We kept moving, our determination the only thing keeping us going. The heat was unbearable, and even with the environment temperature settings kept at the minimum, the 'real temp' was hovering around 40°C. It felt like every step was dragging me deeper into the scorching sand, sapping my energy, and leaving me drenched in sweat.
I had no idea if people ever lived here according to the game's lore, but I could hardly imagine anything surviving in this hellscape, let alone thriving. Of course, the game proved me wrong.
As we trudged through the sweltering desert, the first signs of life—or rather, threats—began to emerge. Massive scorpions, their carapaces shimmering with a metallic sheen, scuttled out from beneath the sand. Their pincers were razor-sharp, and their tails, tipped with venomous stingers, swayed menacingly as they closed in on us.
"Ready!" ShadowStalker shouted, drawing his lance.
The scorpions were fast—far faster than their size would suggest. They attacked in groups, their pincers snapping viciously as they tried to corner us. I swung my sword, aiming for the joints in their exoskeletons, while ShadowStalker used his agility to dodge their strikes and counterattack with precision. But the scorpions were relentless, their numbers seemingly endless. For every one we defeated, two more seemed to emerge from the sands. My health bar was taking a beating, and I was rapidly running out of health potions.
'Should have bought more,' I thought bitterly, the sting of my oversight gnawing at me.
"Even hydras aren't this shit!" I yelled.
"Bruh, we need to run for it!"
I focused on the scorpions' movements, trying to find any pattern or vulnerability. When a scorpion prepared to strike with its tail, it left its underbelly exposed.
"Go for the tail when they're about to strike!" I shouted.
ShadowStalker nodded, and together we adjusted our strategy. As the scorpions attacked, we timed our strikes perfectly, hitting their exposed underbellies just as they lunged. The tactic worked, and one by one, the scorpions fell, their bodies dissolving into the sand.
But they kept coming. More and more. The overwhelming numbers began to chip away at my confidence, the doubts I'd been wrestling with rising to the surface. 'Can I really do this? What if I screw up?' The thoughts clawed at the edges of my mind, making my movements sluggish, less precise.
I wasn't just doing this alone. SS was here with me and if I fucked up, he was also screwed.
"BLADE DANCE!" I shouted, trying to shake off the creeping fear. I whirled around, finishing off half a dozen of them in a frenzy of steel.
"Giant Pincer!" ShadowStalker leaped into the air and slammed his lance into the ground, sending shockwaves through the sand and pulverizing any scorpions in the vicinity.
>>Level up!
Finally, we'd finished most of them. The rest were running away.
"Yeah, you better run!" I shouted, though my voice was more strained than triumphant.
"I don't think they're running from us, SIR," ShadowStalker said, paling.
Barely had we the time to catch our breath before the ground began to tremble anew. The sand shifted and parted, and from the depths of the desert emerged something far more terrifying—a sandworm.
The creature was massive, its body stretching for what seemed like miles beneath the surface. It burst from the ground with a roar, its gaping maw lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. The sheer size of it was overwhelming, and I could feel the ground shaking with every movement it made.
"I see, I see," I muttered, barely believing that I was still standing.
"We can't take it head-on," ShadowStalker said, his voice grim. "We should just run, man."
But something in me resisted the idea of running. It wasn't just the game—it was a deeper need to prove that I could handle this, that I wasn't as weak as I sometimes feared. The doubts that had been gnawing at me all day crystallized into a stubborn resolve.
"Wait for it to surface, then aim for its underbelly!" I said, hoping it had the same weakness as the scorpions, just like all the mechs from the Techno Ruins had the same weakness.
"I really don't want to try that," ShadowStalker said. "But hey, better try everything." He sounded sleepy, almost as if he was about to nod off.
We began to dodge and parry, avoiding the sandworm's attacks as best we could. When it finally lunged out of the sand, we struck with everything we had, our weapons connecting with its soft underbelly. The sandworm roared in pain, thrashing violently, but our strategy was working. With each attack, we chipped away at its health, slowly but surely wearing it down. "PENETRATION!" It was a long, grueling battle, but eventually, the sandworm let out a final, earth-shaking roar before collapsing back into the sand, defeated.
>>Level up!
We were exhausted, our health bars dangerously low, and our supplies nearly depleted. We continued our trek, the ground beneath us seemed to come alive, writhing with movement. Snakes—hundreds of them—began to emerge from the sand, their scales glistening in the harsh sunlight.
"Well, fuck."
"Fuck, indeed," I mumbled.
So yeah, we were bitten and devoured by snakes.
"Guess, this is it for today," I yawned in the voice chat. I was spent, physically and mentally. The day had been a relentless barrage of challenges, and I was beginning to feel like I was barely holding it together.
ShadowStalker said nothing and just typed, "Yeah, see ya tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow. The same for the rest of you. Cya."
Daisy: It was fun.
15 concurrent viewers: 10 sub.
***
The next day, after a much-needed rest, I logged back into the game. ShadowStalker was already online, waiting for me at the spot where we had logged out.
"Ready to do this?" he asked, his usual confidence restored. "Oh and I got us some potions," he gave me five.
"Nice, nice!" I said. The memory of the previous day's struggle still lingered, But today was a new day.
We resumed our journey, pushing forward through the endless dunes. The sun was just as unforgiving as before, but we were more focused now, determined to see this quest through to the end.
Also, I'd secretly set the AirCon to 20 degrees, so I was probably going to be fine. My electric bill wasn't, but oh well.
After what felt like hours of walking, we finally saw something on the horizon—a massive structure rising out of the sand. As we got closer, the details became clear: it was a pyramid, its orange stone walls blending almost seamlessly with the desert around it.
"This has to be it," ShadowStalker said. "The end of the quest."
We approached the pyramid cautiously, and as we neared the entrance, our quest log updated: >>Enter the Pyramid and Solve the Puzzles to Reach the Boss Room.
"Just reaching is the quest?"
"Something tells me, it's not gonna be a easy boss," SS said. "But hey, that's the fun of it, right?"
"Maybe…"
IKYKYK: Let's go, let's go, let's GOOOO!!!