Hearing Aarya's words, Inse was thrown into her thoughts. 'He is right. I initiated this without thinking. I started this, and now that I realise it's not ideal and will require more sacrifices on my part, I'm retreating. you can't do that, Inse, you have to follow through. But... he's my son. How could i..?'
Snapping out of her thoughts, Inse said, "What you're saying makes sense, my son. However, I can't make a decision right now." She paused and added in a defeated tone, "Let me think about it."
Aarya inwardly celebrated his small victory. He looked at Inse, who once again immersed herself in contemplation.
As Aarya waited, Inse gave him a questioning look. Aarya, unsure of what she was thinking, mirrored her expression. 'Did she forget? Should I ask? No, I probably shouldn't.'
"Yes, Mother, take your time to think about it," Aarya finally said after some consideration. He then decided to leave Inse's study. Inse watched him depart, still torn by her internal dilemma.
….
As Aarya walked through the hallway, lost in thought, he suddenly felt the earth beneath his feet vibrating slightly. His initial thought was that it might be an earthquake. He decided to make his way towards a nearby exit just to be safe.
However, the vibrations grew more intense, and he began to hear a thumping noise, as if something massive was rapidly approaching. Aarya's concern deepened. He muttered, "What the heck is happening?" and quickened his pace.
*BOOM*
Aarya groaned, his head throbbing with pain. His eyes remained shut, and as he moved his hand towards his head, another painful grunt escaped his lips. 'Ahh, fuck what happened,' he thought. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself lying beside a wall, his clothes covered in dust and blood from a wound on his head. Fragmented wall pieces surrounded him, and before he could piece together what had occurred, the cause of the chaos stood before him.
"Fuck," was all he could manage as he gazed at the monster next to the broken wall. It was a giant ogre, its skin a sickly greenish-gray hue, standing over 12 feet tall, nearly touching the ceiling. The ogre's face was grotesque, featuring four tusks, two small ones protruding from its upper jaw and two larger ones jutting up from its lower jaw. In one of its massive hands, it gripped a broken wooden club that was bigger than Aarya himself, and blue blood oozed from various bruises on its face and body.
Aarya was taken aback by an unusual sight, the words hovering near the ogre's head.
[ Ogre Level 15 ]
Though he noticed them, he couldn't dwell on it for long.
Aarya quickly realized that the ogre had smashed into the wall where he had been standing, propelling him through the air and causing him to collide with the ground, hitting his head in the process. The ogre seemed disoriented, but as soon as its eyes locked onto Aarya, clarity returned, and a single word echoed loudly in Aarya's mind: "RUN."
Despite the searing pain coursing through his body, Aarya attempted to get up. The ogre, on the other hand, raised its enormous club and brought it crashing down toward Aarya, who could only think, "SHIT."
With a sudden "WHOOSH," the club descended. Aarya summoned every ounce of strength he had left and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly blow. He watched as the club shattered the floor where he had just been, realizing it would have been the end of him.
Fear coursing through him, Aarya forced his battered body to move, each step accompanied by painful grunts. After taking only a couple of strides, he glanced back, but the club had disappeared. Then, in an instant, "WHOOSH BAMM." The ogre swung its club again, sending Aarya hurtling down the hallway. He crashed into the wall, blood pouring from his mouth as he slid down, his back against the unforgiving surface.
Coughing up blood, Aarya couldn't help but think, 'Fuck, I'm going to die.'
The ogre, having struck Aarya with tremendous force and sending him flying, now lumbered toward him, intent on finishing the job. Aarya could see his upcoming death in the ogre's approach.
'Ha, I've lived in two worlds and I'm still going to die a virgin,' Aarya lamented silently. But then, he had a fierce change of heart. "FUCK THAT," Aarya shouted. '"You can buy a nuclear weapon, and you're giving up. You useless piece of shit, FUCK YOU. Use your damn skills," he said to himself.
With a swift thought, Aarya accessed the internet store, a window appearing before him just as the ogre closed in. He scanned through the available weapons, and the first one at that. Caught his eye was a Desert Eagle .50 AE handgun, priced at 200 OP. He chose this gun. Because he was familiar with the name from his gaming experiences and had OP that he hadn't converted into gold coins since the previous night.
Without much hesitation, he purchased the gun, and a large, black Desert Eagle .50 AE materialized in his right hand.
'Damn, this thing's heavy,' he thought as he struggled to lift it. The gun was sizable and weighty for him, so he used both hands despite the pain and fractured bones in his arms. He aimed it at the approaching ogre, which had paid little attention to the small human, all of this happening in the span of a minute.
With the ogre now merely 5 to 6 feet away, Aarya squeezed the trigger. 'CLICK,' was the disheartening sound that echoed. 'Why isn't it working? Did I get ripped off?' Aarya wondered, seeing the ogre closing in again, his despair mounting.
Aarya frantically pulled the trigger multiple times, shouting, "WORK, YOU STUPID SHIT!" The ogre, now upon him and annoyed by the human's shouts, raised its club to put an end to this nuisance.
Aarya wracked his brain, desperately seeking an answer. And then it dawned on him, "SAFETY." He quickly flicked the safety lever down on the right side of the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. 'BAM!!' The gun recoiled forcefully, striking Aarya in the head and causing him to lose consciousness.