Level Up

Realisation

"No, this can't be me." David said, looking at his bloodstained robe and hands. He looked ahead and saw Colleen who was already pacifying the child. The other townspeople who were around still continued on their regular activities, acting like nothing gruesome had just happened.

"Level 2 completed." Read the interface on his mind. He was shocked, baffled, afraid.

"I don't like this." He said, reaching Colleen.

"Me too. This wasn't how the game should be." She replied.

"He's not even a beast warrior or mage." She added.

Something was wrong with the game, she felt it, she knew it.

"I feel terrible, my guts feel filled with blood, I feel guilty." He spoke softly, still looking at his bloodstained hands.

"Does this mean I have to be a ruthless murderer to get home?" He questioned once more.

"Don't fret, David. I'm sure there's a possible explanation. We just need to find your next companions." She replied.

"What's your name darling?" She asked the girl.

"Audrey." The child whispered. She felt pity for her, she was now orphaned thanks to her and David, and she was unsure whether leaving the child at home was the best thing to do.

"Do you have a mother?" She asked.

"No."

At that moment, she made up her mind. She wasn't going to let the child be alone, and she sure as hell was not going to let the child suffer.

"You're coming with me. Where we're going. I promise you, you will only be happy." She told her. Audrey who has stopped crying, nodded her head.

"Thank you." She said softly.

Colleen carried her and proceeded.

"You're coming or what?" She yelled at the confused David.

He hurried after her, ignoring the carcass that had leaked blood all over the floor by then.

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Sarah was in her apartment. She still kept thinking about David and his mysterious disappearance.

"No one can just disappear like that." She wondered, dropping the bottle of whiskey in her hand.

"Maybe he left through the roof. Maybe he was drunk and depressed." She wondered.

The possibilities kept pouring in, but she couldn't think of one.

With her frustration hitting a full stop, she got up, resolute to find out the secret behind his disappearance.

She picked up her car keys and left for his apartment, aiming to scope it one more time.

Half an hour later, she was there and she barged in. She looked around and couldn't find anything unusual. She walked into the kitchen… nothing. She looked into the bedroom then the bathroom, yet nothing. She paused, taking a few steps back. Something caught her attention and she couldn't shake the ominous feeling off her mind.

She looked at the PC, it was still running, although the screen was off.

It seemed odd, power to his room had been cut off already and his personal inverter could not have carried it on for that long, because it automatically went off after twelve hours.

She hurried towards it and turned the inverter on. Then she powered the PC on.

The backlight of the screen came on, and on the menu read "Level up: Beast World".

She peered deeply into the screen, still amused.

The game loaded and she saw something shocking, something she could not believe.

The game was playing on its own, and the player avatar had just killed someone.

"This isn't me." The avatar said, speaking to himself.

The game's camera turned and focused on the avatar's face. She gasped, holding her mouth.

Rather than the models that had been used for the character designs in the game, who she saw was her boyfriend. Someone she knew was missing.

"David."

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David and Colleen finally reached the outskirts of the town they were headed to.

"Finally, we're here." She said. Audrey looked at the town ahead indifferently. Colleen rubbed her face with her right finger.

"Hey darling, you'll be safe, alright?" She said and they proceeded to the town's outskirts.

"Something's wrong." David said. They both paused, attentively listening to the wind blowing through the dry piece of land they were on.

"Someone's watching. Look out!" David yelled and jumped in Colleen's front, taking the force of an arrow. It bounced off his armour and he got up.

"We're under attack." She said, using her body as a shield for Audrey. David also did the same, shielding her from her back.

"Fuck, how do we get past this?" He cursed as arrows flew in their direction. He kept peering and saw something, the shadow of their attackers.

"I've seen our attackers, but I can't leave you two alone." He spoke.

"Can you use that portal thing to get out of here? Don't worry about me." He asked.

"I can't. The portal only leads me in and out of the game to the demo." She replied.

"Fuck this." He mumbled. He took off his armour and wrapped it around both of them.

"Stay here. If I die, run into the town, I'll regenerate and find you." He instructed.

She nodded her head and hugged Audrey tightly, wrapping her with the cloak.

He started sprinting, trying to pick out options on his interface. His cloak had the enhancement and regeneration, but he still had the save data on him.

His store was luckily a part of him and not the robe as he had thought.

"Sword." He picked and began waving the sword wildly, attempting to veer off attacks from the arrows. He was getting close to the shadows until an arrow struck his left leg. He crouched, and in that moment of weakness, took a hit to the back.

He fell. The pain was unbearable. He looked ahead and saw their assailants were concealed with masks.

"Bandits." He muttered angrily. With sheer strength, he pulled the arrow from his leg, picking his axe from his store.

He aimed for one, striking him down immediately. He jumped forward, hurling his sword at another. They were about fifteen and he knew he couldn't take them all, but he had to try. He quickly glanced back and saw Colleen and Audrey were now in the town. He smiled. He had already saved them.

He picked a second sword and made to attack the bandits when he noticed something…an arrow aiming for his head.

It was too fast, he didn't have his armour, he couldn't evade it.