Another Life In The New World

Repetition

“Welcome to Heroic Stone Legends! I hope that you are having fun playing with your designated characters,” an orc wielding a two-handed axe appeared from above.

“Hey, you are not part of the unlockable characters here as far as I remember,” I pointed at him.

“Yo, chill for a minute. I am not here as a playable character, they sent here me to give you a message,” Orcana said.

“What is it then?” Vampire prompted him.

“You must defeat your enemy using the skills you have. Be careful, you can only spawn as much. Once you lose your base, your actual bodies will die,” he answered.

“That sounds horrible, how do we get out of this place?” Girly held tight on her weapon, fighting the tremors.

“I am sorry but I cannot tell you that. Maybe you can find more about it when you destroy the enemies’ base,” Orcana frowned.

“Wait a minute, can you please tell us what is going on? Why are we here?” I raised my tone.

“That is all that I can tell you. If you win this game, you might discover the answers you seek. Good luck,” he pixeled out of here.

Suddenly, the whole place was back to normal, and we were back at the starting point. It was like the game reset itself along with our skills and levels. All the items we bought were gone. The barrier has surrounded us again, and we could not move our bodies.

“Welcome heroes to the summoning area! You have thirty seconds before the enemies spawn from their base,” the female voice started again.

“Hey, what gives? Where’s all my stuff?” Kun complained.

“We have to win it this time,” I patted his back.

“I don’t want to die. Isn’t there another way out of here?” Girly fretted.

“Try as we might, but if we mess with this place, we might get eaten up by the game. I don’t know about you but I would rather die than swim in an endless loophole,” Vampire commented.

“Quit your yapping and buy your stuff already,” Kun motioned for us to approach the vendor.

As soon as we bought all that we needed, we went to our respective lanes. Just like before, I assisted any lane that had the most trouble. Moments later, the enemy minions have acted. I struck some of them with my sword to earn more gold than from defeating monsters.

Vampire spotted the first enemy and was trying to break through him. It was the witch sorceress from before. As I approached the enemy, they already killed Vampire and claimed the first blood.

It struck him down with one blow to the head. The game was just starting fresh. How could she have become this powerful? I had to keep in mind that we have limited chances to respawn. I left her alone for now.

I killed more monsters and minions as I thought of a tactic on how to get past her. Suddenly, Kun signaled for help but I was too far from him, he will eventually die at this point. Thankfully, the enemy was headed my way. With its health point sliced in half, it was my time to act.

Thankfully, I have gained three levels from farming and activated each of my skills with them. I stunned the Lizardman with my second skill, Athena’s Judgment using the pommel of my sword. Then, I silenced him with my third skill, Hera’s Jealousy.

As I was going for the final blow, three shots of arrows struck my back and I was dead instantly. I found out later that it was the Archer Fiend. He was carrying an arbalest and headed for Girly. Lizardman retreated to base.

Good thing Girly noticed my warning as I alerted them and she intercepted the arrows with her missiles. It stunned the Archer in place upon impact, then Girly delivered the final blow.

“Your team has killed an enemy,” a female voice announced.

My goodness, the respawn time was over a minute. Then Vine Clown slithered his way to our first tower. I hope Girly makes it back to base in time. I bought the same items as before when I respawned. I doubled up the potions with my extra rocks and rushed to defend the bottom tower.

When I got there, it was hanging to the last string of its life. Suddenly, a vine sprang up from my feet and I got pinned in place. Then the Clown used its Scary Face skill on me and inflicted fear. It left me petrified in my spot.

To make matters worse, the vines sapped away my mana. I forced myself to move, but the vines were gripping tightly on me. Vine Clown prepared his special skill, Wild Rose Thorns. It struck me through my chest. Like the tower, my life that was hanging by a thread.

I was dead when he hit the final blow, but thankfully I activated the skill in time. A passive skill instantly revived me with some health points. Good thing my special skill was ready. I stunned him first, then silenced him.

Finally, I activated my special skill Ragnarok’s Calling. Glaciers of ice struck him and he was dead on the spot. I retreated to base and replenished myself.

Vampire was pushing through the middle lane and felled the enemy’s first tower but got struck by the Witch upon reaching the next. Girly defended the top lane successfully and went for the Witch. She blasted her missiles at her, but she swiftly dodged to the side. 

Waiting on the other side was Kun. He weakened her with his bombs, then she became paralyzed. Girly activated her skill, Fireworks Dance and the Witch burned to death. They both rushed through the bottom lane and felled the next tower.

The inner towers were tougher. They blasted more powerful lasers than the other towers, which killed both Kun and Girly upon touching the base.

I continued what Vampire started and attacked the second tower beyond it. I saw Lizardman waiting behind it, so I went around through the bushes. I used my flash ability then stunned him before striking him dead. At the same time, the tower struck back for him. I retreated to base before receiving the blow.

Vampire went to finish what he started. He pushed through the middle lane and felled the second tower. Before he could return, the Vine Clown blocked him. He whipped his vine at him, but Vampire effectively blocked his attacks. He used his special skill, Demon’s Cloak, and concealed himself.

The Archer used his special skill, Celestial Arrows. It went through the bushes until it hit Vampire, killing him instantly. Girly followed the direction of the arrow and punched him in the face. She used her burst ability, then yanked his guts out. She rushed to destroy the inner middle tower.

Kun went to kill the Sea Snake that gave us a great boost in our stats. The enemies went after him and when he reached the bottom lane; he used his special skill, Pisces Pulsar. Two bright lights froze the enemies in place and I rushed to finish them all.

“You have killed an enemy. Double kill! Triple kill! Quadruple kill! KeitaKeith is a Legend!” The female voice continuously exclaimed.

“Your team has destroyed a gemstone crystal. Mecha Minions will soon spawn to your aid,” the voice continued.

“We are going to ace this dump,” Kun sounded triumphant.

“I say we finish this,” I added.

“Wait for me, I am still respawning,” Vampire called out.

“I never knew this character was fun and easy to use,” Girly enthused.

The Mecha Minions came to our aid and disrupted the lasers coming from the Grand Gem Crystal, a big red crystal floating on a stone foothold. These special minions were twice the size of regular ones. Then, the enemies respawned all at the same time.

“Hey Vampire, a little help here please,” I called out to him.

“I am getting close. I bought Apollo’s Boots to speed things up for me,” he replied.

“Boy, aren’t you dashing,” Kun rolled his eyes.

“Shut up,” he retorted.

The Arrow Fiend swept most of our Mecha Minions, the Witch stunned us all with her special skill, Medusa’s Gaze, the Clown stabbed us with its vines and the Lizardman finished us with his sword. The gemstone crystals recovered themselves slowly after our defeat.

“If the crystals recover completely, all will be over. Vampire, you are our only hope,” I reminded him.

“Stall them for us, will you? Wait for us to finish our respawn time before you kill yourself,” Kun added.

“Haha, very funny. I will stall them for you so hurry up, okay?” He retorted.

Vampire effortlessly dodged the attacks of our enemies. Every time the gemstone crystals respawned, he smashes them with his claws. These crystals were the last line of defense of the Grand Gem Crystal.

Our respawn time was doubled to two-and-a-half minutes. I hope that Vampire could hold out until we can get to him.

Vampire was on his last bar of health and was barely holding on. He hid among the bushes to recover some of his health. He put some lanterns on the areas close to the enemies’ base. 

“How much longer do I have to wait? I am dying out here,” Vampire was catching his breath.

“We are almost there. Just survive for a little longer,” Girly replied.

Suddenly, a big arrow shot across the area. Vampire jumped to the side as he was down to a hair of health. The enemies spread evenly through the lanes and they destroyed our outer towers. When they reached the inner tower, they got caught in our trap.

Kun hid his bombs near the inner towers which stunned the enemies in place, Girly set her biting toys in place that inflicted bleeding damage upon them, I cut their heads off and we dashed out towards the enemies’ base. Soon, Vampire joined us along the way.

We let our Mecha Minions lead the way along with the regular ones. We slashed off the enemy minions to hasten our approach. When we got there, more minions rushed to defend the last crystal. The Grand Gem Crystal spat out multicolored lasers in every direction.

I studied the timing of the lasers and approached the crystal slowly. I slid in between the gaps, then slashed it with my sword and my teammates followed suit. Before the enemies could respawn, the crystal exploded and the game was already over.

“VICTORY!” The words covered most of my view after the female voice announced the winners.

The place started to glitch. A lot of square holes appeared around us before the entire place became black again. The announcer’s voice kept on repeating in the background. Suddenly, all was silent. Then something opened from above us.

“ERROR 404: NOT FOUND,” words in bold flashed above us.

“Congratulations! You have beaten the game,” Orcana praised us.

 “Can we go home now?” Kun sounded lethargic.

“Not yet my friend, this is only just the beginning,” he replied.

“What do you mean by that?” Girly asked.

“I meant what I said. Are you ready for the next one?” He sounded firm.

“Hey, that is not what you promised us,” I scowled at him.

“I never promised anything,” he clarified himself. Then he reminded us, “You have to finish the game or else you will die here.”

“Aw man, I just want to get back to sleep,” Kun complained.

“Can’t we rest for a while? My body might give out at any moment,” Vampire added.

“Quit whining and just follow me,” Orcana placed his thick brows together.

We followed him without another word. Kun and Vampire kept on yawning along the way while Girly and I kept a respectable distance with each other. Soon, he led us to an open door. Everything looked the same as before but it doesn’t at the same time.