Ash was a little offended, but she was also kind of glad she’d been left to her own devices. She set off in a jog, heading back to her shelter where she had left her basket and weapons. She might as well get some endurance training in while she did her gathering.

  She approached the opening cautiously, fortunately, both her basket and her heavy club were still there, propped against the wall. She could see the path of decay, spreading up the wall by the entrance. Even the nearby plants and the leaves in the canopy overhead had visibly wilted. The opening formed above letting sunlight light up the section of wall in greater detail than before, allowing her see to the thin dark wisps still leaking from the crawlspace. She retrieved her equipment while holding her breath but noted that there seemed to be less of the fumes emerging from the narrow opening than before.

  If the effect is dissipating, perhaps I could come back and investigate later? She considered. She knew that she should be cautious here. If the effect had come from trapped air, it may not leak out evenly. If the gas had been some kind of magical attack… Well, she hoped she’d be able to get in and out while they couldn’t. Releasing another threat this close to the village would give Stavos more than enough reason to kick her out.

  She focused on her task of gathering for now. She hefted the heavy club, feeling the extra weight that now seemed more manageable in her strengthened grip. Her previous weapon was still behind the crawlspace, but she felt like she could manage to fend off an attack with this. Her swings would definitely be slower though.

  She continued with her task, jogging to each of her trees and harvesting as much fruit as she could reach. Whenever her Will got too low, she spent the few minutes doing some strength training with the heavy club or practicing swinging the larger weapon.

  She remained cautions, expecting to be assaulted by ants at any moment, but the jungle remined quiet, even by the Bondi tree where she had encountered them before. Her harvesting rose a single point and she had gathered 9 of the various fruits by the time she made it back to her shelter.

  She panted at the end of her jog, waiting for her stamina to refill before she approached the opening. Ash sniffed the air. Only the faintest whiff of decay lingered around the entrance. She poked her club inside, casting glow and illuminating the space within.

  Everything looked as before, so she crawled inside, her shoulders now able to fit at a diagonal in the carved out passage. Clambering to her feet, her glowing club illuminated the space around her. There it was, the opening in the wall on her right, stretching on into darkness. She noticed her large club on the floor, quickly retrieving it. The smaller weapon would be more of use in these tighter confines. The fruit that she had left on the side before looked visibly rotted, a reminder of the noxious air that had swept through before. The smell had gotten worse in the room, but the lack of damage or status notifications let her know that she was safe for now.

  Taking a deep breath of the fetid air and grimacing, she examined the slot in the floor where the section of wall had receded.

  How did I not notice any seams here? She marvelled, wondering if she was just unobservant or if they had been concealed somehow. She poked at the stone with her foot. It felt as if it was secure. She considered the passageway beyond, but there was something she felt she should check first. She moved back to the stone ‘table’ and pushed some of her will into it. The passageway remained open. It seemed that there was some other way to close the stone door. She looked around a little more but didn’t find anything obvious in the room.

  Heading back to the open doorway, she was about to step through when she saw it, right there atop the stone itself. A familiar looking sequence of runes. She reached down and asserted her will, this time several points sinking into the stone before it felt full. There was a loud grinding. The stone shook, then began to rise. She hurriedly pulled her hand back, retreating as she watched the stone door reseal. The seam disappeared, leaving the wall looking just as unbroken as it had before. Ash experimented with the contraption, letting it lower and rise a few times before she was satisfied that it worked consistently.

  She took another breath to steady herself, then stepped over the doorway and into the dark tunnel beyond. The light from her glowing club lit up the short passageway, revealing that it kinked sharply to the left after a few paces. She hesitantly stepped forward, peeking around the corner to see what lay beyond. It looked like the passage opened up into a larger space, the dim light of her club not quite enough to see what lay within.

  Alright, I’ll just have a little peek inside. She told herself, her heartbeat racing.

  Then the floor compressed beneath her foot and she heard a soft click, followed by a whistle and a sharp pain sprouting from her right shoulder. She jumped back, cursing in shock and pain and yanked a small metal dart from her body, letting it clatter to the floor.

  You gave been hit by rusted dart, you take 2 points of damage.

  You have resisted decayed concentrated delirium toxin.

  You have resisted tetanus.

  What the fuck? Tetanus? Ash cursed herself for being so incautions. A bloody poison dart trap, really? How did I fall for a simple pressure plate in the floor? That’s like the most basic of traps!

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  She sighed, relieved that she hadn’t faced worse consequences for her lack of caution. She felt lucky to have resisted the concentrated toxin, though maybe it being decayed had helped her. That said, for all she knew, decaying could make the toxin worse. She crouched down low, leant forward and pressed her hand onto the pressure plate. It required a surprising amount of force to trigger, but when it did, another dart flew out, disappearing behind her and clattering off the far wall of her former bedroom. Strangely it seemed to come straight out of the stone wall, no obvious slot for it to emerge. She pressed it again, and again, more darts flying overhead, continuing until the plate clicked but no dart was released. She pressed it once more for good measure before considering the trap disarmed.

  Now that that was dealt with, she decided to press on. With a little more caution, she moved through to the opening before her, making sure to test every step. The room opened up into a larger space, and she noticed a stone plinth in the centre as well as a stairway on the opposite side. The long since decayed bodies of two partially armoured skeletons lay on the floor. The shapes looked off, but she quickly realised they were lizardmen.

  Ash stepped forward, still checking her footing, then lifted her club and swung it down hard atop the head of the closest skeleton. The club thwacked hard into the bone. Ash barely registered the damage notification before the bones twitched to life below her, the creature’s skeletal tail sweeping to the side and thwacking into her legs. Ash screamed, almost tripping from the impact but managing to stabilise enough to bring her Great-hammer back down on the skeleton’s back, smacking it down to the floor where it fell still.

  “Fuck you” Ash yelled, panting with adrenaline. “Don’t think I didn’t-”

  There was a clacking sound from beside her and a sharp pain erupted between her ribs. She cried out in pain and jerked away, her skin tearing as the weapon pulled free of her. A wooden spear, tipped with obsidian and held by the other corpse in the room. Ash cried out in fear and anguish, charging at the grinning skull faced monstrosity. She felt as the spear jabbed forward, sinking into the ribs on her other side. The pain was immense, almost overwhelming. The adrenaline carried her through, screaming out with desperation and anguish as her glowing, ice-infused club slammed into the creature’s face. The head exploded, splintering into glistening shards that splattered across the room.

  Ash stumbled back, noticing with horror her health was down to a single point. She backed away, turned, then ran back along the corridor, the pressure plate clicking impotently beneath her feet. As she passed the threshold of her room, she leant down, pressed a hand to the door, and sent it rising back up behind her. Finally, she slumped down to her bed, panting as she waited for her heart to stop pounding, for her feeble Hitpoints to rise up above a single thin point.

  That was too close. Again. She thought numbly. “Why? Why am I like this?” She spoke aloud this time. “Every time I rush into something with my thick head first… and almost get it chopped clean off!” She sobbed now. “This is it! This is all you have now Ash.” She gasped. “Do you want to lose this too?” She sat there, shivering and morose, until her health trickled back up past 10 and her breath stopped catching.

  She was forced to consider her situation anew. This really was it for her. Her true self was gone. Her family, friends, home. They were all lost to her. She was living in this world now, and would do for the rest of her days.

  Or until they switch the servers off. She felt like laughing at that dire thought. Her life was now at the complete mercy of a game development company. How fucked is that? Still, this meagre existence was all she had now. Did I have some kind of death wish?

  Her uncle had told her that death for an NPC was permanent here. She wouldn’t respawn. In many ways, she was still treating this like a game. Exploring recklessly, stretching herself to bolster her skills, rushing straight into combat with unknown foes. Was that just her lingering sense that this was still just a game? Or did she not actually want this. The world she was living in was cruel. People died. Monsters were out to get her and some of the people were set against her from the start. This wasn’t a comfortable, cushy life in the real world where she could get an easy desk job and never have to worry about her next meal. She had to work to eat, work to earn a place in a settlement. Live in a dangerous ruin until she could earn safe shelter. This was a survival game, and a hardcore one at that, where she was under constant threat of losing her one chance. Her one life.

  Do I keep going because I want to, or just because I’m too scared to face the alternative?

  She thought about that, long and hard. She thought of the people around her. Hestia would care if she disappeared. Maybe Jori and Tyra too, or Ama and Lance. Sure, Stavos and Livey would likely be glad to be rid of her.

  Damn, well I can’t let them have that satisfaction, especially that stuck up bastard. She chuckled, then laughed harder at the next thought. Am I really contemplating continuing my existence merely to spite that wretched man?

  Ash sighed. “Fine. I want to live, at least for now.” She spoke it out loud, as if manifesting it into reality. “But what do I actually want from this life?”

  She thought about that. She wanted to get stronger, yes, but what for? She wanted to help out her new friends and the village as a whole, but to what end? Getting stronger in a game, making friends with NPCs, what did that mean to her? Games are just fun pastimes, meant to entertain. Blissful escapism, but ultimately pointless in the end. Ash knew that wasn’t quite true, but the thought resonated with her. Pointless.

  That’s what I thought about my former life. That was in the real world, but it still felt meaningless. This world is real to me now, right. They may be NPCs, but so are you! She thought to herself You might as well consider them as much people as you are. In this world, as a combat specialist I actually have power. I can fight, save people. I can work to help people. I can make an impact here, maybe even more than I could before. Is that not meaningful? Then why am I constantly risking all that?

  “I need to stop being such a reckless idiot!” Ash said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She stood, resolve returning “This time, I’ll do it. I’ll get strong. I’ll work with my friends and build a true lasting legacy so that, by the time I finally do end, it will all have meant something.”

  Ash blinked, looking around the empty room. She laughed in sudden embarrassment at her words.

  Maybe that was a little much. She thought, but deep down, the sentiment had resonated with her. With renewed purpose, she squeezed back though the crawlspace and set off to find her friends.