"There's no fucking way, dude… I'm XXX_Goblin-Slayer_XXX!" I shouted, staring at him in disbelief before pushing up from the couch. "You and I spent hundreds of hours raiding and shooting the shit."
Stopping to think for a second, another question arose. "You never said you lived in Japan… wait, you're not even Japanese. Why the hell were you in Japan?" I pulled back, still grinning like an idiot. "This shit's wild… first the apocalypse, and now a friend I was never supposed to meet is standing right in front of me."
"Tell me something only I would know… if it's really you," he said, sounding just as astonished as he did cautious. "I spent a lot of time talking with that guy. We shared some pretty intense stories… pick one, and I'll decide if it's true."
I thought for a moment, then laughed out loud. "Haha, ahh… one time, my friends made me walk up the temple stairs butt naked before they'd let me play with them… back then, I thought I needed to be funny or do crazy things to make friends."
Lowering my head, I winced at the memory. "That was one of the reasons I ended up becoming a neet in the first place." A realization hit me, and the grin came back. "They're the reason I turned to gaming and met you… you are my friend, right?"
He turned to me, shock written on his face, his mouth hanging open. Breaking into a quiet, contained laugh shortly after, he walked forward, giving me a brief hug before sitting back down. We sat for hours, talking about what was happening in Japan and how he ended up in Nakameguro.
His grandparents had requested that he visit for the summer. They had hoped the distance from his home would help with his social problems, but it only made things worse. He found that it was much more accepted in Japan to stay indoors and not socialize, and he capitalized on it. Apparently, his grandparents had fled the island and were headed to South Korea to find safety, leaving Daniel in the home by himself.
"I've been meaning to ask, you are a 'player,' right?" I gestured to the outside. "Like, you are participating in whatever the fuck is going on… I have this system panel thing, almost like in an RPG…" I pulled the screen up, pointing to it while I spoke. "You also have this, right?" Finishing my question, I forced the screen to close.
"I have a window. It's been visible since the madness started… I can't seem to get it to leave, though," Daniel explained. "It's nothing like you described, though, only a window showing a countdown, and it occasionally switches to the player count." Letting out a soft yawn, he continued, "I decided I wouldn't take part in the games. I plan on waiting it out here as long as I can."
Grabbing a blanket off the back of his couch, he covered himself and huddled lower into the cushions. "It's pretty late, Sam… I think we should turn in for the night."
I agreed and grabbed a blanket myself. The house felt safe enough to let my guard down for the evening. Lying awake, thinking about what Daniel had said, I decided that once I knew he was asleep, I would figure out just what the death games actually were, if I could.
An hour passed, each of Daniel's breaths getting slower and slower until reaching a rhythm I recognized. Opening my system menu, I was greeted with multiple panels I'd never even seen before. Some were grayed out, and a few I couldn't read were present.
[ Sam Shaver LVL. 2 ]
[ DEATH GAME PLAYER COUNT 47/60 ]
[ HEALTH 100 / 100 [ MANA 100 / 100 ]
[ SKILL POINTS: *#* ]
[ COUNTDOWN 27 Days 2 Hours 14 Minutes ]
Glancing to the side, I mentally clicked on the Skills page, reading the list of skills I had available. Still the three I knew, I quickly moved on to the attribute page, hoping to find out that I had been granted some kind of wicked power, only to be met with every single stat value being completely glitched out.
"That's fucked up… why can't I see any of the good information?" I whispered loudly under my breath, looking over at Daniel to make sure I hadn't accidentally woken him with the outburst. My vision returning to the screen, I attempted to click on the countdown itself.
That opened a screen that was closer to a Newgrounds home screen than an apocalyptic message. The screen had become what looked to be a competition onboarding website, with explosions and fire popping up at random.
"This is beyond fucked up… I get thrown into an impossible situation, forced to move without any real knowledge," I said, quieter this time, finding it hard to keep my thoughts from escaping. "Is there a rules page for this game anywhere?"
In the bottom corner of the panel, in small, almost indistinguishable text, sat the button for the rules tab. I let out a sigh at how ridiculous it was that this mystical, apocalypse-fueled contest somehow felt both childish and dire at the same time. Clicking on the button mentally, I was met with a more refined page.
[ 1. Contestants will have 30 days to kill each other. ]
[ 2. Contestants can use any method necessary to achieve victory. ]
[ 3. Cheating doesn't exist ]
[ 4. Only one player can win, if more than one remain when the countdown ends nobody wins. ]
[ 5. Events will happen intermittently with no warning ]
[ 6. There is no escape ]
[ 7. Have fun! ]
Only one winner meant that my friend, who was across the room sleeping, would eventually die. The thought brought me to tears and brought even more questions behind it. If I left him here, how long would Daniel survive before a demon or something even worse came along? I couldn't find an answer other than death for my friend.
I dismissed the screen in favor of going to bed before more confusion had a chance to develop.
The room was silent, with only my friend's heavy breaths grounding me as I drifted away.