Chapter I: The Guilt of Sin
X's POV, floor 1, Black Iron Palace
I was tired. So very tired. Tired of killing, tired of fighting, tired of doing what I knew was wrong. Just…tired.
"Why do I keep doing this?" I asked myself as I walked towards the Black Iron Palace gates. "What's wrong with me?"
We treated it like a game, I treated it like a game. That's what it was right? Sword Art Online, the hot new VRMMO that used state of the art virtual reality gear. A world in its own right. A reality outside of reality. But, it was a reality that ten thousand players would soon come to hate. As it turns out, once the game begins, the only way for it to end is to either beat the boss on the 100th floor, or die trying. Who could have known that if you die in the game, you die in the real world. Since the games official launch, four thousand players met their maker and were murdered. Murder...what an ugly word. The very sound of it leaves a terrible ringing in my ear, like a bug that's crawling deeper and deeper into my mind. But I had to own that. After what I've done, I deserve whatever came my way. After all, that's what I was; that's all I was…A murderer.
As I approached the gate of the palace I was stopped by two soldiers from the Army. The Army is technically a guild, but I guess the name just brings some kind of comfort from the real world. People would do anything to hang on to their sanity. Their spears were pointed directly at me, but I wasn't bothered by them one bit. They could never hope to kill me in a safe zone, not unless we dueled. But I wasn't there looking for a fight.
"Stop! State your business!" The guard on the right bellowed.
I stood there frozen in place, staring at the ground. What should I say? It's not every day someone like me approaches a massive jailhouse, and there's no guarantee they'll even believe me if I told them I came in peace. Then again, a cloaked figure covering his face with a hood has no business here, not unless he was looking for trouble. And even if he wasn't, his getup certainly wouldn't win him any brownie points.
"Speak up!" The guard on the left yelled. "If you don't have any business here, I suggest you beat it!"
"Hold on Terrik," The guard on the right said, "You see that? He's got an orange marker above his head…He's a player killer!"
My hands trembled. Out of fear or anticipation, I couldn't tell, but they trembled never the less. Thoughts raced through my mind like the Grand Prix. After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to move my arm towards the sword that was sheathed on my back. I slowly grabbed the hilt and drew my blade. The black steel shimmered in the sunlight and gave off an uneasy dark aura only visible to me. The legendary Reaper Sword; a blade that increases the users ATK points by 10 if they kill a player, but with a price: The user is never allowed to equip other blades until they're either killed or someone else accepts it as a gift. A cursed blade full of malice and evil. The guards tensed up, ready for a fight, but I shook my head.
"I'm not here to fight you." I said calmly.
"Yeah?" The guard on the right responded, "Then what the hell are you doing here with that sword in your hand murderer?"
I shook my head once more and threw the blade towards the guards feet. The clang of metal and stone echoed out into the sky above and the guards looked at the sword, and then at me, utterly confused. I grabbed the rim of my hood and hesitantly started to lift it away from my face.
"Should I do this?" I thought to myself. "It's not too late to just turn and run...to just get out of here and never show your face again."
No, this was the right thing to do. No matter how much I hated it, I had to do it, and atone for what I've done. I gritted my teeth in anticipation, and lifted the hood completely off of my head, revealing my red eye and spiky jet black hair.
"My name is X...and I was once with the murder guild known as Laughing Coffin. I've come to turn myself in."
X's POV, Inside Black Iron Palace
It came as a shock to everyone who heard the news. A Laughing Coffin guild member willingly getting himself captured. I wasn't surprised at the reactions I got though. Some guards spat and jeered at me, others thought I was a part of some plan to relay information to other Laughing Coffin members as part of some future surprise ambush. I don't blame any of them.
I walked between four armed guards, shackled with anklets that connected my armlets by heavy steel chains. My gear stripped from me and replaced with rags. Even the cursed sword was taken. Even though they couldn't lift the curse, they could still keep it locked up. Even without being in my inventory, the swords curse would not allow me to equip any other weapon, sword, spear, hammer, you name it. I was led down a long hallway. The cells were packed full of the meanest Player Killers known. I looked to my left into the cell. A skinny but capable man with an evil smile stared back at me.
"Well, well, well. Red Eye X graces us with his presence it seems!"
I shook my head.
"Don't go by that name anymore Maddox. It's just 'X' now."
Maddox snickered and sneered, as if he believed every word I just said was a lie. Maddox was a sadistic psychopath. Like most people thrown in here, Maddox is a Player Killer. He took out some poor low-level player early on in the game and took all his items. Rumor has it that Maddox sold the items for a decent chunk of change and used the money to buy the silence of the victims friends. It didn't matter though, Maddox ended up in here three days after the incident anyway.
I turned away as I was pushed forward by a guard from behind me.
"Keep it moving punk!"
As we went deeper and deeper into the palace, it grew colder and colder. The only source of light coming from the torches that hung from the wall. We came to a stop at an empty cell. A guard was standing there with the door swung wide open, a heavy ax in his hand.
"Here we are, all nice and cozy for someone like you." He teased. "Go on in and check it out. I'm sure you'll be pleased with how we set the place up."
I walked under the frame of the cell door and took in the look of my new cell. It was a small room with a torn and tattered mat in corner, and a tiny hole; a sad excuse for a window that barely lit up the room. I took a step forward and suddenly felt the force of a large, metal plated shoulder in my back.
"Get in there!" The guard with the ax yelled as he shoulder blocked me into the cell.
I crashed to the ground, tangled in chains.
"Settle in and get comfy kid. You're going to be here for a long time."
The guard slammed the cell door shut, and left along with my escorts. I was alone. No one in any of the cells around me. Just me, by myself. After the echo of the guards footsteps and the clang of their heavy armor and weapons faded, there was dead silence, save the occasional drip of water. There was an eerie darkness about the room. A darkness that would make the sanest man lose his mind within the first week. I crawled over to the torn mat and bunched myself up into a ball, burying my face in my knees. This place was a true nightmare.
"What should I expect?" I asked myself, "It's what I deserve."
END CHAPTER 1
HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THE FIRST CHAPTER! IT'S BEEN A HELLUVA LONG TIME SINCE I WORKED ON ANYTHING, SO ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE APPRECIATED VERY MUCH! BE EASY AND HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! ~SHAMAJ