The player Ino's body gradually disappeared. This only heightened the emotions in the atmosphere as his remaining friend couldn't stop crying.
[The player Ino Masamune's body disappeared from the world of Grimland. He died, and his body will never return to the real world.]
Everyone was shocked when they heard that voice coming from the game system, and some in their group trembled and were terrified.
"S--so, does that mean if our physical bodies die in this game world, we'll die in the real world too, and we'll never be able to return?" one group member said, pale and in disbelief.
"If I had known, my friend Ino and I would never have come to this game. They tricked us all. Did they really think our lives were just a game?" Ino's friend's voice was filled with anger.
"There is still so much we don't know about this game, and it seems unfair that they didn't inform us of this system from the start," Noga said.
"We traded our real lives for this worthless game, full of vicious monsters," added another, on the verge of losing his mind because of what they had discovered in the game.
"Calm down. Most of the players here are people with disabilities in real life, so many of them would still prefer to experience a normal life here. We just need to be careful, level up, and become stronger to win this game," Banri said optimistically.
"Normal? Are you kidding me? Damn it! Do you think we're living a normal life here? This is no different from the worthless reality of life, and it's even worse!" shouted the friend of the deceased player.
He became hysterical again because of what happened to his friend.
"This game took away my friend's dreams. Before we entered, he was filled with hope to experience a normal and happy life. He had a severe illness and was bedridden, so when the game was released, I promised to join him, even though I wasn't disabled. I sold everything I owned just to buy the game so we could explore the world of Grimland together. Ino was so happy because he felt normal in this game world. He was full of dreams, and we promised each other that we would complete every mission in the game, explore all the maps and places in Grimland, live a prosperous life, level up together, and become some of the strongest players in this world. But now, that dream has vanished. In a flash, his dreams were taken away," he narrated emotionally.
They could feel deep sympathy for him. But even they couldn't do anything to bring back Ino's life.
"Satoko, don't lose hope... For your friend's sake, the only thing you can do now is to fulfill his dream. Get stronger, become the strongest player. Right now, you have only two choices: drown yourself in despair, or use this situation to become strong and achieve the dreams you and your friend shared," Noga advised, patting him on the left shoulder.
[The party has been defeated. As a result, all the members will be transported back to the capital of Grimland, as they failed to clear the dungeon's layer two area. And one member of the party has been killed.]
[A dead player cannot be revived without a resurrection scroll.]
In an instant, their bodies vanished from the dungeon, and they found themselves outside the dungeon portal near Grimland.
[Leveling up can help members and parties increase their chances of conquering dungeons,] said the NPC guarding the portal outside the dungeon.
The group left and headed toward the center of the capital. Some members parted ways, searching for stronger players.
Now that the players had discovered the terrifying system of the game, many of them would surely seek out and join stronger groups to survive and quickly become powerful.
The weaker players would be pitiful and would likely vanish from the game sooner or later.
Satoko, Ino's best friend, also left, determined to join a group of stronger players. He wanted to continue the dream he had shared with his late friend, and he saw Noga's group as worthless and weak.
He believed he would not fulfill his friend's dream if he continued to stick with Noga's group. And as the members left, only Noga, Sunade, and Banri remained.
"We may be weak right now, but we'll get stronger eventually. In this game, we need patience. I'll stick with the group; I'm not leaving," Banri said.
Noga looked around the capital seriously, while Sunade remained silent on the side, lost in thought.
"I like your way of thinking, Banri. No matter how tough things get, you stay optimistic, as if you're still enjoying yourself. If you look closely, all the other players are panicking, searching for stronger players to cling to just to survive," Noga remarked, still observing the capital and the people around them.
"For me, this is still much better than my real life. Yes, it's terrifying to think of what might happen to us in this game; there are no guarantees, and our lives are at stake. But this is what the game is about: conquering challenges, and amidst chaos and adversities, we will rise stronger. I believe we can conquer all the trials in this game because this world belongs to us. We must fight for it and defeat all the monsters and demons here," Banri explained.
"I have nothing more to add; Banri said everything I wanted to say," Sunade suddenly chimed in, revealing that she had been listening to Banri and Noga's conversation all along.
Due to the rewards their party received from defeating the Shadow Spinner boss in the dungeon's layer one area, they decided to celebrate. They had earned 10,000 coins and chose to use it for a nice dinner.
So, in the evening, they wandered around the capital until they found a tavern, a social hub for players that also offered a variety of food and drinks.
When they entered the tavern, it was extremely noisy... Some players were drunk, rowdy, and others were dancing and laughing.
At the counter, there was an NPC selling food to the players.
"You better find a table; I'll order the food," Noga suggested.
So, Banri and Sunade scanned the entire area with their eyes and found that all the tables were full. Eventually, they spotted an empty table at the far end. They moved over and sat down there.
"Hey, who told you to sit there?" a voice came from behind Banri's group. When they looked, they saw a muscular man with a threatening aura.
"Is it your property? I don't see anyone's name on this table," Sunade retorted gruffly, standing up to face the man, her arms crossed.
"Don't make me angry," he threatened, cracking his knuckles.
"Oh, sorry. We'll leave, Sunade, let's find another table," I said, trying to pull her away, but she shrugged off my hand. Sunade never backs down from a fight, which is frustrating.
"Tsk, it's not his table, why should we leave?" Sunade stubbornly insisted, and Banri just swallowed nervously at the tension and Sunade's stubbornness.
"You're brave, but you're just a waitress here at the tavern," the muscular man said irritably.
"Waitress? What are you talking about?" Sunade snapped back.
"Tsk, aren't you the one serving drinks here? Or maybe you just look like her," the man said, frowning.
"Stop talking nonsense and just leave us alone," Sunade said angrily.
"Here are your drinks, table number 8," came a soft voice from behind the mascular man.
Noga had ordered some drinks, but I couldn't see the waitress delivering them because the man was blocking the view. His large body obscured the person behind him.
I was surprised when Sunade pushed the man slightly, causing him to move back and and pushed unintentionally the waitress behind him, the waitress shouted in shock, and I wasn't sure if the waiter was an NPC or another player serving drinks here.
The drinks spilled, soaking the muscular man's clothes. Enraged, he turned to the waitress and suddenly slapped her. I couldn't see clearly due to his large body blocking the view, but I saw the waitress fall to the ground from the force of the slap.
Players around us started to look in our direction.
"You really are a bastard!" Sunade shouted and punched the man. I didn't know what to do first, but I felt sorry for the waitress who was slapped by the muscular man. I stood up from my seat and approached the fallen waitress.
She was sitting among the spilled drinks, crying. I extended my hand to help her up, but her long hair and bangs were covering her face, so I couldn't see it clearly.
"Miss, are you okay?" I asked.
She looked up, and I was shocked when our eyes met. The woman looked exactly like Sunade; they were so identical that they seemed like the same person. It was truly remarkable how much they resembled each other.
Who is she? And why does she look exactly like Sunade?