On the way back to the coin merchant, I wasn’t focused. My thoughts still felt rattled.
Didn’t even want to be playing this game, really. No fun when the creatures you killed seemed so real. But at the same time, I didn’t want to feel as sleepless as I did in the real world. The tiredness was dulled in the virtual world.
So I trudged on.
Knew I had to keep moving. Didn’t matter how tired I was, rest wasn’t going to happen tonight. So instead of stewing in the shit that was my own thoughts, it was best to keep moving forward.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
It was for this reason that I was surprised when I heard that sound -- the sound that presaged danger.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
Hadn’t heard it when it was quieter, and thus more distant. Just hadn’t been paying enough attention.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
Whipped my head to the left, then to the right. Didn’t see anything.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
Tried looking up at the trees. It was dark, making it hard to see much of anything here. Still, I tried.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
The thing had been in the trees before.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
What about now?
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
Where was it now?
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
I saw a dark clump hanging in the thicket of trees, all the wildly colored leaves and vines that blotted out the sky.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
It was moving.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
Hanging from a tree on high, but coming down to get me.
BA-Dum BA-Dum BA-Dum BA-Dum
I unsheathed my sword.
BA-Dum BA-Dum BA-Dum BA-Dum
BA
A slimy gray appendage snapped out of the darkness, pushing past kaleidoscopic leaves.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
DUM
I sliced it off with my sword.
57/65 HP
The green mist-like letters floated into the sky.
BA-DUM BA-DUM BA-DUM
Another appendage snapped at me.
BA
I sliced it off.
DUM
47/65 HP
A third appendage.
BA
Sliced away.
DUM
39/65 HP
It was as if the creature didn’t even care about its lost appendages. Just as I expected another one to snap out and attack me, though, something else happened: the entire creature leaped off the tree and onto me.
I held the sword out straight, letting the creature skewer itself on my sword.
It squirmed but didn’t squeal. Instead, I merely heard the telltale sounds.
BA-DUM-BA-DUM-BA-DUM-BA-DUM
15/65 HP
I tiled the sword so that the pommel was facing upwards. The creature slid off the sword and onto the floor. I stabbed it again.
BA-DUM-BA-DUM-BA-DUM-BA-DUM
8/65 HP
Once last time.
0/65 HP
The creature -- squirming around with half its limbs, looking like some handicapped squid -- stopped squirming. It stopped letting out the rhythmic pulse.
I flipped it over, so that I could see its underside.
+75 XP
The music was coming from the creature’s anus.
“Huh,” I said.
---
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please rate and review. Your support encourages me to write, which means faster/longer releases. Woohoo!
You might also like some of my other fics. There''s Godpunk</a>, a weird dark fantasy with long-ish posts. There''s also A Bad Idea</a>, a black comedy story about a supervillain living in South Florida. It has very short posts.