As Chapter 4 is Happening, Klent has his Own Problems
Needing a V.I.H. to complete my task of meeting someone named Julius in ‘War and Swords’, I knew that I’d have to steal it from Charlie’s house.
I carefully slid through the unlocked window. Once inside, I easily found the headset even amongst the clutter of Charlie’s room. The problem started when I was exiting.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” The drunken voice yelled, and I knew exactly whose voice that was.
It’s Charlie’s father.
I kept my cool as I leapt out the open window and hopped onto my bike. Just as I was about halfway down the road, though, I heard the roaring hum of an engine. Turning my head around slightly, I saw the red pick-up clunkily sliding out of the driveway and toward me. That wasn’t even the scariest part. The outline of a rifle barrel could be seen coming out of the driver’s window from the truck.
He’s going to try and shoot me.
Just then, a loud boom! echoed out. He had fired the rifle, but luckily it missed me due in large part to his drunken aim. The truck itself was also catching up to me, about fifteen feet away at this point.
Guess I’ll have to put my eighth-grade gymnastics to the test.
When the truck was less than a foot from me, I kicked myself off the bike and onto the truck’s roof. I could hear the metallic bicycle crumple like paper under the force of the truck.
Even Charlie's drunk father, who was most likely preparing another shot, must’ve been astonished at my level of skill.
Now that I was out of aim, I had to think about what to do next. Then, I heard a siren echoing in the distance. Emerging from the corner behind us were blue and red lights.
Suddenly, the pickup truck sped up, and I was thrown into the bed of it. The blow to my head nearly made me pass out, but other than that I was okay.
“Pull over now!” The voice boomed.
Charlie’s dad showed no signs of halting as the truck sped up even further.
I can’t get caught right now with Charlie in danger.
I could always stand up now and say that I’m a hostage, but then they would see the stolen V.I.H.. Besides, I didn’t have time for them to take me into questioning even if they believed my hostage story anyway.
Gunshots erupted from both sides as I desperately tried to think up a way out of this. I raised my head a bit from my ducked position in the bed. We were now on the open highway, with trees as far as the eye could see. Only the dim light of fast-food restaurant could be seen in the distance.
I kept my head down until right before we passed by the restaurant. Then, I made my carefully thought out move and jumped onto the grass on the side of the woods.
“Is this thing on? Klent, can you hear me?
I studied the environment around me. Everything, and I mean everything, was green. Not only that, but I found myself lying on my back in the damp grass. As I picked myself up from the ground, even more fear hit me.
The greenery… is endless…
I prayed in my head, asking God to please let this be a dream.
Suddenly, I noticed the voice calling my name.
“Huh.., who are you? Where am I?” I asked.
No response.
“Answer me!” I shouted.
It took a few seconds, but a bewildered voice responded, “Amazing… It worked.”
I had no idea what to think of this, until I looked to the upper-right hand corner of my view.
An HP and status gauge? Wait, no, it couldn’t be… am I… in ‘War and Swords’?
I cleared my head and commanded, “Open Menu!” A list of statistics spilled out, and I read every line in order to fully comprehend my situation.
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Name: Finisher LV: 2 Hp: 2800/2800 Stamina: 5000/5000
Skills: -Sword skill, “Raging One” -Sword skill, “The End”
Ultimate Move: “The Black Hole”
Extra skills: -Crafting Bonus
I hit the ‘INSPECT AVATAR’ button, and my current appearance was shown.
This is my ‘War and Swords’ avatar! But that means that I’m currently in ultra-reality. Why, though?
“Ah, you seemed to have came to your final conclusion. To answer your question; yes, you are in the ultra-reality MMORPG ‘War and Swords’. There is one more thing that you should know…” The voice spoke then paused. After what seemed like an eternity, he began again. “No, never mind. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, my name is Rudy Brown, but you may call me Dr. Brown. I sent you on that quest to help Charlie, and I will continue to help as long as you follow my every order. Got that?”
I was unsure of how to respond, for I didn’t want to make a hasty decision and regret later on. Not only that, but I still had more questions that I wanted answers to. For example: Why am I here? Where is Charlie? How can I help Charlie?
“How about this…” I started my bargain. “You answer every single one of my questions, and I’ll consider listening to you.”
“That’s okay with me. What’s your first question?”
“My first question is why am I here?”
“Well, after your death, we-”
“My death…?” I questioned quietly, for I was honestly afraid of an answer.
“I guess I should start from the beginning.” He sighed. “Five days ago, I traced your phone to the outskirts of Detroit. When I arrived at your location, the sun was barely visible, but there was just enough light to see your body. Your neck was twisted in an inhuman position. Whatever did that to you killed you instantaneously..”
No. I’m not dead. This is just a dream.
Then I remembered the police chase, when I jumped from the bed of the truck. I remember a split-second of severe pain. Does that mean that everything after that didn’t actually happen; like a dream after death? If so, then how do I know that this isn’t just an illusion as well?
“When I brought your corpse back here, I felt that something was off. I had been looking for subjects for a new experiment, so used your body as an alternative to a live person. I’m sorry for that, but the experiment was a success, and without it, you wouldn’t be here right now. Klent, I have given you new life as an AI.”
An AI?
“Every breath of air you inhale, every single step you take; is real. This is your new reality. But you will not be inhabiting this world as Klent. Instead, you will live your new life as Finisher. This, is your ultra-reality.
I looked over to the fields beside me, then to the skies above. Winged-creatures flew, and large insectoids roamed.
I choose to accept those words, however cruel they may be. I must throway all doubt and sadness. Even though the tears of loneliness threaten to stream down, I must ignore them and carry on. I may miss my previous life dearly, but I have to accept my new life now. What else can I do?
“Today, as much as it pains me, I will do away with my old-self, and begin anew as Finisher. Today, I will set out on my quest to save Charlie.”
As I ran to the fields, I unsheathed my damaged wooden stick.
A ‘Savage Ant’ threatened me, but it met its demise as I used the sword skill “Raging Hole”. Orange sparks were blown away with the wind as I continued to annihilate every creature in sight.
After an hour, I had reached level 10, and there was one ant left. It was the strongest one, or what many players apparently call a “boss”.
‘Nest Queen’ was the creatures name. Its appearance was an enlarged version of the normal ‘Savage Ants’, and was level 20. I didn’t care.
Its giant leg came down to crush me, but I timed my parry just right and stunned the creature. Unfortunately, the raw force of the parry shattered my only weapon. Now I was alone and defenseless. The queen charged, and for the first time so far in this life, I felt genuine fear.
Her legs slashed at me as I attempted to hopelessly retreat. My left arm was cut lightly, but I could still feel the pain as if it were real.
So this is what it truly means to ‘live’ in this world. Everything is real.
Out of time, and out of options, I ran to a safer distance. Then, I checked my inventory.
“All I’ve got are ant legs.”
Another thing I noticed was the ‘HOTKEY’ icon. An idea formed in my head.
I tapped the ‘HOTKEY’ icon fast, for the queen was still coming after me. A new screen appeared prompting me to do a motion. I snapped my left middle-finger.
[CRAFTING SKILL NOW SET TO LEFT-HAND SNAP]
Then, I snapped my right middle-finger.
[CRAFTING SKILL ASSIGNED TO RIGHT-HAND SNAP]
The queen was right before me now, and preparing to strike. I snapped both fingers at the same time while thinking about what I wanted to craft with the spider legs. It was just a guess, but if it didn’t pay off, then I would be utterly obliterated by the queen.
When I snapped, one ‘Spider-Leg Long-Sword’ appeared in each hand. I went on the defensive and crossed both swords into an X position to block the oncoming attack.
Upon making contact with the harsh blow, both swords shattered within my grip. I had plenty more where those came from, though. I snapped both fingers again and attacked with my newly-crafted weapons.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. That’s all I have to do.
Using this strategy, I was able to diminish the queen’s HP to 50%, then 20%, and finally, 0%.
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
Nice. Now I’m level 15.