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Imagine a box, if you would. A small compact box with no conceivable way of escape so forget looking for loopholes. Okay, so now imagine yourself inside said box and in it, together with you, was a maniac filled with unfounded rage directed solely at you. Oh, and the maniac also has a sword.

Get the picture? Not an enviable sight? Well, that's me right now. No, not the maniac - the other guy, the one that's about to get shanked like a mother-

"Scared, Sora?" said Arishia, flaunting the sword in her hand, as she crept ever closer, "It's okay to admit it. I wouldn't want to fight me neither."

Perhaps my drowsiness earlier numbed my senses a bit, because despite fear being a factor present, I wasn't exactly trembling at all.

"Never said I was going to," I said, slowly treading backward. "Never wanted to either."

What followed afterward, was a rush of movement. Like a viper striking at its prey, Arishia darted forward, her sword whiffing the strands of my hair as I lunged past her, scrambling hastily back to my feet.

On opposite ends now, and in an attempt to pacify, I spoke, "Don't, seriously, don't. I know I messed up, alright? You can hate me, curse me, blame me all you want for it, but killing me won't solve anything."

She smiled at my desperation. "Oh, I do blame you."

Another spurring attack from her, another near-miss from me.

"But I don't hate you."

She began circling around the room, slowly, menacingly, her piercing stare at odds with my own. Practicing true social distancing, I replicated her actions.

"You don't hate me but you wanna kill me?" I asked, wary of the vice-like grip she had on her sword. "There's senseless and then there's just plain not making sense."

"Oh, but I don't want to kill you either." She replied as if stating the obvious.

Another slash with barely any time to react, I fell backward, stumbling, and landed flat on my ass, eyes wide, seeing the vicious shimmer glistening at the tip of the blade that nearly struck me.

Without relenting in the slightest, she thrust her sword towards my direction and like a hammer to a nail, I was totally defenseless. My hands rose, bracing for the impact and immediately a searing agony flooded my arms as it met contact with the blade.

A sharp jab to my abdomen, as she swung her leg with the force of an isekai-truck. I was sent practically flying, colliding with the wall behind me, expelling all virtual air from my lungs.

The whirring digital sound that exerted from my HUD warned me of what was already clear to see. Up in the left-hand corner, a significant portion of my health bar vanished in an instant, leaving behind only half of what it used to be.

A slash and a kick did that. Two hits. Something tells me her true player level isn't hovering among the single digits.

I stood back up, recouping the breath that was taken from me, gritting my teeth in pain. "That's not wanting to kill me, is it!?!"

Arishia stood there, her arms folded across her chest, the sword flopping nonchalantly in her hand, "Well, you wouldn't be dying if you fought back."

She started to advance again.

Precious seconds were all I had to put up a deterrent. A frantic finger swiped open the menu screen, scouring wildly in its endless selections for something - anything!

Her next swing came pelting from the side. There was a glow, a sensation of hard mass materializing in my outstretched hand. The edge of her sword came flowing and immediately - a clangor, a spark, as metal met metal. Her attack hindered by the blade trembling in my grasp.

"That's more like it," She muttered, a relishing smile visible on her face. "Didn't know whether I was up against a gentleman or an actual man."

The weight between our crossed blades was insurmountable, it took all the strength I could muster to maintain the link, to prevent it from collapsing to my throat.

She pressed her sword down, only slightly, and the pressure amplified by a dozen. Two hands, gripping the handle of my weapon with enough strain, enough focus for my eyes to bulge from their sockets.

Meanwhile, with a single hand on hers, she tilted her head in question.

"But why so weak?" She asked, her face mere inches from my own. "Why so much struggle?"

Another explosive spark and a shout of strength, as my blade slid across from hers, escaping from the encounter. I retreated away to an empty space, heaving and panting with much effort.

Arishia watched me as I went, expression still sparkling with glee. "All bark and no bite, then? I expected a fight, not a massacre. Why don't you show me what you really can do?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I spat.

She shook her head. "Ayako Rei's stream. You showed everybody who was watching her a sword, showed everybody watching her its stats. It wouldn't be presumptuous of me to assume you're carrying a developer weapon, right?"

Sensing that she won't engage again, I began recollecting my stamina. I followed her closely for any signs of open hostility as she began pacing across the room.

"One of a kind, no other one like it, in the hands of you. A weapon like that, you're guaranteed a safe experience, you'd be unstoppable, unkillable. Of course, everyone who saw your sword that day would be thinking the same thing, won't they?"

She stopped, turning her head to look at me, a realizing smile forming on her face. "I'm not the first one, am I? Tell me, am I the third? Fourth? Or maybe you've been hunted for so many times already you stopped keeping count."

I felt my lips tightened. "Sixth."

"What a shame, I was hoping to be your first time," She pulled a frown. "No matter, you're still alive at the very least… which means they probably aren't."

"I didn't kill them! I just-"

"Ran away?" She offered, her face immediately brightening. "Oh, you seem to be very good at that."

Her hand reached forward, the blade withheld in it pointing towards me. "But you can't run here. You can't run now."

I braced for what came next and came it did. A heavy charging slash deflected only at the very last second, momentum dragging my feet across the floor.

She swung again which I evaded by ducking below. An opportunity presented itself before me and I seized it without hesitation. Still lurking low, I tightened my grip and steered my sword toward her waist in a stabbing motion.

A twirl of bright red and then nothing. The blade that was supposed to pierce through her connected only with the emptiness of air. Before I could even comprehend what happened, something heavy slammed against my back with enough force to send me rocketing across the room and crashing into the chairs in the middle.

With a cluttering of broken wood, and with wavering effort, I attempted to get up, looking behind me as I did, and saw through unsteady eyes, her left leg lowering itself to position.

This woman just loves to kick me around like a football, doesn't she?

"Level 15," She said, reverting back to simply pacing around the room, "If you were at least a level 10, I wouldn't be able to keep ragdolling you around the place."

Too winded to even muster a response, I let her talk.

"Leaving aside the fact that you're lying sprawled all the way at the other end, you're also at quarter health now. I got only three hits in Sora, don't let the fun end so quick. Fess up now, what's your level?"

I spun my body, aching from all the blows, towards her direction. My back found a wall to lean on and with a wince, I rested my head against its hard surface.

"Level 15, huh? I was close - thought you were maybe 16." I said, breathing in deep. "Course, to a level 4 like me, doesn't make much of a difference if you're 15 or 50. I'm getting wrecked either way."

"Level 4," She whispered the words, her eyes downwards in contemplation. "I was right, this is a massacre."

A disappointed sigh left her lips. "What a waste of time then, damn."

Then, without warning, as sudden as a skipped heartbeat, she flung her sword at me like a dart to a dartboard. I saw it leave her hand, saw it fly, and in a moment almost everlasting, saw it squarely burrow deep through my chest.

It didn't felt real, it didn't look real. The blade protruding out of me couldn't be real and it wasn't. It was all virtual. But death, death was real.

I felt my breath stall, felt all movement stall… all that my eyes could see, all that it could focus on then was that little bar on the corner of my HUD. It took a second for the swiftness of cold calculative programming to turn the greenish hue of health into a dull empty gray.

The dreaded confirmation that I hoped beyond hope wouldn't come was like a beacon of utter despair. Before death overtook me, my eyes latched towards her, the devil in red, as words left her spiteful lips.

"System Command: Cease sparring trial, end simulation. Pretty please."

There was no pain. There was no death. But there was shock, and shocked I was indeed.

Two things: Firstly, all pain immediately vanished as if they never even existed. Secondly, my HP filled itself back up to its maximum.

There was a third thing actually. Thirdly, I withdrew the damn sword out from my body and threw it to the side, still reeling wildly over the fact that I wasn't dead.

I didn't even realize I was still holding my breath. Once I did, it was like a fish out of water, gasping and gulping non-stop. It was a pretty ugly sight.

Enough sense was left within me though to be wary that Arishia was making her way towards me.

I looked at her, a frenzied expression on my face, "WHAT," And tried to be as eloquent as possible, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Should I apologize? I should, shouldn't I? Don't feel like I did anything wrong, though." She said, bending down to pick up her sword.

Can she ever stop being her, even for a second?

I spoke my sentiments on the matter, "WHAT?!"

"I already said I didn't want to kill you," She had to stifle a laugh before she could continue, "Don't tell me you didn't believe me."

She walked away, leaving me beaten and battered senseless both physically and mentally.

"Course, if you had fought with your other sword," Her sword vanished with a swipe of her hand. "I'd be the one down there with my jaw to the floor instead of you."

She summoned forth another chair through another system command and took a seat, plopping herself in direct view of my bewilderment.

"I'm sure that's something you'd be utterly delighted to see." She spoke, propping her chin on her hand. "Which begs the question then - why didn't you?"

I took a breath, another heavy one, God knows I need it. In fact, speaking of God… If this woman, if you can even call her a woman, was an actual creation of His and not an eldritch demon spawn from hell.

Then He and I need to have a talk.