Chương 4: Mom Made an ARG Nightmare

Sid slapped the sand from the mysteriously clean and dry habit. At least the island wasn't cruel enough to leave him caked in wet sand. He stood up slowly, careful not to give himself vertigo after the extended dip in the sea. The island's shore was a pristine white. The only impurities present seemed to be debris from the broken ships of other unfortunate sailors. Not too far from him lay the piled remains of Allani's Italian speedboat.

It was just at the end of the tide's reach, the broken boards and machinery being gently pulled back and forth. He took a few steps forward and blocked the sun from his eyes to get a better look. Once he focused on the wreckage, he noticed a more forceful movement coming from the center of the pile. His breath hitched and he ran forward. Something buried in the sand caught his foot on the way, sending him face first back into the dreaded dust. He looked back and saw his leg resting on a purple briefcase.

Hold on there! You're gonna want to pick a skill before you go any further. Ring's a dangerous place, after all, and I'd rather not have you die on me before you even get started. The blue screen returned and hovered just in front of his face. It followed him as he scrambled to push himself up. The briefcase made a decent enough place to sit.

"Mom, I am really not in the mood to play your bullshit ARG! I need to go help Allani." He pointed to the moving pile of debris. Oh, she'll be fine! I'm not leaving her out of the fun. She'll get a skill, too! Now, I need you to be a good boy and pick one of these two skills: [Board Vision] lvl 1 or [Opening Theory] lvl 1 Sid sighed.

"Is this supposed to be VR chess or something?" Kind of, but I'm the only one that sees the board. Unless you choose [Board Vision], of course. Let me give you a better idea. [Board Vision] lvl 1: Allows you see another pawn's system interface. At level one, it can only be activated on one ally. [Opening Theory] lvl 1: Allows you to predict the first move of one opponent at the start of combat.

These skills only affect other pawns, not residents of the island that were simply born here or tagged along with a proper invitee.

"I guess if I have to play, I'd like to see the board." Pawn Sidor Sokolov learned [Board Vision] lvl 1"Great. Cool. Can I go now?" Fine. Go get your friend and then I'll continue your orientation. Sid carefully hurried to the shipwreck, watching the ground for anything else hiding under the sand. The boat was completely trashed. Shattered parts of its hull were arranged in a neat line as if someone had put them that way on purpose.

Two hands were peeking out from one side and dragging the body under the sheets of metal forward.

"Allani!" Sid kneeled down and looked under the debris, finding a pair of green eyes staring back at him. He grabbed onto both hands and started pulling.

"Hang on – agh – I'll get you out of here." Sid wasn't particularly strong, but Allani already had done most of the work by inching forward enough to see the sun. With a few heavy tugs, her torso came free, but the sudden release of tension made Sid stumble back a few steps. He looked up to see Allani barrel roll towards the sky, allowing her to use her now free arms to lift the metal chunk off of her waist. She rose to her feet and placed her hands on her lower back.

She started bending backwards into the pressure until Sid heard a loud, satisfying crack come from her spine. Allani then grabbed her neck and twisted it to the right and left.

"Ah, shit." She looked over the wreckage of her once beautiful speedboat.

"I do not have the money to replace that."

"Sorry…"

"Huh? What are you apologizing for? I'd rather have you in one piece than a boat. Even a very expensive boat." Sid felt his heart skip and turned away to hide the blush rising to his face. He rubbed the side of his head and pretended he was scanning the shore for any signs of life or civilization.

"I tripped over a briefcase earlier. I'll go check it for anything useful."

"Good idea. I'll see what I can salvage from this thing." He walked back towards the spot he woke up in and easily found the purple briefcase sticking out of the sand like a sore thumb. As he pulled it out, he took one more look at Allani. She had to count as an ally. Maybe testing the new skill he got was a good idea. He couldn't see himself separating from Allani in whatever game this was, anyway. [Board Vision] activated on Allani Abbascia.

Role: [The Clown] Some may laugh, but your acrobatic skills and raw charm are no joke. There's a reason people pay to see you play the fool. Rarity: Very Rare. Rank: Pawn I Level one [0/100 XP] WARNING: If the number of pawns with your role exceeds 5, it must be brought back down within 5 days or one will be eliminated by random chance. There are currently 0 other pawns with your role. Note for [The Mad Mystic] using [Board Vision]: This pawn deeply trusts you!

You've gained 30 XP for hiding your deceitful nature well. (80/100) Sid smiled at the trust XP bonus before turning his attention to the warning notice. He hadn't seen anything like that, though he was told his role was unique. Perhaps the interface was assuming there was no chance he'd have to worry about it.

"Elimination" was an interesting word choice. Knowing his mother, it was either death or something worse. Allani had to have seen the message herself, but she didn't bring it up to Sid, nor did she mention seeing the same blue screen he did. He turned away and let the screen fade from his view. With zero other clowns on the island, hopefully they'd be long gone from the island before Allani would have anything to worry about.

When he turned back to the purple briefcase, it shone a bright light into his eye, refusing to be ignored any longer. He opened the two metal clasps and opened the case. Resting inside was a rose pendant, the same type pendant he already had resting around his neck. He took it out of the case to see if there was anything useful hiding underneath it, but as his finger pressed into the rose's center, a switchblade emerged from the bottom. He heard a whisper in his ear as another blue screen snuck into his view.

[Rina Rustle] Psst. Sid. Put that on. Sid rolled his eyes in the largest, most exaggerated circle any teenage boy had ever managed in the history of time. But, a pendant with a switchblade in it was more useful than a normal one, so he obeyed. He pocketed the old pendant just in case he found someone he could sell it to. The new one slipped over his neck with ease, the string holding it together, stretching like a retractable lanyard. Sidor Sokolov obtained the unique artifact [The Madman's Medal].

At your current [Pawn I] rank, [The Madman's Medal] adds a bonus of +1 to your presence score. It's also a knife. Handy, right?

"Presence?" Ah, yes. We can go through your attributes now that you have your artifact. Calculating now! If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Presence: 17 (+1), Learning: 14, Resolve: 12, Mobility: 8, Brawn: 6, Resonance: NULL"Mom! You're fucking statting me out now?" I'm not choosing your stats. This is just how you are, according to my flawless analysis! Charming and smart, but quite lacking in physical ability.

Looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, except your resonance is quite abysmal. I'm not even gonna bother calculating your magic compatibility, I know for a fact it'll be a big fat zero. He didn't want to engage with this nonsense, but a hint of curiosity tugged at the corner of his mind. He had never fully understood why he was incapable of feeling the connection with the world that fueled magic.

It made him a bit envious, not necessarily over the magic, but of his classmates' ability to feel like they were part of something bigger than themselves.

"What exactly is resonance in this context, and why don't I have any of it?" It represents your inner harmony with the universe. How in sync you move with the ebb and flow of life. As for your lack of it, that's something you'll have to figure out on your own. Their conversation was interrupted by Allani walking back into view. The screen faded away and let her take its place. She clearly hadn't seen it floating there earlier.

"Find anything?" Allani lifted her arm and a bat with a fabric witch doll at the top swung over her shoulder.

"All I got is my marotte. I found it in this briefcase under the debris. I guess I had it stored there, but I don't remember putting it in a briefcase," she looked down at the case Sid was still holding, "especially one in the exact same shade of purple as yours."

"Careful Allani, purple is the devil's color!" Sid chuckled and tossed his empty briefcase away, expecting Allani to laugh along with him. That's what she would've done when they were kids. Instead, she covered her mouth and quickly tossed her own briefcase to the side. Right. He was supposed to be a holy mystic now. Purple was actually off limits for him.

"Anyways…I didn't do much better than you. I found a clean pendant, so I replaced my old one, but it does have a little switchblade in it."

"A switchblade?" Sid pressed into the center of the rose again, releasing the blade.

"I don't know who this belonged to before, but they were practical for a mystic. The string even stretches so it's easy to use while it's being worn."

"I guess we have no choice but to go deeper. Maybe there's civilization here somewhere." She looked up at the giant purple light still swirling above the forest.

"Maybe not towards that thing. I doubt you'd want to go near something so purple."

"Right…" Since they lacked any tools required for venturing into a wild forest, they started by continuing along the shoreline. Sid looked to the other side of the island and saw what looked like the silhouette of a building atop a mountain. If they had to hike up that thing to get to civilization, he was fucked.

"Sid, look!" He turned to Allani and saw her pointing at a booth sitting right at the border between the shore and the forest. A woman with wavy black hair and brown skin sat safely inside its glass walls, happily typing away on a laptop. Behind her booth was a linear clearing in the forest trees that looked like a road. Her dark brown eyes flicked up at the duo and she straightened up. Her hand went up in the air and she started vigorously waving with a smile.

Allani responded with her own wave, but didn't move closer yet.

"Hi!"

"Hello!" the woman shouted back.

"Are you two new arrivals?"

"I guess you could say that. Why are you in a glass box?" She smiled.

"It's for protection. Things can get pretty nasty here. Looks like you have a holy man with you, though. I'm here to point newcomers seeking safety in the right direction." Allani looked at Sid before approaching the strange woman. He gave her a slight nod, as the woman appeared to be genuine to his instincts. It wasn't like they had any better options, anyway. She was keeping her hands out in the open where they could see them too, signaling that she was unarmed.

When they reached her booth, she slid two pamphlets out of a small window cut in the glass. A plaque with the name "Dalisay Sulit" engraved on it sat on her desk.

"I'm sure you two have some questions about this place. Have you both received your roles?" Allani's eyes widened.

"Wait, the thing that blue screen told me about?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Oh my God." Allani leaned over and put her hands on her knees.

"I thought I was having hallucinations. That scared the shit out of me." How could Sid have forgotten?! Allani's late father had schizophrenia. She must have been worried that she was starting to manifest symptoms herself. No wonder she kept it hidden from him.

"Sorry, I should've mentioned that I also saw them," he said.

"I'm not going to ask you to tell me anything about your role or skillset, but it's something you may want to share if you plan on coming to our sanctuary."

"Is Ms. Soko – I mean, the thing calling herself Rina – telling the truth about these weird abilities and attributes?" Allani asked. Sid was surprised she still remembered his mom's voice.

"I know it's hard to believe, but she is. She's also serious about that role cap…We've lost a lot of good people to it." Dalisay looked at Sid and frowned.

"I'm afraid mystic is quite a common role. If that's your role, the warning would've told you that there's six of you on the island now with your arrival."

"Yeah, I saw that," he lied. Allani's green eyes widened once again, making Sid feel immediately guilty, but he didn't want to reveal his role to her just yet. His mom's description of the role made it sound somewhat sinister. Allani may not have approved of him using it, and boy, did he want to use it. He didn't want to choose between Allani and the supposed power of his role just yet. Preferably, he'd never have to. Dalisay shook her head.

"I'm very sorry. It's a cruel game Rina plays here. Of course, you're still welcome to join our sanctuary. It's a monastery called Embrace. You can meet the other five mystics we have…"

"I guess that's really the only option, right? Sid needs a monastery." Allani's words felt like venom on his eardrums. He'd have to get used to the feeling if he wanted to blend in. He was finally free from St Jane's, yet here he was, continuing to live as a mystic. Hopefully, the head mystic wasn't as distasteful as the ones at St Jane's.

"Of course." He gave the woman a pained smile.

"Do the people at the sanctuary speak Modern Military Standard like you?"

"Oh, the island actually translates everything for us. I'm speaking Tagalog right now, but you're hearing whatever language you're most proficient with."

"Of course it does!" Sid's eye was twitching through his smile. His mom was really spending a lot of time and energy on whatever the hell this island was. Fuck him, the island was her real baby.

"I guess we'd better get going before the sun sets. How do we get to the sanctuary?" Dalisay pointed at the road behind her booth.

"Just head down that path. Don't walk into the woods or you might get lost. Also, be on the lookout for any ruffians. We do our best to keep the road safe but some may slip through our patrols." Sid and Allani said their goodbyes and started walking down the dirt path. The purple light was off to the right from where they were, so thankfully, they weren't heading anywhere near it. Mosquitos circled the air above their heads, making Sid thankful for his habit for once.

Allani's spaghetti-strap top was not doing her any favors.

"Try to stay close to me, Sid," she said, as she swiped at the bugs landing on her arms. She didn't have to tell him twice. He stayed right by her side and fought the urge to grab onto her arm like boys did in the movies. He felt more alive standing next to Allani than he ever did in the last ten years at St Jane's, despite how boring the thin dirt path ahead was. Rows of trees started to thin out as they got further down the road.

They entered a clearing where they could finally see the building they had been walking towards. The monastery was made up of rectangular towers with golden onion domes on top. A metal rose sprouted out of each dome. Sliding wooden doors were just visible in the distance. Rows of smoke were rising behind the structure from varying distances. Sid leaned down to catch his breath, happy that the journey was almost over. Of course, that meant resigning himself to living in another monastery indefinitely.

As he stood up, he looked to the side and saw a dirt ledge just next to the clearing. He noticed movement at the edge of it and caught the figure of a woman lying flat as if waiting for unfortunate travelers to pass below her.

"Allani!" He pointed at the figure peering over at them from above. His peripheral vision caught another one emerging from a small pit dug in the dirt. The scarred woman rushing out of it grabbed him before he could even put his arm down. She put him in a headlock and pressed a knife to his neck. Sid could hear the shallow breathing coming from her mouth. She smiled at him, but it looked more desperate than sinister as her lips trembled.

Allani started reaching for the marotte she had fastened to her back, but the woman tightened her hold on Sid's neck before she could take it.

"Easy there. We just want your healer here. Go on and keep walking towards the sanctuary." Allani put her hands up.

"Why don't you put the knife down and try asking the nice man if he'd heal you?"

"We're keeping this one. The assholes at the monastery refused us, and we're looking for more than a single healing session." Sid looked at the other woman standing on the ledge.

"You two do look pretty beat up. I don't think you can afford to kill me right now. Who knows when the next unguarded mystic will cross your path. We typically only heal the righteous, but I may make an exception for someone that removes the knife from my neck!" It wasn't the most elegant argument he ever made, but it got the woman holding him to loosen her grip on the knife just long enough. Allani took the opportunity to bolt forward and shove her off of him.

She stumbled backwards and barely caught herself before falling into the pit she came out of. Allani grabbed her marotte and stood in front of Sid.

"Stay behind me." Oh dear! Oh my! It looks like it's time for a.... [RINA R-R-R-RUMBLE!] New objective: Survive this battle. Optional goal: Slaughter your opponents.