《Ghost in Game》 Ch 1: Sparrow King In a world that couldn¡¯t exist, Sparrow laughed with his friends. They were outdoors on school grounds, sitting on a bench which was being shaded by an overhead tree. Sunshine filtered through the leaves which were rustling with the breeze, spots of light dancing all over them. The guys were getting rowdy and the girls watched on, amused. Sparrow took in the sight with melancholy. How long had it been since he was in the company of friends? He looked at a girl with golden hair giggling along with the others. The girl caught him staring from the corner of her eye and she turned to look at Sparrow. She greeted him with a shy smile. The small curve of her mouth warmed Sparrow¡¯s heart. Never in a million years did he expect to see that smile again. Cassi¡¯s smile. She turned back to the other girls and began laughing as one of the guys was put into a headlock. Sparrow sighed deeply. It had been a while since he had hung out with other people, let alone being outside. For the past three years he had shut himself away from the world. The four walls and ceiling that had imprisoned him were no longer there, and he was now basking in the sun. It was tough apologizing to his friends, but now they were getting along like nothing happened. Most importantly, he couldn¡¯t believe that Cassi was here. Now that she is back everyone can be happy. Without her everything was suffocatingly bleak. His life fell apart the day she died. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Beep Beep Beep Sparrow was abruptly woken up by the irritating sound of his phone¡¯s alarm. He reached out and felt for his phone. He eventually turned it off and laid back onto his bed. The room was pitch black despite it being 8:00 a.m. Sparrow noticed that tears had welled up at the corners of his eyes and his chest felt tight. Seeing Cassi, even if it was a dream, made him desperately long to return to that world. However, like all his previous rude awakenings, he had to move on and face reality. Those dreams were all bullshit anyways. He hated his previous friends. Aside from Cassi, each and every member in his old friend group were the recipients of his ire. It pissed him off how his dreams would sometimes force them to reconcile. Admittedly it felt good in the dream, but he knew that they would never forgive him. His old friends had every right to hate Sparrow. However, it didn¡¯t stop him from hating them equally or even more. Sparrow saw the unfairness of hating someone for justifiably hating him. Most of the time his dreams were often of the painful past, or nightmarish scenarios where he had to confront his former friend group. The dream he just had was one of the few times where he had dreamt of his friends getting along like nothing had happened between them. Sparrow sat in the darkness for a few more minutes before swinging his legs off the bed, yawning as he stretched. He lethargically got up and walked over to his curtains. He saw slim lines of light cutting through the darkness. He gathered himself and drew them back. The light nearly blinded him. The dust mites danced in the rays of light. Before him was a view of a neighboring building. Sparrow opened his window and let in some fresh air for the first time in over a year. While he did live in the city and the air was very polluted, it was better than the stagnant air of his stuffy room. The air was undoubtedly fresh in that regard. After taking in the light and air, he took a deep breath. ¡®Today is the day¡¯. Sparrow turned around and looked at his room. There were bundles of clothes, takeout boxes, wrappers, and used tissues. With a sigh he walked over to get his phone and headphones. While listening to music, he walked out his room to grab a few trash bags. He proceeded to shovel mountains of clothes into the bags. With the light pouring in, he was able to get a scale of how unsanitary his living conditions were. He only changed clothes every 3-4 days, so finding this many dirty clothes littering his floor was unsettling to say the least. Before, his mother would clean his room every week or so, but he eventually forbade her from even doing that. Sparrow had to separate trash from the clothes. They were almost intertwined with each other to create a disgusting amalgamation of cloth and rubbage. The only thing that was missing from this sad sight were cockroaches scattering when a pile was disturbed. After all the clothes were gathered he moved onto the trash. Take out containers, chip bags, bottles, the works. Sparrow cautiously grabbed the used tissues off the ground and hoped that he used some of them to only blow his nose. He knew it was a false hope. He shuddered when he had to scrape some off the floor. It took him two hours to fully clean his room. His bed was made, the floor was scrubbed spotless, his desks were organized, and he had dusted and wiped every surface. Sparrow walked to the door and took a look at his hard work. His room went through an unbelievable glow up. For the first time since becoming a shut in, he felt accomplished. Wanting to keep up the momentum he went on to do more chores. He did laundry, ate breakfast, and tidied up the apartment. All within a couple of hours. His mother always kept the house clean so there wasn¡¯t much to do in that regard. After moving around the house and cleaning, Sparrow worked up quite the sweat and decided to take a shower. He reeked of body odor, felt dirty, and his hair was greasy. It had been just under a week since his last shower. He took an extra long shower and made sure to be thorough. The hot water removing all the impurities on his skin made him feel like he was being reborn. Sparrow stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He wiped the steam from his mirror and looked at his face. Bloodshot eyes stared back. He had dark rings around them and they were carrying baggage. Thanks to his good genetics, he hadn¡¯t put on too much weight. While he wasn¡¯t fat, he was a little chubby and riddled with acne. He smiled a toothy smile and was disgusted to see how yellow and plaque covered his teeth were. Sparrow King was far past his prime. He used to have the face of a model that had girls and guys doing double takes. Now look at him, a pathetic shell of his former self. Instead of continuing to wallow in self pity he picked up his toothbrush. He brushed his teeth several times and used mouthwash between each cleaning. His gums bled from his lack of dental hygiene. He could feel his dentist reeling in pain, if she were to see. He then busted out a shaving razor and got rid of the pathetic facial hair he had grown out through the years. While he couldn¡¯t do anything about the acne, he looked way better and more importantly, he felt better. He was revitalized.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He stepped out of the bathroom and on his bed awaited clean clothes fresh out the dryer. After dressing, Sparrow walked into the living room and looked through the huge living room window, peering out at the city. The sky was clear save for a few stray clouds. ¡®Beautiful day today.¡¯ Sparrow¡¯s stomach rumbled. ¡®Well since I was a very productive leech today, I think I deserve a little treat.¡¯ Sparrow looked down at his phone and messaged his family group chat. Me: Can someone pick up a pizza? I cleaned my room and tidied around the house. A few minutes later he received two thumbs ups under his text and a reply. His mom and dad. Mom: Wow, good job! I¡¯ll pick up a pizza on my way from work. Sparrow smiled, anticipating the pizza. Despite him eating at least two pies a month, he couldn¡¯t help but crave it. It was his favorite food. What else would he want for a final meal? He walked back towards his room and booted up his computer. He sat back in his chair and looked up at his empty shelves. He looked at them with melancholy. The trinkets that used to decorate them only held bad memories, so he either destroyed them or boxed them up in his closet. Sparrow logged into his computer and opened up a document he typed out the night before. He reread it and after being satisfied he hit print. He walked out his room and towards the printer. After the printer spat out the document, he reread it again, and grabbed an envelope. Sparrow slid the paper into it and left the letter on his desk. He looked over at a headset sitting on his desk. It was more of a helmet. The DualMind virtual reality headset. It had been three years since he had last put it on. He sighed deeply and looked at the time. 12:32 p.m. Around six more hours till pizza came. Plenty of time to make preparations. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Upon completing all his tasks, he spent the rest of his time wandering around his house and reminiscing, deep in thought. He checked the time and it was almost 7 p.m. Where are they? Just then Sparrow heard the door knob rustle with the sound of keys jingling from the other side. Just in time. Sparrow walked over to the door and opened it for the person behind it. As the door opened, a woman in office clothes was regaining her posture after fidgeting with the door knob. She was in the middle of unlocking the door while struggling to carry two large pizza boxes. ¡°Oh, hi Sparrow.¡± ¡°Let me get that.¡± Sparrow took the pizza boxes from her and she locked the door as they went inside. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± He placed the pizzas down on the table and hurriedly grabbed some plates. His mother took off her shoes and pulled out a chair. She sighed a breath of relief as she sat down. ¡°How was work?¡± He opened the box and found a pepperoni pizza. The smell of the fresh pie brought his mood up. He reached inside and pulled away a slice. ¡°Busy as usual.¡± She reached over to grab a slice of pizza. ¡°You seem to be in a good mood.¡± ¡°I do?" He guessed it was easy to see. He was clean, out of his room, and not in a hurry to avoid his mom. ¡°Well I was a bit productive today, I cleaned my room.¡± ¡°I saw the text. Good job!¡± She took a bite of her pizza and made a noise of realization. ¡°Did you open your windows? You were practically suffocating yourself.¡± ¡°Yes I did. I also let in some sunlight. It was a nice out.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t it improve your mood?¡± His mother asked with glee. ¡°Honestly it did. My skin was yearning for the sunlight. I gotta admit, it felt really good.¡± ¡°Sunlight improves your mood and energy. Scientists say that humans need at least 20 minutes of direct sunlight each day.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve let sunlight into my room in the past 2 years.¡± ¡°Well you should make it a habit. You look like a ghoul.¡± Sparrow recalled his ghastly look in the mirror. The doorknob began to rustle again. The sound of keys jingling was heard from the other side of the door and soon a tall man with glasses walked inside. ¡°Hi pops,¡± greeted Sparrow. Sparrow¡¯s father wore a temporary look of surprise then a smile split his face. ¡°Hey buddy!¡± greeted his father. He took off his shoes then walked over to his wife. The two greeted each other and he bent down to kiss her on the head. Falcon and Raven King''s marriage had always been healthy. They met in high school and were immediately drawn towards each other due to having bird names. All his mother''s life, people always commented on how cool her full name was. "Raven King". Upon getting married, Falcon took his wife''s last name. Before having their first child, Raven decided to name it after another bird thinking it would be a cute theme. After Sparrow, they had Robin. Sparrow was proud to have the name "Sparrow King". Until he went and tarnished it. ¡°So, what brings the bear out of his cave? Oh of course, pizza.¡± Falcon pulled out a chair next to his wife and sat down. "Normally you eat in your room." Sparrow took another slice. ¡°Well I just cleaned my room, and I don¡¯t wanna get it dirty again with crumbs.¡± His father smirked. ¡°Make sense. That is what the dining room is for anyways. Paid good money for this setup.¡± Sparrow¡¯s father knocked on the table. ¡°Anyways you seem better, did anything good happen to you?¡± ¡°Just cleaned my room and tidied the house up, so I¡¯m kind of on a productivity high.¡± That didn¡¯t sound plausible to Sparrow. He needed another reason for his sudden mood change. ¡°I also decided to open the windows and throw back the shades. Fresh air and sunlight improves people¡¯s moods, I hear.¡± His father nodded in agreement as he reached for a slice of pizza. ¡°Hey, where is Robin? Shouldn¡¯t he be home from school by now?¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to be staying over at a friend¡¯s house for the night,¡± his mother said while chewing her food. Very unlady-like. ¡°Oh, good for him.¡± Sparrow was relieved, although he was a bit sad that he didn¡¯t get to see Robin one last time. ¡°So does that mean we don¡¯t have to save him any pizza?¡± Falcon chuckled while Raven sighed in disappointment. ¡°You know, you should really start to eat more healthy foods. Take out is so bad for you.¡± ¡°Ugh, yeah I know. It''s not my fault it tastes so good.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with you there son,¡± said Falcon as he greedily reached over for another helping. ¡°If you add a healthy diet to sunlight and fresh air, you¡¯ll feel spectacular,¡± noted Raven. ¡°I guess.¡± Sparrow¡¯s favorite half assed response. ¡°Remember when you used to stay in shape, Sparrow. I¡¯m sure you felt more alive than you do now. You should bust out the old pull up bar at least.¡± Sparrow¡¯s dad added. ¡°You don¡¯t wanna deal with back problems like me, especially since you spend so much time at your desk.¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± Then an awkward silence hung over them, aside from the chewing, the conversation died out. Thanks to the pizza, there was at least an excuse for the pause. ¡°Oh! Me and your father started ¡°Garden of Blades.¡± Sparrow¡¯s mother blurted out. ¡°It¡¯s a really good show.¡± ¡°Surprised you didn¡¯t watch it sooner. It¡¯s one of the best animated shows to come out in the past few years.¡± Garden of Blades was a 2D animated show about a demon swordsman who trains the daughter of the demon lord to overthrow her father. Demon samurai. Very bloody and violent. ¡°Well my co-workers couldn¡¯t stop talking about it. Now that all the episodes are out, we can binge it.¡± The three began discussing the show. Sparrow was surprised to hear how much his mother, Raven, enjoyed it. Normally she didn¡¯t like an abundance of violence in the media she consumed. She probably made an exception because the story was well written. Sparrow¡¯s father, Falcon, loved the show. He is the opposite when it comes to his wife in terms of media. Falcon couldn¡¯t care less about the plot, as long as the story beats made him feel how he was supposed to feel and the action was good, he could get behind it. They discussed the events of the episodes so far and Sparrow tried his best not to spoil anything, even though his parents kept asking questions about things they would find out later in the show. A thought then occurred to Sparrow. Why were they talking to him like normal again? This has been the most he had spoken to them in years. He missed this. He liked talking with his parents. Every time his parents tried to talk with him in the past he made it obvious that he found it annoying. After all the pizza was gone he sat back and let out a satisfied moan. He had his fill. ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡± Sparrow got out of his chair and walked his plate to the sink. He washed it and began heading towards his room. ¡°Hey Sparrow, if you keep the house clean. I can pick you up a pizza on my way from work.¡± Falcon had caught him before he could slink away. ¡°Really?¡± Sparrow paused and he began to feel his chest tighten. ¡°Well I suppose I can tidy up here and there.¡± ¡°Hey, only every now and again.¡± Raven chimed in. ¡°You really should cut back on all the junk food.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to encourage this productivity hon, you can¡¯t exactly encourage him with a salad.¡± ¡°There are definitely healthier alternatives.¡± She sighed. ¡°But if it gives you motivation, a treat here and there is fine.¡± Raven smiled warmly. Sparrow felt the sorrow swell, and a part of him wanted to cry into their arms. Despite this, he smiled back. He was truly glad that his last interaction with his parents had been a pleasant one. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to not make a mess of my room.¡± He didn¡¯t want his last words to them to be a lie. His parents wished him goodnight as he turned and walked into his room. He slowly closed the door and listened to his parent¡¯s voices. His heart ached, but he steeled himself. ¡®It¡¯s better this way.¡¯ He locked the door. Ch 2: Logging On Several hours passed. Sparrow checked his phone. It was 12 a.m. The sound of his parent¡¯s snores were audible from the door over. The time had come. Sparrow was at his computer. The light from the monitor¡¯s screen illuminated his face in the dark. There were game icons scattered across the entire desktop. He had spent the majority of his time playing single player games. Only one game was multiplayer. His eyes wandered to an icon which consisted of the letters RQ, the letter Q being made up of a circle with a sword piercing it. Sparrow clicked on it and a bootup screen appeared. A title appeared in big bold letters in front of a fantasy backdrop. ¡°REALM OF QUESTING¡±. Realm of Questing, abbreviated as ¡°ReQuest¡± by fans, is an online virtual reality video game. The world¡¯s most popular VRMMORPG. The memories of childhood flooded his mind. ReQuest used to be Sparrow¡¯s favorite game before Ascension came out eight years ago. Many players left behind ReQuest in favor of the competitive arena fighter. It had been long since he deleted it from his computer. After a bit of waiting, a login screen appeared. Sparrow had stayed away from this game ever since Cassi¡¯s passing. The guilt he felt helped him stay focused at the task ahead. He logged into a new account he had made. After clicking through some menus, a prompt appeared on his screen. [Please put on the headset] He looked over to the DualMind vr helmet on his desk and placed it on his head. He was in the dark for only a second before the visor lit up before his eyes. [Please lie down on a flat surface] Example images of a man sitting in an inclined chair and a bed appeared. Before the game transports the player¡¯s consciousness into the game, they need to be laying down on a sturdy surface. Sparrow walked over to his balcony. He slid open the sliding door, and walked out. He looked out at the night cityscape. He felt the cool night air touch his skin. He slowly crept towards the railing. He grabbed a chair, stood on it, and held onto the railing of the balcony. It was thin but wide enough to lie down on. Sparrow¡¯s heart beat out of his chest as he sat down on the railing. It felt like the night breeze would be enough to push him over. Every cell in his body screamed for him to get back down but he quickly got over it. C¡¯mon don¡¯t be a pussy. He was almost free. Soon there would be no more pain. The pain of loneliness, of the past, of his thoughts. They would all cease to be. He tried his best to not look over the ledge. He lived on the 8th story of his condo. He already knew what the view looked like, there was no need to be curious. While grabbing the rail, he slowly dangled his leg over the side of his balcony. He balanced the length of his body on the railing. It held little more than his spine, but regardless had enough surface to hold a third of his body. His arms shook a bit as he planted his back flat against the railing, leaving a leg brushing the ground for stability. Hauling the rest of his body up, Sparrow held his head still as he shimmied back and forth, balancing himself. The helmet propped his head up at a slight angle. Once he felt stable enough, he lifted his dangling leg up onto the railing. Sparrow strained the side of his body that still remained on the railing. If he loosened the tension in his muscles, he would fall over. The edge of the railing was digging uncomfortably into his back. However, for the headset to begin calibrating, his heart rate had to be relaxed ¨C a safety measure implemented prior to the incidents. He took deep breaths through his nose. They were uneven and shaky. Eventually they smoothened and his breathing was steady and calm. The helmet began calibrating and analyzing his brain. [Game ready. Voice activation required] ¡®It worked!¡¯ He felt oddly proud that this succeeded. Sparrow took one last deep breath, finally feeling at peace with himself. He looked past the screen''s visor, not yet fully opaque, to the night sky. The stars had never looked so beautiful before. Sparrow closed his eyes. ¡°Game start,¡± Sparrow said with finality to his voice. Cool air blew into his face, the headset whirred to life, and stars burst in his vision. Then, everything went dark. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Suddenly he was conscious again. He now found himself in the middle of a raucous town square. Rustic buildings and cobblestone beneath his feet, and a big castle could be seen looming over majestically in the distance. Suddenly, he was conscious again, in the middle of a raucous town square. Rustic buildings cast shadows on the cobblestone beneath his feet, and the majestic castle in the distance all but obliterated every other presence. Login notifications greeted Sparrow, but he ignored them. Sparrow sighed, a shameful smile creeping onto his face. Any second now, everything would finally cease to exist. While there were players bustling all around him, laughing, making noise, and going on about their business, Sparrow felt like the only person in the world. He felt like the only person that mattered, which was a first since he had become a recluse. In its truest sense, the world ends with you. While the earth would keep spinning and its people would continue living their lives, Sparrow wouldn¡¯t have a body to perceive it with. His world would effectively be nothingness. The world might as well have died with him. ¡®Unless there really is an afterlife.¡¯ Sparrow wasn¡¯t religious, although he had always been open to the idea of there being a god. Whether the afterlife is a place where evil suffers or where the good find peace, he didn¡¯t believe in it. ¡®If hell does exist, I don¡¯t doubt I¡¯ll be sent there.¡¯ In a world full of truly deplorable people, he surely wasn¡¯t the worst of what humanity had to offer, but he felt he couldn¡¯t be labeled a decent person. Not in the slightest. Sparrow began making his way up a hill and towards the city park, in an effort to distract himself from the impending fall. A few minutes spent in tense anticipation later, he found himself on the park trail. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The sun in-game was setting, falling in the East towards the city entrance, directly opposite of the castle. Players looked toward the horizon beyond the castle walls, enjoying the virtual sunset. Friends and couples were lost in its artificial beauty. Sparrow hadn¡¯t timed this. The stars had aligned for his last day to be a beautiful one. He looked around and found an empty bench. He walked over to it and sat down. Sparrow opened the menu and checked the time. 12:22 a.m. He estimated about five minutes, give or take, before his muscles would totally relax, dropping him from the railing to his death. Honestly, he was surprised they hadn¡¯t given out yet. His plan was fool proof. Even if the game disconnected while Sparrow fell, it took around ten seconds before one would regain consciousness after logging off. Before that could happen, he''d be dead and gone. It was actually a pretty common method of suicide back then. When the DualMind headset first released, people used the nerve sedation feature for assisted suicide. Of course it caused an uproar, and the 1st generation headsets were called off. Recent models now had more counter measures in place. In order to encourage product owners to hand over their old headsets, they offered a variety of incentives, including in-game currency and discounts on newer headsets. It was wildly successful. Although many had kept theirs, their newfound rarity and notoriety made them collector''s items. Some were purchased for the very same reason they were called off. Despite his hatred for the game, Sparrow had kept his first headset because it was a gift from Cassi¡¯s family. He watched the virtual sun as it moved below the castle walls. It had been a long time since he had been in this game. Aside from the login tests, he rarely touched it. Sparrow looked around him. Many groups used the park as a meet up spot, the buzzing environment of the town center carrying over. He watched as a lone player approached a waiting group, sparking cheers and jests before the merry band marched most likely towards the adventurer¡¯s guild. Memories of his old friends and Cassi made him feel both nostalgic and sick. He checked the time again. 12:28 am. A minute past the original five minute timeframe. This made him feel only a little uneasy. He already came to terms with the chance that it might take him a while to fall off. He was sure with the way he was lying down, his left arm and leg would dangle off the side after the nerve sedation kicked in, making him fall over the edge. He was sure that with the way he was positioned, the already precariously balanced left side of his body would dangle off the side as the nerve sedation increasingly kicked in, eventually rolling him off the edge. He looked out at the scenery before him. The sky had begun to darken and stars appeared one by one. In game, day and night cycles were twice as fast as in real life, so 2 days passed in the game every 24 hours. Before darkness could engulf the park in its entirety, small fires ignited within all the lamp posts, growing them till the pathways were illuminated. Sparrow¡¯s mind drifted as he got lost in thought. He began to imagine all the scenarios that could play out. Either he¡¯d die sometime soon or by some miracle, he¡¯d survive. It might be possible that he could fall the other way towards his room. Maybe his parents would pull him back to safety. It then occurred to Sparrow that if he is out there for too long, the chances of him being seen by a passerby or neighbor in a nearby building would skyrocket. The last thing he wanted was the attempt to be unsuccessful. He¡¯d be more pissed about being alive if he were to get locked up in a psych ward. He looked up at the stars and waited for his time to come. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1:30 am. It had been over an hour since he had logged in. His mind raced. How long would he be here for? He began to entertain the idea that he had already died and this was all an illusion. ¡®No, it can¡¯t be. I can¡¯t be dead just yet.¡¯ The players around him seemed too real, and some of their conversations were way too stupid for it to be just an illusion. So what were the alternatives? Maybe he had fallen off and he was stuck in the game, like a protagonist straight from an Isekai story. ¡®Doubt it.¡¯ The range between the headset and the computer was not that great. He¡¯d have been disconnected by the time he fell down three stories. There might be a chance that someone had already seen him,his parents dragging him down to safety. Upon giving it some more thought, he shook his head. Even less likely. The headset would have instantly booted him out the game had his body been disturbed. Also, more likely mom and dad would have removed the headset and slapped me silly. It was probably a matter of time before emergency services were called and they would come to break down his door. He just sat and waited some more. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Signs of dawn had begun to show themselves. He was still sitting on the bench, now bent over with his head in his hands. The time was now 5:30 am. Why hasn¡¯t he been disconnected by now? Even weirder, the game hadn¡¯t sent him the usual warning to take a break. After five hours, the game would remind players of their time. After four more hours, it would forcefully boot lingering players. Though this was an adjustable feature, Sparrow hadn¡¯t made any changes on this new account, and so still had the default minimum time enabled. Sparrow opened up his menu and checked his in-game timer, confirming his five hours time elapsed. While he had the menu open, he looked for the log off button. It was there, where it had always been. He looked for any oddities in the menu, finding nothing. He hovered his finger over the log off button and hesitated. I¡¯ll wait another 4 hours. By then, the game should forcefully boot me off no matter what. So whatever purgatory he was in, it would soon come to an end. Possibly. He closed the menu and sat some more. Sparrow had stopped bracing himself for death. His mind wandered to his family, his old friends, and Cassi. He wondered what their reactions would be to his death. His parents would be devastated of course. He was painfully aware of how much he would hurt them. His little brother would definitely hate him, but he knew that Robin would eventually come to regret not being there for Sparrow. He played no part in the way he felt. Sparrow doubts that things would have changed if Robin talked to him more. It would have delayed his suicide a little bit at best. Sparrow could imagine the pain his empty room would bring his family. A room frozen in time, occupied by a ghost. His old friends might jump for joy at the news. Sparrow had ruined their lives. He couldn''t imagine his death bringing them anything but happiness. If there was an afterlife, he wondered how Cassi would react if she saw him. It was possible that she had been watching Sparrow and was already well aware of what he had done. Would she forgive Sparrow? Be angry with him? If there was a heaven or hell, would he even be given the chance to see her? Part of this was for her. This would be his repentance. He wanted her forgiveness, or at the very least, the chance to make amends. Sparrow had tried once before. But the last time he reached out to her, she had taken her own life. He didn¡¯t know if the message arrived before or after, or whether she read it or not. The idea that Cassi had seen the notification, that it was what had caused her to go through with it, made him feel a knot in the pit of his stomach. Sparrow recalled the morning he received the news. He had woken up after only a few hours of sleep, waiting for Cassi to respond. He left his room and walked into the hallway. His mother was crying, sobs interrupted by small hiccuping coughs, tissues littering the table in front of her. His father had a strong hand on her shoulder, similarly somber but doing his best to comfort. As they looked up at him, their expressions gave it all away. It was like they had lost a child. As they confirmed his suspicions, all he could do was laugh. He fell into a downward spiral. The days that followed were the worst days of his life. This cycle, endlessly sinking in the same bad memories, he had grown sick of it. It got to the point where¡­ Sparrow realized that he had finally taken the steps to break that cycle. He laid back into the bench, and wished his life would end already. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ It was 10:54 am. The in-game sun was out. Sparrow got up from his bench and began to make his way out of the park. As he walked into the city proper, players hastened here and there. He paid no attention to the people around him. Eventually he found himself back in the city square. In the middle of the square was a grand fountain. Players began spawning all around, now that a new day had broken in real life. He checked his in game timer. He had been logged on for over 10 hours. He began to giggle. Giggles turned into hearty laughter. Shortly after it turned into hysterical cackling. He noticed that people were staring at him. He walked up to a player put off by his outburst. ¡°Hey, can you see me!?¡± The man was startled and stepped back. ¡°Uh, yeah I can see you. Are you good man?¡± Sparrow turned to a couple. ¡°Can you see me?¡± ¡°Ye-yes we can,¡± a girl said as her boyfriend pulled her away. He looked down at his hands. ¡°THEN WHAT THE F&%^#!?!?¡± The in-game censorship system kicked in. ¡°Why is this happening to me?¡± Sparrow suddenly reached out towards the onlookers and they stepped away from his hand, like he had the plague. Hysteria got a hold on him and his head spun. He stumbled and fell back on his bottom. The other players stood there bewildered. A few of them had begun recording him with their menu cameras. Sparrow laid down, limbs sprawled out and laughed some more. He looked up into the sky. ¡®What is going on?¡¯ While it was funny to him that he was still alive, he didn¡¯t want it to stay that way. Sparrow opened his menu then hit the quit button. [Are you sure you want to quit?] [YES/NO] After taking another deep breath he hit YES. The prompt remained the same. He pressed YES over and over again. Nothing changed. Sparrow closed the menu and laid there. He looked up at the people watching him and raised a fist. A pixelated blob appeared where his middle finger should have been. Ch 3: Glitch in the System Sparrow walked through the city. Minutes passed by like seconds. He wasn¡¯t sure what was real or not. Was he dreaming, or was this hell? He accepted that he might have died. No one knew what happened after death, this might be the after life. However, why did he want to rule out the possibility that this was limbo? As Sparrow walked past countless players, he considered asking one of them to check on his body in the real world. He wanted confirmation on his status. Had he died, or was he in a coma in some hospital. The chance of him surviving that fall was slim. If he did, he most likely would be in critical condition. An eight story drop isn¡¯t something a person could brush off. He¡¯d be better off dead if he managed to survive. Not much of life to live if he was paralyzed or brain damaged. It was still weird how he was logged in. Even if he had survived the fall, he shouldn¡¯t be connected to the game anymore. Then a thought occurred to him which caused him to pause mid walk. What if he wasn¡¯t actually himself, but a collection of memories. That isn¡¯t possible? Right? What if his consciousness was uploaded into the game during the game¡¯s start up. After saying ¡°game start¡± it takes around thirty seconds for the player to be transported into the game. It might be likely that a glitch occurred. Sparrow rubbed his head in frustration. What the hell am I going on about!? A simple glitch in the system shouldn''t result in this sci-fi nightmare. At this point however, this was the most likely explanation. Otherwise he¡¯d have to accept the fact that this was the after life. I need to get outta here somehow. Logging out wasn¡¯t an option. Sparrow didn¡¯t understand why pressing it didn¡¯t disconnect him. Perhaps Sparrow might be a different entity entirely in the game¡¯s system and logging out was one of the things that couldn¡¯t be afforded to him. He thought about sure fire ways to get booted out of the game. One way was through getting the admin¡¯s attention. If he were to just start verbally assaulting people and spewing profanities, maybe he would get reported and he¡¯d get banned. However the thought of that bothered him. While it would be extremely embarrassing, Sparrow wanted to take his own life. He didn''t want it taken by the hands of others. Especially in such a degrading fashion, like being deleted by mods for having an outburst. If they never encountered a situation like his, he might be studied rather than deleted. Sparrow stopped in place. A few censored curses were thrown at him by the people walking behind him. It was a funny feeling knowing that these players were oblivious that they were in the presence of a dead man. Maybe. Sparrow left through the city gates and began wandering aimlessly. Trapped in his own thoughts, he felt like a spectre walking through the world. He passed by parties of players, on their way to and from quests. In the background he heard parties engaging monsters and the sounds of might and magic. Sparrow looked out at the players and wondered if God''s idea of infernal punishment would be to stick him in a MMO. Eventually he saw a group of blue slimes laying several meters off the pathway. They were a bit deflated, kind of relaxed. Perhaps they were just enjoying the sunlight. While it had been a while since he played the game he still remembered how to mark enemies. Sparrow slightly squinted his eyes and stared intently at one of the slimes. In an instant its entire body blinked red. A name appeared at the top of Sparrow¡¯s vision. [Blue Slime lv 3] [Hp: 50/50] ¡°Marking¡± was a feature every player had that allowed them to check the name, level, and hp bar of all enemies and other players. Sparrow already had a destination in mind however this presented him with an opportunity. He doubted death in combat would change anything but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try. He walked off the path and started approaching the blue slimes. Once Sparrow got a meter close away from them, they inflated a bit, giving them more volume. Then, one of the closest slimes to Sparrow crouched down and started shaking. It then threw itself into Sparrow. The slime didn¡¯t have enough strength to topple a person normally but Sparrow went ahead and fell on his back after it bounced off his chest. Sparrow just laid back as the slimes jumped onto him and began eating away at his health. The first slime jumped onto his face and began to envelope it. An annoying tingling feeling was felt around the parts the slimes were ¡°dissolving¡±. Players couldn¡¯t feel real pain in ReQuest, but the game needed to give feedback when damage was taken and instill some discomfort at the idea of taking damage. To Sparrow¡¯s surprise the slime¡¯s assault was a tiny bit more pleasant than uncomfortable. The slimes were cool to the touch and their attempts to dissolve his flesh tickled him. Sparrow¡¯s hp was at 84/100. He had been on the ground for about a minute now. This would take a while. He relaxed and started making a list of things to do if this death fails to change anything. He was there for several minutes. His health was now at 4. It would be a tiny bit embarrassing if this worked. The game¡¯s weakest creature ends the life of the world¡¯s greatest player. While he was renowned in a different game, it still seemed a strong contrast. Just as he was beginning to enjoy the irony of that idea, the slime on his face was ripped away from him. The stranger leapt back with the slime in hand and Sparrow tilted his head up to see them. He took his short sword and impaled it, his forearm stuck halfway into the slime before it shook and disintegrated. The other slimes on Sparrow¡¯s body leapt towards the stranger, then a fireball blew one up and a beam of light obliterated another. Blue viscous sludge scattered everywhere and all over Sparrow. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. After his impromptu saviors killed the other slimes, the man with the short sword reached his free hand towards Sparrow with a smile. ¡°Are you okay? Looks like we barely made it!¡± Sparrow marked the man. [Darius Lv 12] The player was wearing a humble leather tunic and seemed to be of the fighter class. His companions were a mage and a cleric of a similar level. Sparrow swatted the fighter¡¯s hand away and sat up. The cleric knelt next to Sparrow and began healing him while whispering. A warmth began enveloping his body. Noticing the scowl on his face, the fighter sighed sympathetically. ¡°Look nothing wrong with losing to slimes, everyone starts somewhere.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Although I can see how frustrating it can be to lose to-¡± Sparrow growled. ¡°You a$*#@!!!¡± The censorship system kicked in again. The trio was taken aback and they gave him a bewildered look. Sparrow shot up and stood before them. ¡°I wanted them to kill me! It took those slimes so long to get my health that low. All that time¡­ wasted! So thanks a lot, heroes!¡± The cleric stepped up next to Darius. ¡°Hey there¡¯s no need to get angry with us!¡± She was beautiful and her generous figure made for an erotic contrast against the cleric¡¯s holy cloth. It was only the player¡¯s in-game avatar, and she most likely looked nothing like her in reality. However it didn¡¯t stop Sparrow from feeling a bit flustered being in her presence. Sparrow didn¡¯t care if he was in the wrong, he wanted to yell at them. As he opened his mouth to shout profanities, he was reminded of all his angry outbursts which landed him in hot water all those years ago. He pushed his anger down and felt ashamed. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. I was just trying a glitch I heard about. Please don¡¯t mind me.¡± Before the party could say anything Sparrow ran past them and began heading down the path. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Over the course of a couple hours, he ventured past the starting plains, the great woods, then found himself standing before a hiking trail. At the base of the mountain, Sparrow pulled an arrow out of his shoulder with a scoff. Earlier he encountered a pack of feral wolves along the trail. Thinking he could get a redo of earlier, he let them savage him. Of course, yet another group of players stumbled upon him and came to his rescue. The archer of the party missed and accidentally struck him with an arrow. To give this party some credit, this time he truly looked like he was in peril. The wolves were visually trying to rip him apart. Biting, clawing, dragging and tossing him around like a rag doll. He didn¡¯t go off on the party and instead thanked them while hiding his annoyance. This mountain trail he was on was familiar to him. He had hiked it countless times with his friends on many occasions. Eventually Sparrow made it up the mountain and to the location he sought. He stared out at the grand vista before him. Even in his current predicament he was able to appreciate the beauty of the view. From here Sparrow could see the capital, the ocean in the west, the royal palace, the expansive green planes, and the forest at the bottom of the mountain ridge. Even after being away from the game for over six years, the view had seemingly never changed. There were many other cities and areas to explore. However his account was new and he didn¡¯t have access to the teleportation crystals connected to those locations. He sat for a while, trying to sort out his thoughts and coming to terms with his predicament. Since all of his options were limited to what he could do in the game, he might as well exhaust all of them. If he didn¡¯t want to resort to embarrassing himself, and getting banned by administrators he would just have to wait out the death of the servers. Luckily for him that would come about in a month. ReQuest was going to celebrate its 10th anniversary in four months and with it they are rebooting the game with a revamped world and gameplay system. In a month¡¯s time they will shut down the servers in preparation. Players right now are in a rush to tie up loose ends and get as many quests done as possible. He was just going to bide his time and try other ways to bring about his end. Such as an in game death, which he had been robbed of twice since leaving the capital. Sparrow stood up and took several steps back. He broke into a sudden sprint and jumped, throwing himself off the cliff. The wind rushed past him and the forest below became the ceiling. His heart beat out of his chest and his breath was caught in his throat. He wondered how his body looked in real life, falling from the balcony. First the rustle of leaves and snapping branches in his descent surrounded him. Then once he broke through the foliage, the ground met him with a sickening crunch. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sparrow came to his senses immediately. He grasped at his neck and started coughing violently. That was fucking horrible! What was that?!? Sparrow had fallen to his death in game on many occasions, however nothing was as visceral as the feelings he had just experienced. Upon impact, he felt his head being crushed against the ground. He felt his neck bending and breaking at extremely uncomfortable angles. It was only a fraction of a second, but it felt longer. Long enough to experience¡­ Pain. Real pain. The game shouldn¡¯t be allowed to make the player feel any sort of pain outside of a mild discomfort. Usually in the past, when he did die from fall damage, his body would buzz when hitting the ground, and if the fall was lethal then he would be met with a game over screen. Sparrow¡¯s stomach lurched and he threw up. On all fours he retched, trying to get ahold of himself. The vomit as well. There was no such thing as vomiting. All this pain and suffering, shouldn¡¯t be possible in ReQuest. As he wiped the vomit and tears away, he realized that he didn¡¯t see the game over screen. The game didn¡¯t even allow him to hit the respawn button. Sparrow had just immediately spawned back in the city square. That¡¯s when he noticed it. The silence. He looked around him and the players were either standing still or stuck mid motion, frozen in time. He saw a party of players pushing their way through the Adventurer Guild¡¯s doors, unable to set out on their journey in earnest. The fountain behind him came to a halt. The streams of water shooting out were captured in beautiful patterns as if winter suddenly hit it at full force and froze it, turning the streams of water into crystalline statues. Birds were hovering in the air, their flapping wings betraying the stillness of their momentum. Sparrow was morbidly entranced by the spectacle. What is going on? ¡°Hello!? Anyone!?¡± He shouted in all directions. Why did he expect anything to happen? He didn¡¯t believe anything would. Sparrow yelled at the top of his lungs. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?¡± Good to see that stupid censorship system is gone. After gathering himself again, and realizing the world wouldn¡¯t let him feel complacent for even a moment, he looked around and he saw a group of familiar faces. It was the party he encountered on the plains. Sparrow walked up to them and confirmed their identities. The fighter, mage, and cleric. They seemed to be on their way towards another quest. Sparrow walked up close to them and observed their facial features. They were mid conversation. Sparrow could look into the mouth of the fighter as he was laughing heartily. This is so freaky. Then a thought occurred to him. What would happen if I were to touch them? Sparrow imagined his finger leaving a dent in their flesh where he made contact. The idea of rearranging the fighter¡¯s face enticed him. Sparrow¡¯s eyes then wandered over at the cleric, then they naturally made their way toward her chest. Sparrow remembered those raunchy ¡°late night stories¡± he read where the protagonist got the power to stop time. Admittedly he was at the lowest part of his life when he read those. Sparrow raised his pointer finger and aimed it at her. He could easily spit in the face of this tense atmosphere and ruin it for whoever might be doing this to him. He sighed and instead reached out and poked the cleric¡¯s cheek. A blinding pain shot through his arm. Ch 4: Valley of Death A blinding pain shot up toward Sparrow¡¯s arm the second his finger touched the cleric¡¯s face. Sparrow screamed as he jerked his hand back and recoiled. He grasped it and held it against his chest. ¡°Fuck!¡± Sparrow gritted his teeth against the pain. He closed his eyes and tears began to roll down his face. He had never felt such excruciating pain before. It was a searing and throbbing hurt. Sparrow didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Perhaps it was like a warning. The dead aren''t allowed to interact with the living. An uneasy feeling washed over him. That reasoning came to him too suddenly and clearly. That uneasiness then turned into dread as he felt a heavy pressure weighing not only on just his mind but what could probably be described as¡­ his soul. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight. Cold sweat began swamping his body. He turned around slowly and standing before the fountain was a tall figure. It was around two meters tall, dressed in a black tattered hooded robe, and in his hand was a long handle taller than the stranger. Attached to that handle looming above Sparrow was a blade in the shape of half a crescent moon. It was painfully obvious what this figure represented. Fear strangled hold of his heart, and breathing began to get harder. This wasn¡¯t an instinctual fear that living beings get when confronted by death, it was like this reaper was imposing its vile existence on his soul. The Reaper¡¯s inky black aura was seeping its way into his being. Several seconds in tense silence passed. Breathing was difficult in its presence. To Sparrow¡¯s horror, a disgusting rotted leg peeked out through the robe and took a step forward. His existence shook. A sudden whirlwind began blowing around Sparrow and the Reaper, causing the ribbons of its tattered robe to dance about wildly. The world around them began to distort and smear in the direction of the wind. It was like the buildings and players were wet paint on a canvas left out in a storm. Each step made Sparrow more and more terrified. Every inch, every centimeter, every atom of him was screaming for Sparrow to run or die. He wanted to hide and close his eyes but his body rejected the idea of moving under the gaze of this horror. The Reaper began to consume the color and light around it. Fading the world into black, white, and dreary shades of grey. Once the Reaper was a couple meters away from him, Sparrow could see the bottom half of his face. Like the Reaper¡¯s foot, it was made of rotten green flesh, and his mouth was ripped into a wide horrible smile. If Sparrow could reach up to his throat he¡¯d rip it open. The light was so dim that Sparrow was unable to see anything but the reaper¡¯s outline before everything became pitch black. A few moments in the dark whirlwind passed in howling dread. Despite the darkness, he could sense a rotted hand reach up and caress his cheek. He felt divots in the skin of the Reaper¡¯s hand and exposed muscle fibers could be made out painfully well. The hand was warm and murky, yet indescribably frigid. Sparrow began to regret the day he was born. There was an ungodly force compressing him, threatening to tear him apart but his body refused to be mangled or obliterated. It was like he was standing on a needle while balancing the weight of the Earth on his head, but he somehow remained intact. Instantly his body was convulsing and pulsating with pain. His ears rang with a deafening white noise that threatened to burst his brain apart. Just before the pain got too unbearable, the pain lessened to a considerable degree. Within the darkness a blue light illuminated his face. A window appeared before him. [Quest: Death¡¯s Trial] [Level Recommendation: 90+] [Difficulty: S+] [Description: You are not meant to be in this world. The Reaper wants your soul. If you want death, reject the trial. If you reject what you sought in the first place, you may be given the chance to live again(or die another day). In the Valley- Before he could read anymore, the pain slowly began ramping up. Two buttons were at the bottom of the window. [Accept] [Decline] He screamed as he lifted his arm, his muscles were strained and his arm exploded with pain. Once his finger made contact with the accept button, he felt death¡¯s hand leave his cheek. It lingered a bit as it pulled back, almost regretfully. Then everything ceased to be. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sparrow sluggishly opened his eyes. Then the memories came rushing back. He raised his hand towards his cheek and felt the area where the Reaper had touched. What the fuck is happening to me!? He realized he wasn¡¯t in the city square anymore. As he took in his surroundings, he noticed how dark it was. Craning his head up he saw an alien sight. The sky was full of dark grey clouds, but broken up here and there by golden rays shining through with holy beads of light dripping down like sand in an hourglass. He was surrounded by rolling hills. He was standing on one of the taller ones which gave him a decent vantage point. He was in what he would describe as a massive cemetery. Ancient tombstones and grave sites as far as he could see. To the East and West were towering mountains which circled back and joined together in the South. In the South there was a massive city. It was made up of ancient buildings, reminiscent of giant mausoleums. In the North, rather than rounding out, it seemed to taper into the horizon. If he were to escape, he¡¯d have to go North. He wouldn¡¯t be able to scale the mountains. The mountains had sheer cliff faces. It was like the mountains were caging whatever was stuck in this valley. Speaking of which¡­ Sparrow opened the menu and hit the quest tab. There was only one active. He opened it to observe the details. [Quest: Death¡¯s Trial] [Level Recommendation: 90+] [Difficulty: S+] [Description: You are not meant to be in this world and the Reaper demands your soul. However, your existence intrigues it. If you want death, reject the trial. If you reject what you sought in the first place, you may be given the chance to live again(or die another day). In the Valley of Death, your soul leaks from you like a broken hourglass. Seek out the golden sand to keep from running empty. Reap what little life there is from those who cling to it and find your way out. [Completion Requirement: Escape the Valley of Death] [Time Limit: None] [Reward(s): Unknown S Class Attribute] At the mention of the broken hourglass, Sparrow noticed his hand was flaking off golden specks of light, which slowly dissipated into the air. That was when he noticed a slight discomfort. He peered into the corner of his vision and saw his health bar. [HP: 100/100] His health seemed fine. Huh. However the sand and the description of the trial made him feel uneasy. His life was on a timer. He opened his stats menu and was faced with an unfamiliar menu interface. [Quests] [Social Hud] [Party] [Player Stats] [Class] [Attributes] [Skills] [Equipment] [Inventory] [Settings] The design and layout had changed. He tapped on the stats menu. [Player Stats] [Name: Sparrow King] [Level: 1] This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. [XP to Level Up: 0/100] [Health Points: 92/100] [Stamina Points: 100/100] [Mana Points: 100/100] [Soul Points: 97/100] [Status Effects] [Soul Leak] He was taken aback by what he saw. Instead of a username, his name was listed. Anonymity seemed to be thrown out the window. Considering his circumstances, he shouldn¡¯t be too surprised. He had to keep himself from thinking up countless questions and hypotheticals. Second, was his level and stats. Everything was reset. Seeing that his username listed as his name, he guessed that even his avatar was gone. He noticed the number of one of the point values was going down slowly. Under [Soul], the number seemed to be steadily decreasing by 1 every 3 seconds. Under [Status Effects] there was one effect active called [Soul Leak] Upon tapping on it, a description menu appeared. [Effect Name: Soul Leak] [Description: During this Trial your soul leaks from you. Every 3 seconds you will take 1 point of soul damage.] Sparrow frowned. He was sure once that meter dropped to zero, he would die. At least his health wasn¡¯t the value being tied to a timer. Sparrow went to the classes tab. [Classes] [C. Slot 1: Empty] [C. Slot 2: -Unlocked at level 25- [C. Slot 3: -Unlocked at level 50- [C. Slot 4: -Unlocked at level 75- [Perks] [Class Perks] [Inherited Perks] Another drastic change from the previous player menu he was used to. A fundamental change. Instead of only one class, it seemed there could be four in total, however only the first one was available, the rest closed off by a level requirement. With a sinking feeling in his chest he went to skills and confirmed his suspicions. [Skills] [S. Slot 1: Empty] [S. Slot 2: Empty] [S. Slot 3: -Unlocked at level 25-] [S. Slot 4: -Unlocked at level 25-] [S. Slot 5: -Unlocked at level 50-] [S. Slot 6: -Unlocked at level 50-] [S. Slot 7: -Unlocked at level 75-] [S. Slot 8: -Unlocked at level 75-] Despite the intrigue of the changes, Sparrow felt defeated. This was a major blow to his chances at surviving the trial. Without a class or abilities, he didn¡¯t have any special ways to attack, defend, or flee. He was just a normal person. He went through the equipment and inventory. [Equipment] [Body Equipment] [Head: Empty] [Chest: Empty] [Arms: Empty] [Legs: Empty] [Feet: Empty] [Accessories] [A. Slot 1: Empty] [A. Slot 2: -Unlocked at lv 25-] [A. Slot 3: -Unlocked at lv 50-] [A. Slot 4: -Unlocked at lv 75-] [Weapon Equipment] [Slot 1: Empty] [Slot 2: -Unlocked at lv 25-] [Slot 3: -Unlocked at lv 50-] [Slot 4: -Unlocked at lv 75-] [Quick Summon] [QS. Slot 1: Empty] [QS. Slot 2: Empty] [QS. Slot 3: Empty] [QS. Slot 4: Empty] [QS. Slot 5: Empty] [QS. Slot 6: Empty] [Inventory] [Item Count: 0] He had nothing. He knew what to expect but he¡¯d be a fool to not check. He sighed and closed the menu. The quest level recommendation was 90+ and he was only at level one. The enemies that would appear during this quest would be able to kill him just by breathing in his direction. He needed armor at least. He then realized that he wasn¡¯t naked. Despite the equipment menu saying that all his body equipment slots were empty, he was clothed. He looked down at his feet. There were familiar black socks on his feet, and a pair of comfy grey sweatpants. He then looked down at his arms and his chest and realized that he was wearing his black hoodie. He was donning the clothes he had on in real life. He felt his long unkempt hair and looked down at his hands, and was astonished to see that they were indeed his. If only he had a mirror to confirm that his face was his own as well. Discovering that he was in his normal body also made him realize how slightly sluggish he felt. He began moving his body around and did a few stretches, noticing how cumbersome it felt to move. That wasn¡¯t to say that he felt like he was in his old body. His body had almost the same flexibility and springiness of his in game avatar. If there was anything he could attribute to this change, it was that his senses were way more pronounced and grounded. In virtual reality, his senses were slightly muted, now it was impossible to tell if he were in virtual reality. Just as he was finishing stretching his arm to the side he noticed that a ray of light beamed down next to him, and a small body was constructed from within a swirl of golden sand. The being glowed golden before it slumped forward and gained its bearings. Sparrow assumed that he appeared in a similar way. The creature was about four feet tall and was green with pointy ears. One of the weakest creatures in fantasy, especially without numbers to back it up. [Goblin Lv. 5] It looked around in a daze before locking eyes with Sparrow. Sparrow hurriedly looked around him for a makeshift weapon and found nothing. Oh shit- Just as he looked at the goblin it had already produced a dagger from its loin cloth and leapt at Sparrow. The goblin thrusted its dagger and Sparrow just narrowly avoided it by stepping aside. It flew past him and it landed on all fours. Without giving Sparrow a chance to breathe the goblin broke into a sprint and started slashing at him. The goblin cut Sparrow across his leg and he felt the blade effortlessly slash through his sweatpants. A gauge appeared at the corner of Sparrow¡¯s vision. [HP: 89/100] He cursed as he felt the cut, then suddenly the panic set in. Despite having played ReQuest for many years and being in countless sword fights with foes of varying skill, he had never felt the cut of cold steel. And this disgusting creature wouldn¡¯t just settle on cutting him once and would probably aim for more painful areas. Sparrow could barely gather himself as the flurry of swipes continued. The goblin was animalistic and chuckled annoyingly as it noticed his fear. The chuckles only made Sparrow more disoriented. He couldn¡¯t think clearly. After being cut once, Sparrow was more keen on avoiding the blade. It had been only about several seconds but he felt terribly exhausted. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was a game anymore. It all felt too real. The goblin landed a deep cut on his arm. [HP: 78/100] ¡°Fuck!¡± Sparrow wailed. ¡°Hehehehe!!!¡± The goblin chuckled mockingly. Memories and thoughts of people laughing and looking down on him were flooded to the forefront of his mind. Anger exploded within Sparrow. ¡°SHUUUT UUUUP!!!¡± Sparrow roared as he threw a punch with the intent of demolishing the goblin¡¯s face. However, Sparrow didn¡¯t anticipate that it would dodge it perfectly. Sparrow¡¯s heart sank. Diving under his punch, the Goblin lunged forward and drove the dagger into Sparrow¡¯s stomach. A sharp pain spread from his stomach. The goblin chuckled even more. It leapt backwards and yanked the dagger out of Sparrow¡¯s stomach. He stumbled back and cried in pain. [HP: 34/100] Wanting to keep up its relentless assault, the goblin rounded around Sparrow and dashed towards his back. Just as it was about to plant its blade into his back, Sparrow spun and grabbed the goblin¡¯s arm. In that same motion he fell towards the ground and landed atop the goblin. It wasn¡¯t a graceful takedown. Sparrow lost hold of the goblin¡¯s arm upon landing and had to use both hands and legs to try to find a proper position to pin it down. From an outside perspective their fight might look like two kids tussling in the dirt. The goblin thrashed around but with its chest pinned toward the ground it didn¡¯t have any range of movement. The goblin screeched and grunted under Sparrow as it waved its dagger fruitlessly. Sparrow grabbed the arm holding the dagger and then pressed it against the Goblin¡¯s back. Then he began to bend it further up towards the goblins'' head. Its screams grew louder and louder before a snap was heard. It wailed as it dropped the dagger. Sparrow let go of the goblin¡¯s arms and turned it over. He quickly raised his fist and began whaling into its face. A thud, then a crunch, then a squish. Sparrow cried and yelled as he punched it. Raspy desperate cries were heard beneath him. Sparrow noticed the goblin¡¯s health bar. [HP: 193/250] His fists weren¡¯t enough. He took up the dagger and drove it into the goblin¡¯s eye. Again and again. Dark red blood soaked his right sleeve. [HP: 0/250] Sparrow continued to madly drive the dagger into the little monster, however he stopped when the goblin¡¯s existence literally shook. Its body and the air surrounding it visibly vibrated with a black aura before lying still. Then, a notification appeared. [Goblin Defeated] [+200 xp] [Level Up!] Sparrow briefly glowed golden and instantly he felt rejuvenated. Finally the struggling ended and Sparrow groaned as he got off the goblin and sat down a few feet away from it, too shaken to find a better resting spot. He looked at his health. [Health 110/110] Not only had his health increased by 10 points, he was instantly healed. He also gained back all his stamina and he wasn¡¯t tired anymore. It was an unreal feeling after being so exhausted. Sparrow looked over at the goblin corpse and couldn¡¯t help but still feel a bit of vitriol towards it. That¡¯s when he noticed that a trail of floating golden sand was moving towards him. It was like a river of countless beads of light. The sand flew up and into his body, his clothes didn¡¯t seem to impede on the current. Sparrow felt a tingly feeling within himself. If he could describe it, he would say that his heart felt fuller. He opened his stats and saw his soul was full again, and its max amount increased. [Soul:110/110] The value ticked down after a few seconds, but as soon as it did, the sand would replenish it. This caused the stream of sand to just linger around his body before a sliver of it was absorbed. While it seemed everything healed physically and ¡°soulfully¡±, mentally he was still a mess. That fight was bloody and violent. Even more so, it was horrifying. He would never forget the feeling of the dagger cutting him, or the feeling of the goblin¡¯s arm breaking in his hand. The goblin and him bled actual blood. There was no digital glowing red blood on their bodies like in the game. It had never felt so intense fighting monsters in the game. They were less chaotic and fun. He decided it would feel useless comparing anything that happened in ReQuest from that point forward. Although it would be hard not to. Sparrow looked down at his stomach. His dark hoodie was soaked with blood around the cut fabric. He lifted his shirt and saw just his clean unharmed flesh. He sighed in relief. Upon killing the goblin he leveled up and was healed. He wondered what the vicious stab wounds would have looked like if he hadn¡¯t leveled up. Sparrow was bewildered that the dagger in the stomach wasn¡¯t the worst pain he had felt that day. Before Sparrow could stand up and dust himself off, he noticed countless beams of light falling from the sky. Throughout the valley. Beams of light cut through the dark clouds and onto the ground, summoning different creatures, some of them were people. It seemed that plenty of them had already been summoned and finished with their fights, they possibly arrived around the same time as Sparrow. Sparrow assumed that they all would be around the same level as him. This had to be the lower leveled area since the goblin was only level five. He wondered if those people were also players. Possibly this was a trial that wasn¡¯t exclusive to him. Just as he was beginning to feel good at the prospect of not taking on the Valley of Death alone, Sparrow felt the air being disturbed behind him. That¡¯s when he noticed a towering creature was being conjured from a massive ray of light. The beads of light whirled in the form of a golden tornado. Right when Sparrow shot up onto his feet, two grand spanning wings sprouted from within the light. Sparrow peered into the light and at the top of his vision a name appeared. He paled. [Great Plains Wyvern Lv. 70]