You bury your horse in a small clearing. The best friend you ever had.

You have killed Bald Medusa!

You receive 4,000 gold, and 256 experience!

The horse died. It was supposed to be my best friend, and I did not even know. Maybe it really would have become my best friend if it had survived longer. I had never had a best friend before. Nor had I ever owned a pet to call my own. Father had a pet dog years ago, but it was his, and had nothing to do with me. The horse and I barely even traveled together. It was not even named yet. Its time in the world was far too brief. I wanted to feel sad about its departure, but I felt hollow instead. As if I was supposed to feel bad, but did not for some reason. I did not feel anything at all.

Redmaw: my best friend died

Primrose: ?? REALLY? Did someone send you a tell? Wait...you're not talking about the horse, right?

Redmaw: i did not even give it a name its life was too short lived

Primrose: Hah, seriously. Its an npc, remember? It did its job. It dying was the best thing for you. You got all the gold and exp, right? Without having to fight yourself? That's a win-win! I told you horses had another use, that was it. It wasn't a real horse anyway, and it wasn't your best friend.

Redmaw: i just always wanted a pet never had one before

Primrose: That's probably why you ended up with the Beastlord class. You'll have a pet soon enough. If not tomorrow, then definitely the day after. You'll have your own pet. I promise.

Redmaw: a pet of my own to care for and feed and pet

Primrose: Eh, it'll still be an npc though, so it won't need much care. But it will stay with you forever. Even if it “dies”, it'll come back. Anyway, you have a choice of paths in front of you. How have the fights been over there? Are you more comfortable attacking npcs physically, with your own hands?

Redmaw: that i no i do not want to if i could choose not to violence is wrong

Primrose: It's fine, for now. Get as many forest events done as you can. You'll be leaving soon.

Redmaw: i am sorry

I hoped that Primrose was not too disappointed with me. He did not respond to me after my apology. Since he did not tell me the other path available to me, he must have already set up the new schedule with both paths in mind. I wanted to do as he asked, but with another option available to me, I felt that it needed to be the path that I took. The less violence that occurred, the better. Even if the violence here was rather subdued. It was different when the attacks happened in words and numbers, instead of with weapons and bloodshed. I did as Primrose said to, and continued to (L)ook around the forest. Of course, there were two fights in a row. Black Alligator and Black Sorcerer were new enemies, but I managed to defeat them. I missed a ton of attacks, like usual, so I had to visit the (H)ealer's Hut afterward to get the red bar refilled again. The two of them gave me 6,083 gold coins and 277 experience combined.

Event In The Forest – You come across an old man. He seems confused and asks if you would direct him to the Inn. You know that if you do, you will lose time for one fight today. Do you take the old man?

YES! Thank you old man. He appeared when I needed him most. There has been too much violence in the forest lately. I happily escorted him to the inn at the cost of a fight. The fewer fights, the better off the world would be. I once again tried to refuse the gift. I would have given him gold to prevent more fights, but it was I who received gold instead. 2,500 gold coins, to be exact, and 1 Charm point.

**CHARM GOES UP BY 1**

**FIGHT** You have encountered Clancy, Son of Emporor Len!! Your Hitpoints 488, Clancy, Son of Emporor Len's Hitpoints 324. (A)ttack, (S)tats, (R)un?

Another fight was forced upon me. I really hoped Primrose had a path for me that did not involve me attacking other beings. Even if they were just npcs. At first, I was relieved that the horrible feelings that I expected to happen, just did not happen. As time passed though, and the horse npc died, I realized that it may actually be worse for me not to feel anything. I knew that I should have felt something when beings died. Even if I did not know them long, or that they were not deemed real, live, sentient beings. They still existed and then were killed off. And no one even cared. They were simply labeled as npcs and even compared to food and drink for players. They only existed to be nourishment for others. That was one of the saddest existences that I could have ever imagined. Clancy, even if he was not real, had a father. He was the son of the Emperor, well, Emporor. I just, I did not want to kill him, I did not want to kill others. It was unfair to pit us both against each other and only offer us the choice of attack or run away. Since I did not want to attack him, I opted to (R)un away. Clancy let me go and did not even chase me.

I was finished with the forest. I did not want to risk a fight with another npc. The Town Square was still crowded, but I ignored the words and visited the (I)nn. The words told me that I was hailed by several of the patrons upon entry, but there were no sounds here, nor were there any patrons to see. Apparently, I had waved back to the patrons and then smiled at the well-rounded Violet as she brushed by me. I had not done any of that and none of it was done to me. It was just something, a game, that told me what I did, when I did not even do that. Everything about the game was fake. It was all forced on me and I felt very confined. Limited in so many ways. The place was a trap and I wanted to leave.

Redmaw: I would really like to leave

Primrose: Oh, okay, guess there's not much to do after finishing the forest fights. There aren't any other players to fight, so you can try a player fight next time, if you want. Go to the bank and drop off all the gold there first. Then head to the Inn and listen to the bard. Flirt with Violet while you're there too, just a wink is good enough. After that, go to the bank and get out 1,110,000 gold. Return to the inn and get a room for the night.

Primrose did not know that I was already at the Inn, or he would have surely provided a more efficient route for me to follow. Since I was at the Inn, I (F)lirted with Violet first, she was the one who the game forced me to smile at earlier. A (W)ink at her actually earned me 25 experience. Then I listened to Seth Able The Bard perform, well, I (H)eard him perform, just without any sounds. There was not any music, or notes, no instruments, or even voices that performed. Everything was silent and fake.

...”The Gods have power, the Gods are just”...

...”The Gods help us people, when they must”...

...”Gods can heal the sick, even the cancered”...

...”Pray to the Gods, and you will be answered...You find yourself wishing for more money.”

SOMEWHERE, MAGIC HAS HAPPENED!

Yeah, Primrose said that he had used magic all day today. So, obviously magic has happened somewhere, just not where I was. I still had not learned any magic at all. Four more levels, he said. I wondered how many days that would take to be achieved. I left the Inn and visited the Bank to withdraw the money, however what surprised me was that there was over 2 million gold in the bank account. There was only 1,077,500 gold in there earlier, but when I looked again there was 2,155,000 gold. The total amount of gold in the bank doubled!

Redmaw: THE GOLD IT DOUBLED

Primrose: Oh yeah? Nice. It's only a 1 in 7 chance for the bard to double your banked gold, so you're pretty lucky. I told you before that I might have a way of cutting your gold farming time in half, remember? Anyway, leave the extra gold in the bank, it'll earn interest while it's in there. Just take out what you need, which is probably around 1,110,000?

Redmaw: I am not sure what to do with the rest I only needed one million

Primrose: Business opportunities will appear before you and you'll need the gold on hand or else someone else may snipe the deal. Achmed is waiting for you again. Please get a room at the inn, in a hurry, of course!

Even after the withdrawal of 1,110,000 gold coins, there were still 1,078,141 gold coins in the bank. I was already back at the inn and ready to (G)et a room when it finally dawned on me why Primrose wanted me to visit the bank first. If I had deposited the gold in my possession before I listened to the bard, then another 33,141 gold coins would have been earned. It was a wasted opportunity and another reminder that Primrose knew far more about video games than I ever would. It was a mistake for me to take a shortcut. I constantly reminded myself of his vast gaming knowledge, and then I just went and ignored it. He had been doing his best for my sake, and then I completely disregarded his efforts, just because I was flustered about the current game and wanted to leave. If ever I had deserved punishment, it would be for that. To make a single mistake was bad enough, but my mistakes have increased lately.

Redmaw: i messed up and should be punished

Primrose: Seriously, I'll listen to it later, but right now you need to get out of that game and return. Hurry please. The porter can't keep waiting around for you.

Primrose: Pause whatever thoughts you're about to have, quiet down the inner monologues or whatever, and please Hurry, Hurry, Hurry.

Primrose was right, again, and I had inconvenienced him by accident, again. However, people rarely inconvenienced others intentionally. It was usually...I stopped that train of thought. Primrose said that I needed to hurry. I paid the required amount of gold and (G)ot a room at the Inn.

The Room At The Inn – You are escorted to a small but cozy room in the Inn. You relax on the soft bed, and soon fall asleep, still wearing your armour. RETURNING TO THE MUNDANE WORLD...

The basement appeared before me, along with a furious man that I recognized. Achmed reached out and grabbed my arm with his left hand, and squeezed hard. He glared at me with such intensity that I had to look away. Someone had repaired the damaged walls and door while I was inside the game world. The hole in the cement, below my feet, was filled in as well. All the damage from the strange orange circle had been fixed. To think that I had been inside the game for that long already. It was no wonder that Primrose was upset with me and told me to hurry. My view shifted, and the basement became a child's bedroom. Discarded toys were spread out around the floor, with crayons and coloring books left on the small table that was around the height of my shin. A plastic crib was in the corner of the room and a plastic mobile, with little dogs in uniform, hung above it. My attention returned to Achmed, as he forced a package into my arms before his foot flew out and kicked me in the stomach. The foot was hidden by the gift box in my hands, so I did not see the kick aimed at me. I was forced backwards, and with my head turned to the side slightly, I managed to see a bit of green color before another portal swallowed me.

You have been removed from the group.

The first thing that I noticed about the new place were the bright colors. A cheery, cream-colored terrain underneath three bright pink circular objects with beady little eyes and tiny mouths. They reminded me of bubbles. They seemed harmless, so I looked over to the left and noticed that the rectangle with Achmed's name was blank now. I had been removed from the group with him, for some reason. Actually, I had forgotten that I was even a part of his group the whole time I was inside that last game. The window had disappeared shortly after entry, so I had forgotten about it. Primrose said before that Achmed was just a means of transportation for me, but I still wished to be in a group with others. Since I did not wish to dwell on his departure, or his kick to my stomach, I concentrated on the package in my arms instead. There was a huge red bow on top and red ribbons on all four sides of the shiny, metallic purple box. A large purple envelope was taped to the front with the name “Redmaw” written in black cursive letters. It looked very professional. The present was far too nice to be for me, but the envelope, it may have been for me.

After the envelope was removed from the present, I turned it over to look at the back. The gift giver had looped some scotch tape into a circle, sticky side out, which allowed for the easy removal of the envelope. There were also instructions written out on the bottom of the card, “Redmaw, open up immediately.” The envelope itself was not sealed, so I pulled the card out. There was a handsome dog in a police uniform on the front that wished me a happy 1^st birthday. The inside of the card held a long message from Primrose. He would be extremely busy for a while and, if possible, not to send him tells unless it was unavoidable. Then there was a list of things for me to accomplish. In the game I was currently in, as well as how to travel to the next game too. First, I was supposed to open up the present, which really was for me. I could not even remember when the last time I received a present was. The little pink bubble npcs had not attacked me at all, they just sat there and watched me, so I sat down on the cream-colored ground to unwrap the gift.

The gift box was square and the top, with the red bows, easily slid off of the bottom section. Inside was some tissue paper and two huge boots. They were made of thick brown leather and a silvery metal. The toe and shin areas were protected by the shiny metal and the buckles were made of the same material too. What really surprised me though, were the spurs on the back of the boots. The heel and the calf sections of the boots both had silver spurs on them. Both boots looked identical, there was no difference between the left and right boots. Only after I read Primrose's instructions, did I understand that these were not meant to be worn normally. I opened up the inventory window and put the boots in the box dedicated to feet items. I was amazed to see the two boots in my hands vanish and then reappear on my feet. Especially since they were much smaller than my feet were. The boots greatly increased in size to fit the gray and white, clawed feet. As I thought about the boots, a small window appeared and gave me information about them.

Spike Boots (Uncommon) – When hit, drop 20 spikes to the ground that deal 100 damage and stun the enemy on contact. Takes 4 seconds to recharge. Can't be blocked.

Primrose was very specific about their usage. I could only wear them inside game worlds and never on Earth because the spikes would cause problems there. I also needed to remove the Iron Armor from that last game world, since that prevented me from being damaged in this world. He wrote that I should always try to keep the Iron Armor on, unless I was told to remove it, but this was one of the occasions where it should be removed. Since I was reluctant to attack other beings, I needed to let them attack and injure me instead. That way, only my enemies would get hurt, and it would be because they injured themselves. If they did not want to get hurt, then they just needed to stop their attacks on me.

As long as I did not wear the spike boots outside the game worlds, then only the ones who attacked me, my enemies, would be injured by them. With the new boots worn on my feet, and the Iron Armour stored away inside a chest, the letter next directed me to touch one of the pink slimes. The three of them just sat there quietly the entire time, so they seemed unlikely to attack me. Or so I thought, but as soon as I touched one of them, it started to change color. It became more hazy, almost transparent, and then it flashed hot pink as it attacked me. The little pink slime's tiny mouth opened up wide and revealed a bunch of sharp teeth.

It had all happened so fast. The little slime opened up its mouth and that alone was enough for it to vanish into a puff of smoke. My hand had not been anywhere near its teeth. The window with my name and the three lines appeared, but I had not noticed any changes. Even though the window looked normal, a small explosion of spurs flew out of the boots and hit all three slimes. The slimes all vanished into clouds of smoke. Even the two that I was not in contact with were also hit by spurs and vanished. Twenty spurs shot out, and it only took three of them to defeat the slime enemies. The extra spurs had not disappeared either, seventeen of them still rested on the ground in a circle around me. The surprises had not finished yet either, since something new appeared before me.

Choose a Weapon

Magma (Level 1) – leaves a fire trail that burns enemies

Target (Level 1) – chance to deal triple damage

Cactus (Level 1) – spawns an orbiting cactus that deals damage to enemies