[PP-F1] Stranded (Prince, Cr0wn, Paglikha)

[Prince 0]

((Turn order: Prince, Paglikha, Cr0wn))

Prince was completely alone. He entered this death game with his case worker, who promised to make sure he stayed safe and behaved appropriately with the other players. He remembered standing in the center of Starting City, his body going completely numb as he heard the news: there was no way to leave the game other than beating all 100 floors... or death.

“No…” he whimpered, covering his head and sinking to the ground as his legs failed to support him. He sat down and cried. Lindsey sat down as well. She normally was supportive and level-headed, but there was no other reaction to this news that she could muster. “I don’t want to die like this.”

Prince wasn’t healthy in the slightest. He craved death normally, but something about this world made it different. Living in a fantasy world was something that made him enjoy life and want to embrace it. He wasn’t expecting this world to almost immediately turn on him. “I-it’s okay,” Lindsey stammered. “We’ll be okay. We won’t do combat or anything like that, but I’ll practice a little to make sure I can protect you. We’ll stay in Starting City until this all blows over. A lot of the players here are big gamers, right? We’ll be out of here in no time.”

She didn’t sound confident, and who could blame her? Everything was more uncertain than ever. “I’m sorry,” Prince apologized through his tears. “I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

He spent his days carefully weaving in and out of streets in Starting City. His only interactions were with NPCs. The only col that he had was from Lindsey. She did all the fighting and then provided Prince with the col. To keep him healthy, she had him to daily tasks, like talking to “strangers” and buying food and toys. They secretly hoped that something would change every day. They begged for the more confident players to clear the floors and begged for someone to figure out how to take off the Nerve Gear. The only form of entertainment they had was through games they played together and staring at the virtual stars when night fell. Now that he was alone, he had nothing to entertain him. He walked the streets and bought bread to give him some sort of satisfaction, but none came. The NPCs weren’t friends, and he knew they could never be. They were a part of the game and couldn’t deviate from their roles.

“Okay. I’m going to go fight some low-level mobs,” Lindsey said. Prince nodded anxiously. “Can you do your daily rounds while I’m gone?”

“Yes,” he assured her. Something felt wrong. “When will you be back?”

“I’ll be back before nightfall. I don’t want to deal with mobs during the night.”

“Okay,” he said shakily. He knew that every time she defeated a mob, she would send him the col. This helped him during daily rounds, since he would run out of col very quickly with all the candy and cakes he bought. There wasn’t much else to make him happy. He was afraid of balls or any other objects used to play catch, since he hated things being thrown in his direction. The only games they played were with little toys he managed to buy off of the little kids that were also trapped in this death game. “Can I buy cake today?”

“Yes. You can always buy cake… just not too much, okay?”

He nodded again. With that, Lindsey left the inn they were cooped up in. He took a few minutes to build up the courage to leave his room before he actually did it. As he ran around and talked to NPCs, he would get constant gift requests from Lindsey. Around sunset, he noticed that there was a long absence of the gift requests. Did she forget? Or was she back in the room? She usually messaged him when she was back if he wasn’t already in the room.

He hurried back and looked around. The room was empty and it was night. He started shaking as he opened up his friend list. His fears were confirmed—her name was gray with a line across it. His legs stopped working again. He kept telling himself that it wasn’t real. This was a joke, right? There’s no way a video game could actually kill people. There’s no way it could kill someone that meant so much to him. He waited for several hours for her to walk into the door, completely unharmed. She didn’t come.

Prince found himself standing at the edge of Starting City again. It wasn’t even noon yet. The constant loneliness and boredom was eating him away. In a fit of rage, he foolishly discarded all his toys. He was too scared to interact with the children anymore and get new ones, too. “Lindsey!” he called. There was no reply. “Lindsey!”

No matter how many times he called her name, there was no reply. The only sound that greeted him was the empty wind and an occasional grunt from a boar. He lived far too long alone, and he was running out of col. He stopped buying treats and moved into a low-quality inn when he accepted that she was really gone. Now, it was over. He was completely stranded.

He ran out of col. He was out of a room and out of food. He didn’t truly need to eat or sleep, but he did want to hang onto that last bit of human comfort… now, he had nothing. There was only one thing he could do now. There was no point in sitting around doing nothing, and there was no way a coward like him could fight.

“Lindsey…!” he cried. The emptiness was eating away at his insides. There was only one way he could leave this horrible game. He stepped out into the field. He wasn’t far enough from Starting City for a boar to notice him, but he was far enough for damage to be done. He unsheathed his weapon and stared at the blade, tears dripping down his face. “Lindsey, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

The words trailed on and on until he fell to a seated position and his hands were shaking. He was trying to build up the courage to do this. There’s no escape. There’s no happiness here. There’s only pain and suffering. There’s… nothing else I can do. I’m out of luck.

[Paglikha 0]

Kaluluwa began his daily routine sitting in the tavern as usual. Hearing new rumors of the frontliners clearing the floors at now unbelievable speeds. How long it took for the first floor to get cleared... Now all I hear is they defeated a floor boss as if it's nothing. "Cheers!", the crowd rang out and each took a swig of alcohol for the new floor boss that was defeated and the hope to get out of this game. He left the tavern before the memories of his father came back.

He continued on, just traveling around Starting City. He was getting bored of the scenery once again, maybe it was finally time to head up to the higher floors. As if. I can barely take on a single boar by myself. He continued on with his hands in his pockets knowing that as he made these remarks to himself, any friend would be unable to tell his emotions. Even the ones at home, the one that used to live here. 

There wasn't a day when Kaluluwa's thoughts did not include at least one without Juhmer. What would've happened if he stepped out of this shell of a city, outside these walls sooner. Would he have been able to save him? Or would we both have ended up dying. Kaluluwa continued on towards the gate of Starting City. He met a couple of players there before, maybe now he can new ones again.

And that was when Kaluluwa saw him. It was a man with brown hair and blue eyes sitting there. Outside of the safezone. With his blade unsheathed and sitting down. Kaluluwa took out his weapon and walked up to the player and nudged him in the back with his foot. "You alright?", he asked with a monotonous voice while he scanned the area around the two of them, making sure that there would be no threats to their safety. "It's not exactly safe out here. What's wrong?"

((Leave it Paglikha to realize something is wrong but not looking at the person's face in fear of getting attacked by a boar.))

[Cr0wn 0]

Eli told himself once before, that he was never going to go back to the starting city. The place was nothing but a haunted memory of the time he spend locked away, trapped in fear. It was a time he'd much rather forget. However, today, he had to go back to restock some of the basic necessities that were only sold by NPCs in the Starting City. As much as he hated being there, the sound of crowds and the sight of actual real people was a welcome change from the constant stream of NPCs he saw mulling around in the outside world.

The streets were filled with NPC shops, selling anything from food to armour to weapons. Despite this he had never actually bought any arms from any blacksmiths. In Eli's mind, blacksmiths shove up their prices to a ridiculous amount because it a basic necessity that everyone needed. Maybe one day he would open up his own store, where he could forge his own weapons and armour, and maybe sell some of the other stuff he didn't need.

Eli had once considered jumping from the edge of the giant castle he was trapped within. That would have been so much easier than lasting in this hell, however, every time he thought about it, he remembered his sister, who was still on the outside, who probably had no idea he was even in here. He had to get out, just so that he could see her, even just one more time, that's all he needed. He didn't even know where she was, they had lost contact a few months before he came in here, they had had a fight about something stupid and it had haunted Eli ever since.

With all his shopping done, he decided to leave the city, however, he was stopped by something out of the corner of his eye. A blonde kid, maybe still in his teens, was sitting down outside the city, clutching his head. To be fair, this wasn't uncommon, many people in the early days were struck by depression and other stress related illnesses, and many did the same as Eli and struggled to leave the starting city, and probably many people wouldn't for the rest of their time here, if they even got out at all.

He approached the kid and sat down next to him, "What's wrong man?" It seemed to casual to Eli, he didn't know how he would take it, or if he would even acknowledge his presence at all. 

[Prince 0]

Prince shuttered when he was nudged and shot the player who sat down beside him a frightened glare. He struggled to get to his feet, trying to back away, to only fall flat on his butt again. In his stumble, he stabbed his blade right through his leg while trying to catch himself before he fell. The damage wasn't enough to kill him, nor was it particularly painful. He stared blankly at the sword that was poking out through the other side of his leg, sending small red shards floating around the piercing. Knowing it was a weak attempt for suicide, he pulled out the blade and managed to actually stand up after failing the first time.  

He glanced over to his right, hoping to hide behind his case worker and peer out at the strangers. Instead, he only saw the empty space where he wanted her to be. There was nothing but the wind and empty sky over the rolling fields. He held his hands close to his chest, trying to make himself look as small and pitiful as he possibly could. The rapier slipped from his hands and fell into the grass. He was already crying, but being approached by strangers made him immediately burst into a fit of violent sobbing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he repeated through his gasps and choking cries. The thought of getting in trouble for this weak suicide attempt brought up horrible memories, which only made him cry harder. "I didn't mean to. Please don't lock me up again. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" 

He took a few steps back, wishing there was a wall for him to sit with his back to and curl up. Instead, as his feet grazed the grass, the boar in the distance lifted its head, scanning for the source of the sound with its red eyes glowing. 

[Paglikha 0]

A new man with blue hair had just joined them, asking the brunet what was wrong. However, to Kaluluwa's and most likely the blunet's surprise, the man who was sitting on the ground just now had reacted somewhat poorly to the given situation. The brunet seemed afraid of one of them, and Kaluluwa was worried that it was him. He did nudge him, and his face was particularly fearful seeing it the first time as it commonly reminded people of the devilish dead who had no peaceful emotions to part with. In the brunet's struggle, he had accidentally stabbed himself with his rapier and as quickly as it went in, he took it out which was soon followed by the gibberish of apologies and the brunet getting into the fetal position. Glad I know how to deal with these people. Juhmer, really wish you were here... Maybe you could relate with this person on a more personal level than I can. Just because I can deal with them doesn't mean it's easy to do so.

Kaluluwa put away his weapon in an attempt to seem as friendly to the brunet as possible. "Can you give me a hand here?", he asked the newcoming player. "I apologize for scaring you. That was not my intent", Kaluluwa spoke but it seemed insincere given his fixed tone of voice and stone-like facial expressions. "Look, we need to keep our voices down no matter what. Eventually that boar's going to find out we're here by hearing where we are, and I'm not all that strong right now because I just attuned to a different weapon than what I have here." Kaluluwa pat his dagger. "I'm getting a proper replacement soon, but I won't be able to do much." Kaluluwa paused waiting for this somewhat useful and possibly important information to settle in. "My name's Kaluluwa. Screen name is Paglikha. I've been called Kalu by some people that have I have somewhat recently met so feel free to call me that... I guess."

[Cr0wn 0]

Jesus this guy is pathetic. Eli thought to himself. The kid had looked at him like he'd seen a ghost and dived backwards away from him, while doing so, he managed to stab himself in the leg with his own sword. However, Eli stood up in a hurry to try and help the kid, however he was beaten to it, as the third member of their little gang had already stepped up and tried to help him. As the kid stood there, he started screaming apologies, What is wrong with him... Eli kept his thoughts to himself, maybe with the current situation, now wasn't the time for his vain remarks.

The more sane member of their band introduced himself as Kaluluwa. Well isn't that a mouthful. "I think I'll call you Kalu if you don't mind." Eli picked the sword up off the grove below him and took it away from the injured kid. "My screen name is Crown, you can just call me that." The sword was most likely safer away from the kid, otherwise he may just try and hurt himself again, Eli knelt down to him, he was in the fetal position, "I'm going to hold onto this for now, just until you're ok" He then turned to Kalu, "It's only one boar, if it comes this way two of us should be able to handle it, the problem comes if there is more of them, we may not be able to handle three or four, at least not just the two of us." Eli glanced down toward the curled up kid, "I don't really think he's in much position to fight."

[Prince 0]

Prince's weak fear quickly turned to distressed anger. In a childish tone, he snapped, "Don't take my stuff!" He desperately tried to grab his weapon back, knowing well that his next action when he got it back was going to be plunging it into his own chest and letting his health bar deplete into nothingness. He wanted to see those red shards that scattered from his leg erupt around the corners of his vision and completely destroy him. If Lindsey was here, she would’ve been the one to take the weapon. If it was Lindsey, he would know for a fact that he would get it back. She would even give him a time limit. If Lindsey was here, he wouldn't even be at this point.

Realizing that arguing would be pointless and that he was drawing the attention of a boar, he staggered to his feet and stomped back into the safe zone. Once he was standing with his feet firmly planted on the brick road, he held his hand out and growled, “Give it back. Please.”

The ‘magic word’ was spat with clear distain. When Lindsey was here, he was more mature. She kept his stress level low enough for him not to regress back to a young child again. He had only gotten this bad once while she was here. He found a small gold coin on the road, which was some sort of cosmetic collectable. He loved picking up random ‘trash’ and keeping it with him. He picked it up and held it in his fingers, only to have a younger player [censored] it right from his fingers and run away. He hated people taking his stuff. It reminded him too much of the bullies who took his drawings and tore them to shreds back in middle school. Lindsey managed to calm him down after reasoning with the younger player, which Prince failed to do.

He wasn’t even trying to keep his cool now. This death game was a disaster, and it was impossible for him to cope with it and pretend that everything was fine. Other players that weren’t even in his disposition had already died, so why wasn’t he allowed to? He choked up as he remembered hospital staff swarming around him, some even calling him cowardly and selfish. He grit his teeth and stretched his hand wider, waiting for his weapon.

[Paglikha 0]

"Alright then", Kaluluwa said in response to Crown to taking both the blade away and reassuring that they can both take on a single boar. And then all of a sudden the brunet screamed in a shrill tone, "Don't take my stuff!", walked back to the safezone, then asked for his weapon back with clear disregard for the others' reactions. I thought this guy was older than me. Was I mistaken?

"Whatever your name is, stop. I've dealt with people like you, people who let their emotions control their actions, but never I have seen someone regress that much." Kaluluwa breathed in and paused for a second to recollect his thoughts. He was angered by the man who hasn't even introduced himself and, more importantly, irritated so much by how he seemed like Juhmer. Of course however, his exterior wouldn't let this be shown. His voice and body language stayed as eerily normal and indifferent as usual.

"Now let's begin, what's your name?" Kaluluwa motioned for Crown to keep the weapon for now, there was a serious need for an evaluation of the man's sanity. "And what will you do once we give you that blade back? I'm not sure what you have heard, but these boars are supposed to be the easiest monsters in Aincrad. And yet, they have the highest kill count. I don't want you getting yourself killed for no random reason. Out of spite of this virtual world, or because you're so miserable that you don't want to live anymore." Kaluluwa paused for emphasis letting his words sink in. He might have struck a nerve that can either relieve pain and let it all out, or just make this experience a whole lot worse. Either way, he needed to let those words sink in, for better or worse. "No matter who you are, we're in here for the long run. The only thing anyone should remember and know this without a doubt, is that you're not alone. I've had hardships too, we could work it out together." Kaluluwa extended his hand toward the brunet. "Pardon for the first impressions, seeing my face is quite startling." And reasonable, my voice and body language is basically numbed to emotion. But my mind, as far as I know, isn't. Whether the emotions I "experience" is just a coping mechanism and the lack of them showing is a picked up habit, or my mind believes I have emotions but my soul knows I have none is useless to begin to understand. It's an existential question above all.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Paglikha
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