Chapter Text

"Create a new character?" It was the message that greeted me when I opened my eyes, confused. I looked around expecting to see… anything really, yet I was in a black void; the only different thing that was granting me the light was the strange messages in front of me; it looked kind of familiar. 

Looking back, its vibe and style remind me of a pixel game, and only a few games I played enough to become as familiar as this one, so it wasn't hard to deduce which one it was, "Ah, must be a dream." I said to myself as I decided to follow whatever weird dream my brain would brew this time. 
 
I had dreamed of this game before; after all, in an online game where death was permanent, it made sense that my brain would put nightmares where my "escape" button didn't work and panic as I got killed. 
 
Clicking the only available option, I was greeted with the VERY familiar class selection of 18 classes; I thought if I had to start from cero, I would go by the coward option of a priest. This class had weak damage per second but had great survivability, healing himself and his allies with great crowd heals. 

Yet, as I looked at the classes, I wondered if they would let me access my vault because if that was it, I would choose Paladin. This class could increase the max hp of the group temporally, giving a healing effect that would heal a decent amount each second. Not only that, but it also has a "damaging" effect that increases the damage output from all your allies, before it was a 50%, nowadays it only gave a 25% extra damage.  

Paladin was my favorite class for the sole reason that he had at his disposal a rare ability that grant you immunity for about two seconds. In a game where you could "lag" and explode if you were unlucky enough, it was quite a powerful item. 

So, I decided to take my favorite class instead. 

After I clicked on it, it took me to the skins page for some reason. I blinked slowly as I saw the meager selection of skins I had from this class, but it didn't matter; there was one that I found the concept pretty cool and perhaps a little funny. 

"Demon spawn"" where the Paladin would be a demon. Ironic, right? I had one that was rarer and had a better design, but like I said, I found the concept pretty neat. 

To my surprise, the skin had a description, unlike in the game, where it only said the event, where it came, and the year. Yet, I just smiled, as I always wanted it to have a description like the newer skins that came out in the later years of the game.  

I wanted lore; I wanted to know why a demon was a paladin in the first place! So I read! 

"Demons, Normally seen as the natural enemy of Paladins as they are tainted with dark magic, can, on rare occasions, try to seek redemption; most are destined to fail, yet some can use holy seals as signs of their progress. What they lack in their ability to use them is that they make it up with their brutish strength and their holy punishment, not letting them die so easily!"  

-5 wisdom 

+5 Attack 

Bound to flesh [passive]

That… It was new, probably more proof that this was a dream; after all, the skins in the game were all cosmetic stuff, which was fair, as they were hard to get if you didn't pay for them. 

I was curious to check the other ones, yet I just shrugged; if it was harder to kill, all the better, right? So clicking into the skin I went back in attempt to chose my pet, when I again I saw a rare message. 

"Not yet unlocked." 

I stared at the message, my eye twitching a bit, as getting pets to the last stage of "divine" was quite challenging, making the feeling of not being able to use it even more frustrating.

Some pets had the ability to heal you and restore your mana, both abilities that my pet had, being great in most stages of the game.

My survivability went to the floor as my skill in dodging wasn't the best against the most dangerous enemies, even though I had wasted about 1800 hours in this game, probably more. 

I groaned as I had just created the character; it was time to get good, I guess. 

I jolt awake as I open my eyes. As I sat up, I let out a snort; well, that was a nothing burger, all that time thinking- 

My train of thought froze as I noticed something wrong. This wasn't my room, and as I looked around, I didn't see anything I recognized.  

As my heart was pounding in my chest and I went in all four to stand up, I saw something that threw a wrench into my train of thought once more. 

My hand was red… why my hand was red??????  

As I look at them more closely, I wished it was paint or food of some sorts, because god forbid it was blood.

To my confusion and fear, I noticed that it wasn't either of the options listed before. 

My somewhat rough man's hands were now scaly things with very sharp-looking claws. My eyes went wide as I looked down, expecting to see some kind of good news; instead, what greeted my eyes was an unfamiliar body. 

Where I expected to see an overweight body, I saw naked red scales that seemed to cover all of my body except for my legs, which changed to fluffy-looking goat legs with weird looking feet. My chest and shoulders were broader, and my arms were thicker. Yet, where you would expect to see pectorals or abs or any kind of visual musculature expected of such a thick individual, there wasn't Nothing, just a familiar stroke of what a male body would look like, but lacking the specific detail that would make it human. 

As I was processing all this new information, I saw something that finally caught my attention. To the side of my field of view, a familiar hud was minimized to something that wouldn't obstruct my view too much. 

My Life bar was 200, my mana 100, and my "equipment slots" had the starting gear of a normal paladin, aka, Tier 0 short sword, tier 0 seal of the initiate, tier 0 iron mail, and an empty ring slot. 

My eight inventory spaces were empty, and my quick slots only had one meager healing potion. 

What. 

My mind was running one hundred miles a second, and my "hands" were trembling as I panicked; then I stopped, "Oh… I'm probably still in the dream." I said, taking a sigh and standing up. 

This was one of the wackiest dreams I had, for sure, but it wasn't the first time that a dream had fooled me with the old "you woke up" trick, so I just stood up and looked around the room where I was. 

It was a bedroom for sure, a very empty one… full of dust and a bed with an imprint of what I would guess was my body. Oddly coherent for a dream, but I just shrug it off. 

Might as well explore; I wonder if the common superpowers I have while sleeping carry over to here. 

Making a jump, I expected to be able to fly, yet I landed softly in the ground after the pull of the world took me downwards, as it always did.

Well, that was one of them crossed; the other was the ability to stop time for a few seconds, but there wasn't nobody to see if I could do it. 

Taking a walk, I saw that the room was oddly plain, with only a closet and a few pieces of furniture that, when I looked inside them, were Nothing inside. With that explored I went to the only window of the room, only to find out that removing the curtains only grant me the sight of a boarded window. 

Rolling my eyes, I went to the only door in this place, finding to my pleasure that it was open. 

With a huff, I opened the door and decided to explore whatever place I was in. 

It seem that the place in question was an Abandoned city. 

It would be airy if I didn't know this was a dream, all the streets empty and in poor states, many cars seemed to be abandoned in the middle of the street, some with keys inside and everything (and judging by how long they looked abonde) many windows were broken as the doors were more like ripped off their hinges. 

Also, it lacked any kind of vegetation,  where the normal spots that should have some had instead grayish dirt.

I blinked slowly as I saw a car totally destroyed… By something, it looked more like a car wreck, really, except that whichever car that caused this was lone gone, as they were any others that had dents that would had provoke it. 

Well, this dream was oddly dull, and when I was about to pinch myself to wake up, I finally noticed an objective to the top left of my vision. 

"Your Journey"  

-Reach level 20 and become stronger. 

"Survivor"  

-Survive for fourteen days 

I blinked slowly; the only way to get level-ups in the game was by killing enemies, which meant they were indeed enemies. 

The second mission made sense in a vacuum. I doubt I would sleep for that long, really, or maybe the dream would use its way magic to speed up at random times. 

I also saw some times some weird things, buildings that were in bad shape, yet a specific part was very well done, but with different colors or materials.

I snapped around in a startled jump as I heard a squeal; no, that isn't the right word; it was more like a whale of pain, non-human in nature, yet still managed to scare me. Yet it was the only sound I heard in this empty city, so I just flexed my glutes to keep my fear at bay and ran in that direction. 

The whales of pain were heard closer, yet as I tried to follow them, they seemed to be growing weaker. My legs carried me through the empty streets, and like I expected from a dream, I didn't get tired, no matter how fast I ran. 

I collided with a wall when I finally saw it, and that thing made me freeze.  

"What the fuck is that," I said in a high pitch, as I felt my invisible balls go inside me because of how much it scared me. 

It was the spitting image of a horror movie. This humanoid creature dared to be called that by the mere fact that it tried to copy the proportions of a human, yet at first glance, one could see all the things it was wrong with it. The lack of skin made me flinch back, its flesh seemed to shine in the little light that entered this alleyway. 

The damm thing was clearly devouring a still twitching deer, yet as it moved and ate, whatever flesh it managed to put in its mouth fell from its absent cheeks, but it didn't seem to care as it grabbed the chew pieces of meat back into its mouth, probably eating some of the already ground down meat. 

There were two reactions at that moment: fight or flee, and the only thing that made me run to attack it was the assurance that this was a nightmare, and I needed to fight that thing now, or it probably would get worse. 

As I ran, I tried to summon the blade It had supposedly equipped, expecting it as easy as that, yet instead, my claws seemed to grow, and I knew if the game where this stuff came from, then all I needed to do it'swas's to get close enough and… 

SWING!  

My blow seemed to make a cut in the air as it traveled and hit that thing back. 

I expected it to be effective, dream logic, and all that. 

Yet as the air projectile hit it in the back, I saw -41 of damage in red text where it was struck. At speed, it went over its head and faded away, yet that wasn't what caught my attention; it was the fact that a life bar of the thing only moved 3/10 of the way. 

I blinked as I slowly lifted my claws again, only for the thing to suddenly snap its head back to me, making me freeze once more, and that was all that I needed. The creature jumped and tackled me to the ground, putting both hands together. It made an improvised mace of flesh and hit me in the head with it. 

PAIN. 

I froze up as I saw my health bar be reduced by -71, and by the fact I was hurt. 

In a dream. 

YOU DON'T FEEL PAIN IN DREAMS. 

In a panic, I swung my claws again, yet the creature ignored the shallow cut I made to it and started to claw me. 

-21 -21 -21 

As I felt pain again and my life was reduced to just  66 points, my instincts did something because when I closed my eyes and covered myself up, I didn't feel any more hits come. 

Clenching my teeth, I cowardly open my eyes, expecting to see the sky. Yet, the only thing I noticed was a ceiling and my health bar slowly filling up 1 hp point per second. 

As I saw I wasn't there anymore. I looked around; it was the same room I had woken up in!  

Groaning in pain as I felt the claw wounds do something weird, and as I looked down, I was stunned as the wounds knit each other with alarming speed. I half expected to see my HP bar back to normal, yet as I saw it, it was slowly being filled with the same number. 

I was confused, I was still somewhat hurt, and I was terrified. 

What happen? How did  I escape? Then, when it clicked, I saw my hud, where the icon to flee to "nexus" was. 

Did I just… Scaped? 

In the game, death was permanent, which would be terrible if it wasn't for one fact that you could always, with the press of a button, escape instantly to nexus, so as long as you reacted in time, you could theoretically never die as long you didn't risk it. 

Maybe when I gave up and wanted to run away, I accidentally "pressed" it, which was cool. 

Because I survive because of it. 

I was alive. 

I would have rejoiced if it wans'twasn't for the fact I remember what the fuck happened. 

This wasn't a dream, I was really here, I almost died. 

I got isekai, yet a standard isekai protagonist would probably push forward with ease. 

But I wasn't an anime protagonist; I was a normal person. Scratch that; I was a cowardly person, one that hated pain. 

So I broke down and cried. 

---  

Hours must have happened as I hid under the bed and cried, or perhaps it was just minutes; I didn't care; I didn't plan to get out of my hiding spot; I was gonna stay here and wait for rescue. 

What else could I do? I wasn't a warrior or even a brave person, It was true that I read isekai stories, but if I were to get isekai I would rather be sent into a world entire of furries instead! 

Yet I was sent into a damm city desert where all was abandoned, and there was a freak of nature running loose. 

As my tears ran dry, I expected to fall asleep, yet my eyes remained wide open. 

I couldn't sleep. 

Great. 

I always hated my mind; I always found ways to distract it so I wouldn't have time to think, time to remember the stupid shit I did in the past. And now that I was all alone, under a bed in a somewhat dark room, unable to sleep, my mind ran wild. 

What if I died, and that is why I'm here? 

Do you remember that time you panicked when a girl said she believed you got a crush on her when you were 8, Making you, instead of being friendly to her, to start to bully her? 

"GAH! LET ME PANIC IN PEACE BRAIN"!I scream, then in more of a panic, I cover my mouth, not wanting to make known to those freaks where my hiding place was. 

Remember that time you had a crush in-.  

"No." I squeaked out, and I got out under the bed; I needed to keep myself busy, and there wasn't any white noise that would save me this time, so I needed to think about how I would survive. 

I needed to keep busy. 

Biting my nails, I thought what I would have to do. 

First of all, not die, quite obvious, really, if it wasn't for the system where this character and stuff came from. 

It was true that death was permanent, yet half of the joke of the game was about dying and starting from cero. Yet I didn't know if the rogue light element translated to this isekai bullshit, so I had to survive, play it safe, and escape to this safe spot anytime I got hurt. 

In the game, I didn't need to feed, but I didn't know if I would need to eat here either, yet this place lacked vegetation, and I had a feeling that there wouldn't be good food left. I was so distracted by finding something alive in this desolate place that I didn't even try to check if there was electricity. 

Even though I expected it, I was still annoyed when I pressed the switch in the plain gray room, and Nothing happened. 

Well, judging by how the city is, the chances of me finding refrigerated food were slim to none, and with any luck, I would discover canned food. So I stared at the door that would let me go into that abandoned city. 

Taking a big breath, I was surprised by my change of heart and braving into a place where I just saw a monster that would make me shit my pants any time of the week. 

So, opening the door, I went to brave the city. 

I was sitting in the dusty bed again, Looking at the boarded window. 

You maybe think I braved the city, maybe got some food, and come back quick. 

You would be wrong; once I was in the street again, I used the "scape" button and went straight back to the room. 

You might give me the benefit of the doubt yet again, perhaps thinking I looked at a horrible monster and reacted in time to escape or that I was testing if this tech truly worked like I planned to use it. 

But no, I just couldn't handle the pressure. 

Why? Well, I have something to confess: I'm a coward when it comes to scary games, and I'm even worse at them. My curriculum for playing scary games isn't excellent, and my fear was so great that even seeing people playing it scared me a lot. 

Amnesia? When the monster appeared, I hid myself in a closet and STAYED there crying and trembling in fear.  

Lethal company? Literally couldn't play it alone, as the inside of the places to loot made my grow such cowardice that I just pick a item and run back to the ship, calling it a day. 

Cry of fear? Gave up after the monster started appearing. 

Hell, even resident evil 4 (the original, not the remake), when you are in that room where you can hear the fucking breathing and moan of the regenerators, I let Leon stay in that room, crying yet again. I couldn't keep playing until my brother passed that part for me. 

Slender man? I alt+f4 out of it instantly the first time I saw the fucker, and all the people came to the conclusion that it was BORING instead of scary. 

It was true that I was a kid at that time for most of them, but still, I was scared of horror games until today, perhaps just less, yet my fight or flight, the flight always seemed to win.

As I looked at the door with my eyes wide open, my hearth beating fast, I couldn't help but to tremble, not being able to get any courage to go out again.

I berated myself in my head, as I was in a situation of life or death, and all seconds counted for getting any resources in case my body needed food and water, yet here I was, just sitting in my ass, fearful of doing anything.

I could cope with the fact that It was the normal reaction of any person or someone like me, but that didn't take away from the fact that I was doing it.

To make it worse, I always fantasized of situations like this, being isekai, or being a super powerful man, or being smart and resource-full in a dire situation.

Yet, here I was, cowering, fearing the possible things I would find outside.

Even when I knew my attack worked, even when I had a "Get out of jail for free" card, letting me escape to this room anytime I would be in danger.

I was scared. And that ashamed me.

Instead of going to the door, I went under the bed, hoping that hiding long enough would be enough for someone to find me.

I was a coward. No matter how much I fantasized that all I needed was the opportunity to not be one anymore.

I put myself in a fetal position and closed my eyes, hoping that it would help me to fall asleep.

I wasn't a hero. And I would never be one.

---

Being enclosed with my thoughts in the silence of the room was rough, and I didn't know what was worse, the fact I was far away from home, or maybe died in my sleep like the overweight man I was, or that I was finally alone with my thoughts, unable to sleep no matter how much I tried to keep my head empty.

You would be right. The answer was obvious, yet my stupid brain did its best to try to make me doubt it.

I had this problem, no matter how hard I tried to forget or forgive myself because of how stupid I was when I was young, my stupid brain would remind me of all the cringe shit I did if I didn't keep it busy.

It was so bad that I would let out random sounds or "I should kill myself," every time it happened, my family was well aware of these random tics I had, yet it still didn't help my case to not look sick in the head because I couldn't control that ticks at all.

Sometimes, they were mild, making me wince; others were bad, where I did the already mentioned things.

My mother tried to help me accept the cringeworthy memories, explaining that they were only memories and that I was better today.

Yet the sins of my past still crawling at my back.

This time, it wasn't enough motivation to make me take a step outside.

And I keep looking at the only entrance; I only bite my lips, blood coming from them thanks to my sharp teeth.

Seeing my HP bar, I saw something that made me double-take.

My HP had diminished, now only 147 instead of 200.

I Stood up, only to hit my head on the bed, my horn impaling in one of the boards as I wince at my action.

After figuring out how to get free of a jail of my own creation, the wooden bed slams back into position as my horn leaves a new hole in it.

Hissing, I got out and Looked again.

146/147 hp. To my surprise, I saw over my HP bar, where debuffs showed once you are affected by them... I saw some that I was familiar with and a new one.

HP down

A black figure with golden smoke seemed to leave its body.

What the fuck is that? What is that? What is going on?

As expected, I couldn't read what the debuffed did, as you also couldn't see it in the game this system came from; I was only able to see what exactly it did in the wiki.

My eye twitched as I foolishly believed that my HP would remain the same during my level 1 stay, yet I was so absorbed in my self-pity that I didn't notice my HP decaying over time!

Was it because I hadn't eaten? But I don't feel hungry!

Looking at the missions, the thing still said I needed to survive 14 days, so it would be a little too much to start losing max HP already!

I didn't know what to do, and I panicked even more as my max HP went down another 2 points.

What was the cause?!

I tried to remember, yet my head came empty.

My question was answered when a new objective was added to my missions.

-Bravery

-Confront your fears and leave the room.

... I'm being penalized for staying here, or that was my best guess.

That was so unfair.

I looked at the door, which felt bigger and more intimidating.

Not only the THING grab me from my reality and send me here, but the damn thing wasn't satisfied with ruining my life; it also wanted me to battle!

Not fair! Absolutely not fair!

"FUCK YOU!" I scream, pointing at the sky, which is the only thing I manage to utter after all this time.

I tried grabbing my head, but my new horns got in the way, so I just grabbed them. I felt the world spin around me, clearly having a panic attack as I fell into my ass.

I tried to remember the different methods I knew to get control of myself, yet every time I made any progress, the sight of my hp getting smaller and smaller was horrible enough to make me enter another set of panic breathing.

Time passed, and I couldn't overcome my fear.

---

When my HP fell to 100, the mission changed.

-Broken man

-If a broken clock can be right two times a day, you would be surprised what a broken man can do.

Yet, like the coward I was, I was still just in a fetal position, looking at the door.

---

When my HP fell to 50, I just cried more as the text changed again to berate me.

-Scum

-Go outside the room and recover a little of your lost dignity.

This was it; I couldn't go out anymore; one hit of the creature already did over my max HP, so I didn't have a chance at all!

---

When my HP hit 10, the text changed yet again.

-Parasite

-Die

...Maybe I should

---

My HP didn't change from there, yet the damage was already done, all because I couldn't bring myself to try, I'm such a stupid idiot.

I had the chance to change and do something, yet I let this just crush me.

WHY I AM LIKE THIS?!

---

I must have been there for hours, but there weren't any other timers to see the time pass than the mission that said to survive the fourteen days.

Yet I stayed here, drowning in my self-pity as something I feared showed its ugly head.

I started to feel hungry.

I felt ashamed, I felt stupid, and now I wouldn't be able to survive outside.

...

---

I don't know when, but a sharp cry for help and shots fired made me stand up in a panic.

People! and they were armed, it seems!

Yet, as I heard screams and more shots, I had the feeling they weren't winning against whatever things they were confronting.

I stayed there, frozen, not knowing what to do.

"I should wait until I stop hearing sounds." I planned as I didn't want to find out what they were fighting against.

Yet another scream made me rethink this.

What if everyone died?! I would be at the start of all of it again! but what could I do?! I was very weak, and I didn't know shit about fighting!

I tried to think of excuses, yet I noticed that I was doing it again, and I couldn't keep doing it! But as I heard a scream and more shots, I took a step back.

"NO," I gritted out, I had to do something, I couldn't just lay down and fucking die! I had to try! I had to.

And even as I felt my brain conjuring excuses, I took a step forward.

I was scared, but the people who was screaming probably was more than me.

I bite my lip as I stand up, my legs trembling as I approach the door.

I was a coward, yet even I had my limits.

As I rested my hand on the door, I held back my need to go hide again.

I wasn't a hero. But I didn't need to be one to try.

As I heard another cry for help, I slammed the door wide open and ran in its direction, not noticing that my health bar that was only 10 points of HP, was slowly increasing with my resolve.

---

As I got closer, I could see spilled blood on the ground and the corpses of the creatures lying in the empty streets of this forsaken city. Weirdly enough, I saw one small fleshy thing eating the corpse of one of the skinless humans.

I ignored it, as I had to arrive at the origin of the noises of fighting!

Yet my tune changed very quickly once I saw one of the weird turtle flesh eating something that was clearly clothed.

Changing my direction, I kicked the thing with all my strength into a closed wall, and to my annoyance, it only dealt 10 damage.

Yet, as I noticed something viscous adhered to my leg where I touched the creature, I instead felt revulsion when I saw the weird mucus attached to my leg.

I snap back to reality, focusing on the person to my side, expecting to see anything that it was alive, yet, as I saw its face and chest, I put my clawed hands to my mouth in an attempt to hold back the incoming vile at the sickening sight.

The human man had its jaw ripped off, one eye hanging off its face, and slowly bleeding wounds in its chest and arms. I had to admit, like anybody else with access to the internet, I had seen my share of gore that seemed to float around it, so be it a live leak video where you would see a brutal way a human would meet its end or a random video that made you question your mortality as they meet their end in the most quickly and absurdly way.

I, like any common person, felt horrified and sickened by these videos, which horror films and games wouldn't ever do justice to how brutal reality was.

Yet, in morbid curiosity, I couldn't help but repeat the video, like my brain wanted to confirm what it saw was truly the ending of a fellow human, and once the video started, I couldn't help but see the thing that made my stomach drop like it had a rock on it, my gaze stared.

I had heard the phrase, "Like seeing a train wreck or a car crash in action." but I hadn't experienced it until I saw those videos.

But now I knew there was another layer to it; seeing a corpse on a screen and seeing a corpse in real life was so different that I couldn't understand how stupid people addicted to gore say "they are the same."

I didn't know if I should be glad that I felt this way, as I always feared that I was becoming numb to this kind of topic, or if I should be ashamed for even daring to be glad when I had someone dead in front of me.

My attempts to stave off the need to puke were in vain as I took my hand off my mouth and let vile fall to the ground as I put already mentioned hands on my knees. Only saliva and stomach acid came, as I hadn't ingested anything since I arrived at this twisted place.

As I looked back, I felt the need to "escape" to the room once more, to hide away as the apparent danger of death surfaced once more now that I saw what could have been me if I hadn't had that muscle reflex to "press" the button when I was being thrashed down by the first creature I met here.

Yet I knew that would not make my situation any better; I needed food and water, and if I waited another day in the room, maybe whatever thing was giving me this mission would just straight up and murder me for not daring to confront the outside.

So, holding back from wasting any more precious liquid, I approach the body, only to look at the weird creature that was scavenging it before I kicked it. The stupid thing was eating the damm body again! Ignoring my presence like I wasn't a danger to it. In a fury, I swing my arm, my natural weapons sending a slash into the creature.

To my pleasant surprise, the thing received 83 damage as it exploded in viscera and flesh. Some familiar text says I have gotten 5+ experience points.

Then, the fact that I killed a creature processed in my pea brain, and I felt the vile coming back to my throat in an attempt to make me purge my inside yet again.

Yet this time, I managed to hold it back; perhaps it was the fact there was a human body literally a few centimeters away, making me dull to the idea of another dead thing that wasn't a human, or perhaps it was the fury I felt because I just saw it eating the corpse of the just deceased man.

I didn't care, as I just shook my head and Inspected the body. At first glance, I already saw a few things that were of interest to me, the unmistakable form of a canteen, a few pouches, and even a gun! By pure survival instinct, I reached to take the stuff, yet I froze when I registered what I was about to do.

I was about to desecrate a body! I couldn't just do that! Doing it in games was totally different from doing it in real life! Yet, as I heard another scream and more shots, I flinched. Did I really have the luxury of morality right now? in a situation of life and death where I was literally starting to starve and dehydrate?

I bite my lip as I decide to concede the point to myself, arriving at a conclusion if I had the time, I would definitely come back and give the minor decency of burying the body if it was still here.

Taking the stuff, to my surprise, I felt a new muscle twitch in attention to action, which in all fairness was weird as hell, something that wouldn't ever happen in a sane world, yet here I was, confused by this possibility, and deciding to test it.

I almost let out a girly yelp as the belt with pouches was gone in the blink of an eye; panicking, I looked around, trying to find it, when I saw something to my right.

Of the previous empty eight slots of my inventory, now two of them were occupied by what seemed a pixelated version of the belt. That was... surreal, but it also was a demon or teleporting, so it wasn't as much of a shocker.

Shaking my head, I picked up the gun that was in the hands of the dead man, the same muscle seeming to tense at the new item in my hand, so doing the same, the deadly weapon was stored in my inventory, taking a space of its own.

Overlooking the guy again, I saw something glint in the inside of its jacket, so reaching with my hand, I grabbed and pulled, only to find a mag; I didn't know if it was full, having in mind it was my first time seeing one in real life, but I just decided to store it and move on.

Nothing else caught my attention, yet I seemed to forget the essential thing to do when you saw a dead body, and that was to actually clock their appearance and attire for clues, but to my defense, their wounds and things were more eye-catching than that.

First of all, it was a white man; second of all, its brow jacket had a very deliberate patch on its right shoulder of a golden skull with a glowing golden eye (in an illustrated way.)

All the other stuff seemed generic clothing, slowly being tainted with blood, and when I heard more shots, I decided to finally move on and run to the noise.

As I ran, I saw the corpses of similar creatures to the one that almost killed me, and when I saw another body with the same brown jacket with the skull patch, I decided to not lose time and loot only the belt as I ripped it off its waist. And yes, it also made me flinch, yet I didn't stare at its condition for long, the thing that helped enormously to not be as affected by its death as the other one.

Once I renewed my sprint, I could hear how the shots were close now, as I had heard some shots in real life before, and they sounded scaryly similar to these as I closed the distance.

As I sprinted to an interception, I suddenly stopped when I saw what I believed was a bullet fly by it, my heart beating heavily; I walked and peeked against the corner.

What I saw chilled my blood, seven of the same creatures that almost killed me by themselves, seeming to try to break into some windows of a store, probably since the corpses of a few of them were at the entrance, clearly a bad omen for them, forcing them into trying to find other ways to siege the location.

As two of them tried to siege the store by the main entrance, one meet their end by a loud sound that I believed was a shotgun, the other getting filled with bullets, for a few second the thing ignored the pain, only for their wounds to be too great, making it collapse in their sprint.

To my surprise, I saw a dialogue box in the distance; before I could dare to try to read the stupidly small text box, I noticed in the left-down corner of my view what seemed to be the same text but a lot more readable.

Shotgunner: "Shit, please tell me the backup will arrive soon!"

Thug 1: "They say in 15!"

Thug 2: "Like we could hold the position for 15 minutes!"

Crystal: *Crack*

I blink, stupified that the damm left window crystal cracking up had its own space in the "chat" of this situation.

Thug 2: "Yup, we are dead."

Thug 3: "Shut the fuck up Matty, Frank; how many buckshot rounds you have left?"

Frank (Shotgunner): "Only three."

Thug 3: "And There should be only four of them left; we are fine!"

Matty: "You say it like Franky wouldn't miss a shot!."

Thug 3: "Shut up, Matt! Just find a damm room with only an entrance and stop waning."

Shit, they believed they only had four left when I could see clearly they were five, you would think it wouldn't make much of a difference, but I knew how deadly those assholes were at close quarters, and judging by the state of the other bodies of the humans and by the corpses of the monsters I just witness, they needed a lot more pistols shots to take care of just one.

I Had to help! But how?! My attacks could reach approximately 4 extra feet, yet they weren't very effective against these assholes either!

And worse yet, I didn't have anything extra that could h-

Wait, I did have! A pistol icon rested in my third inventory space, but there was a simple problem... I didn't know how the fuck use a gun!

Wait, I didn't even know how to take it out of my inventory! Ugh, why everything cannot be easier!?

Traying some methods to put my imaginary cursor over the gun, I was surprised to see the world actually throw me a bone and to work on the first try.

"Colt .45"

------

Shot a bullet to where you are aiming, dealing 60-70 damage

Range:10

Class-

-A well-known gun across the earth, in its time, was well known as a "sure man stopper" due to its power, yet its low mag size could be problematic in certain situations.

-This specific gun is not in good shape.

Bullets: 5/7

This... This was an item in the same realm as a potion or consumable in the game. How does it work? In the game, there wasn't a consumable like this one, typically being areas of effect around the player that really weren't worth the inventory space or were straight suicide if you wanted to actually get some use of them.

And what was up with the damm range? It was a gun! That thing should have a lot more range than approximately 10 feet or something! I had started to notice each time I tried to think too much, the world liked to kick me in the ass by making a loud noise; this time, it was the window finally giving away at the unrelenting assault of the skinless man.

Matty: "SHIT, Here they come! Frank, you better don't miss because then I will shoot you myself before I go to hell!."

I cursed as the creatures scrambled to enter by the new entrance, so running, I lifted my hands like a weeaboo and said, "Bang!" while I thought of using the gun.

I half expected it to actually work like I thought it would, yet breaking my fantasy, the bullet appeared in the center of my face and shot in the direction I was looking at.

As only two creatures were left outside, the bullet hit one in the back; a message of 47 damage appeared as the creature snapped its head back in an inhuman way, and its twin also looked at me. They change their tune in but a moment, instead starting a sprint in my direction.

In a panic, forgetting the fact that I didn't have to point my hand in a finger gun, I just started screaming like a freak, "BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!" as I took steps back.

I can only be glad that the aiming method of this "item" was using my eyes directly as a "pointer" because if it wasn't, I would guess I would have missed half my damm shots!

I kept aiming at the one that I had damaged before, its HP bar taking jumps into oblivion as each bullet dealt heavy blows to it.

In total, it dealt 174 damage in this second round, and the Bloody head of the creature exploded at the last shot, rolling into the ground. Yet the other one didn't care as it was close.

+22 XP

"Bang! Ba-" I said as I kept trying to shoot, but I had forgotten an important fact... The gun only had five bullets, and I didn't count them.

As the thing didn't get shot, it broke the distance in record time, and In a panic, I swung my left arm. The creature shrugged the slash I made to it, perhaps more resistant to pain than a pussy like me, or perhaps it didn't feel any in the first place!

The thing was at its effective range. One of its clawed hands swiped across my chest, and I barely managed to dodge most of it, a shallow cut appearing on my chest as I felt the sting of the attack; My eyes almost bulged out of my eye when the red bold text showed most of my supposed HP was gone already, by a damm superficial cut!

I didn't knew how things worked in here! Did I instantly die if my HP reached 0? Would I black out and have to roll for death saving throws?! FUCK, WHY ME!? WHY COULDN'T ANY OTHER JAPANESE GUY BE IN MY SUTUATION INSTEAD!? I'M SURE HE WOULD DO MUCH BETTER!

+22 XP

I lose part of my edge at the REAL sight of danger, really thinking of just scaping once more, instead, I took a step back, and I attacked, yet the creature ducked and tried to tackle me. I didn't know what got over me because just in time, I managed to jump over the creature as its tackle went too low, and when I landed on my feet, I turned around and attacked the down creature for 41, which this time let out an inhuman screech in what I could only guess was rage or pain, it was VERY hard to tell.

Spinning around, the creature surprised me by grabbing my right leg and making my trip, and as it started to crawl over me, I attacked it constantly.

-16 -15 -17, WHY MY DAMAGE IS SO LOW?! Wait! I'm a fucking paladin! I can buff my fuckin attack, Im stupid!??

But how do I cast my ...whatever the fuck that is?! Before I could react, the thing punched me in the jaw so hard that It probably dislocated it! -54

I Could see my vision splitting as my brain surely jumped around in my skull, and if I wasn't panicking, I would probably question why I was alive, yet I just tried various things to activate my power!

In my head, I said, 'Gods help me!' Nothing.

The creature clawed my chest! -11

And I did the same to it! -20

Again, I tried! 'Bless me so I might vanquish this thing!'

Nothing as the thing cut my throat! -34

The corner of my vision went red as I knew this was the signal that my health was less than 20%

In an instant, I wanted to escape, to go to the room, to stop feeling this pain that was enveloping my wrecked body, yet the importance of the situation lit a flame in my gut.

I scream, this time at the top of my lungs, "Gods above! Aid me!" A glow flashes in my chest as it extends around me two feet, and from it, a warm I was unfamiliar with envelops my body as my form shimmers with a white wisp. In an instant, I swung my attack with all my might.

My attack struck true as I gauged out the eyes of the thing, which, in a screech, covered its now empty sockets with its hands as it left my lap and stood up.

"Not this time fucker!" I cried with fury as I stood up with him and attacked again, this time taking its ugly head from its shoulders. -81

+22 XP

In an instant, all my wounds disappeared in a flash, as victorious music resounded in my ears, which I guessed I was the lone listener.

Reached level 2! +25 HP +5 MP, +1 ATT, +1 DEF, +1 SPD, +1 VIT, + 1 DEX, +2 WIS,

I was stupified by the sudden lack of pain as the divine wisp stopped flowing across my body and as the decapitated body of the creature fell to the ground with its head.

I blinked, and Looking at the two stats, I could see easily.

HP: 146/146

MP: 105/105

What!? When did my HP get so high!? Well, more like almost normal to a paladin LV 1

Wait, was that why I didn't die when the skinless man was kicking my ass? Because my HP was... 121?

Oh... Well, thanks, whatever parameter decided to give me some of my HP back.

Oh, here comes my need to puke.

As I put my hands on my knees and spilled saliva and stomach acid again, I just stared at the ground. Just in less than 24 hours, I had met almost certain death, not only once, but two times.

Terrible.

My eyes snapped to my experience bar as it moved, gaining 33 XP points as I heard a shotgun being fired.

"What?" I mutter when I remember a simple fact about the game.

"Right," I said; I had forgotten that you could get experience points as long you were closer to an enemy that was defeated. If I had to guess, a creature died inside the store.

Shaking my head, my brain seemed to decide my mental anguish could wait until it knew I was safe, but it was then I noticed something odd at the feet of the creature I had just killed.

"Why is there a pink bag at its feet..." I said as I walked to the bag; opening it, I blinked, confused; inside it was a small red gem on a silver ring that was a little too small for me to use; picking it up, I instantly felt the new muscle twitch, and I flexed it to my inventory.

Sure thing, that was a T1 HP ring... That was incredibly lucky.

I looked over the body of the creature, then blinked, "Perhaps not." I muttered as the enemy was way more dangerous to drop such lower-quality items.

But since beggars cannot be choosers, I just sighed and moved my imaginary cursor over it.

Ring of Health

A topaz set in a silver ring.

Tier 1

On Equip: +30 HP

I think of wanting to equip it, and it obeys, going into my empty ring slot.

Well, my health once more was at its normal level, its max number being at 176.

My regeneration was slowly filling up the new pool of HP of the ring, and since I had to test something anyway, I tried using my paladin bullshit.

First, I tried praying in my head, 'Please, Gods, aid me.'

... Nothing.

This time, I tried saying something aloud, "Please, I pray for your aid."

In an instant, a glow coming to my chest made a wave to about two feet across me in a circle. I felt the same warmth envelop me as my body glowed.

Seeing my MP bar, I saw my mana was at 47/105 and slowly adding up.

Well, now I knew I had to pray aloud to activate my paladin power; it probably didn't matter what I said as long as I assimilated a prayer.

I guess it made sense why, when you got silence in the game, paladins and other classes couldn't cast their spells, as it was a verbal activation... I wonder if I could still do it if my tongue was cut.

Shaking my head, I looked at the other one I had killed, wondering if it also had dropped some common loot of the game.

Nope, "Unlucky," I said under my breath. I took a deep breath and went to enter the store by the door. "Hey, everyone alright? I k-" As I put a feet in the doorway, I let out a screech as the most intense pain I felt in my life exploded in my chest. I fell into my back at the shock of the pain.

-8, -8, -8....................-8 (Total -168!)

Then I register to me the unmistakable sound of a shotgun and its used round falling to the floor.

I tried breathing, but I felt even more pain, so I just wheezed some more as my perforated lungs did their best to take some semblance of oxygen.

"Well done, Franky. Good thing you had another bullet for this freak." I managed to hear over the ringing in my ears, the hud being oddly clear.

7/176 HP

If I didn't have the ring equip, I would have died.

"What is even this thing? Some kind of weird demon? I swear this things takes the oddest of forms." A gruff voice said.

I tried moving my body, yet I couldn't move in any other way that wasn't twitching and jerking at the feeling of getting shot by a shotgun at Point Cero.

As I moved my eyes, I looked at one old man with a gray beard and hair.

In slow motion, the man was lifting his gun to my head, and then. Finally, I knew I had to do what I wanted to do from the beginning.

I "press the button" to escape.

For a moment, everything went white, my body becoming a beam of pure light.

And as just as fast as it came, I landed in the soft bedding.

Yet, in my pain delusion, I spun and fell to the floor, aggravating the wound on my chest even more, yet I didn't care. I didn't manage to stand up, so I crawled, crawled where? I don't know, but when I came back to my sanity, I was curled over in the damm closet as tears came from my eyes.

Looking at my HP bar, I saw it now had 27/176, and breathing was a lot easier, yet I could swear I still had the stinging pain of all those pellets encrusted in my body.

"Gods above, aid me," I whisper, as I feel the familiar warmth fill my body as the wisp of divine light detaches my being.

My regeneration incrinsed greatly, now recovering 21 hp per second, yet as two seconds passed, the glow left my body, and my mana didn't recover enough for another prayer.

My HP now was 69/176, and I wasn't even in the mood to joke about the funny number.

It was then that I started to cry again, yet I came out of the closet as I gritted my teeth.

I fell to my knees as I did my best not to scream, yet I failed the battle as I did my darn best to destroy my vocal cords, "FUCK YOU, WHAT IN HELL WAS THAT, YOU SON OF A BITCHES? I HELP YOU, AND YOU SHOT MY AT FIRST S-"

I froze because now I understood the obvious thing; seeing a small reflection of myself on the floor, thanks to my tears, I saw my demonic visage.

I gritted my teeth.

And then I had a tantrum.

I screamed, I attacked the bed, walls, and floor, and I hit myself in the head multiple times.

How I was so foolish to think I wouldn't get attacked looking like this! I didn't look human! I look straight like a demon taken from any generic story! So I whaled and gritted my teeth in the end.

The only things that remain are the closet and one piece of furniture.

The couch remained mostly intact, but the bedframe was absolutely destroyed due to me slamming my feet into it.

I held my hands in my horns, my eyes clenched as I did my best to not keep destroying my safe room.

"Me and my stupid brain for choosing this damm skin!"

It is true that I couldn't have known that this was indeed a reality and my action would have such grave consequences, yet I still felt rage and sadness; I blew my chance to actually get help, all because I liked this STUPID skin!

"DAMMIT!" I whaled again before slamming my head against the ground, "Not fair."

When I lifted my head and finally paid attention to my missions, I saw something odd.

-Even a broken man can be right two times. *Completed!*

-Get out of the room (done)

-Kill one of the kinds of enemies that haunted you! (done)

Reward: Your favorite item!

"...What?"

The text of the mission was green, but if I remember correctly, I had closed the option to get that mission in the first place, thanks to my cowardice. Yet here it was, saying that it would give me my favorite item.

I could make a few guesses, but I should probably accept it to confirm it anyway; speculation wouldn't help me at all. I had to see how to accept the mission rewards, "Accept rewards."

Nothing.

"Accept even a broken man can be right two times."

Nothing.

This time, I tried using my imaginary cursor to "click" it, and instantly, a pop-up appeared in front of me.

-Congratulation!

- +0 XP!

- Seal of Divinity (Shiny) added to your gift vault!

Warning: This was the last item of its kind on your legacy vault; YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GET ANY MORE OF IT THROUGH MISSIONS.

I was bewildered and just stared at the box that, after a few seconds, disappeared. A sudden noise made me jump a few feet into the air and land on the destroyed bed, splinters trying their best to enter my flesh but not being hard enough to do so.

As I recovered from my landing, I saw something that didn't fit with the room at all, a huge blue chest with a golden rim that opened on its own, a red crystal gem where the keyhole would be, its inside unnaturally black, giving the idea that it was closer to a bottomless pit instead.

I easily recognized it, as it was used a lot in the game.

The gift chest was all the items you got from missions and daily logins or free rewards... and the things you purchased with real money. Whatever, all that stuff went there so it wouldn't use space in your normal vault, as the number of items would be very big, and that thing had infinite space, the catch is that you couldn't put the items in there manually, even if said item you got from the gift chest itself.

As I stood up, I went and looked over it, expecting to see the said seal, only to see a window appear in front of me, hovering over the chest, where the image of the object made my heart jump as I lifted my hand and double tap it in a heartbeat.

Instantly, the object jumped to my inventory, and the gift chest snapped closed.

I stared at my inventory hud, seeing the most-priced item of my collection in the game.

I would have to explain a little bit so you understand how much I liked this item.

This item was a "White," which were all items that were the highest rarity items of the game, that not only had abysmal drop chances but also normally had great or powerful effects.

Not only that, some of them had a "Shiny variant," which, if you are familiar with that one game of capturing "monsters" with balls, you will have a fair idea of what it meant.

Only one in ten whites of that kind (statistically) was shiny, and even though that didn't add any special effects to the object, it was still something that filled your brain with dopamine if you were hunting for it or got it by mere chance.

Some of them made the item look great, and for this specific one, it looked even better than that.

This seal, the normal color, would make it a very black circle with some detail to make it look like a metallic object, yet its shiny version made it look purple, which was my favorite color.

I still remember the moment I got it, I decided to shiny hunt for it since it was my most favorite one, and I fully expected to waste one month or more on it, to kill so many monsters that dropped it, to have so many normal copies of it, that I would use anyway since the item was so good, yet I got the thing in my second drop of the item.

I still remember the post I did in the discord server of the game, one of them even wish me death for being lucky to get it.

But the color was a nice plus, but the most important part of this object was its powerful ability effect for a paladin that was on its own (or if they were particularly uncaring of its teammates); for the price of 120 mana, you would become immune for up to 2.2 seconds if you had your wis stat maxed, with a cooldown of five seconds that went down even when you were immune!

And in a game where no matter how much you buffed your stats in endgame dungeons, you could always get squashed if you slipped ONCE, it was pretty powerful... Even more so if you count the curse known as lag.

Lag in video games was known for being pretty deadly in most games, but in a perma-death game, you could guess how frustrating it was to die by it. You see when you lag, all enemies stop shooting and move in the same direction they were last moving.

All right there, right? You would think, "Surely, once you reconnect, the enemy will go back to normal, and all business will resume," right? Wrong; once you stop lagging, ALL the bullets that were shot while you were reconnecting would be shot all at once, making walls of bullets impossible to dodge or that would instantly kill you if you were to try to walk over them.

But when you have an item that would make you immune to all incoming damage? That was practically a "get out of jail" free card for an unjust situation like that. You could even use the item while lagging, which would be instantly used once you reconnect. It would save you if the bost was hyperactive and moved all over the screen, shooting its load of bullets all over the place.

For me, this item was a must if the servers were lagging over the heart attacks they got all of a sudden, and it saved me many times. The only bad part is that, since it is a active power, when you got silenced, you were unable to use it at all, meaning that if you depend on it too much and you didn't notice if you got silenced, you would die by flying too close to the sun.

This item was my favorite, and I loved having it. It was an immense comfort having it in my inventory right now... The only bad part right now was that I couldn't use it at all since my max mana was 105, and I needed 120 to use it.

Three more levels... Well, now I have a great incentive to kill monsters.

I looked at my torso, which seemed to puke some of the pellets that I got shot with just then, reminding me of all the close calls I got in just ONE day.

I was about to stay here... Again, yet I couldn't excuse it; I was gonna have to go out.

Wait, now that I notice... I didn't feel hungry anymore or the need to drink water.

Why would it-

The level-up... The damm level-up probably did that, as it literally restored my body and HP instantly.

That was good to know, but I shook my head as I saw the rest of my inventory. The munition of the gun had its own space, and the two belts occupied two spaces of its own.

Moving my imaginary cursor over them, I read the description.

"Belt of goods"

"Belt full of goodies, using them would cause all of the items to go into the inventory, with the excess falling to the floor." That... Was it hard to just tell me the loot?

Yet I would rather prefer to see what stuff they had by hand, so I did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to "click" and drag the item outside of my inventory.

It worked as intended as suddenly the belt appeared in front of me, and by pure instinct, I tried to grab it, yet the dammed thing slipped and fell to the floor anyway, so taking a big breath, I crouched down and picked it up.

After all, I was used to fumbling the bag, it was in my DNA, and getting upset about it would only make it worse.

Looking at it, the things it had were two oat bars, a canteen half filled with mystery liquid, and when I sniffed it I made a face at the strong alcoholic smell. Fucking, of course, they wouldn't have water; who needs water when you have alcohol, I'm right? "Fucking stupid," I muttered as I put the lid back on it and checked the other patches.

A... Extendable Riot Baton, made from what looked decent quality steel, "This could be useful," I said as I put it in my inventory, reading the description.

"Telescopic Folding Baton"

Classes:---

A baton capable of folding into itself is useful for self-defense against your fellow man but not so useful against real monsters.

Range 2.5

Ok, maybe not, the range was trash, and judging by the flavor text, so would be the damage... I guess it made sense that my real sword beat it even if it was the most common sword in the land.

I dropped it in the closet and moved on. Seeing the last pouch, I open it, only for my eyes to go wide at the iconic black object.

With care, I picked it up and saw a Taser or stun gun (a name that is kinda misleading since it didn't shoot anything), but the weirdest part of all seemed to be heavily modified, having two extra batteries attached to its sides. Not knowing what exactly I was looking at, I took the thing to my inventory, where a pixelated version of it appeared.

"Modified stun gun"

A heavily modified stun gun made to unload all its power into one discharge, an action that will fry the circuits that power it. Using it against a creature would provoke a great reaction that might accidentally kill it.

Damage: 125-140

Bullets:1

Range:3.5

Stun duration:3 seconds

Paralysis duration: 4 seconds

Consumed with use

Quick slot stack limit:1

That... It is pretty good; I wonder if it only has these effects, thanks to the fact that it is now in my system because they are in my inventory, or if it will do something similar if I were to use it normally...

It's too bad I won't be able to experiment, keeping its description in mind, so I just did the smart thing and put it in my empty quick slot.

I kept seeing the other spaces of the belt, yet they didn't have anything, so I left it in the closet, too.

Taking a look at the other one, I was pleasantly surprised that the canteen was full of water. Yet, as I checked other pouches, I found an almost-empty Doritos bag... that looked, smelled, and tasted expired.

Terrible, the two other finds were mixed; one was a lighter, the other a flashlight that had a decent amount of battery.

Storing them in my inventory, I noticed something annoying, they each used an inventory space, yet surprisingly, even myself, I just took them out, put them back in the belt, and adjusted them to fit my own waist.

It worked well, yet even I could see the pros and cons of this.

Pros: It didn't use a lot of space in my weird game inventory.

Cons: It was in plain sight, meaning if I were to get into a fight, they were able to get damaged, or even if I were to fall into the water, the lantern and the lighter would probably die at different levels each. I did not even mention the pickpockets, as someone could easily rob me blind without me noticing.

Yet my inventory space was VERY limited, with each item seeming to use one or more spaces depending on what they were. Why couldn't I have isekai with one of those stupid tropes of "cheat skill" and have infinite inventory space?

Alas, life wasn't a stupid anime meant to have a power-trip fantasy, even though I did get isekai. So I arrived at the conclusion that I would only store the important things in my inventory, with things I didn't care about losing in my person with backpacks or belts like right now.

Taking a big sigh, I decided that I stalled enough by seeing the loot I got, and I was about to go out when I remembered something... Didn't the thing say I could change my skin any time I wanted? Frowning, I walked to the closet, "If it is like in the game..."

"Use," I said aloud, again cringing at the embarrassing trope.

A panel opened, and my eye twitched yet again.

"Skin change in cooldown- 7 days"

I gritted my teeth and kicked the damm thing, "This isn't-" I changed my voice to sound stupid, "Available at all times-" I went to a furious voice, "You bastard!"

Grumbling, I walked and went to the door, preparing for my "adventure" ahead.

God, I hope I don't find anything worse than those fuckers.

---

Going outside, something caught my eye and made me squint quite hard.

You see, I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I could see the HP bars of the guys I fought and even of the good-for-nothing humans that were about to kill me. Fallowing so far? Well, now I was seeing at one... That was down from a Trebol.

I looked around, seeing if I was hallucinating right now since I hadn't seen this trash when I came out of the building where my safe room was.

Yet everything seemed fine; actually, now that I paid attention, this place lacked vegetation by a LOT, like it was totally devoid of it, which is probably why I even noticed this trebol with an HP bar in the first place.

So, looking back at the thing, I just stared at it for a moment, "I swear if you are some kind of mimic or monster..." I muttered as I crouched down and tried to pluck it.

Tried was the important part because the dam thing was stuck to the ground like it had gorilla glue. "What in the actual fuck" I said with grunts of frustration, failing over and over again to rip the thing off the concrete it was.

In my fury, I took my nails out and swung at it, and to my annoyance and amusement... the thing received 78 damage and the cursed life bar only moved 1/8 of the way.

"How the hell does a trebol of three leaves have more HP than me?" I said, defeated, raising my hands and attacking the thing another 7 times.

My eyes opened wide when the thing actually dropped a golden bag when it died. I picked it up and saw two things inside; the first one was a golden key with a purple gem encrusted on it and a glass full of... foamy green liquid.

"Oh god," I said, thinking hard about what damm day was before I woke up here, "It was March, right?" For a moment, my face was blank, and then I facepalmed with my free hand, "Is this because... of the St. Patrick's Day event?"

Taking the things in my inventory, I check the items.

Saint Patrick brew

A special green brew for St. Patrick's Day, Heals and invigorates your fighting spirit.

Effect:  +100 HP, +100 MP,  ATT boost (+20 ATT),  DEX boost (+20 DEX) for 25 seconds,  Drunk for 8 seconds

Quick Slot Stack Limit:  6

Potion

Feed Power:  250

Exalted Mystery Key

Grants a random Key when used!

Oh god, this... the brew is nice in case I need to heald and do some great damage, but the DAMM key.

Keys are used to summon a specific dungeon entrance, and each dungeon in the game has its own difficulty, but this specific ones were known as the Exaltation dungeons. Long story short, if you had all your stat max and did these dungeon a certain amount of times, they upgraded a specific stat permanently, meaning even if you died, it would have the stats already up.

Of course, there was a limit to normal stats to +5 and hp and mana to 25+, yet they still added up in the long run.

But I'm going out of topic on these stupid dungeons; I couldn't EVER dream of doing them alone; even if I had all my equipment and powerful characters, I would struggle, as I never DARE to do them solo.

If I tried to do any of them with my level and stats, I would die quickly and in an instant... Oh god, forget about it; I don't have an IDEA how they would work if I were to try to do them now, as I was in first person, and it was a lot more reactive.

In other words, "Haha, no, thank you."

But as I thought about it, It was true I wouldn't try to do it now, but seeing which key I would get could be important.

So, double-clicking it, I saw the key transform too... Spectral Jail Key.

That... That could be actually pretty big, it was true that all bosses would kick my ass, but the minions weren't that hard in the game, and each of them had a chance to drop an important item, and a consumable called Spectral Ration, one of the most useful items in the game, healing you a respectable 120 HP, and giving you +8 def for 8 seconds.

But the important part was in the literal name, RATION, that was food, actual food that probably had a lot of calories, which I would survive long with.

If I ever reach level 20, I won't be able to heal and refill my health with level ups, aka, not healing to full mid battle.

Staring at the key a little longer, I nodded, "That is a plan for the future me."

I went back to exploring, and I hoped to find more clovers if their loot was this good.

---

[Rolls for loot, 43, 15, 5 ] (Low is better)

I have destroyed 7 clovers, and each of them is as tanky as the other.

What great loot I got, you ask? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

It was beginner luck all along; it always has been.

The good and bad news is I haven't found any creature, meaning no danger of dying, but also no XP.

The good and weird news is that while walking, I found a strange... good state "corner" compared to the city, which was filled with cracks and seemed about to crumble buildings; this thing was pretty good.

What? Ah, you are asking why I only said corner... simple, it was that, in a suburban area of this place, in a badly state home, there was one whole corner that was clean and a different color in the home it was incrusted in.

Weird right? How that happens? I don't know; maybe someone remodeled ONLY that part... Yeah, no, that doesn't make sense.

Now that I think about it when I was walking around and still believed this was a dream, I saw stuff like this, yet I ignored them, instead trying to find something to fight like an idiot.

When I went inside the building, I was in the same state of things: furniture that was full of dust, some broken stuff, etc.

Then, It was the corner that was out of place.

One clean desk with a broken monitor and one PC gamer seemed in fair shape, yet I doubted it would work even if I found electricity. The oddest thing was a refrigerator was literally cut in half.

I could start to speculate, but my brain was busy looking at the price and glory, which made me glad I checked the oddity.

A box of protein bars (15g), at the start, I believed it was full because of the way it was open, but they just had put back the "tear easy" part to make it look like that, so, in reality, they were just fourteen of the sixteen possible amount.

And then, for some reason, there was a creatine thing right beside it.

Odd, I know; it was like practically the world wanted me to start building muscles, but coming back to the topic. The cylindrical recipient had a decent amount on it, which was mostly full. How much exactly was it? I don't know; the important part was that it had over half.

To be honest, I was happier with the bars since the creatine wouldn't give me any calories to my body. But maybe having something to help my body recover naturally would help.

As I put the things in my inventory, I read the description of both of them.

Creatine (71% full)

Made with the objective to incentivize muscle growth, plus some health benefits! Consuming more than 5g per day is not advised.

Feed power: 0 (please don't feed the whole thing in one go)

Box of protein bars (15g protein) (Berry flavor) 14/16

Great for getting your daily dose of protein! ...Sadly their berry taste is pretty mild.

Effect on Self if used from inventory:  ATT boost (+4 ATT) and  VIT boost (+4 vit) for 600 seconds

Potion

Consumed with use

Feed power: 2186 (159x14)

...Well, now I know that normal-world calories are about one-to-one to feed power.

And before you think, "If you are in danger, just consume ALL of them for +52 atk and vit!" it doesn't work that way; each consecutive use of an item that gives you stats points temporally, its effectiveness is reduced by half until the only number left to give is less than one, were it gives you nothing.

Traduced, the most of it I would get is +7, which is still cool.

Wait, why in the fuck normal world item count as items?????... And why doesn't creatine give stats, too? What are the criteria? Would it feed me if I used them from my inventory?

I mean, it does specify that I have to use them from the inventory for them to work, unlike the other items of the game I have, but it still confounds me.

I was about to leave when I looked at the computer, specifically, the "tower," as they are called in my country. Just out of curiosity, I touched it, and I flinched away when I felt the "muscle" tense, telling me that it could be stored in my inventory.

"Why, what?" I muttered as I put my hand back, storing the thing in my "backpack" and filling my slots. Which gave me the question of what criteria things occupied more than one inventory space?

Yet I check the description of it.

"PC gamer"

Most of their parts are in good condition , yet it would require someone to modify it to make it work and perhaps a few enchantments to use magic instead of "electricity," as these lands aren't well known for having that to spare.

Crafting material

That... It was cool to know. Actually, it gave me hope that I would have access to a computer in the future!

But then I noticed a sense of dread, quite confused; I looked outside, only to see it was fastly becoming night.

A new mission appeared to me left.

Brave the night!

-Stay outside of your refuge for 7 hours during one night!

Reward: ???

That was... Ominus, to say the least.

My fear was confirmed when I heard multiple inhuman howls all over the place.

"Uhhhhhhh, Nope"

I then scaped back to my safe room by pressing the "button."

---

As I appeared in the room, I could still hear the inhuman screams that chilled my blood; it made me wonder why they would announce their presence like that, but I didn't care.

I was so scared that I went to the closet and moved it over the door, not wanting to have any chance of them entering my space.

The night then was unbearable; they never shut up, my paranoia increased with every shout of the creatures, and things got worse when one of the screams sounded literally outside of the room.

When I believed things wouldn't get any worse, the bloody building started to tremble, and no, it wasn't an earthquake, as they had a rhythm to it, to be precise, the one of someone walking.

I really didn't want to find out what in hell provoked that effect in its surroundings.

As I wanted to distract myself, I put some stuff in this room, as my inventory was full.

PC gamer, stored, gun? Loaded. Creatine? stored.

---

I hated this place; I couldn't sleep at all; I didn't know if it was because of all the terrible sounds outside or if it was because I didn't need to sleep in this body.

Pros: I can remain on guard ALL the time; gods know I have played games with mechanics that fuck you if you ever sleep in not a safe place.

Cons: I have to stay awake and listen to these bastards do their mating calls all through the night, and even if this isn't a game (as far as I know anyway), my mental still will be affected by this bullshit.

When they stopped screaming and I could see some light coming from the boarded windows, I knew I had survived the night.

I still wanted SOOOO bad to just stay in the closet in there, yet I knew something very important now; the night was bad, meaning that the sunlight was pure gold, and I wouldn't waste any daylight from now on.

But before going, I saw the sheets of the bed, which were fairly intact, and if I didn't want to get shot at first sight, I should try my best to hide my odd body away.

So, taking it, I cover most of my body; when something odd happens, for some reason, the sheets let me see through like it was nothing on my face...

Odd, but useful, as now I could hide my face even more effectively.

It was a little annoying to make some holes for my horns, yet with pure brute strength, I just pushed the sheet to tear into it with my horns.

Now free, I finally went out, fully hidden and not affected by it thanks that worked like a cloak.

---

[roolls of the day 31-14!-37-35-100...] (High is bad, low is good)

My loot of the day was something REALLY important.

Can you guess what?

Food? Nah.

Something to drink? nope.

Something to defend myself? Nu-uh.

Just some holy toilet paper, a full pack of four!

The thing was an extra soft one, too! Now this bad boy will spare my ass when the time comes, isn't that great?

Everything was going great! Well, besides the fact that I don't have any REAL food, but I was getting there. Talking about that, I was starting to look around for more places to loot, as I didn't get too much.

I felt something was wrong and I suddenly was on guard when my eyes noticed something red, and as my head snapped in that direction, I raised my hands. I saw one of the flesh creatures, yet this one seemed a little different, smaller, with less muscles on its body.

When the creature saw me look at it, it froze on its way to a hiding spot, making me tense up, as it was clearly sneaking.

"Were you trying to assassinate me, you son of a bitch!?" I said, running at it, yet something happened that surprised me; the little fuck started to run away from me!

I took chase since if it was scared of a "fair" battle, it must mean it was fairly weaker, meaning free XP.

After all, my XP bar was at 11/150, and I needed to level up!

The bad thing was that the thing was faster than me, which made sense since my SPD stat was so low, yet I could probably beat it in stamina.

As I hurried behind it, the thing went into a corner and when I was about to turn too-

A sudden iron bar was swung and my eyes went wide open when FIVE of these little things were wielding the damn thing, and I didn't have time to move out of the way. The thing hit my forehead with a metallic sound!

-52 [124/176]

I almost fell to my ass as I took some steps back, with "SHIT" I grabbed my head in pain, that in hindsight was a mistake, as it gave time to the little bastards to jump me. Three of the devils went for my limbs!

I managed to take one of my arms out of the way, yet two got to their objective, grabbing my left arm and my right leg.

As the one that missed fell to the floor, the fourth one started to attack me! Even with the two little bastards weighing me down, I managed to dodge one, yet as they went for the next one, I got hit!

-12! [112/176]

I held back a curse, and instead, I prayed, "I pray for aid!" I shouted as I lifted my arm and swung to the one that hit me; the one holding me back noticed this and moved me to fuck my aim, yet I held steady as I clawed the bastard two times, killing it with 68 and 71 damage.

XP+12

Regenerate +42 [154/176]

I scream in pain as the ones holding my limbs bite into my extremities and put their claws into my flesh, 12x2, 10x2,

[92/176]

"You little bitches!" I raised my arm to attack the one holding my arm, yet the one that had missed my limb attacked me from behind, I felt the searing pain of getting clawed by his two hands that made me curse, 12x2

[68/176]

I went through my attack, managing to hit the thing in my left arm in the head, -57.

When I believed I was about to get breck again, something happened that I didn't expect.

"Leave him alone!" A high-pitched feminine voice shouted, and a sudden bright light followed by a small thunder sound got me by surprise as all the things were hit by a current of electricity.

All of them started to receive damage, 13; I don't know how many times, but it was more than once!

+13 XP

The one that was holding my left arm fell to the floor, convulsing at the shock, and the thing Snap fast as I clawed was the only thing holding me back; the thing didn't last long, as they only seemed to have 100 or so HP.

+ 13XP

As I turned around, I saw the one that wounded my back clawing at me, and even as I tried to dodge, I got hit in both his attacks! -12x2

[44/176]

Wounds were starting to add up as the bastard clawed one of my eyes, making me go blind for a moment as I gritted through the pain, it wasn't hard to hit him now that all my limbs were free, my sharp nails perforating his skull.

+13 XP

When it fell, I started to breathe heavily, holding back the need to press "Scape" since someone had helped me, and I didn't want to disappear in front of their eyes.

"H-hey? Are you ok?" The same high pitch  female spoke, and I turned around to see my savior.

"N-not really, but I should be f-"

I received five damage as I bit my own tongue at the unexpected sight in front of me.

"H-Hey, easy now! sit down, you will aggravate your wounds!" The creature said, probably worrying that my spitting blood was actually because of internal bleeding and not because I just bit part of my tongue off.

Standing, or more like flying in front of me, was a very familiar nimbat. Her fur was orange, and her underbelly was white; her two emerald eyes glimmered with worry, the thing that made me see the bags under them, clearly not having been sleeping correctly lately; being about two feet tall without counting her ears, her two bats like wings were keeping her flying as she held her hands in front of her like she was about to try to catch me if I were to fall.

Oh god, she was nude; it was true she lacked any breasts and that her fur did a decent job of hiding her genitals, yet I still felt a blush blossom on my face as I looked away.

I could only be glad that whole being was already red, as what was showing of my face in the "robes" would give away my embarrassment.

Feeling my tongue bleed, making my mouth taste like iron, I looked at my MP bar, and I simply said, "I Phray for yiling." I half expected it to not work, yet I was gladly surprised that the wave of white traveled about two feet around me, and I felt the warmth that always came with using my skill.

"Epp!" The nimbat said as she flew back at the sudden light that went away as fast as it came.

My tongue knitted itself together as the wounds in my arms, chest, and legs healed a little bit.

Reg +42 [82/176]

Mana [7/105]

"Uh, did you just cast healing magic in me and yourself?."

Holding back the need to ask her name, instead, I focused on the fact she said she felt better; I knew in the game you could buff ALL allies around you, but did I really simp for this one character so hard that I saw her as an ally instantly?

I nodded, "Yes, not very powerful, but I will use it again soon."

"Oh, uh, thank you, but should you, like, heal yourself only instead?" The Nimbat is sad; as I looked back, I could see that she indeed looked like an anthro cat fused with a bat.

"No, No, it Is alright; my magic helps all those around me that I see as an ally, and it doesn't subtract from each affected." I said, not sure of my own words, but having a strong feeling about it, "Thank you for your help; I would have been toasted if it wasn't for you."

"Oh, you are welcome." She puffed out her tiny chest as she put her fist to her side, probably trying to look more impressive or cool, yet she only looked cuter.

"My name is Anonynumous-" I said, my heart jumping to my throat when my real name was throw to the side; instead, what I said was my in-game name, yet I didn't have time to fall into an existential crisis and continue with my idea, "What is the name of my hero?"

I stroked her ego more, which seemed to make her puff her chest further, the white fluff probably had seen better days, but she didn't seem to mind that fact, "Fidget the nimbat at your service."

Oh god, it is her, WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING HERE!?

Chapter Text

"Fidget the nimbat at your service!" As she flies proudly, her glamour is interrupted by the sound of her belly, making it known she is starving. This time, she was blushing, "Hehe, sorry." Out of nowhere, she took out a mushroom and started eating like it was nothing.

I was about to question where the mushroom came from, but I remembered I could do the same. It made sense, after all, in the game. The first time you got poison, she will give you a mushroom to cure the status effect, Never saying where she got it or where it came from. So, I would guess she has some kind of inventory, too.

"Much better." She sighed as she held her belly, taking a big yawn.

That reminds me that I should eat something. I didn't feel any hunger for some reason. I haven't eaten anything since this morning or even the last time that I leveled up; now that I think about it, I started to feel quite famish before this battle, but now I am fine.

Did the experience points feed me in some way? Or was it something else?

I was taken out of my musings as the voice of Fidget caught my attention, "Out of curiosity, do you know where we are?" She looked around like that would bring her some answers... And yet again she took a big yawn.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I am quite lost too; I was taken out of, ehh, my home," I spoke, not knowing if that really fit my situation.

She dropped her arms down, disappointed; closing her eyes, she let out a sad sigh, "What are even these things? Here I thought that Dust and I had seen everything from the monster department, but then I found out these things were living here, and they look hideous!"

It was a little amusing to see her drop his name. She expected me to know who she was talking about; of course, I knew since I played the game, but that was beside the point.

I held back my answer for a moment, as I didn't know what to do, I could maybe try to explain to her that I got isekai, and I knew her because she was in this one game that I only finished playing because of how much I liked her character, yet, how do you explain the concept of videogames to a character that lived in an era where they just discover guns and electricity?

I could debate how to approach this all day, yet I was probably already acting weird by keeping silent, so I thought I try to play along, by the mere fact that we didn't have time for me to explain what was my bloody deal, "Yes, I only have heard of abominations like this in stories." I muttered as I looked at one of the corpses that were trying to kill me just seconds ago, and as I looked at my mana, I saw it only had 47/105.

Not having a pet that healed your HP and MP really was brutal, wasn't it?

"What kind of stories does your place have?" The nimbat said, horrified, putting one hand in front of her mouth; now that the high of the brief battle was going down, her face was going a little greener, "I should have eaten later..." She suddenly shook her head and tended to look away. "I'm glad to find someone else in here; since I arrived here, I haven't found anyone! And the nights, ooohh, the nights!" She put her hands on her head, pulling at her ears, "I haven't slept in days!" She seemed to start to lose steam quite quickly, clearly the restless night was starting to get to her.

"...How long have you been stuck in here?" I ask, surprised at the admission.

She looked like she was about to answer, yet she suddenly flicked her ears, "Uh, look, we should probably find a place where the evil monsters can't see us. Normally, I would choose a really tall place in this weird rock city, but since you lack wings, I will do you a favor and let you choose instead."

"You know what? That is really fair; just give me a second." I think for a moment and then say, "Gods above, aid me."

This time, she looked less surprised at the sudden glow, "Oh, that feels nice." Fidget suddenly yelped as she held her back. I grew a little worried, until she interrupted my train of thought, "Scratch that; this feels great! good even."

I blinked and waved for her to follow me as I started to go back to my base; after all, soon it would be night, "I mean, it is nice to feel warm, I guess."

"What? No! Well, that too, but I meant that my back doesn't hurt anymore! And also, I don't feel as tired." She stretched as she flew in front of me, "How often can you do it?"

I was surprised at the news; in hindsight, it made sense that minor pains would also be healed by my seals, but it still was a nice fact to know, "I can do it-" I stopped; it was confirmed in the game you could do it as many times as you wanted as long you had mana, yet now I didn't know if this was also true for me now, "Actually, I haven't felt a limit to it yet, but I have seen paladins like myself do it as many times as they want."

"You are a paladin?" I was about to answer, but she just beat me to it, "Like the ones that vanquish demons and undead?" I couldn't see her eyes, but I could see clearly how she lifted her head up and sighed, "Because if so, Oh man, you would been great to help us battle that one evil spirit."

That is the second time she mentions something that a normal person would cause more questions than anything. Let's see if I can explain it: "I think my job description is to vanquish evil in general," I fake bewilderment in my voice, "evil spirit?"

"Yeah! It was, like, ten times bigger! With sharp claws and teeth! Certainly scarier than these things... when it is the day, and they are VERY far away." The nimbat said, looking around, seeming to remember how nightmarish these things are, "Like, who took their fur away? And skin, for that matter." Finishing her words, she shuddered and held her sides, "If I didn't hear your screaming understandable words, and I was not alone for four days in a horrible place, I wouldn't have helped you at all!" she stopped, she noticed what she just said, "no offense."

I snorted, which made her raise an eyebrow, "It is quite fine; I was about to teleport away, but I'm glad you came anyway."

"Teleport?" She questions.

"Yes, I can teleport to this one safe room when I'm in danger."

[Roll perception, Roll: 13+1]

As I looked around to make sure we weren't being followed, she just stared at me dumbly, "And why you don't do that now?"

"...Because I don't know if it applies to other people I'm touching?"I questioned, not fully knowing myself, I should really test this at a later date.

"What do you mean you don't know?" the female questioned.

"I have never tried, really, where this power comes from; it is a more individual thing; well, I lied; our pets did come with us, but that is probably because of our bond more than anything," I responded, unsure yet again.

She just looked at the sky that was slowly becoming orange, "Well, let's speed up then, I really don't want to be here when the night comes."

"Agreed."

---

As we arrived at the building where the safe room was, I opened the door and went inside when Fidget's voice caught my attention, "Uh, please tell me the place you are staying has a source of light."

I just blinked and looked back at her, then at the dim but not dark hallway, "Why? It is really not that dark."

Fidget looked annoyed, "W-what? It's literally pitch dark!"

I just stared at her, then at the hallway, "Uh." remembering the game, we always had some vision no matter in which place we went; even when one of the bosses used something to make magical darkness, we could still see the bullets clearly in our field of view, so maybe... "Uh, oh right, I probably can see in the dark; sorry about that." I thought hard, and then I remembered the simple fact that I had two sources of light, "Give me a sec."

Taking out my flashlight, I pointed it to the end of the hallway so as not to flashbang her, "Oh, what is that?" She muttered as she now could see the end of it.

"Uh, let's call it a magical item that aluminates the dark," I awkwardly spoke as I walked back and offered it to her.

"Oh, uh, thanks." She took the thing and started to point it to places, seeming happy to have it in her hands. "Oh wow, can I keep it? Not that I'm afraid of the dark, it would just be nice to have something to... see on it."

I thought for a second... like I could never say no to her, "Sure, it is yours; just be aware it doesn't last forever."

Again, the nimbat sighed, "Of course it doesn't; why would it?" This time, the nimbat flew forward, now that she had something to illuminate her path, "Come, I hope it is safer than just being really high."

---

We were inside the room, and the nimbat took in the space, "Uh, what happened to the bed?" She questioned, seeing the frame absolutely destroyed and some claw marks on the bedding itself.

I blushed a little, and I cleared my throat, "I went in a little tantrum and... took my frustration on it."

"Ohhhhh, ok." She pointing the flashlight to me; I, by instinct, covered my face to not be blinded, yet I was surprised when my vision wasn't affected by the direct light, "So, why are you using the bedsheets?"

"Oh, I, uh, got shot-I mean, badly wounded because someone didn't like my appearance, so now I hide it," I covered myself more.

"Ooooooh ok, well, they are some meanies, and you shouldn't hide yourself because of that," The nimbat reach to pull at my sheets; thankfully, she only had one hand, and my horns were firmly encrusted into their two holes.

"Uh, sure-" I then remember all the times she referred to demons in the game; she was always scared of them.

As she pulled to the sheets, I just gulped, remembering all her negative reactions of "scary demon," yet a little hope remained in my chest; after all, she could see my red body and horns, yet she didn't look scared, so I took a leap of faith and took the sheets off me. 

"There we go." She happily said with a smile that showed her small fangs; then she stared at me for a good moment, "Uh, what species are you?" 

I gulped again as the flashlight was aimed at me, "I can choose between a set of appearances, but now I have the appearance of a demon spawn." 

Fidget seemed to fly, staring blankly at me, then the fear finally set in, "D-d-demon!?" she was about to try to escape, but the first cry of the creatures outside made themself know, making her clearly arrive to the conclusion she was now stuck here. Once she was aware of that, the nimbat then flew to a corner and pointed the light to me, "Stay away! Don't eat me!" 

I had a few options as to how to react to her sudden change in demeanor at knowing what I was at the moment; taking a big breath to not panic, I decided to go with the following one, "…Why would I eat another sentient creature?" My voice sounded calm and incredulous. 

The nimbat, hearing my nonchalant voice, seemed to give her pause for  a moment," B-because you are a demon?" 

"…Yikes, that is pretty racist." I usher in a deadpan tone. 

"W-what?! No, it isn't! It is what demons do!" She sounded almost offended. 

I winced. "Oooooooof, that is two for two. You should be careful; people have become social outcasts for less where I come from."   

The nimbat looked railed up now, "w-what!? Wait, aren't you a paladin?! How does that work?" 

I twisted my head, "By being righteous and smiting evil?"  

"Why are you saying it like it is a question?!" she pointed at me. 

Because I didn't know, as in the game, they never mentioned to what god the priest and paladins pray, so it was time to change the subject. So I put a finger to my mouth, "No so loud," my reason for her to stop screaming was obvious.

"HEY, I'M NOT TH-"A sudden close scream clams her mouth right up, seeming to remember why we went to get a place to hide in the first place. She put her hands in her mouth and whispered this time, trembling, but this time not because of me, but at the things outside, "H-hey…" 

I looked at her, and I felt this was very familiar. "What?" 

She pointed the flashlight to my furry legs, and as I looked down, I noticed that I was trembling too, "Uh, you aren't evil, are you?" 

I just walked up to her corner and sat down in front of her, "I-I would like to think I'm not." I stutter out, aware of my own fear. Fidget then started to cry, and I began to panic, thinking I had done something wrong, "W-wait, I'm sorry, pleasedon'tcryyouaregonnamakefeelhorribleimsorry." 

The laugh caught my attention, and as I looked around, thinking it was impossible the nimbat was the one laughing, I found out that we were still the only ones in the room, and as I looked at her again, I she was just cleaning her eyes, "I'm glad… I really needed to talk to someone." She held her head with one hand and cleaned her eyes with her free hand, "This place is terrible; I was just flying, trying to catch up to what remained of Dust, following a flying sword yet again, only for me to suddenly appear in this place with a some of the forests that surrounded me." As she cleaned the remained of her tears, she kept going, "The next thing I know, I was flying around, seeing horrid things; I mean, It isn't like I haven't dealt with things like that in the recent days, but there was a big difference, I was alone this time, there wasn't Dust to help me deal with them, there wasn't Ahrah to tell me what to do in a situation like this!" The nimbat took a big sigh, "I was so scared."

I just stared at her for a moment, confused at the sudden trust she imparted to me; I was literally a random person she just met; she was cowering at the name of the species of the skin I was wearing just one minute ago!

But then I felt stupid as I put myself in her shoes.

I was literally having a mental breakdown with going out of this room literally a day ago, and that was just seeing one monster; she was probably braver than me, flying around, trying to find something in this stupid place only to see some shit she would rather not mention.

I was praying for rescue; she was trying to find it; if she had my same system, she would probably deal with the situation a lot better than me.

One night here made me not want to go out again, even if I got somewhat over it.

I felt something wet fall on my leg, and as I looked down, I noticed more droplets fall from my face; I was crying.

...I never got over it, did I? As I thought of my situation, my trembling was getting worse; I had been taken from my home, I had almost died so many times in so short of a time, and even if I could escape here anytime I wanted, my brain that didn't understand the concept of that still felt horrible. I got hurt a lot today, too, as I believed the creatures were mindless things, and I had paid the price of my hubris by getting badly wounded.

If Fidget hadn't come around, I would probably have had to escape, being another day of not getting more food or XP; it was true I didn't get the prior either, but I still made good progress in my experience compared to yesterday.

And she hinted at the fact she was more than one day in here; I should be thankful that my body didn't need to sleep because even if it was horrible to stay up all night hearing things screeching, I would probably be weaker and start to hallucinate if I wouldn't have any sleep at all, yet this unit of a woman use her strength to aid me anyways.

I looked at her; she seemed to notice my tears and chuckled, "Sorry for thinking you were gonna eat me." She seemed a little sleepy, starting to doze off at the little light in here, probably due to her lack of sleep in the days before, yet she jolted when she heard another close inhuman screech.

"Uh, do you wanna find something to cover your ears while you sleep?" I offer, as I looked around, "Or I can use my hands too if you don't mind the touch."

She just looked at me, the adrenaline of the situation finally running out, leaving her weak and tired, "Don't you need to sleep, too?"

"No," I reassured, "As far as I know, I don't require sleep, so I will stay awake anyway."

She seemed to think about it, not questioning the weird wording of my phrase, probably because of how tired she was.

It was true; I could just straight up lie or exaggerate, saying I don't need sleep, yet I wasn't sure myself. Perhaps my body was made to stand multiple days of battle, and I would require sleep at some point, so I didn't want to make that claim just yet.

She looked at me for a moment longer, then spoke, "Uh, this isn't a roundabout way to pet me, is it? Because I'm not a pet."

"uhhh." I was stunned; I wasn't even planning that, yet my doubt seemed to make her squint at me, so I acted brashly, "...I wouldn't pet someone I just met!" I blurted out like the socially awkward fuck I was, but come on! Look at her cute mug and tell me that you wouldn't pet her if you got the chance!

She just looked at me, squinted, then sighed; she just stared at me as she looked at the bed with the two pillows, "Let me just... try something."

She went into the bed and put each pillow in one of her ears, folded into itself to make it thicker; we remained quiet for a second or two, then another scream that made her groan, "Just keep these pillows in my ears, please."

As I looked at the nimbat finding a more comfortable position, I went to her side and did what was asked of me, and as I took my position, they picked up the flashlight they had in her side and pointed to the ceiling, "I will keep this on." She stated while also yawning, I would have responded, yet I knew she wouldn't hear me unless I screamed very loudly, "Goodnight." she muttered and dozed off.

---

Something odd happened when she fell asleep for a moment; a new window appeared in front of me.

"New party member added!"

-Fidget, the nimbat, Original dimension: Elysian Tail [2948123...expand?]

...What the fuck is with that random numbers.

Wait, does this system know we have been displaced? I shook my head and kept reading.

-First time message detected.

Tutorial:

Party members are not hostile people who have rested in your base or see you very positively!

Party members have many pros!

-You can see their location in the minimap as long you are in the same dimension!

-You can use the "whisper" command to send them a message no matter where they are! They can also do the same as long they whisper your name and then the message.

-You can see their status, HP, LVL, and more! (stats seen depend on the dimension where they originate and the level of this "skill" [You can upgrade it in the store])

-You can teleport to the dimension where they are for free! Just used the command JOIN. (You might not appear at their side and will have to teleport or walk into their location.)

-You can teleport as long the realm doesn't have restrictions against teleportation (rare) and your teleport to that teammate isn't in cooldown.

-If you use the escape action, they can come with you.

-Limit of party members: 4

Information:

You can remove someone from the party freely

If someone becomes hostile to you, they will leave the party automatically.

You can chose the ones that compose your party in the base, past party members that still see you positive can be added back.

O: Never show this message again

                                                                OK

I blinked.

That was actually pretty huge, and it may have confirmed that I cannot teleport other people to my base unless they are at the party.

I needed to confirm certain things, so I just pressed OK to see if it works as it claims.

As the window disappeared, I saw to the left of my vision that the name "Fidget" appeared, with the following things.

HP: 62/62 (HP DOWN:-4, -2, -2, -30)

Stamina: 39/40 (STAMINA DOWN:-60)

[Expand]

That... that was it?

I hope that the expansion thing will tell me more, so I mentally clicked on it.

LVL 27

HP:62/62 (Bad diet -4, stress -2, overweight -2, -30 exhaustion)

In-depth body state:[Locked] [Reach level 2 of party level]

Stamina: 39/40 (-60 Exhaustion)

Exhaustion points:60.1/100

Hunger:49/100

(Speed down! Vision down! Minor hallucinations, CONS down! MAGIC down! Irritable! Mood changes! Headache!)

Warning: achieving 100 of Exhaustion may cause heart attack and various health problems that may cause death!

Detailed stats:[locked] [Reach level 3 of party level to see this]

Loyalty:[Locked][Reach level 2 of party level to see this]

View: Positive

I have a morbid curiosity about how detailed the stat viewer is, loyalty, or the in-depth body state.

I mean, loyalty is probably like a view but quantified, but it feels a little invasive to level up this thing if it gives me things close to mind-reading.

I'm not morally bankrupt enough to go that way, even if it would be helpful at some levels.

And she is overweight? ...I cannot really see it, but that is probably my lack of her species knowledge speaking.

...Wait, why is her hunger so high? Doesn't she have food? And how can you be starving and overwei-? Wait, you don't lose weight instantly if you are starving, I'm just dumb.

...Also, her HP is sooo low; I mean, she is also really small, but still, perhaps I should donate my ring to her...Maybe not; that might be a little weird.

I should probably share some food with her when she wakes up.

Well, that is interesting to know and see; now I just gotta kill another 7 hours or so for the morning since I cannot sleep.

---

After that, I would like to say she had a peaceful night, yet with my dark vision, I could see her snap her eyes wide open in a specifically loud scream; I pitty her a little bit as she sighed and closed her eyes, grumbling, yet seeming glad I kept my promise to stay awake and watch things.

I wonder if I could do something more for her... but what? I was already holding things to her head so she wouldn't hear the terrible screams of the things outside...

Wait.

Didn't she say she felt a lot better when I used my seal? Maybe if I spam it while she sleeps, I can aid in her rest.

It was worth a shot, and it would also see if there was a limit to it.

In the game, you could use it as much as you wanted as long you had the mana for it, yet I couldn't expect the logic of the game to remain the same forever, as the party dynamic was entirely new.

So, deciding on the experiment, I started, "I pray for her to rest well."

I expected to light up the room for a second since it was apparently complete darkness, yet the prayer seemed to know my intentions, and this time around, it was practically imperceptible.

I should probably remember this.

As the glow washed over her, she seemed to hum and settle in more.

I saw her in detailed status again, specifically the exhaustion stat.

Exhaustion points:59.65/100

That... seemed to work? I mean, maybe it was from her natural micro-sleeping.

I waited to have enough mana, and this time, I saw her stat before I cast my skill.

Exhaustion points:59.64/100

Alright, let's try it, "I pray for her rest." I whispered lowly.

Exhaustion points:59.56/100

Oh, it works, kinda. It is barely noticeable, but it works.

Well, it's time to spam pray the tiredness out of her.

Well... as much as I can, I literally only have 1.4 mana regeneration per second.

---

It turns out I have a limit of 14 times, to be specific, which is literally the same WIS modifier.

How did I know? Simple, as I was reaching my limit, I slowly started to have a headache, and when I tried to do it one more time, I choked as the pain was unbearable.

...Now to see how long before I recover.

---

...Is this some kind of DND game? Because after what is the equivalent of a standard short rest (1 hour or so), the headache felt more manageable.

And guess what? I could do it another seven times, literally half recovery.

Weirdly specific if you ask me, but whatever.

I wonder what are the rules for me to recover skill uses? Do I have to not use them for a while? Do I have to be resting? Does it scale with my WIS? Or it will always be 7? Questions, questions, any more questions and I would become curios Anon, yet I didn't have nobody to answer them.

If it always has the same uses as my wis, then if I max out that stat, I would have 75 uses... That is a lot, but I have this feeling that the only reason why I can spam this seal is because is the weakest one, but I won't be able to check until I get another... Or until I use my seal of Divinity, seal That I still require more mana to even use once, and even then I would be VERY vulnerable after I use it, my mana regeneration being too slow for realistically use them two times in one combat, unless I have items that recovered my mana.

...

But to be honest, chances for me to max that stat out were VERY slim, since I didn't have access to the dungeons that dropped that stat pots, and the limit of my grow with level ended at my level 20.

Lets just go back to healing,  and hope the clues of how really my stats affected me showed themselves once I could experiment more with a different stat limit.

---

It was morning; I did stop two hours before so I could recover totally my uses for the day, yet I added about 8 points to her total rest, I think, maybe.

Exhaustion points:41.46/100

That was restful, somewhat; it made sense; it isn't like you could recover from not sleeping correctly just in one night of rest... that and keep in mind she kept waking up at times.

I did my best not to stare at her all the time, as much as she was pleasing to the eye and cutesy being... When her eyes weren't full of panic when she woke up, that is.

Yeah, losing the point here.

I didn't want to be a freak seeing someone of the opposite gender sleep... Wait, seeing same-gender people sleeping is also weird, or any gender, for that matter.

Alright, yeah, don't look people in their sleep, you are always gonna be a freak unless you are a item with them or further beyond.

To be honest, having the white noise of her breathing, the sheets shuffling every now and then, and stuff like that really helped me to keep out of the mental pit that was my brain... That, and my brain screaming due to whatever side effect spamming my skill had, hope I won't grow a tumor or get magical cancer, that was the last thing I need in this place.

As the morning came, she was still sleeping, yet I could also see some light come from the boarded-up windows.

I wonder if I should wake her up.

Thinking about it, I just let go of the pillows very slowly so as not to wake her up, then I tried moving away-

"Ugh, is it morning already?" She muttered, rubbing her eyes as she pointed the flashlight at me, a flashlight that had started to dim, "Wait..." as I looked at her, she had her mouth a little open as she checked something with her tongue. Then she blinked, "Why does my tooth not hurt anymore?" Before I could answer or try to figure it out, she did another odd thing, biting in the air, "Actually, my chompers feel great."

She just stared at me as she stood up and moved around, seeming to test more things, "Well, I used my power every so often at night to make you rest better, so probably minor defects were fix thanks to that; Thing that made me find out that my powers are not unlimited, so no, I cannot just use it all the time."

She was in the process of stretching when she seemed to clock in my words, "Wait, all through the night?"

My eyes remained respectfully in her face, last thing I needed her to notice I was stared at her curves, "Yeah?"

She suddenly jumped off the mattress, and I made a note of that, now knowing how they started flight, "Something w-"I flinched as she was pointing the almost-dead flashlight to my eye as she seemed to check my face, yet the close proximity to the light once more didn't blind me, "W-What are you doing?"

I muttered as I did my best not to look down at her very naked privates, making me wonder if all nimbats were all "natural" or if it was just her the freaky one.

DON'T JUDGE ME, tell me you wouldn't ogle your crush over 10 years when they were literally nude right in front of you! 

She kept my eye open, making me stared at the light traying to blind me, "Seeing if your stupid eye is reacting well, you stupid, stupid man!"

I stared directly at the light in an attempt to not stare in an inadequate place; she would probably notice instantly with how close she was, and last thing I need is for her to think I was a creep, "Ok, but why?"

"You not only didn't sleep, but you also keep casting your magic all through the night without rest!" She hissed, and I was surprised at how much she cared, "Magical exhaustion is a real thing, you know!  Last time I got it, it was horrible!"

I pushed her away as lightly as I could, "I'm fine; I got a few headaches and not-"

Fidget, hearing that, seemed to get even more upset, "And you kept doing it?! Alright, now I feel stupid for thinking you were evil; you are just chaotic stupid!"

I stared at her as she put her nose to my face, and yet again, I was glad my whole being was red already, as being as close to her right now was making my face heat up, "w-was that a DND reference-?"

Her huff of hot breath made my hearth skip a beat, but thankfully I was interrupted by her next set of words, "Shut it! Why are all the knuckleheads I travel with like this? Playing tough will just get you killed!" pulling out a cupcake, she shoved it in my face, "Here! I was keeping this for a rainy day, but the sugar will do you good."

"W-What? Don't give me your food; you need it more than me!" I tried to move her way, only for her to start to aim at my mouth with it.

"N-No, I don't!" her stomach suddenly screamed again, catching her lie before I could, "Ok, maybe I'm a little hungry, but you need it more!"

I tried to speak, yet as I opened my mouth, she tried to take advantage of my vulnerability (if it can be called like that) and shove it on my open mouth; a little annoyed, I finally grabbed the cupcake, "Fine, fine! Only if you eat some of mine." I lied as I turned around and made a show of eating something when, in reality, I sent the cupcake to my inventory.

"...You have food?" She was incredulous, flying around me as I faked that I chewed on the cupcake. "Where do you even keep it?"

I faked the food going down with a gulp and turned around again, "Right here," as the box of protein bars fell, I caught it and turned around at the light of the flashlight.

"W-What!" She pointed the flashlight around my body, "That doesn't make sense!"

I deadpan, "You did the same literally just now."

Fidget pouted, "You never ask a lady where she keeps her stuff."

"Never did!" I took out a bar and opened it for her.

"You insinuated it-" She suddenly stopped as she smelled, "W-what is that?"

"Protein bar, for when you need protein in your life." She just stared at the offered food, not seeming to know what I was talking about, "berry flavor." I added, hoping it would persuade her.

She took it and started to eat.

Before she took a bite, I checked her hunger meter.

Hunger:68/100

Now, seeing her eat, she seemed surprised at the decent flavor of it; as she kept eating, she spoke, "A little dry, but I guess it is fine."

"Yeah, but it is good for you if you need muscle food." She was clearly very hungry as she kept biting down on it, devouring it.

"I see..." she gulped the food, then once she looked at the almost full box of food, she spoke again "...Can I have another?"

I blink as I look at the stats of her.

Hunger:33/100

Uh, that was a good amount of her hunger bar; I smiled and gave her another.

"Thank you!" she took the bar and devoured it, taking a sigh when she was done.

Hunger:0/100

Well, that was quick; she is pretty smaller than a human, so she might not need as many calories... But she does seem to like to fly a lot, so that might consume calories faster? Wait... Ok, maybe I'm dumb, probably that does that mean is how full is her stomach or something? She is pretty small, so it would make sense she got filled faster? UGH, stop thinking about it, just make sure that her hunger whatever the fuck never reach 100 or something, "You are welcome; if you need more, just tell me."

And yet again, I turned around and stored the bars, "...You won't eat? Well, beside the cupcake I gave you."

I stopped and noticed yet again that I wasn't hungry anymore; heck, in my stats and familiar stuff, there wasn't even a hunger meter like hers, yet the memory of how hungry I felt when I was scared of going out was still very much present in my mind... "My... people doesn't need to eat much???????" I rationalized.

"...Demons are weird." She spoke under her breath, as she flew away, "Wait for me outside, I gotta do lady stuff."

...Lady stuff- Oh, right.

"Wait," I blurted out, and she stopped in the doorknob, "Uh, do you want this?" I said as I pulled out a toilet paper.

She stared at it for a moment, "...What is that."

I cleared my throat as I stared at it, "You use it to clean yourself when... you are done with the lady stuff."

Silence.

I think I over-stepped, but then she flew faster than I could catch her with the naked eye and took the toilet paper and disappeared outside.

..."Cool," I muttered as I checked my inventory, seeing the cupcake resting in there... I hope this inventory is one of the typical isekai tropes of "a yes, the food in your special inventory doesn't go bad, like a super refrigerator without the freezing part."

Cupcake [slightly stale] [Elysium]

A sugary treat from a dimension where there are actually restoration items!

Just be careful eating too much of them! As it might impact the figure of a warrior.

+60 HP, 100+ MP

Effect on Self:  6+ SPD for 20 seconds

Potion

Consumed with use

I... Probably gonna Keep it for her if my inventory can keep food good for longer than hers.

I should probably leave now.

---

I blinked as I got out because a new mission appeared on my left.

A displaced nimbat.

-Accept the mission/request of Fidget. [Reward]

-??? [Complete above to get more steps]

Reward:???

What will Fidget ask, and why would the system think I would say no?

Now that I was seeing the missions, I had another one in there.

The invaded City.

-Find clues to what caused the downfall of the city. 0/1 [Reward] (multiple claims)

-Destroy or Fix the cause. [optional] [Reward]

-Find the strange salesman. [reaward]

The specials ????:

-Kill one of the following creatures (The more difficult, more the reward]:

-Goliath [Extremely deadly] [track?]

-The swimmer [Extremely deadly][track?]

-The male and the female. [Extremely deadly][track?]

-The things on the television. [difficult/Death][track?]

-Arthur 477 [Deadly][track?]

Warning: It is suggested that you level up. (The estimated difficulty is calculated by the skill in combat, Party members, and STATS)

That... was a lot of information to process. The thing that said to reach level 20 was still there, and the survival was updated to only twelve days more.

...Finding clues? And why are they so deadly? ...wait, I know, it is because I'm level two with literal trash gear, duh... That and I'm a fumbling fool without any experience in fighting.

...I don't know If I'm comfortable hunting down monsters, even if they say they are manageable at some point. The things that almost killed me yesterday only died in two hits; if they hadn't ambushed me, I could have kept my distance and killed them with ease by just walking back.

I had to rethink their way of thinking, I was expecting that they were mindless creatures that couldn't plan like me, and if these... horrid "things." were smarter, then I would be in even more trouble.

I snapped back to Fidget's voice to my side, "Is something wrong?"

"W-what?" I asked, my heart beating faster at the sudden proximity.

"You were looking at the floor, like, really hard." She said, stretching the toilet paper.

I made my best impression of a fish, as I didn't know how to answer; I didn't expect to get caught reading this text so early like; if time passed, she would probably think I was less insane for what was happening to me, yet If I confess now...

I again asked my brain, [how in bloody hell can I explain that I have the system of a video game?], yet as I bit my lip, I sighed.

I have read a story where the protagonist would keep stuff to themself like this, but in the long run, it always bit them in the ass, and I would instead not make a web of lies.

I better just simplify things and tell her about it, or suffer her wrath later on... Perhaps feeding things slowly to her will help, and not saying wild things to traying to explain videogame stuff to someone who doesn't know what a videogame is, "...A patron of the sort just gave me some mission that makes me worry a little bit."

She just stared at me for a moment, then twisted her head. "Your god? And what is the mission?"

I cleared my throat, "More like... helper? It is the one that is probably granting my powers, and there are a few missions, one of them is to accept the thing... you are gonna ask, apparently."

"The thing I'm-" She stopped, "Oh, uh, yeah, about that, uh, well now it is awkward that you know about this; wait, how does your... helper know?" I raised a finger, only to be shushed up, "Look, just forget it, I will do it anyway." She cleared her throat and put her hands to her sides, seeming confident because of the mission I got from the system.

"So you are a paladin, right?" She confirmed.

"yes..."

"And paladins help the innocent, right?" She got closer

"Innocence is subjective, but I think you are correct."

"Sooo, what you say about helping me!" I stared at her, expecting she would say what she wanted help with, yet she seemed to not interpret my silence, "Me, I'm the innocent."

"...Alright, but help with what?" I added.

"Oh, emh, uh, well, help me go home." The nimbat said, unsure.

That... was obvious, I didn't expect her to be alright with living in this shit place, and even I planned to do that at some level... I guess I never said it aloud in my head since I felt it was given, yet I still have to wait to be able to change into a human or be lenient to get shot at first sight by anybody with a gun...

Once again, didn't think I was morally bankrupt enough to try to convince her that here was fine, as much I had a crush on her ever since I played her game, to the point that even now it felt VERY surreal to speak to her... I mentally shook my head, yet there still was a way that this thing gave to me that would let me teleport where she was, so I could probably visit anytime I wanted, it was a pretty good guess that I wouldn't lost her forever by helping her go home, and I spoke next without any doubt, "Oohhhh, ok, sure, I planned to do that anyway."

"Wait, really?"

I stared at her, questioning why she thought I would rethink this, "...Yes? I do have to go home too, and figuring out how we both ended up here would probably help us to get back home."

"...Yes, but won't you have to fight extra?" She put a hand on her right arm.

"I mean, you will help too, right?" I smiled at her.

"Oh! Sure! You can be my sidekick!" She puffed her chest, the fact that I was already in her plan to get back home finally settled in her head, "Me and you together, walking this hellish place!"

I just deadpanned at her, "Oh really? not even deuteragonist?"

"Pff you wish, unlike you, I already was the sidekick to someone, so now is my time to shine!" She pointed at herself with both thumbs.

"Oh? So you will be in the front line when we battle monsters?" I crossed my arms with a smug face, "I guess I can heal you if you get too hurt."

"Woah, eh, hold your horses; not because I'm the hero means I will have to fight like that." I kept my face smug as she was losing steam quickly, "besides, who was the one that saved you yesterday? Oh, that is right, me!"

I shrugged, conceding the point, "Hmm, fair, but I have never heard of a hero that had to hide behind a vanguard; even in the story where spellcasters are mentioned, they always manage a way to outsmart the enemy to keep their distance, not needing of a brute like me to take the hits for them."

She lifted a finger and then sighed in defeat, "Fine, fine! You can be the deuteragonist... whatever that is."

This time, I stared at her, dumbfounded, "Wait, you were gatekeeping me without knowing that it basically means second protagonist or helper?"

And now she dares to huff, "Do I look like a nerd? I would like to think I'm above such nerdyness, thank you very much."

I facepalmed, action that didn't cover my smile totally.

Yup, that was Fidget, alright.

Suddenly, the reward was available, and without thinking, I accepted.

Reward!

"For what is right."

The ones above are surprised at your quick acceptance.

They reward by unlocking what is yours and something to start your journey.

They will destroy the unnecessary.

-Long Sword ( t3 sword) added to your weapon slot.

-Seal of the Pilgrim t1 seal added to your skill slot.

-Silver Chainmail (T3) added to your armor slot.

Some of your exaltations have been given back.

I suddenly felt great, lighter, and healthier as I looked over myself; my body, which looked unhealthy and lacked luster, now seemed to be more presentable, my color more vibrant, and my mind lighter.

I quickly saw my stats.

Anon:

HP 225+25(exalted)+30(ring)= 280/280

MP:105+5(exalted)=110

Stats:

Atack:17+5(species)+2(exalted)+1(seal)= 24

def:2+5(armor)+2(exalted)=9

speed: 23+2(exalted)=25

dex:19+2(seal)+5(exalted)=26

vitality:24+3(exalted)=27

wisdom: 19-5(species)+3(exalted)=17

I looked at my stats, my eyes open as my HP was back to normal, and thanks to my Exaltations, my stats had increased the equivalent of some levels.

"Wow, uh, did you just level up?" She sounded confused.

"Not quite... but might as well have been a level up. Wait, you know what a level-up is?" In the beginning, I just looked at my sharp nails; which looked sharper and less cracked. Then, I double-checked when she said something that she shouldn't have known about.

"...Yes? Why wouldn't I know?" She said, her face showing that she was more confused than me in some mystical way.

"I-What? Never mind, the Patreon gave me some of the powers of this body back, thanks that I accepted to aid you." I explained, as I still didn't have all my items (that included my many seals, swords, armor, and rings that would make my stats right now look like a joke.)

"W-what? What do you mean? You are supposed to be stronger?" She inquired as she looked me over.

I sighed, "Yes, technically, with this body, I should be at max level of... my kind-" I said, reluctantly as I technically was a realm hero now, "And I lost practically all my items and my pet." I know I shouldn't be mad, having in mind that whatever thing was aiding me gave me a significant upgrade, yet I still would like to have all my rare items back and my pet, and talking about the latter, If I had him right now, I would be very immortal, having in mind it would heal me so fast that me dying would only happen if I exploded in a blink of an eye. Pets where literally the most broken thing in the game, to the point to add tension and difficulty, they would disable your pets and ability to heal.

The nimbat facepalmed for some reason, "Great, another person that probably died and had to start from cero; at the very least, you don't seem to be an amnesiac."

I raised a hand, only to put it down, not knowing how I ended up here or in this body, "Does... does this happen often to you?" I instead asked, faking, not knowing Dust.

"You know if I had a gold coin for each time it happened... I would have two coins, which still makes it weird that it happened two times." She once again flew around me to look me over, "Well, I'm happy for you, but we probably should get going."

I nodded, "You are right; we shouldn't waste more daylight; where should we start?"

"Probably we should go back to the scene of the crime." her voice sounded deep, like a detective; at my blank face, she added in her normal voice, "The place that got sent here with me."

"Oh, sure, do you know the way?"

The nimbat made the global sign of "more or less," "maybe? But I have something that will beat that over! My wings!" For a moment she flaped her wings faster, killing her pull to the earth long enough to show her wings to me, then she went back to flapping, "I will just fly over the blue sky and see if I see it, or a place of interest, we should probably get more food."

I nodded, "Alright, sounds like a plan."

Chapter Text

It wasn't long before she came back from her scouting, "Alright, this way!" she pointed in what for me was a random direction. I, of course, waited for her to take the lead, yet she just added, "Just go ahead; I just will be-"

"Way behind?" I finished, remembering a situation similar in the game she appeared in; she was, after all, not very valiant in the game.

"Hey!" She just stared like I said something wrong, I could swear now there was a comical sweat drop on her forehead now. Her face broke into a pout, "I will just be a little behind... not a big deal."

I just shook my head, then remembered something important, "If you need us to run, just tell me, as I was granted the ability to extend my teleport to you too."

Her eyes widen a little bit, "Oh, uh, your gods are nice, it seems."

I lifted a finger to correct her, yet I just didn't have any idea how to fix it, so I just sighed and walked forward.

I checked to see if my mission had been updated.

Only to see something... There was a marker in my vision.

I mean, usually, "monster quest" has a marker of the monster you had to kill on the edge of your vision, and if you moved your mouse over, it would tell you its name at the thing and give you a larger look at their sprite.

So, moving my imaginary cursor over it... what.

-The strange root

The depiction of a pixilated version of a root with thorns was shown, with some red smoke.

Distance: 976m

Ominous.

I pointed in the direction where the marker was, "Out of curiosity, is the real destination straight that way?" I pointed at the building that was on my way.

She just stared in the direction, "Uh, Close, but not quite."

I just stared at her, then in the direction of the strange root.

Then, my last two neurons activated and checked the mission.

A displaced nimbat.

-Accept the mission/request of Fidget. [CLAIMED!]

-Investigate one strange root. [Rewards]

-???[Complete the above to get more steps]

Reward:???

Rewards? as plural? "I... Think I have a point of interest for us to look at when we arrive there."

The nimbat twisted her head, "Ok?"

---

Encounter roll [Middle = nothing happens, Low = Something good happens, High = Something bad happens.]

[96-]

Travel was interrupted due to an enemy encounter.

---

As we walked through this city, something that I hadn't thought much about came to the surface.

In each series and each book, every time our protagonist travels, we are used to them speaking, being witty, or sharing an anecdote... or skipping over the travel.

But now that I'm experiencing it, I guess I know why they were always skipped because there was a silence that wasn't broken.

It was true that from time to time, I looked back to make sure Fidget was alright, and from that time, I noticed the nimbat looking at me, but that was probably because I was the one leading the charge.

I had this urge to speak to her, to break what my brain perceived as awkward silence, yet I thought about it harder.

After all, when I was traveling with friends or family, I never tried to keep a conversation when we were in motion... The only one who didn't follow that rule was my mother.

I was snapped out of my brain as Fidget spoke after about half an hour or so of straight walking, "So, why do you think your patron wants to help me?"

I just keep looking forward, "I... don't know." I looked back at her, "It is the first time I see something like that... in person."

"In person?" She prodded.

"Yes, I have seen it in narratives. It is actually a common trope in some, yet most of the time, it is fictional." I stated, yet I felt I wasn't doing justice to how weird this was; I should really explain it like it is at some point, and hope she would understand.

"Fictional? Aren't you like, seeing that is real, like, right now?" She spoke, confused.

That... was a fair point, "I, uh, I guess what I wanted to say is that I thought it was fictional, like a lot of stuff until I arrived here."  

I mean, I doubt the Japanese, with their crazy isekai or system history, knew something we didn't, right?

"Well, you have told me you can teleport us to the room, and you receive a mission from them; what else can you do?" She questioned as she flew closer to my side.

"Well, I can teleport to your side no matter where you are, making me unable to attack for a few seconds but also immune to any attacks in that time."

The nimbat smiled, "Oh, that is nice to know if we ever get separated." She seemed fully invested in knowing my capabilities now. "What else?"

"Uhm, I can also see the life bars of anything alive."

"The what now?" She twisted her head.

"Oh, uhm, right." And there goes a little of my hope she would understand what I mean when I say game stuff, "Just imagine a green rectangular, which, if the creature gets damaged, the rectangle becomes red depending on how hurt they are, and if it is fully red, they will die."

She looked less confused, yet not all the way. "Oh, uh, that can be useful, I guess. Can you see mine?"

I stared up, seeing her HP bar, which was technically full, and the part that was taken of her HP and Stamina was grayed out, compared to mine, it was tiny, minimal, small, minuscule, insignificant, made me worried about what would happen if she were to get hurt, "Yes, yes, I can."

"Oh, how red is it?" she moved around, flexing her body, "It should be full, right? I don't feel any pain."

I nodded, "Technically, yes, but your... uh, max health is a little stumped."

She stared at me, "What, how?"

I stared at her status again, "Well, for starters, it says that thanks to your exhaustion, you lost 18 points of the total possible 100 points."  

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense; after all, not sleeping is not good for you." She scratched her head, "Wait, starters? What else is in there?"

"Uhm, it says that your diet is not quite as good as it should be."

This time she looked a little offended now, "Well, it is not my problem that I didn't expect to get sucked into this place with little food!"

"...I don't think that is quite what it is, It probably means you aren't getting the right amount of vitamins and stuff like that."

She looked confused, "Vita-what?"

A, yes, where she comes from, there is probably not a whole set of doctors studying food and its benefit (or lack of it) on the human- nimbat? from the nimbat body.

"Basically, certain foods have certain things that your body needs, and if you don't eat a balanced meal, your health can be affected," I explained to the best of my ability, as I wasn't a medic to do it better.

"I... don't get it." She scratched her head again, "Food is food, right?"

"Uh, not quite; sometimes not eating some important stuff can... start atrophying your muscles and organs."

She gulped, "That... sounds scary."

"It is, but it isn't that bad as long you know the basics; vegetables are good for you, eating a fruit every now and then won't do you harm, don't intake too much sugar and uh-" I thought about the last part, trying to remember if in her world existed nonsentient animals to eat meat, and after recognizing some of the healing items, I finally added, "Taking a daily amount of protein is important for your health." tapped my chin, "Omega 3... aka fish, is important too."

"Ok..." She slumps, "It isn't like we have many options, do we?"

...

"Yup, let's hope we can find some real food soon, okay?" I added like it was that easy.

"That would be nice; I haven't seen any trees to start a fire and cook, so we would have to use some furniture for that." She patted her belly, "Eating a warm meal would be nice."

"Yeah..." I touched my stomach, not quite feeling hungry, but my instincts of a normal human were telling me that not eating for this long was terrible.

"But talking about my, uh, HP bar? Is that it?"

I looked at the ones that were left to explain... let's hope she doesn't ask for more, as her overweight stat will probably make her eat my face off, "Well, your stress is affecting your health, it seems."

She just looks at my eyes, "...That is stressing me out even more."

"Sorry," I automatically said.

She just sighed, "All right, something else?"

...God fucking dammit, I did promise myself not to lie about this, but let's give her the option, "Uh, you might not like the answer."

She raised an eyebrow, "...What does that even mean?"

I cleared my throat, "You may not like what it says."

Her eyes narrow, "...Just spill it."

I looked to the side, and then I thought how terrible of an idea it would be not to stare at what was about to be a rabid animal that would probably try to rip my face off, "It says... that you are overweight."

Oh god, she is blushing. I didn't know if it was because of embarrassment or pure fury. "WHAT! I'm not!"

And she is pouting and huffing, her ears down as her fur fluffed, "Hey! I didn't say I think you are overweight! You actually look nice! And even if you were, you would probably look perfect!"

She was taken aback, "W-What?" her face blushed harder, SHIT, she is probably more pissed n-

Fidget snapped her head to the side, seeming to forget about the theme of the conversation, "Hide!"

I let myself be dragged as she grabbed me by head handlers and moved me to the side of a building, "W-what is going on?"

"There is something really valuable, but it is moving!" She whisper-scream.

W-What?

Wait, didn't she have a sixth sense of treasure in the game? I didn't imagine she could use it to detect something that was using them.

"What is going on?" I ask, confused, I poked my head to the corner, I expected her to to it again and make me hide, yet she did the same, standing on my shoulder and copying me.

"I don't know, but let's see first." She muttered as we kept silent.

Having my minimap would be nice, but ever since I came here, I couldn't see anything but my yellow dot in a black square...

Wait, didn't this also happen in the game when you were too zoomed out on the map? Oh god, I'm so fucking stupid.

But how in hell do I close in? I don't have a scroll wheel to use... I mean, imagining doing it had gotten me so far, so perhaps it will work again?

I tried imagining myself scrolling in the black square that was my supposed map, only for nothing to happen for a good few seconds.

...

Wait, I can see some color.

Oh, it was that.

This is embarrassing.

The minimap wasn't much, as it only seemed to show my "floor" level, yet even if it was pixilated, I could understand it.

I was a white dot before, but this close, there was a white arrow that seemed to be pointing in the direction I was looking at.

Fidget was a green color and as the thing... I couldn't see anything other than us two.

Was Fidget wrong? Or was the thing too far away to see it? I thought hard, and I remember that sometimes if there was something barricading the room in its totality, you couldn't see the enemies inside in the minimap, even if you could see some of their attacks in the darkness.

My eyes snapped forward as a red dot appeared on my map, "W-what is that thing?!" The nimbat whisper shouted in my ear.

Something was walking in the middle of the street; the creature was fully armored; its plate armor was black and seemed well-made, seeming to shine in the sun in the sky. Since I wasn't an expert in metals, I couldn't tell what it was made of or how resistant it would be

To his side rested a mace with a colossal head; at the moment, it was grabbing it by the chains that were linking it to its hilt. To his left was a vast rectangular shield that even a will-fit human would have trouble handling for longer than a few minutes; it had a weird design that I didn't recognize in the middle.

Its helmet gave me a bad feeling, as it had a mask that was marble white that lightly looked like the one of a human, the right eye totally open, its left one so closed it looked like only a slit.

That design made me wonder why they would put such a "weak spot" in full armor.

The same symbol that was in the shield rested on the forehead of the armor.

It was then that I saw a red glow come from its eye; for a moment, I thought it was just that, yet after a second, red smoke came out of it, the glowing seeming to die after that.

"I don't know what I'm looking at, but I don't like it," I whisper-shouted myself this time.

"No kidding, it has red, evil glowing eyes! That thing cannot be good." We kept looking at it, and after feeling her tremble in my shoulder (which felt really surreal to have something alive on it), she finally spoke, "Do you... Think you can take him? If he is bad, I mean."

...I stared at the armored creature about 14 meters from me.

"I don't think it is a good idea; its armor is probably too strong for my attacks.

Fidget jumped from my shoulder, and a small part of me blushed a little, even in a situation like this, "Let's just... try to avoid it."

Fidget and I took a different way; the past conversation was lost thanks to the interruption of the ominous knight.

[30 minutes loss on deviation]

---

[Roll for encounters]

[98...]

---

ght, since when I looked in that direction, there wasn't anything there.
 
I only saw a stop sign, yet the minimap told me something was there. "Why did you stop?" Fidget said, nervously, to my side.
 
"...I think something is behind that." I simply said.
 
She looked at it, then back at me, "Uh, you sure?"
 
I nodded, "Yes, uh, how far can your electricity reach?"
 
She stared at that thing, "Uh, if I get a little closer, it should be in the distance... still, won't that thing stop it?"
 
I shook my head, "The stop sign is made of metal; it should be able to conduct it."
 
"Oook, then." Fidget got a little closer, and she cast her spell.
 
I would say it was my first time seeing magic, but mine probably counted, too. Yet something I didn't expect was that she said some kind of chant as she pointed her palms in the direction of the sign.
 
Uh, so that is why when she got silenced, she also wasn't able to cast spells.
 
A sudden bolt of lightning shoots forward, and instantly, a greenish thing falls to the floor as its muscles flex without its consent! "GAH!" Fidget screamed in fright, seeing I was right. "What is that!?"
 
[17x5= 85]
 
I prepared my hands as the thing stood up. The creature's life bar was a little less than half gone. "I don't know, but-" My eyes snapped back to the map as more red dots appeared around me, "Fidget, fly high!"
I snapped my head around, and more of those horrid creatures were walking and coming out of ruined buildings and from deeper in the city.
 
She must have heard my tone was quite serious, as she did just that.
 
I counted the numbers quickly; it was a total of 7, and just now, it occurred to me I should have asked how often Fidget could cast spells, so quickly I checked her stamina bar.
 
Stamina: 32/64 (-36)
 
Well, that was terrible news, as this thing needed approximately three spells in a row to kill; I could only hope she regenerated that stamina faster.
 
 
"Gah!-" I screamed as I felt something hit me in the side.
 
[-11,-11, MISSx3] [258/280] [+2 infection]
 
 
Fidget seemed to charge another electric power as I moved out of the way of the next barrage of things, "Pay attention, you dolt! What are you even looking at!?"
 
"S-sorry!" Wait, did I just see that I got a debuff? "UGH-" My distraction was paid again by physical pain as I finally snapped to the now.
 
[-11] [1+infection]
 
As I ran around trying to dodge whatever thing I was being shot with, I made sure to break the direct line of sight with these disgusting things. Paying more attention to these things made me feel a need to empty my stomach once more.
 
Short description? Deformed dog-sized chickens, lacking any feathers or skin for that matter, with some tentacles on their back that appeared to shoot needles or stingers at me.
 
Its lanky two legs seemed to barely be able to make it stand; a bolt of chained lightning seemed to make them fall when Fidget finally cast its magic again, yet she looked tired, breathing heavy.
 
[-85xALL!]
 
+13 XP
 
"Thanks, Fidget!" I screamed as I rushed closer to it, yet I was so focused on breaking the distance that I committed the first sin of killing something that could shoot you from a distance.
And that was to run in a straight line to them.
 
The thing stood up in the blink of an eye, the tentacles tips pointing at me so fast that I barely had time to dodge.
 
It was then that I noticed something weird had happened.
 
Usually, a human being running would have a problem changing into any sharp direction as long as their momentum was taking them forward, yet for me, for some reason, it was instantaneous, making me dodge most of the needles as I moved to the side.
 
[-11,MISSx4] [1+infection]
 
"I pray for aid!" I screamed, my body illuminating; a swing of my hand made the thing dodge the first hit, but in the second one, the chicken received a slash directly in the chest that almost cut it in half, killing it.
I felt relief for a good three seconds...
 
"Anon, get down!" I did what she asked, throwing myself to the cold pavement as pain flared all across my back; GOD DAMMIT, why did I give my back to the others? WHY I DIDN'T I TAKE COVER AFTER FINISHING THIS ONE OFF?
 
[Reg 68,-11x8, 14 misses][192/280][+8 Infection]
 
"Woah!" Fidget screamed as she dodged all the shots aimed at her, "Anon, are you alright?!"
 
I gritted my teeth as I turned to another one, to my annoyance, the things were smart enough to jump on cars to have more angles to shoot at me, some just running around the cars and shooting me when they had a clear line of sight.
Picking one, I ran off after them. The monster noticed me rushing it and started to move away, "Yes! Don't get hit; this thing has something on its bullets!" I screamed, finally responding to Fidget.
 
The extra damage and the healing were gone already, and the thing shot me, yet this time, I was prepared. Thinking fast, I tried to hit the bullet in the air as I dodged from side to side, at some point jumping over a car and taking a jump to the creature; my sharp turns seemed to throw off its shot as I closed the distance faster than it could run with those tiny legs.
 
[5xMISSES]
 
My eyes open wide, the slippery thing seemed to notice my invisible projectiles and dodge away from all my attacks. How the fuck did they know?! In the game, the enemies were never smart enough to try to dodge your projectiles.
Did this thing really notice so fast how my weird power worked?! How smart are these things?!
 
I gritted my teeth. I have learned my brief lesson on not giving my back to things, so, doing some side steps, I went behind one car, hearing some small projectiles pelting the metallic and the window of it.
To my great annoyance, the thing I was trying to kill jumped on the car I took cover and shot me with its five tentacles.
 
These things had terrible aim, yet, being so close, even this thing was bound to hit me twice as I side-stepped most of the bullets [-22]; I held back a scream of pain as my wounds bled.
 
I wasn't dumb; it was true that these attacks were pitiful in comparison to getting clawed or a stop sign to the face, but I also knew that a death by a thousand cuts was still a death.
I could feel my panic starting to flare, my hands trembling, thinking I would miss.
My high adrenaline made my first swing too jerky and inaccurate, the thing jumping to the sidewalk of a homely-looking restaurant.
I almost thought I was fucked, but it seems luck was still a little on my side. The creature committed a grave mistake; clearly, those small beady eyes gave it terrible spatial awareness. The thing had committed the grave blunder of slamming itself against a decorative plastic fence due to its focus on me, which gave me enough time to cut its head.
 
I was so happy with my kill that I forgot to take cover in time to dodge the next barrage of bullets; Two of the little fuckers got a clean shot to my damm head! [-44], something really superficial, but getting struck in there still felt painful. I could only be thankful that I dodged the others, but it was then that I suddenly puked up what appeared to be blood, yet its color looked more sickly than it should.
 
[-20][Poisoned!]
 
Oh god, no.
 
I shook my head as I rushed another, being thankful that these little things were dumb enough to get closer for me to kill, probably in an attempt to be more accurate, "I pray for aid!" In a moment, I was in front of the next one; my inexperience showed again as I missed most of my attacks, only hitting the last one by pure luck as I caved in the skull of the thing.
 
Taking a big breath, I try to take cover. I was aware of my surroundings enough to know two of the little abominations were trying to shoot down my crush.
"Fidget, please tell me you have this!" I screamed in worry as the things still didn't try to stop shooting her down. The last thing I needed was for her to be too tired to dodge, and judging how hard she seemed to be breathing, and how sloppy her wing beats were getting, the deadline was coming soon!
 
"Yes, *hufff* I think I- Agh!" blood spilled out of her chest as a stinger hit her.
 
And my eyes went wide.
 
Fidget: [-22 (TORSO HIT)] [+1 Infected] HP:50/100
Anon: reg +68
 
I saw red, seeing my favorite character get hurt.
 
In hindsight, I should have just pressed "Scape," yet it is called blind fury for a good reason.
 
In a haze of pure and adulterated hatred, I ran to the one who dared to hurt her, one of the little bastards getting in my way... I got hit many times; I don't know how many, but I didn't care. I didn't even try to dodge, my legs carrying my weight with all the speed my terrible SPD stat had, and even as I saw the warning that my HP was lower than 20%, the corner of my vision turned red quite literally.
 
In double hindsight, it was stupid to rush without dodging, as I felt my body had difficulty breathing and my wounds were bleeding an insane amount, yet as I split the head of one of them in two, I felt a sudden rush of energy fill my body.
 
+13 XP [XP Bar:162/150 LVL UP!]
 
[HP 35/280 ----> 305/305]
 
The thing that was shooting Fidget suddenly snapped at me as all the stingers inside of my body were shot in all directions; it was harmless, yet as it pelted its body, it finally saw how close I had gotten.
 
"You are dead," I stated, not even screaming, and my power seemed to agree as I could feel everything was replenish with me hitting that mile-stone, that included what I needed to cast my power, the ability giving me my precious extra firepower that almost allowed me to split it in half, just a small piece of tissue holding it together, but no creature can survive with half of its body hanging by a just a few strands of muscle, the abomination starting to fall, dead.
 
 
The other tried to stop me by aiming at me, but my thoughts were clear as everything seemed to slow down; I grabbed the corpse of the thing I had just killed before it fell, and threw it with the unnatural strength that prayer gave me. The thing slammed into the last one and interrupted its shot, and before it could react, I was already on it; with a flurry of attacks, the thing was dead, ending as minced meat on the floor, a fitting destiny for anyone who dared to try and kill my crush... Ok, maybe I should stop thinking like that, the last thing I want to end like a typical white knight on Reddit.
 
I breathed heavily as I looked up, the Nimbat holding her wounds as she flew down, her red blood dripping slowly from the clutches of her fingers, her fur slowly tainting itself with the red substance, "Auch-, Auch-" I met her in the middle as I put a hand over her.
 
"Please heal."
 
"Wait, I need to remove it-" It was too late, as I had already begged to my skill, a wave of white and wispy emanated from her wound; the nimbat panic for a brief three seconds, until the stinger came out cleanly, her panic was replaced with shock, which was soon was replaced with relief, "Oh, uh, never mind, apparently your healing is a lot better than I gave it credit for."
 
Even at her compliment, I could see It wasn't enough; her health wasn't back to full, yet my mana was lacking.
 
Something that worried me was the infection status effect, but something that gave me hope was that I could see that I had cured some of it with my little prayer.
 
Fidget: [0.7/??? Infected] HP:69/100
 
"Thanks, are you fine? I'm pretty sure you got hit many more times than me, yet now you look... spotless." I snapped my eyes back to her, "...You do look a little different. Did you level up?"
 
Of course, she knew, ugh-I really should ask how her world works, "Yeah, a pretty good moment too." I passed my hand over the many places I got shot just now, my shirt fixing itself with my level up... Yet I was so fucking dirty with my own blood that I feel all icky and gross.
At the very least, there was nothing left to hint at my past wounds besides the already mentioned blood. "It heals me completely and cures all my stuff, it seems... Also, I think my body grew in size a little bit, in all of the senses of the word."
"Uhm, really? I mean, your scales do seem a little more vibrant, I guess." She muttered out, squinting her eyes.
Perhaps in my rage, I didn't notice my body doing the thing of reforming and growing a little each time I seemed to get some stat points.
 
I looked at my stats, and the only thing that was important was that my attacks would finally do the standard amount of damage, as each +1 ATT would grant you +2% dmg; funny enough, you start at 50% with 0 ATT, and increase from there.
 
I looked at her infection level, worrying that it would increase, yet it remained the same. "Hey, do you feel sick? That thing infected me with... something, and it seems you are affected by it too."
 
She held the place where a small hole still was, "It what?!"
 
I put a hand over her shoulder, "Relax! It seems my healing can cure you... Very slowly, let's try to lay low while I regenerate my magic, alright?"
 
I was about to leave when I saw something that maybe I should have noticed in battle: there were some loot bags!
 
"Wait, give me a moment." I picked up the bags and walked back to her.
 
"...Where did you get that stuff from?" The nimbat question followed me into a building.
The said building was the same one where one of the chickens had slammed themself into the decorative fence, aka, the restaurant.
Even after the apocalypse, it looks nice enough, with most dining tables and chairs being intact... That was the only nice thing I could say about it, since the place was so dirty that I feared lying or breathing on anything that might disturb the settled dust.
I could only guess this was supposed to be a fancy restaurant, probably an Italian one.

"Uh, I don't know; when I kill something, I get some random loot, depending on my luck." We entered a building, and I sat close to the entrance of the room we were in; it looked like some kind of restaurant.

"That... is weird." She muttered as she sat at a table, "Your gods reward you for killing bad things?"

"Maybe?" I added unhelpfully as I put the bags next to her; at this point, I could cast my magic again, "I pray for your recovery."

The wound in Fidget's frame closed in its entirety, and I perhaps exaggerated a little, going berserk when I saw her get hurt by an attack that didn't deal much damage to me, yet I couldn't help but worry.

After all, she was so small that anything could hurt her badly.

"Uh, thanks; having you with us would have been really helpful," the female said, tapping her wound, testing if it was still sensitive in the spot; and once she felt fine, she smiled at me, her two small fangs seeming to poke out of her top lip, making my hearth warm, "Did, uh, did you cure the infection?"

I saw again and shook my head, "Close, but still needs more."

"Oh, ok, I guess you can heal me while you look at what you got." She motioned to the two bags, and I nodded.

When I opened one, I jumped back in surprise as a whole sword fell, something that I wouldn't ever dream of getting inside that small bag.

I looked over it and recognized it as a T4 sword. It was oddly convenient.

"Oooooook, I will not even question that; I mean, I have seen a person put, like, more than four sheep in their inventory!" she said simply, seeming confused and amused.

I just stared at the sword and picked it up... Well, now I know that I can indeed use them outside, right?

I swing my sword, and a warning appears on my screen.

SWORD DETECTED IN THE SWORD SLOT, PROJECTILE WON'T BE SHOT.

The confused voice of Fidget caught my attention, "Do you, uh, know how to use a sword?"

"...not really," I said as I thought about the message...Well, what about if I de-equip the sword?

Doing that, I swung again using only one arm, the vitrine of the building exploding in fragments of crystal and wood when the invisible projectile hit it.

"WOAH! What was that?" When I looked at her, I noticed she was leaning a little back at that.

Did she never notice that I attacked things from a distance? "Uh, when I used a weapon, I could make it shoot... Air slashes?" She just stared at me, probably noticing the doubt in my voice, so I just shrugged.

But once she got over that fact, she seemed excited. "That is so cool! Can you do it with ALL of them?"

I was about to affirm, then stop, as in the game, you couldn't use weapons that weren't part of your class, "If it is a sword or flail, sure, I don't know about other things."

"That is rather specific but still cool! Now, you don't have to use your claws." At that moment, she appeared to look at her own, "I hate it when they get chipped."

...That was the most womanly thing I have heard her say. "Yeah... Still, my claws may be a little better."

I tried extending my claws, but yet another warning appeared.

You cannot use your "skin" weapon, as you don't have a weapon equipped!

...So I equipped the T3 sword and did the same to the same spot the other sword hit with my claws extended, the already ruined vitrine getting overkill with this attack, chips of wood and crystal flying around.

"What!? You could always do that?" This time, the nimbat seemed less surprised by the sudden attack. "What kind of magic is that?!"

I shrug again, "It is common to my... kind."

"Oh! Well, which is better, the sword or your claws?" I stared at both of them and decided to store the weapon in my inventory, which seemed to make her stare baffled at me.

"Great... Another one with a freaky inventory." She muttered, "So?" I equip the sword, my claws becoming the same black as the blade, yet they still had some cracks to them, but most of them seemed to have seal up, the natural weapons looking a little sharper. To my surprise, Fidget figures it out instantly, "Wait, can you make your claws better by consuming swords!? How does that make sense?!"

"I dunno, I don't question it." I walked over to the next bag, hoping I would get lucky.

Opening the pinkish bag, the bag suddenly extended to fit the well-folded piece of clothing, which made me question my sanity and luck.

Taking out, I look at a t4 robe, the piece of clothing that was just dull gray.

...Or these things were dropping only t4 stuff, or perhaps they were dropping technical upgrades to my gear.

There was a way to check it out as I lay down the robe, "Is that a dress?"

I stared at her, deadpanning, "No, it is a robe."

"And how is that different?" She twisted her head.

"...Of course, the nudist would question about clothes."

She looked a little offended, "Hey! I will let you know ALL nimbats go nude!" She crossed her arms and looked away with a pout, "Besides, clothes would only get in the way of our flying!"

"Suuuure, you freaky nimbat," My playful tone was evident, and she just seemed to pout harder.

She suddenly snaps back, "Wait... YOU ARE LITERALLY NUDE TOO!"

I froze, remembering my lack of clothes, "uuuuuuuuhhh," when I remember a specific fact, I faint in shame, putting a hand over my head like I would faint, "Well, that was because the nimbat corrupted me into her ways! as I was wearing a sheet to protect my dignity!"

"What, wait! You didn't even try to defend your supposed dignity," she did a quotation with her hand at the last part, then froze, "Wait... is this a joke?"

"...Yes, fidget, I'm just having fun," I clarify, grabbing the next bag.

"Oh... Well, screw you anyway!" She added with less offense. I opened the bag, and I let out a yelp of fear as an Inferno jumped out of the bag. The bag was burned, the contents fell to the floor, making Fidget let out a yelp, "What?!" I blinked at the red flaming sword, the blade thick and the hilt brow with the guard totally black, "Uh, Anon, reality check, is that a fire sword?"

I nodded, "It seems so, yes." I slowly reached down with care and took the sword by the hilt, seeming to fit perfectly in one hand.

"Woah! That has to be super rare, right?"

I stared at her, then back at the sword, "I guess, just not as rare where I come from."

"But it is a FLAMING sword! Even the legendary sword of Ahra wasn't burning like that!"

"I'm sure a legendary sword would be more effective than this thing, but yeah, it is better than the last sword I got." It was rarity 5, which only seemed to confirm my suspicion.

Without thinking about it much, I rested the sword on the table... on the wooden table.

Yes, I'm chronically stupid; how did you know? "ANON, THE SWORD!"

I snapped my back to the sword and grabbed it as the table started to burn, and in a panic, I flipped it upside down so the fire would be snuffed out on the tile floor.

My gambit seemed to pay off as the smoke stopped almost instantly. After a few seconds, breathing heavily, I just stared at the flaming sword and then at the various flammable things in this place, "Yup, to my inventory."

"...You are chronically stupid, aren't you?" I snorted at that as Fidget just sighed.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing."

I opened the last bag, and the thing suddenly expanded, and a Golden Chainmail appeared, making my heart skip a beat. Taking the golden armor to shine in the little light that came from the entrance.

"Is that... Gold?" The nimbat question as she narrows her eyes, "Isn't like... a big waste?"

I just blink, "Before I forget, I pray for help." Yet again, some of her infections have been cured. Then, looking at the armor I stored in my inventory, and equipped it since it was an upgrade of my armor.

Maybe it was a trick of the eye, but I could swear some of the edges of my scale became golden, "...Can you consume armor, too?"

"...Yup," I simply said.

+2 def (11 def)

"...It's your magic, the ability to fuse with things or something?" She concluded.

"I, uh, everyone could do it?" I lamely added.

"Well, where you come from, it is clearly full of freaks," Her voice lacked any kind of malice, probably playing around more than anything.

"No-" I stopped, knowing the internet and the players of the game, "Ok, yes, but that is an oversimplification!" She rolled her eyes but added nothing more, "...I pray for your recovery."

The infection was almost gone now, only having 0.1. "Ok, now we are done?" She spoke once she felt the warmth be gone.

"Just one more, and you are good to go." She nodded, and I looked at the mess that was my inventory, full of things I didn't have use of anymore, yet I wanted to keep in case... I don't really know, maybe to sell it to a random person? They were still excellent swords, not in terms of the game, but for everyday people.

Having enough, I prayed one more time, and her infection was gone.

I equipped the fire sword because it was a fire hazard to have it outside, and took out the damm t4 sword, I wouldn't use it... perhaps? Maybe I would throw it.

"Alright, let's go! It is true you can teleport us back, but we still have a long way to go! Hopefully, we can arrive today." I nodded, and we went outside.

Then I stopped and looked at her HP.

If something bigger and stronger had hit her, she would be dead now...

I looked at my 305 HP, then at her 72 max health at the moment, and sighed, taking my T1 health ring out of my ring slot.

"Hey, fidget, use this," I said simply, offering it to her.

"Use what-" She stopped as she saw the ring pinch in my hand, "...Why?" she stared at the ring, confused.

It occurred then that maybe this could be badly interpreted, and I gestured with my free hand in a panic, "It isn't a proposal! It is just a magical ring that will make you healthier! It saved me once... and I don't want you to accidentally drop dead because something hurt you really badly!"

"I, uh." She stared at the small precious gem resting on top of it, "It is just never gotten something so precious from someone... You know, as a gift." She then seemed to size it up, "It is nice, but... I don't think it will fit me very well." She picked it up with care

It was true. Before it was so small it wouldn't have fitted in my thick demon fingers, but now the ring seemed made for a giant, too big for someone of the size of this nimbat. Honestly, I don't know how it got equipped in my inventory, "Just humor me; use it as a bracelet if you must."

She stared at it, and sure thing, it seemed it would work like that, "All right, sure, why not." She did just that, and a smile threatened to break my lips when her HP was updated.

Anon: 305/305---> 275/275

Fidget: Ring equipped! Extra health is added to all body parts!

Fidget: 72/100(-28)--->72/130(-28)

"A little too big still, hope it doesn't fall-" The ring seemed to react to her user and adjusted itself instantly to her wrist, "Woah! Uh, why you didn't say it would do that?"

I stared at the ring, "Uh, I didn't know it would do that."

She stared at the item for a moment, "Should I feel any different?"

"Ah, give me a second." In hindsight, I should have equipped it before I healed her infection to not waste ability use, but I'm not particularly smart, as you can guess, "I pray for healing."

Fidget straightened up as she felt the warm seep into her body; the bags under her eyes seemed to disappear, and her fur seemed more vibrant, "Woah, I, uh, feel a lot better, actually."

I looked into her hp and frowned, wondering why it wasn't as effective as my own healing.

Fidget:87/130(-28)

I smiled at her, "Give me a second, and I can make it better." Once my mana was enough, I cast it again, "I pray for your health."

Her fur seemed to get an even healthier color as her ears seemed to stop being so pale, "Oh, oh wow, yeah, I can feel that!" She suddenly hugged my neck, the thing that made me tense up and squeak out like a dying animal. It was something expected of a guy whose crush had just hugged him. "Thank you!"

I slowly hugged her, the thing that made her stop flying, "Uh, you are welcome, just take care, alright? I'm a lot more sturdy than you, so if you can, just let me get hit."

Fidget stopped hugging me and pushed against my chest, staring into my ember eyes with a deadpan look, "How about you try to not get hit instead? I saw you there, getting hit so many times you were bleeding all over the place." She then tapped my shoulder, and I took that as a sign that I should drop her. As I did, her wings instantly took her to my eye level, puffing her chest fluff.f, "Besides, I'm a big girl; I can handle a little pain."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

Her bravado faded almost as fast as it came, "Well, I'd rather not to, but don't worry about me... no, wait, worry about me; if I'm in danger, absolutely WORRY ABOUT ME, just, uhm, don't rush it and get hurt along the way, okay?" She punched me in the shoulder, "Besides, you can totally heal me, right?

I stared at her emerald eyes and at my rising headache, which was a sign of my "mana exhaustion." (Yes, I will take that name she used.)

I then looked at my only healing potion, arriving to the conclusion I would keep it only for her if possible, "Yes, but I cannot heal you if you are dead." I said simply.

She gulped, "Doly noted, let's get going!" She changed the subject real fast, eh?

Chapter Text

While I walked and she flew, the nimbat kept brushing where she got hit, maybe feeling phantom pain, yet I wouldn't bring myself to ask something as dumb as, "Are you accustomed to getting hurt?" 

Now that I thought about it, I didn't either, yet it seemed after my first breakdown, I did a lot better… well, my second one, too. 

Also, did everything go slow for a second when I leveled up? Or was it part of my imagination, with all my adrenaline flowing through my veins? 

I also made a good move, but it was probably luck, as my experience in fighting was still lacking. 

…Experience? Nah, I doubt that the levels-up helped in other ways that weren't in raw stats. 

But maybe... 

I would have to see once I level up more; perhaps I would notice if my skill also upgraded. 

"That was one of the few times I got hurt badly…" I snapped my eyes to her, not expecting her to speak about her past experiences. 

"Oh, sorry, if I were quicker, I could have saved you the pain." I simply said I was unsure what to add. 

"No, it's fine. It would be unfair that you were the only one putting your neck in the line," she kept tapping the place of the empty wound, "After seeing Dust get cut, poisoned, obtain many concussions,  get impaled with an assorted amount of thorns and spikes, get burn, etc, I made my peace with getting hurt too." She turned around to see me, "I'm just glad you were there to heal me."

"Yeah, I'm glad too," I said without thinking.

"You are?" She questions.

I blink, confused at her own confusion, "What do you even mean by that?"

Fidget muttered something, then spoked aloud, "Well, wouldn't you prefer to be at home and not in this terrible place?"

"Ah," I nodded, understanding her point, "Well, yeah, but since I'm stuck here, it is a lot better to be at your side to help you! The last thing I want is you to be in pain... or worse."

"Oh, thank you?" She landed on my head, using my 'Handle bars' to lean on it, "If you really think about it, that is something very nice to say."

I, by pure instinct, look up with my eyes.

It was a mistake.

Don't look up, don't look up, Don't look up, Don't look up, Don't look up, Don't look up.

Trying to distract myself while I blushed, I spoke, "I'm surprised you are so comfortable with touching me."

I could hear her flap her wings, "Hey, I gotta rest a little after flying for so long, and your head looked awfully comfy; it even has security bars!"

"Just... ugh, do whatever you want; you are very light, so I don't mind it too much," I muttered, doing my best to look forward.

I tensed even more when I noticed that she was about to... "Thanks!"

She just sat in my head.

SHE JUST SAT IN MY HEAD.

Don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird.

"Do you have some water? Just out of curiosity."

I cleared my throat, "Yup, want some?"

"Please, I haven't seen a river in a while..." She grumbled and sighed when I passed her the canteen, "Thanks, squared!"

Hearing her gulp down into it so close to it made me remember... lewd videos on the internet, so I bit down at my lip to avoid focusing on that.

---

Fidget decided to stay on my head for a while, and by that, I mean the rest of the way, as something odd happened.

In the distance, we saw a forest in the middle of the city, surrounded by red things; confused, I sped up, "Woah! Something wrong?" It was then she noticed, too, "What... what are those?"

...These damm turtles! What the hell were they doing?!

"Why do all things here have to be so hideous?" The nimbat in my head said as it opened its wings and jumped off.

The thing I saw was something hideous indeed; many of the flesh things that were eating the human bodies were devouring anything that was organic, plants, wood, even seeming to nibble in the dirt, spitting gray matter that reminded me of desiccated shit.

"What are they doing?!" Fidget said under her breath, confused yet horrified at this.

All surrounding what was practically only greenery for miles (that wasn't the event clovers) was that gray substance and what seemed to be eggs of flesh.

I, of course, did what I thought was for the best and slashed one of the little shits. My nails extended, and I was surprised when they burst into flames; when I expected to shoot an invisible bullet, a fire slash shot instead.

Flesh and bone were incinerated as the text said I won 9 XP.

"A-Anon!" She looked surprised at my sudden rage, "Why did you do that?"

I looked dumbfounded, "Look around! They are destroying the forest and making these weird eggs... that, in all honesty, will probably make more of them or more monsters that we will have to deal with."

She looked at the creatures and then at me, "Alright, but... they aren't attacking us?" The anthro said, not even convincing herself.

I just stared, the fact they had given me XP... with how many they were, I would probably have enough to level up and finally use my best ability available if I just killed a LOT of them.

Yet, looking at the face of disapproval, I just sigh, "just for the record, this is probably a bad idea, but I will hold back... for now." I looked in the direction where the marker was and knew that we would have to be quick since the root that was part of the mission would probably be destroyed by these things.

I should have figure it out she would be too goodie two shoes to kill something that wasn't attacking us...

I shook my head, "Come, let's get moving; I think I know where we have to look." Fidget seemed to get less upset at my sudden change of mood and followed me as we raced to the place.

---

Fidget was breathing heavily; her body slumped as she stared down, "D-did we arrive?" they uttered.

I stared up; I was focusing on the mark for so long that I didn't notice what I was running to. But when I lifted my view, I saw something that chilled my blood; it had so many roots, so thick that I thought it was a trunk or something, yet when I looked up... It wasn't a tree; it wasn't a tree at all.

Roots came out of the ground, thicker than I, its bark surrounded by spines, bigger than Fidget, yet it seemed the point was as sharp as a butcher knife.

That would probably have been fine; perhaps I would have believed it was part of a myth like "the world tree," that maybe it was a way to travel to different "realms," that maybe it was a way home.

Yet I avoided describing what made my stomach drop like a stone.

What made me question why I was here in the first place?

The roots were bursting off the seams. Literally, it's inside, showing that it shouldn't be in something that was clearly a plant. Flesh, grotesque flesh that made me want to puke yet again, like when I saw a dead human.

But that was fine.

Inert.

It couldn't harm me; it was horrible, but I was safe, it was dead.

This... was pulsing, this was reacting, this was very much alive.

And it had eyes.

Eyes were looking at me, eyes that were looking at the nimbat that was to my side.

I didn't know when I moved, but I was in front of Fidget when I snapped to reality, when I heard Fidget squeak, seeing the roots coming from the ground, making something similar to an ant hill about 6 feet tall.

Looking for a moment, her face was green, seeming horrified by this sin against all living things.

"A-Anon, I think we should go." She said as she put a hand on my shoulder.

But then it was when I saw it, my eyes seeing something blue, no, it was many blue things, holes in the mess of tangled things.

And those holes had blue skies.

Those holes had forests.

Those holes had deserts.

Those holes had cities.

I pointed at it, making sure that most of the body of Fidget was still shielded by me, "We can teleport at any time, but I need to know I'm not insane... do you see that?"

Fidget seemed to use me like a shield instantly, looking over me like I was a safeguard that I would protect her from... this thing.

"See w-" Her eyes wide, "are these... portals?"

At that moment, I felt a sudden nonsensical dread when my eyes snapped to the eyes of THAT thing; my heart leaped to my throat as the eyes dilated, reminding me of a cat that was about to pounce.

Mouths appeared out of nowhere on the mess of flesh, and red smoke came from it.

And with that, something happened in my brain, something that made my eyes go wide, my whole body shudder, and my lizard brain chose to run.

When I came back to my senses, I noticed that I had run back to the things that were eating this place.

I would take a level up and get out of this cursed forest.

I didn't know what side to take.

One option is I could go into a random hole of that THING and get back home by winning the lottery and winning it twice with Fidget. But I knew that wasn't how life worked.

Fidget didn't seem to object as she was stunned at what we saw, my mission updating.

A displaced nimbat. ---> The ????? ?????

-Accept the mission/request of Fidget. [CLAIMED!]

-Investigate one strange root. [Rewards available!]

-Destroy the source of power of one strange root.[Rewards]

-???[Complete the above to get more steps]

Reward:???

Reward:???

I accepted the rewards instantly.

Congrats! You have claimed two mission advances.

-Investigate one strange root.

-Find clues to what caused the downfall of the city. 1/1

A message from an observer (and sponsor)

And so it begins.

I applaud you for getting out of your "bum." I hope now that you see the real gravity of your situation and you will not give up.

This, indeed, will be interesting to see, but no pressure.

No, I didn't drag you into this situation; no, you aren't meant to save the multiverse; no, I will not take you home.

Good luck

REWARDS!

Base upgraded!

-Livingroom:+1

The bedroom is fixed! (Don't destroy it again)

-Legends room:+1

-Lights installed!

-System shop unlocked.

+200 $ points

-Inventory full!

The rest of the rewards were sent to the gift chest!

---

Fidget seemed in shock even when I killed many of the turtles; 25 turtles needed to level up, and when 15 were dead, they started doing something weird.

Specifically, weird clicking sounds as they tried running from me, yet I didn't care as I kept killing them.

I cared when I managed to level up and saw many of the first flesh things I found in this dimension, all running in my direction.

It would have been scary if I didn't have a "get out of jail free."

...Perhaps Fidget was onto something.

Willing myself to be back home, I became a beam of light, and in a flash, it was done.

---

The place was different when I appeared here; for one, it wasn't dim for me anymore; a light was in the ceiling; I appeared in a decently sized living room, sofa, coffee table, and carpet included.

No TV or similar, but for some reason, there was furniture where it could be... and some empty places for books and such.

A display cabinet with many plates and glasses.

"W-where are we?" I heard the nimbat speak, seeming dazed.

"We are back... I fear I cannot deal with that... not even if I fully level up." I said, ashamed, not knowing exactly why I was embarrassed, as days ago, I wouldn't have even been brave enough to fight the "Weak" things that were here and the thing that activated my lizard brain hard enough that instead of "scaping," I ran.

Perhaps I shouldn't have killed the turtles to level up, yet a part of me knew I needed it to one day... to one day do what?

Was I really going to fight that thing? It sure looked like the key to traveling to other worlds.

Fidget snapped her fingers in front of me, making me look at her, "Hey! Don't say it like you are in this alone!"

I stared at her and raised an eyebrow, "You would help me deal with that?"

"H-Hey, hang on! Never said that, ha ha ha..." I deadpanned at her, and she gulped, "Not right now! Yeah, I'm sure you saw how that... THING had that portal, and for me to go back..." She slumped, all the tiredness coming back to her; "We will have to deal with it, won't we?"

"Yes, probably," I said, and Fidget finally seemed to break under the lack of hope.

"...I think, I think I need some alone time."

I wanted to object; I didn't want to leave her alone, yet as much as we had bonded in the brief moment we had met, I knew when people needed alone time, they should get alone time.

"I...I think there should be a bedroom around here; feel free to bunk there." I said, looking at a hallway that had only two doors, one of which seemed to have a huge lock.

"T-thanks." She said simply as she flew away to the only possible room and then went inside.

I didn't expect her to be able to use a handle with such ease with her size and having too much while flying, but I guess if cats could do it, it made sense that a nimbat could too.

...Now what? Wait, where is the gift chest?

I held back a scream as a blue chest appeared on the side of the couch.

I questioned my sanity once more, then gave a sigh. I walked over to the chest and saw what was given as a reward.

...That was a lot.

Reward:

- "pet" Food items added!

(total, 10)

5xBlooming bud mystery chest

2xStat potion choice chest.

...That is great, actually, perfect.

-Warning: some of the items have lost stock and won't be able to be acquired for a long time! (or ever)

Ah, that is worse if it depends on the food item I had in my account before being sent here... All the burgers I had before coming here were sent here, and there were only 5.

The other important thing was the cup of ambrosia... It made my brain itch at the curiosity of consuming this shit, yet having in mind how much it feeds the pets, it was probably used better to get fast calories.

The other things were just French toast... a problem.

The fucking french toast spoke in the description, and I don't know if I had the stomach to consume a living thing, even if the food item was a freak that was trying to convince me that I should eat it.

But... the Blooming chest could be VERY important.

The pool of items it could give could be game-changing!

t11 Reskins weapons of Valentine's event!

Legendary items that could increase my power by a LOT!

In an instant, I already have this blooming chest and open one after another.

...

My eyes twitched after each one.

Now I remember why I never used this chest in their time.

Because the FUCKING chances of getting something you could use were almost 0.

1- mystery cloth (black striped)

2-t11 reskin dual daggers (My classes use swords, aka, waste of space.)

3-Running heart cloth

4 and 5- 4 Shards that I needed 21 (at best) to actually get their possible items.

FUCK.

I was full of coping and tried to equip the daggers from my inventory. Why? Extra range and a little more damage.

But no, it didn't even give me a warning when I tried to equip it! It just didn't let me.

DAMMIT.

I took the daggers out of my inventory and slammed them into the ground once they appeared in front of me.

To my surprise, they went through the hilt, the thing that made me blink.

I picked up the daggers and saw them in detail.

They were indeed twin daggers; the only difference was that one was pink and the other more purple; all across the guard and the blade were encrusted gems following the same theme.

...Also, something odd that the description says is that they hold a special power over those who fight for love. I wonder if fighting to protect Fidget (I have had a crush on her since I was about 14) would give this power.

Taking a sigh, I started to look at what the hell some of the stuff I got was.

Apparently, the "choice" stat potion of choice is accurate.

My quick choice would be Life, but now that my healing and mana regeneration was limited, perhaps it wasn't the best option.

...And it also said that the potions came with flavors.

...Picking Vit and Wis, I was about to taste it, and that was when I heard a sniffling coming from the bedroom.

Right.

Fidget also deserved some of the rewards; she did help me arrive there after all, and perhaps taking something equivalent to a smoothie would help her mood.

That and a burger.

Alright, it's time to see what the hell is, $200 shop points are, and what a legend room is.

---

Alright.

That was a lot of information to process.

Basically, they are upgrades to the base; the legends were places where some of my characters, dead or alive, would appear to help me.

That... was interesting; it would be even better if they could leave the base, but apparently, they normally couldn't even leave their rooms, only to do that with more upgrades that I couldn't afford at the moment.

And apparently, I was wrong; this place is not secure. Why? I could buy a "guard" for 400 points, which, according to the description, would defend any hostile force that follows you to base.

Note made: Never enter the base by foot; only teleport.

What could be afforded for the Legends room? Apparently, only the Church room, and even then, it would eat most of my points.

But knowing my luck, it was incredibly important, seeming to work as a hospital and making holy water, which would cure ANY debuff in the user.

...Fuck it, $150 points gone; the other ones would use for a bathroom, for the simple reason I was dirty, full of blood and grime that I wanted out of my body.

Well, there goes all my money.

As I bought the room, I felt a sudden wave of dizziness that was gone as fast as it came.

The locked room opened up, the door being replaced by a white door with what at first thought was a cross. Instead, the thing was too large, and the middle too thick to be one.

A little confused, I open the door.

What came next was a little confusing; I had memories of this room but from a different angle.

The room was mostly black and only illuminated by candles. The smell of some incense that made my nose wrinkle was in the air, and my attention was instantly taken to the walls, where glasswork seemed to be taking place.

Figures that seemed familiar rested in the crystals, and in the far distance, a pedestal full of water.

And god, when I saw the person sitting, praying with a book in their hands, looking at me, it was jarring for a second, then I adjusted to the odd sensation.

I had memories of looking at myself entering the room, and I had memories of looking at myself praying with a book in my hands.

A set of words were said at the same time, "What in hell is going on"-"What the fuck."

...

"What?"-"What."

We pointed at each other, "Stop that."-"Stop that."

...

"Alright, that is enough; enter inside already, and let's figure this one out." The man said, with a deeper tone of voice than mine, yet almost the same.

To my surprise, the man took a cigarette and started to smoke as I got closer.

Things that fill my mind with memories of smoking.

I hate smoking.

As I got closer, my dark vision finally saw him better; a pale skin tone met my eyes, blue eyes, and black hair; on the top of his head was a golden crown with a black gem in the middle.

His robes were deep purple, and on his hands was a white book with the same design on the door, the other a gray staff with ice as a gem.

"Well, isn't this funny? I felt disgusted at smoking, or more like, I remember seeing someone smoke and feeling disgusted." He took a deep drag of the cigarette, sending the smoke to my face, the thing that made me cough like crazy, "Amusing."

"What- *cough* what is wrong with you!" I ask, my nose is offended by the hard smell of cigarettes.

"I need to bite the edge off, and smoking isn't a problem when you can cure your lungs daily," I said simply.

Wait, no, HE said simply.

"Alright, you clearly have some memories I don't because last time I checked, I HATE smoking," I said simply, somehow knowing this was me, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"Very, that is very simple, really, the reason why I started smoking is..." He stopped and frowned.

"Yes?" I poked, hoping he knew more than I.

"I... I'm drawing a blank; I only feel like it is a VERY good reason." He finished the whole cigarette and then took another.

I glared at him, "Brother in Christ, please tell me you don't smoke two packs of cigarettes a day like my mother."

He glared back, "First of all, our mother; second of all, you know that we were one of the reasons she smoked so much."

"What?! No! I mean... maybe, but it was because of the stress of the daily life, probably... and addiction." I was unsure.

"...Yes, that is true, but you weren't helping her by acting so dismissive of her, did you?"

I pointed at him, "Hey! By your logic, you did the same asshole!"

"I... You are correct, but I feel now I understand her." He said, moving the cigarette to the candle and making the tip burn.

I sigh, "This is weird, and I don't feel like going into an existential crisis of a family I might never see again."

"Same here." HE said.

"...How should I name you anyway? We cannot use the same name, can we?" I muttered, my sanity draining at the weird situation of being in two places at the same time.

"Just call me priest; simple, effective, and accurate." Another big drag that consumed half of the cancer stick.

I facepalm, "Alright... it said you could give me holy water. Can you give me one?"

"Sure thing, bud." his tone was very casual, like he was used to this, resting the staff on the altar, with his free hand, he put it into his robe and took out a vial.

In quick movement, he submerged it into the plate over the altar and opened the book to what seemed a random page. "Cure all sickness and evil." Priest drones out.

The vial shone for a second, and then it was done.

"Here you go, now; before I can make another, you have to use this one and then wait a day."

"...What? Why?" I picked up the vial and put it inside my inventory, specifically in my second quick slot.

"I don't have the minimum idea; I actually would prefer to give you as many as I can since that thing heals 100 the pop, but for some reason, I feel VERY compelled not to abuse the system." The priest said as he shuddered.

"I... pity you." I shuddered, too, at the memory of that feeling.

"Yeah, yeah, unless you need healing, leave me to my existential crisis, and do a brother a favor and bring some books or something; being enclosed in this room will drive me insane," I said- HE SAID.

"This is so fuck up," I muttered as I left.

"Yup, have fun with our waifu; by the way, I will enjoy your memories with her." I stopped and looked at him, "And no, that doesn't make me a cuck because you are me, and I am you... Alright, I made it weird, sorry!"

I shook my head as I closed the door behind me.

The slough of information felt a lot more passive, not feeling as strong as before.

...

I hope this doesn't become a battle royal with copies of me all over the place.

---

The bathroom was nice; it was bigger than the one in my house, but it lacked a place to shower; well, you could still bathe in a tub; I just haven't seen one in real life.

It surely would be a new experience to soak in instead of just making it quick so you can be done with it.

But the important part.

It had a toilet.

A working toilet with running water.

And a sink with the same courtesy, and the water was drinkable, too!

Don't ask me how it works.

I don't want to try to figure out how it works.

I'm already questioning my existence with the literal clone of me in the church room.

Seeing Fidget status...

Fidget

LVL 27

HP:84/130(+30) (Bad diet -4, stress -22, overweight -2, -18 exhaustion)

In-depth body state:[Locked] [Reach level 2 of party level]

Stamina: 60/60 (-40 Exhaustion)

Exhaustion points:40.00/100

Hunger:92/100

I saw that her hunger meeter was almost full.... and her health was starting to get crippled again.

That isn't good, and I doubted she was in the mood to eat more protein bars.

Might as well give her a burger to make her feel better.

And one fruit flavor stat pot.

Chapter Text

---

Knocking in the door, I spoke, "Fidget, you hungry?"

"...No."

Ah yes, so sad you don't feel hungry anymore; let's see if the smell of this fixes that; hearing her voice all hoarse and sad was already breaking my heart. I opened the door slowly, taking out the "double cheeseburger deluxe" from my inventory: I was surprised when the thing was warm and smelled like it had just been made, the aroma even waking up my dormant appetite.

Even from the doorway, I could see the nimbat under the sheets, moving at the smell of the food, "You sure?" I added, hoping she would take the bait.

"..." She took her head out of her sheet fortress.

Oh god, this hurt me more; I didn't even know the bright magenta was actually makeup, makeup that was now running from her eyelid. The fur of her face was matted and wet, and I could swear the bags under her eyes came back.

"Is that... is that a burger?" She asked, dumbfounded, disbelief dripping from her voice.

"Double and with extra cheese." I started instead of asking the non-ask question.

"what? How?! Where could you even get it in this place!?" She stared at the huge burger.

I also looked at the monstrosity. Did I mention the thing was half a foot tall and had a diameter of a foot? "It seemed the people who gave me this mission decided to give me some of my stuff back... mostly food, but I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't share, right?"

"I, uh-" Her stomach grumbled at the clear, warm meal in front of her, and her mess of a face blushed at it, "...Yes." she squeaked, seeming more embarrassed that I found out she was actually hungry.

I nodded, "There is a bathroom now installed in this place; feel free to use it to clean up."

Then she blinked, "Wait, now that I think about it, when we had a living room? Or a bathroom?"

"There is also a church with what seems like a clone of me that at the same time is also me but not me."

The nimbat was perplexed, stumped, bewildered, disoriented, and more as she looked at my face, probably hoping I was joking, "What?"

"Exactly, now come before it gets cold... if it can even get cold, that is," I said, walking out and letting her fix herself. I didn't want to embarrass her more; after all, if she used makeup, even in a hellish place like this, she probably still cared about her appearance even when her fur was a mess and was all dirty.

---

It wasn't long before she came, and it wasn't much of an upgrade either, only seeming to clean her face... Or that was my best guess since it was the only part that was wet or looked damp.

Her running makeup was gone, that was for sure.

I was standing with a plate where the burger barely fitted in, and my other hand was an empty glass, "We only have a sofa at the moment, so you will have to eat sitting there... or on the floor; I'm not your boss."

"Uh, I will take the sofa; thank you, Anon." She took flight, and I was surprised when she was able to pick the huge burger with the plate... I guess it made sense that the guardian of the sword would be able to pick heavy things like that.

After she took a seat, I walked in front of her, "Now, do you want the possible strawberry smoothie flavor or the possible blueberry smoothie flavor?"

"...Where did you get smoothies?" She asked, not as confused as before, "I'm hallucinating? I'm dreaming? What is going on?"

"Nah, things just got weird."

"...I will take the strawberry flavor." She simply said, putting the plate with the burger to her side and sitting to accommodate her eating mode.

I took the VIT pot out of my inventory and grabbed it before it fell to the ground; I then emptied its contents into the glass and put it to Fidget's side.

"...That isn't a smoothie." She stared up at me, "right?

"..." I took out the WIS pot and drank from it, smiling at its taste. "Uh, it may not be as cold as one, but it does taste like one."

She stared at me, then took a sip of hers.

Her eyes went wide, and she gulped down the rest of it.

Testing something, I saw her hunger meter.

Hunger:55/100

All right, stats pots seem to cure some of the hunger; good to know.

I was snapped when I heard someone crying, "S-something wrong?"

Fidget just stared at her empty glass, then looked at the burger, picked it up, and gave it a bite.

I was scared more once I saw her cry harder, "F-Fidget?"

DID IT TASTE BAD? DID I MAKE A MISTAKE? DID SHE HATE ME? I COULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF IF MY CRUSH HATED ME-

Oh shit, she is devouring the shit out of the burger and crying hard while she is doing so.

She seemed so infatuated with the burger that she didn't notice she was smoking.

Wait, smoking?

I opened my eyes wide and instantly prayed, a wave of warmness coming out, seeming to make her cry even more.

OH GOD WHAT IS GOING ON!??!?!

I looked at fidget stats, only to be dumbfounded by what I looked at.

Fidget

LVL 34

HP:104/130 (stress -10, -16 exhaustion)

In-depth body state:[Locked] [Reach level 2 of party level]

Stamina: 67/67 (-33 Exhaustion)

Exhaustion points:33.00/100

Hunger:0/100

...She isn't overweight anymore.

She also levels up three levels... I will take this to the grave because the only things that could get leveled up with food were pets in the game.

It reminded me of this one meme where the waitress said, "Sir, we don't accept pets here," and the guy is like, "Excuse me? She is my WIFE."

I looked at her, and she stopped smoking as she kept destroying the burger.

How can so much fit in such a small body?!

Once the burger was vanquished, she just stared at the empty plate, tears still coming out.

Then she looked at me.

"IT WAS SOO GOOOD!" And there is the waterworks.

Good to know I'm in some kind of cartoonish world where people can cry their weight in tears like it is nothing. I carefully stepped to the side of her falling fountain of tears and sat behind her so nothing would fall on me.

Then I started to pat her back, not knowing what else to do, keeping in mind I was very socially awkward. "There, there, you can eat another burger tomorrow if you want," I said before I could stop myself; that wasn't a way to ration food!

That thought was taken to the back and shot by twenty rifles as she suddenly snapped back and started crying in my chest.

...Let's be honest; I would let her eat all the food if she asked.

Minutes passed, and she slowly started to stop crying, only sniffling and, for some reason, nuzzling me. Since I wasn't a monster, I hugged her back, doing small circles with my finger just in the middle of the base of her wings, being careful not to hurt her wings.

"T-thank y-you, thank you, t-thank you! T-Thank you so much!" God, now I felt bad that she needed to thank me so many times.

"You are welcome," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I needed that so much; thank you for remembering..." The nimbat said, finally stopping her nuzzles, which made me feel warm inside.

...Ah, she did say she wanted a warm meal very badly, didn't she? "You are welcome," I added, keeping doing circles in her back.

"...You stink." She said out of nowhere, and before I asked, she added, "I stink too!"

And now she started to laugh.

...Should I be worried about her bipolar disorder? It cannot be healthy to have this many changes of mood in such a short time.

"Well, we do have a bathtub now... I think It also has hot water." The nimbat looked up, her eyes being a lot less depressive.

"Oh? Playing around I found out how that thing dropped water." She cleaned her tears with her arms.

"...The focid?" I added.

"It is called focid?" I nodded, "I did see another one in the wall... was it that?"

I nodded.

"...Can you help me." I blushed hard as I tensed, "But if you don't want to, you don't have to! Must be awkward to help a full-grown woman like a child..." She looked very worried.

I breathed heavily, relaxing myself the best I could, in hopes my heart would fallow suit, since the dam thing felt it was about to explode. "No, it isn't that, just... I will help you." I said, not knowing how she didn't know what she was doing to me.

I picked her up, and she hugged me harder and locked her legs to my sides, not helping my mood.

...Oh, I do have a dick.

OH GOD I HAVE A DICK.

MATH, MATH, THINK OF MATH, THINK OF YOUR MOTHER NUDE, THINK OF THAT ONE VIDEO OF THE OLD LADY-

Alright, erection aborted, my dignity intact... ass long nobody found out the cursed knowledge I had; I went to the bathroom and played with the shower knobs to find the right temperature and then lay her in there, "There, if it gets too much, just spin-"

"Won't you help me?" She asked, confused when I was about to leave.

...My heart cannot take much of this, "F-fine, just, I will get your back, and that is all."

She nodded and moved in the bathtub... and looked at me expectantly.

Oh god, I was about to do this, wasn't I?

Sitting down, I sighed in relief, that was until I felt something sitting in my lap.

DON'T LOOK DOWN, DON'T LOOK DOWN.

"...What are you doing?" I ask as casually as I can.

"Oh, since you are so tall, I didn't want you to not have enough water to submerge yourself because of me, you know, because if I sit down the water would only arrive to half of your torso because you are so huge and at my neck because I'm so compact!" Of course she would call herself compact instead of small, "... Sooo, if I sit here, the water should be be good for the both of us without me needing to drown!." She asked like it was nothing, probably unaware of her effects on me.

"I-I see, just... alright."

When enough water was filled, I shut down the faucet and rested for a while, enjoying the warm water.

"Sooo, how you get a bathroom in here?" She accommodated herself, making me feel her whole soft- FOCUS IN HER WORDS ANON, "It even has a place to bath..."

"...Short answer or long answer?" I said, not knowing what to say.

"...Short one?" She added.

"I don't know."

"...The long one?"

"I completed two missions and got this place upgraded by one of the rewards; one gave me some currency to choose what else to add, and after adding the church, there were enough points to put also a bathroom, so I bought that too."

"...Haley would probably be so jealous of you right now." The nimbat said, falling a little down and submerging more of her body in the now dirty water, "I bet she would pay lots to these gods that are helping you to get her workshop out of that stupid mountain."

Just relax, Anon, don't think of her, don't be weird, don't be horny either.

"Yeah, a lot of people in my world would also pay a lot; having stuff installed instantly on a daily basis would be amazing."

"Yeah, this is nice." She murmurs.

Silence for a few moments.

"Fidget?"

Silence.

Great, she fell asleep.

I would love to let her sleep in here with me, but soaking in here for long wouldn't be very healthy.

...

Well, under normal circumstances, I would wake her up.

These weren't.

It had been a long pair of days, and even though I could tell that no matter what I tried, I would never be able to sleep...

This was relaxing.

During her sleep, the nimbat had fallen limp on my lap, her back and head resting on my belly and lower part of my chest.

Deep breaths that was the only sound in this room, perhaps the only other sound was the water that she moved thanks to her chest expanding.

...

She was so warm, not as warm as the water, but I could still tell her body heat apart from it.

Call me a creep, call me a deviant, but I didn't care.

Looking at this...

Tears fell from my eyes, tension from all the days of worry, leaving my body as my heart got warm and chummy.

I smiled, slowly relaxing, and I ignored how pathetic I was to the fact that I was crying only because a cute girl was sleeping on me.

Instead, I lie my back in the tub, and hum a slow, happy tune.

I see why people said that taking a shower and bathing are so different. Soaking in was the best activity I could do in here, and I was happy to have a chance to relax like this.

I had this feeling that in normal circumstances, I would fall asleep in the blink of an eye, without the need for any of my usual medication, but I guess I couldn't be blamed.

It was weird to remain very aware all the time, my brain not even slowing down due to my high relaxation...

I had memories of me laying down, thinking ideas for me to write or to draw, but after the "Golden time" my brain wouldn't be able to keep thinking correctly, having a hard time having coherent ideas or to continue my mini adventure I imagine myself in.

I relinquish a sigh, slowly sitting up again, the only part that didn't get soaked was her face, which remained safe over the water thanks to the high vantage point that was my body.

As much as I wish we could stay in this room forever, soon the weird flesh creatures would do their mating callings (or whatever the fuck they do during the night), and the last thing I need is for the relaxation Fidget built up to fall due to the creatures waking her up with her screams.
 
So, with much care, I slowly moved her from side to side, speaking her name very softly.

The nimbat hummed, "Come on, Dust, just another five minutes," she whispered out, clearly still clinging to her nice dream.

I would have felt offended if we were an item, that is.

She probably relaxed so much that her brain conjured happy dreams before she ended here.

...I hope that all those crazy people who ship her with Dust weren't right.

"It is Anon, and we gotta bathe, remember?" I whispered out, not wanting to startle her.

"...Oh," Fidget yawned, stretching, "Sorry, I was just having a nice dream with my best friend."

Thank god, "Aww, here I thought I had taken that place."

Fidget made a girly giggle that made my stomach fill with butterflies, "Sorry, mister, you're gonna have to work harder to take that spot from him." She slowly opened her eyes and looked up with a smug smile, "Thought, gotta admit, you are taking strides to achieve that.... BUUTTTTTTT you would need a few more bribes to achieve your goal."

I rolled my eyes, "Glad that my bribe worked so well." I said sarcastically, "I will make sure to give you all my burgers from now on."

"Ha! I knew it, all this time, all your nicesities-"

I lifted an eyebrow, "...Is that even a word?"

She kept going, ignoring me, "was to take the absolute goal of all people, and become my number one friend!" She said with a smug-looking face, her two eyes closed and her nose pointing up.

"Careful now, Fidget, if you keep that up, your nose will be the nose that pierce the heavens," I said, and I couldn't help my self but to chuckle at the stupid reference.

"Maybe I want that!" she said with confidence, still very smug, "My nose would be like a weapon of mass destruction! All I need is for you to stroke my ego, and it would easily pierce our enemies!"

I let out a loud chortle, glad she was self-aware, "Oh god, our enemies would tremble with fear, wouldn't they?" I finally stopped, shaking my head, "Come on, let's clean ourselves already, and you can take the bed," I said as I started to clean her, being careful not to touch anywhere inappropriate.
 
She sighed in happiness, "Alright, alright, I guess we already rested enough in here," she muttered as she aided me in cleaning her up.
 
Before long, we were cleaning up and going out, and I noticed a cabinet with towels. How nice of them.
 
After drying the best we could (thanks to her fur, she was still a little damp), I took her to bed.

 
When we were going back to our room, the sudden scream of the monsters outside made me almost drop her, and Fidget got a second breath and tried stabbing her claws into me due to her surprise.

-1

Auch.

"Right, I almost forgot," Fidget said, sounding sad.

"What a little of civilization can do to you, eh?" I felt her nod in my hold, and once she was in bed, I tried letting go of her.

She didn't let go, "Where are you going?" her tone was dripping with confusion.

"...To sleep- I mean to meditate on the sofa?" I asked.

"...Why?" She simply asks.

"To not annoy you during the night?" I asked again.

"...Anon, first of all, this bed is so much bigger than me that I almost feel this is some kind of joke; second of all, I don't want to sleep alone with screams of ghoulish creatures." She said, trying to push me into the bed.

"That... is fair." I sighed as I sat to her side.

"Can you cover my ears with your hands?" She innocently asks.

"Sure thing, Fidget," I Said as I put my hands on her head.

"Can you lay with me?" She did it again.

"...Sure thing, Fidget." I lay to her side, and with little effort, she put one of her ears in my chest, so I used that left hand to aid the right one.

She yawned, "You are really soft, that is weird, shouldn't you be hard as gold?" I was about to answer, yet it seemed it was a figurative question, "Can you sleep with me?"

...NOT IN THAT WAY, BRAIN; SHE IS ASKING YOU TO LITERALLY SLEEP AT HER SIDE.

I was about to say yes, but then I noticed my lack of tiredness, "I... Don't think so."

"Then, can you watch over me?"

Okay, that was almost normal, "Sure thing, Fidget."

"Thanks." and with that, she did her best to fall asleep.

...And I started to pray all along the night.

---

Now that I had free time, I finally thought something obvious, "Wait, why did the missions give me a blooming chest of all things?"

It was kinda ironic having in mind what I just saw.

Also, I'm not stupid, and I just threw the waste of space items into the furniture in the living room.

I will indeed not use that stupid item and make myself pink, with animations of hearts running through my body.

No, white with black stripes isn't cool, either.

---

...Fidget didn't wake up as many times as before. Actually, I forgot to see her stats now.

Fidget

LVL 34

HP:121/121 (stress -4, -5 exhaustion)

In-depth body state:[Locked] [Reach level 2 of party level]

Stamina: 89.42/90 (10.58 Exhaustion)

Exhaustion points:10.58/100

Hunger:33/100

View: Very Positive.

Ah, her stress and exhaustion went down, and her HP is pretty good now. Well, compared to the HP she had when I met her, mine was more than double hers, but to be fair, I think hers didn't go up with her own level-ups.

In the game, the main protagonist, Dust, could allocate gems to get stronger on each level, and his HP did go up if he chose the right stat.

Uh, maybe I'm just allocating too much game logic to my life now; I mean, Dust, the first time he leveled up, also felt it instantly, but she ate a burger and leveled a few times and didn't notice.

My brain hurts; I just know one thing, I can finally use my seal now that I have 120 mana, which is very good for my survival, but it still worries me a moment since using my skill too many times does hurt my brain, and I don't know if it was for my mana draining so often or depending on what skill I use.

I should test it, and since there was still time, I did.

I equipped it for the first time and didn't feel any different; I was glad because the description was very ominous, "Dark power" was literally in there, and everyone KNOWS they have a tendency to corrupt people.

Taking a big breath, I use the seal.

"Give me your strength," It was the best 1.6 seconds of my life.

For a moment, I felt immovable, unharmable, unstoppable.

Nothing could beat me; I didn't feel fear at the screams outside; I didn't feel fear at the roots that made me run.

Then, the 1.6 seconds ended, and I felt my "mortality" hit me with a sledgehammer.

PAIN, it was so sudden and jarring that tears came out of my eyes. I gritted my teeth, and a small voice had the "brilliant" idea of wanting to use it again.

I almost fell for it until I heard a voice speak to me, "Anon? Everything fine? You are kinda squeezing me here."

I instantly forgot my pain and did my best to not cause her discomfort by making my hold softer, "Yeah, just used a new ability I got and used a little more of me than I expected." I said, hoping that it was because I hadn't rested enough after using my normal skill for so long.

"Well, not use it then." She said simply.

"It is, isn't that-" I stopped, noticing something, "Wait, how can you hear me?"

"...Anon, I have my ear attached to your chest; I can hear even your heart."

I wanted to object, then I noticed how it added up, so I just shut up, "Oh, okay, and I just need to rest."

"...So, will you sleep?"

"No, still not tired."

"Well, then stop using your power, you dolt." I blinked, "Now that I can hear each prayer you do, I know why this happened!"

"I, uh- oh-"

Her tone became deep, probably doing her best to imitate my own, "I, uh- oh-" then changed her voice to normal, "Nothing! You need to rest, and even if you cannot sleep, then just stay still and close your eyes."

"...Alright." I simply said.

"Good, now if you excuse me, I gotta keep sleeping."

I closed my eyes.

...Silence.

Ah, my worst enemy.

I was about to fall into my hole of self-pity until I felt a breath in my chest.

...Silence again.

Yet now, I was very aware of my situation.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I'm literally in bed with my favorite character of ALL time, hugging her (having both my hands in her head counts... maybe), and resting with her.

I should be enjoying this!

Actually, I don't feel a headache anymore.

Feeling her body move as she breathed, feeling her exhales on my chest, looking down at her; her face was beautiful.

NO.

Don't be weird, don't stare at her.

Just look forward.

And don't let yourself get too excited.

... okay, now I need to think of something before my newfound genitals would act in a way that would make me have to rip them off.

Let's see why she would be so okay with the idea of sleeping in the same place? It wasn't my idea; it was hers.

I mean, she was well-known for being a coward, and being at ground level with the screams of the monster probably made her seek "refuge" at my side, maybe, perhaps.

GOD, I WISH I COULD SEE WHAT SHE IS THINKING.

I ALSO WISH I WAS A HUMAN.

NO, I'M NOT USED TO BEING A DEMON, SEEING MY OWN BODY FELT SOOOO WRONG.

Chapter Text

---
Fidget POV:
---
Now that I have my ear to his chest, I can hear how his heart quickened at random times.

...Anon was a mystery, well, Anonynumous, but that was quite the mouthful.

First of all, when I met him, I was really desperate; you can only get so many days in this place alone without going insane, and weird as he looked, I didn't think he was an actual demon.

His voice was deep yet lacked any malice.

He smiles but never shows his sharp teeth, which I can see when he speaks.

He even gave me his flashlight! The thing that was about to stop illuminating, probably running out of whatever it used to work... but now that this place had lights, I didn't need it anymore!

He not only stayed all night, but each time I awakened to a particularly loud scream, he seemed to not only be paying attention to the door but also be speaking.

Praying all through the night, and each time he spoke, a wave of warmth filled my body, reminding me of being very close to a campfire on a cold night.

It helped me sleep and probably healed a little of the damage I had done to myself by not sleeping correctly recently. I still remember the first two times he used it on me; The back pain I felt from resting in that stupid huge pillar of rock with windows was gone after the second one.

When I was speaking to him, I could barely see him right, only knowing he was in danger because of his screams; he was a blurry mess that was only fixed thanks to his healing at the moment, giving me more energy to speak to him.

And I saw him cry, and demons don't cry, right?

Then, it was today; most would get annoyed by the random touches or being used like a chair, yet he just tensed for a moment and relaxed.

Actually, every time I touched him, he tensed and then relaxed after a moment; it made me wonder if he feared I would shock him or something.

And he just tensed up and relaxed again, his heart racing but for a few seconds.

...It was a good idea to put my head in his chest; he was softer than he looked, his body seeming to have a natural defense against things, yet there was a certain give to it that any creature of flesh had.

Hearing him breathe, hearing his heartbeat, and hearing him speak a few words were a lot better ways to focus than the damm screams outside.

I shuddered, and that seemed to make Anon look down at me.

Most people had trouble knowing where a nimbat was looking; having weird "pupils" made it hard for most. And Anon wasn't exempt from this, it seems, since now he was looking at me with worry on his face.

He probably thought I was looking directly up at the ceiling.

After a moment, I closed my eyes and focused on his vitals, which made him move his head back to the wall as well, relaxing with me.

...I dozed off for a while, getting more precious precious rest than we would need for tomorrow.

I woke up again with a jolt, almost swearing that someone had opened the door, only for Anon to look down at me, his own heart skipping a beat, probably my reaction scaring him since he wasn't staring at the door.

...He was still awake.

Did he really not need to sleep, or was he keeping guard because of me?

Uh, look at me, assuming I was of such importance to him.

He didn't ask if I was all right, yet he looked at me worried and expectant. I closed my eyes again, and he seemed to let out a breath, and all was back to normal.

...

While talking about today, he gave me that toilet paper and accepted to help almost instantly.

I saw him fight, and it was weird; he looked like he knew what was going on, dodging out of the way, but he committed newbie mistakes that even the new people at fighting would know.

He got hurt badly. I knew he could heal himself, but he seemed to see it as normal, or he shrugged it off once he was healed. Only someone used to fighting would do that, yet for him, that didn't make sense.

He was more worried about me than himself, seeming to be enraged when I got hurt. It was nice to know he cared that much for someone that he just met.

Weirdly enough, he said something I said in the past, but it was probably luck... Or I'm that easy to read.

Ah, and that strange help he was getting, acquiring random loot when he finished off a monster, it was weird, but I guess it was like getting a reward for a mission... That and the monsters me and Dust ended had this tendency of having gold and jewelry in their person, probably because they liked shiny things or something.

Then was the forest and those things eating it, which made me shudder again. Anon looked at me once more, probably checking to see if I was fine.

I remained silent and still, and after a while, he looked back up.

"I pray for your well-being." Warm filled me, and my wings twitched. It was a fleeting moment, but it was clearly done to help me relax. 

...Dummy, I told him to rest, and here he comes and uses it again to help me sleep.

Perhaps I should stop remembering today...

But that THING was horrible, and when it finally seemed to notice us totally, I just froze up.

I could swear I saw dust again, that I was back home, but I felt dread, like something was wrong.

I then woke up back in this place, in his arms.

I was glad he did it; I felt like it could have ended horribly for me.

I wonder why he worries so much about a random nimbat. Is it because I'm the only person he has seen since he arrived here? Or because he sees me as someone who needs help, and his paladin training is kicking in.

Do Paladins have training?

I should probably ask him, yet maybe he was a newbie and never trained a day in his life, as he (like I said before) made many rookie mistakes.

Perhaps I should teach him a thing or two.

...Yeah, and repay him because of the burger and the smoothie.

It was great to taste the actual food.

---

I woke up in the morning; how did I know it was morning? The lack of screaming. I held back the need to yawn as I opened my eyes slowly and looked up, seeing Anon still staring at the wall.

From this angle, I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not, yet his breathing wasn't deep, his heart was beating normally, and his hands were still in my left ear, tensed enough not to let me hear.

"Anon?" I said simply.

Again, his heart skipped a beat, "Yeah?"

"Did you sleep?" I asked, having a feeling about what the answer would be.

No matter how many times he tells me he doesn't need to sleep, I still think he should try; it cannot be good for him not to actually take a rest...

"No? I don't need that." Yesterday, he sounded unsure; now, he sounded more convicted.

"..." I narrow my eyes, trying to detect a lie, then I give up, since... He didn't exactly looked tired, or sounded like it anyways, "Alright, can you stop holding my head?"

In a jump, he dropped my head so fast I hit the soft mattress underneath us, "Sorry."

I finally yawned and sat up, "Come on, don't be like that, I'm not gonna maul your face."

He cleared his throat, "S-sorry, uhm, I have a plan for today once you are done with the bathroom."

I twisted my head, which made him snap his eyes to the other side; I didn't know why, "Oh? What are we gonna do today?"

I was interested, but after yesterday, I didn't know what we could do to get a better chance to deal with that nightmare.

"In the night, I thought of a semble of an idea to deal with that thing..." He looked at his hand, it was obvious he still had doubts about it,  "If I reach LVL-20,I I maybe will have a diminutive chance of winning... In the meantime, we can do missions to get stuff that will actually help, And if they feel like it, I can get something to enter into... Uhm, dungeons to do, so I can get stuff that will help us a lot..."  He then looked at my baffled face, "No, I don't know how that works."

"Ooooook then," I said simply, jumping and flying to take care of my needs; as I looked back, I noticed Anon snapping his eyes to the other side of the room.

Uh, I wonder why he always does that when I give him my back.

----

...I wonder where all that water comes from.

It is like magic, but who would put that much effort into all this? Well, in the sense, why go the extra mile if you wouldn't live in there or sell it to a very rich person... Was Anon a rich person? Nah, he didn't act like one anyways.

I flew in the hallways when I saw the door where I believed the church would be.

I stared a little longer, and out of curiosity, I opened the door.

The room was creepy, so badly illuminated compared to the rest of the rooms, yet what caught my attention was the man in the middle.

His hands were in what I guess was his way of praying, yet the jewel of his staff made my eyes stare at it,  a gem that had a very powerful amount of ice magic... Part of my brain instantly started to think in ways to imitate the magic, but I would probably need to see him actually use it to make a copy of it.

"Oh? The waifu comes to check the priest?" I jolted at hearing him speak, his voice so much deeper than Anon's, even though he said he was a clone.

"Waifu?" I asked, confused.

"Ups, don't worry about it; tell me, do you require healing?" He must have noticed my dumbfounded expression as he continued, "I, as a healer, can make a prayer to heal..." He looked me up and down, "Most of your wounds instantly, within reason, of course."

"What? Why does everything you two do with your magic have to be a prayer?" I then clocked what he said, "Within reason?"

He shrugged, "The only other class that could heal with skill was a necromancer, and that just stole the lifeforce of the enemy." And he looked me up and down again, "And if you are missing too many limbs, it would take a lot longer."

"N-necromancer?" I have already had my dose of undead for a lifetime, and I don't want to deal with this. "WAIT, why are you saying there is a chance I lose limbs?!"

"Well, I didn't exactly say it would happen, I just said that if it WHERE to happen, I wouldn't be able to fix it with just one prayer." He then gave me a toothy smile, "And yes, necromancers are thing, but doubt you will see one coming from us... You should go see Anon 1, every day is important here... Probably, maybe."

I could barely see him in the darkness, but couldn't help to think he was smirking at my confusion... I would have say no, but I silently agreed since I didn't want to go into the creepy room anyway.

I slowly closed the door, and hoped I wouldn't require his services, last thing I need to experience is the feeling of losing a limb.

---

I was in front of Anon, confused once I noticed he was moving his finger in the air, muttering under his breath, "What are you doing?"

He jumped and looked at me, "Oh! uhm, I was looking at the possible option for things I can get with the points." He moved his finger a moment, "I kinda see this text that I can move with my finger."

I blinked, "..."

"...No, I don't know how it works," He said, annoyed, clearly the mystery was getting on his nerves too.

I snorted at the fact that he figured out what I was about to ask, "Soooo, what is the plan?" 

"Well, you know how I can get stuff by killing things?" I nodded, "Well, the plan is to go around, loot, get loot from the monster, and make me go up some levels."

He spoke like it would be easy, yet the itch of the thing projectile still was there, even if Anon totally cured it, "Ok, I guess getting stronger is a start, but, uhm, how are we supposed to kill the aberration without getting killed by the aberrations?"

He smiled,  "Well, easy! If we get in a pickle, we just escape instantly!" He snapped his fingers, "Just like that!"

Ah, he could do that, couldn't he? Probably how he got us in here in the first place, "Ok," I took a big breath, if I wanted to go back home, I would need to work with Anon, as much as I wanted to just remain here and cry my eyes out, I knew better.

My stomach grumbled, making me blush. "Before eating, that is," He was about to walk off when he stopped and looked at me, "Hey, weird question, would you rather eat another burger now, or would you keep it for a rainy day? Since I don't have infinite burgers."

I blinked, my mouth salivating at the thought of another greasy, heavenly creation, but I managed to shake my head, snapping out of my temptations.

That burger was the perfect pick-me-up, and I would rather use it when I'm really contemplating jumping over a cliff with my wings tied. 

I still slumped, "...What else we got?"

Anon nodded, probably figuring out that I had just beaten my demons for now, "I still have a few French toast."

"Oh, I will take that then." I lifted my face, interested in eating some bread in the morning.

Then I blinked, "What kind of word is French, anyway?"

---

Anon POV

---

The nimbat stared at the French toast for a moment, then back at me, "...Anon, why does this toast have a face?"

I stared at the toast I gave her, "I... don't know, but it doesn't look alive."

The French toast was literally just a normal toast with a French flag and a cat face.

The toast was smoking, and the flag also looked edible, yet still was a little odd to see.

...It made me want to eat one, to see how that tasted.

"Thanks, that is really reassuring." The sarcasm was thick in her voice.

"Hey, if you don't want to eat, I can." She was defensive over it now and took a bite of it as she protected it with her free hand.

...

Ah, it was gone almost instantly, and now she is licking her fingers to eat any crumbs left. I thank god that I wasn't a freak who would get aroused for something as normal as that.

"Okay, that was actually great."  

I looked at her status again.

Fidget

LVL 36

HP:126/126 (stress-2, -5 exhaustion, +3 Good diet)

Hunger:0/100

View: Very Positive.

...Good diet? A burger and toast is a good diet?

"Alright, Ready to go?" Fidget said, seeming happier than I have personally seen, her mood probably lifted thanks to the good food and maybe, just maybe, the good company.

PFFTT, as if!

"Yup, I don't need to pee or poo ever since I arrived here-" Ok that was stupid to clarify.

Fidget, of course, scrunched up her face, "Gross!" She poked her tongue out, her little fangs having the perfect space for her tongue to go past them.

Ok, she wants to play ball, I will play ball, "Says the one that still needs to poo and pee!"

She looked aghast, "Anon!"

I poked my tongue out, her impish attitude infecting my being, "What? You're gonna say you shot rainbows and unicorns instead? Because that is probably worse."

"Of course not!" She flew close to me, pocking my chest, "But still shouldn't speak of a lady like that!"

I snorted, "Fidget, you're a living thing, all living things need to do the deed in some way."

"Except you?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"..." I was shut up, "...As far as I know?"

Fidget slapped a hand to her face, "I swear..." She took out her hand and narrowed her eyes at me, "Still, it's gross, don't do it."

I raised my hand in defeat, "Alright, alright! Fair, no saying the two P words in front of you EVER again... Unless it is necessary."

She huffed, "Try never again... Again."

I shrugged, "You never know when you will encounter a shit monster or something stupid like that."

"...Anon, why you say it like it is a possibility," Fidget sounded more horrified than disgusted.

I was about to say I was joking when I remembered the simple fact that... If Fidget, a fictional character of a game, was real, then who else would say other creatures or monsters weren't too?

"And I hate you are thinking about it! Stop thinking about it! Say there isn't a chance in hell that can be true!"

"...Uhm, there isn't a chance of that being real?" My voice was unsure, clearly lacking conviction.

"Oh, come on! What, you gonna tell me there are literally shit demons running around?!" She lifted her hands, open to the sky in clear exasperation, "How does that make sense!?"

...

I held back the laugh, hearing her voice full of disgust, despair, and annoyance was somewhat funny to hear, "Well... I hear stories of something called Golgothan-"

"Ah what now?!" Fidget hissed out, clearly not liking the context.

"A shit demon," my tone was flat, as it was true that I heard things about it.

"...COME ON!" She was loud and was grabbing her ears, pulling on them, "How did that come to be?!"

I waved my hand, "Don't worry about it-"

She grabbed my face, making me blush even when her face was clearly in distress, "HOW DO YOU WANT ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT A LITERAL SHIT MONSTER!? WHAT DOES A SHIT MONSTER CAN DO!?" She then screams to the ceiling, "It will NOT get my poop!"

That... Is something I thought I would never hear someone say in real life, "Relax, Fidget, I'm sure we won't find one, as the version I know about, they live in the waste of hell, I doubt there is one just going around in here."

She relaxed at those words, "Alright, one more reason to NOT go to hell... Wait, aren't you a demon?"

Right, my appearance, "I'm right now in the form of a demon, but no, I was originally a human... I was turned into this when I arrived here."

She blinked slowly, "...What is a human?"

"...What Priest is."

"Oh... I see, wait, how do you ended like this then?" Her voice sounded a little baffled, looking me up and down, her hands still on my face.

"...I don't know." I held back the need to do the same, my brain still not used to her pussy being in plain sight.

"...Hu, Well, I guess I'm lucky that I'm still a nimbat." She finally let go of my face, her wings flapping as she maintained her altitude.

"I... Let's just move on, we gotta stuff to do."

The nimbat blinked, "Oh! Right, let's go!"

...God, this woman is going to make me go insane.

--------

"Alright, where to go?" The nimbat said chipperly, seeming to even forget what we just talked about.

"Oh, uh, I actually wanted to loot some stuff here and maybe find some clovers, yesterday I didn't see any of them for some reason."

"Clovers? Like the kind that supposedly brings luck?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, eh, kinda? I'd better show you." I said as I walked in a random direction.

---

+23 XP

Fidget looked confused once I destroyed the clover, "...Did you just get loot from destroying a clover? And also, did that clover also receive five hits of your attacks and survive?" She pointed at my claws, "The same thing that destroyed monsters and furniture with two or one hits?

"Yeah..." Yup, her reaction was almost the same as mine, "Let's just see what I got."

"...Here I thought that my past adventures would have accustomed me to this kind of weirdness, but here you are, with your random rewards for apparently destroying random things." She muttered as I picked up the bag, then got close to my ear, "So, what you got?"

I held back the need to shudder, the hairs of my back standing up, I fucking HATED when people spoke me in the ear, ASMR videos being a nightmare for me personally, yet being Fidget why disgust wasn't as evident, I could probably make a guess why. So, I just sigh, seeing a recipient with green paint... I was VERY familiar with this stupid loot, "Just something to change the color of my body."

"...To do what?" She asked, probably unsure that she heard right.

"Ah, yes, there are items that would change the color of my body... and eyes, I guess," I said simply.

"...Like permanently?" She sounded very interested for some reason.

"Yes? Well, as long as you don't use another item to change your body color."

"Oh, uh, out of curiosity, you don't have a sky blue color?" she seemed to check her own fur, then the place where the only part of makeup went in her eyes, "Maybe f-" She looked at me, "I mean, neon pink?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "...Did you just change the name of the color so I could understand what you meant?"

Our eyes clashed for a good moment, and after a few moment she had the decency to... have rightfully indignation? "What?! Come on! You are a male, and for males practically all shades of color are the same!"

"...Fine, I guess you are kinda right, but I know what fuchsia is, and no, I have one that it is close, but it also has heart patterns."

"... Yeah, Oh, Uhm, maybe later." she noncommittally replied, ignoring my point, "Cannot believe I'm running out."

And of course, being the simp I was, I folded like a piece of wet paper, "Oh, uh, I will see if I can get you some." I think there was an item store in the options? I saw it, but the prices were insane for some of the stuff, and I rather buy stuff that will actually help us.

"Oh, thanks... so, are you gonna become green?" She stared at the green tint.

"W-what? Why would I?"

Fidget looked me up and down, "Because green is less evil-looking than crimson red?"

I was about to object, then closed my mouth, "...I guess you have a point."

I took a big sigh and used the tint.

"Woah! It actually worked!" I look down, my body now fully green, with my legs being more obscure, "You know, I always wonder how I would look sky blue or maybe red! Ooh, even purple would be interesting."

"I think your orange is pretty good already," I said without thinking much, checking myself out.

"Oh, really? I always thought I was hard to look at, being so strong colored-" She looked down and stopped when she looked up again, and then it hit me what I just said, my face blushing, and I was glad I was red- "Why are you blushing?"

HOW DOES SHE KNOWS-

Wait.

I'm green now.

MISTAKES WERE MADE.

"I, uh-"

---

Fidget POV:

---

Why is he blushing? Is he embarrassed that he is green now? "Hey, you look fine; green fits your eyes!"

He cleared his throat, blushing harder, "T-Thanks."

"You are welcome; I'm sure the first demon lady you find will fall for you in no time," I saw looked up at the same time my eye twitched, the gears in her brain clearly working overtime, "What was I about to say?" she did a raspberry, giving up, "So, why did you want to kill this clover? I doubt it because you wanted to change colors."

"Oh, uh, so I could get some stuff that drops, like keys for dungeons-"

"...Dungeons? Like places where evil monsters are running around?" I couldn't help but some of my fear drip into my voice, as accustomed I had gotten to fighting horrible things, It didn't mean I would literally go into the monster den.

"Well, yes, but also a good place to gain quick XP."

"I don't like how casual you are about this." I squinted at him.

He waved me off, "Well, it is pretty handy and also gives some good items." He looked at something, "and also potions, many health potions, maybe mana if we need them too."

I slumped, "Alright, alright, just... Tell me what the dungeon is about."

He hummed, "It depends on the key, but don't worry, I will only do the VERY easy ones, but let's go! Maybe we can get some food to eat."

I nodded, "More food is always good, let's go."

---

Roll for loot...

---

After that, we went around looting stuff! And we found milk! Strawberry milk!

It came in a weird container, but Anon didn't seem surprised as he stored it in his inventory.

Wonder if it was as big as Dust... I'm still dumbfounded that he managed to fit five sheep in there.

I also saw something in a cylindrical metal thing, and I called Anon since he probably knew what it was; I was in all four, showing it over my shoulder since it was in a pantry.

"Hey, Anon? What is this?" I looked behind me. Anon instinctively responds to his name.

Only to yet again blush at seeing me and snapping his eyes out of the way, "I- uh, can you get over here? I cannot see what its text says."

...That was odd; did he have sight problems? That wasn't something to be embarrassed about, so maybe not?

---

Apparently, it was some canned food! I have never seen someone put food inside something metal to make it last longer, but Anon thought it was pretty common.

---

...Something odd was happening.

When I was flying forward, I turned my head, "Hey, Anon, how big is your inventory?"

He moved his head to see me, "Ah, it is-" He again blushed and looked another way, "It has eight spaces; depending on the size, they occupy more spaces normally."

...Alright, what is going on?

"Anon you alright? You are blushing a lot." Worry slipped into my voice. The last thing I need is for him to get sick.

"YEAH, I'm fine," He said, slapping his cheeks, the blush going away, "Just, umh, don't worry about it."

I blink, flying close and putting my hand on his forehead, his face blushing once more, "...You don't feel particularly hot."

"Fidget, I'm not sick," The man whined, taking the hand off his forehead.

"Then why are you blushing?" I really don't understand, "Is it a demon thing? To blush randomly?

"Sure, whatever, it is going to probably happen a lot," Like always, when I was too close, he stared directly at my eyes, "You didn't notice because my body was red, alright?"

"Oh, that makes sense, like that one general that dressed red so his soldiers wouldn't see him bleed." Fun story to read, really, and maybe one of the only reasons to wear clothes.

He blinked slowly, "...Was his name Napoleon?"

I was confused, "What? No, what kind of name is Napoleon?"

He shook his head."Forget it, let's just keep going, and no, it is normal for me to blush-" Then he proceeded to talk very lowly, something I had started to notice he did, with the difference I heard thanks to my proximity to him, "With you around, that is."

...What does that even mean? Was he allergic to me? What kind of person would be allergic to a whole species?! That had to suck.

Did he put up with it because of how nice he was? I hope not! Having in mind how much time we spend together, he would probably be in agony.

I flew close to him, preparing myself to ask, "Uhm, are you allergic to something?"

I prayed he wasn't, I didn't want to just fly a meter or two away from him because he was allergic to me.

He blinked, looking at me, "...What? Where is this coming from?"

I shrugged, "Uhm, might as well ask, right?" I didn't want to tell him that I heard what he said under his breath sometimes since it could come in handy.

He stared forward, walking around those metal things in the street... Wonder if Anon knows what the hell this thing is, and why there are so many.

"Well, now I don't think I am allergic to anything, but before I came here, I was allergic to everything." I stared at him, confused and unsure how to feel about that.

"...Everything!?" My voice was full of disbelief, "How would that even work?!"

He chuckled, "It isn't as harsh as most intense allergies, mine was milder than anything," He looked up, seeming to remember his life before coming here, looking a little sad. I couldn't blame him, I was still VERY sad, and the only reason why I could handle it was that he was here, "Basically, my skin got itchy, my nose got runny, and my eyes would tear up when stuff got a real bat or I went without my pills for long enough."

He then touched his face, "I also needed some glasses, because my genetics hated me, and I was slowly losing my capacity to live without them." He sighed, "I remember before I could handle myself without them, only needing them to look at things really far away, but it got worse each year, to the point I needed them if I wanted to read something half a meter away."

"Auch," I said, deciding that his shoulder was a nice resting place, happy to know I wouldn't kill him by accident, "I have never known a nimbat that needed one," I paused, "No, I lied, I think I heard about it, but it is pretty rare, most of our magic helps us to not need them."

Anon was blushing again, making me wonder even more what was causing this reaction as I held his head with one arm to sit on his broad left shoulder, "Lucky, I got accustomed to using them, but not having to worry about losing them when I washed my face would have been cool."

"Well, I would have liked to be a little bit taller, but here I am, being the size of a small dog."

Anon snorted, making me slap him in the nose, "Well, I think you are perfectly sized-"

And the blush was harder, making him stop.

Gosh, he always gave me random compliments that made me question my sanity.

I have to admit, I wasn't popular at all back home, and... my libido was a problem, I knew secondhand the reaction and consequences of having a partner who couldn't keep up.

My poor, poor mother and the horn-nimbat of my dad never gave her a rest.

He was VERY horny, and I was unlucky enough to get his stupid libido that made my mother whine every chance she got about how sore she was.

I remember too that he was dumped many times because of it until he met my mother, that is.

Probably the only reason why I'm not in that mode for now is because of how tired I was...

Now that I thought about it, I felt a flame on my belly that was growing slowly, my core reacting to a male who complimented me.

Right, I had to answer! "Uhm, thanks, you are perfectly sized too-" Ok, that was stupid to say, now I'm blushing!

He looked at himself, his face still flushed, "...I think I would feel nice if I were in my original body, or human, really, god, I cannot wait for the week to be up, so I can change into a human again."

I blinked slowly, seeing the side of his head, "...You can do that?"

He coughed into his hand, "Yeah, just, uhm, I need to wait another three days."

Well, that was interesting.

He moved his head to another obvious place we could look up, being so much different than this bleak place that, if we were lucky, would have a different painted rock.

While he walked that way, I spoke again, not wanting the conversation to dry up, "Uhm, how you looked when you were a human?"

He scratched his head, "Oh, uhm, I was a little overweight, but I was a little fit too." he flexed his right arm, "I mostly did weights in case I needed to lift something heavy for my parents, but the fat hid my muscles a little bit." He tapped his stomach, "I also had this hole in my stomach that if I made too much effort, my insides would poke out-"

I stared at him, but I had to interrupt him, "...What?!"

He snorted at my reaction, "Ok, maybe I exaggerated a little, it isn't quite literal, but for example, if I tried to do crunches, I could see a deformation in my stomach, like a ball that only showed up when I put a little effort into... Just standing up if I were lying on my back." He pressed in the middle of his stomach and went up, "Here, I think my mother called a hernia, but I don't think that was quite it, as the ball of my insides wasn't always there, it only showed up if I put strain on my stomach muscles."

I gulped, "Well, do you have it now?"

He shook my head, "Nah, my stomach is pretty uniform now... I don't know if I should feel happy to be free of it, but I think I would rather be at home, still being a human."

I sighed, taking flight since I would have to help him loot this place, "Same, same, but here we are," I looked at him, I smiled, the thing that made him stop and look at my face once more, "For what is worth, I'm happy you are here with me."

And there is the blush again.

Was he embarrassed? But about what? And why did I feel warm by making him blush?

Chapter Text

---

Anon POV

---

God, this woman is gonna make me lose my mind. I blame my past self for never talking to females in real life! My brain was exploding from her just saying basic things, and my heart was pounding in my chest.

I had to admit I had used AI characters to speak to my favorite ones, but most of the time their voices sounded too cringey or robotic to my taste, now that she was here, her tone of voice was perfect and fitting to her.

I looked at one of the structures, noticing more places to loot, and looking forward to distracting my virginal mind, "Let's just go that way..." I muttered, doing my best not to look at her.

My feet clicked in the cement of the city, and when I was about to open the door to where the anomaly was connected, Fidget caught my attention once she spoke, "Anon, what are these metal things? I have seen them all over this place!"

I looked at what she meant, and I blinked once I noticed the cars, "Ah, they are... Uhm, I think the right analog is a metal carriage that moves on its own? They are used for transportation, but I doubt we will find one that works."

The nimbat looked at me, "Oh? Why is that?" She sounded curious, and I couldn't blame her; if I saw a car for the first time, I would be too.

"Well, for once, most of them look like a rhino or elephant fuck it over, second of all, they need fuel, and If I'm not mistaken, Gasoline typically lasts like 2 months or something before it needs someone that knows what they are doing to make them chemical viable again, a procedure that I don't know how to do." Yes, post-apocalyptic movies where the protagonist finds a huge tank of gasoline and lasts them for years are lying, "Right now they are very heavy paperweights unless we found a chemical expert that could make us some fuel."

"Oh, well, that is lame." Her tone sounded a little disappointed, "Here I thought we could take a ride."

I laugh, "Fair enough... Now that I think about it, perhaps we should try to loot them, perhaps there is some interesting stuff in there." Finally, I opened the door and walked into the building, my mind in another place.

As my feet stepped inside, my heart jumped into my throat as I tried to jump back, yet my reaction wasn't quick enough, fleshy tentacles were coming out of cracks in the ground and flailing around at neck-breaking speed, the sound of a whip destroying the sound barrier deafening me.

The worst part was the pain, even as I got out of range, I was struck many times, the sensation reminding me of that time I touched a cactus that I foolishly thought didn't have any barbs when in reality they were so small that in plain sight one wouldn't notice.

[+ Paralized]

My eyes went wide when I felt my legs not respond to me, my whole body shaking.

Then I felt an incredible amount of pain in the marks where the tentacles had hit me, feeling fear once I noticed the great number of stingers attached to my body, some of them drooling a greenish liquid with a sickly green.

In a panic I expected to be poisoned again, only to see a red text saying "Resisted" float up away from my view.

In a moment the pain was away, but I still couldn't move my legs.

"ANON!? Are you alright!? What happened!?" The panicked scream of my companion made me snap at her. In normal cases I would have panicked at her proximity, now, I was just stunned.

"I, Uhm, I don't know-" I shook my head, I had to pay attention to the thing that wound me! Looking back at the room, I expected to see a tentacle monster rushing me now that I couldn't dodge or even move away, yet I only saw something that made me have memories of yesterday.

A giant flesh egg, bigger and thicker than me, on its base, a set of flesh tentacles that reminded me of roots that went into the tiled floor of this place that appeared to be a hotel.

Now that I saw it, the floor was filled with cracks that connected to the weird thing, making me question if all of them were flesh tentacles.

Of course, the ones that had attacked me now were in plain sight, making me feel dumb for not checking the room before entering.

I could only be glad that there weren't any other monsters-

My eyes went wide when a circular thing fell to the floor right at the entrance of the building. The creature was shaped and sized like a football, and it didn't have any discernible face.

Yet as it walked close and the many sections of its body contracted into its body, something snapped inside me.

By pure instinct, I grabbed Fidget and twisted my whole body to give most of my back to the creature, my bigger torso encompassing her whole, "HEY, I'm not a doll for you too-" I ignored her, and in an attempt to avoid what I thought would come, I equipped my seal of divinity, yet before I could pray, my fear happened.

I scream in pain as my legs finally obey me, only for me to fall flat to the ground, my body still protecting the nimbat under me.

My back felt like it was on fire, and tears came to my eyes once my brain finally caught up with what was going up.

An explosion resounded and made my ear scream in a constant ringing, my whole body trembling as I looked at my HP bar.

14/300

If I weren't in so much pain, I would probably panic at having my HP so low.

Fidget got away from under me, and her eyes went wide, probably seeing the reck that was my back right at this moment, "A-Anon!"

My leg shook against my wishes, probably thanks to the damage that my spine had received, my body not obeying me as I tried to stand up.

I cursed mentally, equipping the normal seal, "G-gods a-above, a-aid me," I wheezed out, feeling the act of speaking incredibly hard right at this moment.

I felt the warm travel across my body, the ache in my back getting duller, "A-Anon?"

Now I could breathe a lot better, probably some of that... living grenade had pierced my lungs.

I was still crying in pain, the mere act of standing up felt almost impossible because of how much my body was failing me, my body falling to the ground many times during a few minutes.

When I stood up, I was still shaking like a leaf, the shock of surviving the equivalent of a point cero grenade being almost too much, "I-I'm okay, I'm okay-" I said, perhaps trying to convince myself of that too.

"Y-You sure? Your back looked a little rough..." Fidget muttered, looking over at the spot where the thing was before. When my eyes saw the spot, my eyes were wide with the amount of destruction that had happened, "I-I... I could have died..." The nimbat gasped out.

...Having in mind how badly it hurt me, "Yeah..." I confirmed, glad at my quick reaction, my body still aching as a reminder of the close call.

Looking at the entrance I noticed it was ruined, the door and walls surrounding it were destroyed.

To make fun of us, the flesh egg that started all of this only had a few incrusted debris, clearly bleeding due to its own proximity to the explosion.

"...Couldn't you just teleport us away?" Fidget finally added.

...

"Ok, I gotta admit I didn't expect my back to be literally blown out." I saw my HP bar and how I was back to full, yet my back still ached, I didn't know if it was because of the pain, or if it was because my body still didn't heal.

Fidget gulped, "Next time we see one of these, we'd better leave."

I nodded, "Yeah, we are lucky there wasn't any monster around when it happened, or they could kick me while I was down."

Fidget gulped and started flying, "We should probably leave this place alone." She saw the room we were about to loot, the cleanly painted walls seeming to taunt us.

I was about to nod when I saw something odd where the egg was resting.

A corpse, seemingly having military gear, and if I squinted my eyes enough, I could see it had a shotgun... and close by was a red cloth with something white.

Well, I would go away, if it wasn't a FUCKING SHOTGUN.

I wasn't a gun nerd, so I couldn't tell what model it was, but it surely was good.

"Ok, maybe we can kill it?" I offered, not sure how to do that.

Fidget looked at me, "...Ok, why?"

I pointed at the corpse with the gun, "That is a firearm, something that deals a lot of damage to anything that is in its way, would come in handy if we get it."

Fidget stared at the gun, then back at me, "Really? That small thingy?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much, one of our best weapons, really."

Fidget didn't seem to believe it, looking at the weapon, then back at me, "Oookay, then how we gonna do that?"

I stared at the thing and the pistol that Still had full ammo, yet I didn't want to waste bullets on this, "Do you have any spells that can reach it?"

Fidget bit her lip, then said an incantation as she held one hand forward, the palm looking at the sky.

As she kept speaking, a ball of fire appeared over the palm, floating there, until she moved the hand and the projectile flew forward, hitting the thing and scorching part of the flesh egg.

-46 [Resistant!]

That action caused another onslaught of the wipes attack from the egg,

hearing the sound of the air being cracked was terrifying.

I look at the HP bar, of the thing, the HP bar that only moved 1/30 of the way there.

Fidget looked at me, "How much does it need to die?"

I sighed, "A lot, how often can you do that?"

An awkward laugh was her answer "Uh, I haven't practiced magic stamina very often, but I should be able to do it another 20 times if you are in a hurry... or a lot more if I can take my time."

"Fair, just, tell me if you are getting tired." The nimbat nodded, preparing the spell once more.

---

Fidget was taking a big gasp of air, a fireball a lot smaller appearing in her hand and throwing the spell forward, the egg finally exploding in an explosion of viscera and gore.

"Finally!" Fidget screaming, taking flight, and sitting in my head once more.

+50 XP

This would be great if I were human, right now I didn't feel like I won.

The sounds she was making reminded me of this one time I did an animation of her, and had to rummage around all her voice lines to take some out of context to add to the animation.

Wonder if I get home I could convince her to voice act for me, it would be very funny to have the real character voice herself.

Not thinking much, I picked up a piece of debris and threw it inside the reception, expecting the rigor mortis to still not be there and the tentacles to snap like crazy.

Yet the thing didn't, laying there limp, like before it wasn't a deadly killing machine just a minute before.

I wouldn't take any chances, I thought, I would wait for Fidget to catch her breath and sit her somewhere while I walked in.

Once that happened, Fidget took flight once more, still seeming very tired.

"Ok, I'm gonna enter, If something too terrible happens I will teleport us home."

The nimbat nodded, putting her hands in front of her face, "Ok, be careful Anon!"

Her worry was flattering, even if it was the normal thing to feel for me.

Before entering the doorway, I put my face through, and looked around, expecting to see another explosive flesh football, yet I was gladly surprised when I didn't see anything...

Or that was until I noticed another creature in a corner, almost hidden by the shadows.

It had lanky arms and legs, claws bigger than its small face, not much bigger than a foot tall, but it was hard to tell with how it was put in a ball, in a fetal position.

"Oh, Hell nah!" I was half tempted to tell Fidget to just come and kill it at a distance, that was until I remembered what happened with another small fella that almost killed me with one kamikaze action.

It didn't look anything like the thing that literally blew itself, yet I wasn't an expert in these things to say that they all look the same or they came with different deformations to do their dirty deed.

So taking my gun that was in my inventory, I pointed at the thing, "Bang! Bang! B-"

Bullets were fired from where my eyes were, yet as one hit it, the thing suddenly came out of its ball and ran over the ceiling in my direction, its sudden and fast movement catching me in surprise enough for me to be too stunned to keep trying to shot it down.

In the blink of an eye, the thing fell from the ceiling and I had enough brain to take a quick step back, the thing using the body parts as a spring to catapult itself into my face, making me scream by pure instinct, only to feel something enter into my mouth.

[3+infection]

It felt like a piece of meat enter my mouth and something gush down through my throat, making me do something that I always thought I would do if I was a slave and I was about to get raped.

And that was to bite.

Normally, perhaps a normal human mouth wouldn't have been able to do anything more than a bruise, as the biting force of a human wouldn't be able to sever the average slong.

I, of course, wasn't in a human form right at this moment.

My jaw not only felt more robust but it also was filled with sharp teeth.

In a set of fury, I bit with enough strength to sever whatever was in my mouth, for what followed was I grabbed the thing and ripped it from my face, not caring that pieces of my flesh were taken with it as the sharp claws had incrusted into my flesh in an attempt to remain there.

As I crushed the damm thing, My next step was to impale the horrid creature with my left claw, the thing screeching all the way, only to fall limp.

As I dropped it, I instantly spitted out the thing in my mouth, to see a weird appendage that looked like an alien prick!

"A FUCKING FACE HUGGER?!" I scream, making Fidget yelp, dropping the energy ball she was preparing to probably free me from the creature.

It, of course, didn't look anything like that, more like a lanky creature with no eyes but a sharp maw, yet seeing the nether regions bleeding and the strange liquid pooling out of the ripped appendage, I was allowed to do such an inaccurate description.

I looked at my status, and saw the symbol of a parasite with an X3, making me confirm that I was probably infected with something that would grow inside me, yet I didn't know how to fix it... Other than spamming my ability, that is.

"Anon, you alright?!" Fidget exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I got infected with something, but other than that just dandy," I shuddered, "I'm glad I tried to kill it myself, I doubt you would be good if that thing inserted its junk into your mouth."

Fidget seemed a little green at the idea, "Well, you could have told me to prepare a spell, you dummy!"

I winced, "Right, I gotta get used to working together," I also blinked again, making my eye twitch, "And using my ace."

Another encounter without me using the seal of divinity, I'm really stupid when put in the spot, ugh.

"You really are stupid when you are put in the spot, aren't you?" Fidget added, reflecting my thoughts in her own way.

Guh, now my Waifu tells me that, well, she was right, but still.

Alright, that was it, when I'm out of combat, I will ALWAYS have it equipped with the Seal of Divinity.

I gave her a sheepish smile, "Yeah, well, I'm really bad at horror games, alright?"

"...Games?" Her voice was dripping with curiosity.

Right, well, there went my hopes to explain how I exactly work.

"Stories, I'm bad at horror stories," I corrected, not wanting to explain this now as there was still something to loot.

I peeked inside, and at the same time I heard the nimbat speak again, "OH, well, If it makes you feel better, I'm horrible at them too!" She shuddered, "Not as horribles at this, but still."

Seeing nothing, I took a sigh and walked carefully inside, still fearful that the tentacles in the ground would pull a cheap trick like attack me even as their core was dead.

As I got close to the corpse, I picked up the shotgun carefully, it was my first time holding such a weapon, the closest being the gun I got from the bodies of a few days behind... And the old shotgun of my dad, that he didn't have any ammo for.

I would try to play cool and do something visually edgy to check if it was loaded, yet I'm not stupid enough to accidentally blow a hole in the wall, myself, or Fidget, so instead I store the thing in my inventory.

Benelli M4 Tactical Shotgun

Shots: 12 (12-gauge )

Damage: 20-26 (average: 266 / total: 265)

Projectile Speed

Range

9.5 tiles

Amplitude

1 tile(s)

Effect(s)

If a shot kills a target it will hit the next one with the remaining bullets.

Rate of Fire

50%

Consumable item

6/6

...Well, one was in the chamber, glad I didn't play around with that fucking thing.

Probably would only use it to kill hardcore monsters, as anything on my weight class and under would die with my normal weapons with ease... That or a horde of small fries.

I slowly checked the body, hoping to find a lot more bullets... only to find just another three 12-gauge, but I guess it was better than nothing.

"So, how it works?" I jumped, finally remembering Fidget close to me.

"Well, I point boomstick, I shot boomstick, I kill with boomstick, simple, even more having in mind I can do it with only thinking about it."

She blinked slowly, "...Can you show me?"

I blinked slowly, "When there is something to die, yes, right now I only have 9 total shots"

"...And how can you get more?" She sounded confused, probably fair since magi items probably don't need physical bullets for it.

"It is like a bow, it needs arrows to work... Except I cannot re-use once spent rounds." I shrug, "But still it's stronger than a bow."

She hummed at the idea, "stronger than a bow you say?"

"Yes, it also shot faster than one," I nodded, "Also more scary and louder, but you can't win them all." I paused, thinking about it, "Wait, when I was shooting at the thing did a bullet sound happen?"

"...Bullet sound?" The nimbat question, clearly unsure of what I meant.

Ok, maybe I should test it anyway, not knowing if a shot will cause thunder to happen was important to my survival, "Alright, let me check, just cover your ears for a second, I will test the gun."

She blinked confused at my change of heart but clearly too curious to see this weapon in action to care too much, "Sure."

She did what I asked of her, in the meanwhile I took my hand and pointed it like it was still a pistol, looking at the remaining flesh of the egg, I simply said, "Bang!"

A sudden loud sound was heard, the part where I aimed exploding in chunks of meat, Fidget letting out a small yelp as I created a small splash zone of blood and pieces of meat.

"Well, that answers that," I simply said, amused I didn't notice the sound of the pistol I had been using all this time, but perhaps it was because I was in very much danger.

"What was that?" She was screaming, clearly still dumbfounded at the strong noise as she took her hands away from her ear, one finger entering and cleaning her right ear in perhaps an attempt to take out the rigging of her ear.

"Well, a little explosion happened that propelled the projectile at fast speeds, so it makes sense it is loud." I matter of fact explained.

"You could have told me it was gonna be that loud!"

Uh, oh, she sounded annoyed, time for some damage control, "Well, I did tell you to cover your ears."  

"Well, I would have covered my ears stronger!" She grumbled, looking at the damage I caused, "Well, at the very least I can see why it would be stronger than a bow."

"Alright, alright, sorry, I will tell you next time," I look over the body, wondering if it was more loot.

Kneeling down I started to look through the other pockets, not expecting much, and my hunch was correct when I just found a small compass that was aiming randomly at all directions... And a phone, which didn't turn on, so that was that.

Well, I did see a piece of red cloth, didn't I?

Looking in that direction, I got close... Only for my eye to twitch, seeing something that made my eyebrow raise, "A yes, a Hornet figure to put in a jar," I grumbled, my hopes of getting some good loot dying quickly.

"Why would you put a figurine in a jar?" Fidget dumbfoundedly questions.

"Oh, you innocent, innocent woman, I wish I wasn't tainted by the internet like you," I dodge the question, not wanting to tell her about the depravity of the internet.

As I kneeled once more, I was about to pick it up... Until I saw something that made my eye twitch once more, "I-Is that a health bar!?"

I pick up the insect with care, confused by this sudden development of the events, "A what now? Wait, is that small thing alive?"

When I picked the thing up, I saw that it had the eyes closed... or whatever thing that passed as her eyes in that white thing that looked like a mask.

The life bar was mostly full, only 2/10 missing, yet for some reason she was still clearly unconscious.

Her body was too flexible to be a figurine, that was for sure... and also a little soft to the touch, and the crack in her mask looked recent.

"...What is that?" Fidget muttered, getting close to the little hornet too.

"Uhm, I think it is a spider?" I said, trying to decide if I should explain to her that I knew this character too.

"That is a weird spider." The nimbat muttered, "It looks more like a little person."

"Fair," I said, having in mind it was very close to what she actually was.

I pocked her face with care in an attempt to wake the little princes, and I almost got a heart attack when the thing suddenly snapped up and tried to jump away.

I surprised even myself when with five fingers I held her in place, the thing not a lot bigger than my hand, making it easy.

I almost opened my fingers when I felt a sharp pain on my index finger, my eyes going wide when the little thing stabbed a white nail all the way through, screaming, "SHAW! LET ME GO YOU BEAST of flesh!"

I wasn't surprised when I only received 6 points of damage, yet it was still painful, "Hey! Cut it out, I'm not your enemy!" It of course didn't listen keeping the stabbing, my blood pouring from the holes.

"Uhm, perhaps you should let her go Anon, I don't think she likes being held."

I cursed out, and then damage to my fingers stacked up, The pain making me snap.

Like a kid who just got a new pet goldfish in a bag, I moved my hand up and down, absolutely agitating the bug, in the meanwhile, I spoke, "I pray for aid!"

In an instant, the wounds that hornet made to my hand sealed up, the blood remaining, yet my wounds were gone, "Stop that."

Hornet seemed to move her white face from side to side, clearly shaken at my actions, "Hault beast of Flesh, If this is thou domain, let me pass-" She suddenly stopped, grabbing her face... or Mask in her case, "My mask, it is healed."

Oh... Did I really see her as an ally even after she stabbed me multiple times in my hand? Whatever, time to roll with the punches, "I know who you are, Hornet, princess of Deepnest and heir of the throne to the ruined kingdom of Hallownest, I'm not your enemy, so cease your hostilities."

It was odd to see her mask move, her eyes narrowing at me, "...Who are you."

I was about to respond, but Fidget being the sweetheart she was, didn't notice the tension, "My name is Fidget! Oh, and he is Anon, he is a nice demon, Look! he is green and all."

We both stared at her, my face slowly coming back to Hornet, "And we are your allies in this horrid location."

She just stared at me, then down at the fingers keeping her in place, then back at me, her blank mask not moving, yet I couldn't help but think she was raising an eyebrow.

"Are you telling me you wouldn't have run away, making us have to follow you to who knows where putting us all in danger that we would had to confront a monster or two?" the excuse came smugly as I let her go, letting her stand up in the palm of my right hand.

God, it was so odd to see her here, she was a lot... Smaller than I expected.

Most people would draw her taller or the same size as a generic human, or a short stack, but right now she was just... so small.

Don't get me wrong she has still curves, not as flat as in that one sprite that became a meme for Silksong, but yet I didn't expect her to be the size of a bug.

...And of course, she was nude under those red clothes, why wouldn't she be?

I was taken aback when Hornet narrowed the eyes of her mask once more, "...I feel uneasy with your stare, stop that at once!""

Guh-, Did she feel I was thinking lewd stuff about her?!

"S-sorry!", I closed my eyes, hearing Fidget snicker to my side, making me glare at the nimbat,

Fidget stuck her tongue out at me, then spoke, probably hoping for more clues, "Well, how did you get here anyways?"

Another moment of silence followed, I stared at Hornet, her black eyes looking straight at me.

"To tell the truth... I don't know." Her voice was low to a whisper, "I was in Deepnest, seeing what was left after the infection was taken care of when suddenly, a feeling I don't recognize came with a bright flash, and soon after I was in this realm." She flexed her body, odd.

"..." Well, now I know the infection was done for, what then, she was about to go into the events of silksong?  

"How can you speak anyway?" Fidget said without any tact.

I flinch, feeling the small creature walk over my body reminded me too many times I got jumpscared by a spider that decided to walk over my body, and I didn't notice until I checked that specific zone.

"You ask that, yet you know that yourself," I looked at Hornet for a second, not wanting to look for too long and anger her more, only to see her trow her nail to one of my horns, where the thing spin and snared, letting her take her silk back, act that made her fly to the top of my head.

I think I know what she meant, yet Fidget asked anyway with a simple, "What? No, I do not!"

The spider huffed, "You two, giants of flesh and fur that are clearly higher beings."

"What do small females have with walking over my head?" I whispered, fully knowing the lore of her game.

The two women ignored me, seeming distracted due to their theme of conversation.

"What? Like gods?" The orange one said, confused.

"A pair of god forgotten perhaps, they always seemed to come in two." I could feel her looking over me, Fidget blinking many times, and I couldn't blame her, if a small creature told me I was a god, I would also be very perplexed, "One huge and well-fit male bound to the ground, with sharp claws clearly made for combat, in the other one a female, petite with wings."

Fidget snorted, "That is silly! Anon? a god!? HA!"

"Fuck you too buddy," I snarked back, "So what, you could qualify as the god, but I, the one that can literally regenerate over and over in constant combat, is not a god?"

Fidget once more stuck out her little tongue at me, "Oh hush, a god in the first place wouldn't bleed! And you do that, A LOT." She put a hand over her chest, "Me on the other hand, I only bleed... two times, yeah!"

I lifted a finger, "Uhm, where my powers come from we do kill gods all the time..."

"...What?" She shook her head, "Forget it! No, we are NOT gods," She looked where I just assumed Hornet was, "I don't see your... face?"

"Mask." Hornet specified.

"Wait, that is a mask?" She then shook her head, "Whatever, you aren't moving your mask, and yet you speak."

Hornet just stared at her, and I could hear cracking, I blinked, confused, wanting to see what was going on, yet it was impossible as she was in a blind spot on top of my head.

So instead I looked over at Fidget, whose mouth seemed to hit the floor as she looked horrified at something.

I was about to speak when I heard another crack, and then silence, "Does that answer your question?"

I saw Fidget nod furiously, making me blink, confused, what she said next didn't help either, "Yes, yes! YES! NEVER do that again."

To my surprise, I could hear Hornet laugh, low enough that perhaps Fidget didn't notice, but she being so close to my head was easy for my... Ears (?) to pick up, "Such a huge being like yourself scared of a little creature like me? I don't pity a weakling's mind, even if it could probably crush me if she were to find me unaware."

"HEY!" Fidget said, still a little green of what she saw, making me question once what it was, "I have seen many horrid things, and THAT was on my top FIVE."

"Uhm, Can I see next?"

"No!" "No."

"Ok! Ok!, Geez, of course, Pile on in the only dude in the room," I said dejectedly as I stood up slowly so as to not make Hornet fall.

"What does your gender-" And of course she said that, "Has to do with anything?"

Fidget poked her tongue out once more at me, "Nothing besides that all males are whiny people that like to play tough!"

"Ok, Fidget, I see you are extra bratty today, so I will just roll the white flag up and give up already," I moved my eyes up once more, not seeing any signs that hornet was up there beside the extra weight and the itchiness of her feet on my scalp if my scale could count like that, "So, we are not your enemies, as you can clearly notice by now, and we are stuck in this realm probably like you are, so what you say we work together?"

I looked at Fidget to see if she seemed against the idea, yet the nimbat looked intrigued, "YEAH! Team DSN! Besides, having another girl around would be nice."

"...DSN?" I asked while Hornet remained quiet, "Data Source Name?"

"What? No! DEMON SPIDER NIMBAT, DUH!" She said proudly at the most basic of names possible, making me blink slowly.

"...What about SPD?" I said with a twitch of my mouth, "It would be more accurate having in mind we need speed to get back to our business in our respective worlds."

Fidget squinted her eyes at me, "Ok, but what does that mean?"

I gave her a toothy smile, "Spider, Pocket ration, Demon."

Fidget blinked, the gears on her head working overtime to understand what I meant, "HEY! If anything, she would be the pocket ration!"

Hornet didn't seem to take well the fact we were fucking around, "No, perhaps I should go alone, you two would only slow me down," She snapped, but then she probably had second thoughts as she grumbled before Fidget could protest, "But perhaps having two beasts of flesh would be useful to deal with the most savages ones on this realm."

I had a feeling she saw the corpse of the human with militar, hear, the exploded egg, and the remains of the thing that raped my mouth.

Leave it to a actual warrior to have enough espacial awareness to make a informed decision in a instant.

"See? That is the spirit!" Fidget said happily, still keeping a distance away, probably for the thing she saw still.

"Perhaps, But if I see you slacking I will take the initiative and go on my own until you two decide to stop playing like two grubs," Her tone showed how absolutely "no fun allowed" she absolutely was, making me worry if she would put more tension than be of any help, "What is your plan right now?"

"Well, we think we found a way home, yet we fear that is a little too much for us right now, so I'm fighting monsters to level up," I said casually, expecting the spider to know what I was talking about since Fidget knew that much even if she didn't have videogames.

That was until Hornet simply said, "Level up?"

Before Fidget could question the fact Hornet didn't work look at us, I fixed it, "We grow stronger by killing things, well, mostly me," I looked at Fidget, "I don't know about her, but after I fully level up I should be a lot more resistant to damage."

"HEY... You're probably right, but still!" The pout that she gave me could give me diabetes.

Hornet remains silent for a moment, seeming to chew into the idea, "Growing stronger by killing foes, normally it happens by hunting and gaining experience, but I think you mean it more literally, correct?"

I was about to nod when I remembered the spider was quite literally in my head, so instead I spoke, "Correct."

"An interesting concept," Says the one that comes from a civilization in which webcomics, mangas, and mawhas aren't real and that don't exploit the concept of it with nonsensical numbers, "And how long would that take?" Hornet asks, clearly hoping for good news.

Right, at this pace, REAL fucking slow, in the game you could farm exp and fully level up in less than 1 hour, and then you would have to farm stats pots to max your stats.

Here, it was a lot harder, with me fumbling with the bag so many times and with the actual risk of dying and how much it fucking hurt.

Talking of dying, I better see that my infection isn't progressing and-

...It has a 3.1

Well, that isn't good.

Let's just focus on the spider on the room.

If Hornet figures out I will take me probably a whole month to fully level up the normal way, she will probably just leave us behind or something stupid, so better if I give her some options.

"Depends how suicidal are we feeling," My eyes snapped to my left as Hornet fell into that shoulder, her blank face looking at me.

"Explain." Right to the point, I see.

Fidget was looking at me with curiosity, probably she wasn't aware of my plan B for a fast level-up.

"Well, there are three ways I can think to get XP- What I need to level up," I started to put my thoughts in order in my head, "One way, go around, loot homes, and kill anything that attacks us, that one is the slower one, but also the safest one."

Fidget nodded, "That is what are we doing now, right?"

I gave her a thumb up with my right hand, "Yup, not only do we get resources to keep feeding ourselves, but also explore this place for me to map it." I then continued before I forgot the other ways, "Another is doing a mission or killing difficult things... Technically have already one for that, yet I fear we would die if we tried right now." I licked my teeth, thinking, "Maybe if we are lucky I can get an LV20 potion as a reward, which would grant me my max level instantly."

"Luck isn't something that one should lean on," The voice of the spider was stern, clearly not amused by leaving things to chance, "And to whom you would do this mission?"

I waved my right hand, "I will explain later, let me lay all the options first," I lifted my hand and held three fingers, "And the third option, which is the most suicidal of all, is to stay out at night."

Fidget's eyes went as wide as saucers, "WHAT!?" it was clear she was horrified at the idea.

Hornet looked at each of us, "Why is it so bad?"

The nimbat grabbed at her ears, pulling from the two appendages, "BECAUSE ALL THE DAMM MONSTER SEEM TO BE OUT AT NIGHT!"

Uh, I wonder if this is the first time I heard Fidget curse, "It is also the time in which they scream the most and would let me figure out their location." I argue back, shuddering at the idea of braving the night, yet it was a good option to rush levels, "Besides, my idea was to be as far from our base as possible, and if all goes to shit, I can teleport myself back to there."

Fidget was about to protest, then stayed quiet, "Why are you saying it like you will be the only one going?"

"Because I planned to do this alone?" I was a little unsure why she looked confused.

Fidget glared at me, making me jump, did I say something wrong?

"Why?" Her voice had the tone of a wife very mad at her husband, AND WE WEREN'T A ITEM.

"Well, uhm, because I'm a lot less prone to instantly die if I get hit with something huge?"

Even if my argument was solid, Fidget still looked offended, her mouth opening a few times with the beginning of arguments over and over again, until she finally pushes my head away with her hand, "Well, you are prone to forgetting to make us scape! I gotta be with you!"

"I mean... You aren't wrong, I could taken us of so many accidents by just scaping, but this time I won't forget-" Another whole push to my face with her hand, "Ok, stop that."

"NO! You will not risk YOUR LIFE on this, if you die, then all is a waste of time anyway! You got this?" It was adorable and also heart wrenching to see her so work up over my safety.

Before I could try to give another argument, hornet spoke up, "You are correct, risking one's life unnecessarily over a shortcut could be worst than taking your time-"

"SEE! She gets it!" Fidget pointed to the aracnic on my left shoulder.

"But-" The nimbat groaned, "Taking one time can be as deadly too, one never knows when something will get in our way, and the weight of taking a decision would be thrust into us, even if we aren't prepared to do so."

I have a feeling she is talking from experience, her voice was controlled, too steady, but I probably noticed because I knew and I had played her game too.

I knew by the lore that she had to make a choice when the character that the player controlled arrived, a choice that if you use the right item at the right time one could clearly know how hurt she was by doing the right thing.

"So what, he has to go face first into the pit of the monster and hope he doesn't react too slow and die?"

...That is basically the gameplay of the game where my powers come from, except I don't know if my death will be permanent or if I will be able to create a new character to come back with.

"Perhaps, I'm unfamiliar with the ability of teleportation, how instant is it?" Hornet spoke as she rummaged something under her red cloak.

"Instant as long I can react and I'm not in too much pain to forget it... Well, maybe not, if I'm scared enough it also activates, perhaps, maybe." I looked around the room, and remembered why in the first place we walked this way, "Uhm, do you mind if we rummage around here? We kinda are on a tight schedule if we want to leave the-" I lifted my hands and made quotations, "Brave the night."

The princess stopped for a second and nodded, then continued.

Taking that as my cue, I walked in the direction I suspected the "displaced" room was.

"We are not doing it today! Anon doesn't even know how to FIGHT!" The worrywart almost screamed, and even if I was thankful, scratch that, VERY thankful that she worried for my safety, She was speaking like I wasn't here right now.

Opening the room, I made sure to double, and triple check from the doorway that there wasn't a flesh egg about to destroy me, then I looked at the ceiling, not seeing anything, I slowly peeked, from left to-

What the fuck is that?

I slowly closed the door, my heart doing its best to escape the bone cage that was my ribs, "Anon?" Fidget stopped what hornet was about to say, both of them probably looking at my pale face.

"Give me a second, don't open the door," I whispered, walking to the close switch and clicking it a few times, looking at the bulb in the ceiling to see if it responded in any way.

"Anon?" The nimbat said this time, now with a little edge on it, "What did you see?"

I took a deep breath, letting my paranoia get out of my lungs, "I saw a television, that was ON, and judging by the fact this place doesn't have electricity, I say that is bad."

Both of them looked at each other, then at me, and to my little amusement, they asked at the same time, "What is a television?"

Chapter Text

I slapped my face, I should have guessed this would happen, "A television is a piece of technology that lets you see stories like you are reading and hearing a picture book, or anything that you recorded in real life-"

Fidget spoke up, "Uhm, then why are you panicking? A story cannot harm you, right?"

"Sometimes some knowledge is better to let unknown," Says the one that literally comes from the land that got hit with one of the worst cognito-hazard ever.

"Yeah, that is true, but in this case, this technology requires a set amount of energy constantly called electricity, and if this place had that energy, the lights up there would have turned ON and OFF, yet the TV was ON anyways." I tried to explain my gut feeling.

My fear that they wouldn't comprehend why I worried over that fact had become true once the nimbat raised an eyebrow, "And that is bad, why?"

Ok, there was an easy way to make Fidget understand my fear, "Well, the only time I have heard that happening is in horror stories, to be specific, ghost stories."

Fidget paled instantly, probably the time she had to deal with one coming to her head, "G-ghost!?"

Hornet just stared at me, "I feel there is a lot you do not tell us, Explain."

"It really depends from story to story, but basically only evil spirits use it to scare or to harm the viewer... Well, perhaps there are some that are good that come to mind, but most are just evil, with the most famous one once you see this specific tape, you will receive a call that will tell you that you will die in 7 days." My voice was unsure, surely nothing good can come from this, right?

"...Hmm, why don't we just leave? We didn't need the stuff in there anyway! Right? RIGHT?!" Fidget looked at each of us.

I was about to agree when I remembered the state of the room, normally when Fidget and I loot around the place, it was just a small portion that was out of place, clearly in better condition than the rest of the room.

In here, it was ALL the room, and perhaps even ALL the apartment room.

"...We can surely risk it, just we gotta play it safe," I decided, squishing my tongue on my sharp teeth.

"You certain?" The spider said, still doing something under her robe.

I was about to nod when Fidget grabbed my face and tried to force me to shake my head, putting her hands on my cheeks, my lips being pushed forward as she rubbed them, "Noooo, We don't need whatever is in there, and-"

I rolled my eyes at the terrible attempt to make my tone of voice with her high-pitched nature, and with patience, I grabbed her hands and moved them out of my face, "Fidget, you don't have to come, but we need more food, we need whatever else is in there."

Fidget groaned, putting both hands in her face and slowly dragging it down, "Ok, fine, I like to eat, you got me there, but if something terrible is happening and I scream to get us out of there, YOU GOTTA DO IT."

...

"I guess that is fair." I nodded, walking to the door once more.

"And by the way, why we cannot just destroy it before something bad happens?" She added.

"That is a great point, but we don't know if that would make it worse, who knows, maybe if we break the screen, the hundreds of crystals will still work as a television, making things worse." If I was an evil spirit I would do that anyways, would be a funny FUCK YOU if they tried to avoid it... "But I guess we can give it a shot, let's hope nothing bad happens."

Fidget groaned once more, "GREAT."

---

I slowly open the door, and peek once more, seeing the flat TV still showing white static, looking to my right, I saw the light switch, and after testing it, my theory that the place didn't have any light was quite correct.

Taking a big sigh, I did a last check, the place looking too pink for my liking, perhaps I'm too old-fashioned, but my upbringing made me have this theory that this place was owned by a female.

Once I checked every corner for any more face huggers, I closed the door and looked at each of them, "Alright, just in case I would like one of you to remain vigilant about the television incase I cannot break it."

Fidget gulped, "Don't look at me! I will go with you if I can help it!"

Hornet huffs, "Having someone more robust checking each room will be important in case any enemies are hiding, so I will do that while I work on this."

"Great- wait, in what are you working?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You will see when I'm done, for now, let's get this over with, we have much to discuss once we are in your so-called base." Her tone of voice was dismissive, making me want to ask more, yet I felt it wouldn't work.

I nodded, opening the door once more and entering, I walked over to the VERY pink sofa that was in front of the television, kneeling so the insect in my shoulder could land on it.

She did that, staring at the white static.

Taking a gulp, I attacked the screen, once more my claws extending, fire exploding from them.

I half expected the flat TV to be burned or cut.

...

"Immune" red text floated.

...We all saw on the TV, not even a scratch on the glass, seeming to mock me.

...

"Anon, what are TV's made of?" My crush said slowly, probably remembering the many times my claws had cut many monsters before this.

"...Common glass and a screen so easy to break that pushing it too hard usually broke it," I informed, "That and plastic, which is well known to melt easily."

"...I hate ghosts." She flatly stated.

I once more checked the room, it was pink, very pink, with some design and furniture that played with that color, the kitchen was in the same space as the living room, probably to have more space for the bedroom and the bathroom.

On a wall and desk, were some pictures of people I didn't recognize, but they were clearly human at the very least.

I was smart enough to notice that in most of them, there was a common dominator, a girl that had so many pink clothes that would make certain pink pony squeak with glee, really, doesn't she know there are other colors?

I huffed, shaking my head, time was gold the less we were in this place with a creepy television, the better.

"Fidget, let's loot the kitchen." She nodded, seeming to want to get out of the way of the immortal TV, following after me once I started to look around.

I managed to find some bags to put some of the food that was stored in here, mostly anything canned that didn't need to be in the freezer.

It was a jackpot, it was very full compared to the other places we looted, thought without a kitchen most wouldn't work.

After having most of the things in a bag, I walked up to the next thing that could have something, that is the bathroom, as it was the most cliche thing to have a medkit.

And also toilet paper, Fidget will probably love to have more toilet paper.

---

In this room, the theme of a pink room was kept, the shade of the tiles being so clear that it looked more reddish than anything, yet the curtains of the shower kept the theme alive, being a strong pink color... That and the carpet of it was a famous cat character without a mouth.

While Fidget read some of the labels of some of the stuff in the cabinets after I checked them myself, I checked the shower and similar in hopes of anything that would help us patch up wounds if I didn't have any more healing or medicine, that could be helpful in a few ways.

Knowing my game system, maybe it would buff me if I used it from my inventory.

Sadly the only thing we found was toilet paper and liquid soap... That and a lot of hair products, and creams for the skin, and natural oils and-

Ok, you get the picture, this girl likes to take care of herself, so I took some shampoo for the sake of the only one with hair out of the three of us, soap was cool too, and never forget toilet paper.

Looking at the set of bottles,I thought about the different set of bottles, I was no female... Well, no, even males had long hair after all, my brother being a prime example with a hair that ended at his shoulders.

But I didn't like having long hair, to the point I started to lose sanity if I had it too long.

But surely Fidget, a woman and literally a body full of hair would care, right?

At the very least there was an important hair product to help fix the damage shampoo would cause to your hair, "Fidget, do you know what a conditioner is?"

I heard my companion humming a happy tune, "Uhm, a what now?"

I looked at her, the nimbat attention seemed to be totally captivated by a makeup set that my brain tuned out since I didn't care for such things.

On the other hand, the nimbat held one brush with pink tones over her eyelids, probably trying to see if she could loot this place for a replacement for her own makeup.

"It is something to take care of your hair," I scratch my chin, trying to remember what my brother and friend with long hair had told me about that type of product, "If I remember correctly, long hair normally starts to dry up once you use shampoo, or start to lose its quality with age, but conditioner moisturizes and soften it-"

Fidget snapped her head over to me, her eyes going wide, forgetting for a moment the fact she had found that makeup set, "It does what?!" For a moment it seemed she would put down the stuff rather violently, but her brain must have caught up since she flickered her eyes to the makeup and delicately put it down and flew to my right.

"Uhm, it moisturizes and softens it, and also detangles the hair, and helps to avoid split ends-"

"TAKE ALL OF IT." She screamed, taking a bag and throwing down a lot of random bottles.

"Ok, ok, geez, some stuff is for skin care, it won't work on you!" I yelped out, not wanting to waste so much precious space on random stuff, "Just, let me pick the right stuff, ok?"

---
After talking down the nimbat, I managed to convince her to take only five bottles, and her makeup.

Going to the last one, we went to the bedroom.

Much to my surprise, the place broke the streak of just pure pink colors, for some reason being a baby blue with a lighter color for the carpet of the place.

The bed had a certain pocket monster with a whole copy-pasta of why it was the most compatible with humans... And a lot of plushies of many franchisees.

In a lone corner a desk with one of these fans for laptops and a monitor, (That, much to my relief, it wasn't showing static) with a generic gamer chair.

Some posters of series I didn't recognize, but to be fair, I didn't care about most media as long it didn't have anthro woman I could make lewd art about.

For a moment I thought maybe there were two bedrooms, and this one was owned by someone not as insane for the color pink.

...

That was until we rummaged around and I found a lot of clothes, that 90% of them WERE PINK.

I chuckled as I saw the walk-in closet, while Fidget was looking under the bed.

I wonder why she likes the color pink so much, and why she only breaks the theme of the apartment with the color scheme of the bedroom.

...I blink slowly, lifting a shoe box and seeing a transparent box.

...I recognized instantly what was in the transparent box.

I squeaked out a snort, biting my lip and holding back the need to laugh at the sex toy collection, and no, they weren't normal, all of them surely come from a place like Bad Dragon or something like that.

Dildos of all shapes and colors, some of them being absurdly big.

My face went blank for a moment when I recognized there were some fleshlights too, some I had back home.

...God I hope my parents aren't going through my stuff, if so, a part of me would rather stay here than go home and eat the embarrassment of my depravity.

I yelped once I heard Fidget fly close by, "What did you find?"

In an instant, I closed the closet door, "NOTHING."

Fidget blinked slowly, then looked past me, then back at me, "...Anon, what did you find?"

I slumped, not wanting to keep going with such an obvious lie, "...A bunch of sex toys."

It took a few moments for Fidget's face to explode in a furious blush, her expression going into various sets of emotions, her face going nuclear with how red and hot surely it was.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke, "R-Really?" She sounded... tempted?

I nodded, "Yeah, I think I saw some lube too."

Another eternity, and she gulped, "Uhm, can I see?"

...

I slowly opened the door and pointed to the box, she flew and looked at all the shapes, "...What kind of freak would have so many?" Her voice was but a whisper, her face blushing and... Is some drool coming out?

The silence grew between us, her face blushing and her hand twitching.

Shouldn't she be horrified at this? Or even laugh!

Why does she look so?

Tempted?

I mean, females weren't like that, right? She would totally snap out of it, any second now, ANNNY SECOND.

Instead, I heard Hornet's voice, "Something is happening!"

I expected Fidget to panic, to ask me to teleport us home, yet, she just suddenly screamed, "FAST, go check in hornet, I will finish checking this place!"

I squinted at her for a whole two seconds, having a feeling what she would do once I left the room, but I didn't have time to argue so I just ran to the living room.

My eyes went to the television, which was playing an upbeat song that made my lizard brain want to break the TV, even if I knew I wouldn't be able to do so.

...That was until I saw what was on TV.

"Angel gabby, oh angel gabby!" The image of a very cartoonish badger exclaimed as it looked to the sky, a soft soothing song in the background.

It wasn't long before the forest in which the badger was slowly going out of frame, the sky taking place with clouds with a very obvious door, and one of those stupid weathervanes that cartoons love to put in their houses.

"No, this cannot be real..." I said, hearing Hornet screaming something.

Two bunny ears poked from the cloud to the right, the top of a head followed, two pure black eyes surrounded by blue, a bushy puff of hair nestled in between her ears, a giggle, and then she went out of the cloud, showing her pink nose, golden dress, and wings.

She flew and went down with the badger, a soft smile on her face as she saw said animal, "Good morning, Francis!" She moved her eyes to me, "I love to hear you call..." She trailed off, her happy expression turning into one of disgust, and then one flat.

It was clear she was throwing off the script too soon, and I took a step back, fully knowing why she would look at me like that.

"Yes, but I'm fearful, Angel Gabby... I never know what to say," The voice of the Badger spoke again, making me start to have a cold sweat.

Before the angel spoke, I had to try to fix this, I half expected to cave into panic and scream my lungs out, yet I held back, "Gabby I'm not a demon, I'm NOT a demon, I repeat once more, I'm NOT a demon."

The eyes that were looking at the badger turned to see me, her face freezing once more, the hare, blinking a few times, clearly sentient.

I knew this creature, I had seen the series Angel Hare after all, and if she was a real angel the last thing I needed was to make her find a way to kill me.

She blinked many times, suddenly getting really close to the television, "..."

The image got corrupted, making me grab Hornet, much to her chagrin, and about to bolt to where Fidget was.

TACTICAL RETREAT TIME.

I really don't want to find out if she can leave the TV.

"WAIT!" Normally I wouldn't stop, for fear of getting smited by the thing on the television, yet this time it sounded... Very desperate, perhaps horrified. I slowly turned around, her hand on the screen of the television, this time her eyes wide, "What is your name?"

I took deep breaths, surprised at the lack of vitriol coming from her voice, "...Anonynumous."

She flinched back, putting her paws in front of her mouth, "Oh."

I winced feeling a small prickle on my right hand, making me drop Hornet to the red floor, "Don't do that."

"AUCH, sorry! I, uh-" I looked at that television, the angel just seeming to boar her eyes on me, her expression worried, "Hi Gabby, sorry if I panic, umh, I just didn't know if I was about to get smited." I said as casually as I could.

Gabriel just smiled smugly, "Don't worry Anon, after all, I always knew you were a devil in disguise," She chuckled.

I, on the other hand, gave an awkward one, confused at what she meant.

It was then she stopped, blinked at me, and coughed into her hand, "Hmm.. oh silly me! I must have mistook you for someone else!" She laughed at the end, perhaps a little odd, "Nice to meet you Anon, tell me, how long has it been since you arrived here?"

She looked sad, and her tone made me feel vulnerable, "I, um, less than a week."

She blinked, "Oh, my, We have much to speak about then, please, take a seat."

I gulped, Looking at Hornet, who was narrowing her eyes, "Do we really have time for this?"

Gaby gave a soft smile, which I could swear was a little smug, "Now, now, as Proverbs 22:3 says, A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." She clapped her hands, "It is important for one to know the extent of their situation, as even a little knowledge can do wonders for one's chances of survival."

...Right, she did say a lot of bible proverbs in her show, didn't she?

"..." Hornet seeming to stare at the television, "So you know more than us about this place?"

She nodded a few times, "Yes, I'm aware of where you all are, and before it is too late I will tell you a few important facts that you should all know in your quest to go back home."

I stiffened, and I heard Hornet squeeze her nail, "How do you know that we want to go back?"

The rabbit just chuckled, "One doesn't require to be a genius to tell that anywhere else would be better than here, and I would guess you all were taken from your homes without having a say about it, as many before you had."

I blink slowly, "Uhm, I think Fidget will need to hear this too," I muttered, finally, we would get some answer, as most of it was just speculation on our part.

Right on cue, Fidget huffed and puffed as she carried a huge pink backpack, and it was pretty weird to see her not flying for once.

I blinked slowly, unsure what she would have loot that would be this heavy... Wait, I think I knew.

I walked up, and picked up the backpack, shaking it around with the nimbat still grabbed to the straps, "WOAH- HEY!"

And sure thing, I had two toys like this in real life and I was aware enough of how would they sound if they were to be shaken around in a plastic box.

...Well, shit, it seemed Fidget was a freak after all.

I put the luggage in my back without even mentioning or asking its contents, I instead just picked her up by her armpits and whispered to her ear, "Did you put the whole box in there?"

Fidget gasped and blushed, many words that ended in nonsense escaping her mouth, until finally, she covered her face and whimpered out a simple "yes."

I blink slowly, confused why would she put also the Fleshlight if she didn't have a dick to use them.

"Ok." I turned her around to show her to Angel Gabby, "Gabby, this is Fidget, Fidget, this is Angel Gabby."

I managed to see the angel's reaction, her eyes going wide, "Fidget you say?" her voice was clue enough that she was stunned, looking at her and me.

...

That is odd.

The nimbat managed to recover enough to blink at the screen, "...Is this like a call from the magical magical doohickey that Haley used?"

I blinked slowly, "Fidget, you have never said something about this to me, why would I know?" I said, playing dumb once more because I knew exactly what she meant, "But I think is more like Gabby here lives in a show in which the animals are sentient but stick to the script most of the time."

"...What?" The nimbat twisted her head.

Gabby came to my rescue, "Think about a book," Fidget looked at her, then nodded, "Ok, now think that the book protagonist or author lives in that book, able to change the text freely to talk to you or show you things, that what Anon meant."

Fidget blinked, "...Ooooh, I get it."

I stared at Angel Gabby, and how she easily explained it, "Uhm, thank you for making it look so simple."

Angel laughs once more, "You are welcome, Anon, happy to help you, now please, take a seat, I don't have infinite time when a television manages to catch my signal, but you should all be safe in here for now."

Taking a seat, I lay the nimbat in my lap by instinct, making her look up at me, moving her head vertically until it was upside down for me, the fact that made me look at her, "What?"

She just blinked, and huffed, "Nothing, Nothing, just looking if you did this because you saw me as a baby or pet."

Hornet just shook her head and landed to my right.

"Oh now, I'm sure Anon did this because he is comfortable around you, or maybe he is just so shocked by what is happening that he needs your comfort just now," Gabby said in a matter-of-fact voice.

I blinked, confused about how she hit the mark so well, "Ok, how are you so good at this?" And why I didn't feel freaked out by it?

"Experience, Anon, pure unadulterated experience, now pay attention well, I'm about to start what you youngster called "lore dump."" Gabby spoke happily, flying back to her home in the clouds.

"Uhm, how old are you?" The nimbat in my leg was valiant enough to ask.

I half expected the Angel to be offended or to reflect the question, but she just laughed it off, her eyes closed and a smile full of mirth, "Older than your grandma if you must know, or than her grandma, and probably the grandma of her grandma!"

Fidget blinked, "And in years how much is that?"

As Gabby plopped on her own sofa, she laughed again, "I'm not certain, but over 2000 years, that's for sure."

Fidget's eyes went wide, and Hornet seemed a little shocked as well, I wasn't that affected really, having in mind I knew she was an Angel, that she was probably as old as the planet Earth... Well, her earth, I don't know about mine.

"Okay, enough of little old Gabby, let's begin." She took a deep breath, her demeanor changing instantly, making all of us focus on her, "You are in the city of Babel, and yes Anon, I know you are aware of its biblical significance, but that is unrelated, probably destiny having a sick sense of humor." I blinked, not expecting to be called out like that, but I didn't interrupt, "In the tower of Babel, God gave a curse to humanity to speak different languages due to their hubris to reach heaven by building said tower, making them scatter around the world, yet in this place, people all over dimensions are being pulled to this plane, making them interact with each other, very ironic indeed."

She cleared her throat before I could ask, "The city of Babel fell long ago, the details are not clear to me, yet I know they provoked their own downfall in an attempt to stave a horrible plague that had invaded the city." She took a big breath, "You shall know, that knowing is power, and sometimes knowing can be dangerous, so I shall tell you only its generic name, the red plague."

"I... See." Was the only thing I said before she continued.

"The Red Plague is a horrible affliction, affecting the mind of those who get in contact with it, granting them their most longed-for wishes, but in the most twisted way possible, putting those in a deep sleep where their bodies would hunt down noninfected people to infect them or to violently kill them and drag them to their dimension to feed on their remains." She took a deep shaky breath, "Then there are the flesh monsters that come in all shapes and forms, I'm sure that whatever created these monsters, the red plague has to do with it." She then narrowed her eyes at each of us, "Get wounded by the wrong creature, and you will carry a parasite that will turn you into one of these monsters, so be careful."

I slowly moved my eye to the parasite condition that was increased by one once more, "Well, fuck."

Gabby blinked, stopping, "Do you have something to tell?"

"Well, I'm infected," I hiss out, worried about my health, "Is there some kind of cure? I know my prayers healed Fidget when it was her time, but I have a lot more!"

The angel opened her eyes wide, "Have you found some sort of weed on the bodies of survivors? There is a herb that can help you, that works more when you use it before you get infected, but still works if you use it now!" Oh, she looked very worried.

I thought about it, the only bodies I found I didn't find any herbs, probably because of my hurry, "No, I didn't find any... thought maybe I have something that should fix me, if not someone that would know what to do."

The angel got close to the screen, "Oh?! Ok, then do that as soon as you can."

I huffed, taking out the Holy water, really thinking about drinking it, "Uhm, shouldn't I wait until I'm sure I won't get more infected? Being able to tank without worry of that would be nice."

"Perhaps a great point, just be sure to use it if you are starting to feel aggressive, or have vision or compulsions that you know aren't yours." I stored the Holy water as she settled back down, "Ok, now, I'm sure you are all curious about how you ended here, and the answer is somewhat simple also worryingly for all your prospects on going back."

She tapped her fingers, seeming very nervous as all in the room seemed to lean forward to her, "You see, all of you were probably pulled or slipped in the cracks of reality, cracks that were caused by the red plague roots digging their way through dimensions, making people fall through them all the time into different worlds."

"Wait, doesn't that mean if we found that crack we could go back?" Fidget exclaimed, already thinking how she could do that.

"Well, technically yes, but finding it can be rather tricky having in mind that most times is one way, and they close rather quickly," She gestures to the room, "The reason why this happens, is a crack in reality opens and closes, exchanging matter or moving it, if you are lucky, you weren't in there when it happens, if not, well, you end in places like here."

My eye twitched, "Wait, doesn't that mean that the monsters can end in other dimensions?"

Gabby gave an awkward smile, "...Yes, and if it is one able to infect..."

I paled, "...A whole epidemic would occur if destiny feels gruesome enough, but even if that doesn't happen if the red plague provokes the crack in the first place... Then there is a good chance the root will appear in that dimension, and will ravish it with ease if they don't have protectors to take care of it." She took a heavy sigh, "Only the ones with the right weapons or that represent reality can hurt it, not having in mind that most are VERY vulnerable to its sickness, creating chaos and a world-ending apocalypse."

I was dumbfounded, "So what, it is an eldritch horror-level calamity that will kill us no matter what?!"

Gabby winced, "There is still hope! If you can destroy one of the cores, the sector around it should be safe for a pretty good time! Many have done it before, Invictus, The aspect of copy and paste, did it! So I'm sure someone will rise up to the task!"

"But didn't you say people are susceptible to it!?" I was standing up, a sense of urgency rising in my core, yet I didn't know what to do!

The angel made some gestures with her hand to appease me, "Those chosen or that harvest the power of reality are very resistant to its effect, so they can survive it long term as long they have a clear mind and a resolute conviction!" She explained as she put her hands together, "But even then, this place is safer thanks to the monsters that are walking around it, the flesh monster seems to despise it more than anything... Well, nature in general, that is."

"So what, we are meant to die becoming flesh monsters instead of dying because the red plague will corrupt us?" I muttered out, seeing the damm infection advancing by 0.1 once more.

"B-But I cannot let this happen to my world! I have to come back, I have to do something!" Fidget screamed, finally the situation fully settling in.

"I agree... You said if we destroy one of its cores it should fix it?" Hornet finally spoke, "I cannot let my home fall to a second infection, and if I can do something about it, I will."

Gabby shook her head furiously, "That would be unwise, all of you aren't prepared, and even if Anon is immune to the red plague, he is not even close to being strong enough to deal with the travel necessary to arrive at the core."

I blink, confused, "...I'm what?"

The girls looked at me, then at Gabby, who stared at us... No, at me, "Anon... Don't you know?"

I expected her to explain it, yet I just felt annoyed that I had to prompt her, "Can you not beat around the bush and just spit it out already?"

Gabby huffed, "Anon, you were bestowed with the power of the realm, one of the purest energies, as long you fight evil and don't give in to cowardice, you will have the chance to become a hero to fight against it." She smiled seeing my eye twitch at the word hero, "Well, I know hero is a strong word, but you should know better than anyone to whom this power originally was bestowed upon, fair heroes that fight for good, and those who fell in battle had as many chances to come back from the death... That was until he arrived." She sighs, "Well, you know the rest of the story, so I won't bore you with the details."

Fidget looked at me, then at Gabby, then at me, "...WHAT!?"

Chapter Text

Fidget was moving my head as she grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, which was impressive, having in mind my new skin was very non-flexible, and my weight was probably thrice hers, "You can fight! You have to fight, you have to fix this!" 

"Fidget! I'm NOT a hero! This is literally OVER me, I will die! I don't even know what an aspect is, how I'm supposed to deal with any of this?! " I tried to calm her; the last thing I wanted was to go on a crusade to kill this thing.

If this were a video game, it would be easy to say yes, I had enough experience in the game to do new bosses on my first try, and I farmed one of the most dangerous final bosses of the game like it was as easy as breathing.

Yet now that I was the one here, it was much different! I felt the pain! I saw firsthand the beasts I had to fight and how my brain SCREAMED to run each time I did, and I lacked any true skills to combat them.

"Fidget, stop that. It is obvious he lacks conviction, and someone who lacks resolve is destined to perish if they enter combat."

Auch, the words of the spider hurt me, memories of my life drifting through life, coming to my brain like raindrops in a storm.

I tried to suppress the memories to the best of my abilities, yet it was a heavy blow to my mental state.

"Now, now, you have to understand that not everyone is ready to challenge something so beyond them, Anon was probably just a common human living a normal life until he was dragged here," She looked at both of them, starting with Hornet, "I can guess with your posture that you are a warrior that had seen her fair share of battles, the blade in your hand clearly having met its use." Hornet looked down at the still bloody blade, blood that was mine, but still, the bunny was correct, "And you," Her eyes landed on Fidget, "Even if fear grips your being, you have learn through experience to summon enough courage to keep fighting your battles, but clearly Anon is new to all this, so it is pretty callous and selfish to ask him to do this without caring how he feels."

...Well, at the very least, Gabby seems to be VERY mature, I would guess she is pretty old, too, or was it because she is an angel?  

"B-but! Anon is like the chosen one! I mean, if I had a gold coin for each time I would have to follow a chosen one to save the world or many people... I would have two coins! Which isn't that many, but still weird that happened TWO times!" Fidget tries to excuse me, feeling the weight fall upon my shoulders once she calls me by that name.

I was about to protest, when the Angel once more argued in my favor of... being a coward, "Well, I guess he is the chosen one in a certain way, but not that TYPE of chosen one, after all, the reason why he was bestowed this power is..." She took a big breath, "Not because he has a certain affinity to an aspect, but because some higher beings thought it would be funny."

I blinked, perplexed, "What?"

As an echo, Fidget and Hornet also said something along those lines, and Gabby sighed, "I know those very well, creatures with too much power that think it would be funny to see you fail or struggle, despicable, yet I guess it saved your life, didn't it?"

Those were heavy words, VERY heavy words, "...The way you say it," I gulped, my veins heating up, "I wasn't the first, was I?"

Gabby flinched for some reason, perhaps the memories of past people trying and failing still being too much for her, "...No, there were many before, and I have met a fair share of them, you... Just one of many."

I didn't know how to feel.

To feel glad that I wasn't special, that I just got unlucky like many before me, or to feel horrible that this wasn't some kind of omega anime or manga start where I would grow to become a god, that I wasn't the main protagonist of anything, even when the world dared to isekai me.

Fidget stopped grabbing me, her mouth wide open, "W-What kind of monster would choose a random person to fight in here!?"

Gabby sighed, "Powerful ones, we are just lucky they don't care what people say about them, or we would already be dead." She tapped her fingers, "The reason why you see things like that one game is because it was so familiar to you... You see, before they facilized such things... Well, let's just say they wasted more time preparing the other cycle than actually observing their "entertainment", so, they made stuff work similarly to what you would expect, so instead of you wasting time traying to understand you new powers and accidently killing yourself with it, you have something very familiar... Well, that and you technically do own all the stuff you had in the game," She stared at my eyes, "Perhaps if you put in some effort, you could do other stuff with the power granted to you sooner, as right now you would be in something equivalent to training wheels..."

Wait, what was that I own all that stuff-?

Fidget gulped, holding both her ears, "...This- I- what can we do?" She sniffed, "...If Anon, the only one who is able to fight the red plague, isn't destined to save us all, what can we do?! Can't we like, TEACH HIM?!"

Her defeated tone almost made me want to offer myself to go on this suicidal mission, yet I knew that I wouldn't do much other than just be another body to add to the pile... And that last part made my heart skip a beat.

"I agree, maybe he cannot right now, but what if he were to get trained? His lack of a nail would make my style of fighting difficult for him to learn, but with patience, surely we can make him learn." Hornet finally spoke, looking at me, making my cowardice flare up.

I was about to deny it, yet Gabby spoke, "Perhaps, but even then he would need an arsenal of powers and weapons to match the diversity of enemies he would have to deal with in the breach."

I twitched, feeling weird that they expected so much from me, ME, the one who, one week ago, was just a slightly overweight asshole struggling to survive the day.

"I'm not the doom slayer! I cannot possibly do this!"  

The angel laughed at my panic, "Not alone, of course," She cryptically said, "But before my time is up, perhaps I should explain what an aspect is."

Fidget blinked, seeming to remember that part, still sounding very doomed, "Oh yeah, what is that about? I kinda forgot that thanks to the part that our reality is literally falling apart against something we cannot fight against!"

Gabby gave an awkward chuckle, "Yes, but this might be important if you all were to find the right people... Or animals, or even objects," She stared at each of us, "An aspect is something chosen or created by reality-"

"Why are you saying like reality is a sentient thing?" Fidget interrupted, which was fair, from what I knew, the laws of physics didn't do their things because they felt like it.

Gabby cleared her throat, "Ehem, I will get to that today if possible, let me explain, please." She cleared her throat once more, "Like I was saying, an aspect can be practically anything; they can even be an idea, a feeling, but to keep it simple, let's go to something chosen by reality and why this happens."

She stared down at Fidget, who seemed impatient to know what she meant by the concept that reality could think. And so I was, but I could wait for the lecture to end before asking questions.

"I wish I could go into the details, sadly, I'm already cutting it short due to the constant interruptions, so I will just be very forward with this." Fidget gave an awkward chuckle at that, but she didn't interrupt further, "All aspects have a power depending on their chosen theme, word, or phrase, and from then on, depending on what they were before becoming one, is how their powers will work and they would control reality surrounding it with various degrees of difficulty."

I wanted to ask, and judging by how she deadpanned at me and Fidget, she probably knew too, but we once more got shut down by her by just her eyes, "Like I said, I don't have much time, so I shall give a tale of the most common tipe of aspect, a sentient being of anny species."

She lifted a paw, a set of gloves appearing on her hand, "Since I already mentioned Invictus, might as well tell you about his powers and how he got them."

She cleared her throat, the gloves moving once more and becoming as big as her, "doing a deal with an old goat, and giving him the thing he loved the most, he was given Copy and Paste, two twin gloves that were fabricated to hold these aspects, one specifically done to uplift the other, working alone they cannot do much, but together and their conection, they could do so much more."

One gloved lifted itself, "Copy, the older of the two, could do like its name said, and copy things, everything could work, people, concepts, objects, anything it copied, was stored in its lucridicus amount of storage, easily accessible with the right tool and password." The other glove lifted, "and Paste, the younger one, could easily reacreate any copy that its brother had... And create pasta very easily, but that is beside the point."

...Copy and Paste? Isn't that like something you can do on a computer?

I would have asked, yet the blank stares of the bunny made me pause, and I ended up letting her continue.

"His power let him copy anything and paste it in a different way. For example, he could copy voices, fighting styles, techniques, momentum, strengths, and speeds, all on his body, letting him be extremely versatile, but even then he could put his own knowledge to make all the things he copied better, improving it all he could to reach new highs." she tapped her fingers together, "Well, he could also copy or store any weapon he fancied, but as far as I know, he only used up to nine weapons."

She nodded, "His powers were such that he could even make copies of himself; the only limit was that he couldn't copy his own gloves, so using that and his arsenal of weapons and skills, he was able to defeat the thing that had the core inside of it, it took him a while, but here is a important detail that help him against his war against these things."

The gloves seemed to be put on by pale human hands. "He could restore things to a past copy he made, and anytime his world fell, he knew he could just restore it to when the root didn't take effect yet, so he could focus in fighting," She sighed, "Legends say he lived up to his name, remaining undefeated... even if he got fatally wounded or crippled, he never loosed," The angel looked into the distance, "He was truly blessed, sometimes I wonder if that was the name given by his parents, knowing their child would achieve the impossible, or if someone came up with it."

I waited for a solid twenty seconds, expecting her to continue, but once I was sure her narration was done, I finally spoke, "Well, shit, that guy kinda sounded like he was a genius to never lose, and I don't know if you noticed, but I'm average at best, and I don't have a magical set of gloves to restore my world if I take too long."

The angel giggled, "Well, I'm sure with some effort you shall win in due time... And if you are worried about your world... Well, using them as a reason to push forward would be wise, as you taking the coward path will only make you have to run infinitely, every time you think you are safe from the plague, that you finally ran away enough, only to see another dimension fall... Well, that isn't exactly life."

...

I looked at my open hands; the color of them seemed to mock me, a subtle reminder that even if I won, and I kept these powers, would I truly be able to go back home and live there in peace? It was true I could change into a human skin, but if someone were to notice that I could regenerate wounds in a few moments, then what would happen to me? Would I get locked up in a cell to see how I worked in attempts to push forward medicine? Would I be send into dangerous places that other people would die since I could just heal up-?

I blinked, seeing a fluffy white hand resting on my right palm, Fidget reaching over to call my attention, and when I finally saw her face, the voices of doubt started slowly dying. It was true not long ago that I knew I would only end up like cannon fodder, but perhaps I could win.

Her face was soft, a worried smile resting on her lips, and eyes full of understanding, "Hey, you are not alone on this, okay? I know it is hard, believe me, the first time I fought off monsters I wanted to fly away SOOOO hard, but sometimes, if you don't do it... And you are the only one who can, then even if you want to go hide in a hole and eat your body weight in sweets, it isn't worth it, okay? Digging your head in a hole will only take you so far, and even then, you will be all alone because all the people you knew will be gone if you aren't there to help them, so is that truly living?"

...

I kinda get it, after all, if I run and go back home, even if they accept me, how long would my world remain intact? How long before the red plague would come and make me run again and again, hoping that the last time would be my last, that I would finally be able to settle down.

Her words made sense even for a coward like me, and I didn't have a hole in my stomach to excuse me from going to the fray anymore.

That, and even as my self-preservation part of my brain was screaming, my small smart part knew that it wouldn't help anyways.

Besides, if these assholes' gods send me here to laugh at my misery as I were a generic soap opera, I doubt they would even let me be truly safe, even I knew that a series to be fun it had to have some kind of conflict, and I doubt they would interested in pure romantic comedy or a slice of life.

"Well, I'm glad you are thinking about it, Anon, but at the end of the day, I really hope you choose the option that will make you happy, after all, the only thing we can ask of you is to give it your most honest attemp, we cannot force you to try anything." She then cleared her throat before the nimbat could add anything, "Coming back to the part where my time is getting short, I will guess you don't have a phone or something with you, right?" I shook my head, then stopped.

"Well, I do have a phone, just not a working one... It won't turn on, I don't know if it is because the battery is about to blow because of how much it has been left alone, or because it is just out of charge... And I don't have charger with me." I muttered.

"I see, that won't do, try to make it turn on for next time...", not knowing how else to react, I waited for her to finish her line of thinking, "Alright, then I shall give you a mission, someone that I knew very well who was in the same situation as you left behind a stash that will be of great help to you." She put a hand on the screen, "Please, give me your hand."

I blinked, confused, clearly not expecting someone apart from the system itself would give me missions, but I guess it was fair to get missions from an angel.

I was unsure, but I remember something like this from the series where Angel Gabby was.

Basically, Angel Gabby is what I would like to think is a good entity that helps troubled kids, and in the series, we follow Jonah and his adventure to help Gabby, (a being that can only manifest through digital media) to be back on air, because he missed her and had forgotten about her due to what had happened before the series start.

The first season did have a happy ending, well, all the seasons did, just I wish we could actually see more interaction with Jonah and Angel Gabby, as it was very wholesome as far we could tell, and thanks to my obsession with anything that wasn't a human and that was sentient, I was interested in her concept.

Taking a big breath, I really hope the creators didn't hide the fact that she was evil all along.

So, putting my hand on the screen, I almost yelped once I felt the unnatural warmth that it gave. I could swear I also felt soft fur tickling my green palm.

Yet, like I had glue or knew better, I held my hand there as a new quest appeared on my left.

---

-The old stash of *********** ***

Angel Gabriel has told you from a Stash that someone just like you left behind.

Maybe there is something that will be of great use to you.

-Find Stash [Rewards: Items on the Stash]

---

I moved my hand back, looking at it, perplexed, then I looked at Gabby and she had her eyes closed, her hand on her mouth in an attempt to contain her mirth, "Oh, your face is pretty funny, Anon," She stared at the hand that I touched, "I kinda missed that."

I was about to speak when I slowly looked down.

-Angel Hare show.

-Blocked-

0/20

Why can I enter as if it were a realm or a dungeon? Why is it blocked? How do I unlock it?

"Uhm, Anon? What are you looking at?" Angel Gabby spoke, confused.

"Uhm, how do I unlock the power to enter your place?" I translated the onslaught of questions to simply that.

"...Excuse me?" The angel said, really confused now.

She doesn't know? Shouldn't she know? Why doesn't she know?

"I, Uhm, sorry, I think I confused something," I fixed, not wanting to waste any more precious time before she had to go, "Uhm, should I take the TV with me? You know, so I can speak to you again."

The rabbit nodded rapidly, "Yes, but only keep it on your inventory unless you plan to speak with me! I'm not the only one that is Lurking through the radio waves, and you probably got lucky you met me first."

[Very]

I snapped my head around, half expecting to see someone else in the grayish room, yet seeing no one but me.

Wait, what?

Wasn't the room supposed to be pink? Wait, where are the others?!

[You will have to make a choice very soon. I hope you choose correctly. Life isn't for the faint of heart, and I know your heart is very faint.]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON-

I blinked, and everything was back to normal. Fidget was staring at me, no, at Gabby, "I... Don't like the sound of that..."

D-did I just hallucinate that? WHAT WAS THAT!?

"You shouldn't, it is true I'm not the only good one, yet there are a lot more that are malicious, and I doubt Anon can deal with them right at this second." I looked back, and I saw her blink and twist her head. "Are you alright? If you worry that other things will appear instead, don't; you only need to say the line, okay?"

"What line?" The tone of voice of Fidget sounded curious and a little annoyed at having to ask.

I did my best impression of the badger, "Angel Gabby, oh Angel Gabby!"

Wait, wasn't I worrying about something? As I thought that, a new mission appeared right next to Gabby's mission.

"The trial of humanity"

Soon, you will have to make an important decision: not taking the correct option will surely lead you to your end.  

-???? ??? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? 0/?

Penalty of failiure: Almost guaranteed death.

...What?

I heard a "I don't sound like that..." coming from the TV, but I also saw Gabby laugh... Actions that manage to distract me enough so that I don't think much about it.

I mean, surely the thing it meant was to choose to fight, right?

"Yes, that, but if you don't see my show start, you should instead store the TV again, just in case a bad actor appears instead, after all, the more often we try to use this trick, the more easy would be for something to beat me to the punch" Gabby sighed, "This hopefully isn't a goodbye, take care, Anon."

And just like that, the screen was back to static, making me feel sad, too sad for someone I just met, but what did I know?

I looked through the window, seeing how it was starting to get late, "Ok, maybe we can check this tomorrow, but right now we gotta go back to take Hornet to our base."

Fidget blinked, "Oh? Can't you, like, teleport us?"

I looked at my inventory spaces, deciding to check if I could store the backpack in my inventory, yet I only huffed when I didn't feel the pull, "Yeah, but she needs to rest in our place before I can teleport us back altogether."

"Oh, I see, then yes, we gotta go." The nimbat nodded.

"Why would your power be limited to me resting in there?" Hornet asked, annoyed.

I shrugged, "Look, I don't make the rules. If it were up to me, I would have all my stuff and absolutely destroy these creatures."

So many legendary items, so many one-use items that I farm in events because of how OP their healing abilities were, so many pieces of food that I never feed to my pet because I didn't have enough currency to feed them to it.

I stood up, offering a hand for her to jump into, and once she accepted the offer for a lift, I started to walk outside.

---

Being outside of the pink nightmare home was a blessing, even if my brain felt weird due to the clash of colors of both places.

One was a pink so strong that it made your eyes burn, the other was a wall full of wood-like texture from a wallpaper, so common that for a moment THIS place felt weird, not the insides of what you would expect from an episode of a certain series of ponies learning about frinship.

The multiple doors with metallic numbers caught my attention as we walked past the dark brown doors, some cracks on the frame of said portals made me discard the idea of entering in hopes to find more loot, even more when I knew that we were pretty full already.

As I managed to enter the reception, I was initially wary, yes, the remains of the fleshy sack were still there, and yes, it looked pretty dead, but I could be excused when the first time I entered this place I got wiped, poision, and my back exploded.

The reception was in worse state than the rest of the building, probably due to the fact that the lone "testicle" carved its way through the red tiles, and pretty obviously even through the concrete floor underneath it.

Right now, the probably once inviting walls of this place with some commercial posters and even the cealing looked anything but that.

I shook my head, putting Hornet on my right shoulder, just In case the rigor mortis of these abominations was weird and the tentacles would try to kill us anyway.

After all, if Fidget was vulnerable to instant death due to how big things where compared to her, Hornet was even more, keeping in mind she wasn't much bigger than my hand.

I took a sigh of relief as I arrived at the umbral door, the sun making its presence known by glaring my eyes due to its great luminance, making the terrible shape structures almost look majestic, as any sunset could help with the image if you look from the right spot.

Even if the discarded and crashed old cars spoiled the view a little bit.

I took a step onto the stairs leading to the street, confident that there weren't any ambushes since I had already passed through here.

Yet as I casually walked outside and turned my head away from the stairs leading to the street level, looking to my left to be more specific, I saw someone with a shotgun pointing at my head.

Time seemed to slow down as my heart started to beat at the speed of light, my body preparing for impact, my brain wanting to press the scape button, yet the small but noticeable weight of Hornet reminded me why that would be a mistake.

"I'm Green! I'm gr-!" I hollered, like the reason why the robust white human guy would shoot me was the color of my skin, yet it only stunned him for a few seconds that I spoke perfect English, as I saw his finger tensing, I then changed my scream mid-yell, "Grant me your strength!"

In an instant, my panic went away as my face blanked, and a loud boom was heard once the shotgun sent its deadly payload straight to my face.

...It didn't even tickle me, even when the pellets hit my eyes, the most delicate part of my whole head, I didn't flinch, or blink, I just stared.

0.5 seconds had passed, and my brain worked overtime to organize my thoughts.

HOW DARE HE.

THIS BASTARD.

IS THE SAME FUCKER THAT SHOT ME IN MY CHEST.

Lowly scum daring to raise against his betters, disgusting.

Such a transgression would be paid with blood; I would take from him what he needed to ever try to do harm to me ever again.

Moving my arm, the bags on it fell to the floor at the same time my hands lifted, my claws extended, fire emanating from my natural weapons, and in a simple motion, the man lost his hands.

Well, to be precise, half of his left arm and his right hand.

The blood that flew didn't even face me, or more precisely, the lack of it, the wound being cauterized as it was done, the cut of human flesh and bone falling to the ground with half of the shotgun in slow-motion to the floor-

1.6 seconds were up.

My eyes went wide once I noticed what I had done, vile coming to my mouth, at the same time, the man made such a guttural scream that the audio of the femur breaker was tame in comparison.

The only thing that snapped me out of my sudden need to puke was the screams of others.

"Frank!" The very familiar voices said, making me snap my head to them, people were hiding in the cars that were in the street, the glaring sun making my perception of them even worse, probably a planned action to throw off the chance of me noticing this bastards, and the glints of guns on what was left of the sunlight made me react.

I took fast steps back and took cover. Gunshots were heard, and the sounds of projectiles flying close to me made me feel a need to poop my nonexistent pants.

"What are those sounds!?" Hornet screamed, making me feel surprised she hadn't heard me use a shotgun before.

Fidget thankfully didn't leave with me and took cover once she saw me do just that, "firearms!" The nimbat screamed as hard as she could, probably the sound of so many pistols and shotguns shooting making her sense of hearing go haywire.

In the meantime, I was breathing heavily, remembering the very graphic scene of seeing someone lose their arms.

Not only that, I was the one who did that!

I could swear I could still smell the aroma of burning flesh that my claws had caused, my need to puke growing by the second since I could still hear the dying scream of pain, a scream that was changing to crying.

I was breathing too fast, I couldn't hear anything around me, until I felt a stab in my cheek, making me yelp, "Snap out of it!" The spider exclaimed as she moved her nail fast to take out the excess blood from the pure white weapon, "I can see what damage that can cause, and they will surely come here-"

The sound of metallic sounds on ceramic made me snap my neck to my left, even a stupid person like me could recognize a grenade.

My first reaction was to sweep my leg across the floor and send it flying outside, and I didn't know if to feel proud of my quick reaction or if-

"DUCK-" "SHIT" "WHAT!?

Screams, more than before, and this one was one of a female, making my eyes go wide.

D-Did I kick them back into them!?

I looked outside, seeing the guy that I cut the arms to be limp on the floor, another body close- It was still alive, the guy next to it was still alive.

It was having a seizure, with holes in its face, probably thanks to a part of the grenade hitting a vital organ, or worse, the brain.

-68

-68

I screamed in pain, feeling something hit my shoulder and nose- snout? I don't know! But I was back in cover.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Fidget screamed, seeing with worry the new wounds I had.

"Granade, we gotta run before they throw another with better timing!" I stood up, glad that Hornet was still on my right shoulder.

"BUT THE FOOD!" she exclaimed.

SHIT, I did drop the food!

"But I can't just go back! I-I cannot kill a human on purpose! I-I just can't!" I managed to say, horrified that I could do such a thing.

No, I was disgusted that I even killed some by accident!

"Why not?!" Hornet managed to say, finally, the sound of bullets ending, making me look at the minimap.

Some were coming closer, "I-I have never killed someone before!" I yelped, standing up, preparing to run.

Hornet seemed to want to protest that notion, since she literally saw me kill some, but in the end, she and Fidget seemed to understand that I meant that I haven't killed someone willingly or on purpose. Yet Fidget spoke anyway, "Anon, you have killed monsters before!" I looked at her, my expression must have been enough for her to backpedal, "A-Anon, I know killing creatures is different than killing sentient beings, but in times like this, you will have to choose between the people that you care about, and the ones that will seek to harm them!"

I stared at her, my brain working a mile a second, unsure what to say, only to hear Hornet, "Wise words, to take a nail and fight is a harsh decision, but in times of need, one will have to choose, to fight for ones believes, or to just lay to the side and die with the rest of the cowards that chose your same choice."  

I gulped.

Like any male who grew up watching anime and playing video games, I imagine myself in a situation like this, being backed in a corner, having to defend myself and winning, because of course I would think that, like I would think of violently defeating or killing my enemies with the ease of a well-seasoned warrior.

Or even more delusional, to be so powerful that even a country wouldn't be able to defeat me.

Of course, I fully knew that if the time ever came, I would just flop and die, no questions asked, as much as I would like to think that I could at the very least win a 1v1 battle, I knew chances were slim to none.

Now that I had accidentally killed two people, I felt I would faint at any second; the sight of blood, of HUMAN blood, was much worse when I saw two corpses of these guys.

Seeing someone who was alive just a second ago to be in the process of passing away was surreal, sickening, and even worse when I knew I was the one at fault.

But now I had to give some thought to what these two said.

Was I willing to die so two random people who had already tried to kill me once would live? Would I do this every time we meet resistance from part of my species? What if they got in the way of getting back home?

And something that freezes my blood was I willing to let them harm Hornet, or God forbid, Fidget?

...

No.

Flashes of the worst-case scenario came to my head, of Fidget lying dead in a pool of her own blood, of Fidget being taken away to God knows where, of them doing things to her without her consent.

My sickness went away, even imagining that happening to her was enough to set my blood to a blazing inferno that seemed fitting due to my physical appearance at the time.

"...I will go first, Fidget, once they are distracted with me, go in and use lightning, if you see them pointing at you with the things in their hand, take cover, Hornet... I don't know, make sure Fidget plays it safe, you saw how they work with how close you were."

"I don't like how little confidence you have in my skill, but I shall let it slide this time." With a jump, she was on Fidget's head, making the nimbat gasp and compensate with her wings to keep her altitude.

I looked at the minimap, one of them walking closer while the other kept a relative distance from the door.

I knew I would have to do one token resistance to what I was about to do, for the sake of my humanity, "Stop right there, I don't want to fight."

My eyes snapped to the "Game chat", messages of words I couldn't hear at this distance."

Tug 7:Shit, it can talk?

Tug 5: So we did hear right.

Tug 9: Boss, what do we do?

Leader: Shhh, gonna lure him out, fired at it as soon it shows its ugly mug.

My eyes twitched. It was true my puny ears couldn't hear it, yet being able to read what they planned to do only made my hesitation fade away with the burning need for survival.

"Anon, they will-" Fidget started, probably having heard their plan, yet I just shushed her.

"I heard, let me talk," I cleared my throat, "Go away, we don't need to fight."

I heard the same gruff voice of the same old man that almost finished me off, "Come on, no need to be so stinky, we thought you were a mindless monster, and I understand you only fight back because we shot you first."

Tug 5: How did he survive a shotgun to the face?

Tug 7: Shhhhh."

"Come out so we can have a talk." I hissed under my breath. It was clear they planned to keep going with the plan.

....

The image of the group that almost killed me, that hurt me so badly that I was bleeding all over the floor of that dusty room... It was edged into my head, and even then, I felt panic at the mere thought of ending like that again.

Fine, they wanted to do foul play? I will show them foul play.

"Fine, I will come out with my hands up at the count of 10," I said with the steadiest voice I could manage, given how much adrenaline was running through my veins at the moment.

My mana was almost ready again for me to cast my seal of divinity, and I knew it would have to save me for me to rush them.

Fidget gasped, "Anon!" She whispered-shouted, only for me to look at her and wink.

She blinked a few times but seemed to know I was up to something.

"Sure thing, I promise not to shoot." The old man said, confident, too confident.

...He didn't say the others wouldn't either.

"10, 9, 8," I took deep breaths, my legs tensing at the incoming sprint I would surely have to do.

"7, 6, 5." My claws extended, and I saw the minimap to give me an idea of where they would be.

I saw a total of 6 red dots, only 5 being close.

As my heartbeat matched the rhythm of a professional drummer, I clenched my jaw and thought of the fury I felt when they attacked me, when they threw my goodwill away like it was nothing, when they blew a hole in my chest.

I perhaps would try to hold back, aim for the arms or hands, yet I knew I would have to cause harm to another to survive, or to make sure they didn't harm us ever again.

"4, 3-" In a sudden burst of speed, I went out and rushed the one in the lead, his eyes going wide as he lifted his downed gun to try to stop me.

I would have stuttered if I hadn't seen the other ones still pointing their guns at me, their fingers on the trigger.

As I break the distance, my countdown throws them off from shooting for a few seconds, a few seconds enough for me to attack from this distance to their leader, my claws sending a slash of fire.

The old man had enough sense to move to the side, yet in his not-ready maneuver, he stumbled long enough for me to aim at the hand holding the gun trigger.

Like it was butter, the arm was cut away, the wound being cauterized once more, yet the blazing fire seemed to stay on the affected parts for a second or two as I got closer to the man.

I really thought this was the best option to do in a situation like this, and that was to use a meatshield to not get hit.

I grabbed the scruff of the old man, not letting him fall, even as he screamed in pain and agony at the new stump it had.

I half expected them to not shoot, yet to my misfortune and for the old man, they were panicky enough to still go through with the plan.

They started to shoot, clearly trying to hit me in the gaps that my broader body had thanks to the lanky nature of the old man.

So I used my trump card and prayed for the best, quite literally.

"Give me your strength!" I screamed in a panic as I heard the gunshots and-

I felt calm, my face going blank once again, not amused at their futile attempt to not shoot the old man.

Even more so when I move him on purpose to get hit by the bullets anyway.

I didn't stop my sprint, the body of a fully grown man, all of a sudden, being as light as a grain of sand.

Bullets hit the old man, and his scream doubled, until, you know, a bullet hit him square in the head.

As the man went limp and it had already served my purpose to someone as high as myself, I simply looked at the faraway combatant, one with an old sniper.

With a powerful kick, the body flew like it had been hit by a truck, spinning through the air directly toward it.

The woman screamed as she ducked, giving me the opportunity to attack the next in line.

Before my time was up, I simply trusted my claw forward, and like it was a bowling ball, my index, middle finger, and thumb went through all easily available holes in the face, aka, the two eyes and mouth.

The attack was enough to kill it on the spot, and for me to just throw him to the one on my right and-

My 1.6 seconds were up.

I wanted to yell at the sudden headache I felt, it was as harsh as yesterday, making me stumble and killing my momentum long enough to not strike again for a precious second.

I almost feared being covered in holes when sudden thunder was heard, and a chain of electricity connected all that were close to me.

They screamed and convulsed, making their aim worse, yet I was unlucky enough to be hit by a bullet, the thing scoring on my cheek and going past my skull.

-68

The pain was enough to snap me out of my headache-induced shock, and the other guy shot in a random direction, while the other was busy collapsing to the floor due to the weight of the guy I just killed.

I managed to get out of the way of the next random bullets. I was too focused on aiming to be non-lethal.

I didn't expect my target to kneel, making me miss my shot due to the fact I aim to dissarm once more, yet in my second swing, due to my adrenaline and at the obvious difficulty to not kill, I took the decision to finish what I started, my blood where already tainted with their blood, and sparing a few wouldn't help. So, his head was brutally split in two once I aimed to kill, the smell of human flesh and brains being cooked would probably make me puke in a normal situation, but right now I was in my battle high, (Yes, I will call it that the fact that I don't panic as much once I'm in high stress scenarios) making me just ignore it.

The last ones seemed to be gritting their teeth, smoke coming from their bodies as they did their best to aim at me, one bullet hitting me in my right thigh, yet I had enough reflexes to dodge out of the way of the others.

-68

As I passed by, I killed the one on the floor, tackling the last one standing and stomping down his skull, even if it wasn't my claws, a human skull isn't made to receive this level of punishment, the slight cave-in was proof enough anyways.

I thought we were done, yet a sudden call from Fidget made me snap my head up, "WATCH OUT!"

It was too late, a sudden explosion of pain made me hiss, my shoulder being fuck up due to a sniper round hitting it.

132

In my battle haze, I picked up another body and rushed the woman, a woman who panicked and tried to put another round as she took a few steps back.

It was too late, I was in range, my claws flaring in the inferno as I swung in hopes of killing her, yet I had committed the mistake of going for the center of mass.

As the claw hit her in the chest, and made her scream in pain, I swung another when the pain on my thigh flared up once more, making me stumble with the corpse, my eyes opened wide, making me look up as the barrel of the gun lifted, her eyes full of fire, wanting me to take me with her.

At that moment I knew I was fuck.

Even as I saw Hornet's nail fly and spin around the barrel, her strength and leverage weren't enough for her to avoid my destiny.

I saw my mana, and it wasn't enough for me to become immune either.

...

SHIT-

I shot to the head made my head snap back at a sickening speed, and I fell to the floor.

I would say I heard my name being called, but that would be a lie.

-138

-

Fidget POV

-

I screamed once I saw the woman aim her gun at his face, even when Hornet tried to divert the thing, it didn't work. Another loud thunder was heard, and another sound that made my ears ring.

Anon's head snapped back, and he fell, limp, to the floor. My eyes went wide, my heart stopped a beat, and the instant I turned, I let go of the spell I had prepared.

The woman screamed and fell to the floor, making me remember the last stance we took against the army of General Gaius, flashes of the last time I saw dust running through my head.

"No-no, NO! Not again!" I screamed as I flew to Anon, hoping that he was alive, even though I saw blood gush out of his head.

As I was over his body, I froze; his eyes were wide open, empty, lacking all life, all the warmth that it had ever had every time he saw me.

"A-Anon?" I whispered out, hoping he would respond, that he would move in any shape or form to show he was still with me.

"...We have to go." I heard Hornet state, "We don't know if there are more-"

"HEY!" I shouted, not wanting to hear her, "H-He is NOT dead!"

He wasn't right!? He couldn't die like this! This cannot be!

This-

THIS-

...This was my fault.

He told me we should have run! And I convinced him to fight, for what!? A few snacks!? For FOOD!?

I clenched his chest, tears coming through my eyes, the backpack full of sexual toys keeping his body up, because he, of course, forgot to take it off!

Didn't that weigh him down!? Was his stumbling also my fault!?

I-I didn't know him for long, yet he was my friend, my partner in finding a way back home.

"A-" I was about to say his name, that was until his eyes went wide and he started to scream.

---

18~ seconds before, Anon POV

---

...

Black, pure blackness.

Of course, atheists had to be right that after death, there wasn't anything.

No pain, no feeling, no anything.

...

[Bound by flesh has been activated]

...Bound by what?

[Regaining consciousness in 1d4+1 turns=2+1]

Oh, COOL! So I wasn't dead? So what, is this like DND, and I had to roll death saving throws?

[WARNING: While bound by flesh, you cannot heal through VIT]

...Ok? That is bad.

[Warning: if after 30 minutes you don't get to positive HP, you will DIE]

That is even worse.

[Warning: after going into positive HP, your body will collapse, being unable to wake up for 1d4+1 hours, no matter what, only beatable with an LVL UP!]

...So not healing up until I'm in a safe space, got it.

[After bound by flesh ends, the skill will enter a 7-day cooldown.]

Well, time to change skins once the stupid cooldown of skin change is over.

[Warning: Sensitivity to pain will be increased by x10 for the next 30 seconds, decreasing to 5x until bound by flesh stops.]

Wait, what-?

[...Regaining consciousness]

---

My eyes went wide as I screamed my lungs out, tears coming down my face. Fidget was doing that too, flying back as I stood up.

Well, more like I tried until I felt a spike of so much pain in my right thigh that I fell to my knees and puked.

The last time I remember having so much pain was when I had a huge pimple on my lip and I had to squeeze it out myself, and it was the longest 30-60 minutes of my life.

But this time was WAY worse, I couldn't even think! My brain felt like static as I felt the need to puke even more, only for some to enter my lungs.

"A-Anon! What is wrong?! Anon!" The voice of Fidget made me aware enough to speak.

"M-Make it stop!" I gasped out, only to feel stupid, as she couldn't even do that if she wanted to.

"Stop what!?" Her voice was so full of worry that my brain sent enough adrenaline through my body to dull out the pain for me to speak.

"S-Shit, I, No, I-" Think, what you had to do! What did the dialogue box tell you!?

Right, the fucking thing would knock you out if you healed, and with my negative-51 HP, I couldn't even spare a prayer to heal me up to the border of life.

I looked up at the food and the bodies we had to loot.

Yet I knew we didn't have enough time, so I just ran-

"FUCK, AGH, DAMMIT." This was so much pain, it was an explosion that made me see stars, more vile coming to my mouth, my brain clearly couldn't handle so much.

I pushed forward by pure force of will, more tears coming.

"Anon! Lay down! You are REALLY hurt!" Fidget gasped as he tried to make me do that.

"N-No time, we gotta run, I only have like 29 minutes before I get knocked off!" I yelled, grabbing the sniper and some of its ammo, and running back to the bags full of food.

[10x pain done]

[5x pain start]

"W-What?!"

"L-look, n-mo time to explain, we really need to go back, okay? Priest can heal me, and if he doesn't fix me, I'm done for!" The pain was so bearable in comparison, yet I still wanted to just lie down and die. I didn't like pain, I hated pain, yet my brain still wanted to make sure Fidget was alright before collapsing.

"Priest?" Hornet questioned.

"PRIEST!" Fidget exclaimed, "Yes, he can fix you! Let's go!"

I grabbed the bag, my breath ragged due to the pain I felt each time I walked or moved my shoulder or FUCKING THINKED BECAUSE I THINK I HAVE FUCKING BULLET IN MY BRAIN.

PAIN PAIN PAIN.

FUUUUUUUUUUCK.

Every step was a challenge, and I was half tempted to just drop the bags or even give up together and teleport Fidget and me back to the base, leaving Hornet behind.

Yet I just gritted my teeth and moved autopilot, following my map to the base.

I could only pray we didn't find any enemies in the way!

Chapter Text

Pins and needle crawling in my flesh, each step making explosion of pain that I could swear made me blind for a fraction of a second with how white or black my vision went.

I ran, I ran so much because a part of me knew if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to keep running, no, to even stand up again.

So I gritted my teeth, tears never stopping from my eyes, each step making my body scream for me to slow down, sometimes making me stutter on my movement, almost making me stop. It was so tempting to just lie down and wait for everything to get better, like I wasn't in danger of getting eaten up if I passed out in the ground.

I was so tempted to give up, it would have been so easy too. It reminded me of the times I did exercise to get a shred of fitness, each time I did my daily run, when my breath was heavy and my body was so sweaty I feared my clothes would remained attached to my skin forever, my brain making millions of excuses for why I should stop, that maybe it wasn't as bad being fat, that I would totally do it tomorrow, or perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps tomorrow, anything to stop exerting myself because my body didn't understood of the concept that doing this was good for me.

Yet, by the skin of my teeth, I had enough determination to keep going, to not give up.

Perhaps I should be thankful that those experiences have prepared me enough for me to keep pushing forward, to just grit my teeth and let my survival part of my brain to guide me back to my home.

Or perhaps I was coping hard, and the reason why I didn't give up it was because deep down I knew if I where to fall, I would stay down forever and that Fidget wouldn't give up on me, heartwarming at any case, but it was obvious what would happen if she tried to fight a horde of monsters by her own, and I wouldn't ever dare to let that happen to her.

---

Fidget POV.

---

I hated this.

It wasn't long since I met Anon, but I had already become accustomed to his regeneration enough that seeing him still bleeding was disconcerting. I can barely remember his reasons, but if even his body wasn't healing by itself, it probably was a very good reason.

Heck, he didn't even seem to notice that I grabbed his horn and I lazily flapped my wings, his speed being enough to keep me flying like a kite.

Was it maybe putting more strain on him? Maybe, but I had spatial awareness enough to know that with my poor stamina, I wouldn't be able to keep up for long until we arrived home, even more so, having in mind that I used a lot of energy killing that one flesh egg.

It was a little funny seeing me and Hornet using Anon for a ride, but all humor was killed with the blood still coming out of his holes.

---

Anon put all the bags onto the floor of the church, breathing heavily.

The fact that his eyes were glazed was worrying.

"Priest-!" I was cut off by the man, already being on Anon's side, giving a whistle.

"Isn't that something?" He simply said, grabbing Anon and trying to move him to a stretcher, yet to the surprise of all of us, Anon suddenly snapped by attacking him, a fire slash flying and missing the man of the robe by a hair. "HEY! Anon, you have to lie down. I do not want you to accidentally die by hitting your head when I heal you and you get KO."

"Don't get closer! He is clearly out of it!" Hornet spoke, clearly being careful to not move too much, probably on high guard, thinking that Anon would lash out at her, too!

"As much as I would LOVE that, he literally has less than 2 minutes on the clock! If I don't heal him, HE WILL DIE, and I don't want to find out what will happen to me if the OG dies." His voice was tense, clutching the white book in his hand, magic seeming to cloud up in his tongue.

He tried once more to get close, yet Anon lifted his hand once more.

"A-Anon, please listen and lie down-" I begged, about to say something else, when Anon suddenly collapsed into the hard-looking bedding, making Hornet jump off before she fell with him.

"...Of course, he would listen to you and not literally himself," Priest grumbled, taking a white book with a yellow cross, "Cleanse." It was a simple word.

And that simple word effect was instantaneous, most of the open bleeding wounds being closed, and all the projectiles being shot out of his body.

Yet some holes remained.

I gulped, seeing the hole in his head was still there, and I could swear the thing inside didn't come out. Seeing Anon suddenly go limp, his eyes half-lidded and empty, wasn't much great for my sanity.

"A-Anon?" I whimper out.

Priest hums, "Time of the E.T. maneuver."

Once more, I didn't care that my brain was on the same wavelength as Hornet, the same word coming from our mouths, "What?"

Without responding directly, he lifted an index finger, the tip of it starting to glow, "Let's see, time to make sure it didn't hit the brain or is stuck on it..."

I gasped, "Wouldn't that kill him?"

He stopped for a second, flicking his eyes to me, moving his lips side to side... Then back to What he was doing, "Normally, yes, but someone of our nature should be able to live long enough for me or himself to heal himself up, or if worse comes to worst, just making sure the wounds don't get infected should do." He glowed over the wound, "I see..."

I leaned over. "What do you see?"

"A lot of blood in the way." His tone was a little childish, probably said that to make fun of us.

I slapped my face, groaning, now seeing the blood was in the way. "Ok, wouldn't be filled with blood anyways?"

He shook his head, "Really depends, but also I don't think I have exactly the tool to gently open the hole enough for me to see much..."

"Great, so what now?"

He flicked his glowing finger to side to side, the light slowly fading away with each flick, "Well, the good news is I don't see the blood coming out, meaning my healing had enough energy to fix that problem all over his wounds..." He pointed at the wound that worried me the most, stopping again, his eyes flicking to me once more, making me narrow my eyes, "buuuuuut the bullet has to be removed or he will risk infection, maybe stitch it up would be nice, but not necessary." He sounded too calm when the bullet seemed to be dangerously close to where Anon's brain should be!

"If I must, I can stitch his open wounds, but may I inquire why don't just use your power to heal him once more?" Hornet spoke, looking over the wound, too.

...YEAH, It was that easy to fix, right?

"Well, first of all, due to the limitations that they have imparted into myself, I can only use one book per three days per person, so no." DAMMIT. Second of all, he cannot do it either since he is KO for the next few hours. The good news is wounds take a while to get infected, probably a day or so." He walked over to the stand in the middle of the room, removing a cloth that he had put over the table. "What worries me is if he gets conscious and how he will react to having a bullet in le-head."

I open my eyes wide. "Didn't you say he would be okay?!"

"Well, yes, normally, but Anon is a special case, you see." He opened the cloth, showing a lot of... Rusty medical tools, "...Well, this sucks..."

"Y-You won't use this thing on him, will you?" I managed to ask, even with my lack of medical knowledge. I knew that was a bad idea.

"...Ok, forget it, probably we should let his body expel the bullet by itself," He huffed, annoyed. "An infection will take a day or two to happen, and his regeneration should kick in an hour or so." The man stored his tools. "I will ask Anon to get me some real stuff later, that or upgrade this place."

"..." I sat down close to Anon, moving up and closing his eyelids so I wouldn't have to look at his empty eyes.

"So why did you wished to remove it in the first place? And are you sure the... bullet will be removed by itself?" The spider asked, looking over the body, "And also, what is your name?"

The priest blinked slowly. "Oh, right, I forgot to present myself." He cleared his throat. "I'm the Priest of this place, and... You can call me Inco, sure, why not?" He looked over Anon, "first of all, I don't know how bugs work, but bodies have a great tendency to not like alien object in the system, and thanks to our nature, our healing is greatly accelerated, making the process of our body slowly throwing the thing out even more evident."  Once more he flicked his eyes to me, letting out a heavy sigh, "And the true reason I wanted to remove it is because I fear he will get hit in the head and it will wreck his brain, but I guess I will just have to guard him very well." He then looked at me, seeing my panic, "But I didn't want to say it because Fidget here probably is traumatized by that idea."

I groaned, making my palm travel across my face, "Great, Cool, UGH!" I fell over Anon's chest, ideas of worst-case scenarios coming to my head. "I'm glad he is alive, but come on! I feel my brain will turn into mush with how much stress this is giving me."

Priest huffed, "You can stay if you want. He will probably need the support if he wakes up sonish." He just stared at Anon, "I wish I could access his inventory, but no dice."

I put my head on his chest, looking up at him, "I wanted him to go to sleep, but not like this..."

Inco just shook his head. "Perhaps rushing a firing squad wasn't a great idea, even if it was so he wouldn't lose the food."

The spider finally spoke, "And how did you know that happened?"

The man tapped his head. "We kinda share a brain, so anything he experiences I can find as a memory up here."

The princess seemed about to say something else, but Anon started to cough, his hands clenching his chest, a chest that I was on!

The priest rushed to his side and made us both lie on our sides. Anon finally spitting something that made me gag.

On the other hand, Inco just grabbed the fleshy thing, the thing that was still moving.

In the poor lighting of the church, the flesh worm wriggles in the tip of his fingers, making him chuckle, "Good, Good. Here I thought my prayer wasn't enough to cleanse him of the infection."

"What is that?!" My scream was somewhat muffled due to the man who was still clenching me, coughing, rocking his body, making me think about escaping, yet I stopped since I wanted to give him some comfort, and-

A sudden blaze of greenish fire snapped me out of my senses, making me yelp once more, and I looked wide-eyed at the source.

"A-Anon?"

---

Anon's POV a few moments before.

---

[Roll to see how long it will take to wake up.]

[1d4+1=2+1=3]

[Waking up in 3 hours.]

GUH,  Ok, I have never been more glad to be knocked out.

Well, actually, I think this is the first time I have been knocked out in my life.

I was right now in an empty black void, looking at my hands and body...

I was very happy to see human proportions, seeing my old body... Or that I believed was my old body.

God, now that I think about it, when I try to remember my face in detail, the only thing that comes to mind is a splash of colors.

I huffed. Did that monster also fuck with my brain?

At the very least, I could remember my mom and dad's names and the place where I lived, so that will work if I ever get back.

So much had happened in just a few days, ever since I got here.

It felt almost like I was stuck in here for a month, when in reality, only a few days had passed.

Probably it will be in my top five worst weeks of my life.

I still remember the day that I opened my eyes, and a GUI of a familiar game greeted my eyes.

My first train of thought was that it was a dream; after all, it wasn't the first time my stupid brain gave me nightmares of said game, probably because death was permanent in there, and the only way to avoid it was to "press" the escape button, which you could always use no matter what.

I then chose a paladin, since it was my favorite class (as long as I had all my items), and in all my stupidity, I chose the skin demon-spawn, since I liked the concept of a demon being a paladin.

That was a fatal mistake.

Because after that, I woke up in a dusty old room, the window barricaded.

I, of course, was disoriented, and when I saw my own body, I was horrified.

I had become the strange demon of the game, and the only reason why I didn't break right away was because I thought I was still in the dream; after all, my brain has this tendency to "trick" me into thinking I had woken up many times before.

After getting my shit together, I went outside, only to be met with an empty city, with cars scattered around and devoid of any life, so be it creatures or plants, even the dirt looked dull and gray.

When I was starting to get bored, I heard a squeal of pain and panic. My stupidity showed yet again, since I went to see what it was only to find a horrifying creature of just flesh, daring itself to be called humanoid by the mere fact its form tried to be one.

Even remembering the exposed glisening flesh made me shudder, and seeing it trying to eat the flesh of the still struggling deer was sickening.

Even more so when the lack of cheeks made the chewed-up meat fall to the floor.

I, very foolishly, still thought it was a nightmare, so I tried to kill it before the dream went to hell.

The thing then kicked my ass, and the fact that I felt pain made me finally notice it wasn't a dream.

Only by pure instinct, I managed to press the "escape" button, and once I was back in that stupid, dusty room, the weight of my situation fell onto my shoulders like a ton of bricks.

Any protagonist worth their salt would shrug off that and rise to the challenge.

I, of course, wasn't one, because I broke down to the point I hid under the bed because of how scared I was to go out, and the system penalized me by taking my max HP slowly, and calling me out like the coward I was.

The only thing that made me snap back into my senses was the scream and cries of help I heard.

I guess I should be proud that I actually go to help those in need, yet, no good deed goes unpunished, since once I killed some of the monster raiding their hiding spot, and went to check on them after getting some loot...

I got shot in the chest by a shotgun.

Even thinking about it, I felt the phantom pain of it, and I think I was never in more pain than right in that moment.

After hearing them call me names, I pressed the escape button before I got finished off by a shot to the head.

It was then that I got a second breakdown, finally arriving at the obvious revelation that in my demonic state, anybody with a brain would shoot me on the spot.

I still cringed at the tantrum I made because of that, thrashing the room, only leaving intact the couch and the pillows.

Once I recovered, I decided to be more valiant... And also tried to change my skin, only for the stupid system to tell me there was a week cooldown, even when it said that it would be available ALL the time.

Now that I think about it, soon I will be able to change skins again, and probably will change to my next favorite one, which was actually human, just with heavy black armor.

After I covered my body with the sheets of the bed, I went to the city in hopes of getting food.

I was also motivated to level up, since conquering my fear of going outside got me to complete a mission that gave me one of my favorite items of the game, one thing that would make you totally immune for 1.6 seconds (scaling with your wisdom).

I found some stuff, like toilet paper, protein bars, and a non-working PC gamer.

I also found a smaller flesh monster trying to sneak up on me.

Since I wanted experience points to level up and become stronger, I ran after it, only to be ambushed by a gang of these short little bastards.

I was in a pretty bad spot, and I was thinking of just teleporting away, but then, someone whom I least expected helped me.

My favorite character of all time, Fidget.

After she electrocuted all of them, I managed to kill the rest, and once I saw her... Well, she was clearly in bad shape, sleep-deprived mostly, but that is still bad for your health.

I then finally used my paladin powers to heal myself from my bleeding wounds, only to heal some minor pains of hers, since I saw her as an ally too.

Well, after that, we had a rocky start when we got back to my place, since I told her what skin I was using, making her panic since she had never been very valiant, but after trembling like a bitch at night (since the stupid flesh things do mating calls or something during it) she found out I wasn't evil.

I helped her sleep, praying as much as I could to help her rest and heal the damage she had done to herself by not sleeping right.

I also found out that people can join my party as long as they rest at my place or they think very well of me.

After that night, we decided to work together to go home, and thinking of getting more clues, we went to the place where she had come first to this stupid city.

The mission system also showed me where I had to go, and once we got there after almost dying, we found this horrible root of flesh and eyes, red smoke came from the many mouths it had.

It felt like I was standing right in front of a giant monster, like I would die in a second if I dared to TRY to kill it, so I ran, not before noticing that in gaps of its many roots, windows to other world appeared, giving me hope that maybe it was a clue to go back home.

Once I killed some weird flesh turtles eating the forest that came with Fidget to this world, I level up once more and went home, mostly because I saw on horde of these skinless monster that where clearly furious I had killed so many flesh turtles.

I was rewarded with a better base and some loot from the thing I had in the game.

Our spirits were pretty low at that time, mostly Fidget, since she was probably desperate to go back home and see if Dust (the protagonist of her game) was truly dead.

But after using a burger deluxe on her and a "stat" pot flavored strawberry, she got better.

That, and the fact that we had a working bathroom, in which we took a bath together, and went to sleep.

It was then that we decided to do our best to get back home, and I mostly plan to level up in hopes of getting stuff and items to beat that weird flesh root.

After going around and looting, I got something that made my body green, in hopes that if we found any humans, they would be more lenient to not kill me.

Spoiler alert, it didn't work.

Because after finding another two characters that I thought weren't real, aka, Hornet and angel Gabby, I got a lore dump that explained my situation by said angel.

I wasn't special; I was just some poor bastard who got chosen to suffer to enter this place, one of many that got "chosen." I wasn't the protagonist of a generic Isekai; even when the world dared to fuck me over like this, I would never be special.

And apparently, there was this stupid plague destroying reality and making dimensions leak their contents into other dimensions, which not only could infect people, but also corrupt them into twisted things of their desires that sought to infect more or to take the bodies of their victims to the plague roots so they could feed their war machine.

Worse yet, everyone was vulnerable to that plague; only a few "chosen by reality" (whatever that means) could survive it as long as they had a clear mind or conviction.

And the only way to stop it was to kill a core, and even then, it would only save the dimension for a few hundred years only.

And after finally all that lore dump, and trying to go home with Hornet so she could be added to my party...

Again, these fuckers who tried to kill me before showed up, and after doubting a lot for even daring to lift my hand against my fellow man, I finally was convinced to fight back.

I killed them.

I fucking killed them, and I almost died in the process, and the only reason I survived was because my skin had this passive I had forgotten about, a passive that made me unable to die as long as my HP didn't fall too low, but that increased my sensitivity to pain so much that I was barely abble to get back home without passing out or just staying limp in the floor waiting to die.

...

How long before I wake up?

...

Ok, I don't know why I expected an answer.

I had done my best to ignore the fact that I had killed humans to end like this.

Images of the ones I killed coming to my mind made me want to close my eyes, to have ANYTHING to distract me.

The horrified faces, the blood, the screams, the smell of cooked flesh and brain matter.

I was shaking. I was all alone with my thoughts, with what I had done. It was so much that I just puked onto the ground. I was so shaken that I didn't even question if I could puke in my head.

I wish I could see my mission log and-

Suddenly, my mission list appeared in my face, making me blink, and like a starving man for food, my eyes scanned the mission log, anything to distract my mind.

And the fact that there was a mission completed made me open my eyes wide.

"The trial of humanity" [completed]

You may think that you lost part of your humanity by killing others, but you are wrong. Being human means to struggle, and today you chose yourself and the ones you love over those who don't care about you.

This only shows you are human.

-Kill the humans that seek to harm you (8/8) [Completed][Rewards]

[hidden] -Don't let anybody from your party die. [Completed.][rewards]

[Claim Rewards?]

I blinked slowly, not knowing how to feel about being rewarded for killing people.

The mere thought was already heavy in my mind.

I just accepted the rewards already, needing to distract myself again.

Rewards:

>True shape. [passive/active]

No matter what skin or form you are using, you can use this ability to take the shape of your soul.

This shape will be the one you are most accustomed to.

While taking this form, you will gain the armored status effect.

Receiving 20 points of damage or more will cause you to lose this form.

To enter it passively, you must stay out of combat for 1 hour.

Attacking or receiving any damage will cause you to reset this timer.

Active: By using it, you can force your body to change, but you will not be able to do this for another 24 hours.

>trebol.

>2 standard quest chests.

>3 standard quest chests.

>One item of your old life, (multiple choices.)

...What?

Does this mean what I think it means?

I felt a sudden rumble in my black void, but then nothing happened.

...

Great.

Flashes of images of what I did were coming back again, making me grit my teeth and try to think of anything else.

[...]

I felt like I was losing the mental battle when a message was sent.

>Extra reward was granted!

>A peaceful unconsciousness.

My brain instantly shut up, all going black.

---

Fidget POV.

---

Someone was holding me, and from what I could gleam, they had smooth pale skin on a very lean body, a weird face that wasn't necessarily unappealing, and black short fur on the top of its head, compared to before, he probably was 1.70 m, and the normally sharp looking claws on his hands where totally gone, Instead, there were some very comforting-looking hands with nails clearly not made for combat.

"Uh, well, that just happened," Priest mentioned, unhelpfully, still seeming to be more interested in the squirming worm in his hand.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" I very justly scream, trying to push myself away from what I assumed was Anon.

"Well, judging by how he looks, he took a very close..." He stopped. "I think he took a very close shape of what we looked at before." I glance at Anon, "Just a little more lean, perhaps a little less muscle in the upper body, and probably with the appropriate weight for someone of our size." The robbed human didn't seem to care much about what had just happened. Instead, he stored the worm in a glass vial and stored it in his robes. "Oh, he is totally nude too! Uhm, I think he has a bigger dick than we had before? Not that we paid ever too much attention to that, hahaha..."

I groaned in annoyance, my face blushing, and- My core lit a flame on my belly that made me double the effort to go away!

"SO he has a dick now!?" I managed to squeal.

"He always had a dick; he just had a buried penis. Thankfully, the animal wasn't excited enough to ever take it out." He chuckled, "But for humans, it kinda hangs out there in the open, due to the heat of our bodies being a little too much for healthy sperm production."

My brain bluescreened for a second at the word sperm. The fact that it was Anon, the one hugging me, someone that at this point, I trusted fully, made my brain scream "NUDE MALE+NICE MALE+KINDA HANDSOME=SEX!"

"INCO, IF YOU DON'T TAKE ME OUT, I WILL ELECTROCUTE HIM!" I put forward my ultimatum, fighting my tail to the need to lift to give-

GAH.

"A shit, that might actually kill him. ok, give me a sec." Inco walked over and seemingly easily opened the arms, even though it was obvious that Anon was fighting against it.

When a breach was opened, I escaped, taking flight and looking over the new form.

...

My eyes snapped to his "tool," making said eye twitch. A stupid set of words came out next: "I can take him..."

Inco let go of the arms of Anon, which closed like a bear trap. "What?"

My face blushed hard, my brain finally catching up with what I said, making me go into damage control. "In a fight! I can take him in a fight!" I threw a few punches to sell the lie better. My attacks were probably very amateur, but for someone like Inco, it surely looked great!

After all, what did a priest know about melee attacks?

Look, he is smiling and everything! "Awww, those are the most sloppy punches I have seen in my entire career of going adventuring with adventurers." He chuckled into his fist.

My hands fell to my side, my face becoming redder for a totally different reason, "...Ok, now I want to eat your face." I blinked. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be just a copy of him?"

The man froze and looked at his hands. "...Odd." He shook his head. "You should shower while you still have time. Probably the screams will start in-" A ghoulish scream in the distance was heard, making me gasp and fly back into the arms of Anon.

Funny enough, he sought my ears by his own will, making me feel a lot better that he could still do this!

...I could swear the priest said something along the lines, "What a s" or something.

Ok, Fidget, just don't think of that. It was true you saw his THING just hanging out, but you can RESIST.

Anon doesn't see you that way, so wanting that from him would be unfair to him! Knowing how nice he was, he would probably just do it out of pity!

---

Anon POV

---

I groaned, my head pounding and itching. A small breeze of cold air went past me, the thing that made me shiver and hug the only source of warmth that-

Wait, where was I? My eyes snapped wide open, looking around the familiar room that I didn't expect to wake up in-

Wait, wake up? I was sleeping? What had happened?

"Uhm, Anon? A little tight, again." I Yelped, looking down at the nimbat, "Hey."

The simple word that she said with her face smushed into my chest was almost comical, almost.

This time, I let her face fall to the hard bedding, my heart pounding on my chest, and seeing my skin-

Wait, skin? no scales?

I looked over myself, the more familiar body resonating with my brain, Before, I didn't know how I moved without fumbling the bag due to my different body; now, it felt natural, perfect.

I then noticed I was very nude.

My face blushed as I covered my genitals, making the nimbat raise an eyebrow and blush with me. "What?"

I wanted to run, hide away, anything, yet I managed to speak, "What do you mean! I'm nude!"

"Anon, don't make it weird. We are nude all the time!" The nimbat huffed and crossed her arms.

"T-That is different!" I whisper-shouted, "Humans always use clothes! Unless we are with our lover or family!"

The nimbat huffed again, her face blush dimming a bit, "And why is that?"

"Because it is VERY intimate-" I blinked, looking at her face, tears in her eyes, her face still not looking at me, "Umh, Fidget, you alright?"

My discomfort was forgotten yet again to give a path to hers, I was still covering my genitals, but caring less and less about my nudity.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," her voice was trembling, her whole body shuddering in an attempt to hold back sniffles, clearly a lie to protect her dignity or my feelings.

Why was she crying? Did she really worry that much about my need to hide my body? That couldn't be, right?

I took away my hands while I held back the need to put them back on my shame, "F-Fidget, I'm sorry-"

Suddenly, she snapped, her face going from sad to angry, "W-WHAT?! Why are you sorry?!" I leaned back, not expecting that reaction, and before I could answer, she continued, "I'm the one who should be saying sorry! You absolute clown!"

"Sorry? For what?" I managed to stutter out, the thing that only seemed to make her madder!

"Anon! I told you to go fight! And you almost died! You literally had something stuck in your brain, you dolt!" More tears came to her eyes, and she jumped and hugged my torso. I was so overwhelmed by this that I didn't even notice her fur touching my junk! The only thing winning my sole focus was the tears hitting my nude body and her claws clinging to me like I would be gone in any second. "I-I almost lost another friend in battle! A-And this time would have been my fault!"

"Fidget, I- I-" I tried to speak, only to be cut off again.

"Anon, you don't understand! I saw you not move. I s-saw your eyes. T-they were empty!" She screamed, she whimpered, she cried more, "I-I'm not a stranger to bodies, b-but it is different when I know you so much already!"

"Fidget, it is fine, it was my fault-" I tried to take the weight, only to be shut down again.

"N-No, it wasn't! It was-" The nimbat kept crying, beating herself for the little pep-talk she gave me to get the foot I put down.

A little too much, and I knew I had to fix it, so I finally grew a pair of balls and spoke loudly enough so she wouldn't be able to interrupt me. "Fidget! Fine, it is both our fault, alright? I-I was terrible at dodging in there! Maybe I should have killed one and run back, or I should have just run back inside and taken another exit, so PLEASE, don't put all the blame on yourself!"

"B-But!" She tried to assert herself back, only for another voice to cut her off.

"You should hear him, after all, he is quite right." The voice of the princess of hallownest rang true, and what she said next was harsh, but no less correct. "His skill with his claws is quite pathetic, nothing more than a grub flailing its arms around."

In the low light of the church, her mask and red clothes pop out, her body camouflaged due to the dark tiles of this place.

Now that I think about it, did the candles in this place ever go out? It sure didn't look like it had a lot of accumulated wax or something like that.

"I saw him pray for power; the only reason why he didn't fall before in that battle was because he seemed to become impermeable to damage for a few moments." She walked close to us, instead of using the horns I didn't have anymore, she used one of the candles that were on the table.

Even with her small stature, I expected the flimsy wax to fail, collapsing under her weight, but to my surprise, it held firm.

Made me wonder how much she weight-

With a quick movement, she was at the table, and even with her miniature size, I felt she was looking down at me. "You lack training, and you will only cause all of us to die until you fix that."

I felt things were calming down, Fidget was not crying anymore, and my body relaxed. "Fair-" Suddenly and unexpectedly, all the things that I had done hours ago finally caught up with me.

Memories of the blood and flesh flying with each strike I did, the smell of fresh burnt meat, the guttural scream of people dying, the memories of the bodies just being slumped on the floor, their faces frozen in pure terror, with eyes that looked like dead fish.

And I did all that.

It was me.

I moved out of the way, collapsing to the floor in my attempt to run to the bathroom. Instead, bile came to my mouth, and I had to empty the stomach acid onto the floor.

My body started to tremble like I was a leaf in a hurricane, only a miracle keeping it attached to the crumbling tree that for me was my reality.

"A-Anon?! What is wrong?" Her voice was once more full of worry, and I normally would snuff my feelings so she wouldn't have to worry about me, yet this time I was falling apart.

"He is having a panic attack!" A voice similar to mine exclaimed.

"W-what?! But why?!" Her voice sounded so confused, but I didn't care much as I could barely hear anybody.

"Because he killed his own kind! Not monsters of flesh, but sentient people!" The voice so similar to mine was obviously pointed out.

I was losing my head, and-

"Anon! Focus! Remember your exercises!" Something shook me, trying to snap me out of it.

Yet my vision narrowed, memories of people dying and screams hitting my head like a hammer.

It was like my brain was making fun of me, memories when I daydreamed of combating and killing with ease, not any shame or guilt clouding me.

"They knew what they were signing up for." "They deserved it." "If you are ready to take a life, be ready to forfeit yours. "Maybe they were monsters, rapists-"

All those excuses, only to crumble like a wet paper towel once I got to do it for real.

I'm so fucking pathetic, so fucking weak.

"Anon! FOCUS." My eyes snapped to the television in front of me.

W-When did I take the TV out of my inventory?

When did Gabby get in there?

"Tell me five things that are around you!" The angel narrows her eyes at me, without any heat behind them besides determination and worry for me.

"W-what-"

"ANON, FIVE THINGS AROUND YOU."

My eyes snapped around the room, locating the obvious things, "Uhm, t-there i-is F-Fidget, H-Hornet, I-Inco, s-some candles, and the b-black pillars."

I manage to stutter out, my body shuddering and still spasming at what happened, at the memories that-

"Ok, Anon, now tell me four things you can feel." The angel spoke next, the light of the screen helping just a little more to brighten the room I was in.

I was now aware of the grounding exercise she was putting on me, making me catch on how it was actually helping.

So, putting in effort, I focus on the room and the things surrounding me.

"I-I can feel the cold rock tiles, the breeze, F-Fidget hugging my back-" When did she get there? "A-and her hot breath on my back."

Before I could focus on other things, I knew the drill enough to do the next step without being prompted.

So I closed my eyes and said three things I could hear: "I can hear the white sound of the television, my heart beating like crazy, and the nimbat on my back fur shuffling around."

Next were two things I could smell, and since I didn't want to focus on the vile in my mouth, I skipped that. "I can smell the lavender incense and the smell of cigarettes from Inco."

I heard a huff from my other me and a glad sigh from the nimbat.

Next was one thing I could taste, and I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge this bullet.

"And I can taste the stomach acid in my mouth." I ended, grimacing at the sensation.

"Ewwww," The nimbat hugging me whined out, probably remembering what I just did a few minutes ago.

I slowly looked at my inventory, where the TV was no longer. Clearly, I had taken it out in my panic.

"I-I think I'm better now," I whispered out, my heart still with a high tempo, yet slowing down, as I focused on reality, without a doubt helping me tune out my conscience.

I-I was so tired of being such a whiny little bitch-

"Anon, don't be like that!" The voice of Gabby spoke up, making me blink.

Fidget's gasp was worrying, too.

D-Did I say that aloud? God, my nerves must be more fried than I can imagine.

"Anon, I understand, but dwelling in the guilt will only hurt yourself and hurt others as well." Her voice sounded motherly and wise, her face sad. "It is never easy to take a life, but sometimes it is necessary to preserve it, even more so when the ones you hurt are the ones that don't even see you as people or that will seek to harm you."

Before I could respond, Fidget beat me to it: "Yes, Anon! Don't beat yourself too hard. I understand you feel terrible, but you aren't a bad guy, Ok?"

A huff from Hornet, "Stop pampering him; he will have to learn to hold his temper or risk everyone by losing it in battle."

"Now, now, don't be like that, he shall get better with time, besides, if he is like the others, he won't have much trouble holding in his panic attack until the high-stress situation is over." she stopped, "That if he is not lvl one, but even then he shouldn't break down as easily."

That... Would explain why I only start puking and shitting myself once I stop fighting or when I'm not worried about Fidget's mental state-

"HEY!" Fidget stopped hugging me and glared at me. "I'm just fine! Worry about yourself first..." She seemed to remember all the close calls we had recently, losing steam. "And then me, don't forget about me."

Ok, my brain really is fried, isn't it?

The angel seemed to chuckle. "Ok, now Anon, even if at the moment you think you can handle it, things tend to add up, so it is important to take breaks; you should probably do that before it is too late." She blinked, looking in what seemed a random direction, "Sadly, it seems my time is up, but I hope you take care, Anon. I'm serious about this." After giving me a soft smile, she waved, "Goodbye, remember to store the TV in your inventory!"

...

And she was gone, static filling the television once more. "Uhm, when did I took her out?" I managed to say, still grimacing at the vile in my mouth.

My crush just stared blankly at me. "Anon, you took it out of your inventory in a panic and butchered the phrase to summon her a few times." She then looked at Priest, "And he just started to hold his head once you started to babble and cry long enough." She tapped my forehead, and thanks to me still being on my knees, she was able to reach me by standing on the tip of her furry feet. "You are lucky that I have a GREAT memory."

Inco groaned, seeming still affected by my breakdown, "You butchered the thing five times in a row."

Fidget gasped, "Lies! Defamation! Slander!" She huffs, "You should be thankful, Hornet almost gouged one of your eyes out so you would stop!"

The princess shook her head, "It had worked before to snap him out of it, and I wouldn't have aimed for the eyes... And even if I did, he would be able to heal himself with his soul..." She then narrowed her eyes. "But enough with this nonsense. It is time to have a talk-" A scream interrupted her, making her snap her head and narrow her eyes in the direction from which the scream was heard.

...

Right, it was the middle of the night, she was clearly on edge, and so was Fidget, yet she clearly was more accustomed to it.

"Soooo, Anon, there isn't an upgrade to make rooms soundproof or something?" Inco simply said as he took a cigarette out of god's knows where.

I stared at him, the man in the robe putting the cigarette over a candle, the fire lighting up the cancer stick, "...Maybe, let me see." I muttered, opening the window again.

"What is that?" The princess asked as I tuned out the conversation.

In which part this thing would even have something like that?

I do remember seeing that in the rooms they could be upgraded, so maybe there?

Sure thing, once I checked that part, I saw a few things that I was interested in.

To name a few, one was to add a bathroom to the room, to make it bigger, to make the bed better, add sockets, and add furniture (which was very cheap)

But the one I cared about was "soundproofing", which was very costly... Compared to the amount of points I had, that is.

Well, if I did this, Fidget wouldn't need me in the room anymore...

Do I really want to do this?

What the fuck I'm saying? Of course I should! If I ever slip and she knows I could have done that any time I wanted, she would probably bite my face off for daring to keep that a secret from her, and for what? To cuddle with her each night? That would probably just make her hate me even more! And to be honest, I don't think my heart could handle the fact that my crush hated me, even more when she was the crush I had ever since I was fourteen or so.

With a sigh, I made the bedroom soundproof, being in squalor core again wasn't fun at all.

Tuning the conversation back, I was about to announce that I did it, when I heard the voice of pure vitriol, "Why would you ever willingly consume something that would degrade your performance in battle?"

"Hey! I said that only applies to other people! I can heal my lungs with ease, thank you very much." Inco huffed, yet he didn't have any heat in his words; probably was joking around, "Besides, it helps to keep my mind clear to do more healing."

Before Hornet forgot we had to talk, I interrupted the discussion, even though I also didn't agree with him smoking.

The mere memory of my old man always coughing because he started smoking very young was enough of a black mark on cigarettes for me to ever consider smoking... Or drinking, that, and how my mother would smoke two packs of cigarettes each day, taking a good amount of money from our household.

Made me wonder why my other me started yet again, but his lack of memories would keep me in doubt forever.

I cleared my throat, even if a part of me wanted them to discuss forever to save me the lecture, yet I knew better.

I was gonna take a break, yes, but I was not gonna avoid discussing things that would help my survival.

So, clearing my throat, I injected myself into the discussion, "I upgraded the bedroom so it would be soundproof, so we can go there to speak."

That information seemed to be enough to derail her thoughts, making the princess stop, her eyes on the mask, looking in my direction, "...You didn't move from here." She simply stated.

I blinked, confused. Then I remembered how absolutely bullshit my powers were, well, the powers that the creature that chose facilitated for me to use.

Instantanius, not requiring anything other than upgrade points, points I could get by doing missions and killing monsters, points able to even create new life that lived their own life at some point, if Inco's personality differences were enough of a clue.

Heck, if I were in her position, and a random guy moved his fingers around in front of me and said, "Haha, I just upgraded a room," I would think they are in the octave grade syndrome before ever daring to believe they actually did something like that.

"Look, I know it is stupid, but that is how things work for me-" I was about to try to persuade her into not thinking into it too much, when Fidget spoke up.

"Yeah! Before, this place was just one room, but BAM!" She made a fist and hit her palm with it, "The next thing I know, we practically have a whole home! Heck, I have seen smaller homes than this place!" She sighs, "If we had a kitchen, it would be a perfect place."

Hornet blinked slowly, or more like stared at us for a good moment, then shook her head. "I hope you can explain this in detail, but let's talk out of here; we have much to talk about, and the constant screams are already making me more on edge than normal."

That was very fair, I was about to stand up, until Fidget spoke.

"Great! But I think you are forgetting something REALLY important." Her voice sounded glad and also annoyed, and not the ligh-hearted kind of annoyed like the nimbat usually had once we did some banter.

"Uhm, what is that?" I managed to say, worried I did something wrong.

The nimbat was blushing, seeming to do her best to stare at my face, "That your... THAT YOUR JUNK IS IN THE AIR, PUT SOME PANTS ON YOU ABSOLUTE PERVERTED DORK!"

I squeak, slamming my thighs together to hide my shame, only for me to pay the price of my stupidity, my now exposed ballsack being bruised under my drastic measure.

Even after getting stabbed, shot, or clawed.

Nothing would compare to the primal hurt that getting hit in the balls gave you... Well, that I could experience, sadly, or better said, thankfully, I couldn't ever experience giving birth... Hopefully, having in mind that fictional characters are real, it wouldn't be out of the question that Xenomorphs could be too, and-

Ok, this is getting out of hand. The point is, I think the only thing I didn't miss about having normal balls is how vulnerable they are to my stupidity.

Chapter Text

 I was now wearing some dark robes, thanks to the loot that I got a few days before.

They weren't exactly extremely comfy, but I didn't have points to spare to buy some clothes that I actually liked.

Hornet looked at the room, and even at the entrance of this simple gray room, the sounds of constant screaming were diminishing; probably the only reason that it was still happening was due to the fact that the brown door was open.

I bet if I were tired, the plain gray bed would look very tempting, sadly, even after my "forced" sleep, I was still far away from meeting the sandman.

Like proving my point, the Nimbat went over my head and took a soft landing in the mattress, which looked comically too big due to her small size.

I held back a laugh at my observation and just took in the room once more, half expecting to see something different, thanks to the fact that I had made it soundproof.

Yet as I scanned the room, seeing over their gray walls, slightly clearer gray ceiling with a white rug, I didn't see anything that could hint at that.

I doubted that something was inside the lone closet or night desk, which looked the same kind of barnished wood as before, not even gaining any designs.

Really, the room was so flat that a flat earther would be proud. The only good thing it had was that it was slightly bigger than my old room, but I don't even know how big it was, let alone how big this place is.

At the very least, it didn't have a huge ass fucking closet that you could probably hide six bodies.

That, and the floor was carpeted, with a blue color that seemed to agree with my eyes.

"Ehem," I was snapped out of my thoughts  by the annoyed voice of Hornet, "Finished?"

I coughed into my hand, "Y-Yeah, sorry." I stated, walking to the bed and plopping my ass down, making the nimbat jump due to the weight change.

"Hey-! Actually, that was kinda fun, do it again," I blinked at the request, and, shrugging mentally, I was about to do it again, that was until I felt Hornet's blank stare, clearly not amused at our shenanigans.

I gave her an awkward smile and rested my weight carefully on the sheets. Fidget, lifting her face once more, seemed about to ask why I stopped, only for her determination to meet Hornet's aura.

She sat up in less than a microsecond, starting to play with her hands, whistling a random tune as she did her best to fake she wasn't fooling around less than half a minute ago.

Hornet walked over, a simple jump and a nail throw, and she was on the night table, leaving a hole in the wall that was close to it.

I didn't really care, so I didn't say anything, letting her sit down in peace.

...

She didn't sit down.

"So, let's start with a simple question. How did you arrive in this place?" 

A simple question indeed, sadly, my answer probably wouldn't help, "Well, I remember going to sleep, and when I woke up, I saw a GUI-, I mean, a message in a form I recognized from somewhere else. After choosing my class and form, I woke up in a dusty room." I summarized.

"Ok, do you remember if you did something else before going to rest?" The spider continued her questioning.

I was about to answer when I stopped, frowning.

It should be something easy to do. It didn't happen so long ago, even for my golden fish brain, that it should be effortless to remember the iconic memories of my last time in my home.

Yet for the life of me, I couldn't remember anything.

Not even if I did my night routine to go to sleep, not even what day of the week it was, it was like a hole was around it, all I had were very old memories, trivia, and my recent projects.

"I, uhm," I spoke, expecting that once I started, my memories would be jogged enough for my tongue to start running, yet all that came was the same as a student who didn't put any work into their project would mutter out to make time to create some bullshit. 

"Uhm, Anon, you alright?" The high-pitched voice of my crush managed to make me finally stop, and, probably seeing my face, she spoke again,  "...You don't remember, do you?" I deflated, the simple word made me understand how true that was, "Oh... Why do I always have to go on adventures with people with memory problems?" 

In any other occasion, I would have laughed, as I was probably the only one in the room who understood the inside joke.

Right now, I am too worried because my memories seem to have been tampered with.

And judging what Hornet said next, I wasn't the only one with that theory.

"Do you perhaps believe those who chose you also played with your mind?" The little warrior finally broke her silence, her eyes seeming to narrow in cold hatred, yet it didn't seem directed at me. Looking at Fidget next, she spoke yet again, "What about you? Do you also have gaps in your memory?"

The nimbat gulped at that, poking her tongue out, "Uhm, well, no, I do remember running after that stupid sword that was flying with the ashes of one of my only friends, and I also remember the flash and being stuck in this rock jungle."

The princess nodded, "What about you, Anon? Do you remember any flashes?"

I frowned, trying to force my brain to actually do its work for once, yet the only thing that came was the sensation that I had gone to sleep and woke up here.

"No, I don't," I wearily said, having a bad feeling about it, "If you didn't ask, I probably wouldn't have ever questioned it."

Hornet nodded, "Once you deal with a sickness that attacks the mind, you start to do a mental inventory to make sure you aren't starting to fall to its temptations."
 
It made sense, I had arrived at the same methods of meditation in case something like that were to happen in any of my stories.

"I guess since I didn't see anything wrong more than my new body, I didn't think my memories had been tampered with." I rubbed my head, the sensation of skin against skin making me feel better since I was in the form of a human again, even if it would break if I were to get too hurt.

"Perhaps we should make sure there isn't anything else wrong with you. Tell me, do you feel more prone to do something you wouldn't normally do? No matter how small."

I stared at the ceiling, nitpicking everything I did recently.

"Let's see, crying like a bitch due to sudden risk of bodily harm? That seems pretty normal for any common civilian to fold like a wet piece of toilet paper." I spoke in my head-

"That seems about right." Fidget agreed, startling me, "Even though you poorly worded it..."

I blinked, I didn't even notice that I actually said it aloud, and I started to sweat, since I didn't want to look like an idiot, I proceeded to keep it coming.

"Uhm, worrying a lot for others instead of myself?" I said awkwardly.

"Is that a question or a statement?" The voice of Hornet didn't sound amused at all.

I cough into my hand in an attempt to recover from my awkwardness, "Statement, BUT, I think I've already worried enough? I just, uhm, if I heard screams like in the first day, the original me would probably have run in the opposite direction; instead, I stopped having a breakdown and tried to help."  I rubbed my chest, the dull gray robes the only thing in the way from me making contact where I got shot with a shotgun point blank, "I did help, but I got attacked by the people I helped and almost killed... Actually, it was the same people that we just killed today-" I blanch, my conscience still not being fond of the memories of killing fellow human beings, the smell of burned flesh making an appearance on my nose once more.

In moments like this, I wonder if getting a fire sword from random loot really was a blessing, of if the horrible smell of my own species burned meat would imprinted into my memories forever.

I made a quick grounding check, focusing in everything but my memories.

Not because they had made me understand how necessary it was meant I would get over it so easy. 

Fidget made a soft, "Oh," clearly having mixed feelings about it, "Well, at the very least, they won't try to hurt you ever again." She must have noticed my shudder, because she put a hand on my right arm, "You did the right thing, Anon. Wanting to live is not a crime, okay? And they were clearly bandits of some kind!"

"Yeah, but my brain is still saying killing humans is bad; it feels like it could have been easily me, you know?" I concluded, even the first VERY recent corpse I saw before coming here wasn't anything close to something you killed... To be honest, it probably was because I didn't scan it and I saw it from a good distance away, since I didn't want to risk getting fuck over by the police for tampering with the evidence of the crime.

"What? You? Unless you have a secret life of going around and killing people for their stuff, I doubt it!" Fidget clearly misunderstood my point, since I refer to the fact that I could have easily died myself in other conditions.

 "Indeed, You should get used to it. Judging by their uniforms, they probably won't be the last." The princess's voice sounded annoyed, yet it felt softer than other times, "Don't forget the words we spoke before you decided to run headfirst into battle, which, in all honesty, was very stupid of you." aaaand its edge was back on.

"Anything else, Anon?" Fidget asked, probably to save me from a verbal beatdown for another few moments.

What else...

Wait, duh, that was pretty obvious, wasn't it?

"Well, now that I remember, I got accustomed REAL fast to my new body, I didn't have trouble running or reaching over for stuff, or hitting my head into stuff..." I looked at my very normal human nails, "and I extended my claws with ease like I have been doing that all my life!"

Hornet frowned, "Well, that seems like a pretty obvious hint that they can indeed modify your mind to adjust to your real body, even me after a mold I tumbled more often than not thanks to my minimal gain in size, and for you, judging by how easy you got into the swing of walking with your old form, it is clear there is something meddling in your brain."

Well, talk about a spike in Anxiety.

Ever since I read stories or played games, and there was some mind fuckery in play, I always thought if I were in there, I would manage to beat the mind fucker by pure force of will.

After all, it was pretty obvious when the assholes would try to pull your worst nightmares in front of you, making me scream at the text or screen if they were falling for it. Most of the time, it made me so ANNOYED, I skipped those parts in a heartbeat if I was in a bad mood already.

Of course, I didn't expect that my mind was already compromised, meaning I couldn't even try to fight it off...

Well, maybe not-

"What are you thinking about?" Fidget spoke, making me blink, both of the girls looking at me, I didn't expect this attention... But I guess I was the subject of conversation at the moment, so it made sense.

"I was thinking of trying to remember what happened to me and all that jazz. I think I know a few tricks that would let me remember some stuff. Well, maybe not, but maybe it can work."  

They both stared at each other, then back at me. The taller of the two spoke first, "Well, might as well try it. What will you do?"

"Agree, we don't lose anything by trying." The bug finished, staring at me to speak.

"Well, nothing too specific, really, I will just try to remember really hard," I said, not wanting to confess to the nature of my method, having in mind it was really awkward to explain, a little embarrassing too.

Of course, even through the blank face of Hornet, I could tell both women didn't believe me, probably through a method beyond male comprehension. Even when one was a nimbat and another a spider, I could see they both still shared that common dominator.

"Suuuure, Ok, go on, do your thing." Fidget simply said, narrowing the two green gems that she had for eyes.

 God, in real life, they sure look a lot prittier than any attempt I made in my past life to draw her. 

 I saw her ear flicker, and her eyes open wide all of a sudden, making me blink, perplexed.

I was even more baffled when she started to blush.

I made sure to stare at her eyes, not at her chest fluff, or her very exposed genitals-

I saw her shuffle while she flicked her hand, not noticing that she closed her legs.

"Are you just gonna stare at me or do your thing?!" She snapped.

It was my idea or... Wait, I had noticed this before.

In the green blackness of her eyes, there was indeed something greener, clearer, something that was looking at me and suddenly snapped down below.

I shook my head, she gave me a warning of annoyance, and I should do my thing.

I didn't want to be cliché, edgy, and such, yet half of my trick depended on how much I focused on meditating.

And taking a stance that people who usually did that in cartoons and books helped me "enter" the zone.

I didn't need to do something similar with my hands: I simply grabbed my right wrist with my left arm and clenched my right one, the odd sensation of not having underwear being the only thing that would throw me off, but I had to admit I did this when I was nude too.

I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, tuning out everything, and I had to admit I was excellent at that, one of the things you learn to do when you grow up in a very full home.

I even learn to fall asleep when my brother was playing very loud video games in the middle of the night.

Now that there were no whales of Gulish creatures, I could easily focus on meditating.

 I still remember why I didn't do this anymore, perhaps only when I was too stressed, or something along those lines. As much fun as it was to do this, I had a tendency to fall asleep quite quickly, or to reach a point in which my ability continue was futile, since I wasn't able to think correctly.

Well, what I was doing wasn't quite meditation, but more having fun with my imagination.

I had a very active one, after all, one of the reasons why my mind seemed to make fun of me by reminding me of my past at random moments... Probably.

It was simple, step one, imagine me in a black space, my body should be as detailed as possible, step two, start walking and imagine a door in the distance, step three, open a door and see where it took me, step four, have fun or force the door to take me where I wanted.

Before you think this was equivalent to going into my mind palace, where I could feel and do whatever I wanted, I will tell you that wasn't very true.

It was accurate that I could see things very clearly, even remember tastes and smells very faintly, but no matter how much I gaslighted myself, I could never feel, so it was more of a movie than anything.

A movie where I could move freely, but still, no matter how it made me feel mentally, it was that, a movie... Sometimes I was glad of that, since my mind also had this tendency to jump scare me with random, horrid faces or monsters, that once I thought about them, no matter how much I killed them in my mind, unless I distracted myself with something else, I couldn't remove them from my head.

Whatever, I did the first steps, and I saw a generic brown door, and without thinking about it, I opened it.

---

My head was as active as ever, not very creative, having in mind I was just walking in a generic forest, and even as I opened another door, the only thing I found was a generic desert.

Well, time for me to force myself to be more interesting.

Opening the next door, I went to the black place and started to run.

To make it even more believable, I started to breathe heavily like I was exerting myself.

I then started to force my memories to come to me.

I imagine as hard as possible the last thing I remember clearly, what I did, even the most trivial things.

I was really hoping this would jog my memory.

I was surprised when the place I was suddenly changed.

Not to my home, but to a random city.

No.

This place was too detailed to be anything but a memory; even my brain had limits.

The cars didn't look generic; each had a different model, color, and state of being.

The building had many windows, transparent things that I could swear I could look through.

Some were even broken, and some doors followed the same fate.

Well, shit, did I actually do it?

I started to walk, the place seeming familiar, yet not.

It was an odd feeling...

That was until I saw something that shouldn't be there.

A tombstone was there, a brown one with some carving on it that made the work of informing who was probably laid five feet under.

Yet as I got close, the text was making my head hurt.

As I tried to focus on it, instead, my brain seemed to do the usual thing it did when it got bored, and that was to wander to anything that wasn't the thing that I was trying to focus on.

So be it the worn-down concrete, the building with obvious signs of lack of upkeep, or the greish dirt, where one would expect to see some green patch of grass or even a tree to break the gray monotone of a city.

Anything but the brown tombstone in front of me.

Now that I think about it, this headache was very similar to mana exhaustion that I felt for using my seal too many times or my legendary Seal of Divinity. 

Why is this happening? There isn't anything special, actually. What I was doing? What I was looking at? I think it was the gray dirt, wondering why there weren't any trees-

I shook my head, frowning, touching my head in my mind, only to startle myself when I actually felt the touch of my vare palm, even more disconcerting when I felt my forehead was burning up.

The only time I remember burning like this was that one time I was shrugging off the symptoms of a sickness because I foolishly thought I could push through it without the need for medicine.

I once more looked around me, doing my best effort to try to understand why this was happening; nothing was out of the ordinary; after all, everything I could see was normal in a city.

The concrete buildings, the streets, the destroyed cars, the empty patches of gray dirt-

Wait, what is that brown thing? It was weirdly shaped-

Nah, that is also normal, after all, tombstones were something-

Wait, no, what? Since when was that normal? 

That was very COMMON after all-

WHAT!? NO!

My head started to burn even further, my lips parting to make me breathe heavily in an attempt to ventilate my brain better.

Ok, what in the bloody hell is happening?

Even a stupid idiot like me could see foul play on all of this, and I knew that right now I was in a battle, a battle I could not just punch, claw or even shot, it was something I always thought I could easily beat, yet here was my body falling apart for even daring to try to focuss in this stupid tombstone.

I gritted my teeth, and I squinted, HARD, my hand bawling into a fist so hard that I would normally fear accidentally piercing my skin with my nails.

Yet in this mental battle, I couldn't care less.

The corners of my vision were growing blurry with each second I futilely fought this compulsion, rage that something had so clearly fuck with my brain.

Yet each second that everything lost definition, the wooden tombstone seemed to grow more defined.

Yet, seeming to make fun of me, the text seemed to dance now, like each letter had come to life, jumping around in ways I couldn't quite read its contents.

S
E
I
L

E
R
E
H

NO, COME ON.

SEIL EREH-

IS THAT EVEN A LANGUAGE?!

I felt my teeth crack, my hands start to bleed due to my nails, and my brain start to die due to the high temperatures.

YET I DIDN'T CARE.

With all the might of my brain, I force things into their respective places and read:

"Here lies-"

---

I snapped my eyes wide open, my head sharply moving to my right with some dull pain that I could barely feel.

"Anon?! What was that?! You are burning and bleeding!"

Once I focus back into reality, I wheeze and fall to the bed, my right wrist hurting sharply, something hot and liquid falling from it and my right palm, even as I tried to scream in pain, my jaw cracked and my teeth shifted painfully.

And my fucking head was burning so hot that if someone were to tell me my temperature was over 42°C and my brain was starting to die, I would believe them wholeheartedly. I was amazed that I was not convulsing or just straight passed out.

When I managed to lift my right hand, the wrist was mangled, with a set of cuts on my palm bleeding normal red liquid. 

Hornet stared at me, "Did it work?"

The indignant voice of my crush made me snap out of the stare of the princess, "Hornet! Look at him! It isn't the time to ask something like that!" I hissed under my breath, my attempt to flex my hand only provoking a spike of pain-

"Just use your soul to heal yourself. I have seen you use that to heal your hand when I stabbed it." She simply dismissed my probably self-inflicted wounds.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE DOESN'T FEEL PAIN!" Her voice was dripping with exasperation directed to the princess of Hollow nest, both of them starting a discussion that I was too busy suffering to pay any attention.

Not nice from her part, but I guess it was fair. In my pain, I had once more forgotten my powers; even as my regeneration was fixing my wounds, it wouldn't hurt to help it.

I equipped my normal seal, "I- I- I phray for healing."

God, it was so hard to speak with my fucked jaw, each word came with discomfort of my teeth moving into place due to my normal regeneration.

Once I spoke my words, my body kicked into overdrive, and after it had run its course, I felt a lot better, my wounds stopping their bleeding, yet some remaining open, each second becoming smaller.

Even when I was full in my HP bar, my wounds still remained open, making me wonder once more how my HP bar truly worked.

It was an odd feeling to feel my wrist crack, the tendons around the joint moving without their consent, making me yelp at the weird sensation.

I could only be glad this stupid god gave me so much regenerative power...

Yet if I were correct, I felt I would soon lose it to some degree.

Why? 

Because if the gods wanted me to live happily, I wouldn't be here.

The regeneration was a cheat power, something I felt it was minimum to my survival, yet I knew how broken it was.

And if I, the one who had it, felt it was broken, then what would the gods think?

I had a terrible feeling it would be nerfed or diminished.

My hypothesis was that if I keep abusing it, I would get fuck by them because that wasn't fun for them.

I could only hope I was wrong-

"Anon!" My face snapped to Fidget and Hornet, their discussion seemingly finally was over, and judging by how angry Fidget looked, the attitude of Hornet probably wasn't to her liking,  "You alright?! What was that!?"

I took a deep breath and sat up, my body was sweating, even though I knew I hadn't exerted myself in the past minutes, my body still seemed to disagree.

"I... I think I managed to do it, but when I found a clue in my head... Ugh, I don't even know how to explain it, but basically, I think they put a barrier or compulsion to ignore it, and when I didn't, I felt my head was killing me and my brain was melting... I think I tried a little too hard."

I rubbed my head and checked to see if my HP was still normal, in case my going against their wishes made me lose max HP like the last time my cowardice made me curl into a pitiful fool under my bed.

Interestingly enough, my HP bar was the same as always, and the same could be said about my XP one... Wait, shouldn't it have moved a lot when I killed my own kind?

...

Ok, it isn't something I will question. Desiring a greater reward for killing humans was something I wouldn't ever do, since I felt it would make me even more of a monster for ending so low.

"So, if this imprudent giant grub had waited a few seconds more, you would have gotten something further of a clue, more than a resting place of something?

"Hey!" The offended voice of the person who got the jab was expected.

What I didn't know was how to answer.

My simping instincts screamed at me to defend the source of my affections like any white knight would do in hopes of getting laid.

Yet I was self-aware of my feelings to not let them stray from my opinion... too much.

"Well, maybe-" Fidget gave me a betrayed look, but I managed to continue without backpedaling into simping, "Or maybe my head would have exploded for learning knowledge they didn't want me to know, and having in mind how much my head was burning, it probably was going to happen, so thank you for snapping me back into my senses."

Fidget looked a little better at my gratitude, yet the seasoned hunter, even through her blank mask, didn't look convinced, "Maybe, maybe not, anyway, dwelling in maybes of the past won't take us anywhere, no matter how frustrating they are."

That felt like an insult to Fidget, and judging by how the nimbat puffed her cheeks and huffed, she believed it too.

God, I really hope they don't start a cat-fight. After all, I was never well-versed in the opposite sex, and I doubt I would be able to stop them if they started really fighting.

"Well, judging by your reaction, trying again would be a mistake, so let's go to the next subject that is relevant to our survival." Well, at the very least, she was referring to all of us as a group: "And that is your lack of training in the ways of battle."

Auch, yeah, she did mention that a few times, didn't she? 

Fidget gulped, even in her anger toward the red menace, she couldn't deny my patheticness, "Well, he was probably just a civilian before all this, sooooo." 

Hornet didn't break eye contact with me... I don't think she did, anyway.

"Even if that explains it, it doesn't mean it won't stop being a deadly impediment that our enemies would surely be glad to exploit... And even then, common sense seems to be lacking, as even a common weaver would have come up with a better trickery or plan to deal with them."

Fidget huffed,  "Oh, come on! Ok, Mrs.Asmartypants, what would you have done?"

Hornet didn't even take a second to speak, "Throwing them off with a countdown was perhaps barely a sufficient start, yet once you had ended the one in the lead, you should have retreated in the peak of the confusion with the objects you had fought for, perhaps even using that strange power to not die incase the had snap out of their stuppor too soon." She then looked at Fidget, "Then he should have found another exit and retreated, and if they were unwise enough to chase us, then ambushing them a few times to thin out their numbers would have been the next step of action, once a meager pair or a single enemy had ended, and only then, maybe running with brute sthrenght would had been... Acceptable." Yet again, her mask seemed to be deformed, making it obvious she was frowning, "Yet, instead, you simply rushed enemies with range weapons that had the advantage of numbers and range, a thing that almost cost you your life."

Fidget gaped at the sound plan, and I wasn't too surprised at her level-headed approach, as in the game, she was depicted as a smart and fast combatant, using her string to make traps in the battlefield as she fought, perhaps not doing that to the little ghost since she wanted to test his skill in combat.

When the orange girl recovered enough to speak once more, she still sounded unsure, even as it was obvious she was trying her best to sound confident, "W-Well, maybe you thought about it while Anon was too busy being passed out! How long does it take you to come up with that?! Eh? Do you really think we had enough time to think about that?" 

Hornet shook her head, "I thought about it the moment Anon was doing his foe countdown, but I guess I cannot expect much of such simple-minded beings that depend too much on their brute strength and their lack of fear of permanent injury" She huffed, "I guess that happens when they can heal themself with ease and have a healer that can bring back a creature from the brink of death with one simple word."

Fidget and I winced at that.

Me, since I already thought I depended too much on my regeneration, and probably Fidget, because she and Dust just did pure frontal attacks, depending too much on the swordmanship skill of Dust and the pure power Ahra gave to its wielder, and the multiple amplitudes of power that it granted to the spells of Fidget.

Perhaps if they had taken the way of the assassin, Dust could have survived his battle against the final boss, as clearly, even without a legendary maguffin, the guy was more than a match for Dust.

"And perhaps if he were more nimble in his legs, he wouldn't have gotten so hurt to the point he couldn't even move out of the way of such an obvious aim of that... Firearm, was it?" I winced once more and nodded, "I see you are aware enough to see the truth in my words, perhaps you are not a lost cause, yet you are far from a capable warrior that will be able to take on the insurmountable task to finish another plague that infects these lands." I sighed, losing all steam due to how accurate her words were, but before I slumped and lost all hope, she said one last word, "But..."

Fidget and I looked up; this time it was our turn to speak at the same time, "...But?"

"Judging how you fight, you just started, so it is soon enough to correct your terrible habits and sharpen you into a capable weapon able to slay any being that gets in your way, so, for that reason, I will grant you the chance for me to teach you, like I had already mentioned."

Oh... She was serious about that, I thought, after seeing me flop so hard, she would have just given up on the idea. I heard Fidget snort at the statement, "Ok, maybe you are smarter than Anon, but you also are the size of his hand, what can you even teach him? And who is going to be his sparring partner to help him practice what you teach?"

The princess seemed to glare at the nimbat, and she moved her head a little to the side, not quite looking at me, or any of us, but passing us.

Maybe she was thinking about something to fix that problem?

Fidget's words were Harsh, but true. We didn't have training facilities in here, and no one who could-

"Hey now, I think you are forgetting about someone..." I jumped, snapping my head back.

Ah.

Hornet was not looking at nothing.

She was looking at the now open door, Inco having a shit eating grin with an ice stick in his left hand that was still throwing frost due to the difference in temperature of the room.

He was in his usual robes, the purple things glistening now that he was close to an actual source of light, his right hand holding his staff with the frozen gem still over it.

Where the fuck did he get the ice stick? 

Before I could question it anymore, the guy broke it into a million pieces with a simple tap of his staff, the fragments floating into the icy-looking gem on top of it.

...Well, that answers that.

The man just chuckled with his thick smoker voice, talking more loud than normal due to the distance we had from him, "If you wish someone to kick the shit out of Anon, don't look any further than here, as much I'm closed to the confines of this room, my place is moere than spacius enough to handle someone so pathetic as we."

I was about to tell him that I was literally him, but the last part hinted that he knew.

Even if Hornet and Fidget believed his words, I was very skeptical, after all, the man was a Priest, not a paladin or a sword masterr-

I felt the memory of being annoyed, and I flinched when the man literally narrowed his eyes at me with hatred.

Yet, Fidget, as aloof as ever, said almost the same thing I thought about.

"Uhm, aren't you a priest? I think I haven't ever heard a priest who used a sword... Like, ever, and I doubt Hornet will have the patience to teach both of you." She untactfully explained, and I half expected him to turn his silent rage to her, yet it seemed he was indeed me, since his hatred turned into amusement.
 

"My, my, Fidget, you should be careful to assume things, after all, you know what they say, assumptions make corpses out of me and you." Even at the dark edit he did to the saying, his tone sounded jovial and full of merriment.

Fidget awkwardly looked at him, confused, "I don't think that is how the saying goes."

He just laughed off the obvious observation, "Maybe, maybe not, but how about this, Anon and I will duke it out-" I was about to exclaim how unfair it was, since the priest class had a tendency to have a great arsenals of long-range weapons, but before I could speak, a glint in his eyes and the fallowing word shut me up, "No range weapons, no spells, just two of these babies-" his tone was jovial as he lifted his staff and slamed the thing into the floor, in a sudden flash, two lines of ice extended to the sides, and two swords formed from the ground.

"W-what the fuck." I simply said, baffled at the fact he actually cast magic, not projectiles of icecles that I would expect of that staff, but actual magic.

Magic, in which he clearly had great control over.

Without saying much, he lifted his hand with the staff, the object that banished in the blink of an eye, and, without explanation, he grabbed both grips and took them from their resting place, "Catch!" 

With a flourish, he spun the right ice-sword, now grabbing the blade and throwing it in an arc perfectly to my spot.

I wasn't stupid enough to miss the grab, and I half expected the ICE sword to be horribly icy to the touch, to the point that if I dared to hold it for too long, I would risk frostbite!

Yet as I grabbed the hilt, it felt chilly, yes, but nothing I couldn't handle.

"That shouldn't count as an actual sword for you to use, so no shooting bullshit bullets." I blinked, standing up from the bed.

Like I had said before, I wasn't an expert in blades or metals, so I couldn't comment on how good the thing was, but as far as it was concerned to me, it looked like it would work just fine, even if the lack of design didn't gave it the cool factor I liked so much.

"It sounds like a great opportunity to test both of your skills," Hornet spoke, yet by her tone of voice, it was clear she didn't expect much from either of us.

Annoyance once more, yet this time it was more tame, perhaps used to the doubt at this point.

"Come, let's finish this test so you can take your little vacation." The man simply finished, walking into the dim darkness of the church.

"Well, this is gonna be interesting at the very least..." Fidget spoke, clearly not knowing how to feel about it.

Chapter Text

Hornet entered the room last due to her short legs.

Both girls looked around, and only Fidget spoke about the clear problem of the  room, "Uhm, it's a little dark for us to see much?"

The man laughed,  "I expected to hear Anon whine about that, but I guess it makes sense to come from you, too."

"HEY!" She whined, clearly not happy with the idea he had of her, no matter how accurate it was.

"But I guess it is a fair assessment, here," The man snapped his fingers, and the normal flame from each of the candles went out for a second, making Fidget cry in fear, even as she tried to hug the princess, who just jumped out of the way.

Before I could ask what was going on, He snapped his fingers yet again, a new fire being born from the candles, this time a deep violet instead.

After a few seconds, a set of torches joined the fight against the dark, torches that before were hidden in the darkness of the ceiling (how tall is this place anyway?), bathing the room in scary ambient, the artworks made of crystal, and our sword seemed to shimmer with the light.

The whole room was perfectly illuminated after that,  even if the violet colors made it feel weird, as I was used to white light or yellowish light.

"Uhm, I feel a little weird..." Fidget shuddered, looking around the room that before was shrouded in darkness before her.

The man just took a deep breath, like he was a plant bathing in the sun, "You get used to it," both his arms fell to his side and... it sure as hell didn't look as the stance of a any swordmanship, yet, once I thought of that, the man just smiled wider, "I don't need any freaky technique to kick my own ass."

"Ok, those are fighting words, asshole." Each second I speak to this man, it feels like we are more different, but I guess I was already hard on myself before, so I guess everything came full circle.

Hornet twisted her head and narrowed her eyes, "I hope you don't use that excuse if you lose."

"I won't, but let's get this over with. The faster I finish this, the faster you can take your R and R, and the faster Hornet can come up with some plans to make a man out of you."
 
I narrowed my eyes and took a few steps.

The chairs of the church would be in the way, the wood seemed too sturdy for me to tackle through, and too heavy to push out of the way in a hurry.

The pillars would be a nice cover in case he didn't keep his word to not use his staff.

the rock walls-

I snapped my neck to the front, jumping backwards at the memory of me rushing myself.

Yet my dodge was the wrong move, since the man did a thrust forward with his blade, his momentum and speed being greater, catching with my back step easily as he hilted his sword all the way through my right bicep.

In a scream of pain, I let go of my own weapon, holding the new hole once he took out the sword.

-60

In an instant, my body puffed in green fire, my mass increasing, and some of the robe ripping due to the sudden change of my form. 

The blood leaking from my wound was being tainted with a distinct violet color due to the illumination of the room, and I heard Fidget scream.

On the other side of the spectrum, Hornet remained silent.

"Eyes in the prize, you idiot, in real battles you won't have time to scan the room over!" The man gleefully explained.

In an unnaturally fast movement for such a long sword, he swung to the side, the blood jumping to the wall and floor, the blade being almost clean, if it wasn't for the fact that some frosted blood remained.

"What the fuck!" I yelped, my wounds starting to seal with each second, yet it was unpleasant all the way, "I wasn't ready!"

"Oh? Didn't know I had to take a countdown, but sure, pick your sword and let's give it another try." The man took a few steps back.

I hissed and picked up the sword with a light grip, my arm still recovering from the wound. I had to be thankful that I didn't pierce any bones, and judging by the eyebrow dance, he did it on purpose.

"Ok, 3... 2... 1!!" My eyes went wide.

He was so much faster than any monster I had fought before, and his robes didn't seem to impede his movement at all! 

Yet it was clear he would try to impale me again, so lifting my sword and holding the flat of the blade in my left palm, I intercepted the thrust-

I screamed in pain as the blade slipped past my guard,  the tip and a little more entering my body. By pure instinct, I swung at him, which made him jump back.'

"Doesn't matter if you catch my thrust with the flat of the blade, if the thing isn't perfectly aligned, wide, or the blade isn't truly flat enough, it will slip easily." He snorted, "Anime is as bullshit as that."

I cursed, the blade had entered a gap in my ribs, and blood poured from it at a slow pace that was becoming even slower by the second.

"How do you even know all this!" I screamed, confused how he was so skilled when he was just supposed to be a range fighter, and not even that, but a damm copy of myself!

"Nobody expects the priest to throw hands, so I trained to fight with a sword too, in case they got too close." By his tone of voice, it sounded like it was the most obvious thing of them all.

Well, if that doesn't confirm he lived a life outside of my own, then I don't know what would confirm it.

I cursed,  "What are your stats!? If you are 8 of 8, then it isn't fucking fair!" I rationalized, now understanding why the fuck he was so damn fast.

After all, if he were one of my priests, he probably was a the peak of his power, having magical items that made him even stronger!

He hummed, "Maybe, but this isn't about having a fair practice partner; it is about you having something to actually use the stuff Hornet teaches you." The man cockly said, resting the blade on his shoulder.

"Well, I see you know how to use a blade, and as accurate as the fact that the winner is decided in a moment, I can hardly see your skill level if these matches end in an instant." Hornet simply said, while Fidget was gaping at the difference in our skills and speeds.

"Uhm, I guess that is fair, how about this, I will only block for three minutes, if he doesn't win in that time, I win." He boasted, and to hurt my ego even more, in his memories, he was confident he could achieve that feat.
 
"Sounds like enough time to make a fair assessment, and judging by how fast he is breaking mentally, prolonging the duel probably will traumatize him more if he doesn't take a break, even if I think it isn't necessary."  

"Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence."  I snarked back, already getting annoyed that I was kicking my own ass.

At the very least, I wasn't confusing each other as much as before.

"I don't understand. I don't have confidence in you at all." The insect said matter-of-factly.

...

Of course, the royalty that was stuck alone in a ruined civilization doesn't know sarcasm.

"Lmao-" Did he really say Lmao aloud? "Come on, Anon, let's finish this so you can actually rest."

Well, might as well, hopefully I can erase that smug smile of his.

---

...

Well, I got my ass owned.

I won't even bore myself remembering how it went in great detail, so here are the notes.

In the first minute, I tried to brute force it.

Didn't work.

The guy blocked and moved out of the way with ease, and I don't know enough swordplay to say how good he was.

Minuted two, I tried to mix it up and run around him, hoping to hit a blind spot.

Didn't work either; he knew how to dodge and deflect my sword with ease once more.

And I didn't know why until I figured it out.

The fucker was reading my memories to block from blind spots.

In minute three, I tried to play his same game, reading how he would block and maybe how to actually use a sword.

The only problem was that I may have had the memories, but I sure as hell didn't have the muscle memory.

After I enebetly lost, Hornet seemed content with the knowledge and went outside on her own, since she said she needed time to think.

After telling her how she could send me messages in case she needed me to teleport her back, she went away, and I hoped she would be fine, even more when I saw I could see her in my party system.

---

I grumbled, not physically sore after our "training", but my ego sure as hell was bruised.

Sometimes I did confuse my own body with his, and feeling his confidence was annoying.

...Now that I think about it, I didn't confuse our bodies as much as I would expect, that is weird-

Fidget chuckled, "Come on Anon... It wasn't THAT bad-" She stopped herself once she seemed to think it over, "Ok, maybe it was, but you will get better!"

I took a deep breath, holding back the need to glare at her. It was true, I knew that to grow a skill, one needed time, as my drawing skills were proof of that.

After I finished, I let my air scape, "Yeah, I know that, but my brain doesn't."

Fidget snorted, "Typical male, wanting to be always the strongest around."

Instead of playing that game, I rolled my eyes and went to my reward chest.

The "Living" room was as dull as always, compared to the more colorful bedrooms (and that was a stretch), the carpet being totally gray, with some kind of border meeting the walls that brings a dull brownish color, and the concrete walls had their standard color, but hey, at they very least it matches the carpet... Ha.

The most interesting pieces of the room were the blue sofa, which looked new and comfy.

A display cabinet, with multiple types of porcelain to eat and drink from (being generic in every sense of the word, no special form, no special design or engraving, nothing.)

The couch was the most vibrant thing in the room, and at the very least, it looked very comfortable, having even some pillows to accompany it. These items were white, with lines that complemented the color of the couch.

The only thing out of place was the "gift chest" that yet again materialize out of nowhere and waited for me to plunder its contents, said contents that were rightly mine, but that still felt odd to take my stuff from a chest, even more when said chest was blue, with golden highlights that branched into golden paterns that I could swear weren't there before.

The amusing thought of trying to remove the gem that rested in the "Keyhole" showed itself in my mind, (which said gem fully filled, making the "hole" part untruthfull ), but remembering the stupid, indestructible hunted television laid to rest such whimsical idea rather quickly.

It made me wonder if the thing was like that by nature, due to an unknown force, or by the stupid gods that sent me here.

I shook my head and looked at the coffee table, the second most vibrant thing in here, with the color of the wood actually coming close to being a clear brown, yet remaining on the edge of said denomination.

The only reason it looked very fitting in this room was because of how absolutely simple it looked.

I just snorted and looked at the fancy chest, my thoughts finally stopping at the task of getting the most important part of my loot, and that was something to pass the time.

Why?

I didn't exactly have many things in my possession that would help me survive, as I didn't live in America to own a gun that I could get to help me kill these monsters, nor was I one who believed the end was coming, so I didn't hoard gas masks and such survival items.

Yet I had a few items in mind I knew could help me relax, and no, it wasn't drugs.

I was lucky enough to get a few consoles for cheap during my time on earth, so that even in my limited budget, I could afford them.

What? Why don't I get my phone or similar?

Simple, I was a freak, and the only thing my phone had on it was porn, a few games that needed internet to play, and no movies or such.

Not even music, since I never took the time to get out of just listening to them online.

So, a waste of time.

...That and I had a fucking folder with so much Fidget porn that she would probably kill me if she looked at it.

I looked at the chest, and I indeed saw the rewards that would open later. I just focused on the out-of-place item that I never saw in the game, and put it in my inventory.

It was a question mark object, its shape seemed to change each second, and the description said basically what I already knew, and the fact that I wasn't allowed to take it out of my inventory.

"Choosable item. (set: Normal earth life)"

Choose an item from your time on your normal Earth life that you owned before all went to shit.

Warning: You cannot take this from your inventory.

Using the thing, I was given a list of stuff that I owned in my original world.

Let's see-

"Anon? What are you doing?" Fidget finally asked, since I didn't tell her the reward that killing my own kind had.

"The asshole gods gave me a chance to get any item that I owned on my original world, so I'm looking at what to get." I summarized.

"Oh, Ok, what will you get?"

Instead of responding, I looked at the list, "Something to entertain ourselves, since I feel like worms are crawling on my head, and I need to distract myself."

I was trying to ignore the fact that I felt from the corners of my eyes, shadows that weren't there started to manifest, only for me to snap my eyes to them, to find out the room was as perfectly illuminated as it was from the start.

If I gave it enough time, corpses of the people I killed appeared, and I didn't want to mention that, since that would worry Fidget too much about me... That or she would think I was losing my marbles.

I mean, I was, I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to happen, yet I knew if I could distract my brain enough, everything would get better.

"And that is?" Her voice was dripping with curiosity regarding the item I planned to get... And a little annoyance since I didn't tell her what I was actually getting yet.

"I'm thinking about it." I simply said. True. The thing said ANY item, but if the gods wanted to fuck me over, they could easily just offer me the things inside the console instead of the whole thing.

Let's see.

A 3D figure of that one blue fish that is most compatible with humans, and that was very big, which only cost me $20 bucks.

Nah, as funny as it would be to have it, it wouldn't be much of a distraction after the nobility of having it for a few moments.

My tablet? Last time I checked, the stupid thing turned itself off randomly, and it only had one game... And lots of Fidget porn.

Some shirts and pants... Nah, I doubt I was the same size as then, that, and liked Priest show, they would be able to break if I got attacked and my body changed to my skin.

Some random micellanius things, like nail clippers, files, deodorant, etc.

Ah, there they are, my consoles.

Well, plural is a little much; they boiled it down to just two.

A retro console that emulated a lot of old games, and the Lite version of the console from that one evil corporation that hated their consumers and anything that touched its IP.

I shuddered, I wouldn't even dare to say their name, as I had this feeling they would find a way to cease and desist me, or even brick my console!

Reaching over across dimensions only to fuck me over for even thinking about them sounds like something as petty as they would do.

I think... well, having in mind that the stupid retro console battery life was very weak, and adding the fact that the screen was too small and I didn't have any games I wanted to beat on there, I think I will go with the... Uhm, I need a name to refer to it.

Suitch, sure, why not.

I chose the Suitch, since I had many games on its memory, and maybe I could get a socket and a generic phone charger to charge it, not like the mini console, which needed a specific charging cable- Wait...Didn't I need another miniconsole that didn't work to charge the battery to use in my actual console, because the stupid thing charging entrance didn't work?

Yup, definitely a good call there.

After all, Fidget already grabbed all the sexual toys that the freaky pink department had, and for some reason, the girl who owned the place also had Fleshlights, too.

Once I confirmed the choice, I blinked a few times in confusion due to a message in front of me.

Interesting choice, but predictable.

Due to the nature of this console, it shall run out of battery quite quickly since you forgot to charge it, and we don't have the patience for you to find a charger for it, nor the interest in us to see you do nothing for so long.

So we will fix that.

We shall give you a special quest that you will probably like, since this will not affect your struggle for survival, and due to another reason we shall not mention.

In exchange, you shall entertain us with video games with your little friend over there and maybe with the princess of Hollow nest, if she ever shows interest.

>Accept.

>Deny.

I blink slowly, and I hope the special quest won't make me kill Fidget or something stupid like that.

I mean, I had a feeling how they could fix the problems with my Suitch Lite, but I guess I had to see to understand it completely.

With nothing to lose, I accepted.

I blinked slowly, a box appearing in front of me and falling to the floor slowly, like it was a feather.

At the same time, a new quest appeared to my left.

Rizz the girl.

...What? Who the fuck uses rizz unironically? Wait, which girl?

I blinked again, the quest becoming red and disappearing.

...

Oh, it was back, but it was different.

[We told him that nobody uses Rizz, sorry.] Bone the girl.

[2 days.] [Each completion of a quest extends the deadline, depending on which part you complete.]

...

Oh no, OH NO, OH NONONONONONO.

-Have sex with another being that isn't yourself. [0/1] [rewards]

-Have sex multiple times that isn't with yourself. [0/3] [Repeatable] [reward]

-Make someone fall in LOVE with you. [0/1][rewards]

-have sex with different partners. [0/2]

Failure of completion of ANY: [Hidden :)]

WHAT, IN, THE, BLOODY, HELL.

This fucking sickos! WHAT YOU MEAN BY THIS!?

And how would they know that I completed the quest!?

AND JUDGING BY HOW THEY WORD IT, THEY FIGURED OUT IF I WAS DESPERATE ENOUGH I COULD BONE INCO TOO.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM!?

"Uhm, Anon, what happened? What is in the box? Why are you so pale?" The nimbat asked while she poked the said box with care, confused at my sudden reaction.

I, uhm, what in tarnation do I say to her?!

Fidget, let me fuck you, or something probably bad will happen to me.

YEAH, RIGHT.

She would call me a perv, disgusting man-

"Anon?" I snapped to her voice.

W-When did she open the box?! When did she land on the carpeted floor?

"What is this stuff?" She spoke, and her face a little blushed for some reason I didn't know, perhaps a trick of the light?

[***** notes: Anon doesn't know, but that isn't possible for things that are close to him, since his eyes will grant him perfect vision as long as things aren't further than 10~ feet.]

I shook my head and bowed to not inconvenience Fidget with this.

Yes, if I were more valiant, I would try to "rizz her up" (ok, that made me cringe even if I didn't say it aloud, never gonna say or think of it again). Since she literally was my crush.

But come on, in fiction you can invent anything you want, even fucking something that was three sizes smaller than you.

In fiction, organs didn't care about being moved around, people didn't get hurt when they got fucked by a cock that was the size of their torso, people didn't feel pain when the thing hit their cervix, or god forbid, penetrated it.

And this...

I slowly looked at the inventory and HP and MP bars to my right, then looked back to Fidget.

Ok, maybe it would be fine, WATHEVER, Fidget talked to you, you fucking moron, SPEAK.

"Uhm, well, I know one of the things is my Suitch, but the box is too big for only that, so let's see." I crouched by her side. By just looking at it, I could tell the contents of the box were many, and most of the stuff I was pretty sure I never owned.

There was my Suitch Lite, in its custom case of Evangelion. The thing had many purple highlights with a design that played with the main robot of the series, with green words on its back that had the namesake of the series written, accompanied by the "TEST TYPE-0" with white bold letters.

The said robot was depicted with its mouth open, lines running in... I don't know if that is Japanese or something that showed in the series.

Hey, don't judge me too harshly. I saw this thing when I was like 12 or so.

Whatever, if you tried hard enough, you could probably find said thing easly in Ali express, the only thing breaking the design of the cheap plastic was the yellow frame of the screen, wich I didn't want to change with the black protector screen since I wanted to wait to actually scratch the crystal, so I could change it later without having to order another or wasting the spotless screen protector (joke on me, since I ended here and I wouldn't be ever abble to change it.)

That and some yellow buttons, since they felt better to the touch.

I could still see some jagged lines close to the charging port, since I had to remove it from its controller case, because the damm thing was too tight and I wanted to put it in a carrying case.

Talking about that carrying case, I saw the gray thing to the side of the Suitch Lite. True, the thing was very thin, and even when it snugly closed around the console, the trigger buttons remained exposed, and if you pressed the places where the bumps of the joysticks were, you could hear the things click... But what mattered to me was to have something to avoid the console getting touched by the junk I stored in my pockets.

That was most of the reason, but I could still remember that one time I stored my phone in my fanny bag, and when I took it out, the screen protector had been fucked over, like a projectile had hit it... That or a pointy thing had put a great amount of pressure on it.

Ever since that accident, I have always put screen protectors on my devices, and any extra protection that I could add to the pile was welcome, since I love to carry my consoles with me, even if I never use them during my travels.

...Funny enough, I could see some of the stickers of certain blue "experiment" were intact, and one whole one of his pink girlfriend.

Why did I own them? Because I liked the anthro female version of them, and for someone who didn't live in the US, it was the closest thing I could get to furry merchandise.

I slowly scanned the rest of the stuff, my eyes going wide, and I decided it was time to answer Fidget.

"This is a console, you can- Uhm, play interactive stories in there, this is used to store your console, so you don't worry about getting scratches or similar." I picked up one of the three red rectangles. "These are physical games that you can use to play said interactive stories."

There were a total of four.

I was never a fan of the pocket monster games, but I wanted one so I could collect all my favorite "waifurs" in there, and at the very least, I had fun getting them.

The gameplay was shit, as it was the graphics (compared to other games), but it was worth the 30 bucks I got it for.

Palworld was better.

The other was the game in which you were a slave to a whole island of animals, a game I stopped playing once I committed a turnip mistake and lost all the money I banked.

The third was a game that came with the console, which was worth it, since the whole package cost me only 85 bucks, and it even came with the charger and this racing game that had the name of a certain legendary red plumber.

Lastly, it was a game I never played, and I couldn't even comment about, but hey, it cost me only 14 bucks, and maybe SOMEDAY I will take my time to play it.

But, oh boy, the thing that made my eyes go wide was the stuff under the games.

"Oh... Uhm, this little things are controls, which are used to play with more people in the same story, but I don't think we will ever use the four of them, having in mind the screen of this thing is very small and you cannot dock it," I dumbly said, confused at the fact the gods gave me a way to actually have multiplayer fun.

The last thing was something I never took time to buy, and when I did, I used them for a while, then forgot about them long enough to destroy the battery time.

"These are... Uhm, energy packs that are used to charge the thing that powers the console." Aka, power banks, three of them, and they looked VERY beefy.

I picked up the thing, expecting the thing to be somewhat heavy or something... except it wasn't. Confused, I open the damm thing, a piece of paper falling to the floor with the text saying, "Lmao, get owned, you explain it for nothing, we just gave your stupid thing infinite battery, have fun, or not, L bozo."

.......... Alright, I cannot take them seriously if they are gonna act like high schoolers, so my eyes rolled to the back of my head for a second before I just dropped the empty container to the floor.

I picked up the rest of the stuff, not even commenting on the fact I.... got owned? "This thing is called a charger, used to make sure your console doesn't explode if you connect it to an outlet that has too much voltage, and this cable is used to connect to the energy packs... if I had any." I was giddy, I expected only to be able to play for only a few moments max, and that was with Fidget having some turns with me!

I guess it is nice not to have to worry about battery life, but having battery packs would have been better, having in mind that I could easily charge anything that I had a cable to connect it to.

"Oh, and this thing is to charge said controllers, but that is less exciting." I picked up all the stuff and laid it on the coffee table.

I didn't care if the assholes gods would cut my dick if I failed to bone Fidget! Well... I did, but it would be worth it... maybe.

Talking about her, I finally looked at her.

Uhm, I think calling her confused would be an understatement.

Her head moved to each object, her face blank, clearly confused at the amount of info I gave her. I could almost swear there were black swirls in her emerald eyes.

"Uhm, so they are like books?" She spoke, clearly not understanding the peak that was console fun!

"Yeah, remember what Gabby told you? It is kinda like that, except they aren't self-aware, and the books only react to what you do with the controls!" I said with happiness, picking up my console with care.

I, of course, once I was finished with Inco, I forced my body to turn human again.

It was true the robes were a little destroyed and stretched out, but if I was careful, I could hide my shame very well.

But I was very happy to actually be able to pick up the console. I didn't want to even imagine how to play with claws as large as I had in my demon form.

---

It took me a while to check all the things I needed to know about my stuff.

First of all, the console was indeed at only 24 percent charge, which made me extremely confused... that was until I noticed that even when I checked for any trouble, the battery didn't go down.

The other stuff, I was glad to see the few games I had before were still in there.

In the meantime, I tried to explain the stuff to Fidget.

"So, let me see if I understand," She pointed at the console, "In that little thing over there are books with HOURS, of stories and things to do, and which you can control the protagonist to interact with things in there, making you even abble to chose your ending at times, that not only shows you images CONSTANTLY, but also give you sound!?" Her eyes were wide, and the tone she had showed clearly that she believed I was pulling her leg.

But I guess when she put it that way, it made sense.

"Well, yeah, I know it's hard to believe, since I can understand if a librarian of the Middle Ages of my world were to be sent to the present, their brain would explode at the idea that we had stuff that could store MILLIONS of books in something about the same size as a small book-"

"WHAT!?" She screamed, her eyes finding a magical way to become even wider.

Ups.

"But believe me, it is real." I simply said, making sure my thing worked correctly, in the meantime, I noticed the thing's battery had gone up, yet it didn't say it was charging.

Weird.

I smiled at her, this time not caring if my teeth showed, "But don't worry, you can see with your own eyes! Here, let me just-" I yelped once the nimbat climbed my lap and stood on my thighs.

Even if I couldn't see her eyes, I could tell she was taking in the screen, "Show me, show me!"

I laugh at the sensation of their small claws tickling me.

To my surprise, I didn't feel any pain even when her whole weight was on one of her feet, probably thanks to whatever the fuck they did to my anatomy to buff my "DEF".

"Sure, Uhm, let me see what I can show you." Let's see.

That was easier said than actually doing so. Why? Well, I didn't know what to show her that would be simple enough for her "primitive" brain to understand what the fuck was going on on the screen.

That, and some games were a little too grim to be enjoyable in our situation right now.

*cough* Darkest Dungeon *Cough*

Then, when it hit me.

One of my favorite games, which was so good that I suffered countless nights in an attempt to get into my stupid mini-console, only to end in failure.

But I tried again and again, because I REALLY wanted to be able to play it on something that wasn't my phone or PC.

Why? simple, I needed my phone to call in case of emergencies or to be more aware of my mail, not even mentioning the alarm to wake up.

And if I was gonna play it in PC... Then I would die inside, since I rather be drawings or writing then.

Anyways, the game was... Death Road to Canada.

The graphics? Simple and easy to understand 2d pixel art.

Humor? Light-hearted and silly.

Enemies? Zombies, which she probably would get, having in mind that we found something similar to one.

Gameplay? Easy to get and easy to master if you have someone to teach you the basics.

My level of expertise? High, yet I didn't know all the events by memory even now, so we could get a few funny surprises.

Multiplayer? Yup, and it was easy to hoard "meat" shields to have as backup in case Fidget died too many times.

In other words, in my meager selection of games, it was the best fit to teach Fidget the way of video games!

I smiled, putting the game away.

Fidget paid great attention to the screen; clearly, the simple novelty of the menu moving was more than enough to captivate her.

I did it both a favor, and lowered the console down, and like a moth to light, she sat down in my lap-

...

OH no.

Her ass fit perfectly into the gap of my lap, her asscheeks hugging my bulge with ease, the fact that I didn't have underwear made it MUCH WORSE.

I expected Fidget to jump at the sudden OBVIOUS junk she perfectly sat on, yet as I heard the intro of the game, I looked at her.

She was staring owlishly at the screen, not even an inkling of a blush or hint that she noticed what she just did.

"How does that even work!? I don't feel any magic from this thing, yet I can feel it has a lot of precious stuff too!" She exclaimed, leaning forward even closer to the screen, and by proxy, shifting her weight in my junk.

ANON, FOCUS.

Fast! Explain how these things work!

"Well, I'm not an expert in technology, but I did see this one meme that is stuck to my head, soooo, we basically tricked a rock into thinking," I stated.

Fidget seemed to debate the idea of looking at my face. Instead, she just blinked once the song started playing, the title of the game being at the center of the screen on bold, big letters, a horde of zombies just hanging around, "...What?"

I cleared my throat, focusing on the task and thinking about this.

"Basically, using a set of lights and electricity, we make it understand messages based on zeros and ones, and through a method that would probably go over your head called "code," we make it think."

"...I don't get it." She spoke slowly.

"Yeah, me neither. Welcome to the party," I made her snort, and I followed suit. Deciding we had had enough of the start screen, I pressed A to start the game, and after muscle memory navigated the GUI, I started a new run, not before selecting my two characters-

"...Are those humans? And why are they both called Anon?" Uh, oh.

Right, I did name them both my preferred self-insert name, didn't I?

"Well, in this game you can choose certain traits in the character you make, one of them makes them really strong at the start, but unless you find a way to make them... Uhm, healthier, they will die on one hit." I muttered, "I kinda gave that name to two characters to represent myself in the game; they both are battle-focused, but one of them is stronger since it has the Berserker trait, but he also is super easy to kill if I'm not careful." I shrugged, "I kinda like it with at the very least one of them makes it to the end."

Fidget slowly looked up, blinked, and snorted again, "Typical male."

I stared at her, her sight slowly coming back to the pixelated GUI.

I would have felt offended if I didn't know how true that was... Still, was starting to become repetitive... But nah, I really didn't care, I knew Fidget didn't meant much by it, as she wasn't like the toxic feminist's in the internet that decided the source of all evil where men.

After all, every dude dreams at one point to be the strongest dude alive, and even if it was just a representation of them, they didn't like losing.

"Sooo, why does he have wild, long black hair when you are practically bald?"

A snort escaped my nostrils, the fact she was sitting in my junk banishing away as I put a fake hurt tone with a aghast gasp, "Fidget! You never ask a dude by their lack of hair!"

Fidget snapped her head back to me, her face twitched for a moment, then she saw my shit eating grin and huffed, "Aww, you always dream of having lushus long hair? Too bad, I guess."

I rolled my eyes, "I will let you know I cut my hair down on purpose, thank you very much," I rubbed my short black hair on the top of my scalp, compared to my original one, this one was soft firm, not dry due to my uncare of it, "I never liked the consequences of long hair, it always got in the way, I had to pay extra attention to it and run maintenance too keep my look, and worse of all..."

Fidget stared at my dramatic pause, "...And?"

I put my most grave expression, "...It-" She got closer, "It fucking tickled my ears and neck."

She kept her unwavering stare, "...You serious?"

I snorted, "Yeah, it was SOOOO annoying, I felt I could have a crash-out at any second because of it, so every time I could, I cut it down to the point it only was a centimeter left at most."

I couldn't help but feel the nimbat rolled her proverbial eyes at that, "You should have left it long, most of us like a male that takes care of themself." She grabbed her own spot of hair resting on the top of her head, "But I guess when mine gets too big, it also gets in the way."

I was about to joke about my decision to remain alone for the rest of my life, due to the fact that I could only feel attraction to anthro females, but I kept that joke to myself, since I feel it would have killed the mood... That and it wouldn't make sense anymore.

Instead, I smile at her, "Well, if it is any help, I like how you look now with that amount of hair, it fits you."

Wait, did I just flirt-

Fidget gave me a grateful smile, "Thanks, uhn, and you don't look..." She gave me a shit eating grin, her tone full of jest, "THAT bad."

I gave the most exaggerated pout, since I had already arrived at that conclusion FAR before her. That, and her joking tone, wasn't lost on me.

So instead, I faked cleaning a tear on my right eye, "Ok, I take it all back, you look horrible."

Fidget snickered at my exaggerated acting, " No takesies backsies!" She poked her tongue at me, "You already confessed how SEXY I am!"

If I rolled my eyes any harder, they would fall out of their sockets. "Woooow, ladies and gentlemen, the most humble nimbat to ever exist graces us with her presence!"

She made a fake bow a few times in random directions, "Thank you, thank you, I'm sure it is an honor for ALL of you!"

I chuckled at her theatrics, and she seemed happy that I was amused at her shenanigans, "Oh, you are so humble that my eyes might melt off due to your radiance!" I shook my head, unwilling to continue with this joke before it became stale.

Once I put both my hands into the console and she heard the sounds of me manipulating it, she snapped her head to it, "Ok, you choose those characters and gave them a name, what now?"

The answer was quite easy: "I will choose a game mode that would make the run faster, since the idea of this was to show you the ropes, not to make you sit through me testing the waters to become a let's player."

She blinked as the image on the screen changed. I was so used to this that I didn't even read the text explaining the mode, "A what now?"

I thought about it. How would I explain this to her?

...

I guess it was quite simple.

"Have you ever played cards?" I prodded, already forming a way to explain this.

She raised one eyebrow at the question, "Duh! Who do you think I'm?"

I nodded, "Just asking, and since you have played with them, you should know that there are different sets of games and rules you can play with, right?"

Her eyebrow shot upward even further, yet at my serious face, she finally spoke, "Yes, Anon, I know."

"Well, it is like that for this game, most mode share the same basic rule of how your characters move around and fights, but other stuff, like the lenght of the game, varies depending on what game mode you choose," I pressed the start button, making her snap back to the screen, "One let's you play forever until all your characters die, but the one I choose this time will make the game last only 9 days instead of 15-"

I felt her choke in her own spit, and I could almost believe I almost saw her eyes fall from her face, "9 DAYS!?"

AH, I guess I should explain the basics.

"Days inside the game last only a few minutes, and that only if you are around looting the place, but most times you will have a decision to make each day, and if you choose right, you can get stuff that will let you win the game easier." She stared blankly at me.

...

"Ok, I'd better explain this game." Sometimes I forget some people actually play the game for the history and the lore, not because of how fun they were to play.

"Ok, so, this game is based in my world, which society fell after a zombie pandemic happened-"

"Z-zombies?!" She screamed.

"Relax Fidget, they are quite literally pixels in a screen, they cannot hurt you, and this game is pure fiction," I reassuringly explained, thankfully, it was enough to relax her for me to continue, "In this game our objective is to arrive to land called canada, which is heard that is the only safe place after the collapse of the home of our character." I pointed at the text of the introduction, explaining basically that our character started in Florida, and they wanted to go to Canada since they didn't have anything left in here.

I waited for the nimbat to read the text; her mutterings under her breath were a clue enough that she was reading.

"Uhm...Ok, now what?" She stated, unsure what to do.

It was clear she didn't notice the game gave us two options already, one was to "hit the road" and the other was to get some hints.

"Now we can choose if we want to start the game or get some pointers on how to play the game." I selected the second option, "For example..."

The game text box changed, the nimbat reading aloud this time, "If your characters all have full health, fighting off bandits will usually not kill any of them." She stopped, "Uhm, I guess that makes sense?"

I nodded, making the game give us another clue. This time, I read the text, "Shotguns are still very effective for people with low shooting skills. High damage and knockdown."

She blinked, "Oh, I think I get it now."

"Want another?" I asked, since the game was so nice, to explain its mechanics to me.

She nodded, and she read instantly as the text started to form, "Fire and explosives can damage your own- Ok, that is pretty obvious, let's just start."

I snorted. I guess it chose the most obvious hints this time.

I chose "hit the road"

I upped the volume, and the sound of relaxing music started hitting my brain quite nicely after so much time without hearing music.

For someone who always needed background sound to quiet his brain, it was like a splash of fresh water to a shored fish.

Fidget saw the notification of the game giving us starting food, yet before she could comment on it, the message "Embarking on the death road" appeared.

Basically, explaining to us that we would start by looting a place, since we would need the resources to survive.

"Oh... So they loot stuff like we do?" She stated, still reading the text.

I was about to deny, when I remembered the few days in this place, "...Yup." I pointed at the options, "So, we can choose a hotel, a place where people stay temporarily while they travel, a rest stop that... it is mostly to get food and supplies when you are also traveling, or a quiet factory that used to manufacture stuff, where they usually have construction gear that we could use as weapons."

She blinked, "Uhm, I guess the rest stop is a nice start? They will need the food, don't they?"

I nodded, happy that she chose the faster of them all.

---

The looting went quite fast, as I was already used to choosing this location to loot.

I gotta admit, there was a certain fear in me that she would fear the game because of how close it was to our situation, yet once she saw the sluggish, dumb looking pixelated zombies, she let out a snort as I casually passed by one, not before exploding their brain with a decisive hand-axe swing.

She was amused by how easy it was for my character to do that.

"Wow, your self-insert did it much faster and easily than you ever did." She pointed out.

I, of course, rolled my eyes as I entered the square building, "Well, duh, it is much easier to press one button to kill something than to actually do the motions yourself."

"Or maybe you should take a few notes," She cockely said as she saw me loot the only room with worthwhile loot, as normally happens for this specific location, "...What is a magnun?"

"It is a firearm, like the things that they used against us," I explained as I checked the public bathroom.

"Oh... Well, isn't that perfect?" She explained, "They sure worked against..."

I shuddered, "Me, yeah, I know, yet their ammunition isn't infinite. I usually hoard all the ammo for the last location, which is the hardest location of the game."

"Oh-, why is that-" She stopped once I get in the car so I could leave the location, "Wait, that kinda looks like the car-" Her eyes open wide as she saw the tires screech, the engine screaming as it speed out rather quickly, a few unfortunate zombies being taken out by the overwhelming weight of the car, "Woah! Wait, those things can do that!?"

I chuckled, I guess she was too busy talking to me to actually notice the car moving at the start, "Yeah, imagine a very big animal running at full speed and running you over, except that we made them into machines that we can control."

"Well, I know things like that can do! After all, I have seen this flying machine that Dust just hooks to their sword and slams them into the ground! The explosion they made really helped us to keep the soldiers off our trail!" She casually commented.

I blinked slowly, the text explaining how much loot I got forgotten due to that comment, "...Wait, Dust was in the ground zero of the explosion of a vehicle, yet he didn't get wounded with said explosion and all the fragments of the flying machine?"

"Of course it did! It was so cool!" She said energetically.

I guess when you are in a warzone, thinking stuff like that is cool would keep you sane.

But I needed to ask the following thing," Fidget, did you hear me? I said an EXPLOSION, that you just admitted that DID affect the other soldiers!"

I fucking thought in the game they only did that to be dramatic! What difference was there in that explosion and not the explosion of the volcanic eruption!?

The nimbat blinked, "Yeah? What about it?"

I gaped, "I- Uh- I-", my mouth was doing its best to formulate a sentence.

Those fucking ships were huge! This wasn't something that video game logic would make sense!

Yet, I didn't want to grill the nimbat in something she clearly didn't pay attention to in the first place, so I just sighed, "Never mind." I then continued with the game.

I press a button, the text advancing by itself, making the nimbat stare at the console once more.

A new event had shown itself.

"Old campground"

"The group finds an abandoned campground with a fire pit. Anon even finds an old, somewhat stale extra-large pack of marshmallows!"

Two options were given, yet the nimbat poked the "Eat marshmallows" option almost instantly!

It was obvious she did it for me to choose it myself, "That! Nothing like finishing a long travel with-" She blinked once the screen responded to her input, making her take her hand back, "Uhm... Did I do that?"

I snorted, "Yeah, in some games you can touch the screen to interact with the game, but most don't." I shrugged, "I would have chosen that anyway; the other option would have given us just some morale, and our two boys are already happy."

She blinked as the text changed, basically explaining how they ate almost the whole bag, and some were spared, giving us +2 to our food resources.

"Oh, Kinda wish I had some now!" She tapped her belly, "Talking about eating, we still haven't gotten breakfast!"

...Oh, right, I forgot that I apparently didn't need to eat, so I didn't feel hungry like her.

"Let me do one location more, and I will open the other rewards to get you something to drink," I explained, making our character continue with their travel.

---

Two options to loot were given: a pet shop and a police station.

Both trash level locations, to be honest, the pet shop gives you some food, and perhaps some dog recruits if you have special abilities that let you befriend feral dogs.

The police station was better, giving a slight upgrade to one of our characters with a police stick or a brass knuckle.

I, of course, have to explain this basic stuff to Fidget.

"...A pet shop? Like, a shop that sells pets?" Her voice sounded interested and intrigued. "What can you get there?"

"Sadly, in this game you can only get a few animals as pets," I shrugged, "Some dogs, maybe cats, perhaps a panda if you get that specific event, and a few more I don't remember." I gesture with one hand, "But in this location, you will find feral dogs that I cannot domesticate without a specific ability." I pointed at the other option, "The police station, let's you get some weapons, so I would rather go there."

"...What is a police station?" She questions next.

Ah, right.

"They are the peacekeeper of society where I come from, kinda like the guard."

"Oh, Ok, then go there, I guess. You will need weapons to keep destroying those silly-looking zombies," her nod only confirmed she lost interest in the pet shop.

---

The looting of the place was simple, like always. I went to the house that was in the way first, getting some food.

Fidget stared in silence while I split skulls with the hand axes of my characters.

I expected nothing interesting to happen; that was until I entered a bathroom.

Fidget instantly spoke once I didn't turn around instantly, "Uhm, is that a bathroom? Why are you getting close to that-" She stopped, once I opened one toilet and got 3 fuel, "W-what?! Anon, did you just loot a toilet?!"

I smirked, "Always check toilets for toilet loot, Fidget! You never know-" I stopped abruptly,  a sudden explosion of purple smoke gave way to a very pixilated genie.

Ah.

Right.

"W-What?! Did that genie come out of that toilet?!" Her confusion was more than evident; she clearly didn't expect this turn of events as much as I did.

"...Yup, that is a toilet genie, what? Don't tell me you don't have one of those where you come from?" I smirked, already seeing a way to joke around.

"A what?!" She gaped, "Your original world has TOILET GENIES?!"

I wiped the smirk off my face, knowing I needed to do this joke right.

I, of course, kept my promise to never lie to her. Instead of saying a simple YES or NO, I said the next thing, "Well, don't you hate it when you open a toilet, and a fucking toilet genie fucking came out? I would hate it if that happens, the room probably would become a mess with all the toilet water, and imagine if you forgot to flush!"

Fidget gaped, probably aware of what I meant since she had used the toilet to do her necessities recently, "EW, EW, EW, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR WORLD?!"

Ups, probably too much.

I finally cracked and started to laugh, making her understand I was pulling her leg. She let out a groan as she rested her head in my chest, "Screw you! So what is going on with this thing then?!"

I just let out a last chuckle, "In this game, you can play as many times as you want, and each game it tracks how many toilets you open their lid. Right now, every time I open 50 toilets, a toilet genie appears." I pointed at the options, "Each time they appear, it will grant you one of these wishes. One will give you a lot of food, the other will make the character make the wish ... You know what? Let me show you"

I clicked the option, since I was using "berserker" Anon.

Fidget blinked, the text changing, and she spoke aloud, "Immortality, Anon stares in horror as their skin turns to stone, trapping them in place forever as a statue-" She gasped, "Anon! You should have known better than to believe in a Genie! They are EVIL."

I chuckled, "Keep reading, you freaky racist nimbat."

She grumbled at that nickname, giving me the stink eye, "First of all, I'm not racist! It is a fact!-"

I held back the need to snort, "That is something someone racist would say-"

She scrunched up her face, speaking loudly, clearly in an attempt to shut me up, "...LIKE I WAS SAYING, it is the truth! All stories I read have them end up being evil! They always twist your wish in one way or another. You wish for gold? BAM, a stack of gold spears on top of you, crushing your body! Do you wish for someone to fall in love? BUM, They make them fall in love with you, but you are also falling from a cliff! You wish to become immortal, BAM," She pointed at the text, "YOU BECOME A STUPID STATUE!" I just gave her an amused smile and gestured with my head to the text, making her finally finish the last sentence, "No wait, it just kind of turned their skin grey... Oh."

I couldn't contain my laugh, "Yeah, in this game, this gives you one maximum health, aka, Berserker Anon won't instantly die with one hit."

"Oh... That is good? I think?" She looked at the guy, "Oh, his skin did turn gray, that looks kinda silly."

"See? Not because this was an evil Genie means that all Genies are evil!" I explained with a shit eating grin.

"I guess not- Wait, did you say he was evil?" Fidget snapped back to me, confused at my statement.

"What? I didn't say he wasn't, did I? I just said it was racist to assume all genies are evil," I casually shrugged.

"B-But this one didn't turn you to stone!, wait! What was the point of calling me racist then!?" She snapped her face to me.

I casually shrugged, "It is funny."

"...Screw you."

---

After that, I looted the police station, getting some police batons for both of my boys.

Fidget seemed perplexed that the "Guard" didn't use spears or swords, so I explained to her that in my world, killing someone, even if they were dangerous, was frowned upon, so these things were mostly to beat someone into submission.

"But what about monsters!?" Her dumbfoundment was evident in her voice.

"Well... I would agree, but every police officer normally has a firearm, and humanity tamed or killed anything that we would fear." I shuddered as I clicked the text telling me what resources I got, "Something, something, we are apex predators, something."

"Oh... Well, not having to worry about monsters... That would be nice at the very least."

I shook my head, "Well, yeah, but when there aren't any real monsters around, you find out that your own kind can be worse than any nightmare you could ever imagine." I explained simply, "But never mind that, let's get you something to eat."

---

I destroyed the last quest chest and picked up the last blue bag that it dropped. Fidget just stared at me, "Sooo, why don't you just... You know, open the chest and loot what is inside instead of just breaking it?"

She saw me spawn the chest in stride, and she let out a small scream once I started to punch the wooden chest with gold edges.

Apparently, my natural weapons in this state were my fist, and it felt KINDA nice to punch holes into the things.

I shrugged, checking the contents of the bags, "I tried looking inside, but it was just a black void-" I yelped, the bag suddenly expanding in a flash.

In an instant, the contents fell to the floor, and I feared some would break. Thankfully, none did.

The loot was a lot to say the very least, making me wonder if I got lucky in the first opening, or if I should expect this amount of stuff in all bags.

Or perhaps had to be with the fact I used a trebol to increase my luck.

Deciding to review all the things I got, I opened all the bags and hoped for the best.

Fidget, of course, screamed and took cover at the amount of things that fell to the floor.

"Ups," I stated, happy nothing broke.

"You could warn a girl before you did something like that, you dummy!" Fidget exclaimed, the lack of amusement in her voice making me wonder if she was really angry.

"Uhm, maybe next time," I sheepishly said, reviewing the things I got again.

...Ok, I got a lot of new stuff.

A bow, a new sword, a shield, a new armor, a staff, and something that interested me a lot, a scepter.

That, and of course, a lot of stat pot that would work as something to drink for Fidget.

I picked up the new sword and put it in my weapons slot, my damage increasing slightly, but what I was really interested in was the weird blue chainmail armor that was claimed to be made of Mithril.

You know, a well-known fantasy ore.

The metal felt cold to the touch, and when I moded it, it felt flexible, yet resistant, if that made any sense.

I didn't think much about it, and changed my new armor, happy that I increased my defenses by a few points... That and I notice the thing was enchanted to reduce all incoming damage by 4%! Well, that is very little, but that was better than nothing!

I tested the bow, the string getting pulled backwards, but nothing happened, so I guess I need arrows in the first place to use it.

Lame.

Well, at the very least, there was a metal shield that, once I picked it up, I noticed how fucking heavy it was.

I guess now I know why the knight class was so slow.

Last was the staff and the scepter, so leaving the shield alone, I picked up the scepter and walked up to the nimbat.

"Sooooo, what is that?" She managed to ask, snapping her attention from the stat pots, cleaning her own drool.

I held back my laughter, "This is a scepter, used by sorcerers to cast a devastating chain of electricity. I was wondering if you knew how to use it." I offered said thing to her.

The said scepter was half a meter tall, with its head much thicker than the slim frame it was bound to.

Two green lines were across its head, making it kinda fitting for the nimbat to be the owner of this thing.

Said nimbat took it, her wings having to flap faster to keep up with the new weight, "Uhm, maybe, but it is kinda heavy... That and I have never used a focus to cast a spell." She added the last tidbit in an awkward tone, sounded kinda ashamed to confess it, "I never thought I would need... You know, electrocute or burn people."

I stared at her, "Weren't you the guardian of the sword?"

"Hey! It was kinda like, to make sure nobody took it from its resting place, ok?! Our whole village was around the dammed sword! Nobody ever dared to pick it up or even come closer to it!" She hit herself in the forehead with said scepter head, "How was I supposed to know after HUNDRED of years the sword would have finally decided to just wake up and FLY AWAY." She gestured with said scepter, like she planned to hit me, "I was so flabergasted that I didn't have even time to get SOMETHING to go with me, just a few mushrooms to combat poison that I always have just in case!"

I lifted my hands in an attempt to appease her, "Ok! Ok! Sorry, geez, you don't have to cave my head with that."

She huffed and stared at said scepter, concentrating on it.

[...]

[...Fair]

Warning:

Do you wish to give the right to the thunderclap scepter to party member "Fidget"?

Said item will become soulbound to said party member, and won't be able to be used by other persons (With the exception of beings capable of breaking the soulbound).

Ah... Ok, sure, why not?

I accept the message, happy they even let me give the stuff to her, and not just letting me have a glorified paperweight.

Said nimbat suddenly yelped as a sudden lightning bolt shot just to the side of my head, hitting the wall.

But you know what they say.

First comes the lightning, then the thunder.

I screamed in agony as my left eardrum decided to explode thanks to the loud thunderclap, yet enough of my hearing remained that I did notice the concrete of the walls exploding due to the moisture of said wall evaporating in a flash, making the concrete burst from the point of contact, break apart, and shoot some small pieces.

I held my head, "I-I PRAY FOR HEALING." I spoke, well, I think I spoke, it was hard to know when my damm ear was ringing so much.

In an instant, the high pitch of Fidget greeted my renewed ears, "-ANON IM SO SORRY, IT SUDDENLY RESPONDED AND-"

"Fidget! It is fine, just, ugh, be careful where you aim that thing!" I slowly stood up and looked at the mess that the nimbat just caused.

Where the TV would be in a normal home, there instead was an apple-sized hole, a spider web of destruction on the concrete surrounding it, making me glad I wasn't hit by it.

"Did I... Did I do that?" Fidget awed, seeming to forget she almost blew my head with that stunt, "AWESOME- Woah!" Fidget gasped, letting go of the scepter; probably adrenaline kept her normal for this long.

"Hey! You ok?!" I ran to her side, holding my arms to catch her in case her wings gave up on her... yet I was still surprised when she accepted my offer, using my right bicep as a seat.

I almost let her fall due to the sudden change of weight, yet I remain steady, "Yeah, just, ugh, I felt a little lightheaded... I think that thing used a lot of me just to cast one attack." She rubbed her head, "Geez, that was something, I think I should keep my normal spell casting, unless I need to take down something big!"

Ah, I guess her wisdom must be very low for her to-

Yeah, I won't even think about it.

"Hey, great biceps by the way, very, uhm, firm?" She smiled, finally noticing where she was sitting, the white fur in her face becoming redder.

I blinked, finally digesting what was going on.

"I, uhm, thanks, you are welcome to sit in there as much as you want," I whisper out, unsure what else to say.

In stories and games, it wasn't rare for a very muscular guy to have his girl on his bicep, sometimes carrying even more on each arm. In anything that wasn't fiction, it was a pipedream; after all, the average human girl would be impossible to keep for long in that position.

But for Fidget, a girl who was about a third my size, it was like she was made to be sitting there.

She is truly perfect-sized, wasn't she? I always liked girls smaller than me, but thanks to my cursed genetics, the odds of finding someone who was smaller than me and who was also interested in me were impossible.

I guess that was why I'm so attracted to her, that, and she had all the things any human man could wish for in a partner.

Aka a great personality attached to a set of nice eyes, cute wings that seemed to mirror her emotions, making me want to smile each time she was resting them, two cute little fangs that always seemed to poke out of her upper lips, all that attached to great assets, such as wide hips, a shapely ass, a small set amount of-

I blinked, hearing Fidget letting out an inhuman sound that sounded like the combination of an air balloon deflating and the scream of the bravest rabbit warrior.

I blinked a few times, then stared at the nimbat.

The said nimbat had her wings extended to their full mast, her mouth agape, her eyes wide, and her small claws doing their best to impale my right bicep.

And her face was so red that for a moment she believed that she had dyed her face fur to that crimson color.

...What happened?

Did I offend her when I told her she could sit there? I couldn't have been ogling her, because I was staring at the hole she made in the wall.

"Uhm, Fidget? something wrong?" I softly muttered out, hoping I didn't offend her by accident.

"I- Uh- Gah- I- I mean- just- whu- woh- I- uhh- You- ME- see- wide- perfect- but- you- big- and- uh- just-" The onslaught of fail sentences was interrupted when her stomach let itself know, reminding us that she haven't eaten all this time.

Ah, maybe her stomach had sounded very loud before, making her feel embarrassed, thinking I had heard.

I slowly walked to the stat pots. I was about to pick a wisdom potion or a mana one, you know, to help her with her casting, but then I remembered how she got hurt not long ago.

...If they had decided to focus on Fidget, she wouldn't be here now, would she?

It is true that DEF wasn't a big deal unless you maxed that stat out and had the best armor for your class, but every little bit would probably help.

I picked two defence potions and walked to the gift chest.

Ha, this reminds me of the times I acted as host for my friends, and carried a lot of glasses with one hand.

Having three bottles in just one hand really awakens those memories; it was easier thanks to the bottle neck being decently manageable, with each being nestled by two fingers.

"What- Guh- I- But- I'm- not- pretty- ugly-" ...She still going with that?

Damm, she must be very flustered.

---

Fidget POV

---

WHAT THE FUCK-

LANGUAGE!

WHAT THE FRICK-

Did he just?

WHAT WAS THAT!?

I mean, I had noticed that Anon was starting to speak his thoughts under his breath! But this, I-

WHAT?!

He said I WAS PERFECTLY SIZED! That I have a great personality! ME, the one that everyone called annoying! The one called Fidget!

A-And that- I have a great body!

ME!?

IS HE BLIND?! IS THE BULLET STILL STUCK IN HIS BRAIN?!

LOOK AT MY FUR, I was shedding like crazy! Some parts were clearly lacking in a healthy coat, yet here he was, considering me all those things-

I snapped out of my stupor, my ass planting into something very soft, but at the same time somewhat stiff.

I blinked and looked around, my face was burning, but-

I suddenly looked down, seeing a plated French toast with two black potions to the side, maybe another smoothie?

I looked up next, feeling something warm to my back, only to see the chin of Anon, who was gulping down a blue smoothie.

Noticing my stare, he looked down- NOPE!

I snapped my head back to the toast, fully knowing that my brain couldn't stare him directly in the eyes. My core was alighted with an inferno of need as it was, thank you very much! If I looked at him now...

Just thinking about how he had looked at me before was already overwhelming!

Now I understand! His soft and loving stare! He blushed randomly when I accidentally flashed him one of my private parts! He blushed every time I complimented him!

HE LIKED ME.

ME!

ME?! And judging by the things he didn't think I could hear, it wasn't only because he wanted to bone me! He was actually attracted to me! Like, to my WHOLE deal! I have seen him smile at my jokes and jabs, so that tracked.

WHAT WAS THAT HE WOULD BE PUNISHED IF HE DIDN'T BONE ME?!

I thought I had heard wrong, so I just change the subject to silence my stupid brain thinking he would even be interested in doing something like that with me!

I wasn't pretty! My breasts were so small that I could easily hide them by growing my chest fluff! Maybe he didn't notice, but I WAS overweight! (Was, because I think I'm not anymore)

Oh wait, we did talked about this, didn't we? He told me that my health was being affected by my weight, and I faked offense to convince him I was the average nimbat and not a girl that barely did any exercise at all. 

I mean, what about him?! Yeah, since he isn't a nimbat or similiar, I cannot tell if he is handsome or not, but he sure as hell isn't bad to the eyes, even more now that he is human! It was weird that he could change his body appearance in a whim, but he probably could avoid that during the times it truly matter! 

G-guh! But what if he gets me pregnant?! I mean, I shouldn't be in season for a good while, but-

I took out the cork of one of the bottles, and I hoped that drowning my thoughts was possible, even if it wasn't one alcoholic drink!

... Oh, Blackberries.

I drank the whole thing in one go, making the craving for sustenance vanish in an instant, and I licked my lips, happy that this thing had flavors.

I gasped, feeling an odd tingling sensation cover my whole body.

I blinked slowly. I wasn't blind to notice the fact that my very thin coat had become more robust and full, the more obvious part that had less fur due to my poor health and my high-stress life filling up nicely. Heck! Maybe Anon didn't notice, but I was shedding A LOT lately, and that isn't very healthy, having in mind that it wasn't spring OR fall for me to start shedding as much as I was! 

This is clearly a good sign of good health and genes, that before, I thought I was cursed to become a bald nimbat at the ripe age of 144, but here I was, looking prettier than ever!

To confirm my point, I put a hand on my chest fluff (the place with the most fur on my body, covering even my nipples) and pulled!

IT HELD FIRM!? And also, for some reason, it didn't hurt! It even slipped through my grasp with ease, not sticking to my paws.

"Uhm, what are you doing?"

I jolted, remembering where I was sitting, "Uhm, just checking what this potion did to me... What was supposed to be?"

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you, that was a defense potion... I don't have an idea what was supposed to do, besides the point to make you more resistant to damage," He thought about it, grabbing one hand and pinching his own cheek, pulling with probably more strength than I.

His following words were easier to understand than I expected, but he did sound kinda funny, "Uhm, my skin seems to be a little more stretchy, and it doesn't hurt to do this as much as it should, so maybe that?"

"Oh... What about my fur?" I said simply, already having a feeling he was as clueless as I.

"Well... I don't know, maybe it is harder to pull out?" ...He didn't notice.

"I mean, I cannot see any difference, probably because I never paid attention to that." He muttered under his breath again, clearly confused.

I snorted, opening the next one and eating it with the toast.

As always, it was heaven, and too soon, the stupid toast was already gone with the black potion.

I felt the tingling sensation again, this time more tame; I probably wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't paying attention to it.

Yet even now, I could see my coat was a LOT healthier, I couldn't even see my skin, and it was even hard when I moved it out of the way!

I had a goofy smile. I wonder if this would make me stop shedding! It was always a nightmare. If I didn't groom myself, I felt my body ALL itchy, and I had to clean my tent or sheets EVERY day, or lose my mind over the fact I could create a second ME with how much I was shedding.

I got especially moody at that time...

Wait.

"Anon... Why did you give me these two things to me, and didn't drink them yourself?" My eye twitched.

"Uhm... So you wouldn't get hurt?" he spoke, almost done with his own blue smoothie.

"Why does she look so fucking pissed?" Here, he muttered, his flaw of speaking his thoughts showing itself again.

"...Anon, are you really telling me this after you only survived by the skin of your teeth?" My tone was low, since I was controlling my need to bite his stupid face out of his skull.

"...Yes?" He said carefully, "Uhm, I get it that-"

"Anon... How many of these do we have left?" I interrupted him, not wanting to hear his poor excuse for his lack of self-preservation.

He gulped, "Uhm, none?"

I could feel my body vibrate, fury burning through my veins.

Then I took a deep breath and remembered how much prettier I was thanks to him.

I remember that he did this because he worried a lot more about me than himself.

I remember that he liked LIKED me, and when males fell in love... well, maybe that is a hard word, but when males like a female, they tend to act VERY dumb.

So instead, I finally expelled the breath I was holding out of my lungs, "Next set of defense potions, you are drinking them yourself, ok?"

He blinked slowly, the blue potion finally empty, "Uhm, but-"

"Sorry, Anon, I think you misheard me, this isn't a debate, next defense potions are going right down your gullet, do. You. Understand?" I gave him the look.

The same look that my mother gave to my father when his horniness was ruining something or making him act extra dumb.

The same look that each woman learn to rein in a male, that we learn from generation to generation.

And of course, like every sane man, he just gulped and said the simple words that sealed his fate, "Yeah..."

"Good, now how about we continue with the game?" My usual face was back to normal, glad that he agreed with me.

"God, she can be so fucking scary at times," Anon muttered under his breath yet again, reminding me that I should really warn him of the fact that he does that.

Of course, I held back the need to point it out for now, after all, hearing him compliment me felt... Very good, sure I'm VERY confident in my abilities, but actually hearing it from someone else? It was great! Almost as great as hearing Dust say he needed me.

Don't get me wrong, getting validation of my skills was nice, but getting validation as a woman was at another level.

---

I looked at the "console"; I still didn't understand how it worked, and judging by the words of Anon, he didn't either.

"Remind me how you don't know how this works? This thing has been around all your life, right? Shouldn't you know more about them?" I decided to probe, knowing more about him would be nice, after all.

"Oh yeah? Then I will guess you know all the details on how to make a cupcake, since ya know, they have been around all your life." He rebutted.

I lifted a hand with a finger, then slowly curled it back into my hand, "Touche." I accepted defeat, after all, even if I loved sweets so much, I didn't know how to make most of them.

I stared back at the screen once the sound of text being written sounded.

I read the text out loud.

"Repair Shop Repair."

"The group finds a repair shop. There's a tiny bit of gas, plus a lot of broken garbage. There could be something good here, if you know how to fix it."

"+10 Gasoline"

"Pick someone to spend a day repairing junk:"

• Ignore junk
• [Choose character]

I stared at it, "sooo, what now?"

Anon chuckled, "Alright, how about you choose? I feel my explaining all the events wouldn't be very fun, after all, most of it you get by what happens in the game."

I fidgeted on his lap- (thing that made him gasp for some reason), but I guess I knew what he meant, "Suurreee, ok, let's do this! Berseker Anon, I choose you?"

I could feel Anon wince, yet he chose that anyway.

Anon spends a day trying to fix something in the junk pile...

He accidentally gets a lot of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. He learns about repair, the hard way.

+1 repair.

"Ah, I thought this was the event that would make them get tired." Anon sighs in relief, "If they get tired, they become REALLY weak by the way, it's almost always a death sentence if you get all your party tired."

"Oh... Why is that?" I question, seeing the new text form in front of me.

"Well, your fighting stats get a BIG debuff, and you have a chance to lose all your stamina instantly with one attack." Before I could speak, he spoke next with a deep voice.

"No More Creepypastas"

"The group is sitting around a campfire, resting before a brutal day tomorrow."

• Tell Scary Stories
• Just go to sleep

"So, what do you choose?" He ended.

"...Anon, telling horror stories before going to sleep sounds the fastest way to get all your character tired, I know VERY well that I wouldn't sleep if you told me one in the same situation." Before hearing him, I tapped the second option.

"Yeah... I can see that," He smuggly claimed.

"Bold set of words for someone at bitting range." I, of course, kept my tone jovial, being a joke more than anything.

There wasn't any other text, simply another text forming, telling us that both Anons eat a meal each.

As I saw the car drive on that concrete road, a new thing appeared; since we hadn't broken the unspoken rule to read one event each, I decided to read it this time.

"Extra Deluxe Ultima Wonkor Burger"

"...What?" I stopped, confused at the title.

A snort escaped Anon, "Go on, you read that correctly."

I was confused, but I continued anyway.

"The group takes shelter in a Wonkor Burger, which was a chain of burg* restaurants before the apocalypse. Unfortunately, they served real food, so it should all be spoiled by now.

To their great surprise, there's an untouched and still hot Wonkor Burger right on a table."

"It is the MIRACLE WONKOR, designed as the perfect burg for both health and taste."

I stared at the text in silence, looking at the last bit of text, "*Translator's note: 'Burg' means 'burger', Ok, that doesn't explain anything!"

"I don't know what you are talking about; all that you need is written on there," Anon managed to speak with a straight face.

"So, no clues to what this will do?" I asked, annoyed that he wouldn't explain anything.

"noooope... Actually, I'm not sure myself." He added at the end.

"Oh? Well, you did say we should make Berserker Anon healthier, so I guess pick him?" I stared at the icon with the gray stone human.

"Sure, maybe it works like that, that or it grants full health, and will be just a waste of time since both our characters are full." He selected the thing himself this time.

Eat that Burg

Anon devours that burg! IT WAS A CRITICAL HIT!!!

THE MIRACLE WONKOR CONFERS ITS BLESSING

Anon +2 Vitality

Anon moral :(----> :D

Could this be a gift from the Gods of Burgs?

Anon choked with his own spit, "holly fuck! Two vit?! He has more health than normal Anon!"

I raised my nose in righteousness pride, "All according to Keikaku!"

Anon looked down at me, "Okay, how in the bloody hell do you know what a Keikaku is?"

I stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember where I heard those set of words, "...I don't know." I stared back at the screen, giving up almost instantly, "Oh, Berserker Anon is purple now."

Anon snorted for some reason, "Shit, we better not let him around kids from now on, or-" My eyes opened wide at the sudden deep voice he took, his voice melodic in nature, "It's been so long~" My body shuddered, my core heating up, and my ear twitching at the reverberations that rippled through my body due to the fact we where so close, "Will happen." He ended out of nowhere, his tone of voice going back to normal, like he just didn't pull out an incredible singing voice.

"Y-You can sing?!" I exclaimed, not even noticing he continued the game.

"Uhm, kinda? I was gifted with a somewhat deep voice, so sometimes I like to sing songs that fit with my tone... This one doesn't fit very well, but eh, kinda works." He finished, looking at the console, like that was normal.

"Uhm," I fidgeted in his lap yet again, making him gasp once more, yet I ignored it since I was busy mustering courage for what I was about to ask, "Uhm, can you sing me a song?"

His face started blushing a bit, probably due to the embarrassment of my question, "Sure? But, to be honest, I never was one to remember many songs..."

My ears fell"Oh..." That was probably spilling with my sadness, since Anon opened his eyes wide.

"But! I have one that is always stuck to my head, so I can sing that... But, uhm, it is kinda sappy." The man awkwardly finished, his face blushing more.

My ear lifted instantly, "Oh! Sappy is nice too! Come on!" I gave him my best smile as I got closer to his face.

He gulped, putting the console to the side, one hand putting pressure on his solar plexus, and once he closed his eyes, he started, my ear picking up at the nice, deep voice he had.

[Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling In Love]

Wise men say~

Only fools rush in~

My eyes slowly went wide; the melody was slow, a thing that fitted perfectly with its entonations, my brain tingling once more at hearing a song after so long.

But I can't help...

His face started to blossom in an obvious blush, but before I arrived at the conclusion that it was just embarrassment, he opened his eyes, a fire I had never seen burning in his eyes.

falling in love with you~

I gasped, my own face blushing as my eyes went wide.

It was true that it was supposedly a random song, yet when he sang that part, his voice found a way to become even more melodic, my whole body filled with goosebumps, as my hair and wings snapped totally up in attention.

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can't help falling in love with you?

T-this is going too fast! I-is he really dedicating this song to me on a whim!? And why suddenly his voice jumped from an 8/10 to a 10/10?!

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be

I couldn't move! I couldn't look away! My heart skipped so many beats that in any other situation, I would fear I was having a heart attack!

Yet like my heart wanted me to scare me, I felt his left hand grab mine.

Take my hand

Take my whole life, too

For I can't help falling in love with you

My body was trembling! W-what I'm supposed to do?! T-This is too much!

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be~

He closed his eyes, and I was thankful, b-because if he kept looking at me with those eyes, I would have passed out from how much adrenaline was coursing through my body!

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes

Some things are meant to be

The song was repeating in this part, yet my ear followed each and every word religiously, saying that I was captivated would be the understatement of the century.

Take my hand

Take my whole life too

For I can't help

Falling in love with you

I-I could feel it, the song was about to end! And good riddance! B-because I don't think I can handle much more of this!

For I can't help

Falling in love with youuuuuuuu.

...

My mouth fell open.

I could practically feel I had become the sun itself! If I weren't sitting, I would feel like my feet would give under me.

Actually, I feel suddenly very light-

---

Anon pov

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