Chapter 3: The Assassin of Life

We entered inside, and it was dark. Really dark.

The kind of dark where even your own breath feels like it might betray you.

It was impossible to see more than a few steps ahead, and the silence made it worse. The floor creaked with every step, and the walls seemed to close in around us. It felt less like a game and more like we’d stepped into a prison one built on some forsaken island no one talks about, the kind with stories that start with "I heard no one ever made it out…"

We were still inside the building. Whatever this place was, it was chaos incarnate. Alarms were faint in the distance. Some lights flickered in and out like dying stars. This was no fantasy RPG or casual PvP game.

This was clearly a horror game.

And I hated horror games.

"How is this not a horror game?" I whispered, tightening the grip on my Dangatana.

None of us spoke much after that. We stayed close, backs to each other, like paranoid survivors in a zombie flick. Jarrod held up his shield, eyes scanning every shadow. Judeth’s sniper was locked and ready. Me? I was trying not to scream every time a pipe groaned or a vent hissed.

We moved through the abandoned corridors until we reached a recreation yard. The sky above was pitch-black, but overhead spotlights cast harsh cones of pale light down onto the yard like stage lights at a death match.

That’s when we saw them.

Three figures. Standing there. Waiting for us.

"Guess the earlier players didn’t leave," Judeth muttered.

No, they didn’t. They were right there, right in the middle of the yard. One leaned against the rusted fence like this was a game show. Another twirled a weapon like they were bored. And the third…

She stood at the center, still as a statue, head slightly bowed.

But she radiated danger.

Her design was striking completely white from head to toe. Her form-fitting suit shimmered faintly like it was woven from frost and glass. A skull-shaped mask obscured her face, but her silhouette, her curves, the way she carried herself. Yeah, it was clear she was a woman.

Her hood covered most of her head, casting deep shadows over her mask, but none of that dulled the effect. She was intimidating… and annoyingly hot.

Naturally, I tried to act cool. I took a step forward like I had all the confidence in the world, swaggering into the center of the yard like a smooth operator.

That lasted three seconds before Jarrod grabbed me by the arm and spun me around.

"What the hell are you doing?" he whispered harshly.

I tried to play it off. "I was just… you know, going to confront them. Strategy, intimidation. Make them feel threatened."

Judeth smirked behind me. "You liar. You saw her sexy body and were about to ask her out."

"What? Noooo," I said, waving my hands. "That’s not true."

Jarrod didn’t look convinced. He locked eyes with me and asked, "You seriously don’t know who she is?"

I looked past him, back at her. Something about her did seem familiar…

"Wait a sec," I said slowly. "Is she the one who broke my heart during the Valentine’s Special Event? I remember now, I spent that whole weekend crying in the shower while eating frozen pizza…"

"…Uhh, no," Jarrod replied, taken aback.

A long pause.

Then Judeth gently placed a hand on my shoulder and said with mock sympathy, "That’s rough, buddy."

I blinked. Realizing what I’d just said out loud.

"Ahem…anyway," I coughed. "About this chick—could you please continue your explanation, my dear friend?"

Jarrod gave me the kind of look that said ‘I hate that I know you.’

"Right," he said. "That chick you can’t stop drooling over—"

"I wasn’t drooling—"

"—is called Weiss Shi."

"Weiss… She?" I asked.

"No. Weiss Shi. It’s both German and Japanese. It translates to White Death."

I blinked again. "Seriously? People love mashing up foreign words to make their names sound cooler. Just toss some German or Japanese in there and boom—instant badass, at least to dumb people who don’t know what it actually means."

Judeth smirked. "So you’re admitting you’re one of those dumb people?"

I nodded proudly. "Exactly. That name is coooool."

"Not the point," Jarrod sighed. "She’s infamous. Known as the Assassin of Life."

I tilted my head. "That’s… vague. Am I supposed to be impressed?"

Judeth snorted. "Better title than Glitchwalker."

"Oiii," I groaned. "That name is a work-in-progress, alright?"

Jarrod ignored us. "Weiss Shi isn’t just some player. Rumors say she was the first person to enter Onlife. Ever. Back during its announcement phase. She’s not a tester, not a mod. Her role? Clean up from the inside."

I frowned. "You mean… she’s here to deal with cheaters?"

Jarrod nodded grimly. "Not just deal with. If she kills you—game over. You’re banned. For life."

"Ah," I said, suddenly very uncomfortable. "So, best way to avoid her is simple: don’t cheat."

Judeth and Jarrod turned to me in unison with identical expressions of disbelief.

"…What?" I asked.

Jarrod blinked. "You are the Glitchwalker."

"Right… so… she’s probably after me." I slowly turned to look at her again. "Man, I really wish that woman wanted to meet me for a nice date or a late-night ramen run… not to, you know, erase my existence."

I let out a long sigh. "Welp. I guess that’s life."

I stepped forward, drawing my Dangatana. Its blue edge gleamed under the pale light as I pointed it straight at Weiss Shi and her two silent partners.

"So…" I said, "Shall we face her?"

"Wh—didn’t you pay attention to a single word I just said?" Jarrod’s voice was sharp, cutting through the thick tension in the air.

I kept my eyes locked on Weiss Shi, letting the weight of her presence press down on me like a storm cloud. My heart was racing, but I played it cool—at least on the outside.

"The only thing I do know is this," I said, keeping my voice steady. "White chick = Dead Jack = Bad News = No Alchemy & Alloy. Am I wrong?"

Judeth sighed. Jarrod gave me a look like I’d just tried to solve a math equation by screaming into a potato.

"Are you seriously that dense?" Jarrod asked, exasperated. "You don’t win the Easter Egg by beating her. You win it by snatching it. And if they’re still standing there with the egg right there, it means they could’ve taken it and left, but they didn’t. You know why?"

I shrugged. "I’m guessing because they love cosplay and hate peace?"

Jarrod groaned and gestured around the recreation yard.

"Look around, genius."

Bodies, dozens of them. Or at least player avatars, broken and strewn across the ground. Loot scattered like confetti after a failed boss raid. So many players fallen, all their stuff left behind, The place reeked of defeat. It looked a goldmine.

"That," Jarrod said grimly, "is the aftermath of people who thought they could beat them. And failed. Miserably."

"So what?" I asked. "You’re saying we just sneak pass them, steal the egg, and run?"

He nodded slowly. "That’s the best-case scenario. But even then, we have to get past her. And that’s where it all falls apart. You don’t get a fair fight when you’re up against Weiss Shi. It’s lose-lose from the start."

I stayed silent, eyes narrowing. My fingers tightened around the grip of my Dangatana.

Then, I stepped forward, just a few paces toward the center of the yard. I took a breath, and raised my voice loud enough for all three of them to hear.

"Hey! Weiss Shi!"

Her head turned slightly. Just slightly. But enough to make my chest tighten.

"Just because you’re some kind of icy terminator or badass ghost assassin, yeah, with a stupidly hot vibe, I’ll admit, it doesn’t mean I’m about to wet my pants. You’re standing there looking like the final boss of a horror expansion pack, but I know why you’re really still here."

Her mask tilted ever so subtly.

"You could’ve taken the Easter Egg. You didn’t. Why? Because you’re looking for something else. A challenge. You’re not here to ban cheaters, you’re here for something that makes your blood pump. You wanted someone worth the fight. Maybe, deep down, I was hoping you wanted to see me too. So fine—here we are."

I raised my Dangatana and pointed it straight at her.

"We’ll take your challenge. Head-on."

Judeth and Jarrod were silent behind me. I could feel their hesitation. But I didn’t back down.

"Listen," I said, turning back to them. "Those are just rumors, yeah, she’s dangerous. Or maybe she’s not. Maybe all of this is some elaborate bluff. But even if we walk out now, even if we run, how many eggs do you think are left out there? At this rate? Probably none. So I’d rather die trying than fail without even lifting a finger. You hear me?"

I braced myself. For laughter. Sarcasm. A quip. But instead—

Click.

Judeth raised her weapon and aimed it at Weiss Shi and her squad.

Jarrod followed a moment later, drawing his blade with a grim nod.

For a second, I smiled.

I felt something light up inside me. Confidence. Unity. Fire. And especially Friendship. Cheesy right?

We were outmatched, and probably marked for deletion.

But we were together. And somehow, that made us feel invincible.

A robotic voice echoed from the speakers above:

"Match initializing. Five seconds to combat."

A UI panel popped up in the corner of my HUD:

Victory Condition: Eliminate all three opponents.

Five seconds. That’s all we had to breathe.

Five, Four, Three, Two, One
Then—

Weiss Shi moved.

A blur of white shadows, like a phantom skipping between realities. Her cloak fluttered as she bolted forward, silent as a whisper, lethal as death itself.

I clenched my Dangatana and shouted:

"LET’S DO THIS!"