I started to slightly enjoy the respawn area. My consciousness in the pitch black. I could only hear my thoughts, but I also wasn't in pain. I wasn't being stabbed or hurt by magical spells. I was able to think about my next move here, even if it was for thirty minutes. Those thirty minutes began to stretch. Time felt like it was getting longer.
I know a few things now.
I was definitely in some kind of video game world. That much was simple to deduce from the green screen that loved to pop in front of my face.
I also figured out all of my moves as a boss in this world.
It was pretty simple. I swung my sword all over the place in the first phase while the players needed to dodge traps that I believed the game wanted them to think I set. Every time my sword was swung, it lit up bright red, signifying the attack.
I was definitely stuck in a video game.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
INSTANCE STARTING…
TELEPORTING TO SPAWN POINT
I opened my eyes and stared toward the lush green forest. Almost all of the fingers on my left hand were able to move now. I had no explanation, and at this point I couldn't even use my body's mouth to speak to anyone.
The group of adventurers teleported to what I could only guess was the final part of the dungeon.
This time, only two adventurers stood before me. I kind of felt insulted that they believed they could take me out, but then I got a better look at one of them. He stood tall in red armor and wielded a long black sword. The female next to him wielded two daggers and wore leather armor.
Holy shit, I thought. He is carrying her through this dungeon.
Without hesitation, the red-armored man charged toward me fast.
Extremely fast.
I didn't know how strength or stats worked in this world, but he had to be ranked pretty high. I didn't even have time to think—no time to react in my head before the red knight took my life.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
{INSTANCE COMPLETE}
INSTANCE WILL RESET IN 30 MINUTES
That's it? I thought.
Is this my stupid fate now? Am I meant to die over and over again?
This death stung, and the pain lingered into the void with me. Once I died in this world, the pain was there, but it was never brought with me into the void. This was different, though.
My suspicions were confirmed from this encounter, however. There were the strong and the weak in this world, which meant I must have really been in a video game world. The guy in the red armor must have been carrying his friend through a lower-level dungeon, but just how low am I? I wasn't able to gauge the adventurers before, but after seeing the guy in red, I could tell that the adventurers I had dealt with before were nothing compared to him. And something about him wiping me out made it so I was able to start moving my left wrist.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
INSTANCE STARTING…
TELEPORTING TO SPAWN POINT
Here we go again…
This time there were no high-level threats, it seemed. A normal group of six adventurers who knew my moves exactly. My sword glowed bright red as my body swung it in quite possibly the worst directions.
The weirdest part about this instance, though, was that I barely felt any of the pain. It was as if dying to the high-level adventurer boosted my tolerance.
The rogue types and the mages kept bombarding me with attacks. Their stupid lightning spells just became annoying at this point. With this new pain tolerance, they just kind of tickled. The stabs from the rogue-type adventurers felt different as well—paper cuts compared to the wounds I received before.
As I continued to be bombarded by their attacks, my right hand swung the broadsword at the adventurers just hard enough that I was able to use my left hand—the one I could move—to grab the hilt. My right hand actively tried to pull the sword away while the control of my left hand, and eventually my arm, became greater. I was fighting against my own body, and for some reason, I believed the high-ranking adventurer killing me had something to do with my sudden change in control.
I was able to overpower my right arm and eventually land a blow on the rogue that had been stabbing me over and over again.
Everything stopped.
Everyone stopped attacking, and the adventurers' faces weren't determined anymore. They were shocked. I couldn't even look to see what was happening. I had no control of my neck. I had no control of my eyes. I stood still, looking forward, only able to move my left arm.
I attempted to move my head using my left arm. Without absolute struggle, it wasn't going to happen, so I concentrated and tried to move my head just a little bit.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Calibration error detected…
Calibration error? I thought.
I almost didn't need to look over at the rogue. The looks on the other adventurers' faces said it all.
I killed her.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Shutting down
Virus detected
As that message popped up on my screen, green electricity started to crackle around my body. It was strong—way stronger than any of the electricity I had felt before from the adventurers. I instantly fell to the ground, unable to move my left arm at all anymore.
I lay there, stationary, feeling all of the pain from the electricity. As I laid there helpless, my head was positioned just enough to look at the rogue adventurer. The girl, who donned blue clothing covered in leather armor, still held onto her daggers tightly, but there was no longer life in her eyes. She had been cut.
Cut clean in half… by my sword…
I had never killed anyone before. Even if it was fake. Even if this was just a video game I somehow got trapped in, it felt all too real.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Executing death on Boss
Location: Tutorial Zone
3…2…1…
Back to black… or so I thought. I didn't see pitch black this time. I opened my eyes and saw the forest, except it wasn't the same lush green forest I remembered. The entire area was glitched out in black and white. Some of the leaves were blocky and blurry.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Dungeon reconstruction 76%
I watched as the entire area started to take shape and turn back into the forest and open area I usually spawned into. While the dungeon was reconstructing, I was able to walk freely and turn my head for the first time. I wasn't locked in the body anymore and could actually get a feel for my surroundings.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Dungeon reconstruction 86%
Scanning for viruses…
…
…
I walked around, the system message screen floating in front of my face as it scanned for viruses.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Virus found!
Stopping reconstruction
Initiating purging protocols
Purge? Panic started to set in.
The ground around me began to crumble. The trees in the partially reconstructed forest shook violently. "Purge" didn't sound like I was respawning. I think the game wanted to wipe me out, and the only way to do so was to take out the entire level.
The space around my body distorted violently, like something was resisting.
I was resisting.
The cracks spreading through the world began to stop.
Slowly.
Barely.
But they stopped.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
…
…
Error
Everything froze.
The alarm cut out instantly.
Silence.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Irregularity confirmed
Reclassification… pending