“Mind telling me what the hell is happening?” Tracy hissed.

The princess only faced forward, ignoring Tracy’s question. Tracy clenched her teeth and stayed poised, ready to run at a moment’s notice. As much as it irritated her, she did need to be careful, and the princess knew much more than she did. Still, She deserved some answers; she was isekai’d to this abandoned church with a monster on the prowl. The least she deserved was to know what was going on.

The princess gave an okay sign to her. Tracy let go of her breath, not realizing she was holding it. The pent-up fear dissipated, and exhaustion swarmed her body. She stepped out from under the tablecloth, dusting herself off from grime. Tracy sat down against one of the walls, wiping her face. Her nerves were shot, but even as she ached, the itch of her curiosity still got the best of her.

Tracy turned to see the princess crawling out from under the tablecloth. The princess waved at her with a warm smile, “What’s wrong?” She asked innocently. Her stern expression was gone, replaced by a softer young face. One more typical for a girl her age.

Taken aback, Tracy stared at the princess. Now she was acting like a little kid? Tracy couldn’t make heads or tails of this kid. Granted, nothing in this situation made any sense. Tracy stared up at the ceiling, sighing as she cracked her neck.

“For starters,” Tracy said. “I know you’re a princess, but what is your name?”

The girl looked down at the ground. “My name is Lula… princess Lula,” she said.

“So Lula,” Tracy started. “How can–”

“What’s your name?” Lula said, creasing her eyebrows. “It’s rude to talk to someone without knowing their name.” Tracy bit her tongue. Now wasn’t really the best time for formalities. Still, she couldn’t get the answers she needed without this princess’s cooperation.

“Tracy.” She answered.“I am a sophomore at Skyline High School and a regular girl. Does that answer your questions?” Lula shut her mouth and looked at the ground.

“Oh, so you’re one of the people who answered my call,” Lula said, looking up in awe before smiling at Tracy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She threw herself in a hug at Tracy’s side. Surprised by the movement, Tracy hesitated. She had spoken with Lula only thirty minutes ago. Something didn’t add up. Tracy looked down at the little girl who was embracing her. She sighed, hugging the girl back.

This girl made no sense to her, serious and wise one moment and playful the next. Even as the contradictions and suspicions ran through her head, Tracy couldn’t change that this girl was hugging her right now. She must be scared. Tracy didn’t blame her. The monster scared her, too.

As Tracy hugged the girl, she patted her on the head. It seemed she couldn’t treat her with the same sharpness she had with her teammates in multiplayer games. She didn’t know too much about kids. The countless slice-of-life animes she watched would get her through this, Hopefully.

“So, uh, Lula,” Tracy started, brushing her hair until the princess looked her in the eyes. “I know you are scared, but do you know what that thing is? The one that is chasing us or even where we are?” Tracy asked, expecting no response.

“You mean the expunger?” Lula said. Tracy raised an eyebrow. So she did know something about this monster.

“Wait, what is an expunger?” Tracy asked. The girl shivered as Tracy asked the question.

“It’s a corrupted guardian, one that is trying to eliminate anything foreign that enters into the digital system.” Tracy felt her heart begin to pound again as she heard the answer.

“Then why are you here? Why is it chasing you?” Tracy asked. The girl just shook her head as she sunk into Tracy’s chest.

“This system hates me. It wasn’t my fault! I promise! It trapped me in here!” She said, shaking in Tracy’s arms.

Taken aback, Tracy continued to pat her on the head. “It’s okay. You’re with me now. We can get out of this.” Tracy said, adding hope into her voice, hoping it would take her out of the bad mood.

“Really?” She said. Surprised that it had succeeded, Tracy smiled awkwardly.

“I promise,” Tracy answered, regretting her words as they came out of her mouth. She had no idea what she was doing herself, let alone helping someone else out of this situation. The promise must’ve calmed her down because she hopped out of Tracy’s lap and stood up. As Tracy saw her in her regalia, it prompted another question from her. “Also, what did you use on that… expunger? I thought we were goners there.” Tracy asked as she stood up.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lula perked up as she heard the question. “Magic!” She said, bursting with energy. Tracy smiled. It was kinda cute. “I’ve only picked up a few levels since the system trapped me here, but I managed to learn a few spells.” Tracy perked up at the mention of levels.

“What do you mean by levels? Like you’ve gathered experience points till you leveled up?” She asked. Lula nodded her head vigorously. Tracy mentally pulled down her menu again, seeing that she as at full health.

“So, how much HP do you have?” Tracy asked, hoping to get some more information about the system.

“One-hundred and fifty points.” She answered obediently.

Almost twice what Tracy currently had. It made sense, however. If it was like video games that she knew, then her levels played a significant role in how much health she had. If falling from the sky, smashing through the ceiling, and landing in rubble only accounted for about fifty points after a minor defense buff, Lula could take a thrashing and still walk away fine.

“Although,” Lula started as she touched her fingers together nervously. “the expunger has nearly three times what I have,”

“What?” Tracy said, the menu disappearing from her sight. Lula nodded her head. Tracy deflated.

Tracy looked down at the ground. It didn’t surprise her, a beast like that. She was surprised that it didn’t have more health than that. However… Tracy’s eyes lit up. If it had a health bar, she could kill it. Tracy smirked. So this is a game, and I am a character in it. She had fought several different bosses. She wondered if this one was different.

“Why do you look happy?” Lula asked.

Tracy looked over to Lula. “I need a weapon.”

----------------------------------------

“I don’t get it. What do you know?” Lula asked at the side of a room.

Lula had guided Tracy to a conference room. The room looked like the others, filled with rubble and broken statues. However, in the wreckage of these statues, there were also a few pairs of knight’s armor. Tracy was neither large enough nor strong enough for the armor, nor did it fit her style, yet she still dug through the rubble. There had to be some sort of weapon that was here.

“Just keep watch,” Tracy commanded as she scoured through the rubble. “but let's say I know a quote that says: if gods can bleed, they can be killed.”

“But we’re fighting an expunger, not a god,” Lula answered. Tracy rolled her eyes, remembering the age of the person she was talking to.

She moved away a few of the stones before she felt steel connected to a wooden shaft. “Bingo!” Tracy said, pulling a spear out of the wreckage. She examined it, surprised that it was in pretty good condition. While in a best-case scenario, they could outwit the expunger and find an exit before it found them. Tracy preferred not to be utterly unprepared for any unexpected event.

It also didn’t help that while Lula knew this place like the back of her hand, she didn’t know of an exit from this maze, which meant going for an alternative. The only plan B Tracy could think of was confronting the expunger head-on. It was risky. Tracy had only one piece of info to go off of, and even that could become useless in seconds. However, alternative plan C was too grim and relied on too much luck. It was playing cat and mouse with the monster until it hopefully died of exhaustion before they did. Tracy wanted to avoid that one if at all possible. Due to Tracy’s gaming experience, she was confident that she could figure out how to defeat this thing.

She walked back to where Lula was standing. The princess looked over the spear before looking up at Tracy. “You can kill the expunger with just this?” She asked.

“Nope,” Tracy replied matter-of-factly with a smile on her face. She strapped the spear to her back using some withered cloth on the conference table. “Not unless I get your help.” Lula lit up before nodding at Tracy. Tracy patted the girl’s head. “I’ll get you home, wherever that is, I promise.” She said. She had no idea if this would work, but at the moment, this was the best plan that she had.

The expunger screeched, making both of them jump. “Enough!” it yelled. “If you won’t come out to play with me, I’ll break down this place! Eh heh. Me or the void, pick your poison, princess!”

As the expunger said that, the ground shook. Tracy grabbed hold of the princess, waiting for the shaking to pass. Although just as one boom ended, another started. As the room shook, Tracy noticed everything begin to crumble. She grabbed Lula and jumped to one side just as several stones fell where they were standing.

“She’s trying to smoke us out!” Tracy said as she stumbled her way to the doorway. Just hearing the booms made Tracy doubt her fighting ability. Even if she could score a few hits on this monster, would she be able to kill it before she got blasted to smithereens?

“I know one area that’ll be safe from the fall,” Lula said. “I’ll direct you!” Tracy nodded her head as the princess climbed on her back before she started running down the hallway.

Tracy’s adrenaline cranked to its maximum as she started running, following the princess’s instructions. Her stomach lit on fire as she ran, dodging different rocks and falling statues. The only thing that mattered now was getting the princess to safety.

“Just a little bit more!” Lula said, pointing to an opening in a doorway. Tracy continued sprinting. She jumped over a statue that fell on the ground before leaping to the left, avoiding a boulder that smashed through the floor.

Tracy channeled all of the energy that she had left as the floor began to buckle beneath her. She roared as loud as she could, finding the strength to continue past the falling rocks before she jumped through the door. Both of them rolled against the ground, but on the ground nonetheless.

Tracy grabbed the spear off her back and ran over to Lula, waiting for the arrival of the expunger. Tracy looked around the room briefly. They were in a massive cathedral hall where the ceiling was at least thirty meters tall. The room also had enormous statues of regal gentlemen in togas smashed into the ground. Each of them was large enough to provide her cover. It was just what she’d been hoping for.

Without even a second to rest, Tracy heard steel clicking against the cement. Tracy tightened her grip, turning around. The expunger’s cackle cut through the air, filling Tracy with dread. “Choosing to fight, very wise of you. I’ll make sure to enjoy this one. Eh heh.”