Penny slipped under the surface for a second time. Salt stung her eyes and her nose, and on instinct, she kicked down at whatever was grabbing her with her free leg, but her heel met nothing but water. Penny twisted, trying to break free from her attacker’s grasp, but its grip was too strong.
Come on. Really?
Down she went, bubbles streaming by her, her vision filled with that damn blue box.
LOG OUT COUNTDOWN
1 hour and 15 minutes remaining...
Frantic, she swept her hand through the menu to banish it, and it disappeared, but behind it was another menu. Although this one filled with a series of sliders for things like audio, sound, smell and taste. The numbers streamed by her as she was dragged down. Penny was drowning in them.
On the bright side, at least if other players were having this crappy of an experience with the game, Prince would not be getting good reviews when this was all said and done. Who wanted to be drowned and tortured for fun?
Except, they'd all signed an NDA.
Motherfucker.
She couldn’t breathe. Penny sliced her hand through the menu.
Please let Eshan be having a better time of it than me. Hopefully, he at least spawned somewhere with reliable oxygen.
The box disappeared, and Penny turned down to look at the monster grabbing her.
Except, it wasn’t a monster.
Shock jolted through Penny she met the bright green eyes of a Mermaid.
The creature was beautiful, her face all high cheekbones and strong jaw lines. Long, silver hair billowed around her in the water like a shroud, and her delicate shoulders were armored with the husks of black, spiky sea-urchins. A bodice of black seaweed hugged her toned muscled physique, stopping right before her flat stomach.
The mermaid clearly worked out.
Penny's gaze trailed down the creatures flat toned stomach, amazed at the subtle gradient change from flesh to silvery scales. The mermaid had a thick, powerful tail that reminded Penny of a salmon's. In her hand, the mermaid held a knife made of the tooth of some sea creature.
Penny thrashed, but the mermaid just tightened her grip.
Reborn?
Penny stilled. The voice vibrated through Penny's skull, oddly pleasant, and deeply musical, silken. Penny shivered.
Reborn? Answer me. Is that what you are?
As the mermaid spoke, her eyes glowed a brighter green, and the water shimmered around her, but there were no bubbles, and Penny realized, the woman's lips weren't actually moving. Clearly, this was some kind of water based telepathy.
Answer me. Are you Reborn?
The mermaid's grip loosened, and then to Penny's surprise, she trailed one finger, gently up Penny's ankle.
Penny froze, all of her muscles going suddenly tight, a blush flooding her cheeks. Had anything this beautiful ever touched her like that?
The mermaid cocked her head, surveying Penny with a smirk.
Just tell me, and this can be over.
"Please, let me go," Penny said. Although all that came out was a series of bubbles, and a muted garbled echo of the words lost to the water.
The mermaid’s eyes narrowed.
Fine. Do not tell me. I do not need confirmation. You speak a tongue I do not know. You are hornless, finless, scaless. You are Reborn. So let me be clear...
In one smooth movement, the mermaid brought her knife up to Penny’s ankle and slashed.
Pain. Utterly real and complete, blazed up Penny’s leg. In the corner of her vision, a red gage appeared, and then immediately flickered, as a third of HP vanished.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
When you are reborn. The mermaid’s eyes glowed so brightly they lit the planes of her face. Do not come back.
Penny flailed, frantically reaching for the surface, but she was far, far too slow.
With a powerful flick of her tail, the mermaid shot up, so that she was parallel to Penny. Then she shoved her blade in Penny’s chest.
Penny’s HP cut down another third.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Penny let out a garbled, gurgled scream.
She was going to die. She was going to die here, and then wake up probably somewhere worse, and then die there too.
She had to do something.
She refused to let herself be endlessly tortured. Penny felt dizzy, her lungs were cold. She wasn’t going to fight this monster. She wasn’t going to play his games. She wouldn’t do it. Not again. There had to be another way.
Think, Penny.
This wasn’t real. This was a game. There were a thousand other people right now playing it, but they couldn't also be having the same experience as Penny. It didn't make sense. Something wasn't fitting.
Desperate, Penny brought back up the settings menu. The disconnect button was still greyed out, and the timer had barely ticked down, but Penny noticed something else.
NEUROPATHIC INPUT 0--------|------------100 VISUAL INPUT 0------------|--------100 AUDIO INPUT 0--------|-----------100 OLFACTORY INPUT 0--------|-----------100
GUSTATORY INPUT 0-----------|---------100
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Fuck, I am an idiot. There was a setting for pain.
Without thinking, Penny reached up to the first of the settings, and brought neuropathic down to zero. The effect was instantaneous. Her skin tingled with a numbness like her whole body had fallen asleep, and even the tightness in her lungs eased.
WARNING:
OPERATING AT LESS THAN 30% SETTINGS ON ANY SENSORY INPUT WILL DISQUALIFY YOU FROM EARNING EXPERIENCE OR FULFILLING QUEST LINES.
Of course it did. Thankfully, Penny didn't care. She was too busy almost screaming with relief as her mind cleared.
FOUNDERS PERK ACCESSED
FEEL NO PAIN STATUS: Unavailable
750/750 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You have adjusted the settings to make yourself impervious to feeling pain.
Perks
Gain +1 to Astrean Constitution.
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%.
ERROR:
This perk has already been claimed by the maximum number of allotted players. Keep experimenting, in order to find perks others haven’t used yet!
Wow, Penny thought, I really should've checked settings earlier. But it wasn't her fault, she'd been a little busy trying to survive.Well, technically, was still a little busy.
Through the blurry menu she could see the mermaid coming in for a last attack. She wouldn’t survive this one, this she knew, but another thought occurred to her.
A defiant smile curved across Penny’s lips as sharp and bloodied as the mermaid's knife
I won’t play your game, Prince.
You can’t make me.
Then, one by one, she brought each of the settings to zero.
Her sight went first, plunging her world into blackness, but Penny didn’t feel afraid. This wasn’t real. He could kill her in the game, but he could hurt her, not really. Not unless she let him. Not unless she agreed.
I do not consent.
After her vision, her hearing went, and the world suddenly silent, except for the sound of her heartbeat, breathing and the rush of blood in her own ears -- all the sounds from the real world. After that her sense of touch disappeared, the sensation of the water over her skin vanished, as did feel of her heavy jeans dragging down her body. Finally, she lost the sense of taste, the salt and iron from the blood and sea water slowly fading from her tongue. Now she could feel the dryness in her mouth and the slight after-taste of the pill.
Eventually all the was left was the blue box with the settings and the timer, and her HP gauge, which strangely, still had a third left.
Black silent calm stretched out before her.
Penny laughed, although she couldn’t hear it or feel it. In the real world her body was still gently asleep.
Prince could do whatever he liked. He could try. But he couldn’t hurt her, not again.
She wouldn’t.
Penny wanted to twirl, she wanted to dance.
She’d won. Well, sort of, she was right now dying in game, but it didn't matter.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[
Then something strange began to happen. Cracks of white light began to break through the darkness, and with horror Penny watched as her sight returned.
But something was off. The perspective was different. Now, Penny was above her body, watching her form float limply, as red blood plumed behind her.
The mermaid was reaching back for one last strike, but before she could, Penny’s body's skin began to glow.
The mermaid darted backwards, holding out her knife in front of her, but it wasn’t much help. The light got brighter and brighter, until even Penny, at least the version of herself outside of her body had to squint .
Then Penny’s body opened her eyes, but it had no pupils, no irises, they were just glowing pits of white fire. Two beams shot out her Penny's bodies palms, and two out of her feet. One hit the mermaid's shoulder, blasting her sea-urchin armor to dust.
The mermaid flinched, and then with a thrust of her tail propelled herself away.
SKILL TREE UNLOCKED
SOUL MAGIC
STATUS: Unlocked
1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
By removing yourself from your senses, you have gained mastery of your mind and body, and unlocked your innate abilities.
Perks
Gain a mana pool.
Gain +1 to Astrean Wisdom.
Gained access to Founder's Quest.
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%.
Gain a total “death limit” of ten.
SOUL MAGIC ABILITY UNLOCKED
ASTRAL PROJECTION
STATUS: Unlocked
1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You learned how to separate your body from your mind, and now can create an insubstantial projection separate from your body.
Perks
Astral projection form can neither harm nor be harmed.
Constraints
No experience is gained while in projection form.
Projection has a thirty second limit.
Projection has a cool down of ten minutes.
Must be within ten feet of your body.
SOUL MAGIC ABILITY UNLOCKED
SUPERNOVA
STATUS: Unlocked
1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Ability
When all hope is lost, that is when you shine the brightest. If you Astral Project while your hit points are below ten percent, you will unleash a massive energy blast.
Perks
Deals a massive burst of spiritual energy to foes.
Constraints
Spell results in instant death in game.
Spell effects both friend and foe alike.
Spell results in instant death, Penny read. Great.
HP
Penny sighed as her HP counter went to zero, and then once again, her world went black.