Chapter 6: Back

"I can't give you the beans as someone already took the beans because they found my stick, but since you tried so hard for me, I'll give you a different quest."

"You might receive the legendary weapon of our village, young man," Ryder said.

"What? Did I unlock some secret quest by coming without the stick? Awesome!" The Baldy got excited as he started grinning like mad.

'Huh, such an idiot. However, I would have been just as excited if I was in his place. The charm of legendary equipment is really strong after all,' He thought.

"Follow me, young man. There is a cave nearby. Inside that cave is our legendary Weapon, but there's a monster inside that cave as well."

"I want you to get that weapon and let me see its majesty with my own eyes. Your reward will be that weapon itself. I'll show you the cave first. You can decide what to do later." 

Ryder said with a calm smile on his face. 

'I can't let him feel like there's anything wrong. I need to act the part properly,' Ryder thought.

He gazed at him with a carefree look.

"Sure! Let's go," The man replied as he rubbed his hands together. Greed was clearly visible on his face.

"That is really good. Follow me, young man," Ryder said.

He began walking towards the exit of the village. The bald man followed him.

There was only a single thought going on in his mind as he moved towards his destination one step at a time.

'Everything will depend on my luck now. If I fail, I will lose the chance to regain my real body. I can't let that happen.'

They finally reached the forest after walking for half an hour.

Ryder stopped abruptly after reaching a certain point.

"This is as far as I can take you. Because of the rules, I can't leave the boundary of the village. If you walk straight for around 10 minutes, you will see the cave. Best of luck, brave warrior," He said.

'It's the final step of my plan; I can't fail.'

"Hey! You NPC! You will come with me. To hell with your rules." The bearded man said.

The Baldy grabbed Ryder and pulled him as he continued walking ahead.

'This is bad... If he doesn't free me, both of us will...' 

Sweat was starting to appear on Ryder's face as he tried to think of a way to free himself, but he was too weak.

"Please free me! I can't leave the parameters of the village, or I will die, "Ryder hurriedly said again.

He tried to convince the bald man to free him.

"So what if you die. All I care about is that legendary weapon. I need something to throw at that beast to divert it's attention if I'm in danger. You'll do the job just fine." 

There was a creepy smile on his face. 

'He is real trash, isn't he?' Ryder cursed in his mind.

Ryder tried to convince him again and again, but nothing worked. He walked for a few more minutes before there was a movement on the ground.

The ground caved in suddenly, and both of them fell inside. 

'I was the one who created this trap to kill the Baldy. But I never expected that I would die with him. Is this karma?' Ryder thought with a self-deprecating smile on his face.

The bald man screamed as he fell. There were tens of spikes on the pit that Ryder had placed inside to make sure that the bald man died in a single try.

'I'll get killed by my own trap. Does this count as killing that Baldy or suicide with him? I'm not even sure at this time. Will this complete the task given by Janus, or will I die for no reason?' He wondered.

They both fell onto the spikes which penetrated their bodies. Blood flowed endlessly. The pain was just as painful as dying for real. It felt like thousands of swords had stabbed his body at the same time.

The Baldy looked the same. He died instantly, but Ryder was sure he would revive after 24 hours. He was a player, after all. He'll just lose a level.

Everything turned to darkness, and the pain decreased. Ryder wasn't sure if the pain had lessened or he was losing his senses.

<Ding... Mission Successful! Killed the person who killed you. You will receive following reward>

<Reward: Regaining your real body back>

'Finally! Thank you, Janus. At least I didn't die for nothing this time. This whole week had been nothing but a pain in the ass.'

This was the last thought he had before he died... for the 3rd time. 

___________________________

"Huh! I'm home?" 

Ryder opened his eyes amidst his headache, and the first thing he saw was the roof. He was lying on his soft bed.

"Was all of that a dream?" He got up and looked around. 

'As I expected, I am in my room.'

He walked towards his table to check out his Divinity VR glasses. He checked everywhere, but the glasses were nowhere to be found.

'Did someone take them?' He frowned as he left the room.

"Alice!" He called out to his little cousin.

"Yes, brother? " She answered as she opened the door of her room and walked out. Her room was right beside his room.

"Did you see my Divinity glasses?" He asked her straight away.

"Divinity glasses? What are you talking about?" 

Alice seemed confused as she replied.

"You know them! The glasses that came with the first fully immersive virtual reality game Divinity." 

Ryder said in an anxious tone.