1 Survival Countdown

"Kael?" He heard someone call him but he wanted to sleep some more. He had spent almost the entire night trying to run the damn code but it didn't work.

"Kael?" He felt someone tug him on his shirt now. Didn't he make it clear that no one was to wake him up unless an emergency. Rubbing his eyes lazily, he stretched his tired limbs to only grab something sharp that pricked his skin.

"Argh!" Frustrated, he shot his eyes open directing all his attention to his bleeding palm. "Damn it!" He cursed. But wait! Now that he could see his surroundings, he was perturbed.

Shadows of large trees and an ominous silence of a dense forest was what welcomed him! His head whipped to the other side, disbelief written all over his face. This might be one of his crazy dreams, right? His gaze halted on a pair of shoes making him gasp in surprise.

"Lin? What are you doing here?" He asked. He had never dreamt of her so what was she doing in his dream?

"I really don't know," she said hurriedly. "All I remember was taking a nap on the couch after reaching level twenty and I found myself here, with you!"

Now Kael was confused. "Do you want to mean… this is not a dream?"

"I really don't know. It feels so real," she explained tucking the stray strands of her hair behind her ear. "What do we do now?"

"This place," he said letting his gaze travel around, "does it ring a bell in your mind?"

Lin's brows creased trying to remember where she had seen it. An idea crossed her mind but could that be it? That was just but a game! "Apart from the game, I can't remember seeing this anywhere else." Her eyes searched for any danger in the vicinity completely unaware of the reaction from Kael.

A Wolf's growl sounded in the distance scaring the heart out of Lin. But to Kael, this was a cue to something. Blood, his blood! A wolf and this forest, it wasn't by coincidence was it?

"Could it be that we're in the game Lin?" An already scared Lin shifted her gaze to him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"This forest, it's the enchanted territory of the wolves in level one. And I just called them with my blood!" And looking at her knowingly, "Run!"

As if triggered by an invisible force, Lin sprinted forward, running as fast as she could. Kael sprinted closely behind but the wolves had already picked his scent. He could hear them snarl, their growls becoming louder with each step he took. Goddamnit! Why did this feel so real.

'Player 01, welcome back!' A message beeped on his retina. Lord! This was driving him crazy now! All this, wasn't this what he'd been coding? How comes it worked now?

'Survival Countdown Initializing…'

"Oh shit!" He cursed. The damn run time code was working as well. The odds were against him now! What then was the need to run away if the survival countdown mechanism was initialized?

" Lin? Stop!" He called.

"Are you crazy? We should keep going unless you want to die!"

"Did you see it? The information on your retina?"

"No…Oh my God, it just beeped!" She exclaimed.

"That means we are part of this game Lin. We have to fight or else we'll die within the survival scope."

"What survival scope?"

"The survival countdown. I don't have time to explain now. All we need to do is gain a certain number of XP before the countdown ends. Mine is five minutes and counting."

"Mine as well," Lin answered surprised.

"They are here," Kael said shielding her with his hands as if that would protect her from the wolves. Snarling, the wolves stepped forward flashing their fangs at the duo. The wolves were part of the arcane system that made the NPCs. They were unusually large, the size of a beast with a third green eye. Their tails were their strongest weapon. Curved into what looked like a blade, the tails would undoubtedly be a force to reckon with. And coupled with their wolf instincts and strength, they were one formidable enemy Kael had to fear.

They inched closer bearing their fangs and their tails dancing in the air ready to strike. Kael had to act swift or else they'd die even before they solved the mystery of how they got here? And if he'd die, that, he didn't know.

'Weaponry!' Right! The players had weapons but most of them were acquired by defeating stronger NPCs. The stronger the NPC, the better their weapon was. But there were default weapons too. He just didn't know how to access them.

'Weaponry' The words beeped on his retina making him gasp in surprise. Lin tugged him tighter expecting for the worst. She had her eyes closed tightly wishing this dream, if it was one, would suddenly come to a halt. But to her dismay, she could still hear the wolves snarling.

A range of default weapons was displayed on his retina ranging from hammers to knives and one short hand sword. Kael imagined taking the short hand sword, and just like that, it materialized in his hands. A feeling of magic like energy flowing through his veins engulfed him as if mating him to the sword. It was like the sword had some magic to it that got shared with him.

"Step back," he told Lin holding the sword in a defensive stance. The wolves noticing the sudden change in his demeanor even got more vigilant seeming to attack anytime soon.

'Clash!' His sword locked with a tail creating sparks. He had learnt some basic martial arts, an added advantage. The sword had also given him an aura that scared the wolves but with their vigilant and primal instincts, they wouldn't give up easily. Some targeted a naive looking Lin who was just reciting a prayer like a mantra all in the hopes of waking from a dream she was never in in the first place!