“How can I be mayor?” I asked, pacing back and forth in front of the terminal. “Why am I here? I’m not qualified. What sort of system is this?”

There was a pause, the kind of silence where you expect someone to answer but no one does. Finally, Elyria broke it. “Well,” she said, tilting her head toward the shattered remains of the crystal. “You did destroy that thing. Maybe that was the mayor?”

I stopped pacing and turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “That doesn’t make sense.”

She shrugged. “What are you going to do with that, then?” She gestured toward the terminal, the glowing words still waiting for me to engage.

“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “I was kind of hoping you could tell me.”

She gave me a look, half-amused, half-exasperated. “Why should I know? You’re the one who’s been working with a Guide.”

She had a point, but it wasn’t like that had helped much. I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. “Okay, yeah, I guess, I mean Maya was a guide. But it’s not like she was... useful or anything.”

Elyria’s eyebrow arched higher. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” I could feel the disbelief radiating off her, and it was somehow both frustrating and funny. “She was weird about it. Like, yeah, she guided me. Sort of. But mostly, she just wanted me to forget about everything and, I don’t know, have fun. Like some kind of teenager”

Elyria frowned, the term clearly throwing her off. “What’s a teenager?”

“Oh, right.” Sometimes I forgot she wasn’t from Earth. “A teenager is someone who’s physically an adult but mentally, basically a child.”

Elyria snorted, crossing her arms. “Sounds like you just described half the people I’ve ever worked with.”

I laughed, despite myself. “Yeah, well, it’s a phase they grow out of on earth, mostly, at least before social media.”

“This is entertaining.” She said pointedly. My face must have betrayed the frown I was feeling. “I mean it!” She added. “But, not helpful I guess. What are you going to do? You need to do something. I mean, I think this town just made you mayor.”

“I don’t know, I guess figure it out?” I added, hopefully.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Did you get a tutorial or something from your guide?”

“She did try and make me meet the mayor in the town before this one,” I admitted.

“And you didn’t do it. Why on earth not.” She asked as I shook my head in response.

“Because I was in a hurry to save you!” I said forcefully, probably to forcefully because she flinched at my tone.

“Thanks then she said. I mean it. Thanks. I was dead without you I think.” She said quietly.

“That’s why I rushed. I felt it.” I admitted.

The silence between us stretched, weighted with everything that had just happened. Elyria stood there, arms crossed, her gaze softening as she looked at me. I shifted uncomfortably, the tension in the air pressing down. Finally, I broke the moment.

“I guess I’ll play around with it for a while,” I said, gesturing at the terminal.

“Okay if I watch over your shoulder?” she asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” I said, shrugging. “Let me know if something looks interesting or... off or something.”

Elyria stepped in close behind me as I approached the glowing screen. Her presence was impossible to ignore. I could feel her warmth at my back, hear her soft breathing as she leaned in, and smell the faint musk of sweat and dirt from the fighting and the road. It wasn’t the flowery scent I remembered from quieter times, but I didn’t mind it. Not at all, actually. I adjusted my posture, forcing myself to focus on the terminal in front of me.

The screen was simple, almost game-like in its presentation. I’d spent enough time playing Salve back on Earth to recognize a UI when I saw one, which was a relief. At least this part wouldn’t be completely foreign.

The main screen displayed the name of the town in bold letters: Ebonfall. Below it were two key stats: Population and XP. The population was listed as 2, which made sense—Elyria and I were the only ones here now. The XP, on the other hand, was set at 0.

There was a small ? icon next to each stat. I clicked the one by Population first, and a text box popped up:

“Recruit or accept citizens for your town to increase population. The benefits of increased population are many.”

“Recruit citizens?” Elyria murmured, reading over my shoulder. “Where are we supposed to find people willing to live in a cursed city?”

“Good question,” I muttered. I didn’t have an answer, so I clicked on the XP stat. Another message appeared:

“Complete tasks and quests to level up your town XP.”

“Tasks and quests?” Elyria said, leaning in closer. Her breath brushed against the back of my neck, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. “That reminds me of the tournament.”

“That’s right it does,” I said, trying to focus on the terminal and not her presence. The Immortal Tournament was what got me here. I’d won and chosen to go home as my boon, now I was here. But it did remind me of the tournament.

“I don’t see a way to get quests?” I mused aloud. “Do they get assigned to us or do we assign them?

“I have no idea,” she said. “I am as new to this as you. But we could start by exploring the city. I know I said it was cursed a second ago, but I don’t really think it is anymore.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I too could feel something different about the town, and I agreed with her. “Yea let’s go check out the town.” I said. “Maybe there is a clue somewhere.