A blinding pain shot up toward Sparrow’s arm the second his finger touched the cleric’s face.
Sparrow screamed as he jerked his hand back and recoiled. He grasped it and held it against his chest.
“Fuck!” Sparrow gritted his teeth against the pain.
He closed his eyes and tears began to roll down his face. He had never felt such excruciating pain before. It was a searing and throbbing hurt.
Sparrow didn’t understand what was going on. Perhaps it was like a warning.
The dead aren't allowed to interact with the living.
An uneasy feeling washed over him. That reasoning came to him too suddenly and clearly.
That uneasiness then turned into dread as he felt a heavy pressure weighing not only on just his mind but what could probably be described as… his soul.
He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight. Cold sweat began swamping his body.
He turned around slowly and standing before the fountain was a tall figure. It was around two meters tall, dressed in a black tattered hooded robe, and in his hand was a long handle taller than the stranger. Attached to that handle looming above Sparrow was a blade in the shape of half a crescent moon.
It was painfully obvious what this figure represented. Fear strangled hold of his heart, and breathing began to get harder.
This wasn’t an instinctual fear that living beings get when confronted by death, it was like this reaper was imposing its vile existence on his soul.
The Reaper’s inky black aura was seeping its way into his being.
Several seconds in tense silence passed. Breathing was difficult in its presence.
To Sparrow’s horror, a disgusting rotted leg peeked out through the robe and took a step forward. His existence shook.
A sudden whirlwind began blowing around Sparrow and the Reaper, causing the ribbons of its tattered robe to dance about wildly.
The world around them began to distort and smear in the direction of the wind. It was like the buildings and players were wet paint on a canvas left out in a storm.
Each step made Sparrow more and more terrified. Every inch, every centimeter, every atom of him was screaming for Sparrow to run or die.
He wanted to hide and close his eyes but his body rejected the idea of moving under the gaze of this horror.
The Reaper began to consume the color and light around it. Fading the world into black, white, and dreary shades of grey.
Once the Reaper was a couple meters away from him, Sparrow could see the bottom half of his face. Like the Reaper’s foot, it was made of rotten green flesh, and his mouth was ripped into a wide horrible smile.
If Sparrow could reach up to his throat he’d rip it open.
The light was so dim that Sparrow was unable to see anything but the reaper’s outline before everything became pitch black.
A few moments in the dark whirlwind passed in howling dread.
Despite the darkness, he could sense a rotted hand reach up and caress his cheek.
He felt divots in the skin of the Reaper’s hand and exposed muscle fibers could be made out painfully well. The hand was warm and murky, yet indescribably frigid.
Sparrow began to regret the day he was born.
There was an ungodly force compressing him, threatening to tear him apart but his body refused to be mangled or obliterated.
It was like he was standing on a needle while balancing the weight of the Earth on his head, but he somehow remained intact.
Instantly his body was convulsing and pulsating with pain. His ears rang with a deafening white noise that threatened to burst his brain apart.
Just before the pain got too unbearable, the pain lessened to a considerable degree.
Within the darkness a blue light illuminated his face.
A window appeared before him.
[Quest: Death’s Trial]
[Level Recommendation: 90+]
[Difficulty: S+]
[Description: You are not meant to be in this world. The Reaper wants your soul. If you want death, reject the trial. If you reject what you sought in the first place, you may be given the chance to live again(or die another day).
In the Valley-
Before he could read anymore, the pain slowly began ramping up.
Two buttons were at the bottom of the window.
[Accept] [Decline]
He screamed as he lifted his arm, his muscles were strained and his arm exploded with pain.
Once his finger made contact with the accept button, he felt death’s hand leave his cheek. It lingered a bit as it pulled back, almost regretfully.
Then everything ceased to be.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sparrow sluggishly opened his eyes. Then the memories came rushing back.
He raised his hand towards his cheek and felt the area where the Reaper had touched.
What the fuck is happening to me!?
He realized he wasn’t in the city square anymore.
As he took in his surroundings, he noticed how dark it was. Craning his head up he saw an alien sight.
The sky was full of dark grey clouds, but broken up here and there by golden rays shining through with holy beads of light dripping down like sand in an hourglass.
He was surrounded by rolling hills. He was standing on one of the taller ones which gave him a decent vantage point.
He was in what he would describe as a massive cemetery. Ancient tombstones and grave sites as far as he could see.
To the East and West were towering mountains which circled back and joined together in the South.
In the South there was a massive city. It was made up of ancient buildings, reminiscent of giant mausoleums.
In the North, rather than rounding out, it seemed to taper into the horizon.
If he were to escape, he’d have to go North. He wouldn’t be able to scale the mountains.
The mountains had sheer cliff faces. It was like the mountains were caging whatever was stuck in this valley.
Speaking of which…
Sparrow opened the menu and hit the quest tab.
There was only one active.
He opened it to observe the details.
[Quest: Death’s Trial]
[Level Recommendation: 90+]
[Difficulty: S+]
[Description: You are not meant to be in this world and the Reaper demands your soul. However, your existence intrigues it. If you want death, reject the trial. If you reject what you sought in the first place, you may be given the chance to live again(or die another day).
In the Valley of Death, your soul leaks from you like a broken hourglass. Seek out the golden sand to keep from running empty. Reap what little life there is from those who cling to it and find your way out.
[Completion Requirement: Escape the Valley of Death]
[Time Limit: None]
[Reward(s): Unknown S Class Attribute]
At the mention of the broken hourglass, Sparrow noticed his hand was flaking off golden specks of light, which slowly dissipated into the air.
That was when he noticed a slight discomfort.
He peered into the corner of his vision and saw his health bar.
[HP: 100/100]
His health seemed fine.
Huh. However the sand and the description of the trial made him feel uneasy. His life was on a timer.
He opened his stats menu and was faced with an unfamiliar menu interface.
[Quests] [Social Hud] [Party] [Player Stats] [Class] [Attributes] [Skills] [Equipment] [Inventory] [Settings]
The design and layout had changed. He tapped on the stats menu.
[Player Stats]
[Name: Sparrow King]
[Level: 1]
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
[XP to Level Up: 0/100]
[Health Points: 92/100]
[Stamina Points: 100/100]
[Mana Points: 100/100]
[Soul Points: 97/100]
[Status Effects]
[Soul Leak]
He was taken aback by what he saw. Instead of a username, his name was listed. Anonymity seemed to be thrown out the window.
Considering his circumstances, he shouldn’t be too surprised. He had to keep himself from thinking up countless questions and hypotheticals.
Second, was his level and stats. Everything was reset. Seeing that his username listed as his name, he guessed that even his avatar was gone.
He noticed the number of one of the point values was going down slowly.
Under [Soul], the number seemed to be steadily decreasing by 1 every 3 seconds.
Under [Status Effects] there was one effect active called [Soul Leak]
Upon tapping on it, a description menu appeared.
[Effect Name: Soul Leak]
[Description: During this Trial your soul leaks from you. Every 3 seconds you will take 1 point of soul damage.]
Sparrow frowned. He was sure once that meter dropped to zero, he would die. At least his health wasn’t the value being tied to a timer.
Sparrow went to the classes tab.
[Classes]
[C. Slot 1: Empty]
[C. Slot 2: -Unlocked at level 25-
[C. Slot 3: -Unlocked at level 50-
[C. Slot 4: -Unlocked at level 75-
[Perks]
[Class Perks]
[Inherited Perks]
Another drastic change from the previous player menu he was used to. A fundamental change. Instead of only one class, it seemed there could be four in total, however only the first one was available, the rest closed off by a level requirement.
With a sinking feeling in his chest he went to skills and confirmed his suspicions.
[Skills]
[S. Slot 1: Empty]
[S. Slot 2: Empty]
[S. Slot 3: -Unlocked at level 25-]
[S. Slot 4: -Unlocked at level 25-]
[S. Slot 5: -Unlocked at level 50-]
[S. Slot 6: -Unlocked at level 50-]
[S. Slot 7: -Unlocked at level 75-]
[S. Slot 8: -Unlocked at level 75-]
Despite the intrigue of the changes, Sparrow felt defeated. This was a major blow to his chances at surviving the trial. Without a class or abilities, he didn’t have any special ways to attack, defend, or flee. He was just a normal person.
He went through the equipment and inventory.
[Equipment]
[Body Equipment]
[Head: Empty]
[Chest: Empty]
[Arms: Empty]
[Legs: Empty]
[Feet: Empty]
[Accessories]
[A. Slot 1: Empty]
[A. Slot 2: -Unlocked at lv 25-]
[A. Slot 3: -Unlocked at lv 50-]
[A. Slot 4: -Unlocked at lv 75-]
[Weapon Equipment]
[Slot 1: Empty]
[Slot 2: -Unlocked at lv 25-]
[Slot 3: -Unlocked at lv 50-]
[Slot 4: -Unlocked at lv 75-]
[Quick Summon]
[QS. Slot 1: Empty]
[QS. Slot 2: Empty]
[QS. Slot 3: Empty]
[QS. Slot 4: Empty]
[QS. Slot 5: Empty]
[QS. Slot 6: Empty]
[Inventory]
[Item Count: 0]
He had nothing. He knew what to expect but he’d be a fool to not check. He sighed and closed the menu.
The quest level recommendation was 90+ and he was only at level one. The enemies that would appear during this quest would be able to kill him just by breathing in his direction.
He needed armor at least. He then realized that he wasn’t naked. Despite the equipment menu saying that all his body equipment slots were empty, he was clothed.
He looked down at his feet. There were familiar black socks on his feet, and a pair of comfy grey sweatpants.
He then looked down at his arms and his chest and realized that he was wearing his black hoodie. He was donning the clothes he had on in real life.
He felt his long unkempt hair and looked down at his hands, and was astonished to see that they were indeed his.
If only he had a mirror to confirm that his face was his own as well.
Discovering that he was in his normal body also made him realize how slightly sluggish he felt.
He began moving his body around and did a few stretches, noticing how cumbersome it felt to move.
That wasn’t to say that he felt like he was in his old body. His body had almost the same flexibility and springiness of his in game avatar.
If there was anything he could attribute to this change, it was that his senses were way more pronounced and grounded. In virtual reality, his senses were slightly muted, now it was impossible to tell if he were in virtual reality.
Just as he was finishing stretching his arm to the side he noticed that a ray of light beamed down next to him, and a small body was constructed from within a swirl of golden sand.
The being glowed golden before it slumped forward and gained its bearings. Sparrow assumed that he appeared in a similar way.
The creature was about four feet tall and was green with pointy ears.
One of the weakest creatures in fantasy, especially without numbers to back it up.
[Goblin Lv. 5]
It looked around in a daze before locking eyes with Sparrow.
Sparrow hurriedly looked around him for a makeshift weapon and found nothing.
Oh shit-
Just as he looked at the goblin it had already produced a dagger from its loin cloth and leapt at Sparrow.
The goblin thrusted its dagger and Sparrow just narrowly avoided it by stepping aside.
It flew past him and it landed on all fours. Without giving Sparrow a chance to breathe the goblin broke into a sprint and started slashing at him.
The goblin cut Sparrow across his leg and he felt the blade effortlessly slash through his sweatpants.
A gauge appeared at the corner of Sparrow’s vision. [HP: 89/100]
He cursed as he felt the cut, then suddenly the panic set in.
Despite having played ReQuest for many years and being in countless sword fights with foes of varying skill, he had never felt the cut of cold steel.
And this disgusting creature wouldn’t just settle on cutting him once and would probably aim for more painful areas.
Sparrow could barely gather himself as the flurry of swipes continued. The goblin was animalistic and chuckled annoyingly as it noticed his fear.
The chuckles only made Sparrow more disoriented. He couldn’t think clearly.
After being cut once, Sparrow was more keen on avoiding the blade.
It had been only about several seconds but he felt terribly exhausted. He wasn’t sure if this was a game anymore. It all felt too real.
The goblin landed a deep cut on his arm.
[HP: 78/100]
“Fuck!” Sparrow wailed.
“Hehehehe!!!” The goblin chuckled mockingly.
Memories and thoughts of people laughing and looking down on him were flooded to the forefront of his mind. Anger exploded within Sparrow.
“SHUUUT UUUUP!!!”
Sparrow roared as he threw a punch with the intent of demolishing the goblin’s face.
However, Sparrow didn’t anticipate that it would dodge it perfectly. Sparrow’s heart sank.
Diving under his punch, the Goblin lunged forward and drove the dagger into Sparrow’s stomach.
A sharp pain spread from his stomach.
The goblin chuckled even more. It leapt backwards and yanked the dagger out of Sparrow’s stomach.
He stumbled back and cried in pain.
[HP: 34/100]
Wanting to keep up its relentless assault, the goblin rounded around Sparrow and dashed towards his back.
Just as it was about to plant its blade into his back, Sparrow spun and grabbed the goblin’s arm.
In that same motion he fell towards the ground and landed atop the goblin. It wasn’t a graceful takedown. Sparrow lost hold of the goblin’s arm upon landing and had to use both hands and legs to try to find a proper position to pin it down.
From an outside perspective their fight might look like two kids tussling in the dirt.
The goblin thrashed around but with its chest pinned toward the ground it didn’t have any range of movement.
The goblin screeched and grunted under Sparrow as it waved its dagger fruitlessly.
Sparrow grabbed the arm holding the dagger and then pressed it against the Goblin’s back.
Then he began to bend it further up towards the goblins' head.
Its screams grew louder and louder before a snap was heard. It wailed as it dropped the dagger.
Sparrow let go of the goblin’s arms and turned it over. He quickly raised his fist and began whaling into its face.
A thud, then a crunch, then a squish.
Sparrow cried and yelled as he punched it. Raspy desperate cries were heard beneath him.
Sparrow noticed the goblin’s health bar.
[HP: 193/250]
His fists weren’t enough.
He took up the dagger and drove it into the goblin’s eye. Again and again. Dark red blood soaked his right sleeve.
[HP: 0/250]
Sparrow continued to madly drive the dagger into the little monster, however he stopped when the goblin’s existence literally shook. Its body and the air surrounding it visibly vibrated with a black aura before lying still.
Then, a notification appeared.
[Goblin Defeated]
[+200 xp]
[Level Up!]
Sparrow briefly glowed golden and instantly he felt rejuvenated.
Finally the struggling ended and Sparrow groaned as he got off the goblin and sat down a few feet away from it, too shaken to find a better resting spot.
He looked at his health.
[Health 110/110]
Not only had his health increased by 10 points, he was instantly healed. He also gained back all his stamina and he wasn’t tired anymore.
It was an unreal feeling after being so exhausted.
Sparrow looked over at the goblin corpse and couldn’t help but still feel a bit of vitriol towards it.
That’s when he noticed that a trail of floating golden sand was moving towards him. It was like a river of countless beads of light.
The sand flew up and into his body, his clothes didn’t seem to impede on the current.
Sparrow felt a tingly feeling within himself. If he could describe it, he would say that his heart felt fuller.
He opened his stats and saw his soul was full again, and its max amount increased.
[Soul:110/110]
The value ticked down after a few seconds, but as soon as it did, the sand would replenish it. This caused the stream of sand to just linger around his body before a sliver of it was absorbed.
While it seemed everything healed physically and “soulfully”, mentally he was still a mess.
That fight was bloody and violent. Even more so, it was horrifying.
He would never forget the feeling of the dagger cutting him, or the feeling of the goblin’s arm breaking in his hand.
The goblin and him bled actual blood. There was no digital glowing red blood on their bodies like in the game.
It had never felt so intense fighting monsters in the game. They were less chaotic and fun.
He decided it would feel useless comparing anything that happened in ReQuest from that point forward. Although it would be hard not to.
Sparrow looked down at his stomach. His dark hoodie was soaked with blood around the cut fabric.
He lifted his shirt and saw just his clean unharmed flesh.
He sighed in relief.
Upon killing the goblin he leveled up and was healed. He wondered what the vicious stab wounds would have looked like if he hadn’t leveled up.
Sparrow was bewildered that the dagger in the stomach wasn’t the worst pain he had felt that day.
Before Sparrow could stand up and dust himself off, he noticed countless beams of light falling from the sky.
Throughout the valley. Beams of light cut through the dark clouds and onto the ground, summoning different creatures, some of them were people.
It seemed that plenty of them had already been summoned and finished with their fights, they possibly arrived around the same time as Sparrow.
Sparrow assumed that they all would be around the same level as him. This had to be the lower leveled area since the goblin was only level five.
He wondered if those people were also players. Possibly this was a trial that wasn’t exclusive to him.
Just as he was beginning to feel good at the prospect of not taking on the Valley of Death alone, Sparrow felt the air being disturbed behind him.
That’s when he noticed a towering creature was being conjured from a massive ray of light. The beads of light whirled in the form of a golden tornado.
Right when Sparrow shot up onto his feet, two grand spanning wings sprouted from within the light.
Sparrow peered into the light and at the top of his vision a name appeared.
He paled.
[Great Plains Wyvern Lv. 70]
