Chapter Eight: Finally Out

[Middle Barrens: Levels 11-15]

West could not believe it! He was finally out! After all that suffering he went through, he was finally out! Out of the Redskirts, out of that godforsaken zone. At last, he was finally out. Finally out. He wanted to repeat those words again and again. They sounded like golden honey to his ears. And he wanted to hear them till the end of time. He was finally out. He felt like crying a river. He looked around the zone he was in. It's the Middle Barrens. If he'd started crying right now, he would flood this place for sure and turn it into a garden of Eden…or something. But who cares about this place? He was better off fast travelling back to Grassburrow now that there were no enemies nearby! He immediately opened his UI and selected the travel window. Beyond the black transparent screen, West saw a silhouette of a person that appeared to be approaching him. He pulled his gun out in an instant, a habit acquired from going through hell in the Redskirts. This person got close enough that West could now see the username above their head.

[Mage] Astra Eversong Lvl. 10

Astra Eversong was among the dozens of moderators that were tasked to keep Ysteria a safe environment for players to properly grind their levels to beat the game. Although according to the rumors she has heard within the community, she and the other mods seemed to be doing quite a bad job at it. The global chat and forums have been flooded with complaints about raisers who frequently abuse noobs by farming them for their loot and exp. This was the top problem that Ysteria has faced so far. And Astra feared what the game's more 'creative' players would come up with the moment the devs banned the 'raising' exploit. All the mods could do so far at this stage was to ban those who were suspected of raising while also helping the players who have been 'raised' back on their feet. But try as they might, there was just no way of sending these people back on the level playing field, so playing fair was mostly out for them. The best thing they could do now while still in this game was to just enjoy it until the hundred days were over.

Astra was sent to the Redskirts due to the respawn point for this zone having this weird quirk that attracted all the mobs nearby towards it. This would prove to be a nightmare for players who revived in the zone with their levels back to square one because then they would be fighting a horde of enemies several times their level. This problem has yet to be fixed by the devs. And thanks to this troubleshooting delay, this zone has become a favorite spot for raisers to ditch their victims once they were done with them. Those players who got ditched would be unable to retaliate, the nightmarish death loop in the respawn point would make sure of that, making escapes nigh impossible.

Be that as it may, there were a few others who managed to escape the loop by using their sheer ingenuity and utilization of every exploit they could uncover in the area. Astra couldn't blame them for exploiting the game though, she'd do the same if she was in their shoes. Any option would be allowed if it meant getting out of this horrible scenario unintentionally created by the game's makers. And since she has no power when it came to altering the code of the game to fix this issue, the bare minimum she could do was to offer these exceptional escapees sufficient necessities before sending them back to a safe zone that accommodated their level. It didn't take long for her to find one of those escapees. There was one right now sitting beside the entrance to the Redskirts, a gunslinger named WWest.

As Astra got close to the escapee, she could see that he was using his UI to activate the fast travel function. Poor guy, Astra thought to herself. Can't wait to get out of this place, huh? When she got even closer, the player became alarmed by her presence and pulled his gun out of caution. Having no intention to spook this player, Astra decided to do the greeting first.

"Hey there!" Astra called to West. "Do you happen to be one of the players who got rai-"

Loud echoing gunfire crackled throughout the Barrens' air. Thankfully no one was hit, save for the spot close to where Astra was standing. She looked at the hole on the ground with a startled face and back to West.

"I missed that shot on purpose." West warned her. "Next time I won't."

"I think we're having a misunderstanding here." Astra clarified herself. "I'm a mod sent here to help players who fell victim to raisers."

Unfortunately, Astra's explanation fell on deaf ears. West still kept his gun aimed at her and even cocked the hammer to reinforce the fact that he wasn't playing around at all.

I already introduced myself to him as a moderator and still, he insists on shooting me? Geez, how badly did this game mess up this guy? Astra thought to herself. He has clearly developed some trust issues here. And to be honest, this is not looking good. I must report this to the developers so they can patch it up asap.

"No, really! I'm a mod and I mean you no harm!" Astra added. She even dropped the staff she was holding to further alleviate the hostile tension that was rapidly growing between her and West.

Despite her attempt of expressing genuine diplomacy, West was still acting like a stone fortress and refused to yield to her words. He still had his gun pointed at her and was now squinting at the sights.

"If you know what's good for you, then leave me alone and go back to whatever it is you're doing."

Astra breathed out a defeated sigh. This guy was hopeless. But even if he was indeed hopeless, he still needed help. So that's what she's going to do, help him, whether he likes it or not. But she must give him a heads up first on what she was about to do unless she wished to be turned into Swiss cheese.

"Alright, I'm gonna leave you." Astra said as she slowly backed away from West. "But before I leave, I'm giving you something first."

"Unless it's peace of mind, then I strongly suggest you keep that to yourself." West replied harshly.

"Wait, it's much better." Astra assured him. "It's a health potion. I noticed that your life is pretty low so why not drink a health potion to bring it back to a full bar, right?"

West tilted his head in confusion. "My health's not low. What are you trying to pull here?"

"Nothing. There's no catch. I'm just trying to help, here." Astra summoned the potion from her inventory and it materialized in her hand. She placed the potion on the ground where West could easily see it. "There, I'll just put it on the ground and leave it up to you whether you'll drink it or not. And with that, I'll be on my way. Sound good?"

"The only good thing you've said so far."

Astra gave West a faux-hurt look. "That's harsh. Anyway, nice chatting with you." She picked up her staff and entered the Redskirts.

Even though Astra was gone for quite a while now, West's eyes still haven't left the potion that she left on the ground. Despite the fact that his vision screen specifically stated that it was just a regular health potion, his mind was unreasonably skeptical about it. He got up from the ground and opened his UI for the travel function again. Between his button pressing, he stole quick glimpses at the potion on the ground. It's been a while since he saw a potion in this game. And the longer he looked at it, the more his thirst started to bother him. Should he take it? She did give it to him. But what if it's poison? It clearly says health potion, there's no way that it's poison. But what if someone in this game managed to craft a poison disguised as a health potion? Should dying be a consequence of carelessly attempting to quench my thirst?

West's mind was in chaos. He never expected that such a simple item would drive him nuts. Should he drink it or not? Is it poison or not? Will it kill him or not? This was making him mad. He decided that he could no longer endure the torture this potion was giving him and pulled his gun out. He aimed at the health potion on the ground and unleashed hell on it.