Chapter 1

'What's going on?'

Regaining consciousness, Brandon is immediately assaulted by a sharp ringing in his ears and the heavy scent of dust that envelopes his environment. His body feels heavy with thick clothing. Does he own such heavy clothes? He thinks not. Are they the reason for his current paralysis? Probably not, because his nerves have started providing his brain sensory data. He is face flat against a hard surface. It feels cold. His apartment floor maybe? No, wood is not this rough. It feels more like concrete. But is it so dark, why can't he see?

White light pierces through his eyes as he forces them open. He endures the few seconds of pain that follow and the light starts to dim. A thick cloud of dust fills the air, and he can barely make out the shape of a crumbled concrete wall. The stone floor is littered with broken off stone and heaps of dust.

'Where am I'

Another question rings in his mind as he regains the ability to move some of his limbs. He forces himself to his knees and takes a better look around. His notices what appears to be the hilt of a sword buried under some of the rubble. Looking further ahead, he can barely make out the silhouette of a wolf-like creature through the dust, standing on the other side of the destroyed wall.

The ringing starts to subside and he can hear muffled screams coming from behind. He fights the ache in his muscles and wobbles to his feet before looking back to the source of the screams. He finds a young lady clad in dust covered armor on her knees. In front of her is the torso of a young man. His legs have been buried by the rubble.

['Zeke56003' has been hit]

['Zeke56003' has been paralyzed]

['Zeke56003's Strength has expired]

['Zeke56003's Agility has expired]

['Zeke56003's Stamina level is critical]

['Zeke56993's HP is dropping rapidly]

His vision obstructed by semi-translucent blue pop-up windows in rapid succession, and everything comes together. The virtual world is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate from the real one.

"Brandon!!" he can now hear the young woman's voice properly. "Can you hear me?"

He slowly nods at the question. His body is still recovering from the shock of breaking through the wall after the wolf-like creature's attack. But how is the creature so strong? Was it always this powerful? No, something is different this time.

[Your HP is depleted by 50%]

[Your stamina is depleted by 60%]

[Your strength is depleted by 70%]

[Your agility is depleted by 30%]

[Your combat effectiveness is now 50%]

50% from one hit? He examines his body and finds his right arm swaying lifelessly. Is it broken? How is that even possible?

"We have to get him out." The woman says focusing his attention on her again. She then starts digging through the rubble violently.

['Zeke56003's HP is dropping rapidly]

Another notification pops up and Brandon swallows hard before opening his mouth to speak.

"Leave him." His voice is groggy. "we have to take care of the..."

A sudden chill runs down his spine interrupting his speech. His hair perks up and his heartbeat triples.

'What's happening'

A low growling sound prompts him to turn around, and he sees the wolf approaching slowly, fangs perked and drooling. A figure appears behind the wolf. A man in a purple attire. He looks angry and distressed. He seems to be yelling something, but Brandon cannot make it out. His attention is completely on the fanged wolf approaching him. With each careful step the wolf takes, he subconsciously takes one back. He is losing his will to fight. He feels like his legs may give up at any moment.

['Zeke56003's Stamina level is critical]

['Zeke56003' is losing consciousness.]

The notifications bring him out of his thoughts once again, and he turns his attention back to the woman. She looks stunned, staring at the beast with eyes bulged and all color drained from her face.

"Wendy!" Brandon calls. "Wendy! We need to get out of here!"

['Wendy56003' is in mental shock]

'Mental shock? How?' he turns back to the wolf again as another chill runs down his spine. He steels himself and takes a deep breath. Is this really the same first boss they have defeated countless times in the past? Whatever the case, he would not go down without fighting.

[you have successfully resisted Fang's 'intimidation']

He never imagined their current situation was possible. Did they underestimate Ruger? Did they have the wrong equipment? No. they did everything the same as they had always done. But what is different?

['Zeke56003' has died]

He has no time to linger in his thoughts. He has to fight. He looks beyond Fang to the distressed Ruger who is still rambling furiously in his radiant purple attire. What could he be saying? It does not matter. Fang is of greater concern. He has to get his sword. He looks left at the golden hilt sticking out from a pile of rubble at the left side of the room. He needs to get to it.

With a fierce bark, the wolf lunges forward, but he quickly swerves left, barely missing is jaws. He instantly lunges for the sword and tries to pull it out. His right hand is still inactive, so he is completely dependent on his left. As he struggles, he hears an abrupt scream that is covered by the sound of crushing bones.

[Wendy56003 has died]

He looks back and sees the now headless body of Wendy lying in a pool of blood by the young man's body. The wolf gulps down the head and exposes its bloodied fangs letting out another low growl. Goosebumps plague his skin again, but he instantly steels himself and pulls hard till the sword is free

[You have successfully resisted Fang's 'intimidation']

He then gets into combat stance, sword in his left arm, and right hand laying limp. He wonders if he would be able to use his sword properly with just one hand.

[You sustained critical damage. 'Swordsmanship' efficiency has been reduced by 85%]

85%? Unbelievable, the cut practically renders the skill useless. 15% is cannot be enough to defeat the beast approaching him.

'So this is how this round ends.' He could never imagine that after over fifty thousand iterations they would lose to the game's first boss. But how did they lose? Why did they lose?

He resigns from thinking or fighting and drops the sword, now waiting for his own death. He has to make sure to check up on Wendy. The shock must have also affected her in real life.

Lost in thought again, the wolf lunges at his motionless body, and everything goes dark once again before a final notification pops up.

[You have died]