The sensation of a cold draft snaked its way along Kitsune Zenko's spine as the virtual world of Full Dive materialized around him. His eyes flickered open to reveal a scene straight out of a historical dungeon crawler game—a dimly lit prison cell, with iron bars that seemed to drink in the sparse light filtering down from the small window high up on the wall.
"Ah, great," Kitsune muttered dryly, his breath forming a ghostly mist in the chilly air. "Ugh, my head... feels like it is splitting apart. Am I back in prison? I was just in the... I remember now. I guess you can respawn in the game, who would've thought? As long as I can respawn then it's just a normal game."
Kitsune leaned against the door, peering out into the corridor beyond, which was just as bleak and unwelcoming as his cell. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of dripping water echoed, resonating within the hollow silence.
Once again Kitsune saw a screen that showed his status. It was the same as what he had previously seen but something on there seemed peculiar. He saw that he had two lives left. A message then popped up and it said "You now have two lives remaining as you have previously died. You have lost one life. If you lose all your lives, you will die permanently. Be careful. Good luck!"
**Name: Kitsune Zenko
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 10/10
Money: $0
Sync: 19%
Mission: Jailbreak (3 stars)
Objective: Escape from the prison
Reward: $10,000 and a random item
Failure: Death**
Lives: 2
"Figures they'd raise the stake," he mused aloud, giving voice to his thoughts. "Two more lives huh? Gotta make it count."
His hands gripped the cold metal, testing them with a slight push. They didn't budge, but that was to be expected—this was a game, after all, and games had rules. Challenges. Puzzles to solve.
"Okay, Kitsune, think... you're a gambler, a strategist," he whispered to himself, tapping into his real-life strengths for inspiration. "There's got to be a way out of here. There's always a way out."
He took a deep breath, the scent of mildew filling his nostrils, reminding him that every detail of this virtual reality was crafted to immerse him fully in the experience. Kitsune's mind raced, and despite the dreariness of his virtual incarceration, a familiar spark of excitement ignited within him—the thrill of the unknown, the allure of the challenge.
"Escape from the prison," a robotic voice chimed into Kitsune's ears, disjointed as if through a bad speaker. The message was brief, but the objective couldn't be clearer. Its abruptness left him with a dangling sense of urgency just as it did in his first trial.
"Like every game? It drops you in the deep end and watches you swim," he muttered, scanning the confines of his cell for anything out of place—a clue, a tool, something to crack the code. He had always been good at finding loopholes and bending rules without breaking them.
"Let's see what we have here..." Kitsune mused, dropping to his knees and peering under the bed. The dust motes danced away from his searching hands, and the rough texture of the blanket scratched against his skin—a reminder of the impressive sensory detail of the Full Dive system.
His fingers brushed against something solid and colder than the stone floor. With a triumphant grin, he dragged out a rusty metal bar, its surface pitted with age and neglect. "A bar?"
He weighed the bar in his hand, feeling the heft of it. It was substantial enough, and despite its battered condition, it held promise.