A scream pierced the sky, so loud it made everything else go silent. The platform Arthur and Alex stood upon shook and rapidly descended as it started to topple over.
They both ran toward the former basement that was now half-destroyed, grabbing on whatever could support their weight, there wasn’t much to hold onto besides a column used for displaying odd ingredients.
With a loud thud and the snapping of planks flying off the structure, it hit the ground, causing a small shockwave scattering dust around the impact.
Knowing it was safe now, Arthur let go of the column and dropped down on his feet. He coughed a few times as he inhaled the suffocating dust suspended in the air and waved it off as he stepped out of the cloud, barely even being able to walk straight anymore as he limped from his injuries.
_________________________________________________________________________
[The Bog Witch has been slayed!]
[+195000 Exp gained]
Level 9 [1967/2625] > Level 16 [852/160718]
+14 Stat points
[Witch of the Bogs] (Quest completed!)
Rescue the children the witch has taken and slay her.
[The Bog Witch slayed 1/1]
[Optional: Save the children 0/?] (Failed)
[Reward:1500 Exp, rare item]
[The first raid has been completed!]
[Gained the title Frontrunner]
Title effects:
Exp gain +30%
2x Favorability gain from NPCs.
Allows an additional title to be equipped, The title 'Frontrunner' will be a prefix with the second title equipped as the suffix, If two titles are equipped then both title effects will be halved.
_________________________________________________________________________
‘I don’t care about the rewards right now, I need some rest’ Arthur thought and kept walking forward, ignoring the stares of those around him looking at him, some had a strange look of pity on their face.
He was stopped, A woman his height stood before him blocking his way, “Are you one of the guys that went with Jacob?”
“Jacob…?” Arthur asked, looking confused.
“Yes! He went with you in there, along with the other two. He’s a little bulky and you know, he is just a big guy.” She looked toward the broken house, expecting someone else to exit.
She stared at the barely visible spot that Arthur came from with an expectant and proud look in her eyes, but that was all ruined as she only saw Alex climb down… Alone.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Arthur forgot about the other 3 that came along with him and Alex, he remembered how they died and how he felt at the time but… its nothing more than a passing thought, why? He thought, he should at least feel something for them and he did, but how could he forget the very people that made it possible for him to be here, alive? And to make it worse the woman noticed the somber look that appeared on his face.
“He’s dead…?” The slight tremble in her voice as the realisation dawned on her hurt Arthur more than the thoughts he just had.
Arthur stayed silent.
“Why?! How?! Did you even help him!?” Tears started to form in her eyes and her voice was raised at Arthur, the tremble in her voice was now more audible but it now had a hint of anger behind it.
“N-No I-” Arthur was slapped across the face.
“You didn’t!? We came here to save YOU! And this is how you repay us?! What am I going to do without him now?!”
It hurt, the slap on his face stung but it felt more like his heart was tightly gripped. They came here to save him? And he doesn’t even remember the names or the faces of the people he just saw die earlier? He got so excited at one point during that fight that he forgot everyone around him, it was… scary.
Is this who he really was? Or was he losing himself in this game?
“I-I’m sorry…” Arthur looked down and apologised.
Everyone around them watched as the situation unfolded, their look of pity turned to an indignant and hateful gaze.
It hurt, he didn’t want to be here. Arthur wanted to run away from it all.
Feeling the mood around the place become tense, Arthur started to walk away and noticed a girl hunched over and bawling her eyes out as she clutched at something dear, it was a small cross that resembled something he had seen before… oh no…
He ran and all the people behind looked at him with hateful eyes.
As he ran away he blamed himself and the others for what happened, they shouldn’t have come to help, they shouldn’t have believed in him being there to keep them alive, he couldn’t get to them in time to help!
Before he knew it, he was back in town, the tall gates opened up for him and he walked through, the NPCs expected the entire raid party to come back together but that was ruined by the sight of a boy who looked like he was going to break at any moment.
Arthur hurried toward the inn and shakily booked a room for himself, When the innkeeper asked if he was alright, Arthur completely ignored the question and retreated to his room.
He sat on the bed curled up in a ball, his hair intertwined between his fingers as he held his head and shivered.
He wasn’t sure what was happening, what was he supposed to do now? He still had to save his brother, was his brother even alive? He saw the witch have eyes and hair that look almost just like his little brother boiling in that cauldron.
His brother had to be alive, he couldn’t be dead no, no. It’s impossible.
Arthur was so lost in his own thoughts, he never heard the door creaking as it slowly opened, a tall figure walked over to him and put their hand on his head.
“Calm down.”
“B-But I-”
“Calm down Arthur, you couldn’t do anything about it, neither of us could.” Alex’s voice was gentle with a tinge of pity.
Before Arthur could say anything, Alex continued, “This game is destroying you, I first noticed it when you were so desperate to look for your brother, and because of that, I asked you to stop looking for him. It was… wrong of me, but I'm not telling you to go back on that path again. Just, don’t break yourself further when you feel like you have no purpose because you do.”
“What do you mean?”
Alex looked at Arthur with sad eyes, “It's a bit hard to describe, it's the feeling I had when we first met. You will see the end of this game, I'm sure of it. I know It's wrong of me to ask this but… Keep fighting, do the right thing even when others think it is wrong.”
Arthur’s lips trembled, he was happy there was someone on his side and wiped the tears that started to form in his eyes.
“Pack your stuff and get ready to leave in half an hour,” Alex said abruptly while stashing all the items he left in the bedroom storage into his inventory until it met its maximum capacity.
“Why?” Arthur sniffled and rubbed his swollen nose.
“Look at the server broadcast.”
“Server broadcast–?” Arthur opened up his panel and it displayed the broadcast with a ping.
{The first raid has been cleared in the Viran region!}
Silverdale City has now been unlocked!