chapter 5

Jason kept looking back as he ran, he couldn't grasp the fact that Gabbie was gone. Tears whelmed up his eyes, blurring his vision. He wiped his eyes constantly, he still couldn't afford to be trampled.

It was no longer as exciting, was she really gone? Derrick thought. Too bad, she'll just have to wait for them to finish playing the game. But it won't be as fun though, since they all planned on playing it together.

The stampede was getting closer and closer, and they could not keep up, they were losing speed gradually. If only they could just stop the stampede.

Derrick's system suddenly appeared before him, "the hell!? Why now!?"He didn't use the keyword, why did it appear all of a sudden?

A daily quest popped up

[Use player skill_2coins]

Seeing this, Eiden shouted "don't!", and Derrick ignored him. They couldn't guarantee what and how powerful his ability was. Spacetime manipulation was a rare skill, if misused, things might end in peril.

"Close system" said Derrick. The system disappeared and appeared again. He became enraged, it was blocking his view of the path he was running on.

 "Close system!" he said again, his voice entwined with annoyance. It disappeared and appeared again. He grunted loudly.

"Watch out!" Jason warned Derrick about stepping on one of the crystal thingys. Spontaneously, Derrick leapt over it but he landed on another one by mistake and just like Gabbie, he warped with blue hue surrounding him. He disappeared, leaving behind Eiden and Jason.

Jason cursed, now Derrick too? It's just a game but he didn't want either of them to leave like that. It's just him and Eiden now. Without Gabbie's high-spirited and confident aura and Derrick's jackass behavior, it won't be as fun as they anticipated.

Panting, Jason asked "what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, I don't see a way out of this" Eiden replied in one breath, the running was seriously getting to him.

"What about my lightning summon?" Jason suggested

"Can you use it?" Eiden asked 

He shook his head, he only suggested. It wasn't an option for them. The system indicated no limit to his ability but its lightning summon and lightning usually happens during heavy storms and rainfall. It's not certain whether he'd be able to use it here and now.

After a lengthy pause, Eiden spoke "we'll have to let the crystal touch us"

"Wouldn't we be logged out and lose?" Asked Jason

"Which is better?" Eiden returned the question. Which was better? Getting trampled by weird looking creatures or warping in serenity?

"To think we worked so hard for it to end like this" Jason lamented. If the glitch hadn't happened at the beginning then he would have used spells or potions or something to teleport to safety.

With the decision made, they were ready to leave the game. Then all of a sudden they noticed the scarcity of the falling crystals and soon, none fell at all.

"They stopped!" Eiden panicked

"Shit! What now?" Jason cursed, they could already feel the heaviness of the beasts and the dust wind it carried, soon they would be lost among feet.

Fortunately, the strange crystals began to fall again. Relieved, Jason didn't even battle an eyelid, he reached out desperately and grabbed one that fell before him while Eiden stepped on the crystal.

They disappeared just before the stampede had its course. 

 …..

In the next instant, Eiden opened his eyes. The experience wasn't at all as rough as he thought it'd be.

He opened his eyes fully. His face turned serious at the sight of an adult man standing near Derrick and Gabbie. Eiden stood up, his demeanor was calm but he stared at the man suspiciously.

In contrast, Jason was enraged "what did you do to her!" He roared, why was Gabbie lying unconscious and Derrick kneeling next to her? 

Eiden wanted to know as well.

The man, unbothered about Jason's anger, responded in a calm tone, "I have done nothing to your friend, her body cohesion could not keep up with the vitality of teleportation". 

The way he spoke, acknowledging his eloquent utterance was simply inevitable. He stood tall, wearing ancient Chinese clothing and his hair, decorated with Chinese ornaments was smooth and fell effortlessly down his shoulder and back. The glasses he wore proved he might be a professor.

Dissatisfied with his answer, Jason carried on ranting "teleportation? What are you talking about? How did we get here?" He asked

The man sighed, untold ennui lingered. "I can manipulate mana crystals and this…" a little light show brightened at the surface of his palm, white and blue tints merged and formed a crystal similar to the ones Eiden and his friends encountered.

He showed them, "this is a teleportation crystal, I was able to bring you here using this" then it disappeared in an instant.

So the crystal didn't harm them, instead it brought them here...to safety

"Are you a player?" Eiden finally aired his troubling thoughts. He canceled his mind on him being a non playing character, his dialogue just now with Jason felt repulsive rather than a default.

Plus, if he's a player, why did he save them?

The man's brows furrowed at Eiden's question, "a player? Do you not know who I am?" He asked.

They all kept silent. The man neither said no nor yes, he expected them to know who he was, why?

They were beginners who just logged in for the first time, perhaps he's an old player who is widely known…this was an inkling on Eiden's side.

"Why did you save us?" Eiden changed the question. Don't players get bonus points for eliminating other players?

The man observed him, his blue eyes sparkled in bewilderment. "Did you just ask me why I saved you and your friends? If it wasn't for me, you all would have been flattened by the Hexamyths"

"Hex…amyths?" Eiden repeated his words.

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Mind you, many of the author's wordings are strictly fictional. Non-dictionary words will be encountered on different occasions. 

-Hexamyth- a large six legged creature, 14 feet long, almost 9 feet tall, dark coarse skin and weighing about 4,000lb. Heavily clawed feet, possesses the head of a Mammoth with the trunk absent, and has gnarled horns sticking out of its head. 

-they don't normally stampede-

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