Level 006

Life and death.

A thin line separating me from the eternal abyss. Looking into a fractured mirror, a thousand futures hanging on this single moment, on this decision. My future dictated by my next actions, my very existence in this fragile thing called life hinging on—

“Come on Remy, it’s just a slime. Literally a level one creature.”

Keith’s voice pulled me out of my internal monologue.

“Aw, I was just psyching myself up!! You’ve ruined my concentration now!”

Jessie sighed dramatically and plopped onto the grassy ground.

“I’mma take a quick nap IRL, let me know when the show is over.”

“Don’t abandon me! What if I need your support?!”

“Rem, it’s a level one slime. Level one. I don’t think it can hurt you.” 

I looked back at my sworn enemy, the very epitome of evil incarnate. A near-unassailable foe that stood before me and all my dreams.

“Mew?”

The slime blinked at me and wobbled like a plate of Jell-O. 

Okay, yeah. It was a slime. The most basic enemy in almost all JRPGs ever made. In CraftQuest, basic slimes reached about knee-height, with two giant eyes, a tiny mouth, and an idle animation that was so cute I almost couldn’t bring myself to defeat the little guy. 

I wasn’t sure slimes technically qualified as enemies, but according to Jessie, they were an early-game source of materials I could use to start levelling up my crafting skills. With any amount of luck (and let’s be honest, I’d need a lot of luck), I could progress from Useless items to…something a little better than literal garbage.

Keith sighed and fixed up his gloves. 

There weren’t many male players in CraftQuest — I mean, the game wasmarketed towards a predominately female audience, especially with its fixation on pastel colours, cute outfits, and mostly harmless enemies. That meant Keith’s default outfit wasn’t exactly what you’d imagine from a male character in an RPG. Forget steel armour and giant broadswords; our friendly six-foot giant had been outfitted in a sky-blue suit and tails. He’d chosen to maintain his real-world hair — tight black curls — and the effect was somewhere between dapper and kawaii. His chosen class abilities allowed him to dish out damage in a martial arts style, and his crafting leaned towards attack and defence buffs.

We’d only been playing for two hours, but Keith was already Level 8, Jessie had managed to hit Level 40 (she had been playing for two years after all), and I was…

Yeah, I was still Level 1.

The slime wobbled again.

“Mew?”

“Alright, squishy devil king, you’re going down!”

I flicked open my menu and selected one of the most basic attack items in the game: Thorny Branch.

The ashen stick materialised in my hand with a flourish of polygons. 

I raised the branch overhead, aiming for the slime. A red line arced between me and the enemy, forming a reticule that wavered in time with my breath. I figured that my Accuracy skill would eventually increase and give me a better chance of hitting the target, but since the slime was so low-levelled, I doubted I would miss the creature.

Wobble wobble.

“Any day now, Rem,” Jessie yawned. “Mom’s making curry, and I’m getting hungry.”

“Don’t rush me!”

I took a deep breath and hurled the Thorny Branch at my dreaded foe.

The slime watched, wide-eyed, as certain doom hurtled towards it—

—and soared right overhead.

The branch shattered into digital non-existence.

“…”

“…”

“…Good job, sis. Totally nailing this.”

“SHUT UP!”

“Mew? MEW!”

The slime, having evaded my ultimate attack by virtue of doing nothing except vibrating like a tub of over-excited jelly, suddenly had a very determined look on its face. I mean, the slime couldn’t really express emotions well, but it sure looked pissed to me.

“Uh… Jes…? I thought you said these things couldn’t hurt me.”

“W-well, I mean, the thing is, most people kill them in a single hit. S-so I guess I’ve never seen them attack players…”

This is just my luck.

“MEW!”

The slime leaped towards me with way more speed than a Level 1 enemy should possess. I shrieked and turned to run, but instead took a direct blow to the head and hit the ground. The VR headset vibrated all around my skull and I moaned in discomfort.

Damage numbers floated before my vision.

“…Well… we know slimes can hurt now…”

“Seriously?! How did you manage to get your ass handed to you by a slime?!”

Keith strode over to the slime and gave it a solid kick.

“MEWWWWWwwww.....”

The slime hurtled through the sky and shattered overhead, earning Keith a small pool of EXP for his valiant efforts. I gave him a thumbs-up from my prone position on the ground.

“That’s my trusty companion. Always coming through when I need it most.”

“Ready to give up yet?”

“You know me better than that.”

“Then get up, we’ve got more slimes to kill.”

Keith pulled me upright, flashing me a brilliant, confident smile. There was something calming about his presence — if I was at all interested in men, I think I would have fallen for Keith a dozen times already. Unfortunately for him, I was horny on main for brilliantly gorgeous women (real or otherwise, apparently). I noticed Jessie staring at Keith before she caught my eye and hurriedly looked away, her cheeks flushed.

Real smooth, sis. Real smooth.

“We really have to get your level up, though,” Keith said, oblivious to Jessie’s actions. “Lemme check the Tournament requirements — these things usually have a minimum level, y’know.”

Since I didn’t have enough crafting skills to do anything yet, I satisfied myself with trying to pick a few Thorny Branches from a nearby tree. Every other branch turned into a Useless Twig, and I threw them away in a huff. Seriously, wasn’t this supposed to be a beginner-friendly game?! 

“Hey guys… we might have a problem.”

“What? No useless noobs allowed?”

“Jessie, I swear to God, I will tell Mom about the BL manga stashed under your mattress.”

“You wouldn’t dare!!”

“Just try me — hey, don’t pull my hair!!”

“NO FIGHTING!”

Keith tried to keep Jessie and me from attacking each other, while the server helpfully reminded us that this was a Non-PVP zone. Once we were safely separated, he fixed us each with a no-nonsense glare before clearing his throat.

“I was saying… The rules say that we need four members to join the tournament.”

Keith had summoned the tournament rules mid-air. Stepping beside him to read the holographic panel, I could see the passage he’d highlighted, clearly stipulating a four-person team for the tournament’s multi-stage brackets.

“Um, anyone know another player in CQ?” I asked tentatively.

Jessie shook her head. “Most of my clan think this game is too girly for them.”

“All of my friends are into shooters, sorry guys.” Keith shrugged in apology.

I stood there, crestfallen. My dream of meeting Beryl had suddenly retreated another few steps, and I felt a tangible ache settle deep in my heart.

Was this the end of my journey? 

If I couldn’t compete in the tournament… If I couldn’t win the tournament, I couldn’t meet Beryl, and I couldn’t confess my feelings. But — no! This was just another small (well, medium-sized) hiccup, and I wouldn’t let this stop me. 

“If we need to find another player to join us, we can just open up requests, right?”

Keith thought it over for a moment.

“I suppose so, but — no offence — we’re hardly the best-looking group out there. We’ve got one rookie, one medium-leveled account, and one completely new account. If someone wants to seriously compete in the tournament, they’ll be looking elsewhere.”

“Hey, what are you suggesting?! I am seriously competing!” I puffed my cheeks out in irritation and crossed my arms. “Look, we just need to find someone else as new as us! We can be a group of noobs together!”

“And where do you think we’re going to find a new player who just happens to want to squad up this early in the game?”

There was a brief moment of silence. And then, as if summoned by the gods of gaming themselves, a tentative voice spoke up nearby.

“Um… excuse me… are you looking for a fourth?”

Slowly, we turned toward the new player who had approached us. She was a young girl about my age, and she wore a gothic lolita costume — all black frills and belts in fashionable places — with a short bob that sat under her chin.

Damn. She’s cute!

A hot flush swept up from my neck, and I instinctively cursed the game designer who’d decided to animate digital blushes. Seriously, were they trying to make my love life more complicated?!

The newcomer made an awkward sort of wave and plucked nervously at the large bow sitting across her small chest.

“I — I’ve just started playing,” she said, “but I wouldn’t mind giving this tournament a thing a shot. That is, if you don’t mind having me along.”

“Uh — one second, please,” I said, trying to calm the strange flutter in my stomach.

I switched into a private voice chat with Keith and Jessie.

“Well, what do you think? The timing is perfect!”

“Almost too perfect,” Keith muttered, sparing the girl another glance. “Those clothes don’t look like Level 1 gear, that’s for sure.”

“So what? Maybe she bought some cosmetics.” I shrugged. “We need a fourth, and she looks perfect.”

“Beryl so easily forgotten, huh, Rem?” Jessie sneered.

I glared at her. “Don’t you dare mock my true-love-story, or else I’ll ditch you from the Netflix adaptation.”

“Netflix? Someone’s dreaming big. I was thinking Amazon Prime.”

“I swear—”

Keith positioned himself between us and pushed as apart, summoning another flurry of Non-PVP messages.

“Alright, alright, leave the family drama offline,” he sighed. “Listen, maybe Remy is right. We need a fourth, and we only have two more days until the signup closes. I don’t think we have many other options.”

“Then it’s settled,” I said happily.

I stepped around my comrades and switched back to the general voice chat.

As self-proclaimed leader of our rag-tag group, I extended my hand towards the girl.

“We’d love to have you! My name is Remy.”

Our newest teammate flashed me a disarming smile as she took my hand.

“I’m Leah.”