Chapter One

Long ago, the world was but an empty plane. There was nothing aside from the primordial creatures that defied human understanding. For eons, only darkness and these "gods" prowled the world's endless expanse. The more time passed, the more of them were born. Until, finally, there was a spark.

Though they were gods and their mentality was completely different than that of humans, they could still be bored. Who struck first is something long lost to time, but what followed was not. A brawl like no other ravaged the world. God turned against god, staining their hands golden with divine blood. It was an all-consuming war that drew in all gods. But, above all else, it was something new.

And so they fought.

And so they killed.

And so they all lost.

The void was shattered into hundreds of pieces. Reality broke down and the home once inhabited by gods was now drenched in their essence.

Atop a mountain of corpses, they stood. The four "victors" of this war. There was Longinious, the self-named God of War. Next to him was Hella, Goddess of Creation. The two had formed an alliance of sorts. Where others killed indiscriminately, they worked together to keep each other alive.

The two remaining gods were Mythra, Goddess of Death and Alephti, God of Space.

Why was it that these four survived when others did not? Was it their mighty powers? Their co-operation? Or simply luck?

Whatever the case, all four of them came to the same conclusion. If they continued to fight, nothing would remain. If by fate one of them won, then they would remain alone in a world flooded with the corpses of their kin. So they laid down their arms and stopped. Yet, they could never return to how things were.

The temptations brought upon them by the slaughter and war had made a tranquil life unbearable. They reached out, using the corpses of their fallen kin to pull the shattered pieces of the world together. However, rather than return it to what it was, they forged a new world brimming with life. For a time, the simplicity of watching life blossom and evolve on the rock they'd created was entertaining. Yet, the more time passed the more excitement they sought.

They desired more complex life- something like them, but far less powerful, lest a new war start.

Thus, the ancient races were born. They thrived, advanced and grew powerful enough to claim dominion over their world. Yet, much like most things, it didn't last. Their Kingdom was brought to ruin.

This was the excitement the gods wished for. Ages passed. Other kingdom's rose and fell, leaving behind naught but relics to show that they once lived. And once more, the gods grew bored. They wanted more involvement in the lives of the tiny beings inhabiting their playground.

Thus, their champions were born. These chosen few would be granted an infinitesimally small sliver of the god's powers. And that made all the difference. These men and women became demi-gods that stood above all others.

The cycle continued, and as always, the gods grew tired. By now, it was clear that no new gods were being born. Their sundering of the old world had made it impossible for more of their kind to be born. So what did they do? They created a new system for lesser gods to rise. Whatever the case, these new lesser gods would add more excitement to the world.

At some point, they cut off all contact with the world. Truth became a legend and then myth. Nevertheless, the god's chosen continued to appear.

You are one of these chosen few, though perhaps you don't know it yet. Within the world known as Deucorpus, a great journey waits for you.

Welcome back, adventurer.

-----------------

I smiled as the familiar theme hummed within my ear. Even now, I was glad they hadn't changed the jingle since the beta. Tiny stars rolled across my vision as my consciousness was slowly pulled into the game.

There was nothing like this out there and even the intro movie always put a smile on my face. Just like every other player, I worshiped the ground that the man behind it all walked on. He may as well have been a wizard for all that it mattered. Even the military couldn't get something like this working.

Though, they certainly tried to get him on their side.

Finally, the tiny stars steaming by began to slow and a bright light filled my vision. The sound of crickets and the smell of morning dew hit me. I opened my eyes and found myself exactly where I had left off a few days ago. Namely, I was in the middle of a forest with nothing but my starting equipment and a few miscellaneous items. If I could, I would have liked to log off at an inn for the bonus to experience, but I didn't really have much choice.

Work was a pain...

Anyways, I took a nice lungful of the forest air and let it out with a wide grin. Was this how it really felt like? I wouldn't know, as I'd never left the city. Either way, it was real enough to me.

Stretching my limbs out, I felt my muscles groan and tighten. It really was incredible what had been done here. This was like no other game and made me hope that more would eventually come out. Either way, I had things to do. Today was the first major patch since the game was released a month ago, which meant getting back to town right quick!

The rustling of leaves and the growling of hungry bellies reached my ears. Three wolves leapt out of the brush, fangs glistening in the morning light as their gaunt forms stared me down. Starving wolves?

I thought of the words and the game's system responded, pulling up a small bar over their heads. The first one leapt at me, rage and desperation in its eyes.

I wasn't a professional martial artist or anything like that, but there was a reason the military was so interested in this technology. My body moved on its own and the echoes of long-dead martial artists guided my fists. I easily avoided the wolve's attack and countered by smashing my elbow into its skull. A satisfying crunch echoed through the woods, but I wasn't done just yet. As the other wolves were caught off-guard, I grabbed the dead one by one of its legs and threw it at one of the other ones.

He was so surprised he didn't have any time to react before I had closed the distance. My foot slid across the earth, smashing into its side and sending it flying backward, crashing into a tree. Its spine shattered like glass.

The last wolf? Well, its A.I was smart enough to turn tail and run.

Yeah, those could really be hit or miss. Sometimes the NPC A.I seemed better than anything out there, and other times people could exploit it by putting a basket over their head at just the right time and angle. Thankfully, stuff like that was patched out super quick.

I let out a yawn and reached into my pockets, scrounging around for what I wanted. In my mind, I could see the basic inventory screen and it was easy enough to pull out a piece of bread.

I bit down on the small chunk of bread, savouring its bland taste. I really should have invested in a cooking skill, but combat's what I liked to do. The small bar denoting my character's hunger slowly went down, as did the tiny debuff from not eating in the last day or so. Thankfully, it wasn't all that bad.

"To loot or not to loot." That was the question. I glanced at the two wolf corpses and hummed to myself.

Since I was going to take the long way, a few minutes couldn't hurt, right? I nodded and quickly equipped my carving knife.

Hopefully, I'd get something aside from shitty mats.

This was one of the few non-combat skills I'd actually trained.

Unfortunately, my efforts were rewarded with average pelts and a few cracked teeth. Nothing all that great, but they could be traded for some pocket change. With that done, I took out some water and washed myself off along with the stupid butchering debuff.

The game was many things, but simple wasn't one of them. Anyway, I pulled up my map and charted a course towards the nearest village. It took a good ten or so minutes of walking before I found myself standing atop a grassy hill overlooking the place.

The village was called Green Perch and I could already see a few new players hitting the training dummies from here. I chuckled and started my walk down. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and a nice, cool wind was rolling over the land.

I shut my eyes and let out a breath. There really wasn't anything else like this. I-

Something clanked to the ground, bouncing off the dirt a few times before coming to a stop in front of my feet. I furrowed my eye and looked down at the weapon. It was a small, rusty shortsword and I was quite familiar with it from the beta.

"Sorry!" a cute, high-pitched voice called out. A small figure walked up, bending over and picking up the sword. It was furry, had whiskers and its feline tail was moving around nervously.

Trying to tell the gender of a Yarada was probably one of the most difficult things to do in the game. Heck, one of the developers even went ahead and put in a joke skill for it.

"It's alright," I answered with a smile. "How long you been playing?"

Call it dumb or whatever, but there really wasn't anything quite as fun as helping new players. Maybe I just wanted others to see why the game was so great.

"Oh, um, I made this character yesterday but I haven't played too much."

The small Yarada said with a nervous smile. Like my character, they were beast-kin, though they leaned a lot more towards the beast side than me. They weren't the most popular race in the beta, but their cuteness definitely made all sorts of people pick them up.

"How long have you been playing?"

I smiled.

"I got in during the beta, but they changed a bunch of stuff since." Like racial stats and traits. I still miss the special abilities my race got, but I guess they were a bit unbalanced. That's what betas are for, I guess.

"That's cool," the little cat-folk said with a smile. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, is this race good? I haven't seen that many compared to the humans or elves."

I rolled my eyes.

"Honestly, at this point race is just a cosmetic thing. The bonuses are so small that it doesn't really matter."

A single level had given me about the same as what I got at character creation.

"That's good!" the Yarada said with a smile. "I wanted to play this, but I know people usually get very picky about what's the best thing you can play."

I shrugged.

"I mean, that's still a thing. Everything has a meta, but we haven't found out what it is yet."

I grinned.

"Back in the beta, it was dual-wielding greatswords and having a friendly support class cast accelerate and study on you."

That was so disgustingly good that I was able to out DPS two or three other guys without running out of stamina. It did get super boring when everyone started doing it, though. I wonder if that was the straw that broke the camel's back?

"I see," the little cat said. "Oh! I'm Lightning Eye!"

Ah, yes, such a classic name. Probably hit random on the name generator or maybe they read up on the lore?

"You can call me Lance," I answered and held out my hand. "Nice to meet you."

Lightning smiled nervously and grabbed my hand, though it looked a bit odd with their whiskers.

"Now, here's the most important question," I said. He looked up with a nervous expression. "Are you a boy or a girl?"

Lightning's eyes went wide.

"Oh, you mean my character!" he chuckled. "I chose the boy one, but it honestly looks pretty similar to the girl."

That it did.

"So, what were you doing, Lightning? Trying to train up your stats?"

He nodded.

"I tried taking on a monster, but it killed me..."

Understandable. This wasn't like other games and being a tiny cat-person probably didn't help.

"I'm heading back to the main city for the new story quest." That and the new event. "If you want some tips, you can come with me and I'll help you kill the monsters on the way there." I offered him. His face lit up and he quickly nodded.

"Thank you!"

I smiled.

"It's not a problem."

Next up was the local general store. It was time to haggle.

--------------

"Sorry Lance, but the best I can do is eighty shells for all of it. I have a business to run, you know?"

I cursed and blew a sigh. Even though I had gotten close with this NPC, the most I wiggled out was a five percent markup.

"Nah, that's fine. Thanks again."

The general store owner smiled and gave me a small wave as I turned and began to walk away.

"He seemed very nice," Lightning said casually.

"I saved his daughter from some wolves once," I replied. "It was once of those randomly generated quests."

"I heard about those!" Lighting said with an excited look. "Though, I think people were saying they were hit or miss?"

"They definitely were in the beta," I said with a nostalgic smile. "I remember there being one where a knight would ask you to find his lost dog, which was like all the way on the edge of the map and all you got was ten shells."

Hopefully, the devs listened to everyone's complaints.

Speaking of quests, I saw a small pop-up appear in the corner of my hud. By this point, we were already out of the village and on the road to town. There weren't any other people close to us, so we were probably the only ones within the discovery range.

"Quest: Runaway's Request"

I looked at the quest's name and made a decision.

"Oh? Are we not going to do the quest?" Lightning asked as I continued to walk forward and away from the familiar pulling sensation.

"Nah, It's probably not all that important," I reassured him with a smile. "We want get to the event early!"

The small cat-folk tilted his head curiously.

"How come?"

"Well, I guess there's no real rush," I said with a small laugh. "It just sounds really cool and I want to do it, you know?"

Lightning let out a small hum and nodded.

"I guess that's cool, yeah!" he answered with a big smile. "What's it supposed to be about?"

I picked up the pace and my new, little friend followed. He had tiny legs, but he sure knew how to move them!

"Supposedly they're going to put a challenge and give out a special class for everyone that participates."

"Special?" Lightning asked. "Is it something super strong? I still haven't figured out what I want to be, but I'm thinking thief or something."

He looked at me nervously.

"Probably not that strong," I said dismissively. "If the beta's anything to go by, it'll be a funny joke class with unique stuff, but not anything broken."

"Oh, ok. Is thief a good combo with this race?"

I put on the biggest grin I could and gave him my answer.

"As I said, race really doesn't matter. You could nab a tank class and swing around a big greatsword five times your size!"

It'd look goofy, yeah, but nothing actually prevented him from doing that. There were barely any restrictions when It came to class-race combinations. If anything, I'd seen a few people using small character models for some wacky sneak attacks.

Nothing made others shit their pants like having a big, burly man throw a tiny cat at you and then having said cat pull a massive sword out of his ass to decapitate you.

"Oh! That's great!" Lightning answered with a smile. "What class are you? Or did you not pick one yet?"

"I went and signed up with the pugilist guild a while ago," I answered smoothly. "They teach some of the basics and you could keep up with it, but I'm aiming to get the advanced class."

"Punching peoples does sound cool," he answered with a small nod. "Do you have to beat up a bunch of people or something to get the advanced job?"

"Kind of. You have to get it to a certain level and then do the class quests from the trainers."

Nothing too hard, but dying in this game meant losing EXP. It was one of those old hard-core kinds of games where even a single enemy encountered in the wild could kill you. Honestly, if it wasn't for the crazy tech that let people feel as if they were really here, I doubted the game would have been nearly as popular.

"Oh, ok. Um, do you have any recommendations for a class?"

I shrugged.

"Most things are viable, so just pick the one you like," I said with a small smile. "If you don't like it, you can always just swap to another class."

His eyes sparkled with the sort of innocence only found in someone that was trying something out for the first time. I was an innocence I'd lost because of the beta, but not one that was gone for good. There was still so much more to come to the game. New stories and exciting adventures were just around the corner.

"Can I be all of them at once?"

I burst out laughing.

"Well, you can try"

My answers almost knocked the little cat off his feet.

"That's so cool!"

Yeah, it was.

--------------------

"Holy cow! There are so many people!" Lightning called out.

I nodded, staring at the wall of flesh gathering at the city's center. It was like a full convention center but spread over a single city. Well, not single. There were a few starting cities and this one was the most popular. And, of course, there was the whole "worlds" mechanic to separate serves and whatnot.

Still, the place was packed.

"Yep and the game's not even stuttering."

Again, it was black magic. There were rumours, of course. Everything from aliens to a super-advanced A.I beyond anything out on the market. And as much as I joked, a few people actually said there was magic involved. There was even a weird cult started because of it.

"So, um, what do we do?" Lightning asked nervously.

I smiled and looked around.

"Lore wise, there's a special festival going on," I answered. "Vendor prices are cut in half, and you get special tickets from each shop and the mini-games. So, I'd say go buy better equipment and save those tickets for the main event."

"Oh! Ok! Umm, I guess I should pick up a class first then, right?"

I nodded.

"There's only a few you can nab in this city, but there's nothing stopping you from buying the gear for the class you want and then taking it with you to another city."

And so, the two of us strolled forward, happy to just enjoy the festivities and mini-games around every corner. Honestly, I hadn't really played with other people back in the beta. I'd been in a Guild and "existed" but I'd never made any friends.

Lightning was the closest to one I'd had and that was sad, wasn't it?

I didn't care, though. I was having fun watching him learn.

They say there's nothing as enjoyable as seeing another do what you love with the same amount of passion as you. I had to agree. What started as a friendly tour turned into so much more.

At some point, I'd forgotten why I had been so excited to get to the city.

"Wow! Did you see that?" Lighting called out with a child-like grin on his furry face. He held a bow and pointed towards the distant targets.

"Bullseye!" the mini-games attendant called out. "Here are your tickets!"

"Good job," I said with a chuckle. "With aim like that, maybe you should pick up archer?"

Lightning giggled and nodded.

"Maybe I'll do that," he mumbled. "Oh! Sorry!" he suddenly said as he grabbed his tickets.

"Hmm? Why?"

He looked away sheepishly.

"You wanted to do the main event, right? I've been dragging you around to do all the weird mini-games." He sighed and shook his head. "It must have been pretty boring having to babysit me, right?"

"Not at all," I shot back. "It was fun."

Lightning laughed and nodded.

"Do you want to go do that now?"

A good question.

loved games. Each one was a new adventure, and none had been quite as fun as this. Well, aside from the few gems from my childhood. Those had a special place in my heart.

"Nah, It's alright," I said with a smile. "We can mess around for a bit and grab more tickets."

Lightning's lips curved upward in wonder.

"Alright! I think I saw some kind of monster battling game on the way here!"

"Ah, that's Minion Master," I said. "It was pretty clunky, but maybe they ironed out the issues?" It wasn't bugs that brought the game down, just bad design decisions. Trying to command the damned things was like pulling a tooth!

"Oh... should we do something else, then?"

I shook my head.

"Nah, MM can be fun where you're playing with a friend." At least, that's what I heard. No one ever wanted to play it with me, mostly because they thought it was a waste of time.

"Then let's go!" Lightning exclaimed and took off. He really was just a furry ball of energy, wasn't he?

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Normally, I'd be getting impatient. The main event was about to start, but instead of hopping in at the start, I was spending time with a newbie. Strangely, I really was having a lot of fun. We were all new at some point, and this little guy reminded me of who I once was.

But, like all things, time cares little for those it leaves behind.

-----------------

"So... what do we do with all these tickets again?" Lightning asked as he savored his ice cream, one lick at a time.

"We can trade them if for event exclusive stuff," I replied, taking a bite out of my own cone. "Houses were pretty easy to get, but I doubt it'll be the case with so many people playing now. Furnishings for them were given to us if I recall."

There were millions of people and the game had only been live for a month.

"Not instanced housing, so only so many up at one time until the NPC's expand and build more."

"So the stuff is for housing? Like beds and that?"

I shrugged.

"Might be some nice character glamor too," I said with a small grin. "The real endgame is fashion, you know?"

Lighting giggled and nodded.

"Well, we should be heading for the main square now," I said with a small hum, finishing off the last of my ice cream.

"Yea-" Lightning's words died in his mouth as a timer popped up on my H.U.D.

1:00

0:59

0:58

"Is this part of the event?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I replied, rubbing my chin curiously. "It should have already started, so maybe this is something else?"

The sky rumbled as pregnant clouds began to roll in. Within seconds, the city was shrouded by dark storm clouds.

"Hmm. Yeah, let's get moving then," I said and stood up from my seat. "You won't get sick, but being wet still feels as bad as real life."

Lightning nodded and quickly scarfed down the rest of his own ice cream.

I tapped the air, bringing up my H.U.D. Usually, most of the event notifications and stuff were kept hidden to increase immersion and whatnot.

"I don't see anything about it," I said with a sigh. A strange, churning feeling began to swirl in my gut. "Maybe it's a random event quest or something?"

The A.I handling all that stuff was not exactly known for good timing.

"Well, time's just about up," Lightning said.

0:02

0:01

"Yeah, I gue-"

A deafening roar had me covering my ears. I hit the ground, feet falling out from under me as the world violently shook. The table and chair we were just at clattered to the floor and the buildings around us seemed to be dancing. Glass shattered and then there was a blinding light.

"W-What?"

I said, but I doubted anyone could hear me over the rushing wind. A massive pillar of light had erupted, swallowing part of the city's center. Buildings, people, the very clouds were consumed as it began to expand and rise into the heavens.

I acted without thinking. I grabbed Lightning's hand and started running away. Event or not, I sure as hell didn't want to be caught up in that light. The penalty for dying sucked.

"W-What's going on?" Lightning yelled. He tightened his grip on my hand and then quickly jumped onto my back. His light body and small frame made running super easy.

"No idea!" I said as a small smile formed on my lip. "But it's pretty cool!"

I shouted, hopping over some railings and landing on the lower floor of the city. The gates were pretty far, and I didn't think I could make it. But I sure as hell was going to try!

"I-It's too fast?"

I snapped my head around, even as I was putting everything I had into my legs.

"Oh..."

It was here. The light had already taken half the city and it'd get us in a second or two.

"Well, this suc-"

The words died in my throat as light smashed into my body. It didn't hurt, not really. The game had a number of senses available, but pain wasn't really one. Sure, there was something in place of pain, but it felt more like getting pinched than anything.

Now?

Now I felt as if I was floating on top of a still lake. I moved my arms and found a small amount of resistance. The death message hadn't popped up, so the light hadn't killed me?

What sort of event was this?

"Hello?" My voice cut through the emptiness, surprising even myself. So I could speak? What about my inventory?

I couldn't exactly see my body, but I could feel it. I tried tapping the air, but nothing happened.

Another timer suddenly appeared in front of my face. The number was in the millions this time. Interestingly enough, it was falling a lot faster than before, so it probably wasn't time. Before I could figure it out, the number reached zero and a menu popped up.

=== Event Ticket Store ===

+Classes

+Traits

+Exit

Note: Once an option is chosen, there's no going back. Choose wisely.

=======

Huh.

In this game, classes were everything. They defined the skills we could use and acted as the foundation for a person's character. I didn't know what sort of event this was, but I did know that turning down a class would be a stupid idea.

I gently tapped the corresponding button and watched in awe as the menu screen expanded. A list of about a hundred classes began to scroll across the menu. What the hell was this?

"Mage, Warrior, Archer..." they were all classes I knew quite well. Each one had a corresponding number next to it.

"Oh..." In the top right was a counter with a familiar symbol next to it.

669 Ÿ

It was the number of tickets I'd managed to gather with Lightning. So this was how it was going to work, but could I choose multiple classes?

I quickly scrolled through the list again and found a small message near the bottom.

"Please select only one. When your choice has been made, you will immediately be transported to the start."

In other words, I had to choose carefully. While it would be fun grabbing another class, I had no idea how this event worked. The fact that I couldn't bring up my status screen also had my stomach churning round and round. Call it paranoia, but it felt like this choice was a whole lot bigger than it seemed.

I steadied my mind and went through the list. I did that two more times before narrowing my choices down to just a few.

"What even is a Horizon Walker?" I blurted out, confused at the class name. The small description under it said it was an unarmed combat class, but the name just sounded weird. It cost more than I had, but still, it had nothing on the one that cost nine hundred and ninety-nine tickets.

"I think they had way too much fun with these names," I chuckled. "Seriously, these are just getting into light novel names territory."

"Heavenly God Sundering God Mountain Fist-God" sounded more like a title than a class!

Amused, I turned my attention back to the real list of classes I'd be taking. There was a reason I wanted to be a pugilist, and having more options was always nice. Of course, I wouldn't be me If I wasn't hit with a wave of indecisiveness. They all sounded good! Gahhh!

I read through them one more time.

=== Class Store ===

+Pugilist (Lv10)

+A simple class that focuses on kicks and punches. With a strong foundation, you can overcome any challenge!

+Cost: 100 Tokens!

+Monk (Lv1)

An evolved class gained by training as a Pugilist for some time. Your fist can sunder stone and kill a man as easily as crushing twigs. They harness their spiritual might to accomplish supernatural feats.

+Cost:300 Tokens

+Arcane Striker (Lv1)

A class created by mages who weren't fond of throwing fireballs from range. Why not punch them in the face with an explosion instead? While they sacrifice technique for more esoteric abilities, they are very versatile and cast spells with their punches.

+Cost: 450 Tickets

+God Fist (Lv1)

A class gifted to one that has caught the eye of a god. Based on their god, they gain different abilities, but regardless of said god, their martial might is amongst the best.

+Cost: 600

+Pugnator (Lv1)

A rare class that does not rely on magic or gods, or anything aside from the user's own fighting spirit. You are the first of your kind so the future is as bright or as bleak as you make it out to be. Shape your own path. Fight. Fight against the world if you have to.

+Cost:650

===================

In the end, I chose based on the small fluff text description of the classes. I was sure everyone would go to the most costly option just because it was probably the "best" but that wasn't how I chose stuff. This was a game and everyone found different ways to enjoy themselves.

I smiled, satisfied with my choice, and then hit the "Confirm" button that popped up. A second later, my world was bathed in yet another blinding light.

I hit something hard and moist, knocking the breath out of my lungs.

"W-What?"

I stood up and winced as my right ankle burned. A quick look showed that it was a bit swollen. More importantly, I was in a village. The NPC's were looking at me oddly, which was in itself a bit strange. Yeah, the game had head tracking, but they usually only kept it to a few of the NPCs that were close to you. Also, my clothes were covered in mud.

Great.

Suddenly, one of them came up to me with a worried look.

"Are you ok, sir?" the woman was wearing a raggedy dress and her eyes were as deep and blue as the sea.

"I-I think I twisted my ankle," I answered, nearly crying out as I tried stepping forward.

Son of a bitch! What the hell?! Was the game bugging out?

"Do you need me to take you to the local doctor? I'm sure she wouldn't mind patching you up."

This was new and I wasn't talking about the intense pain. Was it a quest? I didn't feel the normal pulling sensation or see anything on my HU-

Wait, where was my HUD? I tried to pull it up, but there was nothing. No, that wasn't quite right. It felt like I was just on the cusp of bringing it up, only for it to slip through my fingers as a lance of pain assaulted my senses. I could barely keep myself balanced, let alone focused.

Was that why?

Wait, how the hell was I supposed to log out like this? Was pain making it so I couldn't leave? What stupid fucking person made that decision?! No, it had to be a bug. No sane person would design a game like that.

Deep breaths. Stay calm. It's just a stupid game.

I smiled and turned to the girl.

-----------------

"Looks like you've twisted your ankle young man."

The doctor was an old thing. His hair was gray as ash and a large bald spot practically ate the front half of his scalp.

"I've got a few herbs that can ease the pain and swelling, but it's going to take you a few days before you can walk confidently again."

A few days?! What?

"Do you have a potion or something instead?"

I subtly taped the air again, bringing up my H.U.D. Now that I was sitting down, it was a lot easier to focus. The striking pain from before was now little more than a deep throbbing. Just like always, a familiar interface popped up. I bit my lip as I found not a single coin in my inventory. I was broke and there was no way I'd be able to legally get a potion.

"A potion?" the doctor asked with a small hint of confusion. "I'm sorry, lad, but our small town doesn't have anything nearly that expensive."

...

What? No, that couldn't be right. Even the lowest of merchant NPC's had potions. Granted, they were very basic, but still!

"If you're really that desperate, maybe you could settle for one of Amanda's odd concoctions? She's the local alchemist, but those things are far from being standard potions. I wouldn't recommend them."

I sighed.

"I guess it's worth a shot, but I don't think I'll be moving anywhere like this."

The doctor let out a sigh and nodded.

"Oh! Um, If you don't mind, I can lend you my shoulder again!" the young woman that brought me here said with a small smile.

Huh? Why was she helping me so much?

A pained look crossed the doctor's face.

"I suggest you get some bed rest and try not to put weight on the foot," he said and handed me a small bag of herbs and bandages. "It's not the fastest way to recover, but it works."

I blew a sigh and nodded.

"Thanks."

With that, I leaned on the woman who'd brought me here for support and started my way out of the small house. The conversation had been so real that I'd almost forgotten that I was talking to an NPC. Was this still part of the update? Had they developed the game's A.I so much that we could barely tell them apart from real people?

I didn't know whether to feel elated or terrified at the thought. Either way, I wanted to get the hell out of here as soon as possible.

The woman, whose name I'd learned was "Lily" began to speak about her small town.

"I grew up here. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to start a garden, have a daughter, and teach her how to grow the most beautiful flowers in the village."

I only paid enough attention to answer any questions she threw my way. What really had my focus was the H.U.D. I'd been scouring it for any clue- any way to log out. Instead, what I found were disappointment and frustration. It wasn't just all my gold that had been removed, but every item and collectible I'd gathered. The only thing I had to my name was the clothes on my back and the "Pugnator" class that hung on my status screen.

The log-out button had vanished and the small banner that usually displayed event notices only had a single sentence.

"Good luck."

Yeah, a whole lot of help that gave me. In the end, I resigned myself to just go with the flow. Sooner or later someone would realize the massive fuckup that just happened and they'd fix it, right? After all, people didn't just let things like this go on for longer than a few hours.

Not in this day and age.

------------

In the end, I had chosen to forgo visiting the alchemist or whatever. When I said that, Lily offered to let me stay at her place. With nothing better to do and expecting all of this to be over in a few hours, I took her offer.

And then a day passed in the blink of an eye.

Saying that my heart leaped out of my chest would have been an understatement. I'd sat by the window, watching as the sun slowly dipped under the horizon. With each second that passed, I felt walls closing in around my heart.

Why hadn't anyone come? Was the problem worse than I thought?

What was going on?

Before I knew it, a week had gone by and I was up and about again. My twisted ankle had healed and Lily had taken care of me through it all. She'd cooked for me, helped me walk to the toilet, and even prepared hot water for my bath. It was both embarrassing and incredibly worrying. NPC's simply weren't this good. And just like that, the rumors of the supposedly incredibly advanced A.I running the game began to nibble at my mind.

What... What if something went wrong? The light, the choices... had the A.I malfunctioned? Super advanced or not, it was still just another machine. And machines could break.

I pinched my cheek and my senses flared in pain. A world, no matter how fake, could become as real as anyone allowed it to. Right now, I could feel the sun's warm rays on my skin. I could hear the birds chirping in the distance and smell the thick moisture in the air. The taste of Lily's breakfast still clung to my tongue. And, most importantly, I winced as I pinched my cheek even harder.

Game or not, this world was my new reality.

I had no idea what the hell had happened, but I wanted answers. Sitting around and doing nothing would get me jack and shit.

I took a breath and glanced out of Lily's window. Where was I? Where should I go? I didn't know.

My hands trembled and my heart leaped up into my throat.

But, there was something that called out to me. I had to trace my steps back. I needed to head back to the capital where it all started. Problem was that I didn't have any money or idea where to go.

It wasn't going to be easy, but what choice did I have?

I filled my lungs with fresh, unpolluted air and looked at the bright, blue sky.

"What a beautiful day for an adventure," I mumbled sourly.