He logged onto EVE, expecting to grind for more materials to improve his base.

When he noticed a message notification from his friends list — delivered eight minutes ago.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "Do you want to get married?"

Lucien choked midway whilst drinking his water.

It splattered across his monitor, he immediately picked up a few paper towels and wiped it off anxiously.

He typed over his keyboard, for a moment, hesitating, then finally typed and hit "enter."

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Ha. Ha. Not funny."

[KillSwitch is typing...] appeared seconds later, almost as if he was camping at the chatbox, waiting for him to reply.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "I'm not kidding."

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Then... What do you mean! Have you gone mad?!"

<[ KillSwitch ] : "Look at the events page and you'll know."

Lucien hovered his mouse to the events page, his hand shaking slightly from the shock, and what greeted him was an image of a bride and a groom holding hands, their eyes meet each other and a gentle smile rested on their faces. 

Behind the background was the setting of the apocalypse. 

The title of the event was called "Till Death Do Us Part" and it was, quite literally, fitting towards the theme of the game.

Lucien scrolled down to the description section, it read, "Want to get married to your true love? Well—even in the apocalypse it's possible! To celebrate our 7th year anniversary, and to show our appreciation for your love and support towards the game all throughout these years, we're choosing one couple in EVE that wants to get married and hold a wedding ceremony for them in-game! Your titles will also be under your username when others view your profile, and this event is only choosing ONE couple. The chances of getting picked gets increased when your account age is older! Sign up by clicking the link now!"

Lucien scrolled down to the "bonus" rewards section.

Bonus rewards for participating in the event:

Scythe of darkness x1, Heaven's gilded sword x1,

Couple's heart shaped bed x1.

Lucien's eyes seemed to sparkle when he read the "Scythe of darkness", just the name sounded so cool. Didn't the grim reaper use a scythe? Then, if i use that weapon wouldn't that mean I'd be like a grim reaper? he thought.

"But... What's that?" Lucien directed the cursor and clicked on the couple's heart shaped bed to check it's description.

Description: According to some religious practices, only married couples can do "explicit" things on this bed.

Lucien was dumbfounded. 

"Explicit? This has to be a joke, right...." (⁠^⁠_⁠^⁠メ⁠)

Why has the game he loved for 7 years become so weird! It wasn't like this a few years ago....

Lucien shook off the strange feeling, he returned to his friend's list and clicked on KillSwitch's avatar.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Let's do it."

KillSwitch grinned, hiding an unknown thought, it was as if that smile were to say "ah, he fell for it."

The two clicked on the link and signed up for a chance to get married.

Due to the excitement, Lucien had forgotten something important, why did his friend even want to get married in the first place?

Maybe ignorance was bliss, as asking that question might've made their relationship turn for the worse.

One thing was clear, Lucien really, really, really wanted that scythe.

Just thinking about it amidst fighting the zombie king made him distracted and caused his health to fall extremely low.

KillSwitch immediately tossed a health potion to him, recovering his hp.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "What's wrong? Too excited for our wedding? ^_^"

Like a splash of cold water, his remark brought Lucien back to real life.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "No way! I'm just doing this for the scythe, my baby scythe...."

The endearment "baby" made KillSwitch pause, his gaze turned dark, and a small grin arose from the corner of his mouth.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "Your baby scythe? Do you value that stupid scythe over your friend?"

A tone of aggression could be felt across the screen.

Lucien's mood soured, he typed with anger,

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Hey! Don't badmouth my scythe like that.... If it weren't for it, I wouldn't have married you in the first place!"

As he said that, the two seemed to forget the zombie king right in front of them, and without mercy, the zombie king killed the two for showing public displays of affection....

"You have been slain by the Zombie King."

[ BloodReign_666, KillSwitch ] : (⊙_⊙)!

The two respawned at a random mountain.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "See what happens when you talk bad about my scythe!!"

<[ KillSwitch ] : So you really value that scythe over me? 

KillSwitch paused,

<[ KillSwitch ] : Then i won't agree to the wedding, since you obviously love that stupid scythe way more than the person you're marrying.

Lucien blinked, appalled by KillSwitch's reaction.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : Hey, what's up with you? Why are you acting so weird.... 

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Hey, Wait!"

Lucien sighed, "Why'd he have to do all that... Did that really make him so upset? It's so silly." He shaked his head, believing that his friend was being unreasonable.

He stood up from his chair and opened up the greek yogurt from his fridge, decorating it with the berries he bought.

Maybe he's just in a bad mood, he wouldn't get upset over something so silly, wouldn't he?

He picked up a spoon and had a taste of the yogurt-berry delight.

He'll apologize sooner or later. Lucien hummed.

A few hours passed by, Lucien grinded back the items he lost from dying and wiped out a few zombie villages near his base.

But still no response from KillSwitch.

At the moment, Lucien finished all his chores, and all that was left was to resolve the dispute with his friend.

Although Lucien was also stubborn-headed, he didn't want this fight to last any longer than it should, and directly requested a teleportation invite to KillSwitch.

"Huh?" Lucien was stunned. Feeling slightly discouraged, he requested another invite.

"Are you serious..?" he muttered, his instincts telling him that something was very wrong.

Without waiting for a minute longer, Lucien directly switched to chatting with KillSwitch instead of trying to teleport to him.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : KillSwitch, I'm sorry. You were right, the scythe isn't as important as you.

He stared at the screen, waiting for a reply. 

His unease grew with every passing minute, it was like a prisoner waiting for death to come knocking on his door.

He refreshed the chat box multiple times like it would change something.

Ten agonizing minutes later, a reply finally came.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "I don't believe you."

The compassionate and merciful reply that Lucien was expecting was crushed to pieces, his words felt like a shot to the heart.

His heart pounded heavy, staring at the distant words on the screen, devoid of any warmth.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "I'm telling the truth! What do I have to do to make you believe me...."

This time, KillSwitch's reply was so fast it almost flew inside the chatbox.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "Baby."

<[ KillSwitch ] : "Call me baby, then I'll forgive you."

Lucien's eyes widened.

“Seriously…?” Lucien sat there in disbelief, like what KillSwitch said was utter nonsense.

A pause.

He gulped. His pride wrestled with his nerves.

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "...B-baby."

The moment the word hit the screen, KillSwitch felt his pulse quicken. A flutter of something he didn’t understand stirred in his chest, something completely foreign to him.

The word hung awkwardly in the chat like a misplaced puzzle piece, like it wasn't meant to belong in this chat between friends.

Seconds passed. Then came a reply.

<[ KillSwitch ] : "...Now say it once every time you log on."

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "You--!... sigh. Sure, as long as you marry me."

Author's note:

Congratulations on your marriage :⁠,⁠-⁠)