Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

3. Stuck

It was a miracle that I got Freya to agree with this whole thing. Of course, she got mad at me at first for agreeing without consulting her. I understand that I'm being too impulsive, but I think I need an escape from this world. And the bonus is that I'm with Dylan!

I almost giggled, but I remembered that we were on a call with Dylan. We promised to dive together after I agreed on this. He would have thought that I was creepy if he saw me laughing on my own. I mean, he was the one who made me smile, but it's not like he knows that. I don't want to make him uncomfortable by acting like a crazy b***h!

Anyway, I have been setting the equipment up with Freya after getting home. She's pretty knowledgeable in these aspects, so I just relied on her. Of course, she was grumbling when I made her do it, but she was actually focused on it. In fact, she was actually immersed in it!

I laughed at her earlier for acting like that, so I got a smack in my head. Gladly, Dylan didn't see it. It's not really embarrassing, but I don't want him to see that! Maybe I'm just overly conscious at this point, but yeah.

"Alright, that does it," Freya said and handed the gear to me.

Aside from helping Freya, I've also been reading the blurb of the game's story. So we're basically entering a game of were-animals. There's a festival and all of the participants need to earn the favor of the three kings of Artemia for a price. But the players need to beat all the floors of the tower called Khrysheira in order to reach them. That's a pretty simple instruction, but I don't think it's a walk in the park.

"Ah, right. Ivory, are you going to use 'Yuki' as your username again?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I'll just settle for Dy."

I looked at Freya. "And you?"

"Freya."

It's necessary to know each other's usernames because our appearances might change based on our avatar. It'd be difficult to find each other in the lobby if it turns out like that. Maybe I should just use my name instead? Everyone else seems to be doing that, after all. Ah, whatever. I'm just going to settle with whatever I'm using.

Anyway, I chose Yuki as my username because Freya told me that that word means snow. I've always loved playing in the snow with my parents, so I used it as a username in every game that I've played. Anyway, we decided to play the game after chatting for a while. I still have a bit of a reservation about this...but we have agreed already!

After putting the gear on, I pressed the power button, which caused a sudden illusion of getting warped into a different dimension. I had to close my eyes because I was getting dizzy. When I landed on an empty space, wearing absolutely nothing. Oh, gosh. No one's looking, right...?

Anyway, I saw a bunch of options near the small circle I was standing in. The ones available for me are a black panther, a white tiger, and a bunny. Hmm, I've always found white tigers pretty, so I chose it. Suddenly, my hair turned white, tiger ears grew at the top of my head, a tail grew on my back, and clothes started to appear. It was like a crop top hoodie that was made with white tiger's fur. A black miniskirt came along with a pair of black boots. There were two katanas on my back and a few daggers on my skirt's belt, so I guess my character uses melee weapons. I also typed Yuki on the username option.

Options suddenly appeared in front of me and, for a second, I thought twice about this whole thing. Why the f**k are there a bunch of options anyway?! Just turning the power of the gear on was a difficult decision already, now I have to press stuff again? And the options involve starting and exiting the game on top of it all! Ah, s**t. Me and my indecisiveness! I really want to do it, but...

>START GAME

>CHANGE USERNAME

>CHANGE AVATAR

>EXIT

I licked my lips as I pointed my finger at the 'start game' option, trying to convince myself to go ahead and start the damned game. But I felt like something bad would happen if I did it, so I remained there, staring at the options. Come on! I bet Freya and Dylan are already in the lobby. I can't keep them waiting forever!

"Ah, whatever..." I murmured as I touched the 'start game' option.

The warping illusion came again and it made me dizzy, so I closed my eyes. I heaved a sigh as I opened my eyes when I felt like it was over. There were too many people in the lobby so I had to search for Freya's and Dylan's usernames. It's a surprise to find out that a lot of people are actually willing to throw a few months of their life away for a game. Oh, well. Who am I to judge after starting the game?

Then I suddenly bumped into someone. "I'm sorry..." I murmured and was about to leave, but that person held my shoulders. "Uh, excuse me."

"Ivory?" a familiar voice called my name.

My brows furrowed so I looked over to see who the hell that was. Oh, f**k. Of all people, I had to meet Blake here?! Why is he even here?! And how did he find me?? I quickly removed his hand on my shoulder and ran to the direction where Freya and Dylan were. He ran after me, so I kept running away from him.

"Wait!"

"Leave me alone!"

I finally saw Dylan and Blake, so I hid behind them to stop Blake. The two were surprised by my sudden appearance, so they couldn't react immediately. But I really don't want to be teased by Blake right now. When I looked at his face, I saw how he was just giving me an indifferent look.

Eh...?

Oh, come on! I just didn't want him to tease me, so I ran away from him. It wasn't my intention to offend him or anything. But I guess I should apologize to him for what I did. No matter where I looked at it, that was rude of me. Maybe he was just going to ask me a question, yet I went ahead and ran without thinking about it.

"Hey," Dylan greeted him.

Blake nodded and glanced at me. "Can I join you guys? It seems like it'll be difficult to go solo. That's if it's okay with Ivory..."

The other two looked at me, waiting for my answer. Huh?! I looked at the two of them, then at Blake, but he really seemed cold, unlike before. Oh, no. The whole situation suffocated me because of how awkward it was, so I nodded. I saw Freya pursing her lips, trying not to laugh. She laughed instead of helping me out! The audacity!

"I...don't mind," I answered as I held Freya's hand, feeling a bit scared for my life.

"I think we should go to the plaza to get a map, then test our skills out," Blake suggested.

We agreed and followed him to the plaza from behind. Huh, he's really knowledgeable about this game. Could he be one of the beta testers? If so, that would be an incredible advantage for us. Or maybe just Freya and Dylan because it doesn't seem like he would want to talk to me. I shouldn't have made him mad...

I sighed and linked my arm to Freya's to make sure that I wouldn't suddenly get lost. I have a bad sense of direction, so I would likely get lost if I was alone, something I would like to avoid no matter what. The only thing I can do now is hope that we won't have to split up on quests or commissions. I would probably die if I were on my own.

"Here," Blake said, and gave the map to me.

I blinked twice as I took the map. "I...have no sense of direction."

Freya cleared her throat and took the map from me. "I'll handle it."

That was when it hit me. I'm no pro gamer and they would have to carry me all throughout the game. What if I hold them back? They would probably drop me, right? I mean, we can't get out unless we clear the game, so it's pretty much impossible to clear it with a burden like me. No, no. I have to get stronger no matter what it takes. I can't drag this team down...

"Come on, we need to start farming," Dylan said and smiled at me.

Ah, I guess he's right. We're already here, so regretting s**t won't do us any good. If there's something we need to do, that is to keep leveling up and advancing floors. It seems like I've taken a DPS type of character along with Dylan and Blake, so Freya needs to do all the supporting. But the way I am now, I can't be a proper damage dealer.

"Check your abilities first," Blake told us as he took a step back after leading us to a place that was full of animals that appeared to be boars.

We did what he said and opened the main menu window. I checked the option that has the picture of a human's body because it indicates my build and my appearance. It also showed the abilities that I currently have, which are the abilities to create and control ice at will, double-wielding of weapons, and super strength! But I still need to level up to acquire the super strength ability.

"Whoa, that's pretty good..." Freya murmured as she looked at mine.

Dylan and Blake also checked mine and were impressed. Blake looked at me, so I looked back. When I look at his face, I remember how I ran away from him. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm starting to feel embarrassed! He must have thought that I was dumb after I ran. Oh, gosh!

Instead of thinking about that, I decided to pay attention to my abilities instead. I knew that all of these are pretty good, but I'm worried that my teammates won't be able to see my character's full potential because I'm quite dumb about this. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea about how to use my abilities. I wonder if I'd ever be able to use these without failing. I'm starting to lose confidence, but I have to learn how to use them properly!

"These mobs are pretty easy because they're basically just animals. You can gain a couple of XPs from them, so you three should try to attack all of them at once. All you have to do is focus and try to bring out the power within you or your weapon."

I closed my eyes and did what he said, trying way too hard to gather power on my swords. For some reason, Dylan and I attacked together and killed half of the herd. Freya also used elemental particles to kill some of the boars. My mouth went agape when I saw ice and a pool of blood on the ground. That's too realistic...

But I'm impressed with myself! I never expected that I'd be able to kill a single one of the boars, but I was actually able to get a couple of them! A small smile escaped from my lips, proud of myself. Freya gave me a pat on the head because of my little achievement. Dylan and Blake probably find me ridiculous for being happy over something like that, but I couldn't help it!

But that's not all! I suddenly leveled up a little, so it made me feel a lot happier. Yeah, I guess that's enough to console me after being bothered by the way Blake acted around me. Perhaps I got way too used to him being annoying. But now that he's indifferent...he scares me.

"Bravo. I didn't expect you three to be this good," Blake said coldly. I pursed my lips, annoyed because it seemed like he was mocking us. "Alright. I guess it's time to farm a little more until we're ready to take quests and commissions."

Freya nodded and took her map out. "According to the map, there's a cave where a few mobs are residing. It's where low-leveled players often start because the monsters respawn within a matter of hours," Freya said as she hovered her fingers across the map.

I guess there's information about every place in this game on the map. That's good because I bet we'll be stuck around here if it doesn't. I pursed my lips as I tried to peek at the map to see what the monsters were, but it seemed to be bats and a few more animals. Although I'm not going to let my guard down around them. Who knows, they could be strong enough to knock me over! But I sure hope that they're not.

"Shall we head there now?" Dylan asked.

Blake nodded. "There's nothing much to do around here anyway."

"Why?"

"This place is for the starters to test their skills. There are no mobs here or something that would help us level up because of that."

"You were a beta tester, right?" Freya asked bluntly.

Ah, finally. I was itching to know so I stared at Blake, waiting for an answer. Our eyes met but he immediately tore his eyes off me, something I wasn't used to. Huh, I guess he won't be that mischievous anymore. Or maybe he hates me now. He used to be able to hold staring contests with me like a pro.

"Yeah, I am," he answered shortly before starting to walk in the direction towards the cave.

Oh, I guess it's not much of a big deal to him. I thought he was hiding that fact because he wasn't bragging about it. Now, I'm having doubts whether it's really him. The Blake that I know would have flaunted that he was a beta tester to everyone. Anyway, we followed him to the cave and got ready to fight because it is said that there are also monsters outside the cave.

But just as we started walking, images of three people suddenly appeared in the sky. One was that of a human that looked like an eagle, the other looked like a lion, and the last was an orca. They looked just like us, but there was something weird about them. The three of them gave off an eerie vibe. It's like they're telling people that they're superior. Huh...

"Good day, dear players. Welcome to Artemia, a place where you will be living from now on. Why? Because you're stuck here forever..."