So. What next?

I felt like a Robinson Crusoe of sorts, washed up on an unknown shore. At least I didn’t need to forage for food for survival, that was a plus point of being in the game world.

Find shelter then?

Contact Kiara, a wise voice in my mind instructed.

That lifelike dream of Mimti’s wife cheating on him flashed in my mind again. Yes, I should connect with Kiara right away.

I inserted my hand into my pocket.

The small pouch that contained the gold dust was missing.

Initially I thought I was just searching the wrong pocket. But the coil of despair tightened on me when despite frantically stripping off my clothes and conducting a thorough search on them, I failed to find the pouch anywhere.

A hailstorm of hopelessness beat down on me.

Where had the pouch gone?

Many places where I could have lost it lined up in my head. a) The desert, while fighting the black dragon b) the well of resurrection when I had fallen into it. c) Perhaps the physician of the sirens had taken it out of my pocket? d) My swimathon of the past hour

All were highly plausible scenarios. One thing was established— there was no way I could get back the pouch even if I tried.

The next time I contacted Kiara again, I would probably find her as somebody else’s darling wife, much like she had once found me as the beloved husband of a zombie woman.

The siren had said that my wish to return to the real world would be granted if I helped her. The exact opposite had happened. I was locked up in Dharti now. Even my ability to connect to the real world was gone.

For a while I remained rooted to the spot, bleakly gawking at the calm sea in front of me. I checked my stats. I was still alternating between the different affinities though I noted that it was a bit slower than before.

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The vast forest seemed to call me. Who knew what mysteries dwelt in it? I remembered that Sam had told Kiara that the players now resided in a location near a sea. He had also mentioned the blue water.

Was I close to the settlement of the players?

Should I try to find Sam then?

He could help me. He could phone Kiara and tell her I lost the gold dust.

His fellow players however would be thrilled to lodge an arrow into my neck, once I fully became an evilun.

A bird drifted into my vision, soaring high in the sky.

No, not a bird.

A Manture.

I waved at it. But it was too far away and didn’t notice me.

I focused on the creature. It was an evilun. Some minutes passed and I saw a separate flock of Mantures flying near the horizon. But those were neutral ones. Interesting. They were successfully sustaining their neutrality.

I didn’t have an option but to explore the woods. The vegetation I noticed was significantly different from that of the other forest I was used to. The trees were shorter with more branches and there was an abundance of carnivorous plants. The huge venus fly traps were not just meant for flies. They could easily trap anything as big as a rabbit or a dog.

I climbed a tree to see what lay ahead of me. Miles and miles of greenery. Was it even worth continuing? But I had come too far from the shore to consider returning and the light was dimming, the sun having already set. I hoped I would get somewhere eventually. Hope was the only card that I now had left.

***

When it was dark enough that I couldn’t see any more than a few meters in front, I decided it was time to get some rest. I made myself comfortable atop a tree branch, ensuring I wouldn’t fall if I dozed off by securing my torso with the trunk using my sleeves.

Sounds woke me up a short while later. I rubbed my face and looked around. Not just sounds, but there was light too. Torches. Four men were carrying what looked like a sack.

The sac was squirming.

Someone was inside it.

The person was definitely struggling very hard to break free, and the bearers were not having an easy time.

“I am done with this!” one of the four declared. “I want to sleep!”

“I think we should tie her to a tree,” another suggested.

“What if she breaks free, and eats us while we are sleeping?”

A female that ate people. That sounded familiar. I had only recently escaped an entire village teeming with such beings.

The men, I realized, weren’t really men. Or at least human men. They were elves. They stood tall and their pointy ears revealed their race.

The elves were helpers of the players and usually resided with them. I saw the seed of an opportunity in this. The group could potentially lead me to Sam.

It seemed that the elves had no other choice but to keep carrying the fearsome female. They were moving away from me. A golden chance was slipping from my hands. I made a quick decision and I quietly jumped down from the tree.

I tailed the elves. They were at the edge of their will power. The female kept wriggling inside the sac, trying to break free. Good thing, they wouldn’t notice my presence.