Forest Adventure

***

As I lay in my bed, I made sure to save my progress by touching the Checkpoint icon in my room. Another week had passed since my second exam. I didn’t feel this letter ‘L’ on my pinky finger as a proof of clearing the test was actually earned… but I reached level nine and learnt a new skill “Heartfelt Compliment”. Finally something that seemed more useful than the “Conversational Joke”.

No new lectures were announced. Instead, the students were instructed to explore the world and 'level up our love.' I wasn't entirely sure what that meant.

Ever since my encounter with Plamen, I couldn't shake this odd feeling of inadequacy. He had become so powerful during his ten days in another dimension, while I had spent that time sleeping.

What had he been doing beyond that door? What skills had he acquired? He remained tight-lipped about it and hadn't returned to school. He had thanked me for rescuing him and offered an official in-game friendship before disappearing into the nearby forest to continue his training.

I guess, power was one way to overcome the obstacles in this game. While I was happy to have made another friend, it reminded me of my first friend.

I couldn't help but wonder what Laska was doing right now.

I had barely spoken to her in the past week. She seemed to be enjoying the company of her new friend, Burka.

An overwhelming craving to see her washed over me. I leaped out of bed and sprinted through the school hallways, hoping to find a room with her name on it.

I searched high and low but to no avail. Disheartened, I returned to my room, determined to ask her about her room the next morning. As I unlocked my door, I heard the lock being undone in the room next to mine.

To my surprise, Laska emerged from that room. If I wasn’t so hasty, I would probably start looking at the room names right from the beginning, but noooo, I had to start running first.

So we were neighbors the whole time. I guess our hearts couldn’t really be separated.

“Oh, Kiss! Gonna take some rest?”

Her scarlet eyes held warmth that melted my heart.

“No, actually… I was looking for you, Laska.”

“Why?”

“I just… wanted to see you.” I avoided her gaze as my ears turned red.

“Awww, isn’t that adorable? Hehe… so… if you’re free, would you mind coming with me for an adventure?”

“Adventure?” I blinked a few times, taken aback.

***

Laska led me into a forest and explained that there was a way to create our own potion. She gathered all the ingredients already and there was only one thing missing: A Phoenix Feather.

“I thought that Phoenixes were just a myth.”

“Oh, Kiss, did you forget where we are already?” Laska chuckled at my stupid comment.

Of course, this wasn’t our world.

As we were wandering through the deep forest, the fallen leaves crunched beneath our feet.

“So… how do we find a Phoenix?” I broke the silence.

“In a book I found in the school library, it was written that you find them when you don’t search for them.”

“W-what? “ I marveled both at the oxymoron and my ignorance of the library's existence.

“In that case, what are we searching for?”

Laska passed me, turning to face me directly, causing me to halt in my tracks. She cupped my face in her soft hands and stared deeply into my eyes.

“Do we have to search for anything? Can’t we just… enjoy this calmness together?”

I felt the heat rise in my face. This assertive approach was not Sakura’s usual behavior. Perhaps, stay at this school made her discover this side of herself.

I shifted my gaze in embarrassment and without a word just shook my head.

She released me and then continued walking deeper into the forest.

“You know, Kiss…” She started as I followed her lead. “I am not very happy. Deep inside I feel like something important is missing.”

“Yeah, you mentioned something like that before, too…”

“But whenever I am with you, it’s as if my inner self finds peace. I can’t explain it.”

Well, I can…

“Thank you for being my friend,” Laska said warmly, reaching out to touch a tree for support as we ascended a hill. "What's this…?" Her hand came away smeared in red substance.

“That’s…” My mind went blank for a second. “…blood...”

Beneath the tree, we discovered a lifeless boar, its body marred with bruises and coated in blood, as if it had been brutally slammed against the tree. Nearby lay another boar, equally lifeless.

“This… is terrible!!” Laska’s voice quivered with emotion as she couldn’t hold back her tears.

As I took a few steps forward, the sight of a pile of dead forest animals seared into my mind.

“What in the world…? What or… who… could have done this?”

Laska desperately took out her potion out of her inventory and tried to resurrect the boar. She screamed and pleaded as she tried, but her efforts were in vain. By the time her potion was depleted, I moved closer to console her.

“Laska… it’s not working… that’s for HP, not for revival…” I tried to look away from the corpse but I still got a message about taking -5 HP damage.

Laska slumped to the ground, sobbing inconsolably. The sight of all those poor animals was excruciating.

It was only then that I realized that being official ‘friends’ with Laska in-game meant I could see much more from her stats that I could for other people, if I focused enough.

She was already at level 15 but her HP was at mere 40%.

I watched as more of her HP dwindled, another 15% gone… and another… leaving her at just 10%.

But then…

“‘Alchemy, second stage: Heartflip’.”

A familiar voice casted a spell I had witnessed once already.

“Plamen!”

He used the same technique as during the ‘childhood friend’ exam. I watched Laska’s HP gradually increase, rather than being deducted.

“Whenever I use my Soul Enchantment, I can reverse the effect of game’s mechanics. Pretty handy, eh?”

‘Soul Enchantments’ were this game’s version of abilities.

Laska stopped sobbing, her eyes sparkling with newfound hope. She rushed towards Plamen and grabbed his hands as something he was holding onto dropped on the ground. “Please! You have to save them! If you can reverse anything, you can reverse their deaths, right?!”

“W-w-what?” Plamen blushed before Laska. “N-no, it doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid. They’re already gone, I could reverse only their injuries.”

“Is there really no way?” I joined Laska in her efforts.

“Why are you so concerned about some NPC animals?”

I struggled to provide an answer. In the end, Plamen was right. These 'animals' were nothing more than lines of code programmed by humans in our real world. And yet…

“They’re not just some NPC animals! These creatures are living in this world, just like we are living in our world!” Laska suddenly raised her voice.

When I took a few steps closer to them, I laid my eyes on the thing that slipped from Plamen’s hand.

“Plamen… you said you were going to train… How exactly do your training sessions look like?” My voice wavered with growing unease.

Plamen remained silent. He withdrew his hands from Laska's grasp and smirked.

A fox appeared and rushed towards one of the dead foxes near the pile of the animals. A chilling sense of déjà vu washed over me from my first day at this school.

“I have always wanted to know one thing,” Plamen reached for the item below him. It was a sharp rock with a red… stain… on the edge. “When you throw a rock at a fox…” He tightened his grip on the rock and pulled his arm back like a baseball pitcher. “What does the fox say?!” He released the rock with a great force, aiming at the fox that just came running.

"No!" I screamed in desperation, reaching for the rock, knowing there was little I could do.

“’Caring Shield’!” Laska cried out.

As the rock hurtled towards the fox, a protective shield manifested in front of it, blocking the deadly projectile.

“L-Laska…?” I stammered.

“Phew… I made it…” Laska wiped off a bead of sweat from her forehead. “You’re not going to hurt anybody anymore!”

“Oh, come on, don’t stand in my way, geez…” Plamen lamented.

“Plamen, why are you doing this?!” I couldn’t keep my cool. “Have you lost your mind?!”

I tried to act tough but being his in-game friend, I could see some terrifying information above his head.

Player name: Plamen.

HP: 100.

Level: 58.

CHAPTER 9: END