Respawn in Reality: Game Over, Player One

Chapter 4

The heavy, rusted metal pipe cut through the cold, rainy air. It was aimed directly at the side of Leo’s head.

A normal person would have frozen. A normal person would have closed their eyes and waited for the terrible impact. 

Leo wanted to close his eyes, too. His mind was screaming in pure terror. He was just a gamer. He had never been in a street fight. He was weak, cold, and terrified.

But his eyes did not close. Something inside him, the microscopic nanites swimming in his blood, would not let him look away.

Suddenly, the world changed. The heavy rain stopped falling in sheets. Instead, the raindrops seemed to freeze in the air. They floated like tiny, shiny glass beads. 

The sound of the howling wind faded into a deep, slow hum. The angry street thug swinging the pipe seemed to move in slow motion, like a video playing at the lowest possible speed.

Time was dilating. Leo’s brain was processing information faster than a normal human ever could.

In the center of his vision, bright glowing lines snapped into place. A curved red line appeared in the air. It started from the tip of the thug’s rusted pipe and drew a perfect half-circle directly to Leo’s left temple.

Floating text appeared next to the red line.

[Kinetic Trajectory Calculated.]

[Estimated Impact Force: Lethal.]

[Time to Impact: 0.8 Seconds.]

[Action Required: Evade.]

Below the text, a blue arrow flashed on the ground, pointing down and to the right. The HUD was showing him exactly where to move to avoid the deadly hit.

Leo’s brain knew what to do, but his body was a different story. His Strength stat was only a 3 out of 10. His Agility was a 4. He was deeply malnourished and completely exhausted. Sending the command from his brain to his muscles felt like trying to drive a broken car through thick mud.

“Move!” Leo screamed inside his own mind.

He threw his weight to the right, throwing his shoulders down. It was not a smooth movement. It was ugly and clumsy. He scraped his hands on the rough, dirty brick wall.

Whoosh. The rusted metal pipe swung through the empty space where Leo’s head had been just a split second before. 

The heavy metal slammed into the brick wall behind him. Dust and pieces of broken red brick exploded into the air.

"What?" the thug grunted in slow motion, his eyes going wide with surprise. The force of his missed swing pulled his body forward. He was off balance.

The HUD in Leo’s eyes flashed a bright, angry yellow. The glowing yellow circle over the thug’s left knee pulsed like a heartbeat. The weak point. The target.

[Target is off balance.]

[Kinetic Weakness Exposed.]

[Execute Counter-Strike.]

A blue line connected Leo’s right foot to the glowing yellow circle on the thug's knee. It showed him exactly how to kick, the exact angle, and the exact amount of force needed.

Leo did not have time to think. He only had time to react. In the world of competitive esports, if you saw a target, you clicked it. You did not hesitate. Your survival depended on your speed.

Leo planted his left foot in the mud. He twisted his hips, just like the blue lines in his vision instructed. He swung his right leg in a low, hard arc. He poured every single ounce of his remaining strength into his right foot.

His worn-out sneaker connected perfectly with the side of the thug’s left knee. He hit the exact coordinate the HUD had highlighted.

POP. The sound was loud and sickening. It sounded like a thick dry branch snapping in half.

"Ahhhhh!" the thug screamed. The slow-motion effect instantly shattered. Normal time rushed back into the alleyway. The rain poured down heavy and fast. The wind howled again.

The tall, broad-shouldered man dropped his rusted metal pipe. It clattered against the wet pavement. 

The thug’s left leg bent inward at a horrible, unnatural angle. He fell to the ground, splashing into the muddy water, grabbing his broken knee with both hands. He rolled back and forth, screaming in pure agony.

"My leg! You broke my knee!" the thug cried out, tears mixing with the rain on his dirty face. He looked up at Leo, his eyes full of fear. The predator had instantly become the prey. "Stay away from me! You freak!"

Leo stood over the crying man, his chest completely frozen. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling in rapid, sharp gasps.

He looked down at his right leg. He could not believe what he had just done. He was a skinny, poor kid who played video games for fourteen hours a day. He could barely lift a heavy box of groceries. Yet, with one single, calculated kick, he had destroyed a man twice his size.

He was horrified by the brutal violence. He had hurt another human being severely. But deep down, beneath the horror, a hot wave of excitement washed over him. 

He felt powerful. For the first time in his entire miserable life, he had fought back against the cruelty of the world, and he had won.

Floating text appeared in the center of his vision, glowing in a calming, bright green color.

[Combat Encounter Concluded.]

[Threat Neutralized.]

[Combat Data Processed. Synaptic paths upgraded.]

[Reward: +5% Experience to Agility.]

Leo stared at the green text. It was exactly like winning a low-level fight in an RPG game.

The thug was still crying on the ground, calling for help. Leo knew he could not stay here. If the police came, they would not believe his story. They would see a rich kid's gaming jacket in his bag and a poor kid in an alley.

Leo grabbed his wet, dirty duffel bag from the ground. He slung it over his shoulder, turned around, and ran.

He ran for almost an hour. He did not stop until his lungs felt like they were filled with broken glass.

His HUD kept him perfectly aware of his body’s failing limits. A small stamina bar rested in the bottom left corner of his vision. It was blinking a dark, urgent red.

[Warning: Stamina Depleted.]

[Lactic acid buildup in leg muscles: Critical.]

[Heart rate: 165 BPM.]

[Immediate rest required to prevent tissue damage.]

Leo finally slowed down to a walk. He turned the corner onto his street. This was the worst part of the city. 

The streetlights here were mostly broken. The sidewalks were cracked, with weeds growing through the concrete. Trash bags were piled high near the gutters, smelling like old cabbage and wet cardboard.

He walked up to a tall, ugly brick building. This was his apartment building. He pushed open the heavy front door. The lock had been broken for months. The hallway smelled like damp wood and cheap cigarettes.

Leo dragged his feet up three flights of stairs. His legs burned with every single step. He reached room 304. He pulled a cheap brass key from his pocket with shaking hands. He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

His apartment was tiny. It was essentially one square room. There was no actual bed, just a thin, stained mattress thrown onto the floor in the corner. Beside the mattress was an old, plastic milk crate he used as a table. 

A small window looked out into an alley, but the glass was so dirty you could barely see the city lights through it. It was freezing inside. The landlord had turned off the heat two days ago because Leo was late on his rent.

Leo dropped his bag. He locked the deadbolt on the door. He leaned against the cold wooden door and slowly slid down until he was sitting on the dusty floor.

He sat there in the dark for a long time. The only sound was the rain hitting his small, dirty window.

"This is real," Leo whispered into the empty room. "This is actually real."