The sky had turned yellow on the horizon at the west as the sun began to set in the evening. Soft winds came blowing in the evening and with them came the smell of dust and sweat that actually intensified. It was already night time but the entire street was desolate, yet a man was in the middle of it, panting, sweating and as white as a ghost. The clothes he had on and his body was sweating and he was still dripping which proved how much he had been into running.
Someone at the rear yelled behind him, "Stop you wretch!"
His ears rang as the man's voice was so loud. But it was still too far away and he did not have the courage to look behind or to turn back. He continued to shuffle and slipped on the wet cobble stone floor of the road. He knew that if he stopped, then it could very well be the last he will ever do as his life on earth is at stake. He was a thinking man and was posed by many questions. "So what was I wrong?" and what did I do wrong?" Why are they following me?"
Before he could try and understand the mystery behind such a mishmash, another shout came from the other end of the meadow.
''You are an awful criminal! You better give yourself up!'' said another man pursuing him, full of anger and vengefulness.
Being chased, the man now had the feeling that his body was almost too tired but still he could not understand why he was being chased. The sweat that fell down his forehead line made it difficult for him to see and behind him he could feel and hear the footsteps of his hunter growing nearer to him. The sounds of bending bow, twanging arrows and, there was no way the man could escape running in and out, left-right, right-left to avoid the distant arrows.
"May I know what you expect from me?" he screamed in the middle of his nervousness, but the room was silent. All he could hear was the sound of the arrows whizzing passed his ears to dangerously close range.He continued to run and run as he attempted to search for an exit route. But it appeared as if even the heavens were trying to block him from any possibility of escape; before him there were only high, stone walls which he could not scales. His options were dwindling. As his chasers approached, he started to develop signs of exhaustion and fear in his body that he could barely walk.
And that is how, when one was in the middle of the intensity, something rather peculiar occurred.
Ding!
Then, a foreign sound struck his ears as if the sound came out from within his head. The man stirred and almost went off balance. Then, suddenly as if out of the blue, there was an establishment of a translucent holographic screen, affixed right in front of him. He was momentarily frozen to the spot with his eyes fixed on the writing that was being displayed on the screen.
"Host, you are in a dangerous situation. Choices available:''This is a great way to reach those who need to be informed and thus avoid confusion.''
1. You have no right to run away from the pursuers and one must give themselves up to them.
2. Let them see you and let alone it, at least let it fix it for them if needs be.
The man's eyes widened. So he says nothing, which doesn't surprise the man as he really has no idea how to react. Was this some kind of a joke? Did he get dizzy by this fear, was he going out of the mind? While he was confused, the screen suddenly displayed another line: While he was confused, the screen suddenly displayed another line:
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"Reward for host if captured: Perhaps even actually beaten to death."
"Damn it!!" the man stood up and cursed out loud "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? YOU USED IT I ASSUME YOU ARE A BASTARD."
He had a headache, much worse than any he had ever had, and he felt he was in a dream that was horrible beyond his worst nightmare. But the sore in muscles and shortness of breaths, those were the things which pulled him back to the reality. Very real.
He looked back. That time his enemies were more recklessly chasing him and were not hiding their identities. All of them were armed, some of them had long swords, others had bows and arrows. The faces depicted annoyance toward the man as if he had done a great abomination. But he is more than sure that he actually did not know what he was doing."Who are you?" he cried in anger, but they did not listen to him. This was going on as the three of them continued to approach him while running.
The man had no otherwise but to move again although his muscles had reached a near failure. On the other hand, this strange screen in front of him continued to change and follow his movement as if waiting for the decision. These two choices were blinking back and forth, waiting to be chosen.
'What the hell is this?' He repeated for the second time with fury as his legs raced to move him forward. These options as given to them were no choices at all. Who among the people in this society would voluntarily want to be captured and killed in the process of beating the Scotts?
In the midst of his confusion, a thought crept into his mind: If it is true that such A system exists, does that leave any room for an exit?
He started to remember all that tales where the main hero always managed to get out of hopeless positions. But this was not something that was played. There was nothing left on him but his life.
As it turned out, he had run into a narrow alley without even realizing it. Guilt assaulted him worse than the stone walls surrounding him that began to press against his body. He started becoming slow with his steps, he could also notice the strains of breathing.
"This has to continue not end like this…"
It was apparent that as he looked directly into the distance, a tiny dot of light could be noticed. He saw the faintest of light in the darkness starting to appear and fill him with hope. Just a possibly thin and small path this alley could have an exit!
But at the same time, a loud shout echoed wherever any contemporary was going.
"THERE HE IS!! QUICK!!"
The pursuers were too close, more to the point that the man realized that it was the end of the road for him. He scraped up the last of his energy rushing towards the source of light at the fastest rate possible for him. With each step he moved with slow determined strides as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders and he had no other way to go.
Even the pain in his body, the shouts from the back, and the remaining screen in his face seemed all like a living nightmare that he could not escape.Just when he reached the heart of the alley, an arrow which seemed to be discharged at the speed of light passed by him. From the corner of the eye the man saw it only. "Damn!" He attempted to turn aside but he was again too late. The arrow landed on his shoulder and he dropped down on the ground writhing in immense pain.
"AAARGH!!" He screamed and put his hand over his bleeding shoulder.