Charlie’s PoV

“Where am I?” The panic set in quickly as Charlie finally regained consciousness.

Then, he thought of the very last thing he remembered.

Tubes. IV machines. A… doctor. Dr…. what was his name again?

Everything was a blur to him. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was in ‘War and Swords’, but upon opening up his menu to log out, Charlie was horrified to find the button grayed out. Even when he tried to hit it, the command just wouldn’t go through.

It might as well not exist if it can’t help me.

All around him were open plaines, leaving Charlie no answers to his many questions.

As he stood idle in the field, Charlie thought about which way to go, then, he remembered that the sun always set in the north in this game, and north should eventually lead to the far town of ‘Orton’. There, he could finally see other people again and ask his questions. For now, though, Charlie had a long walk ahead of him.

At about noon, Charlie stubbornly admitted to himself that this path was leading nowhere. Panic began its brutal assault as he sat down.

“Oh? Forfeiting the game so soon?” An echoing voice taunted a weary Charlie.

That voice, I know it. Doctor… doctor… Dr. Hart!

“What did... you do to me…?” Charlie found himself choking up on fear as he spoke.

“If I told you that, what would the fun be? No, you need to learn on your own. Perhaps, I can help you with that.”

Charlie could still not find the intentions lurking within the hollow voice. Nevertheless, that was the least of his concerns. He was focused entirely on the doctor.

“No! I don’t need your help! It was you who put me in here in the first place!” Charlie refused.

“Protocol: 3574!” Dr. Hart commanded.

Just then, ‘Rock Golems’, the strongest known mob in the game, spawned all around him. Numbering in at least five-thousand, the golems bore terrifying expressions on their stone faces.

This isn't good.

As that thought raced through his head, Charlie was almost too distracted to notice the rocky arm heading for him. Barely dodging out of the way in time, Charlie looked around to find that the rest of the monsters were now in ‘attack mode’.

All of a sudden, his arms grew heavy. When he saw what had appeared within his grip, another wave of shock coursed through his veins. It was a two-handed obsidian sword, one of the strongest non-legendary weapons in the game.

“Here, a gift. Use it wisely.” The doctor’s voice faded into the distance.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. The same negative phrase repeated endlessly in his head as Charlie clutched the sword for dear life.

The surrounding golems pulled back their long arms in preparation of a fatal blow. The immediate threat must have caused Charlie to return to his senses, for a sudden thought fought against any unwanted emotions.

This is just a game, and I, Graeyz, am the best at games!

That was all it took for Charlie to jump with all his might off the ground. The golems rocky fists were smashed together, injuring them all. As for Charlie, he was now quickly falling back to the ground.

When he was about ten feet from making contact with the golems, Charlie pulled back the overpowered sword behind his shoulder. Then, when he had five feet left, he swung downwards.

Chapter 4 Part 2

Charlie continued the hopeless struggle as he parried blow after blow with his sword. Every time he would successfully parry an attack, Charlie would let loose a mediocre sword skill to finish the creature off. Right now, there were about four-thousand-eight-hundred monsters left.

The obsidian sword was reaching its durability limit, Charlie’s ‘Ultimate Move’ meter was depleted from overuse, and his health was reducing at dangerously fast speeds. Something had to be done.

Think, think, think, think. What can I do?

It was at that moment that the world itself seemed to cease. Every one of the golems shattered into miniscule shards of orange light. In the wake of such a miracle, the only thing remaining was the outline of a strange, elven-looking man.

Charlie was partially frightened as the figure strode toward him, but upon seeing the man’s features beneath the greenish hood, it seemed that he was friendly.

“Hey, man. Quite a pickle you got yourself into, eh?” The green-clothed person chuckled, then, noticing Charlie’s horrified expression, said, “Welp, this is a bit awkward. Anyway, I’m, uh, Teal… Nice to meet you?” The man named Teal outstretched a gloved palm for a handshake.

A cold glance was all he got in return.

“Okay. Not much of a shaker.”

In an attempt to exterminate any possibility of a surprise attack from “Teal”, Charlie grabbed the elven-boy by his collar and put the obsidian sword to his throat. Of course, he was actually grateful for the help, but no chances could be taken at the moment.

To Charlie’s amazement, Teal didn’t even flinch or try to fight back. It was then that he realized what he had just done. Charlie was attacking a person of obvious power. Those golems were unbelievably tough, yet this boy had eradicated them all in a mere split-second. As he slowly removed the sword from Teal’s neck, Charlie released the boy from his grip and took a few steps back.

“I’m sorry.”

Teal was flabbergasted at Charlie’s apology. After all, two seconds ago he had threatened to cut off his head.

“No, yeah, well it’s fine, man. We all get nervous when meeting new people.”

I’ve never tried to cut off someone's head upon meeting them, though. Teal carefully placed that thought away as to not agitate Charlie any further.

“Anyway, where are you off to?” Teal asked.

“I… don’t know. I kind of, well, I just woke up here all of a sudden.”

Once again, Teal was strangely unfazed by Charlie’s remark.

“Oh, you’re one of us.” Teal said. “Buddy, I’ve seen your situation many times before. Look, I understand that following a stranger in an unfamiliar place may seem like a bad idea, and it is, but I can take to our place. We have people there; good people.”

The offer seemed too good to be true, but was there an alternative? Charlie was only left with one option. He had to accept.

“Fine. But if this is a trick of any kind, I will take you, and everyone you know down with me.”

“Geez, man. Talk about a threatening tone.”

And with that, the two set off for a certain place.

Many adventures are to come in this world for Charlie, but what about Klent? Find out in the next chapter of “Ultra-Reality”!