The light coming from the outside started to fill the room little by little while the sounds of the morning were slowly appearing in order. A good essence reached my nose and a light breeze gently touched my skin.

“Hmm”, I could only say as I turned from one side of the bed to the other.

I kept moving, sometimes softly, sometimes a bit rough.

“Hmm… Uh”, I was saying while trying to keep myself in the arms of the sandman.

“Ah!”

I woke up and rudely got up.

I was a bit lost at first but quickly remembered everything and the worries of life came back to me.

Suddenly, an annoying feeling reached me and I started to feel uneasy. I got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom where I could relieve myself.

Everything felt so quiet, so normal, and it probably was because I just made the usual routine of every morning back in home.

“Third day here huh?” I said to myself.

“Lots of things have happened and I can’t believe it is just day three. I suppose days feel different when you’re not doing what you usually do”.

“I wonder what I’m going to do today…”

I got out of the bathroom, looked everywhere until something caught my attention: the strange artifact that was given to the players at the beginning, was lying on top of the little nightstand beside the bed. I remember, when Lily’s father was taking me to the bedroom, that he took it out of my ear and wondered what it was, it seems that he leaved it there.

“Remember not to lose it”. Those words came back to my mind and I remembered who told me that.

Still a bit scared for remembering the moment where I was told I wasn’t going to get out of there, I grabbed the weird device and stared at it carefully, wondering what its function was.

After a couple of seconds a thought crossed my mind and I tried something.

“Menu, open”.

I softly said those words and instantly a flash of light got out of the artifact and projected a screen from where Maid-chan and the menu table appeared.

“So with this you opened the menu, I see. It seems this ain’t a game after all”.

At that time I knew that things were going to get more difficult. That was no game, fighting was real, and the “kill or be killed” wasn’t so simple anymore, killing had a true meaning.

“I must do all kind of stuff now if I want to achieve my goal. I’m probably gonna suffer a lot but I need to be strong”.

The determination I had was no joke, I was willing to do anything, by any means, if it was necessary to get out of that place where my sanity and mental strength were going to be tested. Although at that time, I didn’t really know the meaning behind those words.

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door of the room asking if they could get in. I instantly recognized the manly, deep voice behind the door and I told him to get in.

“Good morning boy, how are you feeling?”

“Mr. Draserch thanks for coming. I’m feeling very well now, thanks for your help and sorry for the bother”.

“Don’t worry kid, you saved my daughters so this is the least I can do. Also, would you mind stop calling me Mr. Draserch, it makes me feel old”.

“How should I call you then?”

“Igor is fine”.

“Are you sure, isn’t it disrespectful?”

“Yes, but I don’t mind because I’m a very simple person, and I like you”.

“Well thanks sir, that means a lot”.

“Anyway, I have a proposition to you. Would you like going to the first floor of the castle? You’ve never entered, have you?”

“Really? Yes, I’ve never entered and I was told to practice in the Academia before trying anything like that”.

“Well, I know you. You’re strong enough to handle the first level and I’m gonna be there with you and Lily, so there’s nothing to worry. Also, I think it will be a good experience for you”.

“Then yes, I’d love to go”.

“Great! Meet me in the warehouse in the garden in five minutes, I’ll give you appropriate equipment”.

“Thanks Sir!” I finally replied.

Igor left the room and I prepared myself to go out.

I headed to the warehouse and when I got there I saw Lily who was there talking with her father.

She was wearing light armor that consisted on different pieces of metal located in different parts of the body: two pieces for the forearms, two pieces for the arms, two small pieces for the shoulders and a not so big metal piece for the chest. She also had her hair tied up with a small ponytail that matched her short hair and a little fringe in the forehead.

In contrast, Igor didn’t have any piece of armor at all.

“Hey! Ready to go kill some monsters?”

“Yes”, I answered even though I wasn’t very sure.

“Good. Now, take this armor and put it in”.

It was the same armor that Lily was using. I got excited and didn’t wait to get changed.

I looked at myself with sparkling eyes as I detailed every inch of my costume. “I finally look like an adventurer” I said in my mind.

Igor interrupted me and said: “You ready? Let me see your sword”.

I gave him the sword that I got in the house where I woke up when all this started. He looked at it for no more than five seconds, threw it in the floor and told me: “This is garbage, where did you get this?”

I felt a little bad when I heard that the sword that accompanied me through my short yet very intense journey was garbage. I kept what I felt inside of me and told him that I picked it up from a dead man before.

“Well don’t worry, I’ll give something better”.

He looked at the warehouse very quick and returned with a very beautiful sword.

“Use this” he said.

The design was quite simple but it was precisely its simpleness that made it beautiful. The handgrip was made of dark wood painted with slim gold lines and resembled a crucifix. The blade was made of steel and had the same gold lines painted over it. The size and weight were right too, it was a perfect sword in my, at the moment, novice opinion.

“I really like this sword!”

“Ha! I knew you’d like it”.

He gave me the leather scabbard that had the same color as the handgrip.

“Are we ready to go?” I asked.

“Everything ok, let’s go!”

We took everything and headed to city where the castle was located.

A bit after we left the house one doubt came to my mind and without hesitation I answered Igor.

“I have a doubt! How does the whole castle thing works? I mean, it is a bit confusing…”

“Well, it is a bit difficult to understand but I’ll try to summarize everything. The castle has four floors. The first three floors have 30 rooms in each and the last floor has 10 rooms making a total of 100 rooms. Each room has a portal that transports you to a different area or “level”. That’s the most basic”.

“Hmm I see…” I answered while thinking that it reminded a lot to Super Mario 64.

“And what do you do in each room? How do you win a level?”

“Well in simple terms, each level has a safe city or town where no monsters attack. There, you can sell stuff to the merchants to gain some money because you know, no one’s paying you for beating the castle and making your wish come true right? Anyway, the monsters on the “surface” are good to train and to get accustomed to the difficulty of the level. Once you’re done practicing, you enter the “dungeon” of the area where you have to beat monsters and get to the end to meet the “King of the level” if you beat it, you’ll get access to the next area”.

“Oh! I see, thanks for explaining me!”

“Don’t worry. Also, if you don’t understood something, you’ll soon do”.

After that explanation we kept walking silently while I processed the information I had received.

“Well, this is confusing: I thought this was no game but the system of the castle really reminds me of one”.

I kept thinking about this matter for a while until I saw Lily staring straight at me. I looked at her but she took her look apart.

“What is happening with her? She’s been acting weird all this morning… wait”.

I was such a dumb kid…

“We kissed last night, is she waiting for me to do something!?”

I remember I panicked a bit and didn’t know what to do or what to say. I started to desperately look for a conversation topic when I saw her walking.

“Uh, Lily, you seem alright from your foot now…”

“Well, I am. Thanks for asking”.

She didn’t say anymore and I was just wondering why she was so cold when she always was the one leading the conversation.

“I’ll never understand women”, I said.

I decided to remain silent for the rest of the trip and wait for a better chance to talk.

Surprisingly, we arrived to the city sooner than I thought.

The city felt very alive: there were tons of people, each mind a different world.

So many people living their lives: the merchants were negotiating with their clients over goods, weapons and armor; some other people were walking through the streets wondering about their problems, and us? We were heading to the castle.

We passed through the plaza were some musicians were performing an improvised concert with the watchful look of their young audience, most of them kids.

The music seemed to cheer the people around that were working, even though they weren’t really putting attention to it, they seemed very happy doing their jobs.

The music was actually very enjoyable and reminded me of all those hours playing RPG’s back in home. A feeling of nostalgia filled my insides and I felt really good.

Lily and Igor also enjoyed the music. They liked it so much that Igor suggested sitting for a while and hearing a couple of songs. We agreed and did precisely that.

After enjoying the music for a while, Igor gave them some money and we left the place feeling nice and ready to battle.

We walked for a while and reached the big white building people called “Klanen”. There, we turned left and saw the enormous, beautiful lake at the center of the city. Right in the middle of it there was an island with a big castle on it. “The Stoigom castle” I said in low voice.

“How do we get there?” I asked.

“There are a lot of people willing to offer their services and take us there for a small fee” Igor answered.

“I see…”

Instantly a dark-skinned guy, probably because of being always exposed to the sun, told us if we needed a ride.

“Best price and best service you’ll get here” he said.

“Yes, we need. Thank you” Lily told him.

We got in a nice and cozy boat that seemed very well maintained even though it was not very big.

“Very good service” I thought.

“Even though he works doing something very humble, he makes his best to make it high quality”. I’ve always admired people that give their best in everything they do no matter what it is, probably because I’m not able to do the same.

“Everyone ready?” said the old man. “Yes” was heard like a chorus and we left.

The ride was very enjoyable and I was very excited to be there. I had never been in a boat so the whole trip, even though a bit short was very funny.

The view from the lake was gorgeous. The sun of mid-day reflected on the blue water of the lake.

I was contemplating the view when Lily got beside me and asked me if that was my first time on a boat.

“Is it too obvious?” I asked her.

“Just a bit”.

“Back in home I never had the chance to be in one of these. My hometown was not as beautiful as this city so I’m just amazed by the great view”.

“I see…”

The conversation ended there but we had arrived to our destination. I was happy we talked like we always did.

“Well, you can get out now” said the old guy.

We got out of the boat while Igor was paying the guy.

When I turned my head to the back I saw it: the castle of Stoigom. The one, the legends speak of, where tons of people have died trying to get what they most wanted. It didn’t matter if their wishes were selfish or not, they still died.

The castle seemed incredibly big and imposing, with its grey color and gothic style I can say it was even terrifying.

It’s funny because I lived in Tokyo where tall buildings are a matter of everyday, but there was something about this castle that made me felt different. With the other buildings I felt small, with this one I felt weak, that was the difference.

Igor finally paid the guy and we decided to enter the castle.

When we entered I couldn’t help but feel surprised to see how big the place was inside.

The hall was a big place where people rested. It had a couple of weapon sellers, food sellers and a big library with a lot of books. At the end of the room there was a wall with three gates that led to the rooms.

The place was filled with people; everyone seemed to be happy and relaxed, contrary to what someone would expect of a place where death ain’t something strange.

I was watching the place carefully but Igor kept walking to the first gate. Then I noticed that they weren’t with me anymore so I ran to the first gate with them.

After passing through the gate I saw a not so long aisle with a red carpet on the floor that had five rooms on the left and five rooms on the right. Igor entered the first room on the left and Lily and I followed him.

The room that we entered wasn’t very big. It had one round table in the center with a map over it that seemed to be the map of the level.

It also had paintings in the walls that I thought were paintings of the area. Finally, at the end of the room there was a mirror. A big and pretty mirror which I thought was the portal, and I wasn’t wrong.

“So, what do you think of the place?” said Igor.

“It looks amazing! I can’t wait to cross the portal!” I excitedly said.

“Then, let’s not waste any more time and go!”

“Yes!”

Lily was the first one to cross the portal. Immediately Igor followed her.

I walked through the portal and the sensation was quite interesting: I felt like if I was getting into water but I was completely dry. After my whole body was inside the mirror I felt the exact same sensation that I felt when I entered the “game”. It felt like if my body slowly disappeared and then reappeared in a different place. The sensation wasn’t pleasant at all.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself inside of something that appeared to be a shrine or a church.

Lily and Igor were waiting for me in front of the portal.

“Did you like the trip?” asked Igor.

“Not really” I answered.

“Haha it feels terrible but you get used to it”.

“I hope so”.

I turned my head back and I saw something curious: there was a big painting of what seemed to be a god in the wall on top of the portal.

I was going to ask what it was but I decided to keep that for myself as they were probably going to find it strange that I didn’t know who that god was.

We got out of the church-like building and found ourselves in the middle of a city. It wasn’t as big as Galdric but it was very nice.

Igor didn’t lose time and walked straight to the outskirts of the city. Very fast we reached our destination and saw a couple of monsters.

“Lily take care of Shiro, I’ll go fight the King of the level. Make sure that he understands everything”.

Lily answered with a simple “Ok” and immediately looked at me.

“You understood everything right?”

“Yes. I thought it would be harder to understand but everything is fine”.

“Then let’s slay some monsters!”

She went running towards one and with a very agile movement cut him in the neck and killed him. She did the same with the other monsters around her and in a matter of seconds killed 5 monsters.

I just stood there with my mouth opened, what I saw was incredible.

“Lily, you’re amazing!”

“Hehe, I know” she said with a confident smile on her face. “Now it’s your turn”.

When she said that, I felt uneasy and insecure. I was going to kill a monster, but now I knew it was real. I was actually going to take a life.

I got the attention of a monster and tried to fight him. He was some kind of blue snake and had legs. He was awful.

He moved very fast and tried to attack me. I dodged him and cut one of his short legs.

He screamed a lot. It was a horrible and disgusting sound that made me feel sorry about him, but he didn’t stop the fighting. Instead of that he started to attack more desperately.

“C’mon, why don’t you just surrender?” I thought.

I kept dodging and cutting him until he couldn’t move more. He looked exhausted.

“You know Shiro” interrupted Lily. “Your fighting style is focused on defending. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but sometimes you need to be the one leading the rhythm of the fight, especially with weak monsters like this one”.

“I think you’re right” I answered.

“Anyway that’s my advice; I’ll be over there fighting other monsters. Call me if you need something”.

“Ok”.

I felt relieved that she left because I didn’t want to kill that monster. He seemed like he could survive so I didn’t really want to kill him.

I crouched to look at the monster more carefully.

“Poor thing, he seems like he’s suffering. I wonder if I can do something to help hi…”

The tail of the beast hit me with a lot of strength. I fell on the floor and my head hurt a lot.

When I opened my eyes the monster was on top of me and scratched me with his claws in the stomach. I beat him and sent him like a meter away from me.

The wound burned me and really hurt. It wasn’t like a normal scratch, it continued to burn and the pain was a lot. I started sweating and my breathing got heavy.

I got really angry when I thought that I had pity over such a disgusting beast. He came for me again by jumping with his claws ready to scratch. I didn’t hesitate and cut him in half.

The beast instantly stopped moving and fell to the ground.

I almost puked but was able to hold back.

When the adrenaline started to decrease the burning in my stomach made itself notice rapidly.

“Ahh! This hurts like hell”.

I was lucky when a young man appeared and offered me his ointment.

“You’re new here right? Me too! My grandma gave me this ointment for burns; I think it will work for you”.

“Thank you man”.

After saying that I smeared the ointment over the wound and rapidly made effect.

“Wow this really works! Please thank your grandma!”

“Haha don’t worry I will. Take care, bye” he finally said after he left.

I kept thinking about what I had to do. I didn’t want to kill monsters but I had to do it if I wanted to get back home.

“You know, I could have a fine and peaceful live in this world”.

I said that but then I kept thinking if that was what I really wanted.

After meditating for a while I was honest with myself and finally said the truth.

“If I’m to stay in this world I want adventure, not a boring NPC life”.

I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go back home but even I wanted to stay I had to kill monsters.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I want to keep living this adventure, and I need to be ready to do everything. I feel sorry for the monsters but it’s them or me, and I don’t really want to be generous”.

After I said that I got up, saw a monster and went to attack him. Using the same technique Lily used to kill those monsters, I killed a couple and even though I felt sorry about them, the satisfaction of having overcome an obstacle made me forget about that.