**His back!**
Mike held the sword at an angle, ready to strike at any moment.
**He's too strong. I could wound him, but then he'd finish me. Shit!**
Mike hesitated for a heartbeat and the troll attacked. It dashed straight at him. In seconds Mike was wrapped in the troll's huge hands. Before it could smash him into the ground, Mike stabbed quickly into its belly, but it only bled a little. The troll's bloodthirsty eyes fixed on him, and it hurled him down.
-Hp 78-
Dust billowed into Mike's face as he hit the ground. He tried to spring up but did not notice the troll right in front of him. It swung its leg and kicked him in the stomach. Mike flew into a house wall. It crumbled and stones crashed down onto him.
-Hp 56-
Mike's eyes snapped open and he found himself… in a park. Leaves were falling, and piles of them covered the ground. It seemed to be autumn. Mike sat on a bench, wearing a gray jacket, enjoying the morning air. He looked left and right. This was not Godslayer VR. It looked real.
A girl walked past him. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a cute nose. Mike jolted and tried to speak to her.
**H-hey, um, hi.**
The girl turned her gaze toward him and was about to answer, but time seemed to stop. Mike heard a familiar voice.
**Mike, wake up.**
…after a brief pause, again:
**Mike, please!**
And suddenly, Mike opened his eyes.
The voice came from Ice. She stood over Mike, looking him in the eyes.**Thank God you're awake again!**
Mike pushed himself upright and sat there, dazed, in rubble and ash—there had definitely been a brutal fight. He tore his gaze away from the debris and met Ice's eyes.**W-what happened here?** he mumbled, half-conscious.
Ice grinned and took a deep breath. **I just watched you fight that monster, but you were clearly losing.**
Mike scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. **Well, I did hurt it pretty badly, so…**
Ice laughed. **Yeah, you did.** Then her smile faded a little, turning more serious. **So, I and a few knights finished the job—but the troll barely escaped. He's still somewhere around here. And the town hall is on fire. It looks like this attack was carefully planned. Why?**
She offered a hand to Mike, and he took it with thanks. Now standing again and ready to fight, he checked his inventory and equipped his sword. **Let's find this beast quickly, finish it, and then head to the town hall.**
Ice nodded and pointed in the direction the troll had fled. It didn't take long before a loud crash sounded; the troll stood beside them, truly furious. Ice glanced at Mike and fired a green magic orb from her hand into him. **Now you're… healed again.**
Mike nodded in thanks and held his sword upright. The troll was completely out of breath and would likely collapse soon anyway. **Alright, round two.**
Mike stepped forward, and the troll snapped, lashing out wildly—but that was a mistake. The moment was there. Mike sprinted in and slashed the troll's back—a clean, straight cut was enough. The troll fell with one final scream.
**Finally, you disgusting thing!**
Ice nodded and sprinted ahead. Mike had no time to check his rewards; he sprinted after her, ready to help in the fight and wipe out the Black Rats' leader. A few minutes later they reached the town hall—half of it was ablaze, ash rising into the sky. On the far side, on the roof, a figure stood.
**T-there… the leader**
He wore a black suit with a hood covering his face. Suddenly six black figures appeared from behind and attacked out of the shadows. Luckily, other players arrived and helped Mike and Ice fend them off.
Mike tore his gaze away and ran—into the town hall, up the stairs to the roof.**I don't care who you are. I'm going to kill you** he muttered, climbing higher. At the top he sprinted straight at the figure. They faced each other, and the figure pulled back his hood.
"N-never…"
------ cling cling
Steel struck steel. More and more players below were injured, and Ice was close to collapsing.
"I-I can't— coughcough —heal anyone else. I can't do it," she gasped, then crumpled. The players formed a line in front of her. One looked back and spoke to Ice, "It's alright. We'll handle the rest now."
Ice gave a small smile and lifted her eyes toward the roof where Mike was.
"N-never, Pal?"
Under the hood was Pal, the quest giver of the house quest. No way. He was dead. How was that possible? Mike wondered, his eyes widening.
"Why are you doing this?"
Pal grinned.
"Well, Mike, you need to know I have admin rights. I AM ONE OF THE BIG FIVE CREATORS of…the gaaame…"
As he said that, Mike expected the worst, either some kind of virus or for Pal to explode, but nothing happened, and Pal just kept laughing.
"What did you think would happen to me? Just because I talk about the game? No. I made a deal with the other four. You see, I don't have much time left in the real world, and I suggested: what if I spend the rest of my time here in the game, but with admin rights?"
Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, and suddenly a thin crack opened in the sky. Pal's expression changed at once.
"Oh no no no no…"
Mike held his sword ready to strike and simply watched the spectacle. Pal fell to his knees and whimpered something.
From the rift in the sky, a giant hand emerged. It resembled the creature from the very beginning, the one on the cloud, if it was even the same one. The hand reached further down, and a text box appeared in the sky:
Y-O-U-R -T-I-M-E [ZERO]
Pal completely lost it and screamed:
"NO NO NO-"
The hand grabbed Pal and pulled him in. As the hand disappeared back into the rift with Pal, the crack in the sky closed, and suddenly all the black rats exploded into white pixels.
Mike felt a heavy blow to his face.He lost consciousness.