Dave

Fallen Jungle

56th of Cycle 2, 1015

The trees were gradually getting sparser as we made our way through an area that blurred the line between grassland and jungle. That’s when a message appeared in front of me, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jason and Matilda stopped when they noticed I wasn’t moving. “What’s wrong, Dave?” Jason asked.

“...”

“Dave?”

“...”

“We don’t have time to be standing around. Hurry up.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Are you alright?”

“I can’t come with you. Not until I kill the silver panther.”

NOTICE

You are leaving the designated area for the quest ‘The Silver Panther.’ Refusing to turn back will result in immediate death.

“Oh my god,” Jason said with a horrified expression. “Why? Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“Because you don’t need to concern yourself with me anymore, Jason. Go and enjoy your life with Matilda.”

“What are you talking about?” His expression changed into a stern one. “There’s no way I’m leaving you alone here.”

“You have to. Your high elf friends would find you soon enough if you stayed.”

“What about you? What are you going to do when they find you?”

“I’ll find a way to deal with that when the time comes,” I said.

“Don’t fuck with me, Dave.” Jason walked toward me, only to get pulled back by Matilda

“He’s right, Jason. If we stay here, we’ll all die meaningless deaths,” She said.

“You’re on his side too?”

“I’m just saying that he’s right. Are you sure about this, Dave?”

No, I'm not. I don’t want this. I want you to stay. I want you to find a way to make this ending happy.

I wonder why those words won’t come out.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“It’s not your decision to make!” Jason yelled.

“Are you just going to waste the opportunity he’s giving us, Jason?” Matilda asked. “Are you going to make his sacrifice meaningless?”

“I didn’t ask him to sacrifice himself!”

“No one is sacrificing themselves,” I said. “Do you trust me, Jason?”

He looked confused for a moment, but he nodded his head.

“I’ll survive. I promise you.”

He went silent and stared at me for a few minutes. The tension in the air was so thick I could almost taste it.

“You need to make a decisio-,” Matilda started but was cut off by Jason grabbing me in a painfully tight hug.

“I'm going to be back here one day. You better stay alive until then, you fool.”

It’s hard to believe that this is the same elf who refused to even shake hands with me just days ago. Tears streamed down my face as I hugged him back. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

After what felt like an eternity, we stepped back and looked into each other’s eyes. “Goodbye, Dave.”

“Goodbye, Jason.”

Matilda didn’t say anything, but she gave me a warm smile before they turned around and left. I wiped the tears off my face and started walking away too.

This is the only logical way to resolve all our problems. It's definitely the right decision, so why? Why do I feel so empty right now?

I picked up the pace to clear my thoughts before I realized that my body simply couldn’t handle running anymore, so I went back to walking. The trees got denser as I slowly made my way back into the jungle.

NOTICE

You are re-entering the area for the quest ‘The Silver Panther.’ Good choice. Would you like to view the details?

I wanted to punch that screen in the mouth, but I knew I couldn’t.

"No."

I continued my walk until I suddenly felt like I was a lot more tired than before. It wasn’t gradual enough to be written off as fatigue, so I scanned my surroundings to find a possible culprit. There was a large green spore on the ground next to me, and it was ejecting yellow fumes into the air.

My hands wobbled as I drew my bow and loosed an arrow at it. To my surprise, the arrow landed on target, but that only made the spore release a lot more gas as it died.

I felt the strength in my body leave me as I fell to the floor. I struggled fruitlessly against fate as my eyes closed shut, and I drifted off into sleep.

Or at least I should’ve drifted off into sleep, but instead, I found myself in the dark room from my class selection.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

“Oh, I just thought I’d check up on you,” Came a familiar ethereal voice. “How’s my little scout doing?”

“I bet you think this is really funny, you piece of shit god.”

“Have I made you angry somehow?” The voice asked. “I gave you a choice, and you accepted my terms. You should realize that everything you are experiencing is the result of your actions. That being said, your life is going to get a lot harder soon, so I thought I’d give you something to help you out.”

“How generous of you, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to respectfully decline your offer.”

“Now, now, at least look at what I’m offering first.”

System upgrade available

Contents of upgrade:

Class consolidation, class evolution, and skill evolution without the use of a ritual.

Access to detailed skill information and status without a skill stone.

Improved interface.

Would you like to upgrade the system?

“What’s the catch?” I asked. This sounded too good to be true.

“There is no catch. You aren’t going to have access to any of these things as it stands because you’re all alone now.”

“Fuck. You.”

“Did I hit a nerve? My apologies, human emotions are not my strong suit,” The voice said cynically. “Do you want the upgrade or not?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Very good. You can go ahead and wake up now. People are waiting for you.”

My brain got assaulted with information as I fell to my knees, holding my head in pain. The reality in front of me collapsed, and my eyes opened again in the jungle.

Four high elves were standing over me.