9 - A Million Questions

I opened my eyes and I choked up on my own breath like I had been drowning for the last couple of minutes.

My body hurts, my vision is blurry and I could still feel myself shivering for unknown reasons.

The bright light is finally gone and what's left is some sort of glowing white orb floating just a few feet above my face.

I blinked my eyes repeatedly to try and focus on my surroundings.

The Menu and other buttons are still missing from my vision. It made me so frustrated.

I need to log out of this game. I don't want to play this anymore.

I tried to lift up my head but I can't feel anything but pain. I gave up trying and just stared at the baseball-sized orb quietly hovering above me.

The orb moved closer to my face and I silently cursed as I can't move away from it.

"Are you okay?" A deep voice echoed that seemed to come from the orb itself.

What the hell? Did this small floating light bulb just talk?

"W-Wha-?" I tried talking but my voice cracked so I just shut my lips against my better judgement.

The orb hovered slowly side to side as if it's inspecting my face.

"You seem fine to me." It said and I let out a quick breath of disbelief.

"Not... fine... Who... you...?" I replied, swallowing some saliva in between words in hopes of easing the pain in my throat.

"Oh, you're not fine? What do you need? I may be able to get it for you." It replied as it returned to its spot just in front of my face.

I really doubt that it can help me in any way possible but nothing makes sense anymore so I just mentally shrugged.

"Water." I replied with a whisper.

It made a humming sound and I felt my body being lifted.

I started to panic once more, remembering what happened the last time I floated above the ground.

"I can sense your extreme distress. Please, don't worry. I am using my Telekinesis to carry you out of this cave." It explained and, I don't know why, I slightly relaxed by its statement.

My body rotated until I was floating upright, my feet just barely a foot above the floor. The orb is in front of me and a few seconds later, we slowly moved forward.

I feel like a corpse at this state. I can't move my body, my head still kind of hurts and now I'm probably just hallucinating about this small orb.

"Forgive me if I haven't introduced myself to you. My name is Asmodaius Carnatello Cthalaxis." The orb suddenly spoke as we moved along dark hallway of the cave.

I wanted to nod in acknowledgement, but I couldn't.

Such a complicated name. I wonder who came up with it?

"What... are... you...?" I managed to slowly say the words, mentally patting myself on the back for sounding coherent.

"I don't know yet." It answered and my brows twitch as I tried to frown in confusion.

Oh, wait. I finally have an idea on what this orb is.

"Doppel...ganger...?" I asked.

It let out a small hum of confirmation and my lips formed a small 'o' in realization.

That explains the Telekinetic powers and the long names, but it doesn't explain everything else that happened here.

This small orb is a baby Doppelganger and they usually decide on their own names the moment they're born. Unlike most mythical, paranormal and supernatural creatures, Doppelgangers are born with the intelligence that's expected on an adult human.

Unlike the regular Doppelgangers that we know from mythologies, they're more like shapeshifters. This young one still has no coherent shape and the thing I'm seeing right now is still its spirit. As time passes by, they decide on a form to give them some sort of identity.

That explains why this orb speaks, and sounds, like some sort of cool dad or uncle.

"We're almost to the exit. There's a small stream nearby where you can drink." It spoke again and I thanked him with a small, broken voice.

God, just thinking about water made my throat clench in extreme dryness.

After a few minutes of silent floating, we finally reached the end of the cave.

I was ready to welcome the refreshing air of the forest again. I never realized how much I could miss the woods so much, considering that everything started with me burning down an entire woodland.

But that wasn't what greeted us.

I felt my brain stop functioning in shock as a horrifying view of a burning village presented itself in front of me.

Screams and cries for help rang in my ears, making me involuntarily shiver in fear and horror to finally sink into my system.

Dead bodies are scattered on the blood-stained grass and I felt bile rose up from my already painful throat when I saw bodies of children among the piles of corpses a few feet away from me.

"W-What...?" I exhaled in disbelief.

Where the hell am I? The devs of Halcyon Dawning wouldn't go so far as to do something like this.

Is this even a game anymore?

"Find more survivors!" My breath caught up in my throat when I heard a menacing voice echo from behind one of the burning houses.

"I need to hide you." I forgot that I was with the orb and it quickly rushed the two of us to hide behind a large bush not too far away.

He gently set me down on the ground and I groaned.

"Wait here. I'll get you some water and maybe some medical help." The orb hurriedly whispered to me and rushed away before I could even protest.

Damn it, am I just dreaming? But the pain I'm currently experiencing across my body feels too real to be a dream.

What happened inside that cave? Why and how did it even happen?

Oh god, what about the girl that I was supposed to save? She was there, just outside where the blinding light was before I carelessly plunged myself into it. But I didn't see her on our way out of that place.

Hell, even the cave felt like it was only a one-way road when I distinctly remember coming across a split passageway.

Is the girl okay? What about her friends? Are they still waiting for me? Are they all safe? This place is just a few minutes away from the cottage where I told them to wait for me so it's impossible for them to not notice this village being raided or burned.

But where did this village even come from? There aren't supposed to be any villages near the dungeons. If I remember correctly, the nearest village should be at least a forty-minute walk from this dungeon.

Where in the world is Lastef and the other admins? Why are they letting this happen?

What about those corpses? They look way too realistic for a video game. Even the screams of help are worthy of nightmares.

Lastly, where did all the buttons go? The Menu, the Chat, the Notifications - all of them are gone from my vision.

It's as if I'm really not in a game anymore.

I took a deep breath, with slight difficulty, to snap myself away from that crazy idea.

But then again, the events inside the cave shook me to my core.

I remember trying to remove the UVRC and the bodysuit but feeling nothing but my own character's face and clothing.

What does it mean? What happened? Did the game bugged out? Did I do something wrong again?

All these questions are flooding my mind to the point where I'm sure that I'll go completely insane in any second.

The shuffling behind the bushes made all my thoughts go away.

Crap, crap, crap.

I can't move. I can't protect myself.

If I die here, would I even respawn?

The leaves of the bushes moved and I closed my eyes tightly, steeling myself for whatever weapon that would end my life.

"Hey, are you still with me?" I heard the familiar voice of the orb.

I opened my eyes and I let out a breath of relief that I didn't even realize that I was holding in.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I stopped myself immediately.

A male human holding a giant axe, a Berserker most likely, is standing right behind the orb.