This imagine is vaguely inspired by katzombiegirl's book Let's Play A Game. If you haven't read it, you should. Its kinda like Sword Art Online but with YouTubers. I hope you enjoy!
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(Word Count: 1506)
Jack hacked at the small beast in front of him, a tiny ping of guilt going off in the back of his head as it exploded into pixelated shards of white. He forced himself to remember that they weren't truly alive as he watched the shards float away and dissolve, proving his point that they never really existed. He sighed sadly as a small 2-D box appeared in front of him, telling him how much experience and gold he got from the miniscule kill. He closed out of it quickly, shealthing his sword and pulling his long black coat tighter around his body.
He continued to strut down the icy path, the snow covered trees rustling in the harsh wind that swept over the entirety of floor 56. He had his hands buried in the warm recesses of his coat pockets, the tall black collar covering his neck. He could barely feel the tips of his ears as the brutal wind whipped against him mercilessly, the darkness of the night making it worse. He knew that it was stupid of him to have gone off on his own, but he couldn't stand staying at that hotel. The people at the bar kept him awake, laughing and enjoying themselves as they got drunk off of video game alcohol. It disgusted him; how could people enjoy themselves like that when they could be trying to beat the game?! Didn't they want to get back to the real world?
Jack scowled to himself, the wind attempting to open his coat as he walked against it. He wasn't doing anything good for himself warmth wise, but the cold was only in the game. It wouldn't harm him in the real world. He continued to walk, the sounds of his feet crunching against the steadily falling snow and the wind whistling past him being the only sounds to be heard in the empty forest. It seemed that not even the random creatures or idiotic NPCs dared to go out in that weather; not a single lifeform attempted to have a go at him, other than that stupid boar from before.
He walked until he reached a fork in the path. By the time he reached it, he could barely feel the tips of his fingers, his teeth chattering against themselves. Who cared if it wouldn't effect his real body? He needed to find somewhere warm. He peered at the old, snow covered sign in between the two paths. One had a long word on it, only barely visible enough to tell that it was made up of letters. He couldn't tell you what the letters spelled out, but by the knife sticking out of the sign, he knew it was bad. The other sign had a small carving of a house on it. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't elegant; it was just a box with a triangle on top, a tall rectangle in the middle. It was probably some NPC, one that would probably have no problem letting Jack in.
He trudged down the left path, walking as quickly as his numb toes would allow him. He walked for nearly a half hour before he saw a small stack of smoke peaking above the trees ahead of him. He began to jog, his lungs burning as he frantically sucked in the cold air. His toes regained some of their feeling as he entered a clearing, a small cottage resting in the middle. He hesitated before approaching the door, gripping the handle of his pistol as he walked up the porch steps. He knocked on the door three times, his hand hitting the old wood forcefully. He could hear stirring within the cottage, and after a few moments, the door opened just an inch.
"Can I h-help you?" a deep male voice spoke softly. He seemed nervous in every sense, probably terrified that Jack was going to shoot him. He shook his head and pulled his hand off of the handle of his gun. This man would be no threat.
"It's c-cold as h-hell out here," Jack stated, his teeth chattering. "Can I-I please c-come in?" The man didn't respond for a few moments.
"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, his words clear and expectant. Jack was taken aback by his question.
"Why w-would I ever d-do that?!" The man gave no reply, opening the door to let Jack in. He was shocked by the man's appearance, a slight blush taking to his cheeks. He was a couple inches taller than Jack, his body tan and muscular. His black hair hung over the left side of his face messily, a pair of thin framed glasses over his warm brown eyes. He adorned a red and black checkered flannel as well as dark grey sweatpants. If Jack stood there long enough, he swore that that man could've warmed him up just by how hot he was.
The man ushered Jack inside, shutting the door quickly as to not let anymore of the warm air out of his home. Jack's senses were immediately flooded by a homey smell, the scent of food wafting in from a room to his right. The man hung Jack's coat up on a hook by the door, eyeing the weapons on his belt warily. Jack took off his sword and dagger and placed them next to his boots, refusing to remove his gun as the man ushered him into the next room over.
The smell of something cooking overwhelmed his senses as they entered the man's kitchen. He could feel his stomach growl in anticipation, but he knew that he shouldn't overstay his welcome.
"May I ask what your name is?" the man asked as he grabbed two bowls from an overhead cabinet. Jack took a seat at the small table against the wall, rubbing his cold hands together.
"My name is Jack," he said tiredly, attempting to ignore the harsh sting of his warming body parts.
"I'm Mark," the man said with a smile, beginning to ladle soup into the bowls.
"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me come in to warm up."
"It's no problem. I made enough soup to feed an army, so I figured you could use some. You can stay the night if you'd like. I've got a spare bedroom, just don't try anything and we won't have a problem." Jack was taken aback by his kindness.
"Are you an NPC or an actual player?"
"I'm a player, sadly. If I were an NPC then I'd probably have a family, and I'd live in a safe zone."
"Why do you live all the way out here? This is one of the few floors that doesn't have a safe zone." Mark shrugged, placing a steaming bowl of soup in front of the hungry stranger.
"It's far away from any other players. Most people assume that I'm just some stupid NPC, and I keep a charm on the doors and windows that keep people from being able to break them down. They all assume that I'm just a random part of the game." He sat down across from Jack, placing his soup in from of him.
"What level are you?" Jack asked curiously, immediately shoving a spoonful of soup in his mouth. The savory flavor of it sent his senses on a journey down memory lane, but he ignored the thoughts, focusing on filling his stomach.
"Fighting wise, I'm only a level 13," he said with a blush. Jack choked on a bit of his soup, coughing for a few moments.
"That's...low."
"Yeah. I'm at level 89 at cooking though, and that's really all I ever do. What level are you?"
"69. I'm level 69."
"Wow," Mark said, heat rising to his cheeks. He smiled in embarrassment. "I'm such a noob." Jack chuckled, finishing off his soup.
"I'll strike you a deal, my good man," Jack said with a devious smile. "I'm a solo player. Say we make a party, just me and you. I help you level up your fighting skills just a bit, and you let me crash here." Mark seemed uneasy about the idea. "Did I mention that I get precious meat sometimes when I defeat enemies? I've got three bundles of magma hare meat that I'd hate to see go to waste." The man's eyes lit up suddenly, and he bit his lip. He seemed to be completely in love with the idea, but too paranoid to trust a stranger.
"It's a deal," Mark said, reaching across the table with an outstretched hand. Jack shook it with a smile. "I've got a guest bedroom upstairs, feel free to bring your things up there. I'm going to enhance the charms around the house, do you mind cleaning up?"
"Not at all. I'll send you a party invite when I'm finished." Mark smiled back at the green haired man.
"It's going to be good to be a little less lonely."
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I hope you all enjoyed this relatively longer chapter. It took me a good two hours to write it and make sure everything was just the way I wanted it.
I wasn't asked to promote anything btw. I was just inspired by Lets Play A Game and wanted to show you guys what was going on in my head. And to the author of that story (If you ever read this), I don't mean to offend you if I did in any way. This is my way of saying thank you for writing good stories for me to read while I procrastinate doing my homework.
I hope you all enjoyed this because there will be two more parts, the third part explaining a little bit about why I've given them the title of "Priority."
Happy reading,
Allie B.