digital heart | minsung | ✔

01

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A soft breeze blows over the purple lavender fields, the last rays of the setting sun casting an ethereal light on the blooming wildflowers. Red and purple clouds paint the sky as the sun was about to tell its goodbye to the day and the moons would welcome the night.

Colorful birds are dancing through the twilight sky, singing their last song before they go to sleep. There are even some larger mammals, scurrying through the tall grass in search of the last meal before they, too, would call it a day and return to their shelter.

The scenery is beautiful, otherworldly.

And that's exactly what it is.

I don't have time to enjoy the game developers' beautiful work. Not with a ternary of monsters on my tail. Beasts would be the best way to describe them, huge hogs with glowing red eyes and massive sharp tusks poking from their chapped lips. Their brown fur is a mess, full of dried blood stains.

With only 50% of my life points left, I decided to run when they spotted me. As fast as my legs can take me, I run through the tall grass and frail purple flowers, leaving a trail of destruction behind me as I go. My lungs are screaming, my throat burning but I keep going. The surroundings pass by in a blur, the demonic screeches of the monsters making the hairs of my neck stand up straight.

It's not really my thing to run for monsters; I mostly kick their asses and claim the loot they drop. But today, I accidentally ventured into an area for the higher level players which means the monsters here all are above my level, too, and thus hard to impossible to beat.

I tried and it cost me half of my life points with only two blows from one of the hogs.

My destination is the nearest village because those are safe zones. As soon as I reach the safety borders that surround player areas, the monsters should abandon their chase and then I can look for a healing center or a potion shop to restore my health points and continue my mission.

I was confident at first, mostly because my speed stats are above the player's average. But the village isn't even in sight yet and the monsters are gradually catching up on me. My speed stats might be high, my endurance is still average and I fear that the monsters will get to me before I reach the safe zone. In that case, I will die after two attacks and I will be logged out automatically. Not that bad, but then I have to wait a few hours before I can join the game. That's the penalty for dying after losing all your life points.

So I keep running, trying my best not to trip over the tangled grass and large lavender plants. Soon, I spot one of the monsters from my peripheral vision and I grow nervous. They outran me and in a second from now on, I'll be surrounded and killed.

Smiling bitterly, I reach out behind my back to grab my sword from its sheat. The sound of metal sliding over metal breaks the bird's song and with a firm grip on the weapon, I come to a halt to make a swing towards the first monster that attempts an attack. I manage to block it but another one strikes from behind and I feel a sharp fang penetrating my skin.

There go another thirty life points.

Forcing my sword to dance in unnatural angles, I block attack after attack. Try to look at it from the bright side; at least the hogs only have one way of attacking players so their attack pattern is very predictable.

The downside is that all I can do is block their attacks. I can't risk to let my defense down to land a blow by myself because in that split second, attacking is an open door.

One single attack is enough to kill me now.

I'm surrounded by three malicious beasts, my life points dropping lower and lower. The health bar I can see from my peripheral vision is red and blinking frantically. And then I realize that there's no way out of this situation.

I can't fight, I can't escape, I can't keep my defense up for eternity and my health bar only contain 7/150 life points at this point. I'm about to die and the next time I'd log on, I'd be in the last city I slept in, miles away. 

I'm about to lower my sword but then I see a black blur dashing past me, followed by an agonizing scream from one of the monster-pigs. The sound of metal soaring through the sky is followed by another screech and then the first monster falls to the ground, disappearing with a burst of small particles of light.

Time draws to a halt as the moment seems to go in slow-motion. The flowers sway softly in the evening breeze, the person moves through the field as the black mystery he is and another pig disappears into a sea of particles that flutter around my petrified state.

My feet are nailed to the ground as he attacks the last pig, my eyes too captivated by the graceful yet dangerous movements of the stranger that saved me.

I watch in awe as the boy in black engages into a deathly dance with his monstrous opponent, dodging its attacks before lunging forward and thrusting his weapons far into the beast's body.

And then the last one is gone, too.

The person breathes heavily as he plunges his daggers back into their sheaths, that dangle from a leather belt around his waist.

"Are you okay?" the boy asks as he reached me, leaning forward and planting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

His face is smeared with dried blood and dirt but his features still render me silent for a moment. His soft brown eyes are slender yet round and sparkle with interest and amusement, even though he just fought off three monsters as if it was nothing. His nose is delicate and frail and his small lips curl upward into a small grin that seems like it's always there.

"Hey, are you lagging?" the boy asks, and his hand waving before my eyes snap me from my silent admirations.

"N-No, I'm only at 7 life points," I hastily reply, motioning towards the nearly empty bar that floats next to my head. "That's not really okay."

"No shit, what is a level 15 player doing in a level 25 area?" he snickers. "That's the recipe for trouble and inevitable death.".

"I sort of ended up lost during a mission," I shrug, averting my gaze because I feel really stupid.

"Which mission?" the boy questions.

"Cancel Midnight."

My answer draws a laugh from the other, a welcoming sound after the monstrous screeching.

"I see, I think you left Nox through the wrong gate then. A lot of players do and they all end up here."

I slowly nod because I remember doubting between two gates when I left the town called Nox. I used eeny meeny miny moe to decide and guess what? I was wrong. The chance to guess right is big when it's 50/50 but the chance you guess wrong is exactly the same.

"So uh, I don't have any healing potions at the moment but I can safely bring you to the next city if you want?" my savior suggests and I eagerly nod.

And here I thought I was going to die.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

This is what happens to your brain after watching sword art online too many times.

I also know I said I would finish Being Lonely first before publishing this but my self-control is cry worthy and do I need to say more? :')