Peng...

That guy - the barefoot bimbo who called me "Pengi." Now that I thought about it, he never turned around when he grabbed the chicken. His hands just shot out and snatched the bag. No way he could've slipped this in then.

Unless...

I replayed the moment in my head. Me turning to leave, just after the police officer went back inside the house. A window of opportunity where I couldn't see what was happening behind me.

Whatever the case, I should chuck the cartridge in the trash alongside Matsuda's mystery meat. But this was it - the thing that took Inorin away. The same cursed game that made thirteen developers vanish into thin air. And now it had found its way to me.

I set it down on my coffee table, fingers lingering on its surface. If there was even a chance this could lead me to her...

Something suddenly flickered at the edge of my vision. I blinked hard, rubbed my eyes. Is this what I get for working eight hours straight? Next thing you know I'll be seeing-

The letters moved.

I need sleep. Or food. Or both. Because letters don't move, and they definitely don't expand across the cartridge's surface and up into the air and… eat you?

One moment I was in my apartment, the next, nothing. Then, light crept in from nowhere and everywhere at once, revealing endless walls that stretched up into infinity. It felt eerie, like sunshine filtered through polluted water.

Ding!

I whirled around at the sound. Behind me floated a translucent screen, its edges pulsing with an ethereal blue light. Text materialized letter by letter:

[Welcome to DAIKON!]

[Please enter what you desire most.]

[_]

The blinking cursor waited beneath the message. I waved my hand through the hologram, but my fingers passed straight through.

What kind of UI is this? Did you actually OK this, Inorin? I kicked at the base of the screen. My foot went right through.

The cursor kept blinking, mocking me.

"At least give me a keyboard or something."

The window flickered once, twice, then vanished entirely. Along with the floor.

Oh fu-

My stomach lurched as gravity reasserted itself. The infinite walls crumbled away into darkness as I plummeted through empty space.

"I TAKE IT BACK! GIVE ME THE STUPID PROMPT AGAIN!"

But there was only the rush of air and my own screaming voice echoing back at me as I fell deeper into the void.

***

Something soft kept nudging the top of my head. Over and over. And over. I pressed my face harder into what felt like dirt, hoping whatever it was would get the message and leave me alone because holy hell my body hurts.

Bump.

"Five more minutes..." I mumbled into the dirt.

Bump bump.

"For fuck's sake-"

I swung my arm up, connecting with something round and solid. A startled "Peng!" rang out, followed by the sound of something round rolling away at high speeds.

Peng?

I lifted my face from the dirt just in time to see a rotund black and white shape tumbling toward a flooded paddy field.

"Hey, wait!" I scrambled to my feet, ignoring how every muscle screamed in protest. The thing was heading right for the deeper part of the field.

Splash!

Too late. It vanished under the murky water with a pathetic "Pengggg..."

I stood at the edge of the paddy, muddy water lapping at my shoes. Should I jump in after it? The water didn't look that deep, maybe waist-high at most?

But a low growl froze me in place.

Behind me, something massive shifted in the tall grass. The sound of heavy paws crushing vegetation drew closer.

I turned slowly.

A wolf emerged from the grass, if you could call it that. Its fur rippled like oil on water, like darkness given form. Where its eyes should have been, there was only void.

My brain kept screaming at my legs to move, dammit, but they stayed locked in place.

I scanned my surroundings. Paddy fields stretched in every direction. Nothing but mud and water as far as the eye could see. The only "weapon" nearby was probably that thing, and it was currently taking a mud bath.

Wait. The wolf couldn't track what it couldn't smell, right?

Damn, I'm a genius.

Without giving myself time to second-guess yours truly's brilliant plan, I launched backward into the murky water. The cold knocked the breath from my lungs as I went under, mud clouding around me until I finally burst back to the surface, gasping for air and spitting out what felt like half the paddy.

Ha! Try tracking me now-

The wolf's head turned toward me, those empty eye sockets bearing straight into my soul.

...you can still see me, can't you?

I scrambled backward through the water, but my foot caught on something soft and round. A muffled "Peng!" bubbled up from below as I face-planted into the muddy water.

Of course it had to be that stupid thing.

I yanked the waterlogged creature up by its stubby flipper, more out of spite than anything else. It dangled there, dripping brown sludge everywhere.

A growl snapped my attention back to land. The wolf had dropped into a crouch, muscles coiled tight. Those black voids locked back onto me.

Is this really how I'm going to die? Inorin would laugh her ass off.

The beast lunged, jaws wide. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Thwip!

An arrow had punched through the wolf's skull mid-leap. The beast's momentum carried it forward another yard before it crashed into the water beside me. Its body flickered once, twice, then dissolved into wisps of black smoke that scattered on the wind.

I held the creature up triumphantly. "Would you look at that! We're saved-"

Thwip!

An arrow shaft sprouted from its middle, the force spinning the thing like a pinwheel. When it stopped, the thing hung there limply, impaled clean through.

"Oh shit. You're totally dead."

"Peng."

"...What?"

"Peng."

The creature twisted its head 180 degrees to look at me, expression vacant. It then reached down with one flipper and yanked out the arrow like it was pulling a loose thread.

"Peng!" it declared proudly, waving its new trophy.

I jerked back, dropping it. The creature plunged back into the mud with a muted "Pengggg..."

"What the actual hell? You're supposed to be dead!"

Another sad "Peng" bubbled up from the muck. Ok, now I feel like a jerk.

"Hold on, I'll get you out." I reached down and hauled the mud-caked thing out again.

The creature dangled from my grip. Its vacant expression hadn't changed one bit, like getting shot was just another Tuesday for it.

Speaking of getting shot...

I squinted through the darkness. Why hadn't our mystery archer taken me out yet? The wolf went down in one clean hit. Clearly whoever was out there knew how to aim.

That's when a figure emerged from the grass where the wolf had first appeared. Even with mud stinging my eyes, I could make out the lean build of a young man, his dark hair falling over eyes that seemed to glow amber in the night.

But what drew my attention was his bow. And how its string was pulled taut, arrow pointed straight at my chest.

"Don't move. Or the next one goes through you."