Neto looked at his friend, then back at the dead man, whose belly was sliced from one end to the other.
He had wrinkles from smiling. A stark juxtaposition against his eyes, which held the light of an asphyxiated fish, and his entrails, which steamed like grilled sausage.
"That thing is bloody realistic. Even for SUN." Peter remarked, breaking their awkward silence.
"Everything about this is 'bloody realistic'" Neto concurred.
They stood in a clearing surrounded by dense foliage, adjusting to new bodies after spawning moments ago.
Neto had almond skin, autumn-brown hair and, unlike his real body, a working spine. This was his first time standing in over ten years.
"I-It's really an NPC, right?"
His loose-fitting shirt tore at the collar in a makeshift v-neck, and x-shaped stitches ran down its middle, pointing to a pair of loose-fitting pants.
Peter's body was a few inches taller, around six feet, and unlike his real body, devoid of cancer.
"Sure hope so, mate. Alternative is we've gone mad."
His messy blond hair fell over the ivory skin of his face, hiding a pair of azure eyes. His clothes were neat and fit together like a medieval track-suit.
"You see that thing?" Neto pointed to a silhouette which appeared from behind a tree and climbed on top of the dead body.
A unicycle-sized goblin. It turned to face them, waving a gore-drenched scimitar as if to tell them: 'You're next.'
"Dont tell me this is a fucking combat tutorial... we don't even have weapons!" Peter complained.
"I don't have a weapon. Check your waist, dummy."
Sure enough, Peter had a sword strapped to his belt, which he unsheathed as two more goblins waddled into the clearing. One held a gnarled staff, and the other unsheathed its short sword. Bone-white hair covered their heads in tufts, and their wrinkled faces shone with cruelty.
"I don't think we can run from this." Neto glanced at their powerful leg-muscles.
Holding his index and forefinger together, he re-created a common gesture for [Sense]. He'd played a few VRMMORPGs before this, but none of them were so realistic.
'It's the same as the others.'
[System]:
[Skill]: [(Unrefined) Sense]:-{7m Radius}
[Lv. 3]-{GoblinTheif}-{2}
[Lv. 3]-{Goblin Mage}-{1}
Instead of appearing on a holographic screen, information bloomed in his mind, clear as crystal.
"There are only three." Neto relayed the information to Peter. He scanned the area for a weapon he could use, when-
"Their Mage! RUN!!" Peter yelled.
WHOOSH!
An invisible force slammed Neto into a nearby tree.
Two balls of fire tore through the air where his head had been, milliseconds before.
"T-that was close..." Neto mumbled in a daze.
Vision swayed, tinnitus buzzed in his ears, but he knew the goblins were making their move.
WHRRR!
Neto pushed away from the tree, just in time to see a five-inch dagger crunch into bark beside his head. Death missed by a hairsbreadth, waking his adrenal glands.
"I owe you one!" Neto called, claiming the dagger as his own. "Stay alive!"
"Worry about yourself first!" Peter yelled back.
A pointed tongue flickered from the goblin's mouth, wiggling back and forth. It was the one who threw that dagger, and the same one who killed that mystery NPC with it's scimitar.
'Is it taunting me?'
Neto whitened his knuckles around his dagger's hilt.
As the two stared each other down, he heard a guttural incantation.
"Yal'ra, un fila..."
If he didn't finish this soon, that mage would burn Peter to a crisp!
"Come on, make your move!" Neto willed his opponent into action.
The goblin's thick leg muscles rippled with tension.
Then it pounced!
A leaping slash with astounding velocity. His chest was exposed, but...
Neto expected this kind of attack.
Catching the larger blade with the base of his dagger, Neto wrenched the goblins scimitar out of its hands, using its frail wrists to his advantage.
CLANG!
It landed deftly, unwilling to slow down after losing its weapon.
Once again, the thief lunged! Maybe since it no longer held a weapon, the goblin was faster than before. Neto couldn't react in time.
'Argh!' he cursed.
The thief wrapped its legs around Neto's upper torso, pressing it's thumbs into his eyes and sawing at his neck with its teeth. He tried desperately to free himself, but those legs were too powerful.
"Screw off!" Neto cursed.
CHOMP!
Throbs of pain grew louder with each bite.
CHOMP!
Warm ichor dripped down the nape of his neck, and his eyes felt like they would burst at any moment.
[SYSTEM]: [SEPSIS] {contracted} - [Blood Corruption]: {5%}
Sounds of a fierce battle raged behind Neto. Peter was alive for now, but there was no way to know how this skirmish would end up with this damn goblin on him.
"It's coming for yo-!"
A fireball's WHOOSH cut Peter off!
Neto didn't need help this time. Using his superior mass, he belly-flopped onto the ground, crushing the goblin under him. A tremendous blast of heat came from above.
BOOM!
"You owe me two now!" Peter shouted.
As his assailant was gasping for breath, Neto freed himself from its hold, stabbing out blindly. His vision was blurry and his ears were ringing, but Neto's fear gave him strength.
"AYEEEK!" The goblin shrieked, doubling over in pain, but he didn't relent. Each strike connected, breaking the thief's flesh and tearing into its vulnerable organs.
"AYEE- kAH~!!
When Neto's vision returned, he couldn't recognize the heap of mangled flesh in front of him, and his guts wrenched with the urge to gag.
'I-It was an NPC... I-It was just~' Neto assured himself over and over, taking deep breaths.
No matter what, he had to finish what he came here for. That biotech company, SUN, promised to fix his spine for the measly price of alpha testing their new game. They also promised to cure Peter's cancer. All they had to do was kill one enemy, find the starter town, and sign up at the adventurer's guild. Neto just completed his first task.
[SYSTEM]: [Goblin {Thief} [Lv. 3]--{Slain}
[{Starting} Quest]-[Tasks Complete]-{1/3}
[EXP]: {+5}
[LV. 0]: {5/35}
[Blood Corruption]: {10%}
Covered in mud and viscera, Neto reminded himself this wasn't real. He would have to remain calm, to slow that sepsis debuff, which he recognized from his old world. Corrupted blood would spread, rotting him from the inside-out.
Each breath was a guttural rasp. Each step fell increasingly off-balance.
"A'yiii!!" the mage shrieked after its comrade stopped moving. A vengeful scowl spread while its staff pointed in his direction.
Neto didn't notice until it was too late.
WHOOSH, BOOM!
Knocked to the ground, pain exploded across his upper body. His skin crackled with blisters, and his breath came in gasps. Unable to bear the pain, Neto reached out in desperation for anything to hold, when-
[Loot]-[{Lesser} Health Potion.]-{Obtained}
{Store Lesser Health Potion?}-{Y/N}
His hands closed around a small glass bottle.
Ignoring the message his system sent, he mustered the last of his strength and bit off its glass top. Iron-flavored ichor slid down the back of his throat.
Being low level meant HP flasks were extra effective, even if they were of poor quality. As his hearing and vision returned, new skin replaced his charred hide, proving this world was no exception.
Neto grabbed the dead thief's scimitar.
"HA!"
Incantations from the mage did not cease as Neto lunged. His new weapon went halfway through the goblin's neck before hitting bone, sending shock waves up his arm.
Almost instantly, he dissociated from reality.
[SYSTEM]: [Goblin {Mage} [Lv. 3]--{Slain}
Was he crazy, or was that mage's blood moving by itself...
'I'm hallucinating...' Neto thought.
[EXP]: {+10}
Time flowed in slow motion, space distorted...
[Lv. 0]: {15/35}
Everything was so quiet. Peter must have defeated that last goblin; maybe now they could take a break...
[Blood Corruption]: {30%}
Mind-alteration increased with each uptick of Sepsis. Maybe it would go away with a good night's sleep...
As if on cue, Neto's knees collapsed.
His body no longer obeyed commands. All he could do was watch the mage's blood crawl across the ground like some impossible snake.
Once a circle formed, vermillion light cast across the white-barked trees surrounding Neto.
"What the hell is that..." Peter's voice echoed behind him.
From its epicenter, a shadowy figure emerged.
