I stare around the white room aimlessly, suddenly impaled by its blandness. The lighting is bright and uniform all around the room, yet, I cannot spot any bulb. The air around me is cold and chilly, not that I expect it to be warm in a world without a sun.
I feel the hair on the back of my neck rise instinctively. I reach out a hand and rub the back of my neck.
The walls look like the insides of a rubik's cube, closing in on my unsteady vision with an eccentric potency that is beyond me. There is a strange whiff in the air. I am choking on something. My lungs are pulling in the polluted air greedily.
I fall on my knees. Has the nightmare begun without me knowing it? Why has the System not informed me?
My mind roams aimlessly. The air is sizzling powerfully. Whatever I am being forced to breath must be very powerful. I feel the floor closing in on me. It appears closer and closer until I feel my forehead crash into it's cold embrace.
I can not move. My limbs flail in utter abandon as I try desperately to make them do my bidding. Frustration sizzles through me.
My mind finally starts fading off into oblivion. All I know is that I have to be prepared for whatever is coming.
"System, upgrade my weapon". I mutter.
I see a bright faint blue and hear the soft purr of coins being deposited. I can hear, but all my sense of reasoning is long gone. I don't know how much I just spent on upgrading my weapon.
---
The air is crackling with smoke, black and sooty with floating ashes and debris.
My eyes water at the irritation. I look around, choosing to lie still until the rhythmic throbbing in my head calms.
When it doesn't seem like it would calm anytime soon, I try raising my head.
The intense throbbing warns me that it is not a good idea. I lay back down and stare at the black sky.
Dark blue eyes peer above me silently. The eyes are very unfamiliar, but seemingly alluring in a very vague sense.
All I get is an upside down view of a masked figure. His hair and lower face are masked by a black linen rapped around them. All I can see are his eyes.
He waves a hand above my eyes as if to guage if my sight is working.
I catch his gloved fingers with one calculated move.
His eyes seem to be smiling. Who the hell is this? Where the hell am I? I hate being in the dark.
He hoists me to a sitting position and I stopped viewing him up-side down.
He looks quite slender beneath all the leather he is wearing. His clothes are a lot more worn out than mine, which means he has been here for a long time.
The collar of his jacket is split at one end and cuffed at the edges. His pants have been sliced through at several places but still managed to look decent.
I return my unsteady gaze to his face. My sight is quite blurry as the throbbing in my head has ascended to another level.
"My apologies for having to meet you this way". He hands me a scarf with which I should cover my lower face from the peril of the smoke and dense fumes.
I take it from him warily. His eyes are dancing in merriment again. Is he laughing at me? If he is, I would rip off his face covering and smack away his ugly grin.
"Now that the pleasantries are sorted, we have to get moving".
He lends me a hand while I just sit there and stare at him with a bewildered expression on my face.
Did he expect me to just get up and follow him with nothing so much as a proper introduction? Is this a nightmare? Is he a demon? Was I sucked into the portal while I was unconcious? It hardly would seem appropriate for the System to do that, but I am running out of ideas.
He grabs my shoulders unceremoniously and hauls me to my feet with barely any effort. I open my mouth to protest and he quickly wraps the shawl over my mouth and nose.
When I scowl at him with my blazing eyes, he just taps on where I believe is his nose and gestures at the atmosphere.
His gesture makes me look around. The smoke is coming from a fire a good mile from where we are. It is a very large fire.
"Where am I?"
I hate suspense more than anything.
"We are in a joint nightmare. I brought you here, although my methods were very..."
I don't let him finish speaking.
I shove him on the ground and press my elbow into his neck.
The dusty and humid wind blows tendrils of my hair into my face. I blow it away crudely. The sea is not far off from the feel of the breeze.
All around us are lifeless rocks that have even more freedom than my petty existence could ever hope for. Gem stones are growing everywhere. At least this barren place is fertile enough to yield something of importance.
I look down at the man in my deadly chokehold. He seems so arrogantly calm, like he is so sure that I can't hurt him.
I can see myself mirrored in his deep soulful eyes. I don't recognize the person I see there.
I let him go and rise to my feet. He coughs mockingly and cackles.
"I think a chicken's hold might have been more potent".
I ignore him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm pretty popular. I'm the Grim System's number one. Take a lucky guess".
I narrow my eyes at him. His eyes are dancing again. My fingers are itching to peel off the layers of fabric on his face to find out if he is smiling.
"Xian Xi?" I ask more out of skeptism than any apparent conviction.
The leaderboard's number one would naturally have no use for me. Why then did he go through so much trouble to abduct me into a joint nightmare with him.
"I thought you would have guessed that a lot sooner. You are even dumber than I expected".
I stiffen at the intended insult. If his aim is to ruffle my feathers, he has succeeded in doing exactly that.
"Why are you in a nightmare with me?"
He rises to his feet and makes a show of dusting himself off.
"Oh, yes! Let's ask ourselves stupid questions instead of running. Why is the almighty Xian Xi teaming up with a hopeless player with zero coins to her name and a knack for being dumb? Should I answer that for you?"
Without thinking, I reach forward with a speed that surprises us both and pull his scarf down to his neck.
His beautiful face makes something turn in my stomach. I am staring at my crush from twelve thousand years ago. He looks even more refreshing.
I never knew his name. So his name is Xian Xi? Not bad.
Then, to my utter horror, Jisoo, the woman from my clan whose husband I could see, stabs him from behind.
He collpases in front of me.
I stare with terrified eyes at Jisoo as she turned predatory eyes at me. I slowly start backing away. My feet jams into a rock and I topple backward. Before I fall, all I can see is the fiery depths of her blackened eyes. She is my nightmare.
As I tumble through the sharp - edged rocks, I get scraped on my arm.
It starts bleeding and a blade slowly starts forming.
She is sliding down the rocks in a calm and slow pursuit that provokes even more fear than a hot chase.
The weapon elongates until it stabs her. I withdraw the sword and blood starts gushing out before she rolls down the pile of rocks.
Is she the only one?
Her body rolls down to where mine is. I shrug her limp hand off my abdomen, but it grabs my neck.
I quickly form my weapon and stab the side of her neck with it. I stab profusely until I am covered with blood.
I retract my blade into my arm and go to check on Xian Xi.
He is sitting up.
"How can I help?"
I examine the wound he is trying to hide beneath his gloved hands. Blood is dripping profusely.
"Use coins and get me a white lotus from the System. It grants instant healing to the user."
I look away.
"As you so nicely mentionned earlier, I have no coins left".
He grins.
"Aren't we lucky? I am as rich as a brand new piggy bank".
I immediately get the implied sarcasm.
"If you have no money to help your almighty self, then you have to die and restart. It's not my problem". I say with an indefinite shrug.
His eyes are cool and calculating.
"I know things that are very valuable to you and you in turn can help me in ways no one else can. Besides, I would lose my diamond rank and the priveleges associated with it". He says in a voice that is intended to be intriguing.
"What priveleges?" I take the bait.
"Free food and water, free manuals, access to private and restricted areas, and so forth."
"And what do you need me for?"
"I know you can get me out of here. If you outsmarted the demon queen once, you can do it again."
I snort. It had taken me three thousand years of thorough planning to effect my escape.
"And if I refuse?"
The thought of a partner is quite unsettling, not just because I like to get work alone, but also because he was my first crush. A holy Gorhm.
"What will it be?" He asked and tugged his scarf over his lower face.
His voice became deeper and muffled.
A large spider is crawling towards us in the distance. That must be his own nightmare.
I could just leave him and run, but that would go against my code of conduct.
"Where do I get coins?"
He grins.
"We can complete tasks". He said slowly, as if being eaten or stung by a spider happened to him everyday.
"System, what tasks do I have?"
The System appears.
"Kiss player 10400H to earn a white lotus".
Both of them stare at each other.