It had been around ten minutes since Rosa and I entered the deeper part of the Blackened Forest. The dense foliage blocked the sunlight, meaning it was both dark and cold. Normally it would take a few minutes to reach where the boss spawns, but that’s when your character is constantly running at full speed. Since we were walking, it took longer than I expected.

“You look like you know this place well,” Rosa said. “It’s dark, yet you haven’t tripped over a single root.”

“Oh, I lived by a forest growing up,” I lied. I lived in a city for as long as I can remember. But I can’t tell her that I know the main path by heart.

“Really?” Rosa asked. “What is your world like?”

“Oh, it’s basically the same,” I said. “We have technology instead of magic, though. Also, there are no menus, monsters, abilities, or adventurers.”

“Sounds boring,” Rosa pointed out.

“It’s not that bad,” I said. “We have books, TV, modern medicine, games, education, lifespan over fifty, and good food.”

Rosa looked at me like I spoke a different language. I might as well have, since most of the things I mentioned are foreign to her.

“Well, all you need to know is that life isn’t bad in my world,” I said. “Actually-“

“Shh!” Rosa whispered. “See that clearing? That is wear the goblin king is.”

I looked at the clearing and sure enough, the goblin king was standing there, bathing in the sunlight. It was a huge, fat green creature, naked except for some pants so the game keeps its T for teen rating. Since it isn’t sleeping, I have to attack it head on.

“Ok, stay here and watch,” I said. “I know exactly how to deal with this.”

“You seem confident for someone who has only held a sword for a day,” Rosa said. “But ok! I won’t interfere.”

Infinite Skies has a very large community, even half a year after its release. It’s so huge, that some of the most popular streamers are popular solely because they play Infinite Skies so well. One man in particular got famous for beating the game at level one. While he couldn’t get some endings, he was able to get many endings while never leveling up.

Infinite Skies has a hidden mechanic the community called ‘slow down’. If your level was lower than the boss you were facing, the boss’ animations would take more time to complete. In short, the time you could hit them without the risk of getting hit yourself would increase.

The player who did the level one challenge exploited this hidden mechanic by manipulating early game bosses into using their ranged attacks. Because ranged attacks are typically powerful spells that cannot be blocked, they have a long start up and long cooldown. This gives you plenty of time to attack before being at risk of getting hit.

First, I entered the clearing and threw a stone at the goblin king. The goblin king looked over, saw how far away I was, and began to pick up a tree. This was exactly what the goblin king in Infinite Skies did when the player was far away. The goblin king would throw the tree at me, entering a long animation where he has to pick back up his club before attacking again.

“Gotcha!” I yelled as I ran towards him. All I needed to do was attack him a few times before retreating. Then I’ll do it again.

The plan worked flawlessly. By the time he threw the tree, I had already long since moved from that spot and began attacking him. I slashed at his right leg again and again, however no cut appeared. Instead, my sword would go through him before healing back up.

Once he noticed me, I immediately ran away. I decided to look at his health bar to see how much damage I did.

Goblin King (LV 10) Health: 91% Attack Defense Agility Magic Luck Stats 15 15 2 0 5 The king of the goblins, though not literally. The most powerful goblin in the Blackened Forest. It uses it's club to attack, but it can and will use anything it can get it's hands on as a weapon.

Ok, not bad. Not great but not bad. If I do the same thing ten more times, he should go down.

“Are you going to do that again?” Rosa asked. “Baiting the goblin king into throwing a tree, I mean?”

“Huh?” I asked. “Yeah, why not?”

“It won’t work a second time,” Rosa explained. “The enemy will adapt to your behavior just as you’ve adapted to it.”

Rosa had a point. If this was a normal world, I would have to adapt to the enemy’s movements. But this is Infinite Skies. I know how the enemy behaves better than anyone else in this world, even if it hasn’t been a day since I’ve been summoned.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Just like before, the goblin king picked up a tree. Most early game monsters have only a few attacks, so manipulating them is easy. Like before, I ran up to him and-

I suddenly saw white. I felt a huge force crash into my whole body. I flew across the clearing, back into the forest and right into a tree.

“Told ya!” Rosa shouted as I laid on the ground, dying.

I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. I tried to support myself using my right arm, but something was wrong. My right arm isn’t moving like it should.

I looked at my right arm to see that it had disappeared. I noticed that a few feet away lied the arm that should be on my body. My legs and left arm weren’t in a better state, either being broken or not connected to my body. I tried to scream, but all I could do was gasp for air. My body wasn’t doing what I wanted it to.

I looked at the goblin king and saw that he never dropped the tree. He grabbed it, knowing that I would rush him, and hit me with it instead of throwing it. That wasn’t something he was scripted to do!

The goblin king approached me. I didn’t know what he was going to do when he got here. All I knew was that I was in trouble if he got here. Am I really going to die?

“R-rosa,” I weakly muttered.

“Relax,” Rosa said. “Losing is the most valuable thing you can do.”

“P-please,” I begged. “I don’t want to d-die,”

The goblin king, now next to me, picked me up like I was a doll. I’ve seen his model in game many times before, however right now he was more terrifying than ever. He wasn’t scripted to pick up the player. What was he going to do?

Suddenly, he opened his mouth. His breath smelled like rotten flesh. Did he have some type of fire attack? And why was he bringing it closer?

*CRUNCH*

And that’s how my life ended. A simple goblin king outwitted me, hitting me with the tree he was supposed to throw, shattering every bone in my body. Then, he ate my head like I was a cereal bar. The death was instant, and I was relieved that the pain had stopped.

But I was terrified. Embarrassed. Enraged. How could I lose like that?! I was in Infinite Skies! I should have been in my element! Did the game change? Or did I not understand how the game worked in the first place?

If I had another shot at life, I wouldn’t fail again. I would learn how this world works, never falling to feints like that again. I wouldn’t stop at being the strongest; I would be untouchable. I would so strong, I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was a goblin or a goblin king attacking me.

But that’s all a fantasy. I’m dead. In the term most familiar to me: Game Over.

…

If it was game over, then what was that breeze I feel on my cheeks? And this wind that I hear…

“I hope you can explain yourself,” a voice rang out.

I opened my eyes. I was greeted with the night sky. The air was cold and the smell of blood filled my nostrils. But there was no mistaking it. I was alive!

I looked at my hands, and they were fine. I felt my neck, and sure enough my head was still connected to my body. I couldn’t get up, but my legs felt normal as well.

My clothes were still on me, though they were ripped beyond repair. I didn't know where my armor was, but I'm guessing that was destroyed when I got hit by the tree.

I looked around me. Standing above me was Alia, who looked displeased. Rosa was also next to her, looking more concerned than she was when I was dying.

“I’m alive?” I asked.

“Phoenix Feather,” Alia said. “It’s an item I kept on me in case one of my fellow adventurers died on a mission. I didn’t expect to use it on a level one disobedient student.”

If I remember correctly, Phoenix Feathers cost a thousand gold each. Double the amount of what the king gave us to live off of for the month. And I just used it up.

“Alia, I-” I began saying.

“Don’t bother, Rosa filled me in,” Alia interrupted. “You were frustrated with your progress and decided to fight in the forest. You rushed into the forest and got killed immediately by the goblin king.”

“What?!” I shouted. “That isn’t true! Rosa asked me to help her beat it! I know I shouldn’t have fought it, but I just wanted to-”

"I'm sorry Alia!" Rosa shouted. "I tried to stop him, but he insisted on fighting the goblin king alone! He was a hero, so I didn't want to stop him, but..."

"Liar!" I yelled, enraged.

“Enough!” Alia shouted. “Not only did you disobey my order, but you made me use a Phoenix Feather! It seems that I need to use a different training method…”

“What?” I asked.

Alia picked me up by the neck. I tried to pry her hand off, but I couldn’t. She then threw me into the ground on my stomach. After that, she took off my shirt and began casting some magic.

“In the military, a soldier convicted of insubordination suffers one of two fates, which is decided by their commanding officer," Alia explained. "The first is death, however if I chose that then I wouldn’t have used an expensive item to revive you. So instead, until you pay your debt back in full, you will suffer the second fate.”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” I screamed.

It felt like the skin on my back was melting. Whatever magic she was using, it seeped deep into my skin. It felt like my entire being was on fire.

After a minute, the pain stopped.

“What did you do to me?” I asked.

“I put a slave crest on you,” Alia explained. “Kneel.”

Before I could register her command, my body moved on its own and knelt in front of her.

“The crest ensures that you will obey my every command,” Alia said. “From this moment on, you are my property. You cannot do anything without me, and I can do anything to you.”

“This can’t be legal!” I yelled.

“All I have to do is give the king my report, and he’ll enforce this decision,” Alia said. “With Rosa’s testimony, it’s enough to override your own.”

“What?” I asked. How could she believer her? Then, I suddenly realized. “Wait. Did you two plan this?”

Suddenly, Rosa and Alia wore devilish smiles. The act they had up to now had disappeared, and all I saw was the faces of two tyrants.

Alia brought up her shoe, pushing it into my face. It was the same metallic material as the rest of her armor, except it was stained with mud and blood.

“Lick, slave,” she said bluntly.

I didn’t want to. My mind didn’t want to. My pride didn’t want to. But my body couldn’t refuse. With my tongue, I gave her metallic shoe a nice shining.

It hadn’t even been a day, but I went from a college student playing video games, to a slave that had experienced death and had lost all his rights. Tricked by the devil, I was humiliated, and something in me knew that this would only be the beginning.

If this were a game, this would be the bad ending. The game would kick you back to the title screen, and you would have to restart from your last save point. But life doesn’t have a title screen. I’m forced to play out the bad ending. To be a slave for who knows how long? Would Alia let me go even if I paid the thousand gold back?

On that day, while I licked her shoe, I swore to myself that I would never be in this position again. In this second life I was granted, I would become so powerful, that the positions would one day be reversed. Alia and Rosa, I promise that I will repay this injustice a thousand times over.