A/N (20231022): Thanks for the encouragement every update, Crow!

Thanks for the reviews, Astra! I've read through them and it's definitely interesting to hear you guys' thoughts!

/-/

Great Advisor: Pathalen!

/-A Requiem for a Gamer-/

It didn't take too long for Jaune and Weiss to walk back to the art room, as the closet was in the neighboring hallway.

"Hey Weiss," he started as they walked up to the art room doorway, sticking near the wall to not get caught. He wanted to ask her if she knew more about Blaine that he didn't know. Weiss, who was leading from the front, turned around the corner of the doorway for a momentary glance. "What do you - " He said only to immediately get shut down as Weiss leapt back behind the safety of the wall and shut him up with a hand to his mouth.

He didn't struggle, only confusedly mumbling against her palm. She was quickly swapping between glaring at him and the doorway. For a second, he wanted to impulsively lick her hand, but his good sense stopped him from making a fatal mistake.

Weiss put a finger on her lips to shush him, before releasing her hand that covered his mouth. He watched as she covered her own mouth with her other hand and whispered something into it, so quietly that Jaune could only tell she did so by her body language.

Jaune felt his body, neck-down, freeze up. The menu popped up in front of Weiss.

"You saw that?" Weiss said out loud. It was a bit muffled by her hand, but understandable as long as she tilted her head away from her palm.

"...That's pretty smart." He said, impressed.

"Hmph, I'm always intelligent and sophisticated."

"Except that first time we met, when you were underneath the table - "

Her eyes twitched. "I said, 'you saw that'?"

Jaune shook his head. He was a step behind her, after all.

"It was Eve." She looked like she would have crossed her arms if she could. "She was placing bombs into the art room boxes."

"What?" He blinked a few times. "Are you sure?"

"Unless it was toys, I'm pretty sure they were sticks of dynamite."

"Oh… Oh shit." Jaune summarized with great eloquence. "Did she notice you?"

"I don't think so." She paused. "But she did have an exclamation mark floating over her head, suddenly."

"So she did notice someone coming!" Or she's a quest giver, but the circumstance says something different!

"You think so?" She frowned. "I don't know if we can escape easily. Our shoes aren't that quiet…"

An idea came to Jaune. "Wait… It might be fine. Let me try something."

"What is it?"

"I think we should just close the menu and wait for her alert state to reset." He then closed his menu window that he had just accidentally summoned.

"...What?" She raised an eyebrow. "That is the worst plan I've heard."

"I kind of want to try…"

"And should it not work? If she comes and investigates - which she will, if she's a normal human being - then she'll be closer and we'll have even less time to make our escape." She pointed out.

"Please Weiss?" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

She recoiled in disgust. "Fine, fine, please stop that."

"You're just jealous I'm so cute…"

"Did you just say that?!" She cringed in mortal pain. "I'll let you have this… I beg you, never say that again for the rest of your life."

Jaune chuckled. My master plan succeeded! I'm so devious! "Since I'm born of your imagination, you should blame yourself!"

Weiss closed the menu and the two of them waited by the wall. A few seconds of silence passed.

"...Must have been the wind." They heard Eve say.

Weiss' incredulous eyes met Jaune's victorious ones.

She pinched the rim of her nose, hoping for some god to grant her patience. There would be none to offer such a gift. Taking a breath, she then did something similar to what she did earlier to summon the pause menu again.

"Still, this leaves us with how we should proceed."

Jaune thought for a bit. He didn't have any stealth related skills, nor did Weiss… not that she checked with much effort. If they stayed there, then they would just be testing fate. If they tip toed away, he thought there was still a chance of being heard. However, it wasn't like he was getting any better ideas. "I say we just wing it." He finally said.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "There are things to consider. If we can't stop her from noticing us, then how about we cover up our identities?"

"Right, right… That still seems like a bad outcome, though. Chances are, if we tiptoe quietly enough, we'll make a safe getaway."

Weiss would have put her hands on her hips if she could. "We have as much time as we'd like to have to plan right now, we should use it efficiently."

"Or we could just wing it."

"Why - "

"Plus, my way worked before!" He gave her a grin.

"That means nothing if the reasoning is flawed!"

"Lalala, I can't hear you over the sounds of my way succeeding!"

"What kind of sounds does that even make?!" Weiss sighed, exasperated. "Plus - "

"Pweaseee…"

"Oh my god, stop! Stop!" Weiss did her best to avert her gaze. "My eyes! Fine, have it your way!"

As soon as they restarted the game, they did their best to make their escape. The sound of their feet tapping the polished floor in the empty hallway was quieter than Jaune feared, but louder than he hoped. Weiss followed him as he led the way.

Alright, let's turn around this corner… and let's try my best to go in a random direction… Oh, how about this way?

Only to arrive before the familiar mess of boxes and a shattered door.

Weiss elbowed his side as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

With all the scattered parts, it'll be difficult to not step on anything and keep silent. Therefore, they doubled back to the previous intersection. That's fine, there's two other ways to go.

To his surprise, arriving at the four-way intersection, he suddenly heard noises coming from two of the three hallways. Worse of all, it wasn't the clickety-clacks of a student's indoor shoes and rather the clanging of metal on ceramic.

Doesn't that sound like… armor?

He peered down the remaining hallway. That one was the way they had come, the one that led back to the art room. Uncertain, he met Weiss' gaze, but all he found there was an 'I told you so' written all over her face. Yeah, yeah, I know, but can't you be helpful?!

He reconsidered the other two. Could it be the campus guards that are walking around? I've never seen any, but this is a rich person school. At the end of the hallway, two figures rounded the corner.

Each of them did wear medieval armor without helmets, but also wore masks. Both masks depicted the visage of ominous creatures through stylized crimson markings on bone white backgrounds.

That's definitely not the good guys!

"Hey!" One of them yelled. "Stop there!"

Jaune and Weiss ran the opposite way.

"Shit, our cover's blown!" Jaune yelped as they scampered over the different boxes and wooden shards that they had left in their way before.

"You didn't need to say that out loud, you dunce!"

The sounds of metal boots clanging and yelling behind them told them that their pursuers had grown to four men in total.

"What the hell do we do?!" Jaune yelped. Hearing no answer, he glanced to his side, where Weiss was supposed to be. "Weiss?!"

She panted a number of steps behind him, spent already.

"Where did all that stamina from before go?!"

"...Shut… Shut up… You jock!" She gasped. "Give me… a moment… Small Heal…"

"We're literally being chased!"

A thrown spear thunked into the floor tiles beside Jaune's feet, somehow easily piercing the tile.

"They're attacking children?! Well, I guess these must be the people who blew up the school - "

"Why are you… haaah… Still talking?!" Weiss slapped his back. "Shut up… and run!"

Suddenly, the world froze around them. As usual, Weiss' body stiffened. Jaune did not expect his own foot to be suddenly immobilized, but he caught himself, having just put his foot down. He almost tipped over, but somehow used his head as a counterweight to balance himself. He glanced down in confusion, seeing a spear floating over his foot. Obviously his Aura protected it from piercing through.

But because time is frozen, I can't move the spear even an inch.

Jaune was distracted from his exasperation as Weiss gracefully slid past the game window that popped up and slammed her face on the ground.

"...Weiss?"

"Yes?" She said, face down.

"...Are you fine?"

"Do I look fine?!" She grumbled a few more things before applying a Large Heal on herself.

She sounds fine. Jaune turned his head, trying to look behind him to where Weiss' game window had popped up. He assumed that was the reason the world stopped for them. Another decision choice, it seemed like. Tilting his head further, he could barely see it, though all the words were mirrored as he was looking at the transparent window from the back. "Darn, it's really hard to make out what it says." Just when you thought the design of this game couldn't get worse…

"Oh no, you can't see." Weiss mumbled into the floor.

"It's fine… I have an ability just for this." He grinned, narrowing his eyes. "20/20 vision, go!" Using the power of his natural eye sight, he slowly made out the backwards words. "It seems like it's asking us whether we want to stay and fight, or try to escape. Which one do you want to do?"

"Run."

"...But the loot…"

"We can fight them later, perhaps in an ambush or the like when we are better prepared. Right now, we have little information about both their abilities and their numbers."

Jaune thought for a second. It did seem to make sense for him, as it wasn't clear whether there were more of the masked enemies around the school who were attracted by the ruckus. Not to mention most likely also fighting Eve. "That's a pretty good analysis… coming from the floor goblin."

"I will throttle you."

"I'm imaginary… I don't need to breathe!"

A silence came over them.

"...How are you going to look at the option and use the voice command?" Jaune summarized, realizing the issue. Weiss was face down on the ground, and the game window far behind them. Therefore, she was unable to use her gaze to select the desired decision.

"Why is this even a problem?!" Weiss struggled, but she wasn't able to flip over using the limited amount of muscle control she had. "What if you tried clicking on the menu for me?"

Jaune stared at the back of Weiss' head. "That can't work!"

"And what is your reasoning?"

"...But…" Like… Back when we had split screen co-op in games like Halo, when one person opened the menu it didn't affect the other guy, right? But in this case, the controls aren't limited by a d-pad or joystick… He glanced towards the menu. Not to mention it's literally from behind, too. "Click?" He tried.

The button press feedback occurred.

"I can move!" Weiss said, jumping to her feet as the world came back into motion, and the spear floating over Jaune's foot clattered to the ground. Having used the pause to recuperate, she rushed ahead… only to slam face first into an invisible wall.

Jaune laughed awkwardly as the suspicious armored individuals caught up to them.

"What the…" Weiss held her nose with one hand while inspecting the invisible wall with her other.

"Erm…" Jaune said awkwardly. "I may have chosen the wrong option."

"You absolute dolt!" Weiss took a deep sigh and healed up her nose. She faced the guards too, watching their moves as they unsheathed swords.

Remembering his slow reaction in the forest back in the other game world when Cardin was jumped by the team from his old school, Jaune crouched a little bit, spreading his feet. He readjusted his stance multiple times, unsure at what kind of position he should aim for, while his hand felt aimlessly around his waist for his missing blade.

A window appeared in front of them.

[System]: Magic Requirement (570 278) Failed.

Jaune did a spit take. "This is bullshit!"

Weiss pressed a hand against her temple. "As expected, the magic requirement is a magnitude larger than what I currently have."

"I literally have not even seen a requirement that high yet! This is so unfair!"

Weiss merely looked surprised. "I wonder where I didn't optimize enough… The difference is larger than expected…"

"No, there's no damn way we could get a hundred thousand!" Jaune gritted his teeth. "I was there for all of that, I saw how much you grinded every single of the recycled Candy Crush copies, heard every single piece of gossip there was by hiding around, tried as many responses as you could in order to explore every non-conflicting dialogue tree, and you even collected all 233 collectible 'RWBY' pinecones for the secret achievement!"

"...The RWBY logo hat was not worth the time it took to find the pinecones." Weiss finally agreed.

As the window disappeared, time restarted.

"Stay still," One of the masked knights charged at them with his sword still sheathed, hilt pointing at them. "And I'll take you out quickly."

Jaune blocked the hilt strike with his arms, grunting, having stepped forward to meet him. He skidded back a bit from the impact. I need to figure out how to fully stop momentum. The man looked at him with surprise.

[System]: Alternate Gamer insists on pursuing Event.

[System]: Override?

[Yes][No]

Weiss stared at the screen that popped up in front of Jaune. "An… override?

"Heh." He looked proud of himself. "Yup, I told you I had experience, right? I've also played a game, but it's usually completely different - a completely different story and game system, but… Oddly similar characters. And, it seems like part of the privilege of having experienced it is being able to import my stats and abilities… Not to mention the ability to import entire game systems and override with how my game worked."

"So you admit it." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "You admit you know a whole lot more than you're letting on."

"...It's just that knowing the truth might not be good for you." She finally wore him down enough for him to tell her a bit more. "Not to mention how it's quite difficult to believe. Can I…" He looked away. "Can I think about telling you after this whole thing is over?"

Weiss would have crossed her arms if she could move. "...Fine." It wasn't like she could force him. "But before you activate the override, tell me more about what it does."

Jaune turned to her. A bit difficult, as she was almost directly behind him. "...You want me to repeat what I said?" He paused. "...Just in case, cause that white hair - "

"What kind of game did you play before?" Weiss specified with annoyance. "What kind of game system are you bringing in?"

He blinked. "...An RPG? There's a lot more freedom than yours, so all we'll have to do is beat them with our fists and we win. It's nothing complicated, Weiss. Worse comes to worse, we can just reset."

"What about the time I spent collecting pine cones?!"

"You should have spent your time better chasing hot dudes." Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Wow, please don't take it out of context."

Weiss stared at him, unimpressed.

"Plus, it's not like we haven't reached a fail state already."

"That's…"

"Trust in me." He gave her a cheesy grin.

"..." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I can't see your grin, if that's what you are doing."

"I am, and it's a very handsome one." He turned back from creaking his neck. "So… You're fine if I go on?"

"If you insist. It is a game, after all."

"Thanks, Weiss!" He clicked on the 'Yes' button.

Taking advantage of the time stop giving him time to react, Jaune shoved the man back, hoping to thrust him down the hallway and into the other three. However, all he got was a normal human level shove, sending the man only momentarily off balance before he expertly caught himself. Damn it, I don't have my phone! So no music!

"Do not resist."

"As if!" Jaune retorted sharply as he ducked underneath another swipe. "Weiss, you don't have any offensive spells or something?!"

"I could blind everyone."

"That's not helpful!"

The man attacking Jaune swung hilt first once more, but this time it was a feint. His other leg slammed into Jaune's midsection in a precise strike.

"Ow!" Due to Aura though, Jaune immediately recovered lightning fast and took the few hundred milliseconds of an opening to try to hit back. His hand kind of just… wacked the man a little bit over the face. Or maybe slap, with the same amount of strength as one would use to awkwardly clap at a golf competition. All it really accomplished was budging the mask.

In the next moment, Jaune was on the ground, the man having taken his feet from underneath him.

"Shit, stop playing with them." One of the watching masked men growled. "It's just two children, knock them out! We don't have all day."

The masked man Jaune was fighting didn't speak back. Through the eye holes, Jaune could tell that he was starting to take it more seriously as he took a few steps back.

Can you even get knocked out while my Aura's on? Probably not, right? Then, good luck, lol, with how much I have.

This time, the man stomped onto the ground and part of the floor was blasted into the air. In one smooth movement, his other leg then came back around to kick the floating cement and floor tile into Jaune. Jaune, on the hand, thought about how cool it'd be it he could catch it with one hand, and tried doing so. Instead of that, however, the chunk of the floor was cut in half by his hand as his Aura fluctuated.

"Hey! Careful!" Weiss called from behind him as the pieces missed her by slivers.

"Sorry!"

The masked man's eyes narrowed. "So you're an earth magic user, too?"

"No." Jaune smirked. "I'm a floor tile splitting magic user."

Weiss made a sound of disgust.

This time, he charged at the masked man and gave him the strongest punch he could do. To his surprise, the man easily manhandled him and gave several repeated punches to the sternum, dazing him for a second, before finally giving another kick and sending him skidding back to Weiss' feet. "...I need to learn to fight."

"Didn't you say you played a roleplaying game?!" Weiss put her hands on her waist. "Didn't you put any points in fighting?"

"Urgh, it's not that easy…" He got back up. The momentary pain had already passed, letting him feel good as new.

"How are you still standing?" The masked man said incredulously. "You are a stubborn one, I'll admit."

This is barely any punishment! You try being smacked around by ten feet tall bears made from muscles and darkness, then you talk about durability! I'd be honestly surprised if I lost even 1% of my Aura from your weak hits!

Jaune cracked his neck. Still, I don't like this battle of attrition we're doing. Is there any way I can do more damage? His mind went over his abilities. Oh, right, the classic.

He charged towards the man again. As expected, the masked man got ready to fight back, but with a whispered 'Sprint' Jaune body slammed into the guy with a huge bang. They both fell, tumbling.

"Take that!" Jaune got to his feet. "Want another dose of pain?!" I believe I have one more charge of Sprint. I'm not sure about the cooldown, but it's at least longer than five seconds with what happened before. He frowned. "Wait, I'm a Tracer with a Reinhardt health bar?"

A full block of earth slammed into Jaune, sending him skidding once more by Weiss.

"Pay attention!" She scolded him.

"I am! He just surprised me!"

Weiss made a long suffering sigh. Her hands glowed with healing energy. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, no, I'm fine…?"

Someone was choking.

Weiss and Jaune, confused, looked back at the masked man. He had sat up and was struggling with his chest plate. To their surprise, it was severely dented, enough to impede his breathing. Two of the masked men rushed to his side, helping him remove it, while the remaining one watched Jaune with sudden caution.

The masked man that had been fighting Jaune finally got out of his armor and threw the chest plate aside. "Fuck! Fuck, beaten by a child?!" He pushed aside his compatriots and stomped towards Jaune, who also stepped forward to meet him.

The man started chanting and doing some kind of martial arts movement. Each punch and each kick were forcefull, heavy, and strict. In response, giant chunks of earth blasted through the ground, before compacting into three sets of six feet tall disks on each side of Jaune.

"What are you doing?! Stop his casting!" Weiss commanded.

"...But I want to see his super powerful move." As long as I don't concentrate too hard and turn off my Aura, I should be fine.

"Jaune, you dumbass!"

"You dare look down on me?!" The man clapped his hands together and every single one of the disks converged on Jaune. "Then be crushed into dust." He snarled.

The first set of disks slammed together with a thunderous boom. Then, the second. Then, the third.

"...That's a bit overboard." One of the watching masked men summarized.

"Jaune!"

The earth crumbled, revealing a very dusty Jaune. He fell to his knees.

"Jaune!" Weiss rushed over. He was holding his stomach, clearly in pain. She put her hands there and cast a heal. "That's enough bravado, take it seriously!" Her heal didn't catch anything. There was nothing to heal there.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Jaune winced. "No, it's not my stomach…" He rolled over. "It's my funny bone! He hit both of them, the rascal!"

"Eh?" Weiss and the masked man collectively said.

"I'm not holding my stomach, I'm holding my elbows! Oh my goose, it hurts like a bitch! You little shit!"

Twang!

Weiss stumbled back. There was a cut on her arm, and a crossbow bolt was embedded in the floor far behind her.

One of the watching masked men reloaded his weapon. "We've wasted enough time. Kill them."

Weiss stared at the blood in shock.

Jaune's pupils dilated.

He flipped around. His foot slipped on a piece of the floor, but both his hands slammed into the floor to keep his balance, cracking the tiles. The sound of unsheathing swords was the backdrop to his whispered 'Sprint'. In an instant, Jaune had bulldozed through the man who shot Weiss. A shattered crossbow cluttered to the ground at the same time as the man's body hit it. The man didn't get back up, a crack on his mask.

"This isn't part of our game." Jaune told him. An uncharismatic seriousness eased onto his face.

"The plan is to detonate the school in order to further our path to Eden. You think we care about your measly lives?" One of the terrorists said.

Jaune didn't say anything as the two masked men who were beside him attacked him with their blades, one sparkling with lightning and the other engulfed with fire. Jaune did his best to dodge them, but they caught his side with the elementally charged blades without much difficulty.

That's a mistake. Jaune's arms clamped down hard on the blades, trapping them at each side. The lightning crackled and the fire burned, but his Aura mitigated all of the damage and most of the pain. He focused and the blades started to crack.

Reacting quickly, the assailant on his left was able to rip his sword out before the brunt of the Aura strength set in. The one on the right was not as lucky, as Jaune destroyed his weapon. Dammit, I could have broken both if only I wasn't distracted from the pain so much!

"What the fuck! Does he have earth armor underneath his uniform?!" The one on the right called before Jaune kicked him into the wall. However, ice suddenly started forming on his other foot and he was unable to pull it out as his concentration on his Aura flickered from the sudden chill, contrasting especially strongly against the heat of the lightning and flames.

Taking the chance, the masked men regrouped, preparing spells by chanting, while one of them stared down Jaune's foot and looked like he was straining.

Jaune knelt down, trying to break the ice with his fist. He chipped at it, every third or so of his strikes being Aura-empowered. "Shit, shit, shit!" The casting magicians looked pretty serious, and there were several of them. Plus, Jaune had no idea how low on Aura he was right now. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the earth attack head-on!

The floor above Jaune started crumbling away. The pieces, instead of falling, started levitating and gathering into a ball, which then elongated into a huge spike the size of a car. It floated ominously above Jaune.

This was, of course, not to mention the fireballs and the storm clouds also gathering above him.

"Ehhhhhh…" Jaune sweated. "I can take it..."

Small, rapid steps made Jaune look back. It was Weiss, and with all her force, she slammed a small piece of broken wood against the ice on his foot. The wood snapped and the ice was without a single scratch. She tossed the stick aside, then futilely pulled at his sleeve.

"No, really, I'll be fine!"

"E - Even I can tell there's a limit to your fortitude, you idiot!"

"And you don't have the same abilities as I. There's literally no point for you to be here, Weiss!"

She hesitated. For once, she seemed speechless. "I - "

What the hell, go away! You don't have Aura! You're smarter than this!

"But - " She said, with none of her usual eloquence.

Jaune remembered the flash of blood - the bladed projectile that easily cut through her skin - and he remembered her vulnerability. With every second, the elemental attacks floating above him were growing stronger. His brows furrowed in sudden anger and he pushed her back, sending her off balance and onto her behind. "I said stay back!"

His gaze met her hurt, but also unsure and terrified eyes.

His heart thumped in his chest.

This wasn't Game Weiss, experienced huntress, who had seen battles ever since she was a child.

This was the average civilian Weiss, who had perhaps never even thrown a real punch.

Light, you… "This isn't how a bloody dating sim should go!" He yelled at the sky. Then, noticing Weiss hadn't moved, he screamed at her too. "Back away!"

It snapped her out of her stupor and she did so, shaking, as far as she could up to the invisible wall.

What the FUCK, Light?! This is not funny! He shouted in his head. Are you insane?! This isn't anything like what you've done before - His thoughts froze. No, it is. It is exactly what he was doing with Ruby, back during our fight against each other.

"You sadistic fuck." He whispered.

[Admin]: So quick to blame others, Mortal.

Yeah, right, this is all your fault! I didn't do shit that deserved this!

[Admin]: You left the safety of the confines of my design. You brought this onto yourself.

Since when?! I'm still trapped in your stupid game like usual! Not to mention why the hell is that even worthy of a punishment like this?!

[Admin]: I have dealt you no punishment today. This is merely a consequence of your… 'Override'.

What?

[Admin]: I warned you, Mortal. You did not listen, thinking too much of yourself.

You absolute - you - Jaune had never felt like this. His hands shook. The feelings that boiled inside him were enough to turn his dialogue into a mess, which worsened as his fierce eyes met Weiss' teary ones.

Weiss - she is not like this. She is not supposed to be… To be…

He watched the streaks of tears dribble down her flushed cheeks.

This is not how it's supposed to be!

He slammed his fist onto the ground. But rather than cracking it, pain throbbed up his fist.

[Admin]: You are getting overly emotional. Do you want some advice, Mortal? You look like you need it.

Fuck off!

[Admin]: As your kind, and merciful god, I will tell you two things.

[Admin]: Number one. Your agitation is making your Aura flicker.

[Admin]: Number two. You should keep your mind in the fight. They're not so stupid as to keep trying something that doesn't work.

Jaune spun. Three of the masked attackers came back into his vision, showing them still casting. He also spotted Eve coming around the corner, armed with a sheathed katana, most likely finally attracted by the chaos. Her eyes widened at the same time as Jaune's.

The fourth -

A blur on his left.

A man, with a cracked mask had slid past Jaune, his sword drawn.

Jaune's mind went blank.

"Stop, you imbecile!" Eve yelled.

The blade carved a wide arc, glinting in the light of the flames and lightning gathered by his allies.

Weiss screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.

Jaune hated it. He hated it so much.

Weiss!

He lunged.

Jaune wasn't exactly angry. In fact, he wasn't really consciously feeling anything, except a pure and all-encompassing determination. There was a man, and he needed to be stopped at any cost. It was simple. Uncomplicated.

Every muscle strained way beyond its breaking point, yet stayed together as his will overwrote reality. The ice at his feet shattered as his entire body was thrust forward with the power of a freight train.

His Aura shone with the light of his soul.

Stop him.

His fist blasted forward, far bypassing the limits of human capabilities.

Because… This might actually be my fault.

The realization came to him in a moment of incredible clarity.

Breaking rules is great. The sense of freedom and elation is overwhelming, because in truth when you shatter the chains that held you down, you become greater than whomever or whatever proclaimed you be restricted. Your successful defiance of their will meant that you were better than them. More righteous. Stronger.

But… There is a small caveat.

Rules bring predictability. Once you escape their bindings, you also leave behind the security of the known variables. Once you make your own path… Anything can happen.

And as Jaune's fist obliterated the masked man's head into a shower of gore, spilling blood and other matter all over Weiss' horrified face, he wondered if he should have perhaps just waited one second and heard out Weiss and Light before he had made his choices, in order to have made more informed decisions.

The man's sword fell out of his hands, clanging on the floor, as his headless body fell onto Weiss' lap.

Jaune held his bloody fist in the air, frozen in his pose.

[Admin]: As expected. I will put up…

Black rectangles appeared in Jaune's vision where the largest areas of gore were located. It did nothing to hide the reality of the situation as bits and pieces peaked out from behind the censor boxes.

"...You killed him." Eve said. Her voice was hushed and subdued. The three others were just as shocked, but they held their spells aloft.

"I… Killed." Jaune repeated. His voice wavered.

The moment stretched as Weiss shakily opened her eyes, her front splattered with blood. She gazed down. At the gruesome sight, she didn't shriek, she didn't scream. She merely closed her eyes again, and began quietly sobbing.

"How…" One of the masked men stepped forward. "How dare they?!" He screamed. "Kill them!" This snapped the remaining two out of their stupor and they finished casting their spell.

This is not the time to be distracted! Jaune threw the corpse off Weiss and pushed her to the ground, using his body to shield hers. He wasn't sure how much it would help, but he was ready to do anything.

At this distance, his face came only inches from hers. He could smell the gore that was painted over her face, intertwined with a strange hint of mint, and felt every convulsion from her sobs. Slowly, her eyes opened to meet his. He grimaced. Closing his own, he let his head tilt till their foreheads met.

"I'm sorry."

I never realized that even Weiss Schnee could…

"I'm so, so sorry." He repeated.

He felt the torrent of spells behind him approached by the static and heat in the air. Just please stop making Weiss suffer, you shitty…

There was suddenly the sound of air being drawn out. Or, maybe more like a vacuum. Then, nothing except the clacks of shoes on the floor.

Jaune peaked behind him. Blaine stood in the hallway, between them and the masked men, surrounded by swirls of black mist filled with twinkling lights.

The spells… They're gone?!

"What is going on?" Every word from Blaine's question was spoken clearly and deliberately. He was calm. Very calm.

The world froze. A game window appeared within Jaune's body, in front of Weiss. He could tell because it was clipping in his own face.

"M - maybe I - I'm cursed." Weiss sniffled.

"What?" He met her gaze again.

/-A Requiem for a Gamer-/

Weiss had always thought that she was strong.

For most of her life, there were expectations placed on her that few others could bear. Days after days of rigorous studying, with breaks tailored to the minute for maximal efficiency. This didn't apply just for academics, but for all aspects of her life, from socialization to her appearance. She felt like a skyscraper, built piece by piece by expert design in order to reach for the skies.

And so, for most of her life, she knew that great effort resulted in great reward.

It's just like that day.

Her breath was shaky, uneven. Her throat clamped together. The chill on the floor she laid on seeped into her body, making her even colder than she felt.

When I realized… that I was not like a skyscraper, but more like a deck of cards. That all my careful efforts can be shattered like glass.

There was nothing around her, but the coppery scent of blood. The crimson redness splattered all over herself. How it stuck to her skin, like molasses as it started coagulating. The censor boxes did nothing to hide the reality of the situation that was invading her every sense.

She sniffled once more.

When did I get so weak?

"I-I always try m-my best… and t-things start going w-well… but s-something a - always goes wrong." She hiccuped. "I - I don't understand… M-maybe I've had too many good things, s-so it needs to be balanced with the b-bad."

The words poured out of her. She knew she shouldn't do so, that it was selfish in ways to offer such baggage, but the hurt within her had welled up to a breaking point. It wasn't as if Jaune specifically needed to hear them either - anyone would do for now.

She just wanted someone to listen.

He was silent.

If you find that your team always loses, if your projects always end up failing, if the teams you lead find themselves lost, then you should look for the one constant.

Me.

"I-It's me, isn't it? I-I'm a bad person. P-people hate me." She cried.

"I don't." He told her.

She did not meet his gaze. "Y-you say that - but e-everyone says that. That's all t-they say. But once they see the real me…"

Jaune has no idea about how I truly think. How low and disgusting my thoughts sometimes are. He's only saying that because of the moment.

"No, really." He insisted.

"I-I'm difficult… I-I say mean things to you, I-I yelled at you…" You have no idea what I'm thinking.

"I like it when you yell at me." He said.

Weiss stared at him.

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, I mean, I think you have a point sometimes. Just…" He put a hand over his eyes, groaning. "Take two, take two."

"Look, Weiss." He began. "I'll be honest, you are difficult. You also have an attitude problem." As she looked away, he moved her head back by cupping her right cheek in his hand gently. "But I also have seen your efforts. How you never take any moment in your life as if it was granted. How you're so focused on your goals, and how you're so well read and smart, and intelligent. You are perhaps the hardest worker I've ever seen, and that is just," He smiled. "So awesome."

"I…" Weiss hiccuped again. She hated how his words made her feel. She hated how empty, how whimsical they were. Most of all, she hated how despite all that it tended to that wounded part of her, caressing it with kindness that she knew she didn't deserve nor want. Because that would mean that she had to accept… this.

"Weiss, aren't you the person who told me that I shouldn't care about bullets from Cairo or getting hit with a meteorite? Just because - " Jaune closed his eyes for a second, before reopening them. "Just because that 1% still ended up happening does not mean you were wrong."

"Jaune…" She twitched. My own words.

"Plus, this was my fault this time, too. With the 'Override' thing. I will fix this, Weiss. I swear I will. But… I will also admit that I might not have the ability to do so… without you."

They held their gaze with each other. Through her blurry gaze, she saw his eyes, blue like hers, but lighter and clearer, making her think of weightlessness and dreams. For a moment, she wanted to lose herself in them, anything to escape her current pain. Slowly, her sobs, with time, quieted down to nothing.

"...I…" She finally said. Part of her was thankful for his words. However, strangely, she couldn't help but also feel tense. There was a tightness to her jaw. She was wary of whatever this second emotion was, and tried to push it down.

"Yes, Weiss?"

"...I can't believe you like getting yelled at." She said instead.

"Damn it, I told you to forget that!" He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "And I didn't mean that, I just said it wrong! Didn't you listen to the rest of what I said?!"

She laughed. It was weak, it was soft. "...But your words don't change it, do they?"

The confusion showed clearly on his face.

"...The truth." She continued. A weak smile eased onto her face. "That no matter how much effort you put in, the expected reward is as transient as the length of your life. One mistake, one accident, can cost you everything. What…" She closed her eyes, still smiling. "What is this all for? What am I fighting for?"

"Well I don't know about what we fight for, but exactly what you told me still applies, Weiss!" He exclaimed incredulously. He couldn't help it, he was too put off by the odd reversal. "You talked about the bullets from Cairo, about the lightning strikes, about fearing bullshit questions from your teacher on your next exam! The unpredictability of life has never stopped humanity's never ending struggle against the perfect cold indifference of the universe!" He declared pompously.

The tightness came back. "And I'm the one who is saying right now that I'm taking those words back." She turned away from him. What would you know of this? You were convinced by a few words, flimsy and whimsical like dust carried away by the wind. Her facial muscles fought against the anger that was seeping into her.

How dare he think he's better than me?!

"Even though you were right?! Your argument was perfectly logical, it made sense! You're being absolutely ridiculous!" He let his head rest lower, rubbing his tired neck. "Look, Weiss, you're just not in the right mental state at the moment. You've been through a lot, you're tired. You're not thinking straight."

"No." Her eyes stared blankly in the distance. "My thoughts are clearer than they've ever been." I think I would know better than you.

"That's exactly what someone who's not in their right mind would say!" His exasperation saw no end. "You're… You're being so… So…" He looked for the right words.

I suppose I might be a little stubborn, she thought. I can accept -

"...Dumb! You're being dumb!"

You dare call me - ?! "And what would someone like you know about this matter?" She spat. A person who sleeps in class and is always slacking off when I'm watching you. Who knows how you are with your friends, I wouldn't be surprised if you were like a leech!

The scent of blood stayed. It muddied her mind, shook her heart.

"...Someone like me?" He was taken back.

"An English literature major who can't even write better than an elementary student." The bite in her words made him flinch. "What the hell would you know?"

"I… I don't see how that…"

"So you were just an English major." She said snobbily. "The major people take because they've failed at everything else. At the very least take a double major." There was anger in her voice, cutting like blades.

"Weiss… I think you should stop." He said, hushed.

I should stop?! You condescend me with my own words - If she left the conversation there, she felt like she would have… lost. I am not someone who you can easily wrong. Her teeth gritted together, and so, she did not stop. "Why should I listen at all to someone who could only get into university by choosing the worst degree possible, with zero future prospects and horrendous pay?"

"I… think that's Anthropology and Archaeology, to be honest." Albeit his calm retort, his fists were balled up and shaking at the corner of Weiss' eyes. "...Are… Are you seriously calling me an idiot?"

"Yes." She bit at him.

"You're really calling me an idiot." The hurt that passed through his face made her still for a second.

Usually he would have just laughed it off. Some parts of her were even surprised he could be hurt, but on second thought it was obvious. Still, she wasn't willing to back down. Wasn't he even the one that said that she was fine as she was, despite not even seeing a glimpse of the worst of her thoughts? How can he say that she was fine when only she saw the true depth of darkness that laid within herself? The sharp, self-destructive spikes that lay around her heart - He, who thought empty platitudes could work on her? Ha! As if!

However, in that contemplative silence, she already knew she had made a mistake.

"Yes." She said again, but softly.

"I just wanted to help - "

Her entire body tightened. H - Help?! "I don't need your help!" She yelled. I never have! You're the one who needs MINE! "So, fuck off with your ignorant advice, Jaune. I don't care! I - " She tried to move, but she was still frozen in time.

He closed his eyes. For once, she couldn't see his emotions through his face. For once, it was guarded, shielded, unlike she had ever seen before.

I'm not wrong, you are! It was childish, it was stupid. She knew it. Yet she couldn't stop.

His eyes snapped open.

"...Then I'll do it. I'll be the one to do it."

Do what?

Surety built on his face. "I'll beat the odds and kick all their asses." His eyes met Weiss'. "My name is Jaune fucking Arc. I'll win this battle, and then the game. And if an 'idiot' like me can succeed…"

Leaning his head back, he moved far enough that he could see the game window his head had been clipping through and selected a random option. With time unfrozen, he stood up to his full height.

"...Then you can definitely do better."

/-A Requiem for a Gamer-/

A/N (20231022): Please R&R!

Also, 2 chapter parts left after this (Part 6 & 7)! I'll see if I can finish the very last chapter of this arc (and the last chapter of the story before I go on hiatus), but no promises!

Next Chapter: November 5th, 2023.