I was only five meters away from the henchman and I immediately noticed that he was bigger and stronger than the one I had knocked unconscious just a few minutes before. I thought it wasn't going to be easy, especially when my foot decided to trip over the step at the entrance of a block of apartments and, of course, echoed throughout the place.

That broad”backed beast turned around.

“Come on, let's go, we are close. “And he went back to walking as if nothing had happened.

I was lucky he couldn't see my face, because I had gone white.

I had no choice but to stand next to him, just a studied step behind, and accompany him for a while.

“Attention, Gunner”san," said Zen in his ear. They're taking him to a cave near where you are. I don't know how many of them there are, but you have to get rid of them before they get there. You've already seen the closet you're carrying next to you, so don't be an idiot and load it as soon as possible.

“Does Greek know what he's doing? “I asked between my teeth, almost discovering in me the gift of ventriloquism.

“He knows, but, as you understand, he cannot communicate with me, being surrounded by two henchmen," he replied. I have told him that you are not far away. I hope he doesn't take long to act, he doesn't have long to go before he reaches the cave.

I thought about the clan leader and that henchman we killed, also the one who had been left behind and the two who were next to Greek. That made a total of five members. The day we met them there were eight, so at least three more were waiting for us in the cave.

We couldn't wait any longer.

I took a deep breath and took a side step to the right, like in the self”defense tutorials I learned when I was training in virtual Earth. All those hours of training in all kinds of oriental arts were going to pay off, although I didn't expect to put it into practice so soon.

The giant realized that I was not at his side and turned to see if I was following him. I slipped by his right and hit him with the back of my hand in the neck, taking advantage of the fact that he offered me a good profile and was very unprotected.

My hand shook after I hit him, but his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground without so much as half a grunt. I felt powerful, just as those people who in real life made my life miserable and took advantage of my lack of ability to turn me against them must have felt.

But I was not attacking for pleasure or to gain ego, but to save my friend from his captors. I would not kill that kid just because he was my enemy; a life in Allsium was just as sacred as one in reality. Greek, for his part, had decided to be trigger”happy in the virtual world, perhaps because he knew all too well that, if given too many opportunities, a troublemaker could create real problems. I thought about how many lies he would have told the mafia to get his life spared or his debt deferred.

I was not like that.

I left the huge body of that guy on the ground and continued on my way, but not before taking everything he had on him, including his clothes. I checked, by the way, that in Allsium it was also possible to rob a person in an unconscious state. Just as it was going to happen to the other henchman, this one would take a long time to get up, and when he did, he wouldn't even remember his name.

I waited for Zen to whisper in my ear how badly I had done it, but he did not.

“You have to show me that punch, man. “He was surprised, which was unusual for him.

“You preferred to study the Good Player's Handbook rather than self”defense," I replied. Don't you think it's a little late?

“Yes, but thanks to that you will stay alive for a while longer.

If Zen in real life was half as confident as he showed himself to be in Allsium, he wouldn't need to live locked up in his room like the hikikomori he was.

As I continued walking, I heard a plaintive growl in the distance and decided to run to see what was going on. The footprints of three people walking on gray, sandy soil was just what I needed to keep from getting lost among ashen trees and tall grasses that looked more like sharp daggers.

Suddenly I heard a cry for help and ran out to see what was happening. As I took cover in the trees more voices rose into the leaden Initium sky.

“You can turn and run now," Zen advised. The spaghetti just made a mess.

“How many are following you? “I said, starting to run.

“It's almost better that you don't know.

“Couldn't you have taken them all out? “I asked, running through the forest as we dodged trees, brambles, rocks and anything else that came our way, including the grayish fauna that populated Initium.

“Who do you think I am, ragazzo? “he answered, trying to catch up with me. He was short and two of his steps made one of mine” "Damn my genes! I should have spent some time dedicating it to the physical background!

“I don't understand why someone who spends all day on the run doesn't care about that," I answered, trying to get some air into my lungs. Can you tell me what you did before coming to Allsium?

“So, let's run, but not for so long.

“We've only been here thirty seconds," I said.

“That much? I think I've outdone myself.

“Guys, I'm sorry to interrupt your gym talk. “Zen was talking in our ear again. You've got six guys behind you who are used to running. And I'd even say they have muscles and everything.

“We have them too," Greek replied, "it's just that they are hidden, fusilli.

“Can you cut the crap and tell us where we're going, Zen? “It seemed unbelievable that the two of them could be talking about something so trivial when they were about to hunt us down.

“Oh, yes, yes," said the Japanese. Well, you'd have to get out of the forest to have any chance of hiding in the city, but....

“But...? “said Greek. "What's the problem?

“Well, you're half a kilometer away, and calculating your speed and that of those ninjas, I'm afraid you won't make it.

“You're a stronzo! “Greek was on edge and wheezing.

“What choice do we have? “I asked.

“Give me five minutes and I might be able to get you out of there. If you don't hear from me in that time... I'll see you in real life!

“Vaffanculo! “cried the Italian.

We had five minutes to lose our six pursuers. An eternity at a time like this, as they were less than twenty seconds behind us. We could take advantage of the trees and the unevenness of the forest, but it was only a matter of time before they caught up with us.

It was like playing cat and mouse.

“Remind me, if we get out of this, to give Zen a slap," I said.

“I'd better not remind you," Greek replied, "I'm about to shoot him.

“How many bullets do we have left? “I asked.

“Well, the magazine is ten, but let's just say I only bought five.

“With three bullets we do nothing," I complained, knowing that two of them had killed the clan chief and one of his henchmen.

Then we heard a whistle and a bullet hit the trunk where we were protecting ourselves.

On top of that, they were well armed, that's what we were missing.

“Mamma mia mia! “he exclaimed, looking around, "Time to run!

We took off like an exhalation, zigzagging from tree to tree. Bullets passed close by, but none of them hit the target. The thought of returning to my routine and miserable reality gave me the strength to keep running at full speed. I didn't want to go out into the street and get hit by teenage delinquent wannabes.

I did not want to live in such an unequal world.

Unless, of course, Allsium's powers could be transferred to real life. We knew it could be done, but we had to prepare ourselves first. We weren't the only ones who were after security breaches; it was only a matter of time before real magic could be used in reality, it was said.

“How long has it been? “Greek asked from behind, throwing his hands to his head when he heard bullets piercing tree trunks, as if that would stop them.

“I don't think it's been two minutes. “I couldn't say for sure. It seemed like hours since those lunatics started chasing us.

“I leave the pistol in the group inventory," I said. If anyone shows up nearby, we shoot.

“No doubt about it," he replied.

I knew the Italian had no problem killing people in the virtual world, but I did. If that clan leader and his henchman had as little appreciation for reality as we did, we had sent them to hell itself. It was only logical that they wanted revenge for taking virtuality away from them and condemning them to bland reality.

We had gotten off on the wrong foot on our journey through the lawlessness of Allsium. In the gray Initium, the first stop for every traveler, our brief adventure could end.

“Well," I said, "at least we were able to get out of virtual Earth and learn something about lawlessness.

“What are you talking about, ragazzi? “said the Italian from behind “Are you already with your last wishes? No way, capito? We'll get out of this as my name is Greek Marion.

“You will come out of this as my name is Zen Oda," said a Japanese voice in my ear. You guys, don't waste any more time, you have to get out of combat mode as soon as possible.

“Exit combat mode? “I asked. That means having to throw off a lot of guys with guns who are a stone's throw away from us.

“Those are your ideas, fusilli head? “said Greek as he grunted and jumped when he heard the bullets whistling.