NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13: Bugger
"Disgusting bugger! What in the world are you doing? This is a VR room, not a bloody toilet! Are you an imbecile?!"
"Gosh, blimey, it reeks like a sewer in here! What a mess! You've irreparably damaged priceless pieces of equipment. You are hereby prohibited from ever setting foot in this place! Now, get out!"
The person prepared to make the walk of shame, head bowed, poised to stand and leave...
"I've got the hosepipe!" one of the Raven Arena employees shouted triumphantly as they doused the filthy guy with a forceful stream of water. In an instant, the room was filled with crackling sounds and sparks flying, causing the VR equipment to go haywire.
The other employee's voice cut through the chaos, laden with frustration: "Are you daft as well? What possessed you to spray water all over the delicate electrical equipment? Do you have no sense whatsoever?"
Feeling foolish, the employee mumbled, "Sorry, I'm new to the job."
(•ω•)
The voices I heard belonged to the employees of the Raven Arena, their volume overpowering any semblance of reality within the virtual world. It dawned on me that I was still trapped in the immersive confines of VR, shaken out of it only by these intrusive voices.
I regained my focus and noticed that the sea witch was chewing on something tough. It must have been one of my limbs. The water pressure was so immense that I couldn't feel any sensation in my body at all, just a heavy tightness. I looked down and turned my palm around, giving myself a quick dose of relief. So, both my arms were intact!
Despite my reluctance to move my feet, fearing it would draw attention to me, I cautiously twitched my toes to reassure myself that they were still intact. Now, what was the sea witch consuming? I hoped it wasn't any of my organs, like my heart or liver. If it had been, I would have been dead and disconnected from this VR simulation.
I raised my eyes and saw her chewing on something blue-green, like a ball. So it wasn't a body part after all.
The witch contorted her face as though she were chewing on a wasp. Gradually, she clenched her teeth together, and her expression shifted to one resembling the rapid removal of burning plaster.
It was hard to tell whether she was enjoying or suffering from what she was eating. I felt the pressure of the water when, out of nowhere, the massive tail of a sea creature swung and struck the back of the witch's head. As her head bounced forward and contorted, she spat the ball-like object into the open water.
A sudden realisation dawnedon me: that blue-green ball she had been chewing on turned out to be the opal gemstone I had received from the old woman. Now that I knew that it had been successfully imported from real life into this virtual world, I realised that I had never taken the opal out of my pocket, so I was unsure if it would be transported with me.
But why was this witch eating it? The other charm that the old woman dropped smelled repulsive. I remembered the opal gemstone being sticky like candy. I recalled trying to lick the opal charm not long ago.
What the heck had come over me? There was something about it that drew you in, enticing you to bring it close to your mouth. An undeniable devilish quality surrounded it, indeed.
As I stood there, the deafening roar of the sea serpent reverberated through the air. I watched intently as it desperately tried to retrieve the opal gemstone lodged under some piles of rocks on the water's surface. This giant creature pushed the rocks away with ease using its powerful head, but each attempt to grasp the charm with its mouth sent the stones tumbling down again, and it got no closer to obtaining it.
The serpent was relentless. I didn't know if it was the same serpent as before; all massive serpents looked alike to me.
The serpent showed no interest in the witch whatsoever; its sole obsession was with the charm. As the witch lifted herself up, her long black claws raked down the scales of the serpent, causing it to writhe in heavy pain. The serpent gasped out a distressed squeal, followed by a roar of agony.
Today, I deeply regretted some incredibly poor decisions I'd made. Despite having tried this Hyper Aqua location water walking activity multiple times before, it was the first instance where I encountered consecutive attacks from two creatures. Normally, I skillfully avoided any disturbances in the water by deftly altering my trajectory and steering away from any danger.
This charm seemed to be more of a curse! The attacks I was experiencing were all because of this stupid thing! This so-called 'good luck' charm had become a magnet for trouble, drawing all this nonsense to attack me.
I was going to have some strong words with that old woman if she was still lingering outside.
What could I do? The water pressure was too harsh; there was absolutely no way I could get on top of the water again to start running. There was no way I could fight these two deadly sea creatures. I could barely lift my arms in this water.
Neither the serpent nor the witch had managed to get the charm that was under the pile of rocks yet. They were just desperately biting and scratching each other to death, accompanied by some really unpleasant squealing, roars, and cries of agony from both of them. Why couldn't they just split it in half and share it? All this fighting over some sticky green ball was akin to watching two children fight over a new Sailor Moon doll during a shared birthday party, but with blood, biting, and violence involved.
The witch's actions stirred the serpent into a state of agitation, prompting it to thrash its massive tail without restraint. As a result, I found myself being forcefully propelled through the water, carried along by its incredible velocity.
Surprisingly, this didn't hurt me much; it left me somewhat winded, leading to a slow, descending landing on the water's surface. At least now I had quite the distance between me and the two fighting water monstrosities.
I looked up towards the sea's surface and spotted a large white platform. It seemed like I might be able to pull myself out of the water there. That was the endpoint! It was only about 200 feet away! I couldn't get on top of the water again, but could I just drag myself to the end by walking beneath the water? I would receive a penalty for not doing it properly, but at least I would finish and get something. And my eBunnee viewers would be happy to see me succeed in some way. I couldn't let them, or Eliza, down. I felt completely motionless as the strong water pressure surrounded me, revealing only rocks and water weeds in the lake. There was no sign of fish or any other aquatic life. I wondered what these huge creatures subsisted on. Of course, being a digital simulation, they didn't need to eat anything.
Despite this, it remained surreal to witness a water environment devoid of any life except for these weeds.
Slowly, slowly, I was getting closer to the end of the water area, with the water pressure decreasing. I tried to scream in relief, but I ended up with a mouthful of water. Why did I think that was a good idea?
I wasn't choking. Strangely, it felt like a gentle rush of slightly cold air. I purposely swallowed more and more gulps of water while submerged. It didn't feel like anything was really happening.
I contemplated how long it would take me to swallow all this water, and I couldn't help but wonder how long I'd be spending on the toilet, trying to pee it all out. Considering that people were watching me, I refrained from doing anything foolish.
I eventually approached the white platform and figured out how to pull myself up using the grooves in the wall just below it. I didn't know how they got there, but I was just glad they were present.
Finally, I had finished! What an experience that was. I believed I put on an entertaining enough performance for the eBunnee viewers. I was excited to see their reactions. I opened up some of the menus by twitching my wrist. They flashed in my face!
Total time: 40 minutes and 32 seconds. I saw that my Speed had increased by 50, my Footwork by 60, and my Evasion by 40. Not bad! Surprisingly, no penalties were imposed, likely because I managed to finish the task within a good time, despite encountering a few challenges along the way.
I didn't usually like looking at the stream chats, but here goes:
SHOCKERLIPS: girl in the middle looks adorable wit bunny ears!!
Azureot: NOOOOOO!! THE GIRL IN WITH BLUE MUCH BETTER!
SHOCKERLIPS: that is the one talking bout
Azureot: that not blue, that is seaweed green
Happyface: I like all I see!
Cloutgal336x: how dare you compare her top to seaweed! have some resepct!
Headinclouds: shut up shut up shut up
Blobby4life: is the lama man won yet?
Duckies: you mean did he win?
Blobby4life: yes I have a bet on him
Shockerflips2: I hope you not much
Blobby4life: why so?
FoxxyVix: he so dreamy!
Were they even my viewers? Had any of them even watched me? They were followers of mine, yet they got distracted so easily. I wasn't reading any more of this. I had my stats boosted, so that was all that mattered.
Eliza was the only person in the world I really wanted to impress.
The phrase "Llama Man" kept flashing in my mind. Llama Man? What in the world? Were they referring to the topless guy who fought the yellow llamas? "Negative Gravity"? Even I could remember his name, and they couldn't!?
Since it was just a couple of clicks away, I might as well see what he was doing. He couldn't have gained much of a stat increase by fighting creatures that could barely fight back.
I opened the video stream. What caught my eye was a bizarre sight—a dozen fluffy yellow llamas standing atop a lifeless body, with the word 'Fatality' displayed on the screen. The llamas were sniffing his body on the floor, trying to decide if this dude was playing or just taking a nap. Some of their tongues were hanging out, and they had perplexed looks on their faces. One of the llamas was licking his feet repeatedly, trying to wake him up. I hoped the llama washed its mouth afterward. Death by fluffy yellow llamas—who would have thought?
Wait, how could you die in this world? Once your health diminished to nothing, you got disconnected from VR, and your digital self was removed from The Mask world. Why was his body still here if he lost all his health? After much head-scratching, I finally figured out why: he rage-quit! He raged out of frustration. Most likely, he was losing the fight to llamas. He got mad and disconnected his VR glasses prematurely, leaving his digital self stuck in The Mask world.
Okay, now my day had gotten fifty times better. I really hoped to run into the guy again after I disconnected the VR glasses. I was sure he wouldn't be so braggadocious now. I prayed he hadn't left already.