Kyle and Liam looked at each other in disappointment, “ Bro, you got the worst luck huh” Liam said, “A total glass cannon character”.
“ Why, what is wrong with his skills ?” Allan asked. “ An Assassin without any active skill, without any gap closing or crow control, yeah he got magic resistance but that only if he is at 1% HP, he could easily got one shot by a high magical damage spell when he is at 100% with his low starting HP, and at 1% HP and wind blow could just kill him at that point, in addition all his skills are only good for going all in or 1 vs 1...” Liam explained.
“ Enough already, I will make use of what I got,” Kyle said. It was true that those were far from the ideal skills for an assassin to have, he could still provide a lot of damage, well if he could survive long enough :)
“Don’t worry Kyle, it’s time for us to carry you now” Liam jokingly said.
“ Okay enough of this chit chat, this is a summer camp, Liam, how much gold do we have left?” Kyle got back to his serious self again,
“ 970, 30 gold for that dirty old double room, we totally got scammed in my opinion.” Liam answered.
“Hmm, oh well, let’s get some food first, then we will discuss our next move, there is a restaurant near here” Kyle said.
Like the town, the restaurant had this old and antique vibe from the outside. There were only a few people in there, it was still kind of early in the morning, too early for the people in this old town. They sat down and order some cheap food, and Liam started to explain what he thought they all should do: “ we should stay safe, do not got stand out, take only fight we know for sure we can win, do easy quest first, I definitely think there will be some kind of gathering ingredients quests in this early state of the game,”
“ Here is your order” the waitress came back with our food in hand and a smile on her face. She was much older than the group, might be around 40s years old, but still looked as beautiful and graceful as ever. Then something unexpected happened, she whisper to them
“I know who you are, if you value your life, stop what you are about to do”.
She walked away immediately after that, going to the kitchen but Luna noticed that she left the door unlocked and told the group to follow her.
“What do you mean you know who we are?” Kyle asked.
“ Because I am just like you” the woman then showed her own piece of paper showing her name, classes and stats. Her name was Lily, a Cleric like Maria. The group was shocked at the news, “ So we are not the only one” Allan said in a cheerful voice “ Are there many others like us here? “.
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Lily answered, her eyes filled with sadness, “ No, there are only a few that I know of”.
“ So what’s with the warning?” Kyle asked.
“ You really are new aren’t ya” Lily replied “ Do you know the meaning of this town? Town Débutant, is French for beginner town, that is the only reason why it is relatively peaceful her, outside of this place, there are nothing but death and suffering, I had witnessed many people even stronger, smarter and me and you leave this place just to die somewhere in this cursed land.”. She was full of emotion when she spoke those word, after a quick pause she continued: “ all of my companions have lost their life trying to find our way back, in the end only I make back alive. I have served many newbies like you guys here, some did make it back here and some never to be seen again.”
“How long have you been here?” Maria asked, “ 20 years” Lily replied.
“I first got summoned here at the same age as you guys I think, it has been around 20 years already, I made it back here alive, opened this restaurant, found love and have a child” Lily looked at the young waitress outside, that was her daughter.
“What, you can grow old and have children in this game?” Liam asked.
“This is not a game you fool, this is a real world with real people and monsters”. Lily replied quickly and with a strong and firm tone. “Just because we can’t explain it does not mean it is not true. Everybody in this world got their own will, their own emotions, their own lifes, they gave birth, they grow old and they then die just as we do. The pain we felt, the lives we have to take, it was all real,” she then showed them her feet, there were only 3 toes left. “ Flesh wounds can be healed by magic but when you lose a limp or when they hit you in your vital area, believe me you will feel it and you can’t grow them back with magic”. “ I and the others manage to find a new life in this town and some other peaceful one. I would suggest you do the same, I don’t want to see other people die for nothing.” Lily finished talking.
Silence covered the atmosphere, they really never thought of that, mostly because they found out that Kyle’s wound from before was completely healed and without a trace. They thought that magic could heal everything, but that was wrong, in a way, they still thought this was all a game, that their actions here did not matter that much, but they were wrong, if this was indeed a real world like what she said. “Thank you for your advice and I really wish you the best” Kyle replied “ But I had already made a promise to go back home and I intend to keep it”. Kyle left the kitchen after that. The rest soon followed after, this news was like the Titanic, their spirit was somewhat high before but now it was on the bottom of the ocean.
“ She has a point you know,” Kyle said to the group after they all sat at the table filled with their food. “If you are afraid now is your time, stay here and find a new life like her, no one could blame you for it, or you could come with me and I will lead you out of here, that is a promise”.
“ Let’s finish our meal here first guy, we have already paid for it” Liam spoke with a cheerful voice “ Then let’s go and kick some butt, shall we” looking at all of them when he said those final words, his eyes were full of confidence.
“Fuck yeah we are” Allan spoke up with a smile and confident blue eyes on his face.
“ Hey, it is getting cold already, are you boys just gonna chat, a way back home not just gonna be found by themself you know” Luna followed with a smile, Maria was smiling as well. They all nodded and smiled at each other and on that day they made an unwritten pack to have each other back and find a way home no matter how long and hard it might take.
It was unknown for certain why none of them decided to go. Whether it was because they all believed that a guy like Kyle could carry them through all of this. Whether it was their strong desire to get back home or was it just because they were still too new and naive, to have hope and faith in a world that had none.