The house, despite being taller than it is wide, is very nice-looking on the inside, with bookshelves filled with books and jars of pickled creatures and strange oddities and things you wouldn't think to see in a place such as this.

We were only allowed into the very first room, which seemed to be an open-area place, what with a single table for two and a kitchen. The mini-wizard decided not to do much for us except point to the chairs and storm upstairs to do something not including his guests. Kind of rude, but I understand. No one wants unwanted guests.

Todd takes a seat, and I follow along. The chairs are comfortable and made of some sort of soft wood. It is very comfortable. I... enjoy sitting down. It feels like I don't sit down much nowadays.

"So," Todd leans forwards, supporting his weight on the table, "let's have a chat."

"-About what?"

"Well, you know, the weather, what you had for dinner... sike! 'Course not! Tell me about yourself, damn it! Who were you before all this? What has happened to get you this far? That kind of stuff. And, uh, don't get into a lot of detail, I tire easily, alright?" Todd said, leaning back a bit in his chair, a comfortable smile resting on his face. In comparison, I don't think I'm much to look at.

Wizard-in-nightgown+nightcap aside, I've never been much good at expressing my emotions. Chuck always told me I was as stone-faced as the fellas up on Mount Rushmore. I didn't know how to take it at the time, but it's been a few years since he said it, so I think I've grown into it. Pigs don't understand what a smile means anyways, better not to spook them.

Hrm, wonder if I should start lying whenever I feel happy so I'll smile...

"Uh, Earth-to-insect, you there buddy?"

"Oh, of course, forgive me, my mind was elsewhere."

Todd chuckles, "heh, don't gotta be so formal with me, relax a bit! You look like you think I'll bite! I won't, I swear! Unless... you're into that kinda shit...?"

"No! Heavens, no. I was born this way, never been that good at talking to people. Since you asked, I was born and raised in a barn, and since my father had a bad fall just the other year, I've been mostly caring for the farm since then, so my grades have been in the gutter, heh," I say, scratching at my neck only to find an insect sticking out of it. My hand couldn't have retreated faster if I tried.

"A farmer's boy, are you? Guess I shouldn't be too surprised you don't even know what a quest is... Have you ever played even a single game?"

"Mono-,"

"Apart from board games! Actual video games, the kind this i-, the kind I thought this was."

"Oh. Well, my friend Chuck (?) made me try this game once. It was an uhhh, veearr… The kind of game where you put on this weird thingy and go into a game world. I barely got past the whole character making part, it was terrible!”

“Right, okay, so absolutely no previous experience in all this. So, you didn’t ask, but a quest is a task that the player goes on and gets rewards from. So, uh, what’d you do when you ended up here? And, please, keep it a bit short,” Todd said, fumbling with his fingers, maybe in search of something to hold. A nice cup of coffee would be good, but I don’t think there are such drinks here.

“Well, uh, long story short, I… I began as a Moss Eating Worm. As far as I know, I was less than a monster. Some stuff happened and I evolved into a… a Lightworm, I think. I only became it because I, well, I really really wanted to see some light, since it was so dark in that cave. Did I mention I was in a cave? Well, anyhoo, after some events I would rather not describe, I became what I am now. It seems, through reaching a maximum and completing some sort of task, I’m allowed to evolve, gain my last level and all that.”

“...The way you explain it and all, it doesn’t seem too bad, but I’ll trust that it was harder than it sounds, right? So… max level, you evolve, become stronger. Got it. Completing a task… what kind of task, yo?”

“Uh, yeah, the first time, I killed a worm, the second time, I… I killed a goblin. I don’t know what it wants from me this time,” I admitted, glancing at the strange rug covering the floor. Didn’t want him to know how bad I feel about killing that man.

“Uhuh, uhuh, and your level right now is-?”

“One from max.”

“-Right, so, by that logic, to evolve you again, you’ll need to kill something even bigger than a measly goblin. Such as…”

“-Such as?...”

“Well, y’know, I don’t want to seem morbid or anything, but by the sounds of this, I’d say you need to kill a human,” he says, as casually as if he told me it was foggy outside. A shudder ran through my borrowed body, but I could tell my face didn’t so much as flinch. “Oh, uh, don’t get me wrong! I mean, you don’t have to evolve or anything, do you-?”

“...Technically, no, but… If I was stronger than I am now, I wouldn’t almost die so often,” I say, thinking back to the too-many times I’ve almost died.

“Oh, I feel ya there, man, I must have died at least fifteen times, and I haven’t played more than like, two days!” he said with a goofy smile, leaning back in his chair. For a moment, what he just said didn’t quite register with me.

“You’ve… died?” I asked, my voice taking on a slight twinge of disbelief.

“Oh, yeah, of course! You-, right, you don’t know any of that, um… if you die in a game, you don’t die for realsies, and neither does your character. Unless it’s a rogue, but they aren’t too popular nowadays. Even here, players, if killed, just respawn at the nearest church. You lose some of your equipment and some levels, but I mean, it ain’t infallible,” Todd says, not quite sniffin’ what I’m smellin’.

“...So, if someone, let’s say a monster, killed you… You wouldn’t die for real-?”

“Nope, I wouldn’t. Would be a pretty shitty game if I did, heh. Would explain how unpopular this game is though, like nobody pla-, wait. Wait. You don’t mean-?” Todd says, slowly coming to realize exactly what I mean.

“-That’s exactly what I’m saying. If I kill you, and the system takes you as a human, then… I should be able to evolve.”

“That-, that sounds great, bro! Holy shit, you’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of that??” Todds exclaims, grinning ear to ear as he almost jumps out of his seat. But before his excitement can grow uncontrollable, he seems to mellow down a little. “Well, I mean, it’ll be a great plan, so long as there is a church in this village. We ran for a whole day and night, you know that??”

“Hrm. We’ll have to ask the villagers. As much as I wanted to join this place, I don’t actually know much about it.”

“Right, right. Hrm,” Todd leans back in his chair, twisting his body to arch it over the back and face the staircase behind him. “MAAAAAAALLLLLLLL”

A moment of silence passes, and a pale face peeks down the stairs.

“-W-, what-?...” the mini-wizard asks, looking almost frightened for some reason.

“-Do you have a church in this here village?” Todd asks, smiling politely.

“Well, uh, yeah. Kind of small, but we’ve got all the stuff in it,” Mal answers, his brows furrowing while he nodded slowly. He is met with a delighted smile on Todd’s part, and the hero turns back to me.

“-Very well then! Let’s get to it!” saying so, he stands up, not even waiting for me to follow him outside. Once we get to the aforementioned outside, we find that the villagers are actually, in actuality, doing their daily business as usual. It is a refreshing sight, but I have other things on my mind.

Todd turns back to me, a great big smile on his face. "Alright, so, fair warning, can you kill me like, quickly? Most games don't directly hurt you or nothing, but... Well, a big reason to why this game hasn't been too well-received is cuz there is absolutely no, like, pain alleviation. If you take a spear to the chest, it feels like you took a spear to the chest. I guess, the reason to why that is might be because, uh, it's real, but... we'll leave that for later! Quick and easy, yeah?" Todd says, hands on his hips.

I shake my head, before gesturing to my body.

"-Sure, but I still need to do something about this guy. I can't have him walking around. As I said, he'll attack me on sight."

"Oooohh... yeah, that's a problem."