The Grand City was miles away. It would take Arka two and a half hours to travel on foot. It was then she remembered after she covered some distance from the village she was at, that she had Teleportation Diamonds in her satchel that she bought a while back.

Oh yeah, why am I walking when I could just teleport? Arka thought. She stopped in her stroll.

She flipped the flap of her leather satchel, reached in, and took out a blue crystal—a size as the palm of her hand with a curious symbol of a vertical banner at the center, inside a yellow circle.

She looked at it... and for some reason, she felt hesitation in using it.

She suddenly thought of Mikrim—a player who just explored the current world they were in and found secret places and materials.

It didn't take long until Arka decided to change her mind about using diamond.

Maybe I should try exploring this world once in a while too... She thought as she hid the blue crystal, back in her satchel.

And so, she continued walking down the dirt path of the wide, open world.

Half an hour passed as Arka strolled on the open field. The road transitioned to having uneven rocks, boulders, and more trees surrounding the area. She stumbled upon a forest still, far away from the Grand City. It was the first time she's been here.

As she walked through the thick forest, her ears caught people talking in a conversation.

So there are people here, in this secluded area...? She thought.

Suddenly, she heard a loud crack from the source of the conversation. Arka's eyes widened upon hearing this, and she immediately turned in this direction.

Curious at what it was, she crouched down and went off-road to follow the source. Just what was happening in this game world's forest?

As she moved slowly through the forest's bushes, it didn't take long until she saw three people in an open area of the forest.

A man stood, dressed in a long, grey coat. Underneath it, he wore a black vest made of leather, over a black, long-sleeved tunic, a black, leather glove, and a steel gauntlet worn on his hands, steel tassets, chainmail leggings, and sabatons. He didn't wear a helmet for head protection, and his face could be discerned. Most notable are his messy hair, and his dead-fish-looking eyes.

"So, you don't know, huh?" The man said. He crouched near to the player's bloodied face, as he laid face down on the ground, defenseless— wearing a full-body gambeson. One of his legs was bent in an odd shape, implying that the man with the messy hair was the one who broke it. "Maybe I should just break another one of your fuckin' legs. It'll be quick... and literally painless." He said as he grinned. "So, what's there to cry about?"

"I said, I don't have any idea what you're talking about, man!" The guy with the broken leg shouted at the guy. "Why the fuck are you doing this, huh?! Fucking ‘Griefer!’ You're not even gonna gain anything from this!" He shouted. "Let me fucking go!" He yelled.

Arka felt that she should have circumvented from the three people at that point. But instead, she quickly hid behind a boulder near the place.

Besides, she was curious about what's going on with the player community. She eavesdropped and did her best to watch as she peeked behind the slab of rock.

"Stan," The woman next to the man called him.

She wore a full set of red, studded leather armor in a brown cloak. Her leather gauntlets and boots are strapped with belts filled with studs. She has long, white hair, and a long weapon sheathed on her back.

Arka identified this weapon the woman held as a Spontoon. A European, pointed spear, with a crossbar at its base.

Arka felt like a dork for being able to identify a weapon correctly ever since she started playing Helsfate.

"It doesn't seem like this person knows anything." The woman said. "We should let him go."

The man named; Stan cast a glare at the woman he was with. He held a vexed look.

And then, "Okay." He said with a relaxed tone at the woman. After that, he stood up from where he was crouching. "I'll let him go, then," Stan said.

The helpless player just watched with a dissatisfied look as the two unknown, individuals that stood in front of him, turned their back from him and began conversing with each other in a lower tone of voice. Arka couldn't hear, try as she might.

She judged that from the looks on their faces—held the impression that what they were talking about was a serious topic, whatever it could be.

As the helpless player felt the heat of that moment slowly resolve, his avatar's recovery process finally kicked in... his HP slowly began to regenerate.

So it's just some group infighting, is it...? Arka thought. She decided it may be her time to leave.

However, just as she's about to avert her eyes, she saw the man suddenly walk toward the player laying helplessly on the ground. The guy's broken leg still hasn't healed.

"So, we're going to let you go, now," Stan told the guy, as he half squatted, looking at the player. "Anything you want to say before we depart?" Stan asked him.

"Get out of my sight, then," The player snarled at him.

Stan gestured a hand, as he raised both of his eyebrows. "That works too," He said in an agreeable tone.

As the player realized what he meant behind his question, he began to scream, saying: "Wait, Don't—!"

And before the player could finish his line, a forceful crack with a resounding gush echoed throughout the forest.

The player's HP instantly reduced to zero. A bloodied sabaton; now in the way of this player's still, avatar, in what used to be his head.

Arka's eyes widened at the gruesome display, as she quickly ducked and hid behind the forest's boulder.

Stan then, with his arms on his waist, proceeded to wipe the blood off his foot armor by rubbing it slowly on the gambeson of the avatar's corpse.

After a few moments passed, the dead avatar of the player began to fade in a digitized style—slowly dissipating on the forest's ground. A bloodstain was left on the scene.

Stan clicked his tongue. "What is this Lily...?" Stan mentioned the woman's name. "It didn’t even remove the blood,” He pointed at his bloody metal foot with open palms. "Talk about shit design." He said.

"This world is nearing its end, Stan... it's trifling to even complain about anything, you already know that..." The woman with the spear named, Lily said.

"Yeah, I do get that," Stan said. "But what I'm concerned about is the blood on my boot, Lily... That's what I'm annoyed about!" He raised his voice in frustration.

"We can deal with that later, Stan... does it bother you that much?" Lily asked him.

Stan looked at Lily with his dead-fish eyes. He looked at her as if asking himself, 'Was the reaction he was showing not obvious enough?' What more could he do to get his point across?

"Yes," Stan told her in response to her question.

Lily looked at him straight back.

"There should be a lake nearby, in this forest. We can rest there, and wash up," Lily said.

Stan squinted his dead-fish eyes at Lily. He was suspicious about what she said of the latter half. "When you said—"

"I meant you can clean your armor there," Lily immediately interrupted Stan, in a voice that began to slowly build up with anger. She understood why Stan went cross-eyed at her. "Don't get any funny ideas. We're on a mission an—"

"Fine—that's fine. I get it, I understand." Stan immediately interrupted Lily, reflexively raising both of his hands in front of her, not wanting to hear more from her. His eyebrows are furrowed implying an annoyed expression.

As he turned away from her. "You could've worded it better though..." Stan mumbled.

"What?" Lily asked as she heard his murmurs.

"I said nothing," Stan immediately told her.

Lily also began to form a look of displeasure on her face.

"Well, now that that's settled so..." Stan turned away from her. "What do we do about the elephant in the room?" He said.

Stan and Lily looked over at the boulder Arka was hiding at. As Arka heard what Stan said, she felt her shoulders stiffen, and the forest's breeze pass through her armor.

She felt her nerves overwhelm her once again.