The Woman's Story [Chapter 8]

The woman looks up at me, lights suddenly flaring in her eyes. I see her tear up and smile.

"I thought I was alone."

She mumbles as I shake my head.

"This means there is probably more people that have been resurrected here. I'm very inclined to go find them now. Do you have any ideas about this world, or how it works?"

I ask, watching her nod slowly.

"I've been here a little over two weeks. I've had to do, uh, some stuff, to survive."

She says, looking away from me. I pull the cigarette she previously rejected from my pocket and offer it again, this time she quickly takes it. I light it and she takes several hits.

"Where did you even get these? From what I can tell, this world doesn't have quite a bit of stuff that ours did."

She says while I scratch my neck.

"Well, I found out that instead of randomly generated gear like a video game, we are given an infinite supply of whatever we died with. I just so happened to die with my cigarettes and lighter in my pockets."

I reply, her face lighting up with shock.

"Damn, that does make sense. Guess it explains why I have an unlimited amount of chapstick and pennies."

She laughs lightly before taking another deep hit.

"So, uh, how long you have you been here? And what level are you, if that's ok to ask?"

She asks quietly.

"Well, I've been here less than a day, and I'm level nineteen."

I reply in a whisper. She darts her eyes up in shock. I see her moving her mouth, talking to herself. She soon stands up and looks at me.

"I-I've been here two weeks. Ok? And, and I'm only level four. How are you such a high level? Hell, one guy I met in my first week said it took him months to reach level twenty, but he wasn't resurrected like we are. Also, each level makes it harder and harder to level up, so I don't understand how you're such a high level in such a short time."

I stare in confusion for a moment before answering.

"I don't know. I just know I've got some, let's say unique, powers."

I reply, watching her eyes dart all over, almost as though she's looking at my face. She sighs deeply then takes her last hit of the cig, finishing it and placing it in a small bowl beside the bed.

"I am a mage, I have barely any health and barely any offensive abilties. It's taken me a long time to even reach level four. I go out every day, and try to defeat the mobs at the edge of town. They are somehow below level one, because killing ten of them at level one only gave me a single exp. Twenty kills leveled me up, but it took over one hundred to get to level three. Then almost a thousand to get to level four."

She says as I nod.

"Well, I recieved a lot of experience from killing a boss."

I reply, watching her fall back onto the bed.

"This whole time I thought I was the main character of this story. I imagined it was a zero to hero kind of story, where I would suddenly unlock a super powerful ability. I think now I see that I was never the hero of this story, you are. But, maybe I'm supposed to join your group?"

She speaks slowly, her voice shaking and breaking at certain points. I can easily tell, she's sad. I turn around and sigh.

"Again, the quest I'm on would be very dangerous for you. I can't let you join me, I'd be signing away your life and almost certainly be selling you to death. But thank you for the info."

I walk to the door and start to open it, but she quickly grabs my shoulder.

"We are considered Anastasia. If anyone hears that you're resurrected, they will look down on you."

She stares at the floor while talking, refusing to lift her head or eyes.

"Well, maybe they'll change their views when one of us defeats the demon lord, Algrimore. This room is yours, I'll make sure to arrange something so you won't have to struggle to live anymore."

I reply quietly, feeling her hand clench on my shoulder.

"Thank you."

Her voice cracks as I hear a few tears hit the floor behind me. I quickly open the door and walk to the owner.

"As the True King, I demand you let that woman live in that room for free from here on out."

The owner seemingly pauses upon hearing my words, then slowly looks to me. We stare into each others eyes, then he shrugs.

"Ok."

He goes back to wiping down the bar table and Rugle looks to me.

"While you were in there, I used the coin from this man I'm wearing to get us a different room."

I nod and follow Rugle to a larger room with two beds. We close the door and lay the child on the bed. He instantly passes out while Rugle sits in the floor. I fall back into the hard bed and stare at the ceiling.

"Don't worry, my king, soon we will reclaim your castle. You will have the finest room in the world, and anything you crave for at your fingertips. I promise."

Rugle says proudly. I give a quick thumbs up and feel my eyes getting heavy.

This world, did it plan to make us meet? Or is every happening by chance? Seems like a massive coincidence, that the story seems to be flowing smoothly so far. And did she say I was the main character?

I see a universe unfold in front of me, interwoven pages and lines upon lines of stats and abilities. One set of text stands out.

"The True King."

Everyone and everything I saw suddenly dissapears and I look around.

"What was I just thinking about? Eh, guess it must've not been to important if I can't remember it."

I slowly doze off, smiling contentedly at gaining alot of levels on my first day.