Someone was crying.

  Not crying.

  Weeping.

  …

  I woke up.

  My shirt and pants were gone, and I was alone. In the middle of the desert. In a pair of black boxers.

  Birds circled overhead, whistling to one another in clicks and grunts.

  Pain shot through my feet, legs, back, chest, and face.

  Where was I?

  {Grind}

  [Dirt]

  [1 Str 1 Hp]

  [Thirst XI : Indefinite]

  Barren rock stretched into the distance, sizzling in the dry heat. If either my rescuers or the rest of my party were anywhere around here, I didn’t see them.

  Perhaps this was all a dream.

  I turned my head to one side, then to the other, scanning for a familiar face.

  This was a dream, wasn’t it?

  “Sern?” I called in a cracked voice.

  My throat burned, and I felt actual pain.

  “Sern?!” I screamed.

  There was nothing.

  What was going on?

  I started walking, then running, shielding my face with one hand. It did little to stop the desert wind.

  “SERN!”

  My voice echoed off mountains in the distance.

  I was truly and utterly alone.

  My feet bumped against a piece of metal, buried in the sand. I bent down and picked it up.

  {Basic Canteen}

  [Contains [Water] : 98%]

  Water.

  I had the cap off before I could stop myself, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of cool liquid, before I started choking.

  {Notice}

  [All instances of Thirst have been cleared.]

  [You have suffered [1] instance(s) of shock.]

  I wiped moisture from my mouth with the back of my hand. Now that the thirst was gone, my mind had begun to clear.

  Why wasn’t Sern here? It shouldn’t be possible for her to be so far away. Unless the second area had different rules?

  I groaned.

  Without a proper understanding of the second area, I couldn’t understand anything that was happening? Both the dreams I’d had here were short. Was that a side effect? I was alone. Did I die, only to respawn back here?

  Where was—

  “Rose?” I whispered.

  No.

  “Junior? Axel?” I called.

  Silence.

  I dropped to the ground, grasping my head.

  Where was the rest of my party?

  They couldn’t have died already. They couldn’t have.

  None of my stats mattered. None of my preparation had mattered. I was back to square one,scared, in a place I didn’t understand, hopelessly in over my head.

  What happened?

  “SERN!” I screamed, tossing my head back. “WHERE ARE YOU!?”

  Desert wind blew sand into my mouth.

  There was nobody here.

  I was alone.

  And I could feel myself slipping.

  So I braced myself against the ground and began to process.

  My clothes were almost entirely gone, my friends and family were gone, my inventory was gone, my money—gone, and my stats were gone because I’d chosen to dive headfirst into an area miles over my head.

  Sure, I’d been in the game for a while now, but I still didn’t know what was going on. I don’t have any understanding of the actual game—or its purpose.

  I clenched my hands to fists, crushing bare rock into sand.

  What was I supposed to do now?

  Stop. Breathe. Think.

  What should I do?

  Think.

  What do I have?

  I have a lot of stats, but they’re suppressed. I have a canteen of water. I have a pair of black boxers. I have a merchant buff and class where killing strong monsters gives me additional power. I have slightly increased reach.

  And that was everything.

  No.

  I had to have more than that. There was something nagging the back of my mind, but I was either too tired or stupid to put it together. Since there wasn’t a way to force myself to remember, I’d have to be patient.

  First, I need to get out of the desert.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I blinked, then tried something. “Map.”

  An interface appeared, only to dash my hopes into the ground.

  {Map}

  [No maps selected.]

  So there was a map interface. You just had to give it a map first. Great.

  “Compass?” I tried.

  A spinning silver dot appeared in the center of my vision, with a red arrow that pointed forward. It was pointing due north.

  So there was a compass. That was a step in the right direction.

  Of course, I had no idea what was north or not. Or what was south. I didn’t even know which direction the first area was in.

  Which left the third option.

  Blind guessing.

  I spun in a wide arc, picked a direction that cut across the dunes, and began to walk.

  By the time I’d accrued another three stacks of thirst, my legs shook underneath me.

  {Blistering I : Heavily blistered areas become more sensitive}

  My feet stung with every step, but I had no choice but to keep walking. Without pants, sitting on the sand would be even worse.

  So I would have to keep moving, until I found something, or died trying.

  And then if I died, well I’d just try again.

  There was something cathartic about a life or death situation. It made your options incredibly simple.

  {Notice}

  [Your willpower has been increased]

  ~

  //(+1) 2 Str//

  A single additional point of strength.

  But that meant, the more I struggled, the stronger I got.

  I set off at a brisk pace.

  When my thirst started messing with my vision, I drank a little water.

  Walk.

  Drink.

  Walk.

  Drink.

  Repeat.

  By the time my canteen had dropped to seventy percent, my feet were going numb, with the ankles and knees swelling up. Even with water, I couldn’t go much further. The sands looked the same. The rocks looked the same. And there wasn’t any cities—

  [{Sern} has left your vicinity]

  [Return to claim her]

  For a moment, I just stared at the screen.

  My eyes shot open.

  Sern can only be so far away, before she’s forced into place, or teleported, in the case of extreme distances.

  I turned all the way around.

  Since the notification just popped up, I must’ve just moved too far away. Which means that, following basic geometry, Sern would have to be directly behind me—

  And I was running.

  For a straight hour, I ran, ignoring everything else.

  At first, I mistook the grayish lump for a rock.

  Until I recognized her dress.

  I staggered to a stop, scooping Sern out of the dust, checking her pulse. She was alive.

  She was still alive.

  Sern’s eyes fluttered and her head tensed, before it hung limp again.

  {Sern : Thirst XXXVIII}

  [Failure to get water in (00:03:45) will result in (Instant Death)]]

  I tore the lid off the canteen and tipped it against her mouth. She was already weak, so I poured it slowly, giving her time to swallow.

  The notification adjusted between gulps.

  {Sern : Thirst XXI}

  {Sern : Thirst XIV}

  The canteen felt lighter.

  {Sern : Thirst VIIII}

  {Sern : Thirst III}

  The stream of water faded to a trickle. That was fine. A little water was enough.

  {Sern : Thirst I}

  [All instances of [Thirst] have been cleansed]

  [{Sern} contains the elf-type race effect. Instances of [Water Poisoning] have been converted to [Exhaustion]]

  I bit my lip. Even going slow, she was too weak to drink that much water that fast. If she hadn’t had a resistance—

  Stop. She’s okay. Learn from it.

  Now, I had to find Rose, Junior, and Axel.

  Sern couldn’t move, so I lifted her over a shoulder and started running. Once I found them—

  But what could I do?

  I didn’t have any water anymore. Beyond that, I didn’t have the slightest idea where they were. Unlike Sern, those three could be however far away without triggering any sort of notification.

  But I need to find them. They could be close. They’re probably not, but they could be.

  I ran, screaming for the rest of my party. There was no answer, yet, but if I got lucky, I might find someone—anyone—who could give me…give…

  Give.

  I came to a stop, summoning the canteen from my inventory.

  {Canteen}

  [Contains [Water] : 1%]

  Hang on.

  Questling.

  The word floated through my mind, pricking the back of my neck.

  Before I fell unconscious, there had been merchants who gave us water and food. But they hadn’t given Sern as much as the rest because she was a “Questling.”

  Why would they care if Sern was on a quest or not? That just meant she couldn’t be separated from me until the quest was complete. She couldn’t be lost, for instance.

  Or sold off.

  My hands were shaking.

  A group of people, in a wagon train, in the middle of nowhere, working in fear underneath a single powerful leader.

  The merchants had been slavers.

  No wonder they’d taken us in.

  Three slaves—one of with the power of a third-area monster—that’d been too good to pass up. Perhaps they feed me too out of pity.

  Maybe they felt sorry.

  Maybe they considered a bowl of oatmeal and the lives of three people an “even trade.”

  I was breathing hot and sharp, almost in a hiss.

  We’d asked for help, and they’d robbed us of everything we had.

  I’d promised that if those three followed me, they wouldn’t have to worry about capture ever again. I’d save them, because I’m so powerful. Because I can do anything.

  Sern tensed, digging her nails into my shoulder. Her lips were moving, but no words came out, like she was in some of a trance.

  Something was wrong. Water posioning?

  I scoffed.

  Not something with drinking too much too fast, but a response to the actual posion in her blood stream as it got diluted.

  That’s how they’d gotten us subdued. All the water they gave was laced with posion. Perhaps there was something else in the food too. I wouldn’t be surprised.

  Sern squeaked, grabbing my hair. Her eyes flickered, and she began shaking.

  For a moment, I let the anger go, reaching out, squeezing her hand.

  She was scared.

  “I’m right here,” I whispered. “You’re safe.”

  Sern curled up into a tighter ball, burrowing my hand into her hair and using it as a pillow. Her breathing slowed, her muscles relaxed, and she drifted off to sleep.

  The canteen of water seemed a little heavier in my hand.

  I was getting tired.

  Considering how I was…still alive…there couldn’t be posion in the canteen.

  The canteen was given so that I could survive the desert, at least long enough to reach the first area, or a town.

  Sern had not been given a canteen.

  The merchant’s intentions were clear. They wanted me alive, and they wanted her dead.

  This was a slaver with some semblance of morals. Enough to feel good about themselves, and nothing more.

  This slaver would have to be stopped, just like the last.

  I let out a sigh, turning away from the desert wind.

  The sun had sunk down, shading the sides of sandy dunes.

  Dunes?

  How far had I walked?

  Those looked nice, and soft. And cold. I staggered over and sat down, laying Sern beside me. She kept my hand firmly in her grasp, snapping at something in a nightmare.

  But I couldn't rest. The slavers must’ve kept Rose, Junior and Axel alive, waiting to be rescued. I just had to find them.

  Every second I spent idle was another they spent in captivity. I’d made a promise, and could not afford to rest.

  I attempted to stand.

  My legs didn’t even bother to move.

  Come to think of it, I couldn’t feel anything from the waist down.

  My eyes grew cloudy.

  But I couldn’t sleep. There was no time. I had to move and now.

  Nothing.

  My arms felt numb too. The pain on my back and legs became a distant sensation.

  {Exhaustion : LVII}

  …How high was that? Twenty? A hundred?

  The world flipped backward, and I found myself sprawled helplessly over the ground. I physically couldn’t keep moving.

  So maybe just a minute to rest.

  The canteen slipped out of my hands.

  // {Notice} //

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