An Irrefusable Offer

We hadn’t seen the Being for so long, I had stopped considering the possibility of it appearing again.

I stumbled back onto my two feet, scared and intrigued to hear the reasoning behind its unexpected arrival.

My eyes laid upon it for the second time. Nothing had changed since our last encounter.

The Being, cloaked in a waving, long dark robe levitated in the air, so still that it was hard to tell if it was even alive.

A hood covered its face – that is, if it even had one.

“What do you want? Why are you here?” I hastily shouted as my voice cracked. “We haven’t done anything wrong. We have completed all of the missions fairly. Please, leave us—”

“Don’t be so ignorant, Player. Wouldn’t you like to hear what I have to offer?” It responded in a calm and less devious voice than I had expected. Yet I knew whatever its bargain may be, it wasn’t going to lack in its dubiousness.

“No! I have no reason to bargain with you. We’re okay on our own—”

The Being cut me off. But not with words…with the sudden emergence of a bony, crusted finger that etched upwards and pointed behind me.

I followed where his finger pointed, and was met with the sight of Ren and Izumi. They were even further away now, and were talking together…holding hands.

My eyes flared, but fortunately before I could react properly the Being interrupted, forcing me to avert my attention back to him.

“They have been degrading you ever since you stepped into this place. They think you are weak…a liability. I have been watching you this whole time.”

I didn’t want to keep listening. I knew it was trying to get into my ahead. But what if what it was saying was true. Maybe listening to his offer was something I had to do.

He continued in a soothing voice, as though he was trying to comfort me and talking to me like I was its child. “You are too weak for them. Once you progress further, they will leave you behind. They will let you die, only fending for themselves...because you will only continue to be a burden to them”

I couldn’t exactly disagree with the last part, but I would’ve been a fool if I let this thing manipulate me. Though Ren and I were still not on the best terms, I had hope that we could reconcile in due time.

I had to stop it from talking. Letting it continue was too great of a risk for me.

I shouted, yet nothing came from my mouth. In fact, my mouth didn’t open at all.

Having grabbed my mouth, I realised it had gone. The feeling of my lips had disappeared, and any noise I tried to make was nullified.

My breathing sharply intensified. Despite having my nose, the lack of a mouth caught me off guard and threw me into a desperate panic.

Even then, however, the Being continued, and for some reason my panicking quickly subsided. My mind wanted to listen to it rather than let fright get the better of me.

“You will thank me later for stopping you from refusing so soon. Now, listen carefully. Here is my offer.”

I froze in anticipation. I knew no matter how enticing the offer would be, it wouldn’t come without a severe consequence. To my dismay, I was right.

“I can give you exactly what it is you desire. I can give you your life back. Your little brother…will live happily alongside you.”

I instinctively interrupted, realising that my mouth was back. “What about Ren?! What will happen to him…what about everyone else?!”

“They will be there too. You’ll go back to the way it was before. You, your brothers…and the rest of your family. If you tell me you accept, I can send you there at this very moment. You won’t have to complete this game anymore.”

My eyes widened as sweat raced down my face.

“Then why all of this? If you can do that, what’s the point in us completing this stupid game?”

“You are intelligent, Player. I only feel obliged to tell the full truth if asked. You have asked, and so I must explain. You see, this world I will send you to, of course, will not be the same as the one you came.”

My teeth clenched out of anger. Was I really considering taking its offer?

“So you see, there is nothing you lose from accepting my offer. You go back to what you once had…what you once loved…what you came here for.”

My body tensed, shaking with anguish. I couldn’t give in.

“What about Ren? He’s my brother. What will happen to him? You say I’ll go to another world, right? So what comes of him?”

“That question is unnecessary, Player. What does it matter? I’ve offered you exactly what you’ve come here for. Only a fool would hesitate to take it. Unless, of course, you’re not as intelligent as I perceived.”

With the last line it spoke, its tone suddenly changed. I could sense the grin on its face — if it had one. I was too overwhelmed to think about it at the moment, but, nevertheless, it was noticeable at that time.

Thrusting my head from side to side, defeating any thoughts of temptation, I wholeheartedly let the Being know my answer. “No! I won’t give in. I do not accept. I reject it.”

The Being grunted in response.

“I would never leave Ren behind like that, because I know that he wouldn’t have given in either. Even Izumi. Even though I’ve only known her for a couple of days, I would never leave someone like her behind. She’s helped us so much already. I would never betray them…never.”

Now my tone has changed. I was getting angry, almost forgetting who I was speaking to.

“I’ll make sure that we fulfil both our and her dream. I’ll make sure that she reunites with her sister and we bring back Junpei. So you can leave us alone. And don’t think about coming back again. Your attempts will be futile.”

I stood firm and waited for it to leave. Before it did, however, the Being said one last thing.

“So be it. You will regret refusing this offer. You could have saved yourself…or your brother you call Ren.”

The Being, with a frantic swirl, disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

What it said didn’t faze me, because I knew it was playing games.

“Taro, why are you standing all the way over there? Aren’t you going to hurry up?”

“Ren!” I said urgently out of relief.

Ren looked at me puzzled, but I could see the essence of annoyance still layered on his face. “What are you getting all excited about? You’re slowing us down again. Let’s get on with it. No more slacking, okay?”

Izumi turned around to grace me with her pretty face. That confirmed I wasn’t trapped in whatever was consuming me earlier.

I jogged back toward them, a smile brimming on my face which was far too exuberant for Ren’s liking.

“What are you smiling like that for?”

“I’m just happy to see you both again.”

“Again?”

“Oh, I don’t know what I meant by—”

Ren turned around before I could finish, but that didn’t bother me.

I thought about telling him what had just happened. Yet I came to the conclusion that telling him would make me look as though I was trying to make myself look better. Besides, it’s not like I had any evidence that it had taken place either.

I took a deep breath, the sun no longer hunting my eyes.

The Being had gone and I was back to journeying alongside Ren and Izumi again. Ren was still angry and unresponsive, and Izumi quiet and springing to life every so often.

Everything was back to normal.