Second Chances

Everyone has had a moment that they have been at their all-time low, a time that they wish had never happened, or one they wish that they can forget. But what I am seeing right now is exactly what I wish I could forget.

The day where I gripped a shovel so hard that the splinters dug into my skin and made my hand bleed, the day I felt like I could cry so loud that the whole sky would collapse on me. It’s beyond cruel that I am dreaming of that exact moment right now. But then again, what in this world wasn’t cruel from the beginning.

After the dream was cut to black, my blurry vision started to come back to me as I opened my eyes and it started to clear up. I can hear an echoing voice through my still asleep hearing

“She is waking up”

I was still dazed to process any of it but I slowly recovered my muted senses.

“Hello, are you feeling ok?” said a well-built guy sitting beside me.

My fight or flight instantly kicked in and I drew my gun. I tried to strike him with the gun but he evaded my strike and jumped back.

“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, calm down there, I am not trying to hurt you” he tried to plead his innocence

“Tatsuo, What the hell is going on up there?” said another man appearing through the door

I fired a burst of bullets at the door to intimidate him and both took cover behind the door frame

“How am I using my weapons in here” I inquired in curiosity and shock

“Relax Miss, I sent you a party invite and added you, so you don’t feel intimidated” said the voice who was in the room with me

“Well, fat lot of good that did, your power of friendship drivel doesn’t work in these cases, you dolt” said the second voice

“Oh, shut up just for a moment will you”

“YOU USED MY INTERFACE?” I shouted at them

“I just moved your hand to accept the invite, I didn’t want you to feel like a captive” said the first voice

“Look, I am going to show myself with my hands out, I am unarmed”

“Oh, you are so going to get shot” said the second

“Can you let me handle this? Please?”

He appears from the door frame true to his word

“Here…I am unarmed, and I am not a threat to you”

I still didn’t put my gun down as I still didn’t trust him at all

“Do you remember what happened? You were hurt, you fell into the river from a building, and I jumped in and got you out… You were almost out for a day, but I don’t recommend moving, your leg was badly injured and you had taken a lot of shrapnel, you still haven’t healed fully”

I looked at my body and I was wrapped in bandages under my tank top and my hoodie was gone

“You took off my clothes to treat me?” I inquired calmly as I knew that rage in this situation could end badly for me

“Just calm down, we have a girl in our clan, she is the one that patched you up”

“You might want to believe that, that guy there can’t even filet a fish never mind stitch someone up” said the guy behind the door frame

“Could you just do me a favor and shoot that guy, I’ve had enough of his shit for the time being” the man in the room said while looking annoyed

My anger rose when I caught him joking around so I fired a warning shot into the roof to show that I mean business, he jumped back and trying to calm me down, showing me that he got the message

“Where is she?, Where is the one that patched me up” I inquired

“She went out to get some provisions, she will be back very soon”

“Look, let's start with introductions, Me…Tatsuo Kanamori, dumbass behind the door there…Hayato Ishikawa……You?”

Considering how they were acting like idiots even when I had a gun pointed at them, I went ahead and played along

“Mano” I replied while still having my guard and gun up

“Mano-san…if it’s ok with you me calling you that, we mean you no harm, if you just want to leave you have every right to, we don’t mean to get in your way. But take my advice, you are still very hurt, you might want to rest for today, we won’t even come into your room if that’s a problem.”

“How many of you are out there?” I inquired

“It’s just me, Hayato and Haru, that’s the girl that treated you, there are 5 more but they are all kids, they are harmless”

“Turn around… You, behind the door, go downstairs and tell the kids to stand down. If you or anyone in here tries anything, I will shoot all of you dead before you even have a chance to react”

I take Tatsuo hostage and slowly move my way downstairs

“She got Tatsuo Nii-chan, said one of the group of kids”

“Don’t worry Akira, I will get out of this by the power of-”

“I swear to god Tatsuo, if you finish that sentence at a time like this, I will shoot you before she does,” said Hayato from the bottom of the stairs.

I threaten Hayato to keep his distance and turn my back against the door to the building keeping everyone in sight.

“EVERYBODY STAY BACK” I scream at the room as soon I spot the taking a step closer.

I move right next to the door only to feel a pinch followed by a shock through my entire body.

I fell to the ground but heard the moments after in muffled voices

“For crying out loud Haru-san, you didn’t have to tase her” said Tatsuo

“Oh, I thought she was holding you hostage”

“Well, she was yeah, but she was afraid”

That was the last I heard before I passed out. Next thing I know, I wake up after god knows how long, but it was a tad bit reassuring that I haven’t been shot in the head and left out for the rats even after I took one of them hostage, and my vision is greeted first by long black hair and glasses

“Slept alright?” she asked sitting next to my bed

“How long was I asleep” I inquired, sitting up from the bed I was in, barely able to feel my body.

“Five hours…almost” she answered with a carefree tone

“Actually-”

She bows her head down while seated till her forehead was on my bed

“I am so sorry for tasing you; I just walked into that situation and I acted on impulse” she said

I didn’t know how to process this…. I was in an unknown environment with people I never met before and ones that are very likely to stab me the moment my back is turned….As if I hadn’t had enough of those…..But for now, I decided to use this to my advantage, I’ll play along for now and hopefully I can get some information out of these people before I leave.

“Don’t worry about it, it sort of was my fault for taking your friend hostage”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Haru Nishiyama, nice to meet you”

“Yulia Mano, likewise”

“Hey, mind if I call you Yu-chan”

“Yu-chan?” I repeated her nickname puzzled. We haven’t even met for a moment and she is already jumping the gun to nickname basis….I wasn’t one with a rich social life to begin with so it felt wrong to turn her down, especially after seeing her face light up

“Uh, yeah…sure” I said trying to hide my confusion

She grabbed my hands “That’s great, you have had no idea how it feels to be stuck in a clan full of boys”

“Aw Haru-chan, I thought you enjoyed being around us, why you jump ship that fast” said Hayato who was hiding behind the door frame

“Boys! Downstairs! Now!.… and get out of all that armor, you look ridiculous”

“But she is the one who shot first, who knows if she would-”

Flew did a shotgun blast towards the door making Hayato duck behind the door before he finished his sentence

“One more word from you and it is me who is going to shoot you first. Downstairs! Now!”

“EEEEEEH, Yes Haru-sama” said Hayato before he noisily ran downstairs.

Guess she is the mom of the clan, even though we look the similar age.

“Ignore those two idiots Yu-chan, they have less than a brain cell combined but they mean well”

“Can’t be that bad, at least from what I seen so far, Tatsuo can handle himself in pressure and Hayato is a bit care-free”

“It’s actually Hayato that is the rational one of the two, you haven’t seen Tatsuo at his prime yet” replied Haru

“Once they brought you here, you were more hurt than anyone I’ve seen before. This wasn’t from a random assault or mugging judging from your leg that was almost blown off and all the shrapnel I removed out of you. You want to talk about it?” Haru continued

“Look, I appreciate it that you helped me out….But that is not something I wish to discuss right now with someone I just met.”

“That’s completely fine, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’ll be here” Haru assured

“Now then, want to meet the rest of the group? Don’t worry, I’ll back you up”

I get back on my feet feeling relieved that I can walk again, as much as I want to bee-line it out the door right now, I knew that it wasn’t going to be a good idea…I had nowhere to go and not a single Rel to my name anymore, and there is no way I can take any quests as I’m sure that Makoto and his lackeys will make my life much more of a living hell if I casually walked in The Guild. Right now, I need information, so I can know where I am at and what my plan moving forward is…how to get my hands around Makoto’s slippery throat and how do I ascend ranks and finally cut off the head of the snake…I was clueless on all these and then some, and I was going to make the most out of my predicament. And the moment I start descending the stairs, the whole floor goes into alert, including the kids

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot anyone” I assure

“I would at ‘yet’ to that statement,” said Hayato following my movements….This gave me the impression that he was much sharper than he seems

“Sound like you are asking to be first in line” I replied to establish some control in the exchange

“Enough both of you, we all got off on the wrong foot so time for fresh introductions, starting with the outsider” said Haru to set up the atmosphere

“Yulia Mano, nice to meet you all” I said while bowing my head

“Alright, I’m next, Haru Nishiyama, likewise Yu-chan”

“Yu-chan, since when did you-” Hayato freezes his sentence after noticing Haru’s murderous stare

“Hayato Ishikawa…Pleased to make you acquaintance” he said reluctantly while looking away

“Me next, me next… Akira Kanamori here, pleased to meet you Yunee-chan”

“Yunee-chan?” I repeated

“But Haru-nee calls you Yu-chan so-”

Now I’m concerned if I have become too friendly with this ragtag group.

The introductions went quickfire as the kids were extremely energetic in throwing their names at me. So much so that I couldn’t even catch all of it time…Not that it mattered anyways

“Yunee-chan, are you a part of the friendship coalition as well?” asks Akira

“The…what?” I say while looking around to see if I missed anything

But all I see is Haru and Hayato having their head in their hands while quietly frowning. Tatsuo however mouths to tell me to play along

“Uhh,yeah…sure?” I replied

“You see kids, we got another friend among us, and with our forces of friendship stronger, nothing can stop us” chants Tatsuo

The kids however love it and starts cheering

I look at Haru and Hayato

“Is he for real?” I asked while contemplating to myself on what the hell I have got myself into

Hayato gets up

“Oh, I forgot that I had something to do, Mano-san, could you lend me a hand?” said Hayato while signaling me to follow him

I complied and followed him around the corner with my guard up high, as if there was anyone in the group right now that I had the most sour relationship with, it’s Hayato.

“What was that all about?” I asked

“Long story short, a group of 10-year-olds who live on Shonen manga and CG plus a death game where people are getting brutally murdered every day of the week isn’t exactly a wonderful combination. It was Tatsuo’s idea to stop the kids from panicking and to keep their morale up. I know…I know it’s cringe incarnate but it’s better than nothing to keep the kids happy”

“On that topic, what are they doing here?”

“Akira is Tatsuo’s cousin; pretty much fell for the same trap as many of the others, first game to ever transition from systems to VRMMO with free entry. Him and a group of his friends came into Day 1 with Tatsuo. They are still kids, they ran back indoor to goof around while the CGI was happening, didn’t even see the truth about this world”

“They never asked why they are not logging out yet?”

“They did, but Tatsuo is keeping them under the impression that it is going to take a long time for them to fix the logout feature. Just buying time until we start climbing the ranks”

And now we are getting somewhere…. Instead of asking head on however, I decide to sway the conversation for the moment to get some more background on them

“That’s this clan’s goal?”

“Someone must start going up the ranks right, if no one does, there is no way that the gates to the higher cities will open. And right now, I just want to get everyone out safe”

“You got family waiting for you outside?” I inquired

“What is it to you?” he said, hinting that I am overstepping my boundaries.…Rookie mistake, Yulia

“What about you Mano-san, you haven’t said anything about yourself since you got here”

“After the shit I’ve gone through these past 2 months, I intend to keep it that way.”

“We’ve all been through our own kind of shit for the past 2 months, but that is not what I meant. What I wanted to know is what you were doing in that building, it was me and Tatsuo who saved you from that explosion, we both saw you fall into the river from high up, and I think we do deserve some kind of explanation for it.”.....He had a point though

“I was looking for some…unforgivable people, I had them….oh who am I kidding, they had me dead to rights and it was broken up by the Immortal Tyrant and-”

“Wait, did you just say the-”

“The guy who put up a public execution on the first day? Yeah, I think the guy’s name was-” I interrupted

“Tadashi? Tadashi Chifuyu?” counter-interrupted Hayato

“Sounds to me like you knew him” I inquired

“Yeah, well he’s not exactly unknown in here isn’t he” Hayato retorted, not bending to the pressure I put him under

But I found it suspicious that he remembered his name without knowing him, even after going through 2 months of what this hell hole of a world had to offer, I sure didn’t.

“What are you guys up to back here?” interrupted Haru

“Nothing much, just getting to know each other” answered Hayato not breaking his gaze of suspicion from me.

“Oh? Are you trying to make a move on her already?” And in she came and shattered the tension, sending Hayato on the defensive

“Come on Haru-chan, you clearly know my type and that she is not it”

“No offense” he looked at me and continued

“None taken” I replied, completely taken back by this group’s lack of regard

“Anyway, you guys might want to hurry it back, dinner is on the table”

At first, I was genuinely afraid of others in this world that has stripped even the most common man of his morality. But I guess there are still ones who live feigning ignorance.

“Mano-san, I’ll be blunt with you right now. You don’t trust me and I don’t trust you, but you had more than you fair amount of chances to kill us all and you didn’t take it. You are welcome with us right now, but I’ll also let you know…you try anything funny and I’ll show you a kind of hell this world hasn’t shown you yet. Right now, lets get back to the everyone, pretty sure Tatsuo is done with the kids, and you can thank me later from saving you from the cringe”. Hayato said while turning back. I almost have some respect for the guy for worrying for his group, but he is clearly underestimated who he threatened. I let it pass for now as I wanted no hostility with anyone in this group.

“Hayato-kun, Yu-chan, your dinner is getting cold” shouted Haru from the main hall

“You are free to use the room you were in, and lets get in there before Haru eats our-” Hayato said on the way but suddenly stopped and paused mid-sentence

“Wait, I didn’t cook dinner…… OH NO!!!” he continued. His face looked like he had seen a ghost

“Something wrong?” I inquired

“Oh I am soo sorry for what you are going to experience”

We went into the main hall where everyone was seated and was having a soulless face on. I was still confused as to why, but I took a seat either way.

“Yu-chan, now that you are here, it inspired me to make my specialty stew. Here you go”

In front of me lied a green bubbling goo like substance that is clearly not suitable for eating

“Oh, to go with it, let me go get some drinks” said Haru before leaving to the kitchen

“I thought it was impossible to make bad food in-game” I said while looking at everyone

“So did we….and I’m sure so did the developers” answered Tatsuo

Hayato put his hands together and pleaded “I’m very sorry Mano-san, it is my responsibility to avoid this at all costs, but it missed my mind even though it’s a life-or-death situation”

“It can’t be that bad…right?”

The visual cue that everyone gave me since Haru was approaching wasn’t reassuring

“Sorry for the delay, here you go” said Haru while placing three pitchers on the table

From what it appeared, each had beer, juice, and water individually. But that didn’t matter since Haru was eagerly waiting until I had my first spoonful of her witch’s brew. I expected the worst and had my first, but it managed to be much worse than I expected. My tongue was overloaded with every flavor known to man and it ended up with an unrelenting spiciness.

“It’s unique” I told her while desperately trying not to show my true thoughts

I picked up the bowl and downed the whole thing in one go, just to end the suffering quicker. If I hadn’t gone through way worse, I would’ve passed out from the sheer sensory overload.

Everyone else was looking at the table with a dreaded impression…except the witch who concocted this cocktail. I took this opportunity to slip away from this overly friendly environment.

“Yu-chan, where are you going?” Haru asked me, with a concerned tone

“Getting some air” I answered briefly. I could sense Hayato’s piercing glare at me from a distance, but he turned his attention back to the group once I put enough distance between them and me.

I open the door to leave the building and look back at the group, not a shred of worry or fear, but instead, it's a room radiating happiness and laughter. I turn away and leave as the sight of this disgusts me. While my life before all this was also scarce in joy, this was not a place where people looking for a good time would survive. I took a moment to gather my thoughts leaning on the bridge which was a few feet away from me and the building, looking at the river stream flowing down below. The piercing cold of the night was assaulting me in the back and with only my tank top to protect me.

I opened my inventory and reassessed my situation. I had not even close enough Rels to last me a day, all the gear I bought for the assault was broken and unusable, I was hurt to the point that I haven’t healed up fully even after one whole day, I have not a slight clue on how to find Isaac, that backstabbing shit Makoto is the face of the New World Order and chances are he wouldn’t want a repeat of last time, and would be having his lackeys after my head… “What a perfect situation you have found yourself in, Yulia Mano” I said to myself. While I was contemplating on how miserable I am, it was broken by a familiar voice getting closer by the second.

“Yuuu-chan” The words that get progressively louder the closer she got. “What are you doing outside in the cold, everyone is waiting for you”

Now that I was secluded from that deluded group, my tolerance was at its limit.

“Stop” I muttered

“You should take better care of yourself you know, you are still not at the top of your game” She kept on going

“JUST STOP!” I exclaimed on impulse, as it had gone far above what I could tolerate

“Take care of yourself? Other’s waiting? Yu-chan? We just met…How can you treat me like you’ve known me for so long? You don’t know that I won’t stab you in the back the moment you let your guard down”

She tried to interject, but I didn’t let her

“This place makes people do things that they otherwise never would even think of doing. You can’t trust anyone, even if they were people you were once close to. If you want to survive, taking it easy with friends is not a luxury you can afford-” I kept going with my rant, only for her to hit me where I least expected it.

“So how far did that take you?. As a matter of fact, how far did your other go?” while Haru had talked with me all this time with a friendly tone full of emotion, she said this however in a serious and monotonous manner, and she continued to sound as such

This caught me by surprise, and on impulse, I stand back up and point my gun at her.

“Yulia-san…I’m not perfect, but if there is one thing I am confident in, is my ability to judge who people really are, just by getting to know them. I treated you like a friend, because I saw you in the same light as someone I’ve known for all my life. You might think I am naïve, but when someone is up to no good, I instantly know. And I know that right now, you don’t intend to shoot me”.

I put away my gun, “ You know nothing about me, and don’t pretend to care. You got your own group to worry about rather than a rogue with a target on their back. I’m not looking for pity” I say after turning back toward the river and leaning down again.

“I saw your scars… My father used to be in the army back in the day, and he had nothing compared to yours... And from how this game is programmed, it uses the first login player data to create your character, and no matter how injured you get in here, it all fully heals up, no scars left behind. And if you get injured in the real world, the game still uses the data of you at your peak physique. Meaning you didn’t get those scars in here, it was from your real self. It’s by no means by physical abuse at home, no family nowadays would risk lowering their psychopathy index rating doing that, you think you are stronger than others since people here have combat experience only in-game, you got real-life experience. You look my age give or take, so you are no soldier. If I had to guess, it’s something to do with your family”

What she is saying caught me completely off-guard, and I look at her while she continued

“Noone had even looked for you after you disappeared after that explosion, I’m assuming that no one knew about you going in there, or that you don’t have any friends. If you are that skilled in fights, you would know fighting alone is suicide, but you don’t second guess before acting alone and you don’t look for times that people let their guard down….You don’t care about your life anymore, because the reason you had to live isn’t there anymore.” She continued as if she read me like a book

I was completely dumbfounded, I was sure that I remained as secretive as possible, going as far as threatening ones who even got close to finding out who I was to ensure their silence. But this girl figured most of me out just by seeing my scars under my shirt. She’s much more dangerous that I initially gave her credit for

“From your reaction, I’d say I was mostly on point. You think I was being naïve? I’d say try looking in the mirror. And just so you know, I’ve only known the guys for a couple of weeks, but it’s the kindness they showed me that brought me out of my dark place, that is exactly what I was trying with you.” Haru said that and she turned around and walked away, but she stopped for a moment to say one last thing

“You might not trust us, Yulia-san, but I do. And I know that if you keep going down this path, you’ll lose more that you ever thought possible. Our door will be open for you. Take it or leave it, it’s up to you” she said walking away and turning the corner.

Haru walked in the direction she came from and disappeared out of sight. But what happened the moment after was the most unexpected.

Haru was slouched behind the stone block at the end of the bridge and unfortunately for her, her muttering were not exactly inaudible to me. She took a breath “Ohh, that was intense, I’m not used to it being that intense. Was I too harsh with her?, did I sound scary?, I don’t want her to hate me…Ahhh I’m panicking-” she kept muttering rapidly in the usual gentle tone.

Getting caught off guard by her I instinctively let out a chuckle, and it had been the first ever since I had been here. But her meltdown aside, I was defeated again by one I never thought could. Taking the moral from this encounter to heart. I go back to my previous task, on figuring out what my next angle of attack is.