Pieces of Sonder

An unassuming piece of paper laid next to Sangen’s body. The paper’s edges were neatly cut, and not a speck of dirt touched its surface. Other than its pristine condition, nothing else appeared special about the playing card-sized piece of paper. 

Freya’s memory of picking up her Player Card was hazy. She couldn’t remember if it looked like this before. However, thanks to that event, she now knew for sure what she was looking at. 

[Player Card]

[Item Class: ???]

[???]

If this appeared, then Sangen really is... Freya looked at the demoniclast’s body. He no longer had a green textbox or any textbox at all. 

“Why is his body still here?” Freya asked no one in particular. All the other game players she’d seen die all disappeared after death. Did Sangen’s origins make a difference? 

She couldn’t help but stare at the arrow in his head. Blood pooled beneath his body, mostly from his shoulder injury. The arrow hit so cleanly hardly any blood had come out. Touching her own forehead, her stomach turned. 

“Come on, Freya,” Heilong said, touching her arm. “I’m sorry, but it had to be done. I don’t think his opinion of us was ever going to change.”

Freya shifted away from her touch. But after a second, she nodded. 

She didn’t want to admit it, but Heilong was right. Trying to reach a peaceful understanding with Sangen only raised the chances of more people dying. As Heilong said, someone needed to play the bad guy. Freya knew she couldn’t do it.

Tearing herself away from the scene, she let Heilong guide her back towards the square. Along the way, Heilong retrieved an arrow and a silver coin lying next to it. Freya didn’t even notice when the marksman killed the wolf that she was originally supposed to handle. 

“Looks like Nightscythe is almost healed up.”

Freya looked up. The rogue that suddenly appeared to take an attack from Sangen was sitting upright. K13 kneeled next to him, holding an empty potion bottle.

[Nightscythe]

[Lvl 10 Rogue]

[55/60 HP] [0/0 MP]

Considering his low health, Freya was surprised Sangen didn’t kill him in one stroke. Nightscythe’s shirt was torn down his front and still wet with blood. However, it looked like underneath his skin was now fine. Still, K13’s eyes were wide, and he fidgeted with the empty bottle before putting it back in his inventory.

When Freya got close, K13 looked up at her for a surprisingly long time. 

“Are you okay?” K13 asked. His voice was back to its usual quiet tone, but she could hear worry etched into it.

“I’m okay,” Freya said, somewhat taken back by the question. “Is he okay?”

“I’m fine,” Nightscythe answered, shaking himself out. He made a face and stuck out his tongue, “Yuck, why did you make me drink that potion? Those things cost a lot and taste nasty.”

K13 stood up, “You were dying.”

“And healing potions are cheaper than Life Shards,” Heilong said, looking down at the rogue. She glanced at K13’s scrunched-up expression. Sighing, she said plainly, “Freya doesn’t handle death well, so we try to avoid dying.”

“Oh,”

Freya looked away from the situation, “If you’re fine now, we should get back to the square.”

…..

K13 blew his Hunter’s Horn twice more before they were certain no mobile demons were left in the area. Hamra sent her fox spirit to search for any remaining demons like Azaleihagens or other stationary demons.

Freya couldn’t understand how Hamra still had the energy to send her summoned spirit so far away. Just before the battle ended, Freya leveled up to level sixteen. She immediately put her attribute points into strength and stamina, but she still felt exhausted now.

As they waited for the fox spirit to come back, they gathered around Sangen’s body and the Player Card lying next to it. Freya had attempted to pick it up, just to move it further from the body, but found she couldn’t touch it. 

The card remained stubbornly out of reach. Her eyes told her she was just about to touch it, but no matter what angle she tried, she couldn’t grab it.

“Players can’t have more than one Player Card in their possession,” Heilong said. After Freya failed to pick it up, Heilong became fascinated with the magic surrounding the card. “I heard you can’t pick them up, but I kind of thought it was a myth.”

“I’ve saw one once before,” Infamous Biscuit said. “It was when I just started playing. The guy I was playing with said the game developers made them that way to warn other players. Kind of like a ghost haunting the spot they died.”

Hamra stood with her gaze fixed on the card on the ground. The necromancer’s black cloak swayed in the light breeze. 

Freya walked up next to her, “Do you think you want it?”

The NPC blinked and turned. Freya could see curiosity and desire filled her wide eyes, but the rest of her was tight with hesitation. Hamra glanced back at the Player Card, “Do you regret it?”

Freya tilted her head and sighed, “I don’t know. My life would be very different. I would be blissfully ignorant about a lot of things.”

“But I already know those things anyway.”

“I suppose that’s true. It’s helped me get stronger. I’m sure it would help you become an even better necromancer. Or you could even choose a different class.”

“Hamra,” Scrimmancer broke in. He spoke in a soft but strained voice. “You don’t have to have one. I mean, it’s a big commitment. No one knows how to get rid of a Player Card, without dying anyway, and now with the demoniclasts targeting players-”

“I know, I know,” Hamra said. “But, better me than someone else. Plus, I’m used to being targeted. At least as a player, I would have allies.”

“Allies?” Scrimmancer questioned, “It’s not like all players are good people.”

“That’s for sure,” Freya said under her breath. 

“For all we know, we could be the bad guys,” Heilong added. “Like alien invaders taking over a planet.”

Freya frowned at Heilong’s suggestion. Hamra shrugged. 

Biting her lip, Hamra said bitterly, “I don’t care which side you might be on. All I know is game players have treated me better than anyone else here.”