves. The other two groups were back to back, each with two people fighting one wolf each, but too far apart from one another to really strategize. Running to the larger group would mean running behind the wolves; it would give the group as a whole an advantage, but Joel would essentially be fighting two wolves with nowhere to run. He could use the bow, but he only had one arrow. Either way would be an act of suicide.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Fuck. His hesitation felt exhausting. I don't know these people, he told himself. I don't know what's happening or what happens if I die. Do I go right back to that room? Do I go home? Tears filled his eyes as his feet itched. Fuck. I don't want to be in pain! I don't want to fucking die here!
A thunderous crash and a scream behind him rang through the air. He turned with his bow at the ready to see that a lone girl had approached the ogre with a broadsword. She swiped at its legs, felling it to the ground; its skinny leg had been torn clean off, but the weight of the sword took her off balance and the ogre grabbed her head with his hand as she stumbled forwards. The ogre cried out in pain as it tried to stand, crashing into the wall as it did, lifting the girl into the air by the head along with it.
Joel aimed the arrow, waiting for a time to let loose. What if I hit her? The thought paralyzed him.
The girl kicked and clawed in a futile attempt to break free until it crushed her skull. Her blood decorated the wall and she fell limply to the bloodied floor along with the ogre.
Joel's tensed upper body relaxed with horror at the sight. His loose hands let the arrow fall to the ground with a soft tap, followed by the bow.
Vomit surged to his throat and he swallowed it without hesitation.
None of the players made eye contact with him as he stepped backwards - they were too busy fighting for their lives. Even as Joel turned on them to face the exit, he thought to himself that had they looked at him, he would have stayed.
At least, that was what he told himself.
〘Monsters Remaining: 9/10〙
〘+10 Shared Experience Points〙
***
〘Monsters Remaining: 8/10〙
〘+5 Shared Experience Points〙
〘Monsters Remaining: 7/10〙
〘+7 Shared Experience Points〙
After running for a full minute, Joel found himself far enough away that he couldn't hear any fighting. The run had exhausted him, leaving him panting heavily. His chest felt tight and his forehead dripped with sweat as his muscles trembled with fatigue.
He threw up.
How the fuck is this a game!? He had no lucid thought of revival, or a second life - just an overwhelming fear of death and of the pain that would come with it.
He pushed himself flat against a wall along a hallway, wiping the moisture off his lips. With his eyes focused down the path he had come from, he waited for either the monsters, or the people, to emerge, terrified of either outcome.
If they find me here, they'll hate me. But... No... It's okay, right? They'll understand, he laughed anxiously. They'll have to understand, he rubbed more moisture from his face and eyes, and sat down. He tucked his legs into his body, trying to think of the positive. No pain, he told himself. That had become his only goal: to escape his pain. If dying here meant pain, or worse, going home, then he would do anything he could to survive.
As the seconds passed, and his breathing slowed, the sudden silence crept up on him. He heard no screaming, and no footsteps, nothing broke the silence except for his own breathing, which felt unnervingly loud.
He sighed deeply, then took a moment to massage his leg, almost out of habit. There really is no pain. He felt he could cry, but he couldn't enjoy the moment. Fuck. I want don't want to go back. I want to stay, he begged. I want to stay.
Joel rubbed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Its grey tone matched the stone floor and he traced the gaps in the stones with his eyes, making a forgettable note of its shade and texture.
〘Monsters Remaining: 6/10〙
〘+7 Shared Experience Points〙
More exp? Joel praised the game for the shared experience, but felt even more of a traitor the more he got.
Six left though? That's good, that means they're doing well! Right!?
His heart slowed as he thought about the number of monsters decreasing, then took a moment to calm himself further by examining his surroundings. This is good, he thought optimistically as he stood. When they survive, I'll have information to offer about the layout. It's good. It's fine. He lied.
〘Monsters Remaining: 5/10〙
〘+10 Shared Experience Points〙
Out of habit he remained mindful of his back as he stood, lifting himself slowly as to not make a sound.
The hallway he found himself in grew taller than the room from before, but not nearly as wide. Pillars stood several feet apart, their sturdy forms repeating in even intervals into the distance. Attached to each pillar was a lantern that gave the only source of light, which flickered ominous shadows against the ceiling.
Joel walked slowly, keeping his hand against the wall as he did. The hallway seemed to extend endlessly without bends or passageways, but in his fright, he didn't notice. He was just happy not having to think.
He continued to walk, stopping every so often to check for slight sounds. With each pause, his mind filled with regret. I shouldn't have left them.
Images filled his head as he pictured what he should have done - how he should have been paying attention - how he should have released that arrow. All of it weighed on him, but none more so than the fear of death. He stopped, and thought briefly about heading back.
He was too lost in his thoughts and too teary eyed to notice the messages appear at the top of his vision.
The silence broke suddenly with a soft cracking which echoed down off the walls.
Joel's eyes scanned up and down but couldn't see anything. The sound repeated, louder this time.
He advanced slowly forwards before coming to an archway on his left, does this lead to another room? He paused just outside, his back to the wall, and listened intently. The crackling noise intensified, sounding more like a crunch and a slurp, with tiny pins scratching a chalk board.
With measured steps and baited breath, Joel slowly peered around the corner and into the room.
Disbelief washed over him as he looked at the room he had just left, now almost completely covered in blood. The familiar holes in the wall and floor, where the boy and girl had died remained as morbid reminders of the brutality of the game. Curiously, however, the Ogre had vanished, and most of the people and the wolves had gone too.
A flash of light illuminated the room for a moment, and Joel noticed another system message appear with it.
〘Monsters Remaining: 2/10〙
〘+18 Shared Experience Points〙
Only two left now!?
Joel caught the sight a girl holding her neck as she bled out against a wall on the far left side. A wolf next to her lay with a knife in its gut, huffing and wheezing with each haggard breath.
A little further up, he found the origin of the crackling: a wolf digging into the stomach of something so deformed he couldn't make sense of what it could be.
The girl's eyes met Joel's and her frustration pierced him like a dagger. Through clenched, bloodied teeth, the girl uttered something barely audible. Joel felt too scared to reply, but he knew his only way of survival had to be through this girl. She knows about this game. I need to ask her what's happening and what happens when we die.
With each considered step, and an eye fixed on the surviving wolves, Joel hugged the wall as he made his way to the girl.
As he got closer, he could make out what she had been saying.
"Level," she gasped faintly. "Level...up."
Joel shook his head, I don't understand... what level? He looked around for a clue. Is it the room level? The floor level? His panicked eyes trembled as he shook his head in reply.
"I..." He said with a soft whisper, even fainter than hers, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
Joel jumped at the sound of glass shattering, and a flash of light from where the wolf ate. The sudden sound grabbed his eyes - the deformed body having completely disappeared. Did it eat it?
The wolf looked up slowly, growling deeply. Blood dripped from its jaws and sprayed into the air with every exhale. Its narrow eyes honed in on the girl who leaned against the wall, and then up to Joel who stood ready to run. The wolf turned to face them, its movements cautious and deliberate.
Joel felt something hit his feet - the suddenness of it nearly made him run. He looked down to see a sharp blade. A knife? He picked it up.
The knife felt small in his hand, and blood had drenched it from tip to handle, making it hard to grip. Joel looked back up to the girl, being sure to keep the wolf in his sights. She pointed to the wolf and mumbled something, then slammed her free hand against the wall and kicked the ground with her feet. The noise grabbed the attention of the wolf, which ran towards her and pounced. Her eyes screamed to Joel in a confused frustration as he watched motionless, seeing it lunge and tear clean through her neck and into the stone behind.
The wolf violently thrashed the girl around in the air before her head tore off and her body flung itself at Joel, pushing into him with enough force to pin him against the wall.
This is a nightmare. What kind of a game is this!?
His labored breathing now so intense it rocked his body back and forth. Each exhale became a desperate plea to disappear, to vanish into nothingness and be free from this fear. The tumultuous nature of every breath drowned out all other sounds, leaving nothing but the drumming of his heart against his chest, and the images of the wolf as it tore into the severed head. His mind ran empty - empty of rationality, empty of words. The only thing that remained was an emotion that captivated him to his core. It had no words to describe it, only a loose translation... I'm going to die here.
The sickening stench of viscera filled the air, and the vibrant-red blood in his hands congealed into something more akin to soup than an actual liquid; tiny bits of meat from the corpse on top of him weighed heavier in his hands than the bloodied-blade did. His wide eyes cried out with fear, unable to move from the sight of the wolf as it continued to eat.
Fear consumed him. Fear like none he had felt before. The fear dug its nails so deep into his skin he could feel his body curl inwards in pain and reclusion; it choked the air in his throat, burned the hope in his mind, and squeezed at his heart until he wanted nothing else but to give in. He wanted to push the dead girl off his body, but the thought of casually throwing her to the ground sickened him.
Joel raised the small knife, holding it with both hands. The shimmer of the blade caught the ravenous eyes of the wolf. It stopped completely still. Its breathing slow and calm. Bloodied clothing dangled from its teeth and fluttered with every exhale. Its narrow eyes widened as it focused upon the helpless man before it. Without hesitation, it dashed toward him.
Fuck! Joel screamed in his head; his hands trembled uncontrollably as his paralyzed legs refused to move; the weight of the body pressing down upon him like an anchor holding him in place. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
The wolf pounced. Its mouth open. Its sharp fangs aiming for his jugular.
FUCK!
〘Monsters Remaining: 1/10〙
〘+20 Shared Experience Points〙
〘Level Up!〙
The same sound of glass shattering, followed by a flash of light illuminated the room briefly, and with it, Joel had levelled up.
His exhaustion, emotion, and terror, all seemed to vanish at once. With a clearer mind and steadier arms, he leaned back, dodging the teeth of the wolf while holding the dagger up with both hands. The wolf crashed into the dagger with enough force that the dagger pierced through its leathery flesh and into its chest. The wolf let out a cry of pain as its paws scratched and clawed - hitting nothing but the body of the girl who lay on top of Joel like a shield.
Pulling out the knife with a swift motion, Joel stabbed again, and again, and again. Blood poured out of the wolf, drenching Joel in a sticky, crimson cascade, before it finally collapsed on top of him.
The momentary clarity from levelling up had been just that - momentary. The emotion flooded back all at once, and with it, the sickening feeling in his stomach. The extra weight on his chest made every breath ragged as he wheezed. He shimmied himself free from the two corpses, violently shivering as he did. The image of her severed head, and the weight of her dead body as it jerked with every swipe from the wolf's paws embedded itself into his mind as he threw up.
He looked up to see that the wolf which had a dagger in its gut had vanished, was that why I levelled up? Shared experience points? A few moments later, the same shattering and flash of light filled the room, and the girl's body and head disappeared simultaneously. Then, finally, the body of the wolf he had just killed.
A message appeared at the top of his vision.
〘Monsters Remaining: 0/10〙
〘Congratulations!〙
〘Wave One. Complete!〙
"Wave... one?" He rubbed some vomit from this mouth, his head throbbing against his eyes. "There... are more!?" His voice trembled, his words barely a whisper.
A cold sweat dripped from his brow as he struggled to steady his trembling hands. His urge to flee filled him again - but there was nowhere to run to - and no escaping the inevitable confrontation that loomed on the next wave.
"Fuck," he said softly, as tears streamed from his eyes, "I... can't..."
his thoughts drifted into a momentary surrender, one that ignored his own desire to live without pain, and one that faded too quickly for him to accept. He could, and he would, he just... wanted another way.
I... I... he tried to resolve himself; but the fear of pain and the fear of death, versus the chronic reality which stood behind him all flooded his mind without words. Images and emotions, but no words.
I... he became mentally frozen, trapped by an impossible choice.
Lacking the strength to act, he simply decided to do nothing.