Chapter 13_Breaking Point

Two weeks had gone by with everything going fairly well for Tomiko. As well as things had been going. She was still middling with school work and coasting with home life, but otherwise her life seemed to be on track. She was able to connect a little more with Aio about a hobby, not cause drama for people around herself, and make money with Chimon.

However, that last point would come into contention.

Nothing about the day had initially seemed off to Tomiko. There were no warning signs. No bad horoscope reading, she never believed in the junk anyway. The weather was even nice and sunny. Everything seemed like a normal Tuesday. Just the routine she had created for herself.

But then one casual statement shattered everything. It was from Aio during lunch. Unprompted by anything else.

“By the way. That Chimon guy you brought up the other day. Turns out there was a Chimon who used to go to this school like a year ago. Rumor has it he’s responsible for an accident that killed someone. Probably not the same guy.”

And then she continued to talk about fan shipping.

Meanwhile, Tomiko’s world had just been shattered.

‘Killed’. Tomiko thought to herself. What could he have done to kill someone? Was it really an accident? Could he do it again? Is that what the tallies were on the job board? Am I next!?!

Tomiko was incapable of hearing anything else coming out of Aio’s mouth. She wanted to ask for more information. She NEEDED to know more. But if she pushed the topic, Aio could get suspicious why she was so interested. Tomiko’s head started spinning. Her thoughts were working against her. Other negative thoughts started pooling in amongst the chaos.

Should I have seen this coming? Is this what I deserve? Why am I so powerless?

But she got a grip.

No. She couldn't be sure. It was only a rumor. She couldn't afford to jump to conclusions. And besides, it could be a different Chimon.

Tomiko needed to get more information. She wasn't sure how she was going to get more information, but she decided not to rush things. There were already many opportunities for Chimon to act on whatever plan he may have had if killing her was the goal. Tomiko had literally been going into a back alley without anyone else knowing her whereabouts for almost a month now. She just needed to be careful not to take any unusual risks.

And the last bit of reassurance… Chimon didn't seem to be a bad guy. Weird, creepy, and uncomfortable to be around for sure. But he was always considerate. She acknowledged it could be an act, but she wanted to trust her judgment after spending so much time around him. She wanted to give herself at least that much credit.

Tomiko met up with Chimon like she always did. It would be suspicious if she missed a day so suddenly. Or, at least Tomiko thought it would look so.

The adventure was going well. At this point in their journey they were in a mountain region of the world. They had made it past the ocean, swamps, and even an area made entirely out of a cloud-looking sponge in the air.

They were having a little bit of trouble with the mountains however, as Tomiko kept losing her footing and falling down the cliff face. It was one of the first times she had died in the world, and was a lot better than the last world she tried to dive in, on account of not being able to feel pain in this one.

“You’re doing great Tomiko. We haven’t fallen once today.” Chimon said.

“I shouldn’t be falling in the first place.” Tomiko retorted.

“Well if you ask me, I think we’re at a great pace. We’ll reach what I’m searching for before the end of the week at this rate.”

Tomiko would have originally gotten shocked and concerned for her ability to make money, but she saw an opening.

“What are we looking for again? I can’t remember?” Tomiko tried to say tactfully.

“The reason you can’t remember is because I haven't told you yet.” Chimon said.

“Okay. But what are we looking for?” Tomiko repeated, a little annoyed but trying to keep her tone down.

“Um…. I don’t think now would be a good time.”

Tomiko got more annoyed at how little progress she was making.

“So when? When are you going to tell me? I need to know what it is before we find it.” Tomiko demanded.

“I-I don’t think I need to. You’ll see when we find…” but but then Chimon stopped himself.

Despite not finding out what she wanted to know, and getting more unsure of Chimon’s intentions, Tomiko decided to drop it. She didn't want to cause any further reason for Chimon to think she was wary of him.

“Fine, whatever! But you have to tell me eventually.” Tomiko said.

Perhaps she needed to think of a more clever way to get the information.

“I’ll tell you eventually. I’m just not ready yet. It’s difficult for me to admit.

Some time passed on the journey. They encountered some goat-looking enemies on a precarious ledge. Tomiko was uncomfortable with the battle conditions, as she had fallen to her demise a couple of times with the same battle. However, she was determined to press on.

Tomiko pulled out her sword to engage the goats. Her sword glowed with a faint light dispersing the surrounding mist from the cliff face. It was the same sword she had started with, but she had Chimon upgrade it to make it stronger and capable of dealing almost every type of damage. It cost a lot more resources to do so then just swapping to more powerful obtained weapons, but Tomiko was too stubborn to switch. Definitely not sentimental, just stubborn.

The large goat monster sped forward at Tomiko. Most of its body leaned over the side of the cliff ledge, but it still moved with ease. Meanwhile, Tomiko was essentially caught hugging the mountain side, only really able to thrust forward.

As the goat got in range, she swung her sword directly down and held firm. Her plan was for it to skewer itself on the blade so she could then pry it off its footing. It worked about three fourths of the time. But this ended up being the other 25%.

The goat, seeing her attack before it was in position, moved out of the way while charging. There was no room on the ledge to do so, but the creature was somehow able to defy gravity and move its body perpendicular to the mountain.

As it passed Tomiko in this ridiculous fashion, she had to swiftly pass her sword to her other hand, while also balancing on the cliff face. Tomiko managed to perform the maneuver before the goat turned itself around. This was a trick Tomiko had to practice a lot to get right.

All her previous attempts were finally bearing fruit, as Tomiko was able to jab the goat on the second charge. A first for this enemy.

Tomiko wanted to jump in celebration, but it could cause her to lose her footing.

“Way to go Tomiko!” Chimon cheered.

“Huh, finally got it right.” Tomiko dismissed the compliment.

“Well, I’m impressed”

Tomiko continued down the mountain. As she did so, she encountered some loose items. They were not in a chest, as they were familiar with from encountering before. The pile consisted of about five items sitting on a ledge clearing.

“What is that doing there? It kinda looks like item drops.” Tomiko said.

“I think it is,” Chimon responded. “This may be where one of the enemies hit the ground. We haven’t seen much loot in this area because we can only really kill things using fall damage. At least it still gives up the ‘XP’”.

As tomiko approached and looked closer at the items and then back up the mountain, it did seem possible to slide down the cliff slope after hitting a higher part of the mountain. There were broken shards of glass and only trace amounts of the contents coating the inside. One of the rings and a wrist band also looked scuffed.

Among the seemingly scrapped loot was a ring that still managed to stay in great condition. Tomiko picked it up and brought it closer to get a good look at it. It was a darker silver color and shone with large green gemstones embedded in the metal. On each side of the gem was an engraved loop that resembled the infinity symbol.

It looked very powerful. Not something you would get for defeating a mere enraged goat. Perhaps it was for beating the yeti like creature from much higher up the mountain. It wasn't a particularly difficult monster either. May have been a different story if she hadn't let gravity do the work.

Without consulting Chimon, Tomiko began to move the ring over to her finger to put it on.

“No! Don’t!” Chimon shouted.

He moved his bubble for a head in between Tomiko and the ring and displayed a large ‘X’. It was rare for Chimon to face Tomiko directly like this, or to display something other than a face, so it must have been something important.

Normally Tomiko wouldn't care and just place the item in his bubble so it could go to her inventory. But today, she had more reason to be suspicious.

“Why?” She said. She tried to drain all emotion from her voice to be as serious as possible.

“Um… It’s cursed!” Chimon said.

“Oh. How so?” Tomiko said.

She was partly stalling as she brought up her settings. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for. Maybe she thought she would find another one in her inventory to compare.

Chimon saw the movement in her eyes that meant she was looking through something in her menu.

“No! I mean… You can’t scan it, so let me just add it to the inventory so we can read out the description.” Chimon said as he moved his bubble over to Tomiko’s hand to take it.

Tomiko was quicker. She moved her hand out of the way to avoid his bubble. She figured he could just delete the item or craft it into something else before she had the chance to look at what it was.

Chimon continues to chase after it with his bubble. This only made Tomiko more suspicious. ‘Why was he trying so hard to do this’? ‘Does it interfere with his plan for me?

As that thought entered her head, Tomiko desperately forced the ring on her finger. Nothing seemed to happen.

“Gah! No! Please don’t look.” Chimon begged.

But it was out of his hands. He couldn't unequip items or weapons Tomiko was currently using, and it was still something she could read in her settings.

Tomiko opened the right menu and read its description.

“A ring that allows the user to survive all status damage.” the description read.

What the heck? Why would Chimon try to keep this from her? It would only help in her journey. It seemed like a very useful item.

But then a scary thought crept in.

What if he wanted her to die?

…

…

Tomiko was frozen with fear, for something attached to her. Less than two feet away.

What… was… his… goal?

She raced to the system log out as soon as the flight instinct kicked in.

“Wait! I can explai…”

Too late. She already activated the log out.

As she sailed between worlds, the only thought in her head was RUN.

“Please! Let’s talk about this!”

But Tomiko was already rounding the corner of the alley.

There was no way he could catch up with this much distance already between them, but it didn't matter. She ran with her already exhausted legs. She ran through the pain. She needed to get away and out of sight.

Without thinking, she ran home. It would be bad if he was following because then he would know where she lived. But her head wasn't clear enough to think so far ahead.

She double checked all the locks on the windows, even ignoring she needed to go in her dad’s room to do so. Locked herself in her own room. And curled up to panic.