"Alice… can you hear me?"
Legolas would lay flat on the ground with his body injured beyond repair. He could barely breathe as he reached his arm out for his friend, wanting to see her face again, even if it was miserable.
Alice was still in shock.
She couldn't believe that she killed him.
Jacob…
Her best friend… and the one who loved her. She tried to deny it inside her head, but each time she did, it would only bring her more emptiness. She was disconnected from reality, stuck inside her own crafted delusions.
"Jacob… let's go hunting for wolves… You don't mind that, do you?"
"A-Alice, what are you talking about? Jacob… is dead." Legolas widened his eyes, watching her talk to herself.
"Hey… what's with that funny look? Are you scared of wolves? Aww, c'mon, you need the EXP as much as I do."
"….." Legolas went silent.
"Hey Jacob, Legolas told me that you always had a fear of spiders, you know there are spider mobs inside the game, right? Hehehe!"
Everyone looked at Alice, realizing she had gone insane.
"What? Whaddya mean you love me…? I can't wrap my head around why. I'm nobody special, Legolas says I'm a loudmouth. Aren't I annoying to you?"
"Alice…" Legolas whispered under his voice, baffled to see his friend in such a horrible state.
It was… horrendous.
No words could describe how he felt, seeing her broken, like a machine.
"W-Well… if you really mean what you said about loving me, you'll always be by my side, right? Those who love one another will always stick by each other's side, so promise me that you will!"
"Hmph. She's off in the deep end, isn't she?" Said Honora.
"Yeah… I'm positive that she's experiencing a Brief psychotic disorder after what happened." Proclaimed Bertram.
"Man… we did some fucked up shit over the course of our life, but this is really fucked up. Not to mention, she's just gonna become some whore for our guild." Pocchi said whilst rubbing the back of his head, "I may be one sadistic mother fucker, but seeing someone break is no fun. I like it when they scream and feel the pain, yah know?"
"Yep, that sounds like you alright! Our sweet sadistic Pocchi Poo!" Honora said teasingly.
"I'll kill you…"
Footsteps were heard through the narrow hallway as Belial approached Alice, crouching in front of her face.
He examined her expression with intent.
"Hmmm…" He lifted her chin with his finger, turning her head to the side, "I see."
"L-Let go of Alice… you asshole!" Legolas tried getting up, but his body was crushed, "Ghhh!"
"Your friend here seems to be in another world of her own. She's not faking it, she truly believes that Jacob is alive. Each scenario that she shouts about is another world that she imagines inside her head; She must constantly switch worlds because each new one is a world where she kills him."
"Hey, Jacob, I wanna tell you a secret!" Said the delusional Alice.
"See, this is what I mean; You notice how one second she was talking about loving Jacob, and now she changes the entire conversation to secrets? Yes… she is indeed going through different worlds where she lives her life with Jacob, killing him in each one."
Belial was toying with Legolas' feelings, scoffing at the situation.
"Damn you… damn, you all!! What have you done to her?! Why? Why do all of this?? For the Phantom Mutiny? Goddamn you! D-Damn you!" Legolas started shouting with tears pouring down his cheek, unknowingly, "Whyyyy!?? Why, why why why?! Why?!!" He started slamming his forehead into the ground, drawing blood, "Damnit, damnit, damnit!!!"
"Keep that up, and you'll end up killing yourself." Responded Belial, "Now then…" he looked back at Alice, slowly leaning his face forward, "Alice, can you hear me?" He whispered into her ear, halting her delusional words.
She went quiet… as if she was waking back up into reality.
"You want Jacob back, do you not? You love him, just as much as he loved you, right?"
"…Y-Yes… I love…Jacob…"
"I see, then I have good news for you. Do you want to hear it?"
"…Yes sir…"
"Jacob can be brought back, but you must do something for me… can you accomplish that?"
"I-I can…"
"Good. You see that man right over there?" Belial pointed at Legolas, forcing Alice's head to turn and face him.
"Yes sir… I-I see him…"
"He's the key. He says that if you pleasure him, he'll give you anything you want, and that includes Jacob."
"W-What are you talking about?" Said the distressed Legolas.
"P-Pleasure him?" Asked Alice.
"Yes, give him what he wants. Become a whore, for the sake of your beloved, Jacob."
"Y-Yes, I will!"
"Alice… no… don't listen to him! It's me, Legolas!! Can't you remember me, Alice?!"
Alice slowly stood up from the ground, looking at Legolas with empty eyes, "Legolas…?"
"Yes, it's me, your friend. I'm trying to save you! I'll make sure you get out of this, I promise you, Alice!"
She didn't respond… but instead…
"What are you doing?"
The Distressed Legolas could only question the Gunner, as she started to remove the armor around her body, dropping it to the ground.
"Alice… no…"
After her armor, she removed her pants, revealing her panties underneath.
After her panties, she removed her shirt, revealing her bra, and bouncing boobs.
She was half-naked.
All that remained was her undergarments.
"I'll make sure Jacob comes back…"
"…Alice, please… no…"
She then removed her bra, holding it inside her hand before tossing it to the ground.
"I'll give you what you want… I hope this makes you happy."
And finally, she slid down her panties, approaching Legolas with a slight grin.
"If it makes you feel better, I'll even have your baby… eheheh~."
"Alice… Alice, nooo!!!"
***
Lucienne and Kuma traveled downstairs of Emperor's castle.
They've been walking for ten minutes, and they're only on the fifth floor.
"How big is this place? The size is unnecessary… what does he even have on each floor?" Said the annoyed Lucienne.
"I don't know, but I'm sure each floor is important, considering he's a Great King and all." Responded Kuma.
"Yeah, I guess so."
The two of them continued downward, until they reached the sixth floor, taking a break inside its corridors.
"Hey, Kuma, I got a question…"
"Hm? What is it? It better not be dumb… or I'm ignoring you."
"No, it's not dumb. Everything I ask isn't dumb, you jackass. But anyway, it's about your level. You recently started playing Isekai World Online a week ago, right?"
"Mmm, yeah, why?"
"How did you get to level 100 so fast? Doesn't stuff like that take months!? Maybe even a year altogether, depending on the quests you take."
"Well, Astral helped me with that. She taught me the basics of the game and helped me grind through the Jungle Biome. After that, we went into a dungeon, and I gained EXP from the monsters she killed, allowing me to level up fast. It took a hundred hours, but we managed."
"A dungeon huh? What dungeon allows you to level up that fast? I never heard of one like that before."
Dungeons were locations that randomly spawned in Isekai Online each week. Dungeons can permanently remain in the location they spawn, and the only way to make them disappear is by having players complete each floor of the dungeon.
Currently, each dungeon consists of ten floors, and each second floor has a boss battle;
{First Floor: Normal
Second Floor: Boss Battle
Third Floor: Normal
Fourth Floor: Boss Battle
Fifth Floor: Normal
Sixth Floor: Boss Battle
Seventh Floor: Normal
Eighth Floor: Boss Battle
Ninth Floor: Normal
Tenth Floor: Boss Battle
Secret Floor: Treasury}
Normal floors have mobs inside of them that constantly spawn, allowing you to farm them to level up. Boss Battles are floors that you have to complete to move onto the next floor, for stronger mobs and better loot.
After completing the dungeon, the first few players who reach the treasury will be rewarded handsomely with powerful equipment and items.
Depending on how hard the dungeon is, the better the reward will be in the treasury.
"I honestly have no clue what kind of dungeon it was, but Astral… or well… Emerald, I should say, completed it with ease. She told me that it's the third strongest dungeon in the game, and she didn't even struggle not one bit."
"I'm not surprised, considering it's Emerald. She is the sister of Emperor after all."
"…Yeah, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her, so I do owe her one."
"Man, now I'm curious! How does exploring a dungeon feel? I have to try it out one day. I never got the chance to do one, since the players always complete it whenever I show up."
"Hmmm, that is true, but I'm sure there is a way to predict the location of where a dungeon will spawn."
"What about the strongest dungeons in Isekai Online? Surely no other players have completed them, considering they're extremely powerful." Said Lucienne.
"Oh… you may be right. The dungeon me and Emerald completed was inactive for months since it was the third strongest dungeon in the game. That would have to mean the second strongest and first strongest dungeons still exist somewhere." Announced Kuma.
"Perfect! Then after we finish this, I wanna go explore one. We can gather the team and-"
"No, I'll pass."
"What, why??" Cried, Lucienne.
"I'm not risking death right now, I have too much I have to do before we do something that ridiculous."
"Nnn. You're pretty boring."
"How am I boring? What?!? Because I'm not risking my life?" Shouted Kuma, "Anyways, we're way off of topic here. Let's go talk to Zeus."
Kuma stood back up, stretching.
"Fine… ten thousand more stairs to go… ugh."