Ch. 4 Floor 10

(As a side note, I have drawn Silvia's look in this story and will shortly update it to be the cover, and my new profile picture will be a picture of Rui, or myself when I was younger. It's drawn, not a legit picture, Lol.)

{Rui's Point of View}

-June 6th, 2041-

[Status of the Game so far]

Top Player of the Chapter: Vulthurin

Gender: Male

Level 44

Class: Blood Seeker

Weapon: (Rare)Twin Blood Scorn Daggers

Skills: 22

Guild: Giratina's Followers

Guild Leader: Vulthurin

Quests Completed: 410

Players Left in the Game: 2.28 million

Players that have died: 297,152

Floor Bosses Defeated: 9

Highest Floor Reached: 10

I woke up just like any other morning. I'm currently on the 9th floor, living in a decent inn. I'm only level 38, 17,800hp, with 10 million more exp needed to level up. Once the top players reached floor 5, we began to realize the quests were stuck at giving only 25 to 50,000 exp. To make it worse, level nerfing taxes the amount of gold and exp you earn based on level difficulty. Bonus exp is rewarded to low level players, lower exp is rewarded to higher level players. Creeping can give higher amounts of exp and floor boss kills give a tremendous amount.

I spoke to myself, "The game is making it harder to level up... Thankfully the pokemon still haven't gone higher than 37. The ninth floor boss was only level 39. I wonder what floor ten's boss is."

I stretched, trying to crack my bones but the game doesn't work like that. These days... I've been having trouble remembering the real world. My parents... brother... what did they look like? I only have a faint picture. My menu started blinking a bright blue. When I pressed it, a small holographic explosion sounded.

A voice spoke, "Congratulations! Happy Birthday! You're receiving a special item. It will be a weapon your class can use, of your exact level, and, it will be rare or higher. Do you accept?"

A smaller screen popped up under it with a yes or no button. I pressed yes and watched as a line of dots pulsated and moved up and down in a wave. With a ding, the dots spun in a circle and turned into a solid check mark.

The voice spoke, "The item has been sent to your inbox. It's a Super Rare Sword known as the Evangilizer. A sword type weapon with high damage and indestructible durability. The only drawback, you cannot use health potions while it is EQUIPPED. Be careful in its use."

I closed the screen and opened my menu to reach my mail. The sword was in a gift and I quickly put it in my inventory to compare. The weapon did nearly 3 times the damage per slice and was, in fact, indestructible. Right when I was about to close the menu, I got a new message from Jay.

I opened it, "Hey Rui, we're coming to your inn to see you. We're celebrating your birthday with you, like it or not. We're in this together... also... I kind of got banned from our last inn and, we need a place to stay for a couple hours, until the game lets us get new rooms."

I heard a knock on my door, "Oh jeez, I wonder who that could be."

I walked to the door and opened it, "Rui!" Jay yelled.

I smiled, "Is not here. Come back later."

I tried to close the door but he put his foot there, "Come on man, you've been so distant since Carly died."

I flinched, "Yeah... I know..."

I told him about it three weeks ago and... I felt better. The hallucinations are gone, as well as the guilt I felt deep down. With a small happy nod, I opened the door and allowed them in.

I pat Anthony's back, "How's it going?"

Anthony looked down, "I... met someone I like."

I was intrigued, "Oh? Who? Is she a good player?"

Anthony kept his gaze down and looked nervous, "Well... she..."

I felt shock overcome my system, "Oh my god... it's a man!?"

Anthony jumped up screaming, "NO! It's... I... I'm in love with an NPC..."

My only response, "Lol."

Anthony was stunned, "Lol?"

I started laughing out loud, "Yeah! That's a total lol moment. Who is she? A trader, bartender, -"

Anthony cut me off, "She's a pokemon called Braixen. She works as a maid in a diner I like..."

I covered my face laughing, "That's so cute! You were always a furry and she's furry enough for you!"

Anthony blushed hard, "You think it's funny..."

I pat his head, "No, it's cute. I'm very happy for you Anthony. You're my best friend, I just want you to be safe. Wait... can players marry NPC's?"

Jay answered me, "Yeah, they can, why?"

I thought to myself but asked out loud, "Isn't that kind of weird?"

Derek thought to himself, humming, "Hmm, I feel like the jailor has an ulterior motives..."

I told him, "From the beginning, I've always wondered why they were so real, so alive. Do you think he's trying to convince everyone to stay here forever?"

Jay sat on my bed, "It would make sense, considering how awesome the game is..."

I frowned, "This game is anything but awesome, we could die at any time!"

Anthony frowned, "Rui... it's also the only time players can meet and love anyone they want."

I shook my head, "I want to love in the real world, with a real girl. Not some... fucking program. It's fake. None of this is real!"

Derek placed a hand on my shoulder, "Calm down Rui. Everyone is going to be trapped here for a long time. Rushing ahead will only quicken our demise. More than a quarter million people have died because of traps, bosses, or other players going insane."

I looked at him, "What are you trying to say?"

Derek frowned, "Rui, you're one of my best friends, and I see what the game is doing to you. You need to relax, take a break, you're straining your body and mind."

I looked down, "I... I can't do that. I have to work hard and be the best to help get us home."

Jay sighed, "It's been so long since I've thought of home and... I can't help but not miss it."

I looked at Jay in shock, "You don't miss it at all?"

Jay took a deep breath, "I'm not like you Rui. My family isn't the greatest, my school work sucks, and... I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Being here, spending all my time playing this game with my best friends, I can't help but want... to stay here."

I felt a pang of pity, "Jay... You're only 14, you have plenty of time to grow up."

Jay got up, patting my shoulder with a smile, "Come on, it's your birthday, we should celebrate it with food."

Derek started pushing me towards my door, "Amen to that! I'm hungry enough to eat a Pignite!"

I started to protest but ultimately just went along with my friends to the restaurant of their choosing. Since the restaurant was on the 10th floor, it wasn't complete garbage. The ingredients were a letter above the worst grade, D ranked. We ate and drank to our mixture of delight and dislike.

Derek grimaced after eating a piece of Tepig chop, "Ugh, sometimes I wonder if public school food is better than this."

Jay laughed, "School food? I think bleach tastes better than some of the food in this game! Hahahaha!"

I chewed on a piece of Cheri Berry, "Mm... I love this berry." I muttered.

Anthony looked at me, "Cheri? Ugh, I hate that berry. Pecha is the best."

I scoffed, "Pfft, screw Pecha. It tastes like cough syrup."

Jay gave me a weird look, "Cough syrup? The fuck kind of cough syrup do you drink?"

I laughed, "I don't remember!"

Derek was silent for a moment, "What kinds of cough syrup was there?"

Anthony looked at his food, "I'm not sure. Has it... really been two months since the game started?"

I ate my Cheri berry salad mix, "I think so, I haven't really been keeping track."

Jay said, "That's what we mean by you're working too hard."

I frowned, "You're probably right..."

Anthony sat back, "I wonder how our parents are handling this?"

I shrugged, "Probably crying their eyes out."

Derek laughed, "My dad won't cry, he'll just be asking if he'll have to pay the medical bills."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course your dad would ask that."

Jay took a sip of juice, "My moms are probably laughing their ass off."

I looked at him, "Why say that?"

Jay frowned, "I know they wanted a girl... instead they got me..."

Anthony looked at him, "They're not that mean, they do help you a lot in school and stuff."

Jay grunted, "Yeah but I know they don't like me that much, if not, they're definitely disappointed in me."

I frowned, "Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Maybe they wanted a girl but that doesn't mean they don't love you. Lesbian or not, your mother gave birth to you. She held you in her arms, they both did. They're probably worried sick about you right now."

Jay looked distant for a moment before smiling, "Yeah... when I get out of this game, I'm going to give them the biggest hug I can muster."

I smiled back, "Good, now where's my cake?"

Anthony laughed, "Well... you see Rui... they only had one kind."

The waitress, a Gothita, placed a Pecha cake in front of me, "Happy Birthday Boy."

I stared at the cake, "..."

Derek started laughing, "He hates it so much! Hahahahahaha!"

I flipped him off, "Fuck you Derek!"

Gothita took a knife and tapped the cake. In a flash, it changed into 16 even exact slices and passed out slices. I stared at mine for a long time but sighed. Taking my fork, I took a piece of the cake and stabbed into it.

I took it to my mouth, 'Here goes nothing.' I grimaced from eating it, 'Ugh... cough syrup.'

Jay laughed, "You know what? This does taste like Cough syrup! Hahahaha!"

Anthony grimaced, "Ditto, I concede."

Derek groaned, "Ugh! This is some grade E shit!"

Gothita smiled, "I'm happy you boys like it."

I raised a brow, "It's okay..."

Gothita shivered for a moment, "I'll get your bill."

Derek frowned, "Now I just feel bad, we insulted their cooking in front of her."

Anthony frowned, "Well, we're paying for it anyways."

Gothita gave us the bill, "Here you go."

Jay took it, "I got this guys, it's only... 300,000 gold for this shit!? What the fuck!?"

Derek placed a hand on his shoulder, "Bro, we're splitting it, 100,000 each isn't so bad."

Anthony frowned, "300,000 is kind of expensive for crappy food but she was a good waitress."

I watched them all open their menus, then I said, "Should you give her a tip?"

Everyone groaned.

-Afterwards-

I bumped fists with my friends, "Thanks guys. I'm going back to my room to relax."

Jay smiled, "Sounds good. We'll be off to refill our wallets. Also... Anthony is going to increase his cooking level."

Anthony shot up, "I can't cook!"

Jay laughed, "Exactly, that's why you need to learn how to. If you do, think of the amazing food we'll get to have!"

Anthony groaned, "Ugh... okay..." then he grinned, "You have to eat what I make though."

Jay grimaced but steeled himself, "You got a deal."

I watched them walk off before heading back to my inn room on the ninth floor. Just as I opened the menu to grab a teleport crystal, a message appeared. It was from my acquaintance that gathers important intel... for a fee.

I opened the message, "Murloc, word has it that the information pokemon popped up on the tenth floor. No idea where it is though, if you got that berry, might want to ask it questions."

I sent him a message back, "Thanks Havoc."

I checked my inventory and say that I had two of the berries she wanted last time. The question is, where is she? Since I'm in the safe zone, she can't kill me, despite being heavily leveled.

I began my search in the local bars before realizing there's probably a hidden one somewhere. I began checking the alleyways until I spotted an NPC walking alone. He walked into a dead end, so I followed him. He began looking around for something before punching a wall. Similar to the other bar, the bricks moved themselves to create an entrance. I walked towards it, watching silently as the NPC entered the secret passageway.

I said to myself, "I hope this is the right one."

I punched the bricks until I got the right one, and walked down a flight of stairs. I reached the door to the bar and walked inside to see it was exactly the same.

I wondered, 'What kind of bar is this?'

I scanned it, looking for that familiar cloak. I found it, she was sitting alone at the far end of the bar. I walked over to her, taking a seat across from her.

"Hi." I greeted.

She had a cup of beer and drank it, "Hi."

I sat there, wondering what to ask as she gingerly raised her cup. The bar tender came over and filled it up with more beer.

She took a sip of it, "I'm not in the mood for questions. I'm trying to relax."

I noticed her hands are a darker shade of green, "Okay... Well... can I ask what they serve here or do I need to give him a berry?"

Silvia started giggling, "You're never going to let that go, will you?"

I smiled at her, "Please insert one berry to continue."

She drank all her beer, keeping her face hidden, "You're so cute."

She tossed the cup at me, making it hit my forehead, "Ouch, thank you for your time... please... come again."

Silvia giggled, "I'll warn you since I like you. Don't get involved with me, you won't like what you find."

I raised a brow, "Why not?"

Silvia smiled, running a finger along her cup before raising it for a refill, "Players don't understand how close they are to meeting adult wild pokemon."

I thought about it before frowning, "Why is that bad?"

Silvia pulled off her hood, revealing a form I've never seen before, "Not all of us are sane." she giggled.

She looked a lot more demonic than what I've seen of a Gardevoir. Her smirk revealed a sharp fang with what looked like an F under her eyes. Under her left eye, the F is normal but under the right eye, it's flipped to face the opposite direction. As I looked at it more, it almost looked like demon wings. Around her neck is a tattoo of a string with a cross right above her cleavage. Her green dress is a darker shade, tank top instead, with a deep low cut to expose her breasts a bit. The skin between her short sleeve and elbow is pure white on both arms with a black tattoo resembling rose thorn vines. She has C cup breasts and they looked perfectly curved. Around her neck is a black leather spiked collar.

Silvia giggled, "I'm not normal."

I flinched, noticing her eyes are a darker scarlet red, "Wow..."

Silvia smiled, "You like this look?"

I blushed, "It's okay... why the breasts?"

Silvia giggled, "Gardevoir are human like, the only reason we never had them before is to keep the game for kids."

I looked around, "That makes sense."

Silvia drank her beer, "You want a drink?"

I frowned, "I can't drink alcohol."

Silvia smiled, "They have Cheri berry juice."

I smiled at that, "Then I'll have that."

Silvia ordered it for me, "So, did anything interesting today?"

I nodded, "Today is my birthday. I turn 14 and celebrated it with my friends."

She smiled a bit, "Oooh, birthday boy."

I blushed, "Don't say it like that, it's embarrassing."

Silvia grinned, "You're a pretty shy guy."

I giggled, "I'm pretty sure this isn't a Mario game."

Silvia looked confused, "What's Mario?"

I blushed, "Sorry, it's a character from another game."

Silvia got up and took a seat right next to me, "Tell me about it."

I thought about it before saying, "It's a game about a guy who can jump high and eat power ups. He goes on adventures to save a princess from a monster."

Silvia tilted her head, staring at my eyes, "That sounds boring, spending time with me would be a lot more fun." Silvia winked at me.

A small screen popped up, "Warning, attract has been attempt by enemy pokemon NPC."

The second my eyes shifted back to Silvia, she had a firm grip on my wrist, "Let go!"

Silvia did, laughing, "That was priceless!"

I panted, calming down as a red crystal appeared over her but it shifted to green immediately, "W-what?"

I could see her level, it was 79, "Since I like you, I'll give you a little advice, be weary of attract, it can make you go crazy." she winked.

I blushed a bit, "Okay."

She gently rubbed my arm for a moment, "Do you like it here?"

I shook my head no, "I miss my parents and brother..."

Silvia held my hand and smiled, "You'll see them again."

I decided to change subjects, "So, how do you travel between levels?"

Silvia giggled, "I'll tell you since you're really cute~ I can teleport to floors 1-25."

I tilted my head, "You can?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Other Gardevoirs can but most can't since they're typical wild pokemon."

I finally noticed her holding my hand and pulled it back, "Where do you live?"

Silvia bit her lip, "Hmmmmm... I really shouldn't tell you... but... hm... Okay. We live in a special forest. That should be vague enough."

I was intrigued, "A special forest?"

Silvia placed a hand on my shoulder, "Don't go there. Just trust me, nothing will end well if you do. We don't treat trespassers well and I won't be merciful either."

I frowned, "Is it because you have to?"

Silvia winked, "No, it's because I'll want to."

I raised a brow, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

Silvia pet my head roughly, "You're a little Ralts."

I blushed hard, smacking her hand away, "I am not!"

Silvia giggled, "You're a Kirlia then."

I pouted, "Whatever."

Silvia poked my cheek, "You are such a cutey." she pinched my cheek.

I blushed a bright red, "Ow! Stop it!"

Silvia was enjoying herself too much, "Aw, you're so flustered."

I blushed more, "You're embarrassing me!"

Silvia grinned, "Sorry kid."

I pouted, "My name is Rui..."

Silvia chuckled, "Okay, Rui."

I looked away, "Don't you need to leave now or something?"

Silvia smiled, "Not while I'm interested in something."

I asked, "What are you interested in?"

Silvia pulled up a menu much to my surprise, "I'm doing a special favor."

I looked at her menu, "NPC's have menus?"

Silvia glanced at me, "Only the special ones."

I asked her, "What's the favor?"

Silvia frowned, "I can't tell you that, sorry."

I smiled, "It's okay. Why answer all these questions?"

Silvia smirked, "Why else? I like you, you're not like the other players. You feel... right. I can't really explain it but I can trust you."

I smiled at her, "Thank you. For an NPC you're pretty cool."

Silvia smiled back, "Just because I am doesn't mean I'm not real. Our conversation was anything but programmed."

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Silvia held my hand again, "Plus, I can sense your loneliness."

I looked away, "I'm not that lonely."

Silvia caressed my cheek, "It's okay to be lonely." she smiled, "We all get lonely."

I blushed, nodding, "Okay."

Silvia smiled kindly, patting my cheek a bit before getting up, "I must go. I hope to see you again cutey."

With a wink, she got up and left the bar. I watched her leave, wondering if she really is an NPC or not...

I held my head, "I need a drink."

The bartender gave me more Cheri berry. I looked at it, smiling before gulping it down. Silvia's pretty cool.

( Also, we need 4 more individual reviews guys and I'll upload the next chapter. Side note, I made a tumblr account and have posted up my drawing of Silvia, Rui, Jason and Dark on it. It might be cool to see.)

(I write this ahead of time just in case you guys did 9 reviews on the newest chapter. If you see this... SHIT. I'm eating my own words. Thanks. )