Several hours earlier…

Emma found Janet near the empty shelves that used to be the library. With only a week or so left on the tutorial, they had stowed most of the furniture and items in Inventories to make sure they didn’t lose anything.

“Hey Janet, a couple of us are going in for our last run,” Emma said, gesturing at the portals with her thumb. “Can you mark Kelsey, Andrea, Nathan P. and me as out of attempts?”

“Are you taking a fifth?” Janet asked, marking them off in her notebook.

Emma would have preferred it if they were, but unfortunately she couldn’t find anyone who fit in their team. They were all nearing the First Ascension and bringing someone who was ten levels lower would only put the fifth player’s life in danger.

It was a shame, too, since her group was going in without a proper damage dealer. Emma’s skills were focused on healing and while Andrea was a decent Mage, her Mana level was too low. She kept running out early and having to spend the rest of the fight in close combat with crappy stats. It led to them choosing weaker monsters and, as a consequence, getting less Experience.

Maybe Janet would go…

“Everyone high enough is already out of attempts. Unless you have one left…” Emma probed.

Janet shook her head. “I ran out yesterday. Let me know when you get back, I have something I want to discuss with you.”

“Sure thing,” Emma said, walking away to meet up with her group.

“The Cruennix Wolves would be a better fit!” Andrea insisted to Kelsey as Emma approached. “We don’t have the Dexterity to mess with anything faster and we don’t have the firepower to mess with anything bigger.”

“We could just kill a bunch of Robis and be done with it,” Nathan suggested. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a sweep button on this challenge.”

Andrea shook her head. “Robis don’t go high enough. It would be a total waste. Has anyone tried Forest Geckos yet?”

“Rayna did,” Emma said. “At least she was planning to, but everyone after that has gotten a message that there were no suitable monsters in the area.”

Andrea grimaced. “Sorry, Emma. I forgot about your friend. Has there been any news?”

Emma and Andrea had teamed up a few times before this. Nathan and Kelsey, who had never fought beside Emma before, looked curious, but they didn’t pry.

“I’ll find her when we get out of here,” Emma said. “And I’m with you; Cruennix Wolves are easy enough to kill and we should be able to find four of them at a high enough level.”

“But they’re not even twice the Experience per level as a Robi,” Kelsey argued. “We might as well skip our last attempt if we go for them.”

“I don’t know about you, but I am not interested in going up against a Level 20 Albasaur,” Nathan said.

“You mean an Aquasaur,” Andrea corrected him.

“Close enough,” Nathan snapped. “I’m sick of water spitting dinosaurs and vine growing chickens. Just, for the love of all that is holy, let me have an easy round.”

“Or you can go in separately and kill your Robi,” Kelsey said, rolling her eyes. “No one said you have to come with us.”

Nathan’s lips formed a thin line. “Unfortunately, I like living, and I don’t trust the System to give me the monster that I ask for. I’m sure you know all about that, don’t you Kelsey?”

Kelsey narrowed her eyes, but neither player elaborated.

Emma looked between them, considering pushing them for information. If this was going to affect their ability to work as a team, then it might be better if they called the whole thing off.

“Whatever,” Kelsey said before Emma could make up her mind. “Let’s just do the Wolves. They’re better than Robis, at least, but hold on a sec.” She turned to a nearby player and gestured for her to come over. “You over there, do you have any attempts left?”

The girl blinked, looking around and pointing to her chest. “Me?”

Kelsey nodded. “Yeah, you. Level 15—” She squinted at the girl’s name tag. “—Brittney? Mind if I call you Britt? Seems like a waste to not bring a fifth person. You want a quick Experience boost?”

Brittney only hesitated for a moment before running over. “Of course! Umm… what are we fighting?”

Emma frowned at Kelsey. “I don’t think bringing a lower level player is a good idea.”

“You’re the best healer in our group,” Kelsey said dismissively. “We’ll focus on killing the wolves, you just keep us alive.”

This was not what they had discussed. Nathan shifted anxiously and Andrea looked ready to quit and just do a solo run. Emma was leaning that way too.

“Come on, I wanna get this over with!” Kelsey touched the portal.

“Wait!” Emma snapped, taking a step backward.

It didn’t matter. No matter how many times they asked the Liaisons, a confirmation screen for parties had not yet been added. The first person to touch the portal was designated team leader, and however many players the team leader said were in their party, the System would drag that many people into the portal. There were strict procedures on how team based trials were run for this very reason.

The blood-stained trial room resolved around Emma, this one much larger than the standard one person rooms. The larger your party, the larger your trial space would be. This trial room was nearly half the size of a basketball court, providing the team with enough room to dodge and coordinate without wasting stamina to chase down the opponents.

Emma turned to the lower level player. “Stay out of the way and yell if you’re in trouble, okay? Don’t forget to heal someone so you get the Experience.”

Brittney nodded, gripping her staff uncertainly. The weapon was covered in swirls and strange shapes. It almost looked like Brittney doodled on the wood when she got bored.

Emma wasn’t sure if this choice of weapon was intentional or if Brittney had been one of the poor saps who got tricked into trading weapons with other players who had chosen poorly.

Emma stomped over to Kelsey. “What the hell is the matter with you?!” she demanded. “You know the rules. You confirm with your party before going in.”

Kelsey shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. We all just want to hurry up and finish this.”

“We agreed that Emma was going to be the team leader,” Andrea said. “She has the most experience.”

Kelsey scoffed. “How hard is it to summon a few Cruennix Wolves? One moment…”

Kelsey entered something on her screen and confirmed it with the System.

You have challenged five Level 20 Forest Geckos.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Kelsey covered her mouth with her hand in a mocking gesture. “Oops. My finger must have slipped.”

Emma frowned. “It doesn’t matter, Forest Geckos—”

She was interrupted by the appearance of five gigantic geckos. Their skin was a ghostly white and their teeth were crooked and uneven.

The minute they appeared, they started to writhe in agony.

“What did you do to them?” Nathan asked, staring in horror at the five monsters on the ground.

“Nothing, really,” Kelsey said. “I just dragged them out of their natural habitat. I learned pretty early on that these guys don’t like light.”

“Perfect,” Nathan said. “So, we can just—”

He cut off mid-sentence, slowly looking down at the gaping hole where his stomach had been a moment before. He stumbled back a step and dropped to the ground.

Emma swore, casting a healing spell on him immediately. A wound that would have been instantly fatal on Earth was a lot more manageable here, thanks to healing spells. His skin slowly began to knit back together.

Andrea didn’t wait for Kelsey to attack again. She pounced on the other woman, casting her spell to draw lightning out of thin air.

“Oh, please,” Kelsey said, yawning dramatically. “You could at least make this interesting for me.” She sidestepped the lightning attack and advanced on Andrea, cutting off the woman’s arm with a swift strike of her blade.

Andrea retreated, gripping her shoulder with a pained grimace. “Players don’t give Experience,” she growled. “What do you hope to gain from this?”

Kelsey pretended to look thoughtful “Maybe I just want to blow off some steam,” she said. “Or maybe, I found a way around the single monster limit.” She grinned, showing her teeth in an unnerving expression. “I tried to grow the right way first, I really did. but one monster per person was so slow. Then it occurred to me--” She knelt by Andrea’s severed arm, picking it up and inspecting it absently. “The System counts us on the way in, it doesn’t care how many people make it out.”

“I knew it,” Nathan said, his voice quivering. “The System malfunctions, your miraculous escapes. It was all bullshit.” He sat up, glaring at Kelsey with burning hatred. “You killed Lyle for a few measly points of Experience.”

Kelsey looked over at him, tilting her head. “I didn’t expect you to be up so soon. Emma’s spells must be stronger than I thought.”

“Shut up, bitch!” Nathan snarled. “I’ll kill you.”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Kelsey mocked. “The little ranger is going to hit me with his little darts. Maybe if you picked a real weapon, you wouldn’t be sacrifices toward my growth arch.”

Emma gawked. “This isn’t a fucking game.”

“But it is a game,” Kelsey said. “You people keep denying the obvious. That’s why I’ll be the one to win it in the end! I don’t care how many people I have to sacrifice to beat the final boss. Maybe after I’m done, I’ll become the final boss. That’s a pretty neat twist ending, isn’t it?”

Something whooshed past Emma’s ear, embedding itself in Kelsey’s shoulder.

Emma whirled around, finding Brittney with another knife already in hand.

“Nathan, is it?” Brittney said, glaring at the man on the ground. “If I survive this, I’m going to kick your ass for not warning me away from this psycho.”

“What the fuck?!” Kelsey snapped, pulling the knife out and throwing it back at Brittney.

Emma caught the knife midair and tossed it to Brittney hilt first. Brittney caught it and stuck it in a belt sheath that Emma hadn’t noticed before.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt a monologue?” Kelsey ran across the room, a sword appearing in her hands. Brittney blocked Kelsey’s advance with her staff.

Emma moved to intervene, but to her surprise, the staff held. Brittney pushed forward, driving Kelsey off of her.

Kelsey jumped back, dodging another lightning bolt from Andrea and a few ‘little darts’ from Nathan’s blowgun.

Emma swung her glaive at Kelsey, driving her back until she was in the center of the room again. Kelsey tripped over one of the writhing Geckos, drawing an angry hiss as the monster slithered away.

Emma put her glaive to Kelsey’s throat.

“Forfeit the trial,” Emma snapped. “now.”

Kelsey grinned. “Ah yes, my favorite part. You can’t actually leave without me.” She leaned forward, pricking herself on the blade in Emma’s hand. “I hope you’re not scared of the dark.”

Darkness exploded from her, and something slammed into Emma’s chest, throwing her against the wall. She fell to the ground, stunned and winded.

Kelsey’s maniacal laughter filled the room.

“You won’t get away with this,” Andrea shouted. “Janet’s not stupid. She’ll figure out something is off.”

“Oh, will she?” Kelsey asked, her voice seeming to come from all directions. “She didn’t before.” Suddenly, Kelsey’s voice grew terrified. “They were—they were everywhere! I couldn’t even see them! And Lyle—Oh God, Lyle!” She sobbed, the sound morphing into another round of laughter. “Janet didn’t suspect a thing.”

Nathan roared in anger.

Pain erupted on Emma’s arm, and she cried out.

“Emma, are you okay?” Andrea called.

Emma couldn’t respond.

You have been paralyzed.

Emma tried to move, but she couldn’t even adjust her gaze. Was this what had kept Rayna from returning?

Panic rose in her chest. She had no way to know how long the paralysis would last. She was in a room with a serial killer and five Level 20 monsters and there was nothing she could do to protect herself.

Andrea’s shout rang through the air, followed by Nathan’s. the spot where Emma had been bitten burned painfully and she tried desperately to make her System open so she could cast a healing spell on herself.

Emma’s screen popped up. Had she done it?

Without the ability to move her eyes, she could only focus on four little words that held her salvation.

Please prepare for teleportation.

Light flashed in Emma’s eyes and a moment later she was standing on a beach, still paralyzed.

Ten yards in front of her, Kelsey stood with a triumphant expression. Her expression faded as she met eyes with Emma.

“We weren’t touching! Why did it stick me here with you.” Kelsey snarled.

Brittney appeared behind her, slamming her staff into the woman’s head. “Shut up already, would you?!”

Brittney rushed over to Emma and squeezed something into her palm. “I don’t know if this’ll work. It’s supposed to be a preventative measure but—”

Emma stumbled forward as her muscles unlocked. Brittney caught her, helping her upright.

“Awesome,” Brittney said. “Take this.” She pressed a piece of wood with a symbol carved on it into Emma’s palm. “Go help Nathan. I’ll get Andrea.”

Emma ran over and pressed the wood into Nathan’s hand. It crumbled into ash as Nathan jerked, falling face-first into the sand.

Kelsey stirred and Emma walked over and put her glaive to her neck again. “Don’t move, or I’ll shut you up for good.”

Kelsey sneered at her. “You will, will you? What were you on Earth, a salesclerk? I bet the tutorial was the first time you ever held a weapon.”

“I—”

Emma cut off as a woman’s shout reached them from the edge of the beach.

“Bro’en gan he landi!” she yelled, running full tilt toward them. She stopped at the edge of the beach, glancing nervously at the sand.

“I think we should get off the beach,” Brittney said slowly.

The ground beneath them started to vibrate.

“Run!” Emma put her glaive away, leaving Kelsey on the ground.

They ran full tilt toward the woman as pits opened up in the sand. Emma didn’t take the time to see what was inside, she just focused on not falling into them.

Brittney pulled out her staff and jumped onto it. To Emma’s shock, she rose into the air, riding the staff like a witch’s broomstick. She held her hand out to Andrea and dragged her onto the wood.

“How much weight can that thing carry?” Nathan asked, climbing on after Andrea.

“No idea!” Brittney yelled. “I wasn’t even sure if it would work.”

Emma held out her hand, but a sword appeared, nearly severing her hand from her wrist.

She jumped sideways as Kelsey catapulted onto the staff.

“Go away!” Nathan snapped, trying to push Kelsey off.

“We can settle our differences when we’re off the death beach,” Kelsey snapped.

But the staff couldn’t carry the load. They dipped, the tip dragging in the sand.

Nathan turned around and kicked Kelsey square in the chest. She went flying, landing on the sand with an angry shout. She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid another sand pit.

He held his hand out to Emma.

“It won’t hold four,” Emma told him. “Get to safety. I’ll catch up!”

Brittney nodded, picking up speed and leaving Emma behind.

Emma’s feet stung as the sand burned through the souls of her shoes. She nearly fell into one of the holes and finally saw what was inside. Rows of giant teeth rotated in what looked like a cross between a mouth and a giant drill. Emma scurried back from the hole, her leg bleeding where it had snagged on one of the monster’s teeth.

Brittney and the others reached the edge of the beach and shouted for Emma to hurry.

She tried to get up and start running again, but something flung her into the air. She screamed, flailing as she tried to control her descent.

She never landed. Instead, a man caught her midair, lifting her out of reach of the terrifying beach.

“Huan agh lar?” the man asked, pulling Emma up so he could hold her more securely.

Emma shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

He frowned, but he didn’t say anything else. He deposited her on the edge of the beach and went back for Kelsey.

Kelsey apparently hadn’t seen the rescue. Instead of accepting the man’s help, she dodged away from him, swinging her sword wildly to fend him off. There was panic on her face exaggerated enough to be seen even from this distance.

He seemed to be trying to reason with her, but she backed away, dodging pits as they opened in the sand.

One emerged directly under Kelsey’s feet and she screamed as a giant worm rose out of the sand and swallowed her whole, sinking back down and disappearing within the beach.

Andrea screamed, covering her eyes and Brittney looked like she might puke.

Nathan looked shaken, but he shook his head. “She brought that on herself.”

Emma couldn’t help but agree, but the sight of someone being eaten just like that—even a psychotic serial killer—made her queasy.

When the man returned, looking upset, the woman comforted him, and they had a hastily whispered conversation before she turned to Emma and her group.

“Bro’en,” she said, gesturing for them to follow. “Ighen hebi ilk.”

“Any idea what they’re saying?” Nathan muttered to Emma.

“Well, she obviously wants us to follow,” Brittney said, moving closer to the others. “What do you think?”

“It’s them or the worms,” Emma said, shuddering at the memory of the spinning rows of razor sharp teeth. “I’ll take my chances with them.”

They followed their saviors, trying not to look back at the beach.

Emma thought she was ready for Ember. It turned out, she had a long way to go.