The apocalypse is a side.., p.12
The Apocalypse is a Side Quest: Book One, page 12
What the hell is Reflex?
“What kind of things did you stream?” Nathan said.
“Lots of stuff. Variety is really important to succeed on the platform, you know? But my bread and butter was gaming. I used to dump, like, thousands of hours into MMORPGs.”
Nathan furrowed his eyebrows. “MMORPGs? Like Neverquest?”
Chad paused.
“Dude, Neverquest was twenty years ago. Where have you been?” Chad asked.
Nathan winced. “Ah, well, I don’t play a lot of these types of games.”
“Bruh. I guess I’ll have to teach you the methods of a pro gamer like myself.”
“…Why?”
“Because this is literally a video game!” He faced Nathan and leaned in. “It’s just like World of Warriors!”
Nathan tilted backward. “O-oh. Is that so?”
“Yes! The class system, the way skills are upgraded, it’s all just like the game!” Chad paused. “Well, except for the fact that if I died in WoW, I’d just get hit with a penalty. Here, I’m pretty sure that I’d just, y’know… uh, die. Permanently.”
“That seems like a big difference.”
“A MINOR TECHNICALITY!” Chad said. “Pull up your stats! Lemme take a look.”
“We can share stats?” Nathan said.
“Sure. It’s not private, now come on, let me see—”
Nathan searched around for an escape. A flash of blue caught his attention.
“Oh, hey, the water,” Nathan said. “I think I’d better go do the class quest stuff now.”
“All right. But you’ve got to let me see your stats later.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Nathan stepped into the cool water. It washed against his legs and chilled his skin.
His lost arm ached.
I wonder if I count as fully human anymore. Wouldn’t I just be, like, 75%? Although, come to think of it, the legs weigh a lot more.
He glanced at his arm stub before turning away. With any luck, he’d be able to call Tidal Shield forward.
Let the weight of the flow test your resolve, and hold steady within it.
The words echoed against Nathan’s ears. He held firm and shut his eyes.
“How many games have you played, anyway?” Chad said. “You’ve played a few things based on how optimized your build is.”
Nathan’s left eye twitched.
“I’ve played a few games,” Nathan said.
“Like?” Chad swung his sword, cutting through the air. “Played any Dark Spirits?”
Nathan tried to concentrate on the flow of the water. “Oh, uh—”
“You got crushed at the first boss, didn’t you?” Chad said. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Nathan’s lips pursed. “I died seventeen times in the tutorial and then returned the game.”
Chad’s jaw dropped and his katana froze in midair.
“Bro, what?” He waved his katana around. “I know it’s hard, but that’s… that’s game journalist levels of play!”
Nathan groaned and looked up at the sky. The water continued to run against his calves.
“I just don’t play those types of games. I prefer farming sims and stuff,” he said.
Chad held up his hands. “Whatever, man. It just kind of shocked me. You slayed earlier, so I just thought that you’d be…”
“What?”
“Cooler.”
His missing arm throbbed.
75%.
The number bounced around in his head. Nathan took a deep breath.
“I think I’m plenty cool,” Nathan said.
“I don’t know, man.” Chad tilted his head. “By the way, what was your class before Ocean Warden? I was wondering how that progression tree worked—I mean, I’m assuming that Ocean Warden is at least bronze.”
“It’s bronze,” Nathan said. “And my class before—”
Do I really want to tell this guy that I picked the fisher class?
…whatever. Why not?
“I had the fisher class,” Nathan said.
Chad snickered before covering it up with his hand.
Nathan frowned. “What is it?”
“So during your tutorial, you were, what, fishing?”
“Yes.”
Chad laughed again. Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“Sorry, it’s just…” Chad motioned at him. “I mean, come on.”
“I don’t get it.”
Chad rubbed his nose. Well, based on everything I’ve heard, I just really expected you to have some badass backstory. But it turns out you were just chilling, fishing your whole tutorial.”
Nathan’s eyes widened. Hot blood shot through his veins, and goosebumps ran down his back.
How dare he?
Nathan had lost his arm in that tutorial. He’d nearly died over and over. He’d been alone in hostile conditions for two weeks.
He turned sharply and stepped out of the river.
As soon as he did so, an explosion of water sprayed out to Nathan’s left and right. The water torrented through the undergrowth, ripping through the grass with a loud roar.
Nathan stopped.
That was not a shield.
Chad jumped back, his katana ready. “Holy balls! I didn’t mean it like that, no need to get violent!”
Nathan looked at the paths of destruction he’d created.
Did I do that?
Before he could think about it any further, something caught his attention.
Smoke in the distance. Chad followed his gaze and squinted his eyes.
“What the hell…?” Chad said.
“I don’t know, but we’d better check it out.”
The two rushed through the forest. A squirrel skittered away from their footsteps. Nathan jumped over a vine and ducked under a low-hanging branch.
Chad slammed directly through both objects. “Ouch—shit!”
A few moments later, Nathan felt a presence to his side, followed by the sharp cocking of a shotgun. He looked to his left.
“Mara?” he said.
She jumped over a log and did a three-sixty spin in midair before falling perfectly back onto the ground.
“You saw the smoke too, right?” she said. “There’s got to be something interesting going on over there!”
Nathan nodded. Behind them, Chad tripped and rolled into a ball.
“Goddammit, fine, maybe I should’ve put a few more points into Dexterity!” Chad said.
Nathan didn’t slow down.
A woman with a staff in a green cloak was surrounded by raptors. The ground around her was littered with the seared corpses of other raptors. A fireball appeared over her staff and launched out. With a whizzing noise, it hit, blowing a raptor away.
One of the other raptors jumped forward at the woman. She moved her staff to block, but she was too slow.
Nathan ran forward, reaching into his inventory. He pulled out his harpoon.
Do I trust my aim that much—oh, I already threw it.
The harpoon shot through the air and went through the raptor, killing it instantly.
The figure stared at Nathan, red eyes peeking out from below the hood. The sides of the hood seemed to poke out slightly.
Wait, why does she have red eyes?
A loud crack like thunder echoed out. Mara cocked her shotgun and fired again. A raptor dropped dead, and she grinned widely.
“Finally, some action!” she said.
She ran forward and shot another round. Nathan pulled out his fishing rod. He cast his hook out.
It flew through the air and smashed into a raptor with a loud thud.
The raptor fell to the ground and didn’t move.
Another one rushed toward Nathan. He moved and started to punch with his other hand—
Oh. I don’t have another hand. It’s gone.
The raptor bit into Nathan’s arm stub. He grunted in discomfort—it wasn’t strong enough to do any real damage.
He let go of his fishing rod and punched the raptor.
His fist went directly through the raptor’s chest. It let go of his shoulder and dropped to the ground.
The bite wound was okay. It would sting, but he’d had worse.
Nathan and Mara systematically exterminated all of them. By the end of it, not a single one had been left alive.
Chad ran in, his breath heaving. “Okay, I made it through the forest, let’s get ready to rumble—!”
“We’re done,” Nathan said.
Chad stared at a raptor corpse. Mara shot it for good measure.
“Oh,” Chad said.
Nathan’s sight wandered over to the red-eyed person. The person blinked, eyes wide as they stared at him, head tilted.
“Who’s this?” Chad said.
“They were fighting off the raptors earlier with fire magic,” Nathan said. “That’s where the smoke came from.”
The person stiffened.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t even thank you,” the voice said. It was feminine and sweet, like wind chimes in the breeze. Her form was lithe and smooth, carved out of marble.
The person took off their hood, revealing a young woman with white hair and red eyes.
That alone was surprising, but the thing that caught Nathan’s attention was her ears.
They were long and pointed at the tip.
Before Nathan could think on this, she bowed her head and lifted the edges of her cloak in a curtsy.
“Greetings,” she said. “I am Eminia Laplanta, princess and heir to the Elven Realms.”
She raised her head and winked. “But you can call me Emi!”
Chapter Nineteen
Nathan blinked.
An… elf?
Emi’s white hair was cut short, just above her shoulders. Her form was petite, red eyes staring at Nathan, reminding Nathan vaguely of a puppy. It didn’t help that she kept bouncing off her heels.
“Holy shit, hot elf princesses are a thing,” Chad said.
Nathan turned and glared at Chad. “Dude”
Mara’s eyes were on Emi’s hair. She had a look of idle curiosity on her face. “Weird.”
Emi stepped closer to Nathan, leaning in. Nathan tilted his body back.
What is she doing?
“You’re not elves. But you’re not orcs either. What are you?” Emi said.
“We’re human. And can you please step back?” Nathan said.
Emi hurried away from Nathan. She rubbed the back of her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve just never seen creatures like you before.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “But you’ve heard of my kind. You knew what we were.”
“There are stories about pointy-eared humanoids in our myths,” Chad said. “I think it’s just a funny coincidence. But how are you speaking English…?”
“Ah, the System must be translating everything!” Emi said. “The old legends mentioned something about that.”
“The old legends?” Chad said.
“From our first time through the Nine Circles.”
Nathan’s brain fritzed.
First time?
Before anyone else could say anything, Mara spoke up. “Do the old legends mention anything about guns?”
“Guns?” Emi tilted her head. “Do you mean that odd magic crossbow you have?”
Mara’s jaw dropped.
“Y-you don’t know what a gun is—?!”
Chad held up a hand. “Your species went through the Nine Circles and survived?”
Emi nodded slowly. “It was thousands of years ago. Some of our people believed that it was nothing more than a myth. But, uh… they don’t believe that anymore.”
“Okay, we’re getting off-topic,” Nathan said. “Can we redo the introductions? I think we’re going all over the place.”
“Yes, of course! As I said, my name is Eminia Laplanta. I am the last of my lineage and heir to my people.”
“Why are you the last?” Mara said. “Don’t you have any brothers or sisters?”
Nathan winced as the atmosphere took a nose dive.
Emi looked at the ground. “I’d rather not talk about that,” she said.
Chad clapped his hands together. “Right, let’s move to a different topic. So, you’re an elf?”
“Indeed!” She brightened. “I am unsure where to start telling you about myself. Ah—I was born third in line for rulership. I live in a castle with lots of servants. I used to, anyway. I spent my days preparing for an official position in the court and practicing magic.” She awkwardly laughed. “And then the apocalypse happened, and now I’m here.”
“W-wait, magic?” Nathan said.
“Yes, magic. Why would you ask—” She gasped. “You cannot, can you?”
Nathan slowly nodded. “That’s… not something we have, yeah.”
Emi sighed. “What a shame. Magic is such a wonderful thing.” She perked up. “But if the legends are true, you should be capable of magic now.”
Are skills a type of magic? I’ll need to ask her that later.
“How did you end up surrounded by a bunch of raptors?” Nathan said.
“Raptors?” Emi hummed. “That’s what they’re called? Yes, well, I just escaped from the tutorial. My escort did not come with me, evidently. I was taken off guard by those animals—which is why I’m very grateful for the assistance you gave me.”
Nathan was about to respond when she gasped dramatically.
“Heavens! I don’t even have your names! Please, let me know who saved me so I can thank you all appropriately.”
Chad crossed his arms and threw his head back. “The name’s Chad Mann. Not to brag, but I can bench 200. My DMs are open—you interested?”
She squinted her eyes.
“Were you invisible?” she said.
Chad froze. “Pardon me, honeybuns?”
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t see you during the battle. Do you have some sort of invisibility spell? Can you teach me?”
Chad melted into the ground. “Never mind me, guys. I’ve just been killed. It’s over.”
Nathan ignored Chad.
Mara stuffed her revolver into her inventory. “I’m Mara! And if you ever want to learn how to fire a pistol, I’m your gal. Hell, I’ll even give you a gun right now—”
“Erm, let’s not give a pistol to the elf girl who’s never even seen one before,” Nathan said.
Emi smiled. “A pleasure to meet you, Mara. I’m unsure about these guns you tell me of, but I’d love to learn when we have more time.” Her attention turned to Nathan. She didn’t say anything and looked over him from top to bottom.
“You rescued me earlier,” she said.
Huh, she’s looking at me really intently.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry about the harpoon throw. It was kind of risky, I know,” Nathan said.
“No, don’t be sorry. You saved me from grievous injury.” She looked at his arm. “May I ask how you lost your…?”
Nathan’s lips narrowed into a thin line. “A monster.”
“I see.” Her tone was noticeably calmer than earlier in the conversation. “I’m sorry. I wish that things were different. You don’t deserve this.”
Nathan reared back as if struck.
Too sincere!
“Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate that.”
“I still don’t know your name.”
“I’m Nathan. Nathan Lee.”
Her staff dropped out of her hands.
“THE Nathan Lee?”
“Yes?”
She reached forward and grabbed his hand.
Excuse me, what the f—
“So not only was I rescued by a hero, this hero just so happens to be the strongest person in the apocalypse!” she said. “It’s just like a storybook!”
Chad, having recovered from Emi’s emotional attack, stared at Nathan.
“You lucky bastard…” he said.
Emi dropped his hand and clasped her fingers together in a pleading gesture. “May I travel with you? As you can see, I’m quite defenseless. I promise I’ll be of aid—I can teach you to harness your newfound magic. And I will, of course, assist you in finding a Pandora!”
Chad ducked behind Emi and hurriedly put his hands into a time-out gesture while shaking his head quickly.
I think he doesn’t want her on the team.
Nathan turned back to Emi. “Can we have a second to discuss it?”
“Of course.” She curtsied again. “I will wait here for your group to come to a decision.
The three walked over to the edge of the primeval forest and gathered into a huddle.
“So, we can’t let her join us,” Chad said.
Nathan tilted his head. He sounded so confident.
“Why?” he said.
“Don’t you remember the article in the help page?” Chad said. “It mentioned competing with other races. I’m, like, 90% sure that only one race is getting out of here. The rest are going to be killed or something.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Nathan said.
“We don’t. I bet the cute elf girl thinks it means one race is getting out. Even if she doesn’t believe it now, what about the third or fourth circle? We shouldn’t risk it.”
Nathan looked over at Mara. She shrugged.
“I like her. After all, she wants to learn about using a gun. Someone like that can’t be a bad person.”
Nathan turned and stared at Mara before shaking his head.
“She mentioned finding the Pandora,” Nathan said.
“And how is she going to do that?” Chad said. “Like, there’s got to be a plan or something before I can believe her. And like I said, I just don’t see how we can trust her.”
Nathan pursed his lips. Chad made a pretty compelling point. Even if everyone could walk away from the Nine Circles, the text in the article had been so ambiguous that people would inevitably resort to violence.
Barely 3% into this mess, and everyone’s gonna be planning how to backstab each other.
“I think we should tell her our concerns,” Nathan said. “Give her a chance to defend herself.”
Mara snickered. “She already knows, silly.”
“How could she possibly know that?” Chad said.
Mara gestured at her ears. Chad’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape.
“Yeah, that makes sense… and I’m surprised you’re the one who pointed it out,” Chad said. “She’ll probably deny it, though.”
