FOUR: SIDE QUEST

Seeing these words caused an uproar amongst everyone and the whole place was filled with shouts. It was like pure chaos with everyone yelling in their various languages with the fear and anger that had been cooking in their hearts.

It was crazy. Everything that had been happening was crazy but they all knew they couldn't step out of the green line because of the monstrosity that waited outside the green lines.

Just as I thought that the chaos had reached its peak the lady next to me started screaming as she clutched her chest with her hand.

Bending down to the floor as if she had lost her balance she screamed in pain and for the first time since she said three English words that were heavily mixed with her native accent. "please help me"

 I watched in confusion as the life drained from her pale skinny face.

 "what am I supposed to do?' I thought as I reached for the lady to at least support her and keep her from falling. What was happening?

Screams from various people were heard and they weren't complaining about what nonsense was going on or how they would call the police on whoever was running the place. They were screaming in pain and for help.

When I started to feel the inside of my chest and abdomen burn I cursed at myself at my decision to eat the food. It must have been the food. What else would be making me feel like my insides were being torn apart and put together repeatedly?

But moments later the feeling was gone as if they were never there to begin with.

I had let go of the lady while I experienced that excruciating pain. Turning to see the lady my eyes were met with an impossible existence.

Beneath the lady's green bodysuit, her body grew with an increasing speed. Pounds of flesh grew larger and in disregular proportions till they tore open the body suit revealing huge disgusting muscles with bulging veins.

It seemed as though the lady was insane. As if the food had turned her into something less human and more monstrous. All the hint of kindness and fear in the lady's eyes were gone and replacing them was murderous intent.

I had no idea I loved life enough to cling to it like I did at that moment. I was inches away from the lady but as she was about to pounce on me I rolled away to the side.

But still, I wasn't fast enough to escape from the monstrous lady. With rage in her bloodshot eyes, she jumped and before I could try to get away from her I blacked out.

Everything became black and still… For a millisecond or more, I was back at that place again. That place where time seemed to flow differently and I could see even in the vast darkness that was the place.

I felt strange, like I wasn't myself anymore but was a totally different being; more capable and like I had evolved. But I couldn't place what it was…

Just as I entered that vast darkness I was out of it and then staring at myself.

How is this possible?

'What am I doing down there?' I thought as I looked at myself lying motionless on the floor. But somehow I was looking at myself.

 I was in another body watching myself. When I looked at my arms I saw the bulging muscles and ripped body suit. Suddenly the strange body felt too heavy to carry and I landed on its butt.

'What the heck is going on? ' I thought but I couldn't even answer the question. Not only because I had no answer to it but also because I was distracted by an ape-like monstrosity that was about to squash my body to a pulp.

Running towards the ugly monstrosity I gave it a huge punch to its face and watched as it flew to land on someone who stood shaking from head to toe.

I looked through the eyes of the strange body as everyone fought to survive. Different strange-looking beings were attacking the people while the people tried to survive.

All the strange-looking beings were in torn body suits meaning that they were people too. How did they become like that? Why did some people become that and others were still themselves?

'Were they still themselves? '

 I thought as I watched a light beam shoot one of those transformed people far out of the green line to be torn apart by the stone creatures who once again appeared from nowhere.

The light beam was from the palm of a dude who looked normal. He screamed in excitement and turned to shoot another light beam at another monster that was heading for him.

What did they put in that food? Or were they all hallucinating? Did the food make them see things that didn't exist?

Everyone in the field was divided into two broad groups; those that looked normal and the others that did not look normal.

Amongst the people who looked normal, there were those who looked like apes with hunched over backs and walking on all fours and those who looked like they were on excessive steroids.

The abnormal-looking ones had three things in common; they looked twice their size and bulk and they all seemed to have lost their intelligence and reasoning and wanted to kill the normal people.

The normal people weren't completely normal because of the things they could do. Some of them could shoot light beams out of their palm and some could disappear. Then were others who were barely surviving from being squashed by the monsters.

I could divide everyone into these different classes but couldn't do so for myself. I was a monster but I was staring at my body as it lay on the ground.

But none of that reasoning did matter. What mattered was that I was going to deal with whoever tried to harm my body. Carefully carrying my motionless body I ran towards nowhere in particular while helping some of the helpless normal-looking people fight off the abnormal-looking ones.

My senses were sharp and I could feel an attack coming fast enough to dodge it. And my punches sent a lot of monsters permanently to the floor never to stand again.

Some of the normal-looking people attacked me but eventually got the memo that I wasn't one of the insane monsters.

None of the attacks landed anyway. I was more meticulous than the insane monsters who just rammed anything that was in their way and attacked aimlessly.

Looking at the hovering "SIDE QUEST" within my peripheral vision I couldn't help but be filled with dread and anger.

What was happening? Why was it happening? I kept on asking even as I threw several punches at the insane monsters.

What seemed like an eternity passed by and everywhere was then calm. The whole floor was filled with dead normal and abnormal-looking people.

The only people standing were the normal-looking people and they were all breathing heavily like they had just fought and survived a crazy war.

Looking at the sign hovering above nothing changed. It still read;

 SIDE QUEST: DEFEAT THE MONSTERS

 RULE; DON'T DIE

 STATUS; UNCLEARED

 PENALTY; DEATH

 TIME; TILL ALL THE MONSTERS DIE

' What's next?' I thought as I looked at the hovering words as if something was supposed to change there.

"Wait" Someone shouted. It was the guy who shot light beams from his palm and fought with a weird grin on his face like he was enjoying the war.

His voice was loud and he spoke with a British accent. "Till the monsters die!" he said and looked in my direction.

"What? I'm not a monster!" I yelled as I turned around to defend myself from everyone. 

 Even the ones I was protecting from the insane monsters were slowly backing away like I hadn't just saved them a few moments earlier.

But I wasn't even helping matters because the words I yelled only came out as really loud beastly growls.

 Looking at their faces it was obvious that they were going to attack so I turned to run…

Then I found myself in the vast darkness and as soon as I got there I was out of there.

When I opened my eyes I was no longer being targeted but instead, I felt the worst pain I had ever felt.

The huge sensation of pain was felt in my right leg and I couldn't move it.

When I turned to the right I saw a huge monster lying just a few inches away from me. And just as I turned away to face upwards to the fake sky a sound echoed through the air.

It was the instructor's voice saying " CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE CLEARED THE SIDE QUEST."

As tears of pain rushed down my cheeks a question was resounding in my mind. 'What's next?'

 Just a few moments after the instructor's voice was last heard the rectangular floating thing popped up again, this time hovering right above me with this written boldly that my tear-filled eyes could see:

 SIDE QUEST REWARDS;

 COINS; 1,525

 SILVER GEMS; 2

 CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY

The voice was heard again but this time it announced the three best players of the side quests and their extra rewards.

 NUMBER ONE;

 PLAYER 1759

 REWARD; 10,000 COINS

 NUMBER TWO;

 PLAYER 50

 REWARD; 5,000 COINS

 NUMBER THREE;

 PLAYER 1758

 REWARD; 2,000 COINS