That scream sounded human, but it wasn't. So I don't have to go help, I can still sleep... I thought, in a haze, still half-asleep. Once I figured out what that meant I bolted upright.

“Lingo... Did you hear that?” another inhuman scream ripped through the air. Whatever it was didn't sound like it was in pain, just closer. Lingo groaned.

“What...? Where am I?!” she jumped back and towards the wall and headboard of her bed, smacking into it. I shushed her. She looked around rubbing the back of her head and groaning, seeming to understand as she realized her surroundings and quieted. I looked at the mote and opened my menu, seeing the options for it I selected the [Turn Off Light] option and it cast us into darkness. The only light came from the moon outside.

“Why did you do that?” Lingo snapped at me in a whisper. I put my finger over my mouth, trying to settle her down. Another scream, this time followed by two others, closer and just as strange. As I woke up more and more my blood seemed to get colder and colder.

“Something's really, really not right here...” I picked up my staff and bag. I hoped I had selected the right skills and stats. When I thought of casting fireball my staff's tiny heart-shaped jewel switched from a white heart to red. Lingo did the same. Her staff looked more like a metal pole with some small metal blades attached at the end. It shifted to a heavier looking metal mace as she muttered Barrier at the door. It had purple glowing chains wrap in front of it.

It was hard, but I forced my legs up and towards the windowsill. Outside were either players or villagers bodies strewn about, and beside one stood a deathly pale white figure. While it looked humanoid it didn't have any hair, eyes, or genitals. It was naked, lanky, and about the size of a big man. Looking at it, everything felt slower. Dread rose up and filled every part of my body so quickly it was almost painful. I didn't scramble away once I saw it, like every brain cell I had was telling me to. I was pretty sure I couldn't if I tried.

“What's wrong?” Lingo asked from across the room. I felt for my staff, and aimed it, slowly. It couldn't see I was pretty sure. No eyes. It stood over the corpse in quiet reflection.

“Fire-” I started, only to stop as I saw a large Swordsman run towards it. He swung his blade forward yelling something I couldn't hear. It's HP ticked down a quarter, but it flicked one of it's arms back and hit him, hard. His body snapped straight in half, and it wandered over to look at his corpse next. My blood was ice cold. I hate this game.

“What's going on?!” Lingo jumped up beside me, ending up stuck in the same fear like trance that I did. My heart was racing I realized but now I could finally move more freely. It might have even been a status effect. I wanted to run away now, maybe into the forest, but that didn't make a lot of sense. What if that's where they were coming from? It was likely. I could feel sweat dripping down my face as I pulled Lingo's arm gently back towards the guarded door, and away from the window.

“We have to get out of here. Is there anywhere we can go?” I picked up my card and read it again.

[Number of Participants: 727, 312

Next Trial

The Fortress of the Kingdom of Ash

Players must find and gain access to the Kingdom of Ash and their lands. The gate is currently closed and Players being largely be decreased until conditions are met. The longer the gate remains closed the more Participants will be decreased.

Time remaining -1 hrs 2 min

Good luck, Varnish]

Is this less than before? It looked the same to me. I couldn't remember how many participants it said last time. I opened my menu and made a note of the number this time. I also looked through my inventory instead of going through my bag. There were some high-level health potions, but I probably didn't need those with Lingo there. I searched for anything usable, clicking open the packages,

“Can we use one of these Catalysts?” I whispered. Lingo didn't answer, she was still completely stuck still, “Lingo!” I shook her, but she just crumpled to the ground.

“I... I wanna go home.” she started to sob, quietly. I froze up and stepped back. I wanted to join her. I heard a slight creak in the hallway and leaned down to put my hand over her mouth. She slapped my hand away but sobbed much softer after doing so.

There was a softer, but still inhuman sound coming from the hallway. Was anyone else still in the inn? It was a moan that sounded like it was almost choking, but I could hear laboured breaths as it stumbled down the hallway. Maybe it was already injured.

“What are the skill names for the Catalysts I can use? Can I use this one?” I put my stuff back on my back, and clicked an inventory button and saw a purple gem with a shape in the middle I still couldn't understand appear in my hand. She shook her head, “Lingo, please, we have to think of something.”

“I don't know the Death Magic Type attack names! Hardly anyone plays that stupid type!” she pushed me off her and pushed herself into the corner between the bed and the wall. I felt like someone had kicked the air out of me, “We're gonna die... We're gonna die!”

“Sorry...” I barely mustered. My heart was beating out of my chest, but I somehow still felt the sting of what she meant. If I had picked something else we'd be okay maybe. I'd never see Diana or Kitty, or mom or dad again. All over some dumb spite pick. I'd never go home. Who am I kidding, I’m going to die here. What else could be happening? I wasn't strong enough to fight anyone, let alone crazy things that obliterated people that played the game longer than a few hours.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I heard a giant pound at the door, and Lingo whimpered. I hugged her instinctively, and gently rubbed her back. She didn’t push me away. It looked like the barrier was the only thing that held whatever was outside back, and even then, it was now cracking and fizzling, it's purple light dim. The door itself even looked cracked.

Think. Just think. Just think! I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t know how to play this stupid game. There was no way the two of us could beat it with how we were acting. I couldn’t think like Varnish the crappy level thirty-nine Death Mage. I had to think like… Me.

I inhaled sharply and stood up. Lingo grasped for me before retreating in on herself and hugging her own shoulders. I felt a pang of guilt, but hiding wasn’t going to help either of us. I walked towards the mote again and opened the menu for it. The thing outside had wandered a little further towards the forest to stare at another corpse, probably people trying to flee the town. We could worry about that one later, hopefully. I picked a baked potato and watched it flame back to life and rocket off towards the door and phase through it.

Outside I heard a scream so close it almost stopped me in my tracks again. My vision swirled. It felt like the tissue of my body was separating, white the room spun around me. But I stood up straight and prayed. A second later there were screeches and gross sloppy shuffling sounds headed back downstairs. I exhaled, feeling tears roll down my cheeks. I grabbed Lingo's arm again, and ran towards the door, throwing my weight into it.

Lingo was trying to rip the grip of my hand off her arm, and hissing under breath to let go of her, but I held tight. “We'll die if we stay in here. Just trust me.” I whispered.

She stared up at me, then down, like she couldn’t comprehend what I was saying. I knocked lightly on the door to the right of us, “If you're in there we're human! The fleshy thing is distracted, we have to group up.”

“I'm not going out there!!” a male voice yelled back so loud I was afraid that the monster had heard him and would start rushing back up the stairs. I didn't take time to think about it, I moved onto the door across from it on my left.

“We have to group up, the one coming this way is distracted but it'll probably come back!” No response, but I could hear someone walk towards the door, then away. I moved to the one next to it and started to hit the door only to have it move to open mid-strike. I ended up hitting the chest of a man much taller than me, who stared down at me with one intense green eye. Apostate. I froze and stepped back. “We-” He nodded at me before I could start, and stared down the hallway for a moment before he took out his staff. Some sort of rune I didn't understand appeared on the ground, and I went to the next door.

“We have more people now, you're going to die in there, come out and try to help us fight them!” The door swung open and a tall Elven woman with red hair stepped out.

She carried a Scythe and muttered a terrified, “O-ok...” as she went to stand with Apostate. She was shaking so visibly I could almost hear her teeth chattering. Lingo finally got out of my grasp and ran down the hall. I jumped and ran after her, but instead of headed down the stairs or hitting the rune Apostate had laid down, I saw her slam her fist into the door.

“Get out here or we're gonna die! Come on!” she screamed, voice trembling, but at least no longer crying. Two men came out, one a slim healer with glasses, and the other an older guy with a beard and scars running down his face. He held an axe in front of him and stepped past her to join the others.

I stopped at the last door in the hallway. I couldn't hear any movement behind it, and the door was slightly ajar. I felt all the adrenaline in my body slow and dull as it opened by itself, a light breeze from the window next to it moving it forward.

There was a body laying a couple inches in front of my feet, the inn owner, and behind him maybe his wife. Time seemed incredibly slow as I looked up. And I could see one. Really see one, for the first time close up. I was wrong. It did have eyes. One was lodged in a slit in it's neck, unblinking. It's skin wasn't misfitting, it was heavily moving down it's body, too heavy for it's thin, thin frame. It didn't have hands, it had claws, the end of it's almost fingers as thin as needles.

Help. I thought I said. But nothing came out of my mouth. One of my legs moved backwards, slowly, and the monster stopped looking over the corpse of the inn owner and his wife. It turned to look at me. I took out my staff.

“Barrier!!” Shouted Lingo from down the hall. It was so quick I barely saw it, but the monster threw itself at me, using all of it's weight to slam one of it's razor thing hands at me. My HP dropped to 12 out of over 4000 and my vision swam. I dropped to the ground and heard something tink against the ground. I hadn’t put it back in my bag or even taken it out of my fist.

“What's the Purple Catalyst skill called?!” I grabbed my staff with my other hand and backed up against the wall as the monster steadied itself and readied to attack again.

“Mortis!” Apostate yelled, before then yelling “Manawall!”

“Full Heal!” Either glasses or Lingo yelled. I aimed my staff at it and felt it tear into my frame again, it couldn't have been more than three seconds before I was hit last.

“Mortis!” My HP had dropped to a few hundred this time as the claw was less than an inch from my face. The monster in front of me turned an ashen grey before falling onto me, decaying into dust and mush all over me, it's hand slapping through my body and painting the wall next to me grey in streaks as it's hands disintegrated. I was hyperventilating, trying to get air into my lungs without choking on the mess, kicking it off me, sending more of the disgusting gunk into the air.

In hindsight, it was embarrassing. But I felt it was warranted. I started crying.