Time Looped

“I used to watch shows like this all the time when I was a kid,” Jace said as he, Will, and Alex waited for Helen to arrive. “A bunch of friends would explore some haunted house. I always found it stupid that they’d split up and have the monster kill them one by one.”

The other two boys looked at him, uncertain how to react.

“Lots of blood and gore, and sometimes a titty shot.” He paused, seeing their expressions. “It was my father’s stash. He had one of those VCR things and a ton of cassettes. The device’s been busted for years, but maybe I can fix it with my new skills now.”

“If we ever extend the loop long enough, why not?” Will smiled.

He, too, had been thinking what he’d do when he finally got back home. Nothing maybe? Spend some time with his family and appreciate it for once? At this point, he hardly remembered what his arguments with them were. He could recall that they were vitally important and that his parents were in the wrong, but any other details remained blurry.

“Seriously, why split up?” Jace kept going. “If there’s something so bad that you can’t take it on together, you won’t be able to take it on alone.”

“For real, bro?” Alex gave him a smug look. “Two words—area effect.”

“Huh?” The jock frowned.

“Simple, bro. Group of four walks down a corridor. Monster with massive fireball jumps out. Bam! Gg no re. Sadge, press x to restart loop.”

There was a long moment of silence. Both boys got the notion of what the goofball was saying, but even Will, who was more or less used to his manner of speaking, had elements he couldn’t explain.

“You know, in the shows I watched, the funny guy was the first to get killed,” Jace said after a while. “Don’t mess up, muffin boy.”

A rather impressive car stopped on the street across the school. Since it was way after school hours, and past the rush hour of the day, it was sure to attract the trio’s attention. The back door opened, and Helen stepped out. Her outfit was very different from the one she usually wore. Then again, because of the loop anything would have seemed different, even weird. In this case, one could easily conclude that she was going off hiking somewhere. The backpack, army shoes, and vest with dozens of pockets contrasted with her face and frame.

Full of self confidence and without a worry in the world, the girl waved for the driver to go on, then crossed the road, joining the rest of the group.

“Hey,” she said.

Everyone stared at her in silence.

“What’s up?” Jace was the first to speak. “Couldn’t find an army jacket?”

“Ha ha.” Helen crossed her arms. “I didn’t think you’d be smart enough to prepare for the trip, so I took things into my own hands.” She glanced quickly at what they had bought. All except Alex had a backpack. Also, there was what looked like a cheap flying drone. “What’s that?”

“Exploration,” the jock said confidently. “We get to see mirrors without them seeing us.”

“And how exactly is that going to help us?”

“Simple. We—” Jace stopped as he realized that he had taken too much stock in what Alex had said without thinking it through. While it was true that the drone could be used to explore the building without putting them at risk, that would only be true if monsters roamed the place. As things stood, a mirror had to “see” a person to trigger a monster release. Being able to hone in on the mirror was of little use, especially since, thanks to the loops, everyone already knew where they were.

“Uh-huh.” Helen shook her head. “Did you eat, at least?”

“What did you bring?” Will asked, steering the topic away from confrontation.

A few minutes were spent checking supplies. Apart from some basic “protective gear” in the form of rollerblade protectors, a few hammers and screwdrivers, flashlights, knives, and, of course, the drone. Helen had brought most of the food, as well as rope and a paper notebook. Naturally, she had also brought the mirror piece, which contained what could be their hint for the day: Wolves outside of the tutorial area don’t grant additional bonuses.

After a bit of banter, everyone divided up the gear and went towards the school building.

“Move aside, bro,” Alex said as he went up to the door and placed his hand on the keyhole.

UNLOCK TRIGGERED.

There was an audible click, after which the door opened.

“Nice,” Jace whispered. “If I had that, I’d never need to buy stuff again.”

“Fail,” the goofball said. “Gets old after a while.”

Will was the first to get inside. The hallway looked different when it was dark. Years back, there had been talk among the teacher staff that an alarm system would be placed to discourage students from breaking in after school. The reason was the yearly Halloween prank night. Every year on the first morning after the event, people would come into a series of elaborate pranks throughout the school. They were always innocent things: A skeleton with lipstick placed in a teacher’s seat, flat Earth posters placed all over geography class. In one case there was a printout of a rather scandalous French painting in the arts room that had caused a greater stir than everything else combined. Unfortunately for the vice-principal and the teaching staff, the budget never was quite enough to afford the security system they so much wanted.

“You sure the guards won’t be a problem?” Jace asked.

“Guards?” Alex chuckled. “We’ll be fine, bro. Danny came here all the time.”

“What’s the plan?” Helen turned to Will.

“You and Alex go to get your class and kill off the first batch,” Will said. “We’ll go to the biology class

“Splitting up already?” The jock gave him a disapproving look.

“We’ll wait for them to finish, then we go,” Will explained.

“Why do we need to go there?” Helen inquired.

“Scalpels,” Will explained. “They’re very useful when I learn how to throw things. After that, we start from the basement and go up.”

“Not the other way round?”

“If we mess up, it’s better that it happens later. People will notice wolves flying out from the upper floors. Alex, you got your level?”

“Bro.” The goofball glared.

“Fine, have fun.”

Using phones and flashlights, the group made their way to the girls’ bathroom. Out of habit, Will looked about, almost expecting the coach to appear out of somewhere. Alex wasn’t nearly as worried, entering the bathroom without the slightest hesitation.

“All done,” he said after a few moments. “You go, sis.”

Nine times out of ten, Helen would have rolled her eyes. This time, though, she retained her focus. After the many loops since Will had entered the scene, she had finally gained something she’d lost since Danny’s death—a real purpose. The boy hadn’t promised that he’d find the purpose of the game, as Daniel had, or that he’d solve the whole mystery. He was just following the steps that eternity presented to them, and in the short term, that was a lot better than doing nothing. In the process, there was even a chance that they discovered the reason for the former rogue’s death.

Both Will and Jace took out a weapon, standing in the corridor in wait. A few muffled sounds came from the bathroom, intensified by the overall silence of the hall. About ten seconds later, Helen emerged, followed by Alex.

“What happened?” Will put away his knife.

“Sadge,” the goofball replied. “No loop drop.”

“I climbed up a level,” Helen replied.

“Good. Now we start hunting wolves. First time we all kill one. Then we see how it goes.”

Avoiding any rooms with mirrors, the group made their way to the staircase, then continued to the basement. There was no sign of any guards. Alex had assured them such would be no problem, but even so, Will and Jace remained on edge.

The first wolf room was the same that the two had gone to train in. Since the pattern was known, Alex was the first to go in and instantly throw a mirror piece on the floor to form a trap. On cue, the first wolf emerged.

TRAP ACTIVATED

The creature froze still as if it had stepped on fly paper. Quickly, Helen dashed up to it and punched it in the side of the head. There was a loud cracking sound. The beast’s head swung to the side, dislocated from its spine. A moment later, the entire thing collapsed to the floor.

“Move it out of there!” Will shouted.

“Where?” Helen asked as she grabbed the massive body by the neck with both hands.

“Anywhere!”

Lifting it up as if made of paper, the girl tossed it to the nearest room corner. In perfect synch, Alex threw another mirror piece. A second wolf emerged.

TRAP ACTIVATED

The trap mercilessly entangled it, same as before. It seemed that the wolves didn’t learn from observation, at least not until they left the mirror. That was good news for Will, who instantly targeted the weak spot in the creature’s throat, striking there with his knife. There was a quick death gurgle.

Two Level Up messages became visible on the mirror. So far, things were working as planned. Unfortunately, there was no time for celebration.

“Toss it.” Will quickly dashed out of the room.

Knowing what she was supposed to do, Helen grabbed the second dead body and threw it in the direction of the first. The corpse slammed into the wall, then fell down onto the previous one, displacing a few old chairs in the storage room.

“Jace, you’re up,” Will said as Alex tossed another piece of mirror in place.

“You don’t have to tell me.” The jock grinned.

TRAP ACTIVATED

A new wolf emerged, then quickly died as a large knife was plunged into its throat. The attack wasn’t nearly as precise as Will’s, nor as strong as Helen’s, making Jace consider using a spiked club in future. With the skills of his class, making one wouldn’t be a problem, especially since there were more than enough bats in the gym.

“He—” Will began.

“I know.” Hellen dragged the creature’s body away from the mirror. With two wolves occupying a section of the room, finding a place for the third one was a bit tricky.

The girl picked up the wolf and was about to toss it to the relatively free part of the room when the final wolf emerged.

This wasn’t planned. Reacting on instinct, Will dashed in using his rogue’s reflexes and pulled Jace and Helen to the side. He was just about to yell out to Alex, but the goofball had already vanished. A blur appeared next to the wolf.

STAB

Surprise attack.

Damage increased by 1000%

Fatal wound inflicted.

STAB

Surprise attack.

Damage increased by 1000%

Fatal wound inflicted.

Gashes appeared all over the wolf as it fell to the ground with an unnerving whimper.

“Got ‘em,” Alex smiled.

“For real?” Will found himself whispering. This was another time he had seen the goofball being a bit scary. “Okay, now we get our levels,” he said.

One by one, everyone tapped the mirror. Each time they did, a level up disappeared. When the last one was gone, the mirror acquired a green tint.

“Go ahead, man,” Jace invited Will. “Your plan, your reward. I get the next one.”

It was an unexpected gesture. Since no one approached the mirror, Will did so.

WOLF PACK REWARD (random)

DARK VISION: see in complete darkness.

“Dark vision,” he said. That was rather useful for once.

“Lucky bastard.” Jace smirked, then tapped him on the back. “Do you keep that forever?”

“No,” Helen said.

“Sometimes,” Alex said along with her.

The two looked at each other.

“Depends, bro. Most end with the loop, some continue on.”

“Isn’t there a way to tell?”

“Nah, bro. If you have them, you have them. You’ll know in the next loop.”

“Any permanent ones you have?”

“Nah, bro. But Danny had.”

Everyone looked at the goofball.

“Full freedom of movement. He told me it let him go beyond his area without penalty. Big oof, though. It’s bad going out.”

Nothing concrete was said, but Will had a feeling that such an action might have attracted other players of eternity. Such worries were for later, though.

“Okay, so now we go searching for goblins. Alex goes first to trap the area. Helen follows. I’m support, and Jace…” he paused for a moment. What was Jace good for in the present circumstances? “Jace will analyze the loot drops we get.”

“Analysis?!” The jock didn’t sound pleased.

“You’re the only one that can do it.”

“And we’ve gotten how many drops after all this time?” Everyone remained silent. “So, you’re telling me to stay in the back and do nothing?”

“Sorry, Jace. You’ll still get the wolf levels, but yeah. At least until you get some better skills.”

“That’s bullshit, man!” The jock raised his hand, ready to slam it into the wall. A moment of reflection, though, and he quickly lowered it back again. Before joining eternity, he had punched walls all the time in anger. Doing so now came with a whole new level of pain. “Next loop, I get the rogue and you take the crafter!”

“Deal.” The boy suspected he might regret it, but it was the best way to resolve the momentary tension. Besides, who knows? Maybe they’d be lucky enough to complete the tutorial.

“Yo, bro,” Alex joined in. “Hints said that there are seven hidden weapons somewhere here. When we find them, we’ll definitely need you.”

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “That’s right.”

He vaguely remembered parts of what the mirror piece had shown them once all four had touched its surface together. There was what Alex had said—that there were seven hidden weapons that would help in the fight against the boss. However, there was also a mention that each cleared room would come with a reward. Helen and Alex had claimed there had been a scoreboard, but no practical reward. The question was whether they were telling the truth.