G A M E [Misleading RPG]

Chapter two: Comrade

-Picture is Light-

[Paladin 'Light' has asked to join your team. Do you agree?]

>>[Yes]

>>[No]

"Pardon my intrusion." The man in front of her smiled apologetically, yet with a hint of nonchalance within the expression. He repeated his words patiently and waited for her answer.

Unlike Hero's coarse boots and pathetic excuse of a shirt, he wore a silver armour with smaller shoulder cops in comparison to other stereotypical paladin armours. He sheathed his sword, which was long and thin, silver that seemed to match his plain but more secure-looking armour than Hero's. His long blonde hair was brushed back, revealing his soft features and azure blue eyes.

Two, large, white textbox jumped up in front of Hero, and was aloft in mid-air, seemingly waiting for a response. 

Hero blinked and Light blinked back, the polite smile still on his face. For a few moments, only the sound of rustling leaves blown by the breeze could be heard in the densely vegetated forest.

"How do I choose?" Hero screamed in her head as the man continued staring at her for a moment or two as if waiting for her to make her decision. She wondered if he could see the textbox; probably not seeing as she was considered the 'hero' by Tutorial. Which must mean the protagonist of some sort, right? Like those typical RPG games.

['Hero' has not responded for over fifteen seconds, 'Light' joins by default]

The cold, emotionless voice of the textbox declares and composed a brief strident music.

"Thank you for letting me join, I hope to not cause you trouble." Light beamed, and for a moment, with the sun slanting over his golden hair, blinded the Hero's poor eyes especially after being in darkness for so long.

Yes, the sun only came out when this man appeared. 

"...Um... Who—" just as Hero finally decided to say something, the man jolts up with shock written all over his pretty face. 

"Oh, yes! Sorry about that! I haven't even included myself yet!" He apologised and bowed down briefly. Hero decided that he cannot see the text boxes since she knew his name already. Of course, she wasn't going to tell him that.

"My name is Light, Miss Hero." He introduced. The girl's eyes widen in shock.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" She blubbered, unconsciously accepting that her name would be 'Hero' from now on. She immediately regretted her action of doing so. After all, talking did not seem like a good option right now for that she had little knowledge of this world around her. 

Besides, this seemed and played itself in a realistic virtue reality; so there were no choices, and no save and load functions. 

Real life with real monsters.

At least she finally caught up to this.

"Ha ha, you are the chosen one of course!" He grinned, radiant and gorgeous features causing Hero to wonder if he was actually some sort of happy-go-lucky princess who snuck out into the forest after sobbing about being stuck in a tower for so long. After all, he did have long hair (perhaps a bit shorter) like that princess Hero was referencing about.

But wait, chosen one?

"Yes, my chosen one!" He explained cheerfully, clapping his hands together in a childish manner. "You were predicted to appear here in this forest three days ago! Hence I spent three days searching for you, and I finally found you!" 

"O-oh? Is that so..." Hero trailed off, not sure how to respond. Three days in this forest seemed pretty tough, and judging by the data displayed above him, it read that he was only a level 14 Paladin. 

"Without food or water of course since I left my resources at home!" Hero noticed the little word of 'deprived' beside his red health bar that was actually slowly dying away.

"Also, I lost my comrade, what was his name again... Ah yes, Dark, somewhere around here." He pouted childishly and lightly knocked himself on the head. "Oops!" 

Hero was a little concerned about becoming his comrade by default. 

"But he should be okay, after all, dark is a level 17 sorcerer!" Light comforted, not sure if it was directed at himself or Hero. "He won't die that easily!"

"Of course." Suddenly, the sun died away just like Light's warm smile. In replacement was a sinister grin that represented that of a devil. "If he dies, then the king would favour me a lot more..."

At this point, Hero was sure that she made the wrong choice.

----------

The two found some berries, and Hero fed her ones to the man before he could die. Despite his obviously not innocent nature, she needed someone by her side as of right now. The man happily accepted her berries and devoured them. 

Okay, maybe that term was wrong; he didn't devour them, he inhaled them.

"Phew, that was nice. Thank you, Hero." Hero also wondered if he had a personality disorder. For a second, he would be acting like a child, then for the next second, he would become sociopathic and deceptive, and concurrently, he seemed refined and elegant, the spark in his eyes also dying down.

"I must apologise first, did I scare you? When my status isn't right, I do become quite strange..." He murmured softly, with a light chuckle. "But what I say aren't all my true words, so you don't have to worry." He punctuated the last word with a rather low voice.

Hero was really alarmed about this man; the more time she spends with him, the more she felt like he would stab her in the back. 

"Do you think we should head back so you can see the king who wishes to speak to you?" Light questioned while popping a red berry into his mouth. 

"What about your other comrade?" Hero decided to ask. Now, she was actually worried about the other person that Light seemed to want to leave to die.

As if on cue, his facial expression darkened for a second.

"Him? Oh, you don't have to worry too much about him..." He smiled meaningfully. Hero inched away slightly on her smooth tree stump she was resting on. Light was sitting on the ground without a care in the world about the prickly-looking plants on the ground (a species Hero has never seen before), casually eating the berries now in a much more refined fashion.

"But... if Hero wishes to see him, then I have no choice." He sighed and tossed the remaining berries aside. "Really, it is a bit of a hassle, but I am willing to listen to you."

A trademark smile.

"Shall we go then?" He held out his hand invitingly, and his somewhat tall figure provided an illusion of reliability and a lure to trust this man. Of course, for someone like Hero who has seen his 'true colours' earlier, she was a little more aware of him.

"Let's go, then." She responded, and stood up without taking his hand.

His smile played on.