Chapter 2- Serendipity Inn (2)
A fair maiden with white silver hair sat on the relatively clean grass, expression solemn, bearing serious, posture still as if she was thinking of a world class problem that can aleviate poverty and save millions of lives
"My clothes got stained"
(Author note: "oh")¹
She worriedly stood up, she glanced around no longer finding the bloody red scene amusing
She sighed in pity looking at the cuff on her white pajamas with the glaring red stain
'I just bought this'
Lamenting her wasted money she started walking in a random direction planning to find a change of clothes
After walking for a while she saw-
Nothing but trees
"..."
'This is strange'
She furrowed her brows, her fingers thoughtfully propping up her chin
Her expression was deceptively of merciful concern, giving off a very budha-like atmosphere
Truly, looks are deceiving
She walked towards one of the trees, her white defined fingers slowly traced along the bark before halting on a peeling potrusion
With one swift motion she peeled it back revealing writings on the smooth surface of the tree now free of it's protective skin
- John ❤ Sara
She paused for a bit before touching the red heart, her hand immediately got stained with the substance used to paint it
Fresh human blood
She frowned
'Fresh?'
'That's not possible'
She stepped back from the tree trying to get a better view of the sorroundings
The sun was setting in the west and the trees was arranged in a way that even if the sun was high in the sky not a shred of light would come through
'Familiar formation'
Yew trees that symbolize death, Ash trees that symbolises the cycle of life, Cypress trees that symbolises eternal life, and lastly Bodhi trees that smbolize rebirth
The crowns of theses trees touched and intertwined with one another
It made the forest look exceptionally dark even in daytime
But...
She looked towards the tree she just peeled, she then checked her watch
2:58 pm
She considered whether to just stand or sit while waiting, she looked down on the slightly damp dead leaves on the ground, completely covering the green grass and resolutely convinced herself that standing for an appropriate length of time would prevent the muscles in her legs from shrinking thereby protecting herself from leg related injuries or illnesses from occuring in the future
Standing without doing anything would obviously be monotonous
To keep herself occupied she grabbed a lone strand of her hair, she keenly noticed that it was shorter than the other 3 strands beside it, after checking multiple times that it was indeed shorter by a few inches, she plucked it cleanly from her scalp before storing it in her player inventory
Every inch of her body was precious and even pieces of stray hair should be kept properly for safe-keeping
After checking her hair piece by piece she didn't find anymore hair that was out of place or wasn't flawless
Blame her for being too perfect, she could no longer convince herself that she was a normal person that had flaws
Oh, woe is me, what a tragedy
She was just different from these petty mortals thereby making her feel lonely and isolated unable to be understood
She was just too faultless, if she had flaws she would have been able to sympathize and fit in with those creatures that are nothing but anthropomorphic potatoes
It would have been fitting if she had a mirror on hand, she had broken the one she always carried with her
She wanted to admire her beautiful sorrowful expeession, one look and people would be brought to tears, a single frown can cause your heart to clench with heartache, a subtle gesture would have you kneeling by her feet
Yes she was just that devastatingly beautiful, her beauty alone could collapse nations and destroy countries
So beautiful her single smile could win her the guiness world record for the most beautiful smile to ever exist
So beautiful even if aliens descended the earth, her beauty could transcend racial boundaries and dazzle them to the point they'll forget who their mothers are
Perfect, too perfect
Her beauty is just out of this dimension
After shamelessly praising herself and being the very epitome of narcissism, she found herself with nothing else to do
She sighed and looked towards the peeled tree, doing nothing
She had picked a blank spot in the forest formation, ensuring that she would be safe even if things blow out of proportions
It was a matter of conserving energy and avoiding unnecessary risk
So she choose not to walk around and obediently stayed in place waiting for that moment to happen
Not even a few minutes of standing, that sense of boredom overcame her entire being
She glanced at the dead leaves between her fair toes blankly
Looked at from afar she looked desolate and lonely, her shoulders slightly drooping like a loved one left behind, hopelessly waiting for some impossible reunion
Her blank look from utter boredom misinterpreted coveniently into melancholy and sorrow, with that heart wrenching pining for the unattainable
Coupled with the dark and dreary atmosphere, her lone figure clad in pure white looked like a spotless innocuous flower, swaying with dejection amidst a haunted dark and eerie battlfield
Looking very much like the last immaculate paradise in this god forsaken world
This was what greeted Clyde upon getting lost in the dark forest
***
"He didn't say what exactly, only said it's a token of love"
After speaking his turn, Clyde returned to his silence observing his teammeates discuss amongst themselves
He chose not to intervene, the people he was with in this round could only be described with one sentence 'a mismatch of caracals and dogs'
Absolutely dysfunctional
That man with a scar may look like he was holding down his temper to cooperate being mindful of the bigger picture but that clenched hands and the discreetly hidden annoyance showed otherwise
That timid woman named Laura may look weak and cowardly but she's actually worse, that sly and cunning look in her eyes showed that she isn't the best person to be trusted
That man with glasses looked steady and knowledgeable but his hidden gestures said a lot about his current state of mind, being unable to make eye contact, his body leaning as far away from others, his arms crossed on his stomach betraying just how much he feels so unsafe and insecure in this environment, he isn't as calm as he makes it out to be
And that woman leading the conversation, she's probably the only one that isn't witholding anything, from her demeanor this shouldn't be her first dungeon run but she lacks that distrust and skepticism commonly found in people that had gone through multiple dungeons
She must have been lucky with her past companions being reliable and trustworthy, or she could have been sheltered by a veteran player and was guided through her previous dungeons
Simply put, she's serious and hardworking but naive and trusting
None of his teammates in this run was reliable
Only that John was somewhat decent but... That man's probably already dead
"From your recounts, I met John before breakfast, Mark met him during breakfast but after promising to look for clues together John found his token missing and almost had a mental breakdown, he then went back to his room to look for the token again but somehow he took an afternoon nap, after waking up he met Laura who had blood leaking out and reminded her, Clyde then saw him after dinner in the garden searching for his token, correct?"
The woman looked towards them for confirmation
The group showed gestures of agreement
"Is determining John's whereabouts yesterday conducive to looking for clues to clear this dungeon?"
Mark suddenly spoke up, wanting to confirm that they weren't just wasting time
"Looking for clues is important but John should be the priority now, we have to look for him and make sure he isn't in danger"
"Glen are you fucking serious right now? It's been three days and we haven't gotten a single damn clue on how to clear this dungeon yet you're saying we should find some person who may have already betrayed us?"
Chris couldn't help but interject, already impatient showing no concern over anyone other than himself and his own preservation
But Clyde couldn't blame him, one's own survival and safety was the most important for people that run through dungeons
Why bother with people who you randomly got assigned with? Not like you'd see them again in the next dungeon, their task may even contradict yours causing you to fail and bear the heavy penalty
Glen clenched her fist
"We shouldn't be thinking of the worst of our companions, the best thing we can do is team up, look for clues for the main task, clear our individual task without risking the lives of our teammate and get out of this dungeon together alive"
Chris almost gagged in disgust when he heard such lofty sentiments, he couldn't believe someone like this still existed among players
From the dungeons he experienced, which didn't have backstabbing, scheming, perfidy and spontaneous 'sacrifice'? Each and every single one was full of blood and deceit
Save everyone? Save who? Those treacherous bastards that's just waiting for a chance to push you off the cliff to save their own skin?
Bullshit
Tasks that weren't contradictory towards others were rare, how could all of them survive? Dying inside dungeons weren't real deaths but the mental and physical damage it causes would leave the majority of the players crippled, living a life worse than meeting satan and crossing the river of the afterlife
Not to mention the penalty for failing assigned task although not as severe, could be just as traumatizing
The room plunged in silence
Laura who earlier suggested setting aside personal conflicts to find John didn't say anything choosing instead to keep quiet
Mark also silently voiced his stance, by stepping back
Chris wasn't at all polite in expressing his position, he directly scoffed in derision while looking at Glen in contempt
They had just cooperated when they were asked about John but when it actually came to finding him they all clamped their mouth shut
It seemed they only answered obediently to avoid being seen as suspicious or be suspected to be the one responsible for John's dissapearance
Seeing this reaction Glen's heart dropped, she discreetly looked towards the blue panel hanging in her vision
[INDIVIDUAL TASK: HAVE 2 OR MORE PEOPLE FOLLOW YOUR LEAD AND ENSURE THEIR SAFETY TILL THE END OF THE DUNGEON RUN 0/2]
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Footnotes
¹- the author sometimes finds that my characters are just dissapointing