DIE TRYING [A Roguelite Extraction LitRPG]

The health bar went from six percent down to zero in one crushing hit.

"UNREGISTERED SLAVE ELIMINATED."

The blood spilled in the room started to dissolve into ash, floating off. Wade almost didn't notice. He was too shellshocked to process anything.

"ESCAPE ATTEMPTS RESOLVED. ALL HUMANS RETURN TO WORK IMMEDIATELY."

The golem turned and lumbered back to the center of the street, slowly taking it's older spot once more.

Wade stayed in that dark room for some time, straining to hear anything other than his breathing. Leon's last play had worked. The golem thought it had handled all threats. Wildlife trimmed. Slaves cowed. Nothing left for it to do other than return to the centerpoint and wait for a cleanup crew of some kind it had requested.

Leon was gone. Just like that. He had no idea if Illy and Selena had made it, or where they were hiding out.

The other side of the street was a warzone now. Building after building smashed down, the golem clearly not caring what it ran through, so long as it didn't slow it's pace down too much.

He didn't see any signs of the pair on the other side, but they'd be hiding out like he would. He stayed by the window for a good thirty minutes, watching the other side for any sign of the duo.

Nothing. And he didn't dare open that doorway just to see the dead body that would be in the alleyway.

His phone eventually buzzed, and broke his focus. Other than a crack on the screen from when he'd tumbled down on the ground, it worked just fine. On it was a message.

wowowow, it's like everything happens the moment I'm busy (ﾟДﾟ)

Wade's jaw clenched. "Where the hell have you been?"

Lemme send a pic

"What?"

An image appeared next. A white gaming computer, filled with glowing neon pink on the coolers, RAM sticks and motherboard.

Wade stared at it, unable to really understand.

Ta-da! Remember that amazon package I was talking about? New GPU and CPU came in! Monster Hunter dropped a new game but trying to run that on my old setup would've set off smoke alarms lololol

"Leon is DEAD. He's fucking DEAD."

So what?

"I'm going to FUCKING STRANG-" He stopped, took a deep breath and tried to not shout so loud the golem would make Leon's last stand pointless.

Calm down Michael, don't be so dramatic. People die all the time, it's what mortals do lol

He nearly tossed the phone into the wall, but some deep part in him clawed his hand back. He couldn't afford to replace that thing. Instead, Wade's head went into overdrive. Looking for any solution.

It's what mortals do.

Then his head narrowed in on that. Death. Mortals. Gods. Maybe he was reaching for the first sign of a turnaround, but Wade latched onto that train of logic harder than anything else. This was a fantasy world with gods and fucking skeletons running around. They even had a paladin who specialized in binding souls. Souls. "Play, is there an afterlife in this world? What happens to Leon's soul?"

He's in the same place everyone else that died down here is in. Nowhere to go, nothing to do.

Wade blinked. "The fuck does that mean? Nowhere to go?"

I mean nobody's coming to drag his soul anywhere so nothing happens. He'll just be a wandering soul.

"What?"

Death hasn't done his job in ages now, doubt he'll show up here of all places for his grand return lmao

"What do you mean Death hasn't done his job for a while now??"

idk, nobody's seen that lazy god for a long while now. You're on your own if you die, so try not to die
Boredom really is a fate worse than death imo (；￣Д￣)

The grim reaper has gone missing in this world. Hah. Of course. This world is so fucked. But Wade was okay with that, because it meant Leon was still here. "Then what happens after? He just walks around forever?"

Yeh. At least until something in the spirit realm eats him or he's enslaved by a necromancer, or the current wash away his identity. (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

"Shit," Wade's head booted back up, the option of saving Leon burning bright. "How long do I have before.. any of that happens?"

For the current? Eh, could be hours, could be years. Depends on if there's water in this region. Some parts of the spirit realm are bone dry land you know.

"I don't fucking know, that's why I'm asking." Wade hissed. "And the.. eating his soul thing??"

Quit getting your panties in a twist. There's probably nothing hunting in the area here.

"Probably?!"

Skeletons only rise if there's a soul left around to puppeteer them. Mana seeps into bones over years until there's enough to drag that sucker back into it. By that point they're completely insane and lost all memories ofc, but none of that happens if the soul ended up eaten.

"So, he's not in danger in the spirit realm thing?"

Do you have problems reading english? That's exactly what I just said. (ー.ー)

"Could I bring him back?"

Yeh. Necromancy builds could be fun to try out~

Wade closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. The casual tone felt like sandpaper against his raw nerves, but the information cut through his grief. Leon might not be gone forever. This wasn't Earth. Leon's not gone. He's just a soul now.

"Wait, can.. can he hear me? Is he in this room with me now?"

Tell you what, you go looking for that silver lootbox, and I'll tell you more about him after you do. Deal? (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

"Fuck you Play." Wade hissed, "You better be serious about this."

When am I not serious about loot and XP??

Wade put the phone down, took a few deep breaths and started half chuckling, half sobbing. He could do it. Leon was alive, maybe not in a body, but as a soul. Selena could probably help him, or he'd find some other way.

He took one more breath, then snapped his eyes back open and got to work.

Gear wise, he had Illy's pack, filled with some bandages, a half-drained water flask, and some random junk that might come in use later. A lot of throwing rocks were stuffed in there, ammunition to use. He had his lootbox compass, and daggers. Fourteen daggers in total because Leon had unhooked his and left them behind here. Goddamn him.

He got up, and gathered them all up into his pack, fitting whatever he could.

You little magpie lol

"If you're asking why I'm putting priority on staying alive, I'd say you need to check your head."

The alleyway where Leon died was in front, but Wade couldn't investigate. It was too close to the golem, there might be line of sight. And... he just did not want to see or think about the gore.

That golem had to die. He'd need to come back here at some point in order to save Leon, so that meant being strong enough to take out the golem. He took a breath, and stole out the window.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Carefully moving himself through the empty alleyways, Wade snuck through the empty city until he caught sight of the golem from a safer vantage point. It remained in the center street, standing over the remains of the skeletons and broken rubble. Waiting for something to clean it all up.

That thing would be a problem, but Wade had other plans for now.

The other side of the city remained dark, empty, and lifeless. Wade knew that wasn't the truth. Further into the gloom, there were monsters moving around there. Illy and Selena must have managed to escape, the elf paladin could move fast with those wings. He wasn't sure if they were going to make an attempt at the sewer, or if they'd try to cross the road and meet up with him. There hadn't been any sounds on the other end, but when something did happen, he was going to make sure he was as prepared as he could be.

And that meant getting that lootbox and whatever upgrade or power it would give him. More tools, the more prepared he'd be. He took out the compass that had been the cause of all his problems, and started to follow the arrow.

Time to find that lootbox.

Slowly, he hiked closer and closer to where the lootbox was hiding in. The arrow became more and more reactive to movements.

Minutes later, he'd found it. A cube-house up ahead past one more alleyway. Problem was that the golem would have a line of sight through this way. He'd been staying in the shadows for the past two minutes debating the safest path forward.

You're so booooooring, just run for it already OTL

"Get bent," Wade muttered, inching along the wall.

Wowowow what a charmer, buy a lady dinner first (ง ื▿ ื)ว

He shoved the phone back in his pocket. The collar of mithril disks clinked softly against his collarbone as he moved, making all too much noise to his sense. They were just real close to his ears, Wade had to remind himself each time he got nervous. Nothing would hear them from too far. As for the alleyway ahead of him… the buildings did curve slightly, it was narrow and the golem would need to be directly in position. Last he saw, it was in front of a house, so not the alleyway.

He could try to go further, but on the other end of the alleyway was just a stone wall. Cavern wall. This side of the city had no gloom or continuation. His options were limited.

He should be safe. Wade took a breath, and darted across the gap between buildings, pressing himself against the cool stone. The phone buzzed in his pants lightly. Probably Play saying nothing of value again, and just trying to piss him off because he wasn't entertaining the god. He still took it out anyhow just in case it was of use.

Want me to play the mission impossible theme song for you?

It was not of use.

"You're welcome to come down here yourself anytime you want Play."

No way, that's what you're for.

"Well fuck you too."

Language (ಡ‸ಡ)

He rolled his eyes, "What do you think is in a lootbox? Any idea what I should expect? Is it going to be another character pull like Selena?"

I didn't even know lootboxes were in this game till you met the half-elf, The System's getting creative and taking ideas from more video games looks like. I'm dying to know what it would put in next tbh (((o(°▽°)o)))

He looked over at his compass, the needle swung sharply right almost violently pointing at the structure. This must be it then. Either bottom floor or the top one. He turned the compass vertical and confirmed it wasn't on the upper level.

He carefully checked for any red health bars behind the walls next, taking his time.

The golem's like three streets away, come onnnnn (¯ . ¯٥)

"And the moment I make an ounce of noise, it'll be zero streets away. Fuck off Play." Wade found the typical broken window all these units have, thanking his low luck that at least it was equally broken down. "I'd rather not become another paste stain just because you're bored."

Wade crouched by the window, squinting through the darkness. "Identify." The familiar text appeared over everything in sight. He swept his gaze across the walls, watching names pop up over mundane objects.

Concrete Wall.
Broken Window.
Nathir Slave Doorway.
Silver Lootbox Chest.

There. It's in here. He couldn't see it from this angle, but it was in the living room.

No red health bars either. No movement. Just the endless parade of labels marking everyday items. He still felt paranoid. Alone out here without Illy or Selena to cover his back. He'd taken their presence for granted and the lack of it was like a crushing weight.

He tried again from different angles, making absolutely sure nothing was hiding in the corners. The last thing he needed was another spider surprise. After three more careful scans, Wade finally allowed himself to relax slightly.

Told you it was fiiiinnneee you big baby ￣ー￣

His fingers found the bottom handle of the housing unit. A short tug told him it was equally unlocked like the others had been on this side of the road. With practiced care he lifted the metal up and let it slide into the ceiling track. Enhanced strength had made the entire process feel as light as a feather.

The familiar yellow crystal flickered to life above, illuminating the cramped living space. "Well. Not very subtle, is it."

There, sitting innocently in the middle of the empty living room, was a chest that looked like it had been pulled straight from a fantasy game. It was oddly big, half his size, the lid coming up to his chest. Though he supposed if the system was trying to follow video game logic and rules, those things would look comically oversized. Silver metal gleamed under the crystal light, its surface etched with intricate patterns that shifted when he wasn't looking directly at them. Even glowed a little.

No dust anywhere on it, while the entire building here was filled with dust.

The compass needle in his hand pointed straight at it, vibrating intensely. Not that he needed the reminder. Still, he expected something to get in the way.

"Identify."

Silver Lootbox Chest

"Play, if I open this chest, will there be a wave of enemies spawning around me or something? Will it give off some warning?"

idk, but I'd keep those daggers and rocks with you just in case lol

"You don't say." He did just that, keeping one heavy rock in his throwing arm, ready to use on whatever bullshit this world would throw at him.

Illy would have told him if she had to fight things on her chest, but she hadn't mentioned it. Still, he had a gut feeling something was going to go wrong. But the room was empty, and there wasn't anything nearby with health bars. The golem was three entire blocks away.

A tap with his foot did nothing to the chest. He could tell the entire thing was real heavy, since it remained squat to the ground. So he knelt down and unfastened the clasps, grabbed the lid and opened it up. There was a glow of light from the inside, leaking out the small crack.

The lid continued to open on it's own, almost violently fast now. Wade's eyes adjusted to the inner light just in time to see what was inside.

Teeth. Several hundred. Neatly arranged in two rows.

Moving right for his neck.