Player 7 stood there, a whirlwind of emotions and memories flooding his mind. When he thought he had died in war, he was glad he would never have to take a life again. But now Hono's blood was on his hands, metaphorically and literally, and he hated every moment of it. He collapsed, knees hitting the now wet ground, squelching on the impact, the soil was waterlogged with thick blood. The blood splattered onto his light blue jeans, soaking in, seeping between the intricate fibres, staining the fabric. His body fell forwards, hands hitting the earth hard, clawing at the soil, the ground grating away at his fingers as he clawed away, balling his hands before attacking the ground again. Clawing, pounding, everything. He continued as the tips of his fingers and his knuckles began to turn red, the skin breaking and being worn away. The pain became worse, but he took no notice. Tears streamed down his face, dripping down and mixing into Hono's blood on the ground.
He felt a soft and warm hand place itself on his shoulder. He turned, and there she was, Evelien. She smiled cheerfully at him, reassuring him that everything was alright. He didn't know why, but something about her simply being there made the whole situation suddenly feel calm, as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. She crouched down, pushed her palm up against the ground, and flowers suddenly began to bloom all across the ruined battlefield. She plucked one of them, a beautiful yellow flower, and handed it to him.
"Well done. I know it wasn't easy, but you had to do it. Many more people could have been killed if you hadn't stepped in, including me. I only survived the initial blast because I covered myself with vines, which of course caught fire and I still took a lot of damage from the resulting aftermath of the entire peninsula burning. But your fight was a real spectacle, and that colossal sword he created, how did you stop it? You are amazing, you know."
Her kind words touched his heart, and he felt a warm sensation rising in his chest. She was so gentle and caring. Her bright, dutch accent lingering in his mind and flooding his thoughts. He found it intoxicating.
Then, a familiar eye opened in the sky above them. The bright red iris and the gaping void of the pupil staring down at them. Just like the last time, the pupil expanded to reveal the same man sitting on his chair. This time, his legs were crossed and his palms rested on his knee. The same unnerving smile adorned the man's skinless face.
"Well done!" He said, throwing his arms up in the air and laughed, "you killed one of the current strongest in the server! I would say 'only god knows how you managed it', but, well, I am the god of this world, and I do know how you managed it. I watched the fight. I must say it was an outstanding display, I couldn't help but cheer you on. That giant sword, your intricate dodge timings, it was all incredible. Even that initial blast that he released to burn the entire peninsula and everyone on it was an insane feat, oh such terrifying power he had. I can't wait to see what he still has to do two more lives."
Player 7 stared up in shock.
"What? You seriously forgot about the three life system? Oh my days you're such an idiot. You thought he was permanently dead?" He chuckled slightly, then leant forwards again and adjusted his posture to be resting his forearms on his legs, adopting a more serious tone. "Even if he did bite the big one there are plenty more horrific little monsters in this world; Heolstor Balcom, The Red King, Sol Berg, Kage Kemono, Lucifer Chadwick, Ju Arashi, I've been watching them all. You'll have a challenge if you really want to win. Good luck! I'll be watching."
The man began to laugh as the eye closed.
Evelien squeezed Player 7's shoulder, with which he looked at her. She smiled, he smiled back. Aster ran over to join them, his fluffy blonde hair bobbing as he ran, his chequered white shirt flopping behind each one of his movements, legs of his suspended jeans flapping. However, he didn't seem as happy as he usually was. When he arrived at them, he stopped and wrapped his arms around Evelien's waist.
"It's alright, Aster." Evelien said gently, placing one hand on his shoulder to hold him, the other on his head to caress him.
"What's wrong?" Player 7 asked, worried. He took a step closer to her and tilted his head to the side slightly.
"He didn't survive the initial blast… he now only has two lives left." Evelien replied, squeezing Aster tighter as he buried his face into her side. Aster began to cry.
Back in the real world, a woman was sitting in her living room watching television. The room was rather small and messy, empty cups and wrappers adorned the small coffee table in the centre of the room. A light bulb was suspended above it, giving off a dim yellow light and buzzing quietly. The wallpaper was a tan colour and damp or peeling in some areas, and a fluffy grey carpet covered the floor. However, in some places the squeaking of the floorboards underneath could still be heard. The woman on the couch was laid down under a soft blue blanket in her fluffy white dressing gown, eating a bag of crisps and had a half-full mug of lukewarm coffee on the floor next to her. She picked up the TV remote, and switched to the news channel.
"Breaking news: three days ago, 100 people across the globe all suddenly went missing at the same time. Nobody as of yet has been able to confirm how this has happened but eyewitnesses claim that they saw people being enveloped in a golden light and being sucked into the sky. Many conspiracy theorists scream alien abduction, whereas others claim fake news. No confirmed answer has been released as of yet."
The woman dropped her bag of crisps, spilling them down her front and across the carpet.
100 people? She thought to herself, how?
Player 7 and Evelien tried their best to calm Aster down, but to no avail. He just kept crying. They slowly walked, arms wrapped around him to make sure he felt safe, back to the start of the peninsula.
By the time they arrived, two hours later, Aster had mostly calmed down. There was a small village by the peninsula called Afterlife Village. It was quiet, but had lots of cafés and small shops.
"Hey, let's go in there." Evelien proposed, pointing at the nearest café then smiling down at Aster lovingly.
"Sure." Aster squeaked, wiping away his tears.
The interior of the café was warm, with lots of dim hanging lights emitting a cosy orange lighting and speakers playing indie rock music. Instead of the usual chairs and tables, the café had couches and armchairs set up around coffee tables. It felt like it was one massive lounge. The three of them settled on a large settee, Aster sitting between Player 7 and Evelien. Despite the fact that Aster had calmed down and they were now sitting down in a café, Evelien still refused to let go of him until she was sure he was alright.
When a waiter came round to their not-quite-a table, Player 7 ordered a cup of tea. Evelien ordered an orange and mango smoothie along with a banana milkshake with a bag of crisps for Aster. Despite only having known him for not even a day, Evelien had already grown into a motherly figure for Aster.
"How are you doing such a great job of looking after him?" Player 7 asked, leaning closer to the two of them, intrigued to understand how and yet also learn more about Evelien.
"I've always been good with kids, I used to be a babysitter actually. Earned enough money to keep up my hobbies of gardening, painting, and mixology." She replied, also leaning closer and smiling back smugly.
"Mixology?" Player 7 was surprised by her having such a hobby, craving to learn more about her.
"Yes! Well, I wouldn't say mixology perse, but I loved making smoothies and milkshakes. But I would also work down at my vader's bar on the weekends." She tilted her head to the side and continued to smile, this time more cheerfully, enjoying the conversation. "I learned the basics of mixology from there, and my smoothies and milkshakes attracted plenty of younger customers during my weekend shifts. As I said, I'm good with kids."
"Oh, that's cool." Player 7 struggled to think of how to reply.
"What about you?" She added, continuing to smile cheerfully, welcoming a reply.
"Well, I never really had the chance to have any hob-"
"How come?" She cut in, leaning closer again, accidentally squishing Aster under her chest in the process, so she leant back again to sit normally.
"I was forced to join the military at 16 by my family. My father was a soldier but was assumed K.I.A." Player 7 finished, adding a small fake smile on the end to lighten the mood of such a depressing fact.
"Oh…" She now didn't know what to say, leaning forwards slightly and squeezing Aster closer. "How old are you anyway?"
"I'm 18." Player 7 responded.
"Oh, cute. I'm 19." She returned to her original smug smile. "Another thing I beat you at! Ha!"
After they successfully lightened the mood, the drinks arrived.
Evelien handed Aster his milkshake and crisps, then took a sip of her smoothie before placing it down on the coffee table, crossing her legs and turning to better face Player 7.
"What were you doing when you got abducted?" Player 7 asked after taking a sip of his tea, "god this needs more sugar."
"I'm sweet you should add me-" she quickly blurted out without thinking.
"Huh? I can't really add you to my tea though can I?" Player 7 replied, evidently confused.
"Uh… um…" Evelien was lost for words. "Let's forget I said that."
"Perhaps."
"Well, I was outside painting the tree at the end of my garden." She explained, looking up as if reminiscing of how things used to be. "Then I was suddenly sucked off."
"Ahem, phrasing, ahem. Sorry, I think I have a cold. You were saying?" Player 7 said in a joking manner, before taking another sip of his tea. "Yeah this really needs more sugar…"
"Shut up, you." Evelien said, nudging him on the shoulder and laughing. "You know what I mean."
"Right." He replied sarcastically, "totally."
"Anyways that's what I was doing when I got abducted." She finished. "What about you?"
"Casually just dying to hydrogen cyanide gas in the middle of war. The usual on a Tuesday afternoon." Player 7 said bluntly. "I wonder if this place has bedrooms to stay in…"
Player 7 put his cup of tea down and walked up to the bar.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The woman behind the bar said with a flat singsong voice, waving at him before smiling.
"Uh, yeah, do you have rooms?" Player 7 asked.
"The rooms are just up these stairs and a right turn. Anything else I can help with?" The woman replied.
"That's all, thank you."
Player 7 makes his way back to the couch, sitting beside Evelien instead of Aster.
"Hello, you." Evelien says as he sits down, taking one last sip of her glass before it's completely empty and places it down on the coffee table. "Two rooms right?"
"Sure." Player 7 replied, before leaning to look over at Aster, still cuddled up to Evelien.
"Is two rooms alright with you, buddy?" He asked.
"Yes." Aster mumbled.
"Are you sure, sweetie?" Evelien asked Aster, smiling caringly at him and placing a hand on his head to caress him. We can all have one room if you need it.
"It's alright." Aster replied, smiling up at her while eating his crisps.
"As long as you're sure." She answered, turning back to Player 7 and smiling.
Player 7 smiled back, picked up his cup of tea, and took another sip. "Shit I forgot to get sugar."
"You idiot." She commented.
After they had finished their drinks and snacks, they made their way up the stairs by the bar, turning right to follow the corridor to the rooms. Evelien grabbed Aster and gave him a massive, tight hug. She held him for a good minute, refusing to let go.
"If you need anything we're just across the hallway." She said, kissing him on the top of the head. She then looked at Player 7, and added, "Just make sure you knock."
Aster then shuffled off to his room across the corridor, and Player 7 with Evelien went into theirs.
The next morning, Player 7 and Evelien got dressed, then heard a knock at their door. They opened it to see a very tired Aster.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Evelien asked, worried.
"I didn't sleep very well." Aster mumbled, looking down at his feet.
"That's alright." Evelien turned and looked at Player 7, smiling, "neither did we."
"Could… could I join you?" Aster added, looking back up at her.
"Of course you can." Evelien replied, smiling welcomingly down at him. "Come on, there's plenty of room."
They all slowly made their way to the large double bed in the middle of the room, each as tired as the next. They all slowly climbed into bed, Aster between the pair, each of them drifting off to sleep one by one.
They awoke again two hours later, 9:30AM. Player 7 arose first, getting dressed and going downstairs for a cup of mocha coffee to wake him up. After getting his coffee, he made his way over to one of the couches by the fireplace of the café, waiting for Evelien and Aster to wake up. When Evelien came downstairs, she got an iced vanilla latte coffee, and perched herself next to him.
"How was it?" She asked bluntly.
"How was… what?" He replied, confused.
"You know…" She smirked, nudging him.
"Oh…" He blushed slightly, looking down at his feet, "great."
"Good." She said, before taking a sip of her coffee. "I wonder how long Aster is gonna be asleep."
"Yeah, poor kid. We've only been in the game three days and he's already lost a life. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself if, or rather when, he dies." Player 7 put his coffee down, and leant to the side to rest his head on Evelien's shoulder.
"Then we'll just have to protect him for as long as possible." She turned to him, kissing his head, "I'm sure he'll be alright. Yesterday was just… strange."
"Morning…" A sleepy Aster said while yawning, slowly shuffling his way over to the couch that Player 7 and Evelien were sitting on, planting himself by Evelien.
"Good morning, are you feeling any better today sleepy head?" She said, also yawning, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Yes, thank you." Aster replied, looking up at her and smiling cheerfully. "I should be fine now. I'm sorry for troubling you."
"Hey don't worry about it, looking after you is my pleasure." She smiled back, before turning to Player 7, looking like she's about to cry, "this kid is so sweet my heart is gonna melt."
Aster leaned into her and put his arms around her waist, "I love you."
"I love you too pumpkin." Evelien replied, tearing up. She then buried her face into his hair to hide herself, to no avail.
Player 7 took his chance to escape the awkward situation, making his way up to the bar and paying for last night's rooms, before being approached by an incredibly short boy.
"Hey, does this place serve strawberry milkshakes?" The boy asked, his voice bright and honeyed, stopping in front of him and crouching down, his face somewhat hidden by outstandingly fluffy red hair, but two large bright blue eyes shining out from his bangs which went between his eyes, his neck was completely hidden by the massive hood of his oversized brown hoodie.
"Yes, I believe so." Player 7 replied awkwardly.
"Great!" The boy replied, before running up to the bar and jumping side to side while ordering a whole pint of strawberry milkshake and a bowl of sliced strawberries, his height somehow barely changing from crouching to standing. When he got the strawberry milkshake and strawberries, he ran over to the fireplace, crouching on the couch across from Evelien and Aster.
"What's up with her?" He asked Aster bluntly, biting into the first strawberry. "Midlife crisis?"
"No, she's just a girl." Player 7 replied with equal levels of bluntness, walking over and sitting back down next to Evelien.
"Oh. Then just don't be a girl then. Not that difficult bro." The boy said quickly and flatly, shovelling up and practically inhaling a further 3 strawberries. "What's your name girl?"
"Uh…" Evelien wipes away her tears, "Evelien. What about you?"
"Rogue… B- Bonhomme." The boy replied, stuttering and fidgeting slightly.
Aster's eyes darted around upon the mention of his family, the Bonhomme family.
"Bonhomme?" Aster asked, visibly confused.
"The family that helped design this game. I always say that until I either meet someone who knows that or is part of that family, so far nobody has fitted into either of those categories." Rogue explained. "I'm actually Rogue Desdemona."
"Oh, alright. Well, I'm Aster Bonhomme." Aster added in, "Wait, my family worked on designing this game?"
"Oh… shit-" Rogue muttered under his breath, before starting to laugh and asking, "wait you didn't know? Your own family?"
"I'm trapped inside of a death game of my own family's creation?" Aster continued to linger on that fact, slowly becoming more evidently confused by that fact, and more disturbed.
"Dude that's several layers of fucked-uppage you have right there. Have fun having a crisis about that." Rogue said with a disturbingly bright and honeyed, swinging back and laughing loudly, almost losing his balance. He was entirely careless as to what chaos he may be causing. He turned to Player 7, "what about you?"
"What about me, what?" Player 7 replied.
"Your name, dumbass." Rogue said, taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake, half of his bowl of strawberries already having been devoured. "What is it?"
"Player 7." He replied.
"Not your username, your real name." Rogue stopped, pointing a strawberry at him and fixating him with a cold and curious stare.
"What is your name, Player 7?"
"Audrey Archer." Player 7 replied.
"See, that wasn't that difficult was it?" Rogue said bluntly, picking up his bowl and reaching out with it towards Player 7. "Nice to meet you, Audrey Archer. Now we don't have to be formal anymore because we're mates. Want a strawberry?"
"Uh… sure." Audrey responded, his voice laced with scepticism. reaching out a hand to pick up a strawberry from the bowl.
"Well you're not having one. These are my strawberries." Rogue quickly snapped his arm back towards himself, grabbing a handful of strawberries and gulping them all down, some getting stuck in his throat so he took a quick drink of his milkshake to wash them away. He then spoke in an ecstatic voice, "God, I love strawberries. So sweet, juicy, and overall delicious. I will never share my strawberries with anyone."
"Okay… then…" Audrey was quite frankly somewhat disturbed by Rogue's obsessive attachment to strawberries. "What even were you doing when you got abducted"
"Watching anime…" Rogue spoke with a mouthful of strawberries, still somehow managing to fit more and more in his mouth, making his words hard to make out through the sound of chewing and juice, "…and eating - god these are delicious - strawberries."
"What kind of anime do you watch?" Audrey asked, noticing a shared interest, and slightly leaning forwards to show this… and so he could hear Rogue better.
"Basically anything shounen really, high action and lots of fantasy aspects. So, to be honest, I don't mind being abducted into the game. I've basically been isekai'd in real life." Rogue replied with a carefree tone, finally finishing his mouthful, "hang on."
Rogue quickly gulped down the entire strawberry milkshake, "lemme just get some strawberries and smoothie for the road."
He jumped off of the couch, then traversed across the room with outstanding grace and agility, jumping onto the countertop of the bar and perching himself there.
"A bag of strawberries and a bottled strawberry smoothie. Thanks." He ordered bluntly, turning back to Audrey, "let's go dungeon crawling or something, I think I need to level up more. I feel too slow and weak, and I can't flash-step yet."
"Oh, right. We can do that." Audrey replied, trying to think of when in the world he said they were going to travel with Rogue.
"Thanks." Rogue said in a honeyed voice to the bartender, snatching up the bag and smoothie, stashing them in his inventory. "Right, come on." He ordered Audrey, Evelien and Aster, jumping down from the countertop and landing in a crouched position again. "Anyone got a dungeon map?"
"No." Audrey replied.
"Nope." Evelien replied.
"Huh?" Aster replied, not having listened in the slightest the entire time.
"Do. You. Have. A. Dungeon. Map?" Rogue repeated, more clear with obvious undertones of impatience, dashing over to Aster and staring up at him. The surprising height difference between 14 year old, 5' 8 Aster and 15 year old, 5' 4 Rogue became very apparent.
"I think so…" Aster pondered, opening his inventory to look for it, "ah! Here it is!"
Aster produced a large scroll, and handed it to Rogue.
"This is a scroll, not a map. Dumbass." Rogue said bluntly, opening the scroll. Within was a map of the island, with a magical red marker showing them where they were. Across the map were other markers showing the locations of different dungeons and boss fights, including The Galvanised Lich Dragon atop The Undead Peninsula, which was now greyed out with a large red X over the icon.
"So now what?" Audrey asked Rogue, taking a few steps towards him.
"We go dungeon crawling, of course." Rogue replied grimly, looking over his shoulder at Audrey with a large smirk growing on his face. With the shadow from his fringe, his face seemed almost creepy.
"I'll lead the way." Rogue stated matter-of-factly, hunched over and walked to the door, waving his arm over his head to signal everyone else to follow him. "Come on."
The team followed him for miles before they ended up atop a mountain.
"Where the hell are we?" Audrey asked Rogue, confused and concerned. Scowling slightly, he took a confronting step towards Rogue.
"I'm gonna be honest with you… and I'll hold your hand while I say this if you want me to." Rogue put out a hand and grasped Audrey's, "I don't know how to read a map."
"Well that's just bloody brilliant isn't it?" Audrey exclaimed sarcastically, throwing his arms into the air and swinging back, evidently annoyed.
"Not really, nobody is bleeding." Rogue stated bluntly.
"Argh, that's not what I mean. You're not British are you?" Audrey asked Rogue, noticing that he didn't recognise the typical British slang he was using.
"No, I… I don't tell anyone this but I'm a-actually from the M-Moon. It's… It's a very sensitive topic I'm afraid, s-so don't ask me too much about it." Rogue confessed, fidgeting slightly. He looked down while crouching, starting to play with the grass.
"Huh?" Audrey advanced towards Rogue, towering over him. "What was that, shortass?"
"I'm half American and half Greek." Rogue admitted, leaning back so he toppled over and spread out to lay down on the ground. "Hey, look! That cloud looks like a dick!"
"Wait, what?" Audrey looked up.
"Just kidding!" Rogue shouted, before jumping to his feet, crouching down, and punching Audrey in the groyne. "HAHA!"
Audrey fell backwards and curled up in pain, clutching at where he had been punched. On the other hand, Rogue also fell backwards again and started to roll around, laughing hysterically. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY GOT YOU WITH THAT! YOU IDIOT!"
"It's not funny!" Audrey sat up, raising a fist and shaking it in the air at Rogue. "That fucking hurt you know!"
"I can't believe they even coded some realistic punch in the balls pain… it's almost like the game wanted me to do it… none of you are safe!" Rogue shouted, excited and intrigued at what else might have been added that wasn't really needed.
After the brief exchange, they decided to let Audrey have the map. Then, with a long trek back down the mountain, they finally arrived at a dungeon. The dungeon was grand and ancient, with intricate patterns and primordial symbols engraved across the entrance. It gave off an ominous aura, yet drew every ounce of curiosity and intrigue from them all. After taking a few steps towards the large iron barred gate, Audrey received a notification from the system.
"Journal Updated, New Structure Type: Dungeon"
Another journal entry? The dungeon? This should be helpful. Audrey thought to himself, opening the UI and selecting the Dungeon journal entry.
"Dungeons are some of the most ancient and elegant structures found on the island of Three Strikes. They're riddled with ancient history, primordial magic and vast treasures. They are recommended to be explored and completed by anyone who wants fast treasure and loot."
Well that was… obvious. Audrey opened the gates and turned back to everyone, "we go-"
Before he could finish what he was going to say, a brown and red blur shot past him, straight into the dungeon. Audrey turned to the dungeon, took a step, then heard shouts from within.
"THERE'S SO MANY ENEMIES!" Cried a high pitched voice. "HEEEELP!"
"What an idiot." Observed Aster, "he's older than me yet both shorter and stupider."
"Yeahhh…" Evelien agreed, sighing and putting her palm to her forehead, shaking her head before looking at Audrey. "We should probably go in and help him."
"You're probably right." Audrey agreed, walking into the dungeon and equipping his sledgehammer.
As they all entered the dungeon, the gates behind them slammed shut, the noise echoing throughout what appeared like a large cave with relics of what used to be dungeon walls. The cave floor had piles of debris scattered around, with the occasional wood fire which provided a dim, warm lighting to the cold stone. Standing upright in the centre of the room was Rogue, he was looking down at the ground clutching a bloody dagger. Scattered around him, on the ground, were splatters of pooling blood and the corpses of strange monsters, all either stabbed several times or had their throats slit. Rogue slowly turned to look over his shoulder at them, before speaking in a honeyed voice, "heyyy!"
He slowly advanced towards them all, his clothes splattered with blood, some even smeared on his cheek. "You took a while, what was the hold up?"
He continued advancing, raising his dagger as he approached closer, "do you not want to help me clear the dungeon?"
His head tilted to the side, a creepy grin forming on his face, large eyes staring down Audrey before glancing over to Aster. Aster noticed this, and hid behind Evelien, clutching at her jacket.
"There's no need to be afraid, I'm not gonna hurt you."
Audrey surveyed the room, realising he must be missing something. Then, he saw it, propped up against a ruined wall. Rogue. He seemed to have been kicked against the wall, the impact having cracked the stone slightly, leaving a blood splatter where his head had collided, knocking him unconscious, some of the blood trickling down his face and more coming from his mouth.
"Who are you? What have you done with Rogue?" Shouting, Audrey confronted the boy. He stepped forwards and put out an arm to protect Evelien and Aster. He raised his sledgehammer and held it over his shoulder, ready to fight.
"What do you mean? I'm your friend, Rogue."
"No you're not! You're a cheap fucking imitation!" Audrey raised his voice louder, swinging his arm round to punch the air in its direction, losing his patience.
The fake Rogue finished its advancement, stopping in front of Audrey.
"Let's even the playing field a bit." The fake stated, its face beginning to bulge and shift, before rapidly growing and spinning around, turning into more body, the bottom of its original body split to form more leg, a bulge of skin grew on its back and folded up to turn into a head. Red hair rapidly grew on its scalp, and now it was suddenly Rogue again, but the same height as Audrey.
Without warning, Audrey felt something cold penetrate his side. A powerful wave of pain flowed through his body, and he brought the sledgehammer down onto the fake's shoulder, and kicked it back.
"Well now you've just fucking pissed me off."
Audrey pulled the dagger out of his side, swinging back his arm before hurling it as hard as he could straight at the fake, plunging its blade into their shoulder. "Fuck you."
"Well that just hurt my feelings." Said the fake, feigning sadness. "Well, this has been an interesting exchange."
Suddenly, its form began to shift, its hair growing longer and messier, shifting to a darker colour until it reached its waist and was a deep black, its eyes rolling back then forming a new pupil and iris, now a dark brown. Its hoodie split and shifted to a tan-brown colour, turning into a jacket and revealing a black shirt underneath, its original baggy black joggers tightened and shifted tone to the same brown, a black belt sprouting out and wrapping around its hips. A disturbing grin formed on its face, and it spoke in a lower and more eerie voice. "The Sanguine Church sends their regards." A deep, almost liquid shadow then pooled below them, and they were away into it. The umbral void then closed, leaving no trace of who was once standing there.
Evelien ran over to Rogue, checking if he was alright, listening for breathing, shaking his body. There was no reply. He was dead. A chest appeared in the centre of the room, it didn't seem to be very special though. Audrey approached it, then punched through the wooden lid and swung his arm to the side, smashing it open. There were lots of gold coins inside of the chest, and when he grabbed a handful of them he gained experience. He gathered up about half of the coins, leaving the rest for Evelien and Aster. He gained a total of 3 levels from the dungeon.
He opened his UI to the statistics interface, allocating his points to speed, now having 25 strength, 34 speed and 13 defence.
The gates to the dungeon reopened. Shakily, Audrey staggered out and collapsed onto the ground. He began to pound and swing at the dirt below him, ripping out clumps of grass as he broke down crying. Skin began to be scraped off of his knuckles, and they began to bleed. He continued to hammer his fists into the ground until the pain became too much to bear, and he slid forwards, leaning on his elbows and clutching at his hair as he continued to break down, tears streaming down his face, blood trickling down his arms.
He felt a soft hand place itself on his shoulder, "it's alright." A gentle voice spoke from behind him, as he felt someone kiss the back of his head.
"I'm useless." He said shakily, struggling to breathe, pulling harder at his hair.
"No you're not, my love." Evelien crouched down next to him, wrapping her arms around his body and holding tightly.
"I can't protect anyone. I never have and I never will. I'm too weak, I'm too slow, I'm too careless. I should just give up trying." He continued, not taking any notice of Evelien's efforts to calm him down. "He was dead wasn't he?"
"Yes…" Evelien's voice cracked, and she began to cry too. She buried her face into his back, and hugged him tighter.
Behind them, Aster stood in the gateway. He looked at the scene below, then began to examine the horizon. He saw a figure. A figure with red hair. A figure… wearing a brown hoodie. The figure was running towards them, smiling. The figure jumped in the air, and slid on its knees until it stopped in front of Audrey and Evelien.
"I'm backkkkk!" Rogue shouted joyfully, grinning happily, swinging his arms out to his sides like a showman.
"W-" Evelien struggled to speak, her voice shaky from crying, "welcome back."
"Awww, you really care about me so much that you cry over me losing a singular life? Bro I have two more. It's really not that deep. It's not your fault that I died either, I ran into the dungeon too quickly, ignoring the fact that I have an assassin build, and got packed up and shipped off by that long haired shapeshifter dude. He's surprisingly powerful."
A cold voice spoke from above, "yes. That was Kage Kemono. The shapeshifter of The Sanguine Church."
Audrey, Evelien, Rogue and Aster looked up to the sky, to see The Creator yet again. "He's one of the many little monsters that I like to keep my eye on. He's one of the more unhinged ones as far as I've noticed. One thing I can tell you about him… is he particularly has an interest in one person. Ania Morana."
He smiled, clenching his fist, and began to laugh. "He's such a wonderful production of this simulation, I wonder how my little monster is going to evolve next."
He laughed some more, swinging back, before leaning forwards again with a smile, waving his hand at them. "I'll be watching, bye bye now!"
The eye closed.
"Have you guys heard of this Red King guy?" Rogue asked over his shoulder as the group walked back to the village.
"Other than the fact that he killed himself twice to purposely get to the red life, no I haven't really heard much." Aster replied, curious as to what Rogue was trying to get at.
"I've heard he's one of the most dangerous people in the game. Clad in thick, heavy red armour and wielding a huge greatsword with one hand, and still manages to move at unholy speeds." Rogue interpreted, painting a terrifying image in the group's minds. For some reason, despite mentioning all of this, Rogue seemed quite frankly unphased by the existence of such a being.
"Sounds like a load of bollocks." Audrey remarked, trying to make light of the thought. However, deep down he was struggling to wrap his head around the fact that a person like this may truly exist, and if they came face to face, how he could survive.
"It's not, people say he has the highest kill count at the moment, higher than even Heolstor Balcom." Rogue added, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head. "I'm sure you can defeat him though, champ. Give him the good old one-two and show him who's boss."
"What's with the sudden confidence?" Audrey questioned.
"It's called making light of a terrifying situation, I'm actually shitting bricks right now, I can feel it trickling down my leg." Rogue jested, fidgeting with the back of his hair slightly. "The Creator seems to really love his precious 'Monsters', I don't get his fascination with them though. They're just psychotic dudes who, thanks to the game, are able to fulfil their dreams of mass murder with ease."
"Yeah." Evelien agreed.
"W-wouldn't it be funny if this Red King has a r-really high voice and fli-inches easily?" Rogue elaborated, laughing slightly while fidgeting with his hair more aggressively, before hunching over and putting his hands in his pockets, rapidly accelerating up to a sprint. "I'll see you back at the village."
Rogue ran off, quickly becoming a dot on the horizon.
An hour later, the rest of the group arrived back at the village, and after exploring a while, they finally found Rogue. He was sitting on a bench outside the same café, wearing a bright pink rabbit-ear hat and drinking a strawberry smoothie.
"You took your time. I did some light shopping while waiting for you all, managed to make my way through all of the money I had saved because somebody never gave me a split of the dungeon money." Rogue bantered.
"What on earth is on your head, Rogue?" Aster inquired, disappointed in his immaturity.
"A rabbit-ear hat. Watch this!" Rogue squeezed the hanging straps of the hat, which caused the floppy ears to flick up. "Isn't it amazing?"
"Yeah, something like that…" Evelien acknowledged, finding his childish fascination with the hat somewhat amusing, but not a fan of his lack of seriousness.
"What else do you know of The Red King?" Audrey asked with a formal tone, getting straight to the point and taking a step closer to Rogue while frowning slightly to show that he needs to be more serious.
"Uh, h-he's r-right behind you." Rogue said shalily, evident fear in his voice, his eyes widening with terror as he fidgeted slightly.
Audrey turned quickly on the spot, summoning his sledgehammer from his inventory and jumping in front of Evelien and Aster. But, nothing was there.
A hysterical, childish laugh cried from behind them. Rogue was rocking back and forth on the chair, kicking his legs with joy at everyone's fear. It was almost sadistic, but fell short as just basic immaturity. He was the only one finding this situation funny, which he quickly discovered with a punch to the stomach from Audrey. Aster waltzed over to Rogue amongst the commotion, stealing his smoothie, and crossing the street to lean against a wall whilst drinking Rogue's strawberry smoothie, observing the squabble between Rogue and Audrey. Evelien soon enough stepped between the two of them, splitting up the situation before it could escalate.
Rogue changed from sitting to crouching on the bench, before noticing his smoothie was missing. He quickly locked onto Aster, launching himself off of the bench and landing across the street, snatching back the smoothie. Aster blew a raspberry at him, but Rogue retaliated with an even louder one, taking a large gulp of the smoothie.
It was getting late, so they decided to return back inside of the café. The familiar indie rock playlist was still playing, the fire in the fireplace still roaring, the same bartender still working the bar. This time, Evelien ordered the drinks. She ordered herself a lemon smoothie, Audrey a cup of tea with sugar this time, Aster a strawberry milkshake, and Rogue a banana milkshake. They all sat down at the same couch, Rogue yet again crouched on a couch across from them.
"Why did you order him a strawberry milkshake, but ordered me a stupid banana one?" Rogue interrogated, clearly annoyed with her choice. "I will not stand for such injustice when you are perfectly aware that strawberry is my thing and mine alone."
"Maybe that was the point." Evelien replied bluntly, rolling her eyes before smirking slightly at Aster and Audrey, both of whom were also enjoying her annoying Rogue.
"Well it was very mean, and I demand you apologise to me this instant or we will be having trouble, old lady." Rogue retorted, scowling and folding his arms, still refusing to drink.
"And what if I don't? What are you gonna do?" Evelien pressed, revelling in his aggravation.
"This." Rogue quickly grabbed his drink and tossed it at her with pinpoint accuracy, as if he was a sniper. Evelien flinched, but Audrey reached out and caught it just inches away from her face, hurling it back at Rogue with immense power, hitting him square on the head, comedically bouncing off of the top of his head, spilling the banana milkshake everywhere.
"Well now you have to buy me a new drink, don't you?" Rogue said.
"Nobody has to buy you anything, dickhead." Audrey replied, annoyed at his actions.
Rogue reluctantly walked over to the bar, crouching on the countertop again, using his spare change to buy a strawberry milkshake and some strawberries.
"Happy now? That was the last of my money!" Rogue shouted over his shoulder at Audrey and Evelien.
"What a shame!" Aster shouted back.
"Wasn't talking to you, little kid!" Rogue retorted.
"You're one to call me little, shortass!" Aster remarked.
Rogue collected his drink and strawberries, instead of returning to them all, he traversed upstairs to a room to stay the night.
"Too far?" Aster asked, slightly worried that he had hurt Rogue's feelings.
"Perhaps." Evelien confirmed, tapping Aster on the shoulder to get him to go upstairs and apologise.
Aster stood up and quietly made his way upstairs, knocking on Rogue's door.
"I'm sorry, Rogue." Aster said in a soft, apologetic voice, looking down at his feet as he said it. The door opened, Rogue's bright blue eyes stared up at him, his mouth full of strawberries.
"What? No, it's fine. I came upstairs to see if these TV's here had anime to watch. Wanna join me?" Rogue said sloppily, his voice muffled by the chewing. "Come on!"
"Sure…" Aster replied, walking into Rogue's room.
Despite it being Rogue's first night at the café, his room looked like he had been living there forever. He had coloured the walls red, the ceiling grey and had a brown carpet covering the entire floor. The headboard of his bed had red LED strips, and the ceiling was bordered by blue LED strips. The walls were lined with different anime and band posters, and taking up the second half of his dark blue double bed was a black guitar with a metal band's name on it, but the classic metal band font was too unclear for Aster to read but it started with an 'S'. Despite the fact that there was a large wardrobe in the room, all of Rogue's clothes were scattered across the carpet, along with empty sweets wrappers which he could have easily put in the bin. The TV was attached to the wall at the foot of Rogue's bed, paused on what seemed to be a popular shounen anime.
Rogue eyed Aster eagerly before jumping onto his bed and waving for Aster to follow him. Rogue layed down, resting the back of his head on the headboard and awkwardly cuddling his guitar. Aster sat down on the bed too, and Rogue pressed play.
"Have you watched any before?" Rogue asked, turning to Aster with a smile.
"No, not yet. It looks good though." Aster replied, smiling too respectfully.
Rogue mentioned, "oh just wait till you get to the fights! The animation can be an absolute spectacle!" Rogue then turned back to the TV, and continued to watch.
A while later, Audrey and Evelien came upstairs, knocked on the door, no reply. They were asleep. So they went to their room, tired from the eventful day, and went to sleep.