He hadn't encountered monsters, until now, the only obstacle had been the environment. Still, he was a bit confused.

  The Quest description had promised him that the necessary equipment would be inside. Had he passed it? Part of him was tempted to turn around and go back the way he'd come, but he knew he couldn't have lost sight of it, not when the first platforms had been so small. Maybe the equipment was at the fork, it was on the left road at the fork, maybe he'd done wrong, continuing even after the building collapsed. In a video game, that kind of sudden collapse and other similar tricks usually served to cut off the path. He'd managed anyway, but maybe he'd made a mistake. Maybe he should go back, no, even if just to check.

  No, no, what nonsense, better ahead.

  Surely it was ahead, there was no need to waste time. If he wanted to talk about video game rules, in no video game could you overlook necessary equipment, it would be in an obvious place the player couldn't avoid passing through. And while he was at it, the fact that he hadn't run into any monster yet, was a sign he hadn't lost it, that it still awaited him, at least according to that logic. Not everything had to be like in a video game, but well, it made some sense. And it was the most pleasant action. He decided to stop thinking, just keep going.

  He reached a plaza.

  James was rewarded for his patience, for not shitting himself too soon, where before he supposed there had been a fountain, now there was a sword stuck in. It wasn't nearly as epic as King Arthur's sword in the stone, but it served him.

  He approached and extracted it with surprising ease, a single pull was all it took. Well, extracting it didn't prove anything, it was just equipment, no special sword. But at least it was real, not a stupid wooden sword.

  [EQUIPMENT OBTAINED: Iron Sword][Damage: 15-20][Durability: 100/100]

  He hoped it was something he could take to the next judge, but the reward money would allow him to buy one, even if it wasn't.

  "Okay," James said aloud, unnecessarily. "A sword, something is something. But where's everything else? A shield, at least armor."

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  He didn't have much time to think. Several creatures, indistinct like an illusion from a heat wave, came out of the ground. But they weren't indistinct for long, they took on a blood red color.

  Four in total.

  An important difference, but manageable. It had to be. This was the part where he tested his new weapon, not a more serious threat, although he could screw up anyway. Okay, he got it.

  "Let's do this, then," he said.

  The monsters then lunged at him, he defended himself tooth and nail. He'd been born with a bad hand, nothing had ever favored him before. So, okay, life was a claw, but it wasn't different from usual, if he was one thing, it was a fighter. He wouldn't allow anyone to look down on him. If anything, he was the one who should look down on others, he who'd never had advantages, who'd always been disadvantaged. It didn't matter that he'd ended up hitting rock bottom, the thing is he'd started at the bottom and climbed much higher. People who were already born at that level had no right to judge him, or to feel sorry for him. They had no right.

  James roared.

  He swung the sword, cutting another of those creatures in half, they weren't hard to defeat, but even when it vanished, another appeared to take its place. It felt endless. He wondered if they really would be, if he should stay here waiting for them to end, keep going or search around, look for some way to stop this. Even if they weren't literally endless, the question was whether he could last longer than his enemies.

  He decided he could, decided he wouldn't stop swinging the sword unless his hands fell off.

  "I'm persistent too, you bastards."

  He threw himself to the ground to dodge a blow, while he had to raise his sword to block another hit. They weren't dummies that stood there waiting their turn to attack, they could overwhelm him, only he was killing them a bit too fast for that to happen. It was a fine balance, however, he delayed a bit and everything would get out of control. A bit more and everything would get out of control. He cut the legs off a son of a bitch and rolled to that side as it vanished, putting as much distance as possible between him and the enemies.

  At one point, lacking a shield, he tried to block a blow with his hand. He sank it into the chest of one of those creatures and what he pulled out wasn't a heart or pulsating organs. He pulled out a shield and the creature in question vanished. All the others too, as if they'd never been there.

  [EQUIPMENT OBTAINED: Iron Shield][Defense: +10][Durability: 100/100]

  "So they were waiting for this," James murmured.

  And how the fuck was I supposed to figure that out on my own? It had just been chance. If there had been clues, hints or signs about it, he hadn't seen any.

  "Well, it's the same, at least I already have a shield. And a sword. Now I just need good armor."

  His whole body hurt, he'd received several punches. Of course, he was lucky they weren't enemies with bladed weapons.

  Luck no, that's just how things were made, simply. But well, it was understood.

  James set off again. He turned the corner. The coast was clear, at least for now.