After a second of pure darkness, I appeared in a whitewashed hallway, facing a level 10 goblin guard ten yards away. Sure enough, the goblin was decked out head-to-toe in armor.

The goblin was short—about four feet tall—and surprisingly similar to a human. It had long, skinny arms, a small torso, and a disproportionately large head. Most of its green skin was covered by armor, and when it saw me, it opened its mouth to reveal uncomfortably human-looking teeth, with the exception of rather large and pointed canines.

In his right arm was a sword, and his left hand held a small, circular, rusted, iron shield. Fortunately, I could see some green skin peeking out at his neck in between his breastplate and helmet.

I stumbled in my sprint as I came through the doorway, and my momentum was almost completely canceled.

The A.I.’s calm, assuring voice helped me refocus.

I lowered my sword, and in response, the goblin lowered his shield as well, raising its sword.

I was only a few yards away, now. Close enough to smell his sweat and the metallic scent of his armor.

The A.I. spoke rapidly and succinctly, and I did exactly what it said.

Two things happened at the same time. The goblin’s sword sunk deep into my left arm, and my sword snuck past the goblin’s armor and pierced the side of the goblin’s throat.

The goblin immediately withdrew, yanking its sword out of my arm, and stepping back. I could tell the gash on the goblin’s throat was deep.

The goblin was panicking. It dropped its sword and pressed its fingers to its neck in a desperate attempt to staunch its bleeding neck, but it wasn’t enough.

I glanced at my upper arm, and realized I could see bone.

Was I in shock? My arm hurt, but not as much as a broken bone. I should be in tears, right now, right? The pain felt, oddly enough, completely manageable.

I glanced up at the goblin, and saw that he was coughing up blood.

I took off my belt and wrapped it around my arm as tightly as I could to slow the blood loss, keeping my eye on the goblin that was now on his knees ten yards away from me.

It was awkward, tightening the belt with one hand, but I was able to clench one end of the belt between my torso and my right elbow.

I glanced at the doorway about twenty yards ahead of me.

The goblin in front of me finally stopped struggling.

I saw a notice in blue appear briefly in the upper left corner of my vision:

+20 coins

I’d ask about what the coins were for later. I rushed awkwardly towards the black doorframe at the end of the hallway. My run was lopsided; I held my left arm as tightly as I could with the belt still taut to slow the flow of blood.

As I passed the goblin, the A.I. spoke again.

The goblin’s body seemed to dissolve into the air slowly as I paused above it, leaving a few things behind.

I had to wait for the body to finish dissolving into the air—like some kind of video game— before I could collect what was left behind—the goblin’s breastplate and sword. The other parts of the goblins equipment—the shield, the greaves, and vambraces—had disappeared along with the goblin’s body.

All I needed to do was place each item next to the pouch and tell the pouch to take it. However, there was about a second delay where I just had to stand in one place, holding the equipment near the pouch with my right hand, before the equipment disappeared from my hand.

Finally, I made my way towards the end of the hallway, glancing back at the thick trail of blood behind me.

I rushed through the portal at the end of the hallway in a daze.

When I reappeared on the other side of the portal, my vision seemed a little fuzzy.

The pain was still manageable, though.

I was in another square, white room. This time, the room had a podium with a glowing yellow crystal.

I tried to walk towards the crystal, but found I could hardly walk in a straight line.

After far too many staggering steps, I was able to study the crystal:

Recovery Crystal (Rank C): Heals the user of all common wounds, replenishing Mana and resetting cooldowns of all skills below Rank C. Cooldown: 24 hours.

I placed my hand on the crystal. I tried lifting the crystal, but it wouldn’t budge an inch.

As I came into contact with the crystal, I felt a powerful surge of energy enter my body, and a dozen different feelings washed over me at the same time.

“What the fuck!?” I shouted, feeling indignation and fear boiling inside me.

Anger, at being mind-controlled. Betrayal, at this soothing voice that was undermining my own identity. Disgust, at the murder I had just committed, and at my own apathy as I watched the fear in the goblin’s eyes as he had tried to save himself. Fear, at how close I had just come to death. Terror, at how this voice in my head completely disregarded my well-being, yet I still had been following it blindly this whole time. Revulsion, at the blood that I had seen, the sight of my own exposed bone, healing as I watched it, and the scent of blood still on my clothes.

“What did you do to me? Why are you doing this to me? I never would have collected that goblin’s loot—I was about to faint from blood loss! Get the fuck out of my head! Are you messing with my pain senses too?”

I would have continued, but the Recovery Crystal’s energy faded. My arm was healed, and I felt energized, again, back in top shape—the best shape of my life.

The A.I. responded in a soothing tone,

“Changes like the pain tolerance?” I asked. It was strange. I was still breathing heavily, but I felt none of the momentary panic I’d been feeling earlier. “And… you’re suppressing my fear, somehow.”

the A.I. said.

I grunted at that. I could clearly remember the feeling of panic. The first moment of panic, when I appeared in the tutorial, before drinking the potion. And then an even more intense panic, just seconds ago, where everything I’d done had hit me.

I had almost thrown up—while being healed by the Recovery Crystal—at the thought of all the blood in the hallway, and the smell of blood still staining my Magician’s Robes.

Gagging was a normal response, but in this moment, it wasn’t useful. “We will talk about this later. And don’t make any more changes without checking in with me first.”

the A.I. responded, in a somewhat smug voice.

“Fine,” I muttered. It wasn’t like I had a choice, even if there were a hundred goblins ahead of me. The portal that I had come through had vanished, so there was literally no way back. Only forward. Burn the ships. It was a wartime strategy that I had read about, but not one I had ever expected to experience. It was used by the Conquistadors, and probably other people too, to make sure soldiers weren’t tempted to mutiny and sail home. I was past the point of no return, so I might as well move forward. There was no easy way out of here, only the Hard way. I chuckled at my own joke. I raised my sword and walked through the doorway in front of me.