After finishing the transdimensional shift and teleporting to the ocean surface, I only had one more teleport left before I'd be too exhausted to move, so I had to use it wisely. Teleporting in any random direction without knowing if there'd be land or boat would be suicide. When my standard sense of sight gave me nothing to work with, I switched to using mental magic instead. Balancing my focus between treading water and using mental magic to reach out, I stretched my magic as far as possible, searching for signs of human life.
Forcing my magic out felt like I was moving through sludge, incompatible with the world around me. I pushed it anyway, reaching and reaching for presences. Nearly simultaneously, I noticed a presences in the ocean below and in all directions. I got the sense that most of the presences were human, but it was almost as though I were sensing the echoes rather than the presences themself. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I was in Zenith Online, but I tossed the thought out of reach to focus on, making it to shore.
I ignored the presences below my feet, unsure I wouldn't accidentally kill myself trying to make it down to them. From my research on the game, I knew that there were mechanics so your character would survive underwater, but I was not sure if those applied to my very real body. Instead, I focused on the closest above-water group of presences to the north. I kicked ferociously, trying to stay afloat as I reached up, clutched onto Ani with a vice grip, and pulled us closer.
The water surrounding me was replaced with a mixture of wonderful air and rough grains of sand against my feet. With an exhausted groan, I collapsed face down against the warm sand, sending Ani sprawling. He padded up to prod my arm, and I smacked him away without looking.
He plopped down onto my back. Between the sound of the ocean, his purring, and the heated sand, I hoped I would fall asleep quickly.
Whispers echoed from the cliffside before me, and I heard the distinct sound of crunching sand.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A masculine voice echoed from above. Ani vacated my back, growling.
I knew better, but I kept my eyes closed, hoping whoever it was would go away. They did not.
"Hayden McCarthy. They a player or an NPC?" another masculine voice, higher pitched than the last, asked his companions.
"Dunno," said a third person.
A sharp kick landed against my side, and they laughed. "A player," The first voice confirmed. "Perfect." My eyelashes fluttered against the sand, and I flopped myself over, catching my first glimpse of my bullies.
I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Above their heads hovered ridiculous usernames. To my left was a quite literal giant, around 9 feet tall and dressed like an all-black ninja in a helmet, named IAM UrFater with a sword strapped to his back. To my right, with clothes straight from the wild-west, was a gun-wielding wolf-eared humanoid, a werewolf named Gun UnAlive. In a glowing skin-tight, and helmet-less spacesuit with a hefty-looking belt at my feet was an Elf named Succ My. Each of the names were written in red. Player killers.
I laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. It quickly turned to hysteria. It was one thing to see these names on the other side of a computer screen and another altogether to see them in real life. The hysteria came when the realization dawned that these names meant this wasn't world of the novel. Somehow, I was in video game version of Zenith Online.
Ani growled behind my head and launched himself at IAM UrFater, who cursed and quickly put distance between them. His friends laughed at his peril. Gun UnAlive un unholstered his guns with a little jog, shifting back and forth between his feet as he pointed them in Ani's direction. Succ My's hands glowed red.
A partially see-through window appeared in front of my eyes.
[Data Conversion Complete!]
[Do you wish to begin the tutorial?]
[YES] [NO]
Unable to ignore the situation around me, I ignored the prompt, sprung to my feet, and lunged at Ani, once again gathering him up into my arms. Blissfully, the useful prompt stayed in place.
"Get 'em!" IAM UrFater lifted his sword once more, sliding back into a basic attack. I didn't wait to see what they would do. I zigzagged and sprinted into the woods to the right of the rocky alcove, Ani in arm.
"Hey! Don't leave!" Succ My called.
Sand burst behind me, the impact smacking into my back. Explosion, I think the attack was called. I gathered the momentum into my run, pushing my feet faster.
A bright white light flashed out of the corner of my eye, moving quickly in my direction. Heavenly Slash. I hid behind a tree, the attack scattering harmlessly behind me. A barrage of bullets followed. The group behind me cursed and laughed as they struck the tree.
The game of cat and mouse didn't last long. The gunslinger, Gun UnAlive, and the swordsman, IAM UrFater, split from Succ My, narrowing my zig-zag area and shepherding me in a wide arc back to the beach. Their shots continued to go wide, followed by taunts and jeers from the crew as they relished in their hunt. This group, it seemed, were player killers for the thrill more than the reward.
It occurred to me that letting myself be shepherded was a terrible idea. I'd heard rumors that some player killers lured unsuspecting players into dangerous areas and kept them there. Once the character 'died,' they'd take the dropped loot and thus avoid the bright red warning so they could return to town.
I was pushed n the direction of the ocean, forced out of the protection of the woods and onto a rocky area. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen if one of their hits struck me, and I wasn't exactly eager to test the results. Would it be like a video game and leave my skin unbroken? Or would I get burned, sliced, or shattered bones?
The white sandy beach poked over the top of the rocky area, and their full plan fell into place. In this game, death by falling was a certainty in some places. IAM UrFater, Succ My, and Gun UnAlive sauntered out from the woods and onto the overhang, blocking off any means of escape. Succ My lifted his hands and snapped his fingers. Another explosion shot up from the ground inches away, pushing Ani and me an unfortunate few steps back.
I teetered on the edge of the cliff briefly but was unable to regain my balance. I tipped over the edge, still clutching Ani with one hand. The other scrambled against the cliff face for purchase, wrapping around a bump in the stone that acted as a handhold.
[New Trait Unlocked! Rockclimber Level 0->1]
[This cliff is for level 5 and up only]
The stone flickered like a lightbulb.