"Weird... something doesn't feel right...," Meimei thought.
"When Gate arrived, her hometown drink appeared but she hates alcohol. Suspicious," Shanson thought to himself as he munched on the momo.
"Wow, the succulent meat sandwiched between 2 light and buttery bread. This momo dish reminded me of hamburgers but so much simpler and tastier," Cori thought while helping himself to another piece. "Is the burnt cheesecake mine?" he wondered since he was not a big fan of cheese, but seeing how durian was conjured out of nowhere he realised with a sigh it is most likely his.
Sky, "Why aren't you eating, Gate? You're not hungry?"
"Well, the butterbiru is enough for me," she said.
Meimei, "I thought you don't drink alcohol?"
"Ya, that's what you told us," quipped Shanson grabbing a slice of cheesecake.
"Who are you?" Meimei asked with her browless brows furrowed, her intuition picking up a different aura from Gate.
"Well... to be honest, I don't like beer but I am just so homesick at this point that it became the first thing I thought of. Maybe this place just picks up the most impactful dishes from our memorise and recreates them here," Gate hypothesised.
Cori nodded in agreement as a bubble tea appeared in front of him.
When a KFSea meal randomly appeared in front of Shanson, Cori was certain that Shanson was from Earth.
"Ooo, what is this? It smells good," said Gate diverting everyone's attention to the deep-fried chickens.
"This is deep-fried food famous in my hometown!" Shanson said taking a deep bite from the drumstick.
"Wait my hometown has this too!" Meimei yelped in surprise.
"Me too!" said Sky, "although the brand is not KFSea, it is rather similar."
"I guess that makes 4 of us..." Cori reluctantly confessed.
The 4 slimes slowly turned their body to face Gate, anticipating that she was from Earth too. "I thought you guys were from different hometowns?" Gate exclaimed.
"Who are you? You're not Gate," Shanson said confidently.
"Where is my friend?" Meimei squeaked in anger.
"Erm... Gate... is me?" said the slime seemingly unsure of itself, its thoughts spinning in confusion.
"Seems like a ditto," said Cori.
"What's a ditto?" Sky asked.
"A mimic I mean. A type of being that mimics the living and takes over their lives," explained Cori.
"Okay, you guys win. I'm not your friend Gate," answered the fake Gate lookalike.
"Finally! For some reason, my whole body is aching for some action," smiled Shanson. His body trembled and vibrated, warming up for a fight.
"Hold on, I'm not a bad guy. I just took on the form of someone that you're all familiar with to connect with you guys," explained the doppelganger hoping to gain some sympathy points. But the gang was unmoved and unanimously circled in and cornered the threat.
"Wait! Wait!" the slime shouted in a masculine voice. The foursome stood in confusion, puzzled by the nature of this creature. Even Cori's ability was not able to gain any useful information about it, the system just stated it as an "unknown missingno".
"What are you?" Cori asked with his sight intensely fixated on the the creature's.
"Cori, Cori... you should have known better. After all, weren't you selected to be here after all?" a disbodied voice emanated from the lump of slime which instantly vaporised into thin air. A sinister laughter echoed in the dining hall as the walls and pillars spun around them. "What an idiot for you to fall into my trap," laughed the voice.
"There!" Meimei pointed to a gecko on the ceiling. Shanson immediately fired his halo at the lizard, knocking it unconscious. The lizard transformed back into its original form- a glitchy-hooded being 2.5 metres tall. Shanson used his halo to bind the "enemy" and removed the grey hood.
The rest gasped in shock to see a being that looked so human but far from human. Its chiselled marbled face without a single hair follicle slept calmly in their presence. "Do you know him Cori?" Shanson asked.
"Nope, any of you know him?" Cori asked back.
The rest shook their head innocently and looked at the poor figure, ready to land their hits on it.
The figure suddenly glitched again and took on the form of Tanuki with a gemmed collar around its neck. But the group was unfazed and proceeded to use "Pound" until the creature reverted to its original self- a 2.5 metre-tall pixelated figure.
"I guess it's really from the game huh," thought Shanson.
Defeated, the figure performed a dogeza and promised to answer all questions the group asked.
"Are you the owner of this place?" Meimei asked cautiously, worried at the wrong timing.
"I'm the guardian of 777," the pixelated figure said.
"Isn't that the lost hall?" Sky said in astonishment.
"Yes, and you guys are the new selected trainees and I'm here to guide you and Master Cori," said the prostrating figure.
"Master Cori?" Sky repeated the word in astonishment.
"Can you stop acting so surprised?" Shanson said, feeling a tinge of annoyance. "So how do we leave this place?" he asked.
"If you wish to return to this place or from where you are from the salamander's mark will teleport you," it answered.
"What is your name?" Cori asked.
"I have no name, I am simply an unknown missingno," it replied in disfigured speech.
Cori thought for a moment and asked, "Can I call you Bumblebee?"
"It will be my utmost honour to be bestowed such a wonderful name!" it answered.
"Wait, how do we know it's not a trap?" Sky cautioned.
"It doesn't look like he's lying. He looked very sincere," Meimei advised judging the life form's aura.
Sky, "What will happen to Cori when he names you?"
"He will take over this place as prince of darkness and I the lowly servant shall always abide by his rule," it answered, "Oh! And my form will evolve according to his attributes."
"See! I knew there's more to his story. So what does this prince of darkness do?" Sky asked.
"He will assemble the knights to defend this planet against invasive forces. Once his mission is accomplished, the system will grant a wish to him and his knights."
"Cori, we should not name him. It is too dangerous to proceed, there are too many mysteries entangled in this mess," Shanson advised.
"Can we return to Earth in our own body?" Cori asked.
"Yes, only if you fulfilled your quest here. I'm afraid I do not know much but the system will return everyone to Earth once the business here is completed," it said.
Meimei, "What if some of us want to stay?"
Unknown Missingno, "Yes, that choice is possible."
"What will happen if all of us name you?" Meimei asked.
"The title of the prince of darkness will inevitably fall onto a Master. And Cori is the only one here with that title in the system. He is also the only soul summoned by 777 and whilst the rest aren't," it answered. Cori could not help but feel exposed.
"Why are you here?" Cori asked.
"I'm the guardian of Hall 777 created to guide everyone present here to fight against evil," it said with a slight tremble.
"He's not lying," Meimei added.
"So we will be summoned anytime to fight? Even if it's the empire?" Shanson asked.
"Yes."
An awkward silence filled the air- everyone knew what the pixelated figure meant- it meant going against the entire world should it come to it. The gravity of responsibility this guardian carried is not light.