Clemiticus gritted his teeth as he ‘carefully’ yanked out Melly’s arrows from their latest victim with a splutter of gore then inspected the projectiles with a goofy grin. The shafts were stained with the guts but were in good condition, so he threw the bundle over to Melly who instinctively caught them with a huff.

“Awesome job everyone!” cheered Clemiticus.

Thea clapped and joyfully shouted, “GG!”

The room fell silent as the trio stared at a flash of yellow light that shimmered above the deceased Mercrab and formed the numbers:

04:59

“What on Fanswald is that?” asked Melly.

“Is that a..?” Thea Asked.

“Timer? Yep,” answered Clemiticus. He clicked his fingers and called out for his azure friend. “Fairy, where are you bud?”

They waited for a quick moment, then a familiar blue light flashed.

“Yes?”

Clemiticus pointed at the timer, which now read:

04:35

“Ooh, that?” Fairy watched the numbers carefully, then shook its head. “I’ve never seen that before. That’s definitely not one of my quest prompts.”

Melly and Clemiticus spun around to Thea who flinched.

“Ah? Midori?” Thea called out.

The green glow of her fairy leisurely drifted into existence. The fairy answered slowly with boredom. “Yeah what?”

“What’s that?” Thea asked, pointing at the ominous yellow numbers.

Midori looked over and grumbled, “It’s a timer.”

“We know that!” Thea spat.

Midori rolled its eyes and pointed towards the numbers that had dropped to:

04:01

“If you see a timer that means you must have failed the task,” Midori announced, “Well done.”

The tiny green fairy clapped slowly with an expression of utter contempt.

“What the hell is happening?” Melly demanded.

“You were meant to retrieve the Ocean pearl and cast it into the sea next to your village. The task was set as non-combat.”

Thea threw her arms up in anger, “and how are we supposed to know that if you don’t tell us…”

“You failed the task,” Midori interrupted. “I said Thea has entered a danger zone. Thea has entered the Merfolk Catacomb. Warning: PVE and PVP have been toggled on. If you wish to enter game mode: Combat. Restart the game and play in combat mode.”

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Thea held her palm over her forehead and spat out the words, “and what the hell does that mean?”

“You needed three players in the catacombs. Three non-combat players.”

Thea looked over to Clemiticus who was still standing on top of their victim.

“Damn! Can we still get the pearl?” asked Clemiticus.

03:35

Midori shrugged so Clemiticus decided he would rummage through the corpse of the fallen Emperor. Melly was watching Thea and the green fairy argue when something odd trickle past her vision. She looked up to see a few drops of water falling from above. The droplets shimmered as they fell, hitting the sandy floor soundlessly.

Where did they come from? She wondered as she looked around the walls. Then Melly spotted it. High above them glowed a yellow crack in the ocean barrier. The crack grew and another small stream of liquid spilled out.

“Um, guys?” Melly called to the others and pointed upwards, “the walls got a crack in it.”

Thea and Clemiticus looked up to see their new dilemma. As if in response, the glassy wall vibrated and cracked, causing a stream of water to escape from a growing fissure.

“That ain’t good,” said Clemiticus. “Ah, what’s this?”

Clemiticus rummaged around on top of the deceased Mercrab, then yanked something from the corpse. It was large and looked distinctly pearl-like. Clemiticus called out, “I think this is it!”

Bing!

“Clemiticus has obtained the item: The Ocean Pearl!”

02:25

“Midori!” Thea demanded. “What is that damn timer?”

The green fairy sighed impatiently and gestured towards the orange mass under Clemiticus.

“This is the Emperor Mercrab,” Midori said dryly, “He was the last surviving member of the Merfolk in this land and he was protecting the last remnants of his watery domain. This was the last sanctuary. The last place he could keep his fish away from the curse of undeath.”

“Oh, shit!” Clemiticus swore. “Don’t tell me we brought the curse with us?”

Melly looked down at her well-used arrows covered in undead Merfolk debris.

Midori nodded the said, “the Emperor has been infected. The timer is for his resurrection.”

Melly looked up at the crack that which had now grown four times larger, then she glanced back at the timer.

01:59

“We don’t have time for this!” Melly yelled.

“Correct!” Midori agreed.

Clemiticus was nodding along but continued to search the deceased Emperor, “Oh, look loot!”

Bing!

“Clemiticus has obtained the item: The Emperor’s Seal, rarity: Epic! Type, necklace.”

“Dammit Clem! This is serious!” Melly spat. “We’ve got to go! NOW!”

01:15

“We don’t want to fight. But by Jingo if we do! We got the Pearl, we got loot we’ve got the EXP too…” Clemiticus spoke while leaping off the corpse, “So let’s bail!”

The two girls nodded and made to run for the stairs when Clemiticus jumped ahead of them with his arms stretched out.

“Wait a tick,” Clemiticus said, then quickly set the recently gained loot over Thea’s head. The necklace was made of a coral-like material that looked harder than steel. “This will add ten to all your stats. That way, you can keep up with us!”

“Fuck yeah!” Thea said, grinning, then began sprinting ahead.

Clemiticus gave Melly a sharp nod and without another word ran after her.

Stairs, Melly thought desperately. Why does it always have to be stairs?

They hadn’t climbed more than a dozen steps when they heard a massive crack. The walls crumbled and an entire ocean swelled behind them. No matter how fast they ran up the stairs, they knew the rising tide was faster.

Melly’s eyes darted back for a second. The room had already disappeared underwater, with the yellow magical timer glowing under its surface.

00:33

Melly felt a shiver run down her spine as she pushed her limbs to their limit. Just below her feet were the freed sharks approaching hungrily behind them. Their tough hides had turned green. The curse had taken them.

“Go!” Melly screamed as she leaped up the stairs.

Each step thundered in her mind as the rising tide behind them gushed ever upwards. The room's luminosity faded as they ascended, making it so much harder. She missed a step and felt a hand grab her and pull her up.

“Keep going, Mel!” Thea pleaded.

00:10

“I can see the door!” Melly shouted.

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Bing!

“The Undead Lich: Emperor Mercrab level ???, Has spawned.” Midori said, almost pleased with the situation. “The world event: Land Dwellers Extinction, has begun.”