《The Mad Hatter》 The Beginning Ello everyone. Welcome to my new Fan fiction! The idea for this kinda struck me over the weekend. I hope you all enjoy. I appreciate any constructive criticism. Comment or just shoot me a private message. I also have another fiction out called Towards the LIght, look it up if you have the time. Thanks! Drew Plat was an extremely successful actor. He had starred in many successful television dramas. He was, in a word: a heartthrob. His black hair coupled with his deep chocolate eyes had captured the hearts of many. His fan base was quite extensive. Besides acting as a heartthrob in those dramas, he acted in some children¡¯s shows. He was much beloved as a children¡¯s hero as well as a dreamy guy. He currently was with a few of his co-stars. They were all attractive females and they were holding a pretty shallow conversation. Drew listened quietly as they talked. They were mostly gossiping about the other male star in the show, named Trevor Halligan. ¡°I heard he is such a player!¡± ¡°Went with some fan of his to her house. He had the nerve to sleep with her! Even after they served him dinner! Not that it would be anything good!¡± ¡°I know right? Poor common people!¡± Drew was listening quietly, then his stomach rumbled. ¡°I¡¯m going to go get something to eat. Anyone else want anything?¡± ¡°No, but thank you! You sweetie¡± They all said in unison. Drew was bit sickened by the way they could bad mouth someone, then be so sugary sweet. But Drew was an actor, and a darn good one at that. He gave a smile that would melt any ones heart and said in a good natured voice. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± He walked off and went to the food truck that was at the side of the set. He ordered his food and sat down at one of the tables. Another group of pretty actors were gossiping at another table, except this time, they were gossiping about him. Some baseless rumor almost identical to the one his co-stars were gossiping about. Except this time, Drew was the one who was sleeping around. Drew internally, but externally, one could never tell he had overheard the conversation. He finished his food and threw away the trash, and walked to return to his co-stars. When he arrived, they were in an uproar, speaking in hushed voices. There was a new girl. Tall, lush red hair, quite shapely as well. Her figure had obtained her many roles in some slinky films. She was telling something to the rest of the girls, who sat enthralled by the tale. ¡°¡­.and then Drew pushed me down on the bed¡­. Next he started to crawl across the bed to crouch over me¡­. I could feel his hot breath against my neck¡­ and then¡­¡± ¡°And then what!?!¡± The rest of the girls called out in unison Drew came up and laid his hand on the red hair of the girl and bent down right next to her ear and whispered ¡°What happened next? Do tell!¡± The red haired beauty jolted and fell backwards in fright. The other girls giggled a bit and Drew just chuckled as the red head tried to collect herself. Her face was bright red as she stood up slowly. ¡°D-don¡¯t sneak up on me like that Drew! It¡¯s mean!¡± ¡°What was mean Myra? I wanted to hear the story~! It sounded like it was coming to an extremely exciting climax! Go on! Continue~! Please~!¡± Drew gave an innocent smile, though on the inside, he was chuckling. Myra Calleck, the red headed beauty looked pleadingly to each of the girls. Most of them looked away, pretending they weren¡¯t just a moment ago were listening to such a steamy story. All were actors, so they all pulled it off quite well. A very brave girl spoke up. ¡°Have you guys heard about that new VR game? What was it called again?¡± ¡°Oh you mean Grimm¡¯s World? The fantasy world that one can play through?¡± Myra saw this life line and milked it for all it was worth. ¡°I heard of it! Wouldn¡¯t it be fun if all of us could play through it together? What do you think Drew? It would be such a good stress reliever from work! I¡¯ll go order capsules for us!¡± With that, Myra ran off. Drew realized the situation after a little while and internally sighed. His childhood friend, Myra, was always spreading those false stories of how he and she did this and that. Thankfully, it never was extremely serious, though it was troublesome. He composed himself, smiled a heart-warming smile and casually continued the conversation with the rest of the girls, discussing how the game worked and etc. A few months later. Drew had just finished the movie he had been working on and was reclining in his apartment. He was currently on the phone with Myra as some workmen were installing the pod for Grimm¡¯s World. He and Myra were finalizing some details about how they were going to play. All of the group from that day had decided to take a few months off of work to immerse themselves in the game. Their group had 8 people including Myra and Drew. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. {I think we should start out in the same city so that we can cooperate and progress faster!} ¡°Man, all you care about is efficiency! I think we should start out in separate cities so that our playing styles will not be constricted! You know how in show business there forms hierarchy among the actors! I don¡¯t want that for our group.¡± {Yeesh¡­ fine¡­ I¡¯ll inform the rest of the group¡­. I call starting at the Kingdom of Kail though!} ¡°Wait!! That¡¯s the one that has the best hunting grou--- Gosh dang it, she hung up!¡± One of the workmen tapped him on the shoulder. Drew turned and gave him a near angelic smile ¡°Sign your name here¡­ and here....¡± Drew complied and began signing papers ¡°Sign here¡± Drew complied ¡°Sign here¡± Again Drew complied ¡°Sign here along with the words ¡®To Ruby, you¡¯re the best!¡¯¡± Drew was done with half the message and then realized what he was doing. He finished the task while smiling. ¡°And who is Ruby?¡± ¡°She¡¯s my daughter. Ever since she saw you in Odds and Ends, she¡¯s been infatuated with you. She plays the game quite often as well! Her character name is Teresa! So if you see her¡­..¡± The workman just kept going on about his daughter. Drew internally sighed, while maintaining a politely interested appearance. The other workmen just shook their heads as they packed up their tools. Another worker came up and tapped the father of Ruby on the shoulder. ¡°I guess that¡¯s it. Enjoy the game!¡± The first workman said as he exited Drew¡¯s apartment. Drew went into his room and opened the pod. It opened with an fwoosh sound effect, like something straight out of a sci-fi film. Drew climbed into the pod, and the top closed, almost like locking him into a coffin. ¡®Heh¡­ I am in a coffin and am about to be reborn into a new world¡­ how symbolic¡¯ A light shined down on his eyes and then a soft female voice said ¡°Iris scans indicate an unregistered user. Do you wish to begin character creation?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The blackness of his ¡®coffin¡¯ was replaced with resplendent light. He stood in a completely white room. The walls were completely white, and there sat a reasonably attractive woman in a business suit at a white desk, looking over some papers. Drew coughed a bit to get the woman¡¯s attention. She looked up and started a prepared spiel. ¡°Welcome to Grimm¡¯s World, a land filled with fantasy, mysticism, and¡­.. OH MY GOSH!!! YOU¡¯RE DREW PLAT!¡± Drew sighed as the woman started to fan girl on him. ¡°Yes, I am indeed Drew Plat. May I proceed to the character creation please?¡± The woman nodded while blushing furiously and numerous race selections popped up along the white walls. There were 12 selections to choose from. There were wolf beast-men, elves, demons, undead, dwarves, sylphs, and others. Each of these races had their own benefits and demerits. Humans were the only race without any debuffs, but also no racial benefits. Drew was confused at all these and didn¡¯t know which one to choose. ¡°Is there a race you would recommend?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t know what you want, it would be wise to choose human, since they are dubbed correctly as the race of possibility. They are not particularly suited for anything, but not unsuited for anything either.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­ I think I will go along with your suggestion.¡± She smiled and a panel with a full body portrait of himself appeared in front of Drew. ¡°You can now customize your appearance¡­ not that I see a single thing I would change¡­¡± Drew contemplated his decision deeply, because he didn¡¯t want to be widely recognized, though he like his appearance. He changed the hair to a lighter brown, and changed the eyes to look like chocolate and caramel. He kept his height at around 6 foot 2 inches. He was satisfied with the changes and nodded his head to the woman. ¡°Can you please choose a name for yourself? Or would you like to keep your name as Drew?¡± Drew thought about this for a second, contemplating what name he would take on in this wonderful land of mystery and magic. What name would be tied to all of his adventures? What name, what name¡­ And then, it struck him. ¡°Alistair. I¡¯d like my name to be Alistair.¡± The woman smiled and said, welcome to your new life Alistair, and then the world went dark. Chapter 1: Rabbit Hunting Hello everyone! Mad Jester here, and here''s a new chapter. I''d appreciate any comments or constructive criticisms. Thank you all. The abysmal blackness gave way to the warm sunlight that streamed down upon Alistair¡¯s face, greeting and welcoming him to Grimm¡¯s World. Alistair stood up, fully expecting to be surrounded by an old medieval town. Instead, he was in a big field that was surrounded by forest as far as the eye could see. Alistair just stood there and remembered something. The woman that had helped out with his character creation hadn¡¯t offered him a starting place! Meanwhile: The woman who had helped him was still in dreamland. She had gotten to meet a famous celebrity after all, and her secret crush. She smiled to herself as she emerged from her delusions. ¡® I hope he likes the special place¡­ Maybe I should get an account¡¯ What was up with this situation?! Everyone always started out at a novice town! As far as he knew, there were no recorded instances of starting out in the middle of nowhere! Alistair surveyed his surroundings as these thoughts and worries raced through his head. ¡® Might as well make the best of it.¡¯ *Ding*
New Skill Learned
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Sigh of AcceptanceBeginner10%
Due to the mistakes of others, you were placed in an unfavorable situation. However, due to your mental fortitude, you have accepted your situation with determination to make the very best of your circumstances, thus generating this skill. Through this mental preparation, the following effects will apply. 5% increase in health 5% increase in stamina 10% increase in speed 30% additional resistance to harmful mental effects Duration: 2 hours Cost: 10 Mp Cannot be stacked
Alistair was surprised at the skill he had just gained. He just laughed internally. ¡®What an interesting world¡­ there are skill even like this.¡¯ ¡°Sigh of Acceptance!¡± He felt his mind calm and his limbs feel slightly lighter than before. The worries about his situation started to fade. He smiled and observed his surroundings. He noticed something very strange about this meadow. There was an abnormally large concentration of rabbits. In the meadow with a radius of a half a mile, there must have been hundreds of rabbits. Red bunnies, brown bunnies, red AND brown bunnies. Black bunnies, white bunnies, black AND white bunnies. You get the idea. ¡®This is¡­ odd¡­ well¡­ rabbits are the weakest in the game so this could be a lot of free experience!¡¯ Alistair thought optimistically. He searched in his inventory. There was 10 loaves of bread, 10 liters of water¡­ ah there was the sword He equipped his sword in his inventory. There was a glowing shaft of light that appeared in his hand. This solidified into an old rusted sword.
Old Sword
Quality:PoorDurability:15 /20
Damage:10-15
This is a poor quality sword given to all visitors when they first arrive.
Alistair did a few test swings with the sword. It had utterly horrible balance. Most of the weight of the sword was in the very tip, which in real life could break one¡¯s wrist if swung incorrectly Fortunately, Alistair had much experience with swords that had terrible balance. The prop swords were mostly made for aesthetic value, not for combat ability. Alistair grinned and approached a little brown rabbit slowly, gracefully, but silently walking up to a rabbit. He readied himself in a stance. He had a rudimentary understanding of sword fighting due to his role in the movie ¡°Swords of Pinzance.¡± He bent his legs and sprung forward aggressively towards the rabbit. His sword pierced the rabbit with a sickening sound. The rabbit bled heavily from its side and made a pathetic attempt to hop away to save its life. Alistair watched it sadly and raised his sword. He brought it down mercifully quick, ending the rabbit¡¯s life. Out of the rabbit¡¯s body, glowing white spheres emerged. They floated in the air for a moment and then went straight into Alistair¡¯s chest. The poorly balanced sword that had most of the weight in the tip hurt Alistair.
You have bruised your wrist from the previous swing, mobility will decrease due to swelling.
Alistair felt warm inside. A feeling that he had just drunk a cup of hot chocolate spread across his chest. This brought a smile to Alistair¡¯s face. ¡®If this is what it feels like to gain experience from a rabbit¡­ I wonder how it would feel to kill something bigger like a wolf.¡¯ He thought optimistically ¡®This sword is a problem though As he got down from his experience ecstasy, he noticed all the rabbits in the clearing were looking at him now. The sight of their dead brethren laying at Alistair reflected off their red beady eyes. In that moment, the bunnies'' instinctual desire to survive united them under one single goal. Run away. That moment was filled with chaos as the mass of rabbits darted in all different directions. Furry little balls of brown, red, and black darted to escape the impending doom that was Alistair. Alistair saw they were making to escape and ran after them quickly. He ran and ran trying to catch them, but they were extremely fast. He ran and ran until he reached the edge of the clearing where the rabbits had congregated. Taking up a stance, he prepared to kill as many of the fuzz balls as he could before they escaped. In desperation, a rabbit jumped at his face. Alistair stumbled back surprised. His rudimentary knowledge of sword play couldn¡¯t prepare him for the rest of the rabbits following suit. He switched to a reverse grip and blocked as well as he could with his swollen wrist. Three collided with his blade with such force, that it caused critical hits. The unfortunate three couldn¡¯t run away like the rest of their brethren and were swiftly ended. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Their little bodies lay bleeding on the ground. Their bodies relinquished their precious experience points and Alistair relished in the warmth. Alistair sighed in frustration and chased after the rabbits again. The process repeated with him chasing then blocking with a reverse grip. Sometimes the rabbits got through and hit his body, causing on average, 12 damage. After repeating this process a couple of time, he had only killed 7 rabbits, when he got a notice.
Your health had reached a critical point, it is recommended that you rest
Your satiety meter has fallen below 20%. If it falls any further, your performance will experience detrimental effects and if it reaches 0%, you will die.
¡°That can¡¯t be. Status Window.¡± [/ tr][tr][td2]Mental Resilience
Status Window
Name:AlistairAlignment:Neutral
Level:2Class:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Titles
None
Fame:NoneInfamy:None
-
Health:15 / 100Mana:96 / 100
Stamina:20 / 100[/tds]
+30%
-
Strength:10Agility:21
Satiety20%
Intelligence:10Wisdom:10
Leadership:10Luck:4
¡°Wow¡­ I didn¡¯t even realize it. Well¡­ I guess I need to rest. Wait, I gained all this agility from chasing after those rabbits? It has nearly doubled since I began... Makes sense though, they are too fast.¡± Alistair began to gather all the rabbits he had killed. He was hungry so he sat under a tree and pulled out a piece of barley bread that all newbies started with. He sat and ate his barley bread in silence, not once thinking about eating the rabbits. One might wonder, why didn¡¯t he eat the rabbits? They would be much more filling than barley bread so why wouldn¡¯t he eat them? There are two simple reasons. 1) He had never gone hunting, so he had no idea how to skin an animal. His childhood consisted what are considered the refined arts such as acting lessons and piano. He was a terrible artist but that was beside the point. 2) Even if the animal was already skinned, he had no idea how to cook without modern cooking utensils. He considered himself a decent chef if he had a kitchen, but in this situation, there was no way. So, he sat under the tree, unable to take advantage of the potentially delicious meat. He gazed enviously at the meat and sat and ate his barley bread in discontent. He chewed slowly watching the little rabbits hop about. After a long while of watching, he noticed there seemed to be a pattern to their movements. The red rabbits could move at extreme speeds forwards, however, they had to take the time to turn themselves. The brown rabbits could move diagonally, but no other direction. The black rabbits could jump from side to side, and backwards, but not forwards. The white rabbits had the best mobility. The rabbits that were a combination of colors had traits of both. For example, the Black and white rabbit could move forward, however the sideways and backwards mobility was reduced. Despite the amount of rabbits, there was one white rabbit that caught his eye. This particular rabbit only moved backwards. It was a humorous sight to watch it, but in never seemed to run into anything. It was also much faster than all the other rabbits. Alistair picked himself up, but his body felt heavy. He pondered why this was and then realized it had already been two hours in game. ¡°Sigh of Acceptance.¡± His body became lighter once again and his mind seemed to clear. He stood up, ready to go kill some rabbits. Chapter 2: Down the Rabbit Hole Well, here''s another chapter. Enjoy. Also, I find comments as a good way to gauge how well the story is being received by the audience, so I would appreciate the comments. The three red rabbits ran directly to the edge of the clearing as Alistair chased them. After doing this for 5 hours, he was getting pretty good at it. The trick to corner the red rabbits was to force them into a place where they couldn¡¯t turn anymore. Like a harbinger of death, Alistair swung his horrid sword and managed to kill the first one of them; he couldn¡¯t kill the second or third because after he slashed the first, about 3 inches of the sword broke off, and also snapped into three other pieces and rendered the weapon unusable. ¡°Snap¡­ what to do¡­¡± He looked at his broken sword with misery in his heart, and a nonchalant face. His only option for killing the rabbits was gone. The other red rabbit had almost turned around. In frustration, Alistair kicked one as hard as he could, and it went flying into a tree, suffering internal damage. Alistair saw this, and looked down at his boots. He kicked at the other one as well, trying to see if he could have the same effect, however, the rabbit had completely turned around at this point and it dashed between his legs and ran for its life. Alistair clicked his tongue and picked the broken sword and went over to the struggling rabbit. He looked at the remaining rabbit, and picked up the sharp point piece and approached the rabbit with a look of sincere pity in his eyes. ¡®Please, allow me to put you out of your misery.¡¯ He stabbed the rabbit and it passed on. Alistair looked at his broken sword and then at the piece he held in his hand. He sighed and gathered up the rabbits and his broken sword and walked back to his resting tree. At the base of the tree, there was a pile of rabbits that amounted to about 88 rabbits, now 90 with the new red rabbits. He sat down and pulled a piece of barley bread out and started to munch on it. He only had 2 pieces of barley bread and 2 more liters of water. His food situation was dire, despite the amount of rabbits that lay in front of him. Without the sword, he was weaponless except for hand to paw (?) combat; and yet, he did not seem particularly worried as he fiddled. He stayed there for about thirty minutes fiddling with one of his boots and the sharp piece of his now useless sword. After that time had elapsed and he had finished his barley bread he held up the fruit of his labor. The boot was the same except with one difference. The sharp piece of metal was now embedded in the toe of the boot sole, with the sharp end sticking out. If he kicked anything with the toe, the sword tip would embed itself into the target, however, he had attached the blade deep enough that he would be able to pull it out without the risk of losing the sword tip. Alistair put it on the boot and walked around the tree for a little while to get used to the modification. He started to run around the tree, but immediately fell because the blade dug itself into the ground. He picked himself up in embarrassment and started to run again, this time, instead of letting the blade get stuck in the ground, he used it to pierce the ground, and propel himself forward, like a track runner¡¯s spikes. He tested the boot blade with a few kicks. He found that the in-game body was much less flexible that his actual body, thus, his kicks didn¡¯t have as much range, but it was sufficient. While he was doing this, a hooded stranger appeared out of the forest, she walked towards the tree that Alistair was practicing around. Her hood rolled back to show a beautiful face framed by her brown hair. She called out to him in a gentle, soft voice. ¡°E-excuse me¡­ wh-who are you?¡± Alistair looked up from his experimenting. ¡°Before you ask for someone¡¯s name, you should give yours first¡± He admonished playfully. He saw the girls cheek twitch at this and she resumed her innocent demeanor. ¡®She¡¯s hiding something¡¯ Being in the acting business, Alistair was adept at seeing through the facades that people all around him put up. There seemed not to be a single honest person. NO one to connect with... well except for one, but that will be explained later. So even if everyone was physically close, everyone was psychologically distant. However, in that type of environment where one would go insane, Alistair thrived. He had been raised by a politician and an actress. The politician taught him to always be composed and never caught off guard. The actress had taught him how to conceal the fact of his composure, and how to wear different expressions like a mask. Thus, even if Alistair gave off a trusting, innocent expression, he was cold and calculating under this exterior, kinda like a kolache stuffed with ice cream. ¡°I-I am Kora¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ nice to meet you Kora. I''m Alistair. Are you here for hunting too?¡± Alistair smiled, even though his eyes didn¡¯t. However ¡°Kora¡± seemed to not to notice. ¡°Yes¡­ I have to get food for my family¡­¡± she said as she looked away from his eyes. Anyone else would pity this beautiful girl, but Alistair wasn¡¯t so altruistic. While others would see the expression as pitiful, all he saw was something suspicious. ¡®Whatever is she hiding¡­?¡¯ ¡°Well, I have hunted enough rabbits, I think you can take a few.¡± He gestured to the pile of rabbits that lay by the tree. He did this to see the reaction, this would help ascertain what in the world she was hiding. He got a reaction, but not the one he was expecting. An emotion flitted across her face for a second. It was not gratitude, which would have supported her story of ¡°Hunting to feed my Family!¡± No, the emotion that flitted over her face was rage. Alistair was shocked by this, but it didn¡¯t show on his demeanor. He kept up his warm, inviting fa?ade. The girl nodded. She picked up a few of the rabbits and bowed her head, shook his hand, gushing out praises and thanks. She left after this. ¡® I wonder if that will have negative repercussions in the future¡­¡¯ Alistair thought to himself. He noticed he wasn¡¯t as worried as he usually would be. ¡®Must be an effect from Sigh of Acceptance.¡¯ Thus, he went back to hunting the rabbits. He ran, chasing three more red rabbits towards the edge of the clearing. Because of the boot blade propelling himself forward like a track runner¡¯s spikes, he was able to kill one of the rabbits before the even arrive at the clearing. All he needed to do was plant his non bladed foot beside the rabbit, and then continue his stride. The boot blade came and pierced the rabbit. The damage was actually greater than when it was a full sword. This, Alistair attributed to two things. 1: The momentum of his leg was greater than that of his arm when running. 2: The leg can exert three times more force than the arm can. He cornered the last two rabbits. He did a spinning kick and his heel connected with one of the rabbits and threw it into a tree. He planted his foot down, and used his boot blade to finish the other one. ¡®This is a bit of a brutal way to hunt¡­ what am I going to do with all those rabbit corpses though? It seems a bit wasteful¡­¡¯ Alistair started to feel guilty as he brought back his rabbits to the pile. He had gained 7 levels, putting him at lvl 9. This was no surprise because by now, he had hunted over 300 rabbits. He had lost count after three hundred. The boot blade made things extremely efficient in hunting down the rabbits. The pile was now extremely large. He sat down tired eating his last piece of barley bread. He stared at the pile of potentially delicious meat. He calmed himself thinking to himself things like ¡°This Barley Bread is delicious AND Nutritious.¡± In response to this internal propaganda, his stomach growled in rebellion. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As he ate, there were people sneaking around in the forest behind him. At the opposite side of the clearing, the girl with the pretty brown hair came back. Alistair was already aware of the people in the forest. He could hear the twigs snapping unnaturally as they clumsily approached. He watched her approach and his cautiousness under a friendly smile. He waved at her while still sitting under the tree. She walked forward, no longer with that innocent demeanor that she had before, but a cold, haughty look as she walked towards him. ¡®Well, this is going to be interesting¡­ wonder what she wants¡¯ Alistair stood up and brushed himself off, that is when he felt the intense pain the back of his thigh. ¡°What the-¡°
You have taken 187 damage.
You are now in Critical Condition
¡®What!?¡¯ Though Alistair as he kicked backwards. He saw a black blur retreat back into the forest. Alistair planted his boot blade into the ground and propelled himself towards the middle of the clearing to avoid any more surprises attacks. There was a hole in the middle of the clearing where the rabbits seemed to spawn from about a 2 meters in diameter, and Alistair situated with his back to the hole. The only reason he was still alive is because as long as one does not have a class, one automatically gains and additional ten health per level in addition to the distributable stat points. When one obtains a class, the 10 additional stats are given to the stat that the class most benefits from. In the case of an assassin, they gain agility instead of health when they level up. ¡®Crud¡­ judging from the damage¡­ Speed of attack¡­ Speed of character¡­ Lack of observable skill usage¡­ I¡¯d say that assassin is at least 18¡­ no 20 levels above mine¡­¡¯ Thought Alistair in a cool and calculating manner. He had done extensive research upon the game whilst he was finishing up that certain acting job. He had researched especially into the assassin profession because that was the route he planned to take. Not many people chose that route because it involved an extensive training period where one could not log out. So therefore, Alistair was surprised to see an assassin among their group. That assassin had already pulverized his health, and he was left with a measly 3 health left. A pain spread like a wild-fire from his thigh. The oppressive pain that spread forced him down to his knees. Kora gave a haughty smile as she saw this. ¡°I see the Gora Venom is taking effect. It¡¯s quite a lovely venom. Not many people use it though. All it does is cause pain, but does absolutely no damage. That¡¯s why we can beat stupid players like you to the brink of death, and then have FUN! Of course, being alone, I would not be able to do this, but I have a guild of like minded people, so this is easy!¡± Kora¡¯s face had contorted into a demented smile, marring that lovely face. In its place was the face of a demon. Alistair was disgusted. Out of the forest came the assassin that had dealt the hated Gora Venom, and two others that looked like knight builds. During Alistair¡¯s last acting gig, while he was researching the ¡°culture¡± of MMO¡¯s, he came across the section of PKers. For as long as there was MMO games, there are those who like to play as the ¡°bad guys.¡± They would be called Player Killers or PKers. Now, as time progressed, the games began to get more complicated, PKing became more profitable. It is natural that actual players would have better equipment than regular monsters, so despite the significant infamy penalty, there were those that would follow this extremely profitable path. Now, amidst those profiteers, there were those that still liked to PK just to be the ¡°bad guys.¡± They used the virtual reality to unleash their sadistic tendencies. From Kora¡¯s speech, it was obvious which category she and her cronies fell under. Despite the pain, it did not show on his face. No longer did he wear that friendly face, he showed what was under that smiling mask. He looked up at Kora. This was not the face of someone that was being preyed upon, picked upon¡­ hunted ¡­ NOR was it the face of rage that was outraged at the perpetrators of the heinous crime. NOR was it the look of self-pity, one that despises the world for the unfortunate situation it had thrown upon him. NOR was it the look of fear that prey display in their last moments of life. His face showed no emotion, no resentment. His face was cold and blank, betraying nothing. It was as if daggers of ice pierced Kora¡¯s soul as he looked at her.
Skill Learned: Freezing Stare
His expression was of nothing. Kora briefly reacted to this but then returned to her haughty and demeaning attitude. Alistair, pushing himself up with difficulty, pain briefly flashing across his face, knew that there was no way he was going to survive the situation. His eyes that were so cold also burned with a freezing, flickering flame of determination. He would NOT let them have the satisfaction of seeing him writhe in pain. ¡°Awwww. How much longer are you going to keep up the cool guy act? Reparations for trespassing into our guild¡¯s hunting ground must be paid. Pay with your screams!¡± Kora said with that demonic smile as she took out a crossbow. The fact that her features were so beautiful just made her expression seem all the more grotesque. The sickening curl and twitch that the edges of her mouth had. The lips drawn thin showed the teeth underneath. Alistair stepped back towards the hole. ¡°Kora¡­ My name is Alistair¡­ Remember me¡­ Because I am coming for you, and your whole guild.¡± He said in a voice that would freeze the warmest of hearts. He smiled thinly and extended his arms to the side, like he was going to be crucified. The smirk left Kora¡¯s face and she hurriedly loaded her crossbow and aimed, just as Alistair fell backwards dramatically into the hole. As he fell, he heard the curses and saw the arrow whizzing overhead. As he fell, an odd little thought popped into his mind. ¡®Down the rabbit hole¡­ I wonder if I will go to Wonderland¡­¡¯ Chapter 3: Borogrove Forest Before anyone says anything, I know it is short. I''m going to be adding onto it with edits as time comes along. I also added some more to the end of the last chapter, so if you are wondering, it''s over there. While you guys are waiting for update, you can read my other fiction Towards the Light. As always, I appreciate comments. Alistair had fallen for what seemed to him an eternity. The light from top was no longer visible, nor had it been for a while. Alistair had tried to log out after 4 minutes of falling, however, he was unable to. So, he took this time to close his eyes and rest. It was highly probable that he was going to hit the ground and die, so why worry. As he listened to the air whistling by his head, the weightlessness of falling forever, he began to drift off to sleep. His mind took him to strange places. The in-game sleep function was actually quite useful. It allowed the body to receive REM and Deep Sleep in the real world. Also, with the time conversion factor of 4:1, the amount of sleep one could acquire was 4 times as much. It really was an ingenious design and some people had taken to just buying the capsule and game for the specific reason of sleeping. No dreams visited him and when he awoke, it had felt like no time had passed. He felt something touching his back, or rather, his back was resting on something. The soft tendrils caressed his back and stimulated the senses. An earthy odor wafted through the air and reached his nose. Alistair opened his eyes to see he was laying down on a forest floor. Alistair sat up and looked around. What met his eyes caused him wonder if the Gora Venom had a hallucinogenic side effect. The forest that surrounded him was strange to say the least. The trees were twisted in complete loops at the center. The bark was of varying shades of blue and green. The leaves were a bright purple that complimented the shade of bark. The forest wasn¡¯t terrible dense, and there were no branches on the lower trunks, just a cluster near the top. These clusters completely blocked out the sky, and there was no light except the faint blue light that emanated from the trunks of the strange trees. Despite his surroundings he did not panic in this unfamiliar world.
You are the first to arrive at the Borogrove Forest. +50 fame
His eyes widened at this message. He recognized the word Borogrove. It was a made up word that appeared in Lewis Carol¡¯s poem ¡°The Jabberwocky.¡± Coincidentally, Lewis Carol was also the author of Alice in Wonderland. ¡® Did I actually end up in Wonderland?¡¯ Alistair looked around incredulously. ¡°Status Window.¡± [/ tr][tr]
Status Window
Name:AlistairAlignment:Neutral
Level:9Class:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Titles
None
Fame:50Infamy:None
-
Health:3 / 190Mana:86 / 100
Stamina:10 / 400
Mental Resilience0%
-
Strength:10Agility:75
Satiety34%
Intelligence:10Wisdom:10
Leadership:10Luck:4
Alistair furrowed his brow at this. His health was still in a critical condition. If his satiety was above 50%, he could regenerate health, however, his satiety was at 34%. What¡¯s worse, he ate his last piece of barley bread, and was separated from his mountain of hunted rabbits. And now, he was in such a strange place. As he began to worry about how dire the situation was, he stopped himself and activated his convenient skill. ¡® Sigh of Acceptance¡¯ His mind calmed and he felt a bit better. The skill acts as a restoration skill because it added 5% to the HP limit as well as. Thus he gained 9.5 HP bringing the grand total to a whole 12.5! Yeah¡­ the situation wasn¡¯t favorable for him. Alistair looked around and saw that there were berries growing abundantly in little bushes at the bases of the strange trees. The berries where a white that contrasted with the bushes dark blue hue. It almost seemed like the bushes were a night¡¯s sky filled with glimmering stars. Alistair sighed with relief, with this, he was saved. He walked over to the bushes and started to pick a berry. With a tentative look, he ate it. He chewed and he found the taste quite to his liking. It was nice and sweet. While he chewed, he thought he saw the bush change colors from blue to blood red for an instance. Alistair shrugged it off as he chewed. The berries did not restore much satiety. It took a 5 of them to restore a single percent, so he had to completely empty 3 bushes to fill his satiety to 60%. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Due to you overeating of Star-berries, you will experience weak hallucinations for the next ten minutes
And that¡¯s when things got a bit weird. Alistair sat down as he started to see things. The first minute was occupied by a unicorn that coming up to him and ranting about how great donuts are. Then, that turned into a dragon and flew off into the unseen sky. The next minute was occupied by a dwarf appearing and mining for gold among the canopy above. ¡°Oi! Boy! Can you pass me pickaxe?¡± Called out the dwarf. Alistair stayed silent in response to this. The dwarf just shrugged and started to hack away at the canopy with a battle axe. Somehow, he found some gold and left. 3rd through 7th minutes were occupied by seeing a horned demon that looked similar to a satyr face off against a swordsman dressed in black. He swung his dual swords with grace while the satyr demon laid waste to the forest around him. The black swordsman clutched his dual swords close to his body and sprung forward with terrifying speed. He sprung from tree to tree, sometimes completely passing through the loops. The satyr demon swung and swung, but never could land a hit. The swordsman would block the hits that landed and use them to propel himself. Finally, the swordsman was pushed back by a blow from the satyr. He landed feet on a tree, ready to propel himself forward when something hit him. It was the tail of the satyr demon, which had previously gone unnoticed. The movement flow of the swordsman was thrown off, and in that moment, the satyr cleaved him in two. His torso separated from his hips and both pieces lay on the forest floor. Alistair watched nonchalantly as the satyr and swordsman disappeared and the trees went back to normal, well as normal as they could be. After those had disappeared, the strangest delusion visited Alistair¡¯s eyes As it was previously described, all the strange trees did a complete loop with their trunks at the middle of their height. In one of these little loops, something materialized. It slowly materialized into existence. It looked like¡­. A completely white thing in the shape of a face. It was a mask, however, there was nothing on to indication of an eye hole or mouth hole. Suddenly a smile grew on the mask. Looks something like this. That terrifying mouth opened and started to speak directly to him. ¡°An adventurer? I do believe this is the first time that one has visited my Story! Welcome, welcome!¡± The mask said in a friendly tone that did not fit its appearance. The wicked teeth snapped open and shut in jerky movements as it spoke. Alistair sighed. Now the game was telling him he was hoping. The world ¡°Grimm¡¯s World¡± was actually much smaller than other VR games. However, the gimmick for the game was that it was the meeting place for all sorts of worlds. These worlds, or ¡°Stories¡±, presented incredible opportunities. The one ¡°Story¡± that had been found was that of Cinderella. The guild, Slaughtered Hearts, had assisted the story of that magical night by helping Cinderella meet the prince. They were hailed as heroes of ¡°true love.¡± Champions of the heart, unlike their name. It was rather sad when the prince met his untimely soon after the wedding. In her grief, Cinderella appointed the Guild Leader, known only as ¡°Cupid¡±, as the chancellor and was currently on a journey of grief. Thus, the Slaughtered Hearts controlled the kingdom. Even more so, they also controlled the portal to the world, so they could regulate the flow of traffic. There had been no other reported findings of extra-dimensional Stories, so Alistair was hopeful when he saw he had appeared in the Borogrove Forest. Now, his hopes were materializing in his delusions. He said nothing in response to the eyeless mask. ¡°Aw¡­ a quiet one eh? No fun! Well, since you are the first adventurer here, that means you must play a leading part in my Story! So? What would you like to be your reward for completing the story? Equipment? Influence? Skills? A unique class?¡± The mask now smiled at him waiting for him to answer. Alistair decided to answer, as a way to affirm his desires. Vocal affirmation of what he was going to do in this world. (Author¡¯s Note: I do not condone usage of hallucinogenic drugs, or any other illegal drug abuse. Nor do I believe that hallucinogenics draw out the subconcious.). ¡°Why choose one?¡± Alistair asked. ¡°I want them all.¡± The mask smiled and said the following words. ¡°Really? Then you can''t be the main protagonist, but a secret one. So be it! I look forward to your instatement as the new Mad Hatter. That is¡­ if you survive that long.¡± With those words, that terrifying mouth disappeared and it was only a plain, white mask without any visible eyes holes of mouth. There it stood upright, a mask of white. Alistair closed his eyes waiting for that last minute to pass. He made plans to explore. Judging by the amount of fame he gained from discovering the Borogrove Forest, it wasn¡¯t that big. 50 fame was given for a discovery that was under 3 square miles. That included all recorded dungeons. From conclusion, he should be able to exit the forest if he walked in one direction long enough. He heard the click that indicated the hallucinogenic effect had worn off. He opened his eyes. At first he was uncomprehending at the sight that met his eyes, then his eyes widened. The mask was still there. Chapter 4: The Mimsy Same drill as last time. I''m going to add onto it, so don''t crucify me for how short it is. Also, I love the comments. Whoever gave the 4.5 star rating, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Alistair stood up shakily and walked towards the tree that held the strange mask. He reached out his hand, and touched it. Actually touched it. He could feel its smooth texture, like glass, underneath his fingers. It was real. His thoughts raced. Did it actually talk to him? Was that this Stories Ruling Entity (RE). Each of the stories were said to have their own RE, their own AI governing above all the kingdoms in that story like a deity. Alistair¡¯s head was spinning considering the implications of the conversation. It seemed the RE had agreed to give him all the things if he completed the story. Also¡­ it said that he would become the Mad Hatter. However, the mask talking could all be a part of the illusions brought on by the hallucinogenic Starberries. Alistair picked up the simple mask and an information window appeared in front of him. ]
Odd White Mask
Quality:Story/UniqueDurability:Indestructible
An odd white mask.
Alistair examined the back of it and fingered the inside, trying to find any evidence of that strange talking mouth. He closed his eyes and put the odd white mask on. He opened his left eye to be met with blackness. He opened his right eye and he could see the world. ¡®There is only one eye hole¡­ that is unfortunate. That will interfere with by depth perception a small bit.¡¯ He reached up to take the mask off, but his hands slipped. Alistair furrowed his brow and reached up to take the mask off, but his hands found no purchase on the smooth surface. When he tried to find the edges of the mask, there weren¡¯t any. ¡®W-what¡­ It won¡¯t come off! Did it meld to my face?!¡¯ Alistair cool mind was agitated. The emotions that Alistair was feeling exceeded the suppression limits of the skill Sigh of Acceptance. This means Alistair was pretty shaken.
Due to taking the mask, the Mimsy is now unhappy. Prepare yourself.
Alistair looked around quickly. Mimsy was also a word that appeared in Lewis Carrol¡¯s poem ¡°Jabberwocky.¡± However, in the poem, Mimsy was not a noun, but an adjective. Alistair backed away from the tree. He heard the rustle of grass. He whipped his head around and jumped back, readying himself. However, there was nothing. Alistair was sweating under the mask. One did not receive a warning window if a normal monster was nearby. Only for special monsters or NPC did this happen. Special monsters came in all shapes and sizes. The thing that was deadly about them was they possessed a wide range of skills. All monsters have a basic attack. Some of them have a special skill that inflicts an abnormal effect. However, the thing about Special monsters was even their regular attacks inflict abnormal statuses. They also possess a wide arsenal of special skills that include buffs and attacks. It was something if it was a named monster like Cuddles the Killer Bunny (some background info, that named boss had wiped out a raid party consisting of 30 members and was still on the loose), however, if there was no name at all, and just a ¡°the¡± in front of the name, that means it was a Unique. This was bad. Alistair ran and ran, using his massive agility to distance himself from his original position. He was in no position to encounter a Unique. His health was still regenerating. There had only been 4 recorded instances of a Unique. Each had taken a raid force of in which at least 3 guilds participated in. ¡®How lucky am I?! A new extra-dimensional story and now a Unique?! What is this¡­¡¯ Alistair though as he ran¡­ and ran. He had run for about thirty minutes and then he had to rest. 100% Sprinting for 30 minutes straight was quite taxing upon his body. He leaned against one of those strange twisty trees and breathed heavily for a few minutes. He slid down the tree and sat, with his eyes closed. ¡®Gah¡­ this mask is annoying¡­ I can breathe fine even though there is no mouth hole. That is definitely weird. And the quality being Story/Unique¡­. I wonder what this mask will evolve into¡­¡¯ He thought while stroking his face. Well, mask now. He gazed and then reeled back in shock. There was an arm reaching out towards him through the loop in the tree he was sitting under. He scrambled away from the tree and stood up. There was no person standing behind the tree. It was just a severed arm in the tree. It was clad in a ragged black sleeve. Alistair walked towards the tree, intrigued by the sight. The arm was threaded through the loop in such a way that it appeared the arm was reaching down towards the ground. The end, which appeared to be severed at the shoulder, dripped blood. The blood flow had created a long, red stain, on the blue, softly glowing trunk, creating a purplish light, kind of like when on puts a blue screen in front of a red tinted light. It seemed the blood had been smeared, and not long ago judging by how far the blood had trickled and the wetness. Alistair looked over his shoulder at the portion of the forest that was tinted by the otherworldly purple light gained from the blood on the borogrove¡¯s trunk. There, as if the purple light was a spotlight, there was a severed leg in the loop of a borogrove tree. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®Right out of a horror movie¡­ is this the work of the Mimsy?¡¯ Alistair considered the possibilities. It was an idiotic thing to continue to follow the body parts, however, his curiosity wouldn¡¯t let him stop. It was like a chain that dragged him on towards his potential doom. As he walked, the pieces got smaller and smaller. The blood splatters and the consequent light always guided him onto the next grisly spectacle. By the time he had passed the 4th tree, he had already gotten used to the grisly sights. Some might say that his adaptation to the situation was abnormal, but the whole situation was abnormal. As he followed, the pieces of the body began to get more and more mangled. 5th was another leg, but it didn¡¯t look like one. The flesh was plastered on the inside of the loop. The knee joint was bent in a way that it wasn¡¯t supposed to and dangled, which indicated that the joint had been destroyed, or at least hurt bad enough that it could move like that. The next 5 trees were of different fingers. The blood was so little, that it was hard to find the next finger. After finding all the fingers, the next sight was the one that surprised. There was an arm hanging from the tree, this one also clad in a ragged black sleeve. However, in its hand, it clutched a sword. Alistair recognized the sword. It was the one that the black swordsman had been using when he fought the satyr demon. Alistair reached out to touch the sword, but as soon as he did, the sword turned to dust. Alistair furrowed his brow and kept walking, looking for the next grisly piece of the puzzle. Except, there was no other body part visible. There were blood splatters that were obvious due to the light reflecting off of them. Thus, like a slave, Alistair was dragged by his curiosity to go ever deeper. As he walked, he counted all the body parts he had seen thus far. The only thing that was missing was the head. The blood splatters started to take shape as time went on. First, they looked like human footprints. Then, they took the shape of a footprint that had wicked claws. At some points between changes, the blood splatters were smeared over long lengths. This troubled Alistair immensely. This meant one of three things: 1: There were multiple enemies that ripped apart the black swordsman and were now working to distribute his body across the forest. 2: The enemy that had ripped apart the black swordsman was a shape shifter. 3: The worst possibility: The swordsman was ripped apart by a group of shapeshifters\ Shapeshifters were notoriously hard to exterminate, and thus, there was usually a culture of doppelgangers that inhabited every kingdom. They were naturally peaceful. They also occasionally took non-violent infiltration missions, however, one needed to find them before enlisting them. Most were peaceful, but judging from the carnage, these were shapeshifters, these were the violent kind. Alistair was extremely worried and continued walking, his boot blade making sounds as it cut the grass below his feet. As he walked, absorbed in his thought, he did not notice the trees¡¯ lights were getting darker the more he progressed. The blood splatters seemed to becoming more and more wet as time went on. When Alistair finally found the end of the blood trail, the forest was quite dark, and the trees only gave off a faint, otherworldly glow. What met his eyes was a horrific sight. There was a single borogrove tree that was completely blood red. The light it gave off was unnatural, even in this odd world. The light it cast on the other trees created an ambiance of dread. In the loop of this unnaturally colored tree, there wasn¡¯t the head, as Alistair was expecting, but something else. However, before the description of what was in the loop, first comes the description of what was around the loop. Around the blood red tree, in various pieces, lay the body of the satyr demon. Arms, legs, pieces of the torso, its pale blue skin was covered in the light of the red tree. The tail that had caused the demise of the black swordsman lay curled around the tree. IN the loop of the tree, sat a stuffed bunny that looked like this, drenched in blood. The scariest part was, it had its little black bead eyes trained right on Alistair. It seemed to stare right into his soul. ¡®It¡¯s just a stuffed rabbit¡­ the Mimsy is probably messing with me¡­¡¯ Alistair regained his composure¡­ that was until the he heard the voice. The rabbit tilted its head ¡°Aww¡­ busted huh? By the way, I¡¯m not the Mimsy. My name is Twyr.¡± Chapter 5: What a World SO! I''m back on this fiction folks, I just don''t know for how long. I finished this chapter, and guess what? Real life interaction! I had complaints about that in my last fiction, so I don''t plan to make the same mistake. Please leave a comment! I deleted the original so this would go to the home page as a new chapter. Please enjoy and leave a comment! ¡°What are you then?¡± Alistair asked keeping his voice as level as possible and purging any hint of hesitation. Acting required one to maintain their composure on stage, or under camera. Alistair had become quite good at quickly transferring to that state of mind. Thus, in front of another entity, he was just playing the role of the level headed person. In reality, who wouldn¡¯t be scared of a stuffed bunny drenched in blood? It was the perfect combination of gore and something lovable. It created an aura of unnaturalness that instills an uneasiness, and therefore, leaves one¡¯s heart defenseless against fear. However, the mask came in handy in this time. There were no facial expressions to be seen. All that could be heard was his cool and level voice. The stuffed rabbit drenched in blood tilted it head again. ¡®Well¡­ if I had to say¡­ I¡¯m a rabbit?¡¯ it said in a flippant tone. The stuffed bunny bent over and tottered to its feet. It would have been adorable if it wasn¡¯t sitting in a pool of blood. ¡®But more importantly, I can kill you.¡¯ This time it spoke in a deadly serious tone that was unfitting for its childish design. It looked at him with those empty black bead eyes and then jumped off the tree. It slid down the dismembered tail of the satyr demon and landed on the ground. It used its cute little paws to brush itself off. ¡°Let me confirm something really quickly¡± The little stuffed toy said ¡°Are you one of the descendants of Grimm?¡± Alistair¡¯s eyes widened at this, not that anyone could see. A descendant of Grimm is what the NPC¡¯s called the players. Being able to tell the difference between an NPC and a player wasn¡¯t hard, but Alistair was amazed that this rabbit could make the discernment when he had shown no action that would differentiate him from an NPC. ¡°Yes I am one of the Noble descendants of Grimm.¡± Replied Alistair with an air of dignity. ¡°Yes I could tell¡­ The Dealer¡¯s Mask is stuck to your face after all. Well then, allow me to introduce myself.¡± The little rabbit did a low bow. The little rabbit began to change and distort. Its legs became longer ad structured like that of a human¡¯s. The body elongated and also began to look like a human. His face flattened and also became like a human¡¯s with shoulder length white hair. After his transformation was complete a man stood before him. He was dressed in a decently nice white suit. The shirt that was under it was Blood red and he had a white tie. He had a young face, maybe in his 30s, that was framed with his white hair that came to his shoulders. Hanging out of his suit coat pocket was a massive golden watch. The most interesting feature was the foot long bunny ears that protruded from his head and the puffy white tail that protruded from his coat. ¡°I am Twyr, the White Rabbit. And you Grimm¡¯s Descendant are the protagonist of the story.¡± Alistair was baffled. The NPC¡¯s weren¡¯t supposed to be aware of how the Stories worked. ¡®Just who is this person¡­¡¯ Alistair thought warily as he looked at the one who called himself Twyr. The strangely well-dressed man, rabbit, whatever he was, wore a wide grin on his face. Alistair was baffled by the behavior of this character. Alistair¡¯s bafflement turned immediately to suspicion and caution. It was quite improbable for him to meet a NPC that was knowledgeable of the Stories¡¯ functions in his first day when the 4 million other players hadn¡¯t encountered one in the 3 months since Grimm¡¯s World had come online. Assuming that each player spent on average, 6 hours real time (which correlates to 24 hours game time) a real day, then that means that there had been 336 million hours played among all the other players. All those hours of gameplay, and Alistair had found one in 8 in game time. Faced with that insurmountable statistic, Alistair came to the practical conclusion that the entity that was standing before him was not a NPC. However, no matter how small the chance was, if it was, in fact, and NPC and Alistair acted like it was a human, the rare opportunity of being the protagonist in one of the sought after Stories would be lost. This would be an extremely stupid loss. Thus, to eradicate that small amount of chance that Twyr may of, in fact, be the first to find an NPC conscious of the Story mechanics, he said nine simple words. Nine simple words that will always, without fail, provoke a response from a civilized human. The nine words that a president once said were the scariest in the human language. ¡°I¡¯m from the government and I¡¯m here to help.¡± Said Alistair in a friendly, but serious voice. The unfeeling appearance of the mask complemented this phrase. The inflection in his voice portrayed friendliness, but there was an underlying confidence within this phrase, as if he believed what he was doing was right. Twyr responded simply by tilting his head with an expression of confusion. All of the NPC¡¯s were based on real body language and expressions. The production company, Green Pegasus, kept concealed how they obtained that level of realism, however, the actions and mannerisms of the NPC¡¯s were identical to a human¡¯s response, unless there was interference from a skill. Thus, Alistair was confident in his real world skills of reading a person like a book. Relief flooded Alistair¡¯s body as he confirmed that this was only a NPC, an entity that did not know of him outside of the game. If it was a real person, things could get very messy. Most people crave it; however, when people obtain it, they find it prohibits them from living their life as they had. Alistair had to endure hate, love, and obsession from nearly everyone he met. If there was a group that was apathetic about him, he had yet to meet them. Alistair was about to open his mouth to continue his conversation when he heard a voice. It wasn¡¯t the voice of the flippant, murder rabbit, nor was it the voice of the mask. It was a feminine voice. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Drew! Where are you?¡± Alistair shook his head. He recognized the voice. He had been hearing it since he was 4 after all. The voice of his childhood friend. The voice that spoke to him with genuine emotions, no ulterior motives. The beautiful voice of the only person he trusted and could show his real emotions. ¡°Drew! You get out of that capsule right now! We made an agreement that we would only play for five hours at a time!¡± The nagging voice of one who worried over him like a sibling. How could he forget its owner? It was none other than Myra. Alistair was about to ignore her and finish up his conversation; however, her next comment made him turn pale under his mask. ¡°If you don¡¯t come out, I really will pull out the plug!¡± Alistair quickly turned to Twyr and said ¡°I must go, urgent matters to attend to!¡± He said as he logged out. His body dispersed into numerous particles of light that faded out into the darkness. However, the white mask stayed as it was and fell to the ground. Twyr bent down and picked up the mask. As he did, the same wicked, mouth filled with those sharp teeth reappeared. ¡°Twyr.¡± The mouth said as it jerkily opened and closed as Twyr listened attentively in awe, ¡°Listen carefully, I want you to ¨C¡° *Real World* Drew opened the capsule with a gasp, and looked around frantically. ¡°Don¡¯t DO IT!¡± he exclaimed as he sat up quickly and looked around the room. His eyes laid themselves upon Myra, who was standing casually in the door way with her hands on her hips. ¡°Bout time you came out. I was about to repay you for the embarrassment.¡± She said with a pout upon her lips. ¡°What would be so urgent that you would threaten to yank the power cord?¡± Drew asked with a knowing smile. ¡°Well, of course I was checking on you! You never have been good with keeping track of time. When you immerse yourself in something, you forget everything else! Geez, pay attention!¡± Myra said in all sincerity. However, she was forced off her soapbox when her stomach let out a loud rumble. Drew smiled at this and let out a chuckle. ¡°I was right! I knew it.¡± ¡°Sh-shut up! I can cook for myself perfectly fine! I don¡¯t need you to¡ª¡° ¡°Come one Myra, I know when you¡¯re hungry. How long do you think we¡¯ve known each other?¡± Drew asked as he climbed out of the capsule. ¡°I think I may have some left over steak that I have yet to cook. I¡¯ll treat you to dinner.¡± He walked out of his bedroom and past Myra, who was smiling like an angel. ¡°Oh? How sweet of you. Wait! Is this a sign of affection?¡± Drew smiled silently as he was walking towards the kitchen ¡°Of course. It would be odd if I didn¡¯t show any affection to my little sister!¡± Myra stomped into the kitchen as Drew was rummaging around the fridge. ¡°There you go again with the little sister business! I am not related to you by blood! Why can¡¯t you see me as a woman!?¡± Myra said melodramatically as she sat down at the kitchen table. Drew chuckled as he pulled the steak out of the fridge ¡°Who was the character that said that line? It was the one you were playing in that soap opera last year right?¡­ who was it again?¡± ¡°You just love to rub it in my face that I wasn¡¯t selected to be the lead! What about the time you were casted to play the gay skater person!¡± Drew shivered, trying to suppress that memory ¡°¡­We promised never to talk of that again¡­¡± Thus, their dialogue went on playfully, poking at each other. Some may see a sparkling pink atmosphere around the two. Drew loved Myra dearly, as a friend of course. He had grown up with her so it would be weird if they were together. She had stuck with him through the good times and bad, always been with him. He had been introduced to Myra at an early age along with two other small children. Myra was the daughter of a very successful actor couple who were good friends with Drew¡¯s actress mother. The other children were the daughters of steel magnates or some politician. Drew didn¡¯t remember them too well, because in his mind, they weren¡¯t important. In his eyes, they had abandoned him. Myra was the only one who had stayed with him. Their relationship was that much deeper for it. However, Myra had turned odd at puberty while Drew stayed the same. They had been entering their acting careers, and Drew had somehow managed to hold her off with his words. Drew smiled as he seasoned the cold steaks, rubbing them with his long fingers, kneading them. After setting the oven to preheat, he turned on the stove on low, poured olive oil into the pan, and then set the steaks in the pan. The rich smell permeated the room and smiles grew upon both of their faces. After a time, Drew picked up the pan, steaks and all, and put it in the oven. He set the timer and sat down at the table with Myra, elbows on the table. Myra smiled a bit absentmindedly and pointed to Drew¡¯s forearm there was a slight discoloration of the skin, and old burn scar that time had partially mended. ¡°You still have that scar huh? I remember that day well.¡± Myra smiled ¡°You were hungry and I went above and beyond and tried to make steak. Actually, it was the same recipe and method I¡¯m using right now!¡± ¡°When you went to put the steak in the pan, you accidentally dropped it. The oil splashed up and burned your arm! It was terribly funny.¡± Myra chuckled haughtily ¡°If I remember correctly, you cried your eyes out!¡± Drew poked playfully ¡°Why is it you remember that, but not the role I played last year!¡± ¡°Because seeing you crying your eyes out for my sake is a much more precious memory than seeing you play the role of Brittney Gaol, a loose prostitute. Geez, how did you even get casted for that role? I worry you know. What happens if one of those more violent fans come after you?¡± Drew heard the oven timer go off and he turned to go get the steak. With his back turned, he missed the blush that was prominent across Myra¡¯s face. Chapter 6: Night of Screams Hello everyone, Mad Jester here. Just posting a new chapter. I tried my hand at a bit of disturbing writing, and I think I didn''t screw it up terribly. Thank you all for your support, I think I will be sticking to this fiction for a while. I as aware of the overwhelming votes in favor of Towards the Light, but my mind doesn''t always focus on what I want. So here''s A Night of Screams. Please, leave a comment or review, it makes my day. They laughed and chatted for the rest of the evening. As the evening progressed, their laughter became more and more raucous as they became more and more tired. They also became more and more Myra went home at around 11 pm. Drew nearly had to push her out the door. She wanted to sleep over like when they were kids. ¡°C¡¯mon Drew! Pwease! Lemme stay over! I¡¯s toooooo tired.¡± She said as she lay sprawled across his couch. ¡°I¡¯ll sleep here! I won¡¯t make a sound. Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeee.¡± She let out as a groan. ¡°Youuuuuuuuuuu need to stop being lazy. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut¡­. No never mind¡­. Go home!¡± Drew said, with his face down in the table. ¡°Heeeeey Drew? What is that bottle doing on the couch? You¡¯re alcohol intooolerant soooo you cannn¡¯t drink¡­.¡± Myra seemed to ponder this and then her face came up quickly ¡°WAS IT ANOTHER WOMAN?! HOW COULD YOU?? EVEN THOUGH I WAS ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU!!!!¡± Drew sleepily brought his head up. ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t me you idiot, YOU drank it!¡± ¡°BUT I DON¡±T DRINK!!! I promises *drunken chuckle*¡­ Only for you though Drew¡­hehehe¡± She giggled out drunkenly. Drew just shook his head and face tabled. Scandalous speculations would run rampant through the media if ever a reporter were to discover that Myra had gone straight to Drew¡¯s apartment. If that happened, Drew could kiss his stainless record good bye. But sending her home would be equally bad. Myra exiting his apartment dead drunk? That would be terrible. She wasn¡¯t in any state to go home by herself. However, Drew hadn¡¯t kept his stainless record for nothing. He had a plan. ¡°Upsie-daisy Myra¡± He said while shouldering his drunken friend. ¡°Forcing me out? Thasss¡­ real meeaaaan¡­Or are we going to your bedroom? You naughty boooooyyyy¡­..¡± Myra mumbled ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not going far.¡± Drew chuckled tiredly as he walked her out the door of his apartment. Since Myra usually ended up in this state, Drew has rented the apartment across the way just for these occasions. As he stumbled with her leaning on him, he shook his head. ¡°Gotta look out for each other after all¡­¡± Drew took out the key and opened the door to the apartment and led her inside. There was absolutely no furniture anywhere in the house except for a king sized bed in the middle of the living room, which was the room connected to the front door. Drew dumped her on the bed and turned to go. ¡°Drew? I¡¯m hot¡­ Help me get my clothes off will you?¡± Drew turned around. The light from the hallway partially illuminated Myra¡¯s incredible figure. She had already unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a better view of her sensuous curves. Her face sported a dopey smile and a drunken flush. Most men would take this opportunity to release their carnal desires, but Drew was not most men. He turned around and closed the door. He would not end both of their careers for the sake of a little sensual pleasure. Nor was he going to take advantage of his incapacitated friend, or any incapacitated person. He believed that sex was for a serious relationship like marriage. ¡°Geez¡­ even though she hides it well, she is really such a child underneath.¡± His thoughts were interrupted as a huge yawn racked through his body. Thus he dragged himself off to his bedroom. He locked the door to his apartment and his room and lay in his bed. The soft blue pulsing of his capsule lulled him to sleep. Drew awoke to a noise. Groggily, he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. The capsule was still pulsing its soft blue light. All seemed right with the world. Then he heard the sound again. A strange ululation rang through the night. It sounded like a child was wailing. Drew was about to write it off as a noisy child until he heard a thump. He sat up straight in his bed and looked around for the origin of the noise. The door to his bedroom, which he specifically remembered locking was wide open, creaking loudly as it swung open a bit wider. Drew glanced to the right to his clock that was usually on his night stand. However, all that was there was a wall. He looked around the room and realized one unsettling fact. The room he had been sleeping in had been reversed. The bed, the desk, the mirror, the capsule, the nightstand and the clock, everything had been moved. Drew furrowed his brow and looked over at his clock that was now to his left. It read 6:76, a number that should have been impossible. Slightly disturbed by the turn of events, Drew dragged himself out of his bed, and stumbled to the door. Before he arrived at the door, he passed his large mirror, which he stopped to examine. Something that should not have been possible was displayed clearly in the reflective glass. It showed an image of the room and Drew with a discrepancy. Instead of a sof t blue, the capsule was pulsing a sickly, poisonous green light. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Drew examined the mirror closer and discovered another disturbing discrepancy. In the reflection, the burn scar on Drew¡¯s wrist was replaced by a bar code. Drew did a double take at and held up his wrist closer to the mirror to examine it. The reflection moved to correspond with Drew, lifting its wrist to display the bar code. Above the bars were three simple numbers. 676. Drew¡¯s face frowned¡­ but his reflection didn¡¯t. It grinned instead. Suddenly, the reflection¡¯s other had shot out and grabbed Drew by the wrist. It used its hold to slam Drew bodily against the mirror. The bar coded hand reached out slowly and grabbed Drew¡¯s throat. The reflection was grinning maniacally as it choked the life out of him. Most people would have completely panicked, consumed by the desire to live. Drew calmly placed his other hand and a foot at the rim of the mirror and simply pushed as hard as he could. The reflection clung to Drew with inhuman force, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Drew broke free from the murderous grasp of his alter self and fell to the ground. He closed his eyes as he went into a coughing fit. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in his room. His back was leaned against a wall, and he was facing down a long, spacious, white hallway Sitting up, Drew looked around and the well illuminated hallway. There were doors at regular intervals. Above each of the doors was a three digit number. Drew looked to his side and saw that the number above the door to his right was 600. Drew stood up and started walking down the long hallway and noticed the numbers were ascending. As he walked, he heard noises. Noises of screaming, giggling, laughing, fighting¡­ All were done in high pitched children¡¯s voices. Accompanying all these was a rhythmic thumping noise. As he was walking by room 634, he heard a thumping against the door. A child sobbing followed by a sickening crunch. Silence reigned, only broken by the constant rhythmic thumping. All the noises stopped after this. Drew thought he saw a bit of red seeping out from under the door, but walked on nonchalantly. He seemed to walk for eternity. He was wrapped in silence, except for the thumping noise. As he walked, the thumping noise became louder, and louder, like the drum of a warship that promised doom and death. As he walked he counted. 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 667, 668. Wait¡­ he back tracked and counted again, and saw there was no door 666. He finally came to the end of the hallway. There was a single door at the end. The number above was 676. The thumping was almost deafening, so much that it was shaking the door. Drew looked at the door, examined it quietly. It was well built, good oak, and held the thumping well. All of a sudden, the thumping stopped. Drew bent down and put his ear to the door to listen. There was not a sound. Not the sound of footsteps. Not the sounds of chairs scraping. All he could hear was his own breath. Then, he felt something warm drip onto his shoulder. Drew reeled back surprised and looked up. Despite all the training he had received to maintain his composure, it hadn¡¯t prepared him for the sight before him. Right beside the plaque that read 676, was a dismembered hand nailed to the door frame. On the wrist was a tattooed bar code, and above the bar code were tattooed the numbers 676. Drew¡¯s eyes seemed glued to the grisly sight. He couldn¡¯t pull his eyes away from the hand, as it dripped its blood onto the pristine white floor. Drip, drip, drip. That was the only sound that rang through the desolate hallway. The solitary noise of the blood hitting the floor was joined by many more. Drip, drip, drip. Drew frantically turned around and looked down the hallway. Above each of the other door was nailed a dismembered hand. Drip, drip, drip. Drew could make out a barcode on each of the hands. The floor was a mess of crimson and white as they bled out onto the floor. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, click. The drone of the drops were interrupted by the click of a lock. The click sounded right behind, and a the creak of the door as it opened behind him. Drew felt a hand on his shoulder. Bracing himself, he turned around. The sight that met his eyes caused him to reel in shock. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡± he said as his eyes got even wider from shock. Then he awoke. He sat up and looked around. It was his room, correctly oriented. The room was illuminated by the soft pulsing of the capsule. Drew looked over at his clock. It simply read 4:56 AM. Drew rubbed his face with his hand, trying to orient himself. ¡°No way I¡¯m going back to sleep after that¡­¡± Drew wondered what he would do till morning came, and was answered by the blue pulsing light of the capsule. ¡°I guess it couldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Drew said as he dragged himself out of bed and single mindedly dragged himself to the capsule to connect to Grimm¡¯s World. He was so intent on his return to the land of Fairy tales that he completely missed the bar code that was fading back into his old burn scar. It read 676¡­ ¡°Connect to Grimm¡¯s World¡± rang his groggy voice. Then, his vision was filled with light and he returned. Chapter 7: A Nice Little Walk Hello my audience. I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to produce. I have really no excuse except that I couldn''t seem to drag myself to the computer and get this chapter finished. I would like comments about the new outfit. A note, this outfit is supposed to be a transition outfit. Thanks! Enjoy! The light disappeared suddenly from Alistair¡¯s vision as he made his dramatic entrance into Grimm¡¯s world. The immersion hit his senses all at once. The soft breeze in the forest caressed him tenderly as it passed over his face. The tangy smell of star berries coupled with the strangely fruity smell of the borogrove trees created a sweet duet for his nose. The uncomfortable scratchy feeling of the coarse shirt and pants brushed against his skin. The strangely twisted borogrove trees and the bloody carcass of the satyr demon flooded into his view. Everything seemed to be exactly as he remembered. However, there was one huge discrepancy that intrigued Alistair. To his ring finger on his left hand was a red string. Alistair eyes followed the string. It led into a sack in one of the borogrove trees¡¯ loops and then continued on into the dismal darkness. ¡®WELL¡­ that¡¯s not suspicious at all¡­¡¯ thought Alistair sarcastically as he followed the red, fateful string. Briskly, without letting the stench of blood bother him, he walked over to the sack and held it in his hand. He opened the sack and maintained an impassive expression as he gazed in. Alistair reached in and pulled out a spool of red string, then he took off the red string that was around his ring finger and spooled it. Then he tossed the sack to the side and walked, following the red string. As the sack hit the ground, it opened partially to reveal the blank, dead eyes of the black swordsman, connected to his head severed only by strings of pink nerves. Inside it mouth, frozen in a scream, were traces of red string. A shadowy figure stepped out from behind a borogrove and watched as Alistair disappeared into the forest. It puffed out blue smoke out of the pipe in its dangerously grinning mouth. Alistair walked along, curious about where in the world the string would lead him. As he walked, the trees began to get brighter, illuminating the string. However, dotted throughout the bright forests were completely black borogrove trees that seemed to absorb light. Alistair walked on as the shadowy figure followed closely behind, leaving puffs of blue smoke at every light absorbing tree it hid behind. Alistair¡¯s progress was slower than one might expect. Unfortunately, at regular intervals, the red string was wound in the twisted loop of the borogrove trees. At every stop, Alistair had to reach into the tree and unwind it. He followed the string, noting the smell of smoke in the air every time he passed a dark borogrove. He used the smell of smoke as an indicator he was going in the right direction. Smoke dissipates relatively quickly, so he knew he was following someone¡¯s trail when he found isolated pockets of the smoke scent. The thing he found odd about the smoke scent that the scent of blueberries. He actually liked the scent of the blueberries. Combined with the fruity smell of the borogroves and the tangy scent of the star berries, the blueberries played a symphony of fragrances for his nose. The smoke somewhat put a damper on the olfactory music, but that didn¡¯t perturb him. What puzzled him was the faint music that grew ever louder as he followed the red string. As he walked on, his musically trained ears started to distinguish the particular instruments. It sounded like a band, consisting of trombones, trumpets, violins, and for some reason a cello. Alistair was intrigued by the sound. Why in the world would a band be playing in the middle of the forest, especially in a forest with the Mimsy. Alistair heard a rustling above his head and looked up quickly. He examined the apparently empty canopy, and shook his head. Continuing on, he wondered what had made the rustling sound. He reached the next tree, and began to unwind it when he realized something. The red string was wrapped back around his ring finger. Unraveling the string from the borogrove, Alistair looked puzzled at the string around his ring finger. ¡®I could have sworn I took that off.¡¯ He grasped the end of the string and started to untie it. However, after a few attempts, he realized something quite quickly. It was a Gordian Knot, the fabled undoable knot in the legends of Alexander the Great. The legend went that there was a certain knot in the Phyrgia, an ancient city in Greece. The prophecy was that whoever untied it would be destined to become the king of Asia, which was considered the world at that time period. Many tried, but all failed, and it became known as the undoable knot. Alexander the Great, unable to untie the knot, simply sliced it with a sword. The undoable knot. ¡®How the heck? Why is that the---¡° His thought was cut short as the string pulled taught and pulled him along through the trees. Alistair stumbled at first, but then began running to keep up with the rapidly receding string. He didn¡¯t want the string to snap, as it was his only lead. He ran and ran, ever running, as the thread lead him along through the forest. Dodging trees, jumping over the occasional rock, hitting trees, and tripping over the occasional rock, kept running. The band that he had heard in the distance increased in volume. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡®Getting closer¡­¡¯ as he ran along faster. As he ran, the sound of the band grew louder and it was joined by a new sound. An indistinct murmur. It grew, and grew as he ran until the indistinct murmur grew into a dull roar. The indistinct talking of mass numbers of people. It was a very distinct sound. The high, annoyingly shrill laughter of women, spaced at regular intervals like automatons. The hearty, but empty chuckles from the men were prominent in the air. The string finally went slack after he burst past the trees into a large clearing. He had stumbled right into a tea party. Everywhere he looked, there were people in suits, or slinky dresses. They stood in groups of five, each conversation contributing to the whole of the roar of the party. Alistair sighed and a smile grew under his mask. This was his element, surrounded by people that would not physically try to kill him. Here he could talk, utilize all his real world skills of resistance to manipulation and counter manipulation. However, his smile quickly faded when he realized something was extremely wrong. Not a single person had made a move since Alistair had arrived. Not a single expansion of the diaphragm, which would indicate breathing. Not a single hand had moved, which was unnatural because hand gestures were a large part of conversation. Not a single stance shifted, or sign of body language expressed. It was unnatural how everything was so still, as if everything was frozen in one cold¡­ dead moment. Alistair felt a small tug on his ring finger, reminding him of the red string. He looked back upon the unnaturally still party and reluctantly walked forward. As he continued following the string, he realized a very disturbing thing. The first became blatantly obvious when he actually started walking through the people, or should I say mannequins. Every single one was a realistic mannequin, positioned in various, life like positions. Every. Single. One. The degree of realism for the mannequins¡¯ faces was absolutely startling. The lips were full and the cheeks were flush with life. The eyes, however, were devoid of life. Devoid of that spark, that light that is evidence of the beautiful thing that God gave. Their heads were connected to the body by a large ball that would allow the head to tilt and swivel. Another discrepancy that Alistair noted about the mannequins is their hands. They were modeled after an adjustable mannequin hand. The fingers were noticeably segmented and thus easily distinguishable from human hands. He walked through the scarily realistic mannequins, always following the string. He reached the center of the party and finally found where the illusive string led. In the very middle of the party, was a very large, round table made out of a blue mushroom. At the middle of the table was a metallic structure that held plates which displayed scrumptious looking pastries. Along with the intricate pastry rack sat a giant phonograph, from which all the indistinct conversation, party noise, and band music originated. Along with the pastry rack, there was a little flip up sign that read ¡°Mad Hatter Candidacy Meeting¡± in curly cursive letters. Placed at around the table were four absurdly large tea cups, each would contain maybe 2 cups. At each of these tea spots was a chair occupied by a mannequin. None of the mannequins had a face unlike all the other ¡°party attendees.¡± Three of the mannequins no longer had clothes on, and the only one that did was connected to Alistair by the red string. Alistair, extremely curious walked slowly to examine the mannequin. It was wearing decently nice black pants accompanied by matching suspenders. It was wearing a deep red, button up, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway. The most distinctive article of clothing it was wearing was a sleek black bowler hat. When Alistair came up to well dressed mannequin, he noticed another flip up sign resting in its lap. It read ¡°Get dressed quickly.¡± Alistair wanted to escape from the party as quickly as possible, so he reached out and grabbed the shirt first and began to get changed. He felt vaguely disturbed to be undressing in a party composed only of mannequins. A happy surprise for him was the clothes were incredibly comfortable. The pants, though seemingly formal and restrictive, were structured in such a way that allowed high mobility in the hips, knees, and the thighs. The black shoes accompanied by the oddly striped socks were reeeeaaaaalllly comfortable. The shirt was soft as well and the bowler hat fit nicely upon his head. He was generally content with the outfit. He was straightening his shirt out when he felt a tap on his shoulder. ¡°Let the TEA PARTY BEGIN¡± whispered the voice. Alistair whipped his head around in time to see the coat tails receding into the crowd. That was when every mannequin turned their head in unison and gazed at Alistair with those soulless eyes.