All around, things floated adrift. The campfire, the tents, and some trees- even their gnarled roots - were floating around in darkness. And floating along was Kyra and the boy.
"What... what is this?" Kyra's lips trembled as she spoke. She had never felt more out of place and her mind scrambled to comprehend. Even breathing felt hard. Does the air still enter through her nose into her lungs? Or through her fingertips to her head? Or from her lungs out to her fingertips? Breathe. Breathe. In and out. Ignore the surroundings, she told herself. Focus. And breathing felt easier. Still, it was like breathing in jello pressed under a mountain.
"Can't have that guy listen in on this. He'll kill both of us." Tiny shrugged.
"What? You mean Marc? he'd never dare hurt me!" Kyra scoffed, confident that her former sidekick friend would never backstab her. She arched her shoulders, flexing the muscles as the immense pressure tried to curl her into a ball.
"Really? Even after you saw him... with all those monsters? No matter who he was before, he's changed. Can't you see?" The boy laughed as images of Marc murdering those wolves appear around him like mirrors. Every stab and slash played in slow motion. Kyra blinked in shock as the wolves could barely react before Marc was upon them. Seriously, that speed. When had "it-takes-18-seconds-to-run-the-hundred-meter-dash" Marc be able to move faster than her eye can track?
"But how? It's only been a few hours after this... thing! And somehow we're stuck in a forest with giant wolves attacking us." Kyra felt vile climbing up her throat. Everything that has happened swarmed in her brain like clothes in a washing machine. And the odd floating things in the air and the chunks of land floating upside down that Kyra just noticed made her feel even more nauseated.
"It might have only been a few hours for you," the boy sauntered midair, completely at ease, "but the looks on his face tells me its been more like decades." Kyra shook her head, confused. Did he lie to her about the time she's been asleep? Or was it time manipulation...? Was that even possible? She questioned.
"Who are you?" Kyra tried not to get fooled by the little boy who was diverting the topic. Her heart painfully thudded in her chest, protesting against the constant pressure and weird tearing feeling. Slowly, she felt disconnected to her own body, as if there was some other force controlling it, and combined with the suffocating aura, Kyra felt like she would pass out any moment. Kyra wanted to take a seat, or relax her legs as they grew numb, but she knew that if she dropped down now, she would undoubtedly faint. So Kyra bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, the pain clearing her brain a little.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Well, if you cared about Marc a little more, you'll know." Tiny accented the word 'Marc' as if it was foreign to his tongue even though his english sounded native. He gave Kyra a wink way past his age as the dark barrier world fell away quickly. Kyra gasped in relief. Kyra thought she would start flying by how much lighter she felt when everything reverted. All the trees fell back into the forest with their roots solidly placed in the dirt, the tents and the fire were waving gently to the breeze that had picked up. The grass was below her feet once more.
Tiny began looking innocent, with a glaze over his eyes. Suddenly he began laughing.
<<<>>>
Marc cut through the monsters in the forest surrounding his camp with ease. He felt as if on autopilot as he sought out each monster using the skill [Scan] for the monsters tried to hide but were too bad at hiding. They were only averaging level 20 after all, and he was level 100. They couldn't hide if they tried - it was just mundane work, seeking them out and one-shotting them. When had he felt so at ease with killing?
He thought back to when it all started.
After the hologram appeared in Kyra's room and glowing code replaced her home and Marc's body, he was zapped into another realm. He stood on a tiny piece of rock that broke the infinite surface of the sea surrounding him. The sky was filled with smoke, blocking out the sun so all Marc could see was grey.
Multiple screens popped up one after another, each containing a more shocking message than the last.
[Congratulations player Marc Braxter! You are the first group of players from Planet 16372-EARTH to arrive on the origin planet Genesis!]
[Congratulations! You have been chosen to follow 'the Path of the Godly'! May the deities' power guide you.]
[Congratulations! The Path of the Godly has given you a class!]
[You have earned the class 'Disciple of Fire'!]
[You have entered a dungeon.]
[You have entered the 'Dungeon of Trials'. Slay all monsters in this dungeon to become a 'Demigod']
Marc thought to how long it took him to wrap his head around the idea of this. He accepted the fact reality became a video game quick enough - it was his dream anyway - but the fact that he had been chosen to be a 'Demigod' just sounded so unreal to him. Ever since his childhood, Marc had never been the best at anything. Even in games, he was ranked second or third best. Someone always beat him, mostly using a better PC set up rather than a phone.
He remembered how he didn't have time to idle around when an electric eel suddenly attacked him. Marc had never been so afraid. He screamed, he tried to run, he tried to beg. Nothing worked. The eel surrounded the small island, electricity cackling through the water. Marc thought he was going to die.
The only reason he got out was because he practically hypnotized himself to believe he was in a very, very real VR game. He made a smart decision to try to check his status, discovered he had a few basic skills, and slain the level 5 Electric eel.
Marc looked around him and saw the infinite ocean stretching around him and he despaired.
How long would it take him to get out of here?