CONGRATULATIONS!
Room 1-DDJBKKY Cleared
200 bonus exp
100 bonus gp
Bonus items:
3x small health potion
2x small mana potion
Lingering sense of guilt
Nic looked down at himself, and his blood-spattered armor. Somewhere behind him, the fire still crackled and popped. His sword still shone bright red with blood. Awkwardly, he wiped it clean on his pants. His shaking hands rattled it as he slid the blade back into its scabbard. Wow, he thought desperately, they sure added in a lot of detail to this game.
"What a victory!" Annabelle cried into his ear, her voice grating on his nerves. "At this rate, you'll beat the Lich for sure! Haha, did you hear how those filthy goblins screamed? Amaz-"
Nic ignored her continuing adulation. In the smooth stone of the cave wall, three doors had appeared. All like small round portholes, made of thick wood and with paint fading and peeling, one red, one green, one yellow. God, am I really going to do this...? he thought to himself, shoulders slumping, as he looked at them. It doesn't seem like I have much choice other than to play this stupid game. It must be VR, it just has to be. So...what? Some rich pscyho built a super in-depth VR system? One that makes you feel pain and is super realistic? And what, they're kidnapping people to play in it? And erasing their memories? And maybe killing you if you die in the game? How is that the best explanation?
"Quiet," he said idly to Annabelle, who was still fluttering excitedly around his head. He pointed towards the red door. It bore a copper plaque upon it, one that read 1-DHGFCCT. "What does that mean?" he asked. "All those letters, what do they mean?"
"Oh," Annabelle said, flying close to the plaque to squint at it. "Oh, easy. It's just the room name. The number shows what floor you're on, and each room on the floor has a unique name represented by the letters."
Nic thought about how many unique room names there could be with all those letters, and felt a little sick. "And...and how many floors are there," he asked weakly.
"Nobodyyyyyy knoooooowwwws!"
"Of course," Nic replied dryly. He was starting to feel a little nervous. Who knew how long he could remain here before that blue light in his head decided he was stalling again. "So - look, is there a way to tell what's behind each door before you go through it?"
"Ooh - you're talking about a dungeoneering skill." Annabelle clapped her hands together in delight. "And before you even knew about it! You are quick. When you level up, we can talk a little bit more about skill points. But you can't do it yet."
"Right," Nic muttered. Well, better not stick around here much longer. He took a step forward, then winced as pain lanced through his leg. Oh right. I was stabbed.
"Hero!" Annabelle shouted obnoxiously as Nic stumbled and cursed. "You took quite the beating in that last battle. It's always best to make sure you are healed up as much as possible before continuing on to the next room. Why not use one of the health potions in your inventory?"
Nic's leg's trembled beneath him as blood gushed from his wound, torn open afresh by his movement. With a groan, he lowered himself to the ground to take the pressure off it. "Okay," he said, "And how do I do that? I've been meaning to ask, what is my inventory? It's not like I have a backpack or anything."
"Well of course not, that wouldn't look cool." The fairy shook her head, then held a tiny hand out, palm open. "Just hold your hand out, like this. Then say 'Access Inventory', and the name of the item you want."
Nic frowned, and then held out his hand, mimicking her. "Okay, uh," he said, "Access inventory: health potion."
NO HEALTH POTIONS CURRENTLY IN INVENTORY.
"For fuck's sake - Access inventory: small health potion."
With a popping sound, a small glass bottle filled with a sloshing red liquid appeared in Nic's outstretched hand. He nearly fumbled and dropped it, before he got a grip on it. He bought the bottle to his face and wrinkled his nose. It was like a small globe made out of glass, with a cork stopper at its neck: the liquid inside seemed to be somewhat viscous. He pulled the cork out with his teeth, and sniffed dubiously at the contents inside. The overwhelming scent of cherry assailed his nostrils. "So, I guess I'm supposed to drink this."
"That's right! You're only level one, so that should be more than enough to heal you all up."
Nic paused for a long moment. Then he sighed, and bought the bottle to his lips. "I don't suppose," he said, as he raised the glass, "That I could just drink a bit of it, and save some healing for la-"
He was interrupted as, the moment the bottle touched his lips, the liquid within crawled out of the bottle as if it was alive and forced itself into his mouth.
"MMMFFFF!" Panic flooded through Nic as the taste of cherry overwhelmed him. He dropped the bottle, and it shattered on the stone floor. In fear, he tried to spit the liquid out, but it was already forcing itself down his esophagus. It was an an extremely unpleasant feeling. It slammed into his guts like a freight train, and fire spread through his veins, as if he had just taken a shot of something extremely alcoholic and not meant for human consumption. He coughed and sputtered as his skin grew warm and doubled over, clutching his sides. It's poison. Poison. This bitch just poisoned me, I'm dead-
Nic recovered 25 hp from drinking a small health potion!
And then it was all over. Nic looked down at himself, down at the hole torn in his pants by the goblin's knife. He felt the flesh beneath it. Mended whole; not even a trace that it had been torn. Not even the slightest hint of a scar. He slowly got to his feet. Not a single whisper of the pain he had felt was left.
"See?" Annabelle said, alighting on his shoulder and kicking her legs in the air. "All better. Now you're ready to take on the next room."
Nicolas was of the opinion that 'all better' would in fact mean 'out of this stupid game and in a hospital', but it was true that after the initial wave of fiery pain and sickness, the potion had left him feeling incredibly refreshed. It had even had somewhat of a calming effect on his mind; he found the memories of the terrible things that had happened to him and the awful things hhe had done here receding, his mood more chipper. I might be stuck with lunatics in some sick depraved game, but I might as well make the most of it. It could be worse, couldn't it? I could be dead, after all. That's right, look on the bright side. It could always be worse.
"You know what, thank you, Annabelle," he said, forcing his tone to be light-hearted. He didn't know what this little fairy was, but might as well be on its good side as long as he was stuck here. "That was very helpful."
"Oh my, praise from the Hero," Annabelle said, blushing crimson. She hid her face in her hands and let out a high-pitched squeal.
"Right, that's enough of that," Nic muttered. He turned to regard the doors before him once more. After a small moment of consideration, he decided to go with the green one. Green was a friendly color, right? Maybe the colors were some clue as to what was behind it. But even if it was another room with monsters, he felt like he could handle it. After all, he had a good stockpile of health potions. Just as long as it wasn't-
"OH JESUS CHRIST," he screamed, as the door swung open before him.
WELCOME TO ROOM 1-CELIXTH
Enemies: 50x rat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several hours, and what must have been at least half a dozen rooms later, Nic groaned as he kicked a rat and it cracked against the wall, dropping to the ground, its legs giving one final twitch.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Room 1-FCLJKOO Cleared
100 bonus exp
50 bonus gp
Bonus items:
1x small health potion
Rats. Rats. Nothing but rats, hundreds of rats, room after room after room. At first it had been terrifying; and then he had even grown to appreciate it. It had been somewhat cathartic to wage his own little massacre of the things. But now it was just exhausting, and the sight of rat guts was beginning to make him sick. It was tiring chasing the little things around the room, and the lower half of his pants were nothing but ragged tatters from where they had tried to gnaw on him.
"Annabelle," he panted, "This sucks. When do I get to sleep? Shouldn't I have leveled up by now too?"
Annabelle glanced up from where she was poking with fascination at the spilled entrails of a rat. "Huh? Oh, I know Hero. I'm sorry, you've had some bad luck with the rooms, haven't you? Things would be going much easier for you if you were a mage with some AoE, you know."
"That's not what I asked," he growled, as the stone brickwork walls around him began to churn and flow.
"Well, the answer is that you can sleep, and level up, as soon as we find an inn." Annabelle stood, and quickly scrubbed a small red stain from around her mouth.
"Were you - were you just drinking -" Nic shook his head. "No. Fuck it. How the hell do we find an inn? Aren't we in the middle of a dungeo-"
INN DOOR HAS SPAWNED!
Nic hissed, and held a hand to his throbbing temples, as he glared at the walls. Normally, upon clearing a room, anywhere from two to four doors would appear. This time, however, there was only the one. It was large, and painted blue, and had a round porthole window through which a flickering orange light from a fire twinkled.
Above the door hung a sign, on creaking hinges. Nic stepped close, squinting. "Inn 1-HJUHD," he read, "The Laughing Mare."
"Ah, perfect timing," Annabelle said, trailing behind him. "Just as you were starting to bitch."
Nic glanced at her sharply, but Annabelle had already flown up to the door to peek through the porthole. "Looks comfy," the fairy said. "Although, I have to warn you, Hero - Inns are multiplayer areas." She said this last with obvious disdain.
"Multiplayer - you mean, like other people?" Nic jumped forward excitedly. "There are other people in here? I'm not alone?!"
"What do you mean, alone? I've been here the whole time," the fairy replied, sounding hurt. But Nic had already rushed past her to push open the door.
A blast of warm air hit his face as soon as he walked in; the comforting smell of baking bread and roasting meat. The interior of the inn was dimly lit, but comforting. Candles set into holders on wooden walls, a rich and polished brown; dusty green bottles lined shelves, and tables, well worn by many visitors, were warmed by a jolly hearth in which a large fire crackled.
They lay empty, however, much to Nic's disappointment. But there was someone here: a woman standing behind a creaky wooden bar, cleaning a glass mechanically with a dirty dishrag.
"Excuse me," Nic called, making a beeline towards her. "Ah, excuse me! Are you - another 'player', or whatever? God, I'm so glad to see another person. Do you know what's going on?"
The woman set down her glass as Nic approached, and batted long, thick eyelashes at him seductively. She was dressed nearly as ridiculously as Annabelle was, Nic realized; her sheer green dress looking like someone had taken a liberal turn at it with a pair of scissors, cleavage spilling out over the top of it, with no visible sign of how it was remaining up. "Well, hello cutie," she said, tossing back long waves of bouncing, lustrous blonde hair. "I'm Rosa, the innkeep. What can I do for you? Room? Drinks? Food? Or...." she bit her lip, looking him up and down. "Something else?"
"Uh," Nic said, "Um." Rosa's smouldering blue eyes captured his for a moment; to say that he felt as if she was undressing him with her stare would be an understatement. He shook his head. "Uh, I guess...I'm wondering if you are a, uh...look, are you a person?"
"Well of course I am," Rosa answered bemusedly. "It would be awful hard to run this inn if I wasn't."
"No, I mean...look, did you wake up here? Like me? Without your memories? In this - this VR world, or whatever?" Nic heard his tone becoming desparate, pleading. "Please. Just talk to me normal."
Rosa gave him a shrewd look, and for a moment there seemed to be the twinkle of mischievous knowledge in her eye. But the next moment, she was shaking her head. "You poor dear. You sound as if you've hit your head. Would you like a room, to rest up? Only 100 gold for the night."
Nic stared at the woman for a long moment. He sighed, shoulders slumping. She's not real, either. Like Annabelle. Part of this stupid game. "You...wouldn't happen to have any other guests here, would you?"
"Nope. It's just you and me, here. All alone."
Between Annabelle and Rosa, Nic was beginning to sense a running theme with the women in this game. "Whatever," he muttered. "I guess I'll take a room." He held out his hand over the counter. "Uh, Access Inventory: 100 gold?"
As if from a high pressure faucet, gold coins began spraying from his hand. He shouted as they clattered across the counter and bounced, whizzing, through the air.
"Hero! How scandalously rude," Annabelle laughed, though she didn't sound unapproving. "While your currency is technically part of your inventory, you don't need to pay like that. You can just say 'Accept Charges' and the amount will be automatically deducted from your current reserves." She tittered once more. "Why, how do you think you'd pay for something more expensive?"
"That's alright," Rosa said, plucking an errant coin from her cleavage. She gave Nic a warm smile. "Payment accepted." And with a rapid-fire series of popping noises, the pile of coins he had dumped out onto the counter disappeared. "Up the stairs, sweetie, and first room on the right. And if you need anything, you just let me know. And I mean anything."
But it had been too long of a day for Nic to pay much mind to Rosa's flirtations. Maybe, perhaps, if earlier this morning he hadn't been devoured alive by a rat. "Right," he muttered, slapping the counter. He gave one last look around the lonely common room, and then with a sigh, left to trudge up the stairs.
The room he had rented was small, but snug and comfortable, and lit dimly by a candle on a small bedside table. Nic groaned as he collapsed onto the bed, feeling the ache in his joints ease immediately. He let out a massive yawn, his jaw popping. "Oh, god damn," he murmured. "God damn that feels good."
"Don't go falling asleep just yet, Hero," Annabelle said, invisible somewhere in the shadows of the room, the only reminder of her presence the soft whisper of her flapping wings. "You'll want to level up before you go to sleep. You need a night's rest for the changes to take effect."
Maybe I should just stay here multiple nights, Nic thought sourly. But he didn't know how much the game would like him lingering here. "Fine, might as well get it over with," he groaned, sitting up. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, the first thing is to open your character sheet."
Nic cursed. She had to wait until I was getting comfortable to spring this bullshit on me. "Fine. Fine. Uh, Open Character Sheet."
LEVEL UP AVAILABLE
CHARACTER SHEET
Name: Nic Class: Fighter 1
HP: 20
MP: 0
Current XP: 1599
XP to next level: 1000
Inventory:
11x small health potion 2x small mana potion
2x Resurrection Token
1x Memory Clue
Regret
Equipment: Helm: Iron Visored Helm Gloves: Leather Gloves Stats: Chest: Iron Chain Hauberk Boots: Hard Leather Boots STR: 15 WILL: 10 Legs: Woolen Pants Rings: None AGI: 12 INT: 13 Current GP: 454 Amulet: None Quick items: None FORT: 15 CHA: 15 Weapon: Short Sword Shield: None DR: 2 HPR: 0
Nic could see several new numbers that hadn't been there last time, though it wasn't as if he had paid much attention. But whatever curiousity he had about those was drowned out by the blazing golden light in his head. "Christ, it's so bright!" he cried, slamming his eyes shut, but there was no escape from it. "Ah! Damn - Annabelle what do I do? What do I do?!"
"Am I prettier than Rosa?" the fairy's voice cooed softly and dangerously into his ear.
"WHAT?!" Nic screamed.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Tell me I'm prettier than Rosa and I'll tell you what to do."
"Augh, fuck you - Close Character Sheet. CLOSE! CLOSE! Why isn't it closing?" The golden light thrummed and throbbed within his mind, burning away his thoughts. "Fuck it, then! LEVEL UP!"
Immediately, the light in his mind blinked out. But then, he himself started to glow with a bright, golden light. "Annabelle-Annabelle," he said nervously, as the light grew brighter and brighter. A high-pitched whine began to hum, rattling the bed in its frame. "What's happening? Annabelle - oh fuck me, what-"
And then everything exploded in a brilliant, blinding radiance of golden light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nic awoke, floating in an empty, white void.
He twisted around, panicked, eyes wide. But there was nothing but empty whiteness in all directions. "Annabelle?!" he called out anxiously, but there was no answer. "I..." he glanced down at himself. "Why am I naked?"
"Hello, Hero," came a soft voice from somewhere above him.
Nic looked above him. There, clad in streaming white silks, her hair floating as if on an unseen breeze, was Rosa, the innkeep.
"What the fuck?" he asked stupidly.
"I am here," Rosa said gently, her hypnotic blue eyes drinking his in as she slowly floated near him, "To guide you through the leveling process. Leveling up can be an....intensely erotic experience. Especially if it's your first time." She gave him a coy look.
"This doesn't feel erotic," Nic snapped irritably. "Why the hell would the innkeep be the one to help me level up?"
Rosa gave him a warm, gentle smile. "I am not actually the innkeep. Because this process is so erotic, your mind compensates for you, and summons the image of someone you find sexually attractive."
"Uh, I'm sorry, but I don't actually find Rosa all that attractive," he said, waving his arms around to try and look behind him. Still nothing but the white void. "I mean I guess she's hot and all, but she's not really my type."
"Yes she is," Rosa said, laying a cool hand alongside his cheek. "Admit it. You totally want to have sex with Rosa."
Nic rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. So how do I-"
But in a burst of purple smoke, Rosa was gone. It cleared, drifting away into the void, leaving behind Annabelle. The fairy gleared at him, her green eyes shining with tears. "I fucking knew it!" she shouted shrilly, zipping up to him to deliver a tiny slap to his nose. "Fuck you, Hero! You're such a manwhore!"
And with that, she darted away, quickly disappearing into the white nothingness.
"Oh my god, you little psycho," Nic groaned. "What the hell do I do here?! How do I level up?! HELLO?! ANYONE THERE? I'D LIKE TO LEVEL UP, PLEASE! I WANT TO ADD A LEVEL TO MAGE-"
LEVEL UP SELECTED: MAGE
New class level: Fighter 1/Mage 1 (Arcane Knight)
You will gain:
10 hp
20 mp
2 INT
1 skill point
2 level 1 arcane spells
Do you accept?
"Yes, yes, fine, accept!"
SELECT YOUR SKILL
Foresight
Take a peek into the future! Foresight allows you to predict what's coming up next within the dungeon.
Current Rank: 0
Next Rank: 1
(By placing your hand on a door, you will be able to get a general idea of what's behind it: Whether it is an enemy room, treasure room, miniboss room, etc.)
Mapping
Want to know where you came from? Mapping is the skill for you! At high enough levels, you'll know the dungeon like the back of your hand.
Current Rank: 0
Next Rank: 1
(Enables backtracking, allowing you to return to rooms you have previously visited.)
Appraisal
Find some cool magical items in the field? Appraisal will help you to identify their properties for free!
Current Rank: 0
Next Rank: 1
(Enables basic apparaisal, unlocking magic item's basic damage and armor-boosting properties.)
Detection
The Lich's Lair is full of secrets! Detection will allow you to find those that you otherwise would have missed.
Current Rank: 0
Next Rank: 1
(Enables finding of room-specific treasures and secret doors.)
Taxonomy
Want to know more about monsters? Taxonomy will give you information about any foe you face, including specific weaknesses and resists at higher levels!
Current Rank: 0
Next Rank: 1
(Displays monster hp and level.)
"Boy, it sure would be nice to have a certain fairy here right now to give me some advice," Nic called out into the white void. He received no answer. "Damn it. These all sound pretty good. Foresight, I guess."
ELEMENTAL Flame Fan Shoot a small cone of flame from one of your hands. Perfect for handling multiple foes at once! Can afflict enemies with burning. Arctic Blast Summon a blast of stinging cold wind from your fingertips. Can hit multiple targets. Does minor damage, freezes water, and can afflict enemies with chill. Stinging Sands Create a small blast of sand that hits the eyes of your opponent. Afflicts enemies with blind. Static Shield You crackle with static electricty! Any enemy that makes a melee attack against you takes electrical damage. ARCANE Arcane Accelerant Double your movement speed for a short time, in case you wanted to flee like the gutless coward you are Identify Temporarily raise your Appraisal skill by 1. Pause Choose a single monster. For 1 second, they are frozen: Unable to move or attack. Can be cast anytime. Great for dramatically saving your friends. Mage Eye Temporarily raise your Detection skill by 1. SUMMONING Summon goblin Summon goblins to fight on your behalf for 30 seconds. Number of summons scales with level. Conjure Food and Drink
Summon a meal fit to satisfy 1 person. Higher levels give you more meal options.
WARNING: The Lich's Lair is not responsible for the long-term effects of a diet consisting solely of food bought into existence by Conjure Food and Drink.
Conjure Potion Summons a random potion that must be used within the next 30 seconds or it disappears. Planar Sight Temporarily raise your Taxonomy skill by 1.
Memories of chasing hordes of rats around small dungeon rooms flooded through Nic's mind. Oh yeah, it's gonna be nice to roast those little fuckers. "Flame Fan and Arcane Accelerant, definitely." Obnoxious little things won't be so hard to chase down any more.
A chiming bell sounded, echoing throughout the void. It sounded for all the world like it came from a church.
CONGRATULATIONS.
Leveling process complete. You are now level 2. Get out there and have fun, sweetie pie!
not that it matters. nothing will save you.
The white void glowed with an intense golden light.
When it faded from Nic's eyes, he found himself back in the room of the inn, clothed once more. It looked like a small bomb had gone off in the room. Nic leapt up with a shout to stamp out a small fire - the candle on the nightstand had been knocked over and was burning a hole through one of the bed's tumbled blankets.
Coughing at the smoke filling the room, he glanced around. "Annabelle?" he called. "Annabelle!"
But there was no answer.
"Whatever," he muttered. Too tired for this bullshit. Grumbling to himself, he tugged off his boots and clothes, and wrapped himself in the blankets. Great. Everything smells like smoke. Maybe I should move rooms. But in the end, too exhausted to care, he didn't. He lay his head down upon the pillow and closed his eyes.
Right as he drifted off to sleep, he heard the muffled sounds of a woman weeping.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nic slowly clawed his way out of sleep the next morning. His eyes still closed, muddled memories rose in his mind. Maybe it was all a dream. God please. I'm begging you, let it all have been a dream.
God answered with a sharp jabbing pain in his nose. With a yelp, Nic snapped his eyes open. There, laying on the pillow by his head, was Annabelle, sprawled out and with a tiny bottle in one of her hands. As he watch, she muttered in her sleep and then kicked him in the nose again.
"Ow!" Nic sat up, cursing. "Hey! Hey Annabelle, wake the hell up!" He flicked her in the stomach.
"Ugh!" Annabelle sat up, coughing, then blinked blearlily around the room. "Hero? Is it morning already?"
"Morning? It's -" Nic blinked. The room was flooded with the gentle light of dawn. Holy shit, there's a window in here. With a shout, he leapt up from the bed and then rushed to the window, looking outside. Beyond, he could see gentle rolling hills carpeted with forest, and the morning sun hanging low in a clear blue sky. "Oh my god, I'm free!" he crowed, trying to open the window. "Come on you stupid thing - fucking open - ARGH!"
Window took 0 physical damage from Nic's punch!
Nic took 1 physical damage from window's retaliation!
"Damn it!" Nic nursed the aching knuckles of his hand. Punching the window had felt like punching stone. "For the love of - come on, Annabelle, look, it's outside. We're free. Help me open this stupid window."
"Free?" Annabelle replied, giving him a bemused look. She fluttered up from the pillow unsteadily. Her wings left long smears of purple dust where she had lain. "Hero, that's just an outdoor area. The Lich's Lair contains plenty of those."
"What do you mean it contains outdoor areas? It's a fucking dungeon," Nic practically howled. He struggled again to open the window, but he might as well been trying to open a steel trap with his bare hands. His desperate hope gave way to sour bitterness. No, they wouldn't, would they. They wouldn't give you such an easy way to escape. Panting, he looked forlornly out the window. Nothing but forest stretched out before him, as far as his eye could see. Why did I get my hopes up? I'm such an idiot. None of that is real either, probably. He sighed, casting one last, longing glance out the window, and then wheeled on Annabelle. "What the hell was all that about last night?"
"Last night?" Annabelle blinked, and then laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Hero. I decided I forgive you."
"You forgive me?"
"Mmmmm," Annabelle said, ignoring him as she closed her eyes and sniffed at the air. "You smell that? I think the inn has breakfast ready, Hero! I want an entire hardboiled egg to myself!"
Tittering with laughter, Annabelle flittered out of the room. With a sigh, Nic pulled on his boots and then followed her.
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he trudged down the stairs, he blinked owlishly at the common room of the inn, and then gasped.
A woman sat at one of the tables. She had long, tawny, reddish-brown hair held back by a red cloth band tied around her forehead. Slender and somewhat pale, her cheeks were dusted with light freckles. She looked forlornly down at the table in front of her. Curled around her neck was what looked to be a tiny red lizard, smoke curling up from its nostrils.
But most notably, she wore armor. Leather armor that looked to be made from some some form of cured scale, and leaning against the wall beside her was an iron-tipped spear. She's the first woman I've seen here that isn't showing more skin than not, Nic thought. Oh my god, is she -
"Are you real?!" he shouted, rushing forward. The woman glanced up sharply from the table, hazel eyes widening with alarm as he drew close. "Are you real - I mean - look, are....did you wake up - I - do you know what this place is -" taking a deep breath, Nic tried to calm his shaking hands. "Look, just...just tell me you're real," he said. "Please. Please, for the love of god."
The woman remained silent for a moment, staring at him. And then her face broke out into a wide grin. "I guess I'm the first one you've met, huh," she said. "Yeah, I'm real. Name's Holly." She motioned to the tiny red lizard around her neck. "And this little guy's name is Tamale. What's yours?"
Nic felt an immense sense of relief wash over him. Thank God. Thank God, I'm not alone in here. "I'm Nic," he replied, unable to stop his voice from shaking. The table rattled as he slammed his hands into it to keep himself up. Thank God. "Nic."
"Hey man, it's okay," Holly said, reaching out to clap a friendly hand on his arm. "It's alright. Come on. Sit down and let's have some breakfast. I bet you've got some questions."
Nic raised his eyes to meet hers. "Yeah. That sounds nice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They sat and talked as Rosa bought out their breakfast; heaping piles of fried eggs and sausages, stacks of pancakes and toast. Tamale slithered down from Holly's neck, and Nic gasped as he unfolded tiny, batlike wings as he gnawed on one of the sausages. Annabelle sat cross-legged on the table, silent, slowly taking bites from an egg that would surely cause her to burst if she ate it all.
About their situation, there was, unfortunately, not much Holly could tell him. She knew as little as he did: about a week ago, she had awoken in a stone room with no memory of how she had gotten there or her life before. "So you think this is all some kind of VR game, huh?" she asked, mouth full of toast. "Yeah, I was wondering that myself. But I dunno. It all seems so real. Plus why can't we remember anything?"
"My theory is that we've been kidnappead by some psychos who messed with our brains," Nic replied, chewing thoughtfully on a sausage. Is this even real? "Maybe as an experiment? Makes me wonder if dying isn't the best option. Maybe if we die, we wake up in the real world and they just let us go. Or maybe they kill us."
Holly's face fell. "Yeah, I dunno about that," she mumbled.
"I already told you, Hero," Annabelle said, cheeks full of egg, "I don't know what you mean by 'Real World.' I can't believe I have to say this again, but you don't want to die."
"By the way," Holly said, jabbing a fork in the fairy's direction, "I've been meaning to ask. What's up with the slutty goth fairy? Is she your pet?"
Annabelle made a small sound of outrage. "I am not a pet," she snapped, "Or a slut, for that matter."
"You know we can see straight up your dress when you sit like that," Holly replied dryly, sipping at a mug.
Annabelle blushed, but did not change her position. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, purple wings quivering in anger. "Oh yeah?" she hissed. "Like what you see, you big dyke?"
"Ignore her," Nic said, as Holly spat out her tea in shock. "She's just mad because she thinks I want to sleep with the innkeeper."
"What, you don't?" Holly said, wiping her mouth with a napkin and raising a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Have you seen those tits? Hah!" She shook her head, and then frowned at Annabelle, who was resolutely refusing to look at her. "What is she then?"
"I....I don't know," Nic said, frowning. "I thought she was like...the tutorial fairy, or whatever. You didn't start with one? She was in my room with me when I woke up, and has been following me ever since."
"I don't just follow anyone around," Annabelle said, sulking, as Holly shook her head. "I follow the Hero."
Something nagged at the back of Nic's mind, but he could not be sure what it was. Well, whatever. He pointed towards the little red dragon that was now cureld up on the table, snoring peacefully, letting out a soft, rumbling purr. "What about that? You have a dragon as a pet?"
Holly gave a small, sad smile. "Yeah," she said, reaching out to scratch behind the dragon's wings. "He's my little hot Tamale. It comes with the class. I'm a level 3 Dragon Knight. What about you?"
Dragon Knight? Nic thought. I wonder what classes she had to combo to get that. "Um, level 2 Arcane Knight, I guess," he replied. "As of last night, anyway."
"Ah, you leveled up for the first time, huh." Holly seemed distracted, still petting her dragon, voice low and sad. "Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? Like, why do you have to be naked?"
They talked for a while more, as their breakfast slowly disappeared between them. Nic was surprised at just how much he could eat. While he didn't feel any different since leveling up, his appetite seemed voracious. Holly, too, ate a stunning amount for a woman her size, nearly as much as he did. Probably because none of it's real. Our stomachs are probably being pumped with some gross nutritious paste right now or something. Oh well, at least they programmed the food to taste good. Nic was increasingly convinced that this was some kind of strange VR world, though that only explained a small part of what was happening.
Eventually, though, he felt full. Leaning back in his chair, he patted his stomach and sighed contentedly. "Man," he said, "I'm just so glad to find someone else in here. I was afraid I was all alone in this madhouse. At least now we can work together to...fuck, I don't know what to do, but at least we're not alone."
Holly grew silent, staring down at the table as she absently scratched at Tamale. The small dragon arched its back and yawned, a small puff of smoke escaping its mouth. "Uh, yeah," she said softly. "I, uh...I don't think we should team up."
"What?" Nic was baffled. How could anyone prefer being alone in here? "Why the hell not?"
Holly was quiet for a long time, her eyes downcast. "I'm out of resurrection tokens," she said finally, her voice trembling. "I've already died, once. There was one room that was nothing but traps, and I stepped on one, and it..." she put her hands to her stomach, clutching it. "It cut me right in two," she whispered. "Dying hurt, Nic. It hurt so bad. You say that this is all VR, and it makes sense, but dying felt so real."
And there it was. The one thing that left Nic with a nagging sense of doubt as to whether this was actually VR. Gnawing teeth. Biting teeth. He shook his head rapidly to clear it. "How did you lose the other two...?"
"It's Tamale," Holly continued. Nic watched in alarm as her shoulders began to hitch. Oh fuck, is she about to start crying? "I have to use a resurrection token on him whenever he dies, too..."
"You used your tokens on...on your pet?" Nic asked, shocked. He looked at the tiny red dragon. "But - but he isn't -"
"I don't care if he's not real! How are you sure he isn't, anyway?!" Holly looked up furiously, glaring at him, and Nic fell silent. She was crying. "We're supposed to protect each other, but he's so hard to command...he doesn't listen to me and he goes and gets killed. Last night I had to use my last resurrection token to bring him back." Holly put her hands to her face and sobbed. "I've even met other players, and they....they ditched me because he caused so much trouble. I know you think this is a game, but I don't want to die, and I don't want Tamale to die, and - I just don't know what to do...the game said being a Dragon Knight was hard, that controlling the dragon was hard, but I didn't think...."
"If it told you it was hard, why did you choose that as your class?" Nic said softly.
"B-b-because dragons are awesome," Holly replied bitterly. She continued to weep into her hands. "You wouldn't want me on your team anyway. I've been here a week and only managed to get to level 3. I'm totally useless. You're better off without me."
"No, no," Nic replied, desperately trying to sound comforting. "Uh, I mean, look. If it's any consolation, I know how you feel. I mean, I've died too. And it's not like I'm particularly competent, either. In fact before I even chose my class, I managed to get eaten alive by a rat."
"What?!" Holly gasped with shock, looking up at him from her hands with bleary eyes and salty tear tracks running through her freckles. "Oh my god! That's fucking horrifying! Eaten alive?! Why would you tell me that?!"
"I - I was trying to make you feel better," Nic stammered.
"I just told you how afraid I was of dying, and you thought telling me how you were eaten alive would make me feel better?!" Holly looked at him, dumbfounded. But then she gave a small smile and a weak chuckle, and wiped her eyes. "Man. You are really bad at comforting people, huh."
Nic drummed his fingers along the table as Holly gave another small sob, then sighed. He held up his hand. "Access Inventory: Resurrection Token," he said.
"Hero, what are you doing?!" Annabelle cried.
Nic ignored the fairy. He looked down at the resurrection token in his hand. He hadn't actually seen one of these things before. It looked strange; a small globe of utter darkness, little larger than a marble, a small light flickered in the center of it like a distant star. It was surprisingly heavy for its size. "Here," he said, holding it out to Holly. "Take it. I've still got another."
"Hero, no!" Annabelle snapped, rising from the table to flutter around his head indignantly. "Those aren't easy to come by!"
Holly shook her head as well. "Aw - I can't take that, dude," she mumured, wiping her eyes. "Man. I feel like such a girl. Crying until some guy tries to make me feel better."
"Just take the damn thing," Nic snapped, tossing the token to her. Holly gasped, then caught it out of the air. "If you think I'm going through this place alone, you're nuts. Look, your dragon is giving you some trouble, right? So let's wrangle it together until you've got a better grip on it. I know you can't just stay here. The game wouldn't like it."
Holly held the token in her hand, staring at it. "I...I don't think your fairy is lying, you know," she said quietly. "I don't even know how to get another of these. Maybe you can't." She blinked, then frowned, looking up at Nic. "I don't....how would I ever pay you back? Why would you do this for me....?"
Her stare made Nic uncomfortable. "Were you not just listening?" he muttered. "I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. There's no way I'm going through this alone. If you want to pay me back, give me some gold or treasure or whatever. But let's just team up and do this together. Alright?"
He held out his hand. Holly stared at it for a long moment, rolling the resurrection token back and forth between her fingers. Finally, she gave a small smile. "Yeah, alright." She took his hand and gave it a firm shake.
They smiled at each other. "So," Nic said, "Let's -"
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