Chapter 3: No Way Out
It was a different room. This room had no doors and no other clue except for a drawer handle on one side, a blue keyhole on the front, and a green rectangle on the other side.
"Looks simple." Migs says, pointing out the fact that the clues were obvious. "The knob on one side, the drawer opposite it's end. Key must be in there so we have to hurry and unlock it so we can open the door in the middle."
"Rooms are not always like this. It's simply too good to be true." John exclaims, "I can already tell, there's something fishy in here."
"Let's start." Claire takes command.
I walk over to the knob on the left side of the room, Migs following suit, as I try to solve the mystery of why it is only a mere knob. I look closely, the knob is round and shiny, but there is a small button beneath it. Above it, I also noticed a small fissure. Thinking it was safe, I pressed the button beneath it and it jolted forward, the fissure, revealing a secret compartment. The compartment had consisted of a card reader. My guess, it ought to be the key. Before I could report this, the knob began to open up, fine lines in the round knob now turned out to be the edges of its panels, extending out and forming a tube. A timer then appeared on the ceiling starting at 5 minutes and I just knew that our lives were now at stake.
I rush over to the other side and alert our captain of what was happening.
"Oh great, now we have a problem. We have to escape before the 5 minute duration or we're all dead." John complains.
"No matter, we simply have to find out how we can open this panel." Claire answers.
"Its not a panel." Migs interrupts. "Its a drawer."
"But the knob on the other end is a fake, how do we open it?"
"There's always a secret behind it's design."
As Migs said that, I came across a circular crevice at the bottom right of the rectangle. I quickly placed my finger at it and pushed it in. We there heard a loud hiss before the rectangle jutted out, revealing a drawer. We opened it and found a bottle of wine and a flashlight.
"What's with the alcohol?" John asks no one in particular.
The paper is on the bottle, I can tell that there is a message behind it but it seemed to be part of the glass bottle. it was inside the bottle so the power remained flat.
"There's a message in it." I state. "But first, who drinks here?"
At this question, everyone looks at John.
"Looks like my guess was right." Migs says.
"No, it's just that I don't like wine and Marshall doesn't like it too." Claire corrects.
"Ah."
"So I have to drink it up?" John asks.
"You got it! We need to see if the flashlight works too."
John begins to drink it down while Claire checks the flashlight. "It works."
Before we know it, the bottle is nearly empty and John is drunk.
"We have two minutes remaining guys, someone must drink this." I say, Looking around.
"I'll drink that." Migs interrupts. He drinks a mouthful before complaining. "Its strong!" then chugs up the rest. "Here you go." He says, face red and grimaced. I quickly flash the light towards the paper, from the opposite end of the bottle. The message read "Cover" and "Black Light". I then looked for the source of light in the room but the game lights were external so we had to find a way to block it off.
Surrounding the bottle, I break the glass from the flashlight to reveal a blacklight torch hidden beneath. Now with two minutes on the clock, we read the message and it said "No way out"
"No way out? How come?"
Everyone was panicking. I sat down and began to think.
"Guys, what if the timer was not a trap, but a way out."
"Poison leaks from that, or if not, water. If it's not a trap, explain the the poison gas symbol on the tank beneath the drawer." Claire says.
"Hold breath. Maybe answer comes after trap." John slurrs.
"Of course! Everyone will have to wait this out."
"We'll take the risk mate." Migs says, pulling his shirt over his nose and mouth. Claire and John follow this and I keep my eyes on the timer as it begins to run out. Then it hit me.
"The cork!"
I grab the cork and plug it into the tube from where the knob had once been. Before we knew it, the timer had stopped and the knob returned to it's original state. I turned it before a door opened next to it. Inside was a key and it unlocked the wall with the keyhole. After such, a door appeared above us and a ladder was dropped.
"Looks like we're climbing." I say before taking the lead. But as I hold onto the first rung, poison gas begun to rush into our room in the form of smoke. It came from the tunnel out.
Now the challenge was whether we could make it through the tunnel with a drunk and escape the fate of the poison.
But before I could get up and plan something, I was enveloped in darkness.
"Hey! Wake up!"
I jolt up, hittng Claire's nose in the process. I grimaced as the pain in my head finally struck and I felt as if I was the one who had gotten drunk.
"Apparently, the liquor had a substance that made me immune to the poison." John exclaims from the background.
I can hear Migs and John bickering over the liquor from the room.
Then it struck me. "Claire, sorry, but where are we?"
"Idiot!" she shouts at me. Guess I deserved that since I did hurt her nose. "I don't know why I actually liked you.." she mutters under her breath. She turns her head away from me, hiding her blush. I could tell since her ears were slowly turning red. "Anyway, we are in the next room. John dragged us all up here. It looked like you took most of the poison's effect since you were the one who got directly exposed to it."
"Guess that makes sense. I did practically climb into a pipe that spurred the gas at my face."
She bends over again and touches my forehead. "Does your head hurt?"
"Yeah. I guess."
She tucks a strand of her hair behind her. "Oh." she seemed to run out of words. Her face flushes red and she faces away. "I should've kissed him! Idiot!" She mutters to herself.
I pretend not to hear and ask her instead. "What was that? Have you figured this room out yet?"
"Jerk!" She shouts.
I quickly retract, moving back.
"Its a library. Luckily, you're awake now. We still have 18 minutes."
"A library?" I take this oportunity to take a glance at our surroundings. Surely, we were in the middle of a library lobby. "What should we do now? We gotta figure it out before the time runs out."
"Hey! Marshall! You okay now?" Migs calls from one end. He seemed to be studying a bookshelf.
"Yeah. I'm good. Figure anything out yet?" I shout back, getting to my feet. As I did, the library suddenly had a strange vibe to it.
"You feel that guys?" John asks, sobering up.
"What's happening?" Claire asks.
"Shhh! Its a library!" Migs scolds. "We're supposed to be quiet! What hapened might have been the resuly of Marshall shouting." He says, approaching us.
"Jerk." Claire says in a hushed tone, pinching my arm.
"Should I tell him?" Migs asked Claire.
Her face flushed red and she violently shook her head. "To hell with it!"
"About what?" John asks. "The thing with Marshall?"
"Shut up John! To hell with you too!"
I let out a chuckle as they argue in hushed tones. I walkup to the shelf that Migs was inspecting earlier then I notice something was missing.
"You noticed it too?" Migs confirms from behind me.
"Yeah. There are bars here on the 6th level but there is no step ladder."
"What's it mean?"
"We have to climb."
As I said this, I could smell the fire coming from one corner of the room.
"Bad news, there's a fire. We gotta act quickly."
"Bad news indeed. Since we gotta go up, without a step ladder, how do we accomplish that?" Migs asks.
I scan the room and locate the source of the fire. "Its coming from the far left corner. The shelves have wheels so we have to move them away from the fire to prevent it from spreading so fast."
[Achievement Unlocked: Quick Thinking]
[Title Aquired: Strategist]
Looks like I was able to do something. Spending my 2 points on Intelligence did help.
[Level Up! Player has reached level 2]
[Prize: [Chest] Common; 2 additional points.]
I quickly checked my stats and it all increased by 3 points! Except for the additional stat points, I am much quicker and stronger now than before.
I look over to see Claire and John pushing a shelfaway from the fire, but the other corner was still too close. I decided I should push that instead.
"Wait! Marshall! Can you push that by yourself?"
"Yeah, I can!" I glance over to Migs who is trying to figure out how to climb. "Migs! Take the books off the shelf! use it as a step ladder! We'll reinforce it with other shelves soon!"
With that, he begun to just pull the books out and tossing them aside. The shelves weren't very big but they were heavy because of the books.
As I pushed, the shelf felt lighter and I thought it was gping to be easy, but I was wrong. Not nearly far enough, the shelf I was pushing met another shelf. I had forgotten that they had rows of shelves parallel to each other. I pushed harder and soon, I was pushing 4 shelves. I was now moving at John's and Claire's pace as they pushed their first shelf away. Still, I kept pushing. I still needed a meter before the fire would be far enough, and within that meter were two more shelves. I pushed with all the strength I could muster while the fire from behind me began to nibble on my shirt. With no time to mind that small fire, I relied on my physical defence to hold it's damage while I pushed. Before I knew it, I had covered more than what I intended to do.
[Physical Exhaustion reached!]
What?! Now I'm exhausted? I glance over to see how John and Claire are doing and see Migs pushing as well. They are still at their second shelf. I need to help them!
[Level Up! Player has reached level 3]
[Achievement Unlocked: Strain]
[Rewards: [Recovery] Potions (5); (Mana)[Recovery] Potions (5); Full Restoration; 2 additional points; New Slot: [Spells and Runes] (Unlocked)]
I can cast spells now! But that's not the need yet, I must help them first.
I rush over to them and pull Claire and John out of the fire, their skin burnt from the heat. "Here take these." I hand each of them a [Recovery] Potion. "These should help. Rest a while. I'll handle this."
I get right back up and help Migs push the shelves. Surprisingly, the shelves were lighter and we effortlessly pushed them a good 2 meters far. I went back to my line to push them back another meter as well.
"Is the shelf empty?"
"Yes, lets reinforce it now so we could get out of here."
I then arrange four shelves arund it, each perpendicular to the empty shelf. Positioned both in front and behind the empty shelf, we had a sturdy ladder. I proceeded to call on John and Claire but the potions were [Recovery] and not [Instant Health] so they were still on the floor, healing up. John looked like he could still hold on but Claire had passed out. The good thing is that their burns had healed up, only their stamina needed recovery.
As I walked over, John got onto his feet.
"How do you feel so far?"
"My limbs are like cloth. I can't feel them, its like they're hanging off. Standing is all I can do."
"That numb huh. Take your time. Migs is on the second floor, looking for a way out."
"Sure thing. But what about Claire?"
"I'll take care of that."
I kneel over to where Claire lay and pick her up before turning around only to see that the fire had intensified.
"It's a good thing we distanced the bookshelves, it will take more time to spread which should be enough for us to escape."
I glance back up at Migs. "Hurry! Time is our enemy! We can't have anyone die again!"
Migs looks around some more before pointing at the spot directly accross from where he climbed.
"I'm sure of it now. That painting is hiding a path, there is no other way!"
John scampers up to where Migs was and tries to run accross through the round balcony of the second floor. Sadly, this turned out to be a bad idea. Both left and right balconies collapsed as they tried to approach them. John nearly missed his footing and quickly recovered himself.
"Shelves!" I shouted, running for a shelf in the back. I dragged the shelf over to create a walkway from the ladder to the other side, creating a bridge to walk on. "Hurry accross!" I said as I continued to pull more shelves to aid in bridging the two. Since the bridge was perpendicular to the shelf we used as a ladder, I pushed it so it would lean on the shelf walkway I built. With the fire now coming from all corners of the room, it was a matter of moments before we could escape. As I finish my job, Migs and John have uncovered a large ventilation shaft. I carried Claire on my arms and jumped straight onto a shelf before arriving with John and Migs.
"Its stuck, we cant get it off!" Migs yells.
John keeps pulling at it but to no avail, the vent cpver wouldnt budge.
It was around this time that Claire finally gained consiousness. "Marshall? What happened?"
"Claire! We must hurry. The way out is here. Can you stand?" I asked in a rush. Being on the second floor, it was easier to suffocate so time was going to be a bigger problem.
"I can, thank you." I set her down and help her establish her balance. "This is the way out?"
"Yes, and I must open the vent cover to help us pass."
I grab the vent cover with both hands and pull with all my might, dents began to form and soon, the whole cover was torn off.
"Quick! Get accross! We don't have much time left!"
With thas said, Migs quickly climbs in but I give him something before he leaves.
John follows after and soon Claire is inside too.
"Come in Marshall! The fire is spreading!"
I try to climb in but the entire second floor collapses below my feet (well, what's left of it anyway).
"Marshall!"
John grabs Claire and pulls her in. "We must make it through! Otherwise, we'll lose both of you!"
She hesitantly follows John back inside when she hears something.
"It's gonna blow!" John hollers.
"I know! Just give me a sec!" Migs says, trying to open the other vent gate. "He was right, we needed this."
Migs pulls out the [Iron War Hammer](artifact) from his inventory. He swings it at full force and destroys the other vent gate. "Come on!"
John was almost running, if it weren't for the low ceiling, to the wnd when Claire screamed. He turned around just in time to see the fire entering the vent, ready to engulf them into ashes. "Shit!"
Just then, I decided it was time to act. Now having learnt the [Basic Skill: Blink] and the [Defensive Spell: Iron Skin], I quickly blinked to where Claire was and used my body as a shield to get them out. "Go! Hurry!"
"Marshall!" Claire called out but John pulled her out of the vent and out of the way of the fire. I felt my flesh slowly melt in the heat but I didn't mind. I had to make sure they were all out of the way of the fire when it blasts through the vents.
"But what if they aren't in a safe spot after all?"
I cursed under my breath and ran forward, my [Blink] skill now ready to be used again, and went towards their direction. I jumped at the three of them and wished my plan worked before using [Blink] once again to transport all of us a few paces further away from the fire. Fortunately, I was right, and the fire burned all the way to the spot next to us, the heat radiating giving my skin some minor burns before is dissipated and dissapeared along with the vent. The adrenaline eush was over and I could feel my body go limp as my [Iron Skin] deactivated. I fell on my knees and bent forward, only to be caught by Claire's arms.
"What were you thinking! You almost died!"
"I know. But I'm not dead yet, and so are you."
"Idiot!" she said, hitting my chest. "I didn't ask for this." I can hear her sobbing, tears falling from her eyes.
I look up at her and stroke her cheek, before giving her a small peck on her lip and giving in to the darkness.
"Welp, he's exhausted." John says.
"Hey, Marshall gave me these." Migs says, pulling out a [Recovery] Potion and the [Dragon Sword](artifact). Claire quickly took the potion to gently feed to Marshall (me, but from 3rd perspective cuz I'm passed out as of now). Meanwhile, Migs tosses the artifact to John. "This is an PvE room, there is no mistaking it."
Claire took the sword from John. "Carry him. I'll help fend off the enemy."
John sighs and picks Marshall up before carrying him on his back.
"Let's move forward." Migs says, 6 minutes remaining on the clock before refresh.
*meanwhile*
I open my eyes to an infinite blackness. No, there is no mysterious light with a voice to guide me, or an ancient spirit to help me, because my body is a game character. Built as a typical Class-Type, we choose our classes when we reach level 5. We will the receive the additional stats necessary to compensate for our chosen class. Unfortunately, the list of classes are as follows:
[Fighter]
[Marksman]
[Mage]
[Assasin ♧]
[Tank ♧]
[Sorcerer ♧]
[♤ Unlock after Special Achievement Attained ♤]
To choose one is to follow the path. The club symbol at the end of the next three classes mean they are hybrid classes. Mainly, The Assasin is both Marksman and Fighter with Tank being an advanced Fighter / Mage typeclass and Sorcerer being both Marksman and Mage. They have diffrent attributes and have their own advantages and disadvantages but what had startled me was the last one. In my screen it read : [♤ Custom Class ♤]
I then received a new set of Achievements and Titles.
[Achievement Unlocked: Rescuer]
[Title Aquired: Hero]
[Achievement Unlocked: Fast Paced]
[Title Aquired: Runner]
[Achievement Unlocked: Quick Thinking II]
[Title Upgrade: Strategist (+50%)]
...
I waited longer but looks like this is it.
I mean, why was I expecting more anyway.
I examined the Title [Hero] and its description really had me going. It was so good!
Title: [Hero] - (When Equipped) User is granted (current level × 10 - 50%) stat boost in all basic stat along with crit (+5.0%) after landing 5 successful attacks and can absorb 20% (all titles) passive effects from all (aquired) titles.
- (Active Skill) : [Heroe's Blessing] - Heals body of all debuffs and grants full recovery. (consumes mana)
I was in for a surprise. Surely, this was not a dream. Looks like I have entered my mental space in-game. I quickly create my custom class and fashion is so I can fully experience all the classes and build my strength on a stable frame. Soon, I felt it was time to wake up so I opened my eyes(my real ones) and saw that I was once again on the ground, closely being held by Claire in an awkward manner(she was litterally straddling me, holding my upper body against her chest while aiming the sword behind me).
"Urrr..."
"Oh no! Marshall has been bitten! He's one of them!" Claire screams. "That's fine! I will still fight for you!"
"Ummff..."
"Bite me already to spare me from the scary experience!" Claire was screaming, hugging me closer.
I raise my hands and grab ahold of her shoulders. She freezes and looks at me, her blood draining frm her face.
I pull my face from between her breasts and give her a hug, licking her neck.
"Is this... the end...?"
I glance up and see John snickering from behind Claire whike Migs is still swinging his weapon around. John shows Migs what was happening and they both snicker.
I give her neck a small nibble as I leave a hickey near her collarbone.
"I'm turning now... Why can't I feel it?... Is it really painless?"
I decide it was time to speak. "No."
"Oh my gosh! I can understand you! When does the pain come?"
"Never." With her feet locked behind me, and her arms around my neck, I pick up the [Dragon Sword] that she dropped and swung at the enemies behind me. I jumped up, holding her close to me as I fought off the remaining monsters until the room was cleared.
"56 seconds left!" Migs shouted at us as the door to the next room opened.
We all ran in and made it in before the timer ran out. Now, respawning at the lobby was all we needed to do but instead, a voice came up.
"Congratulations! Only one room left! After which, there will be a bonus room to complete before finally being free! Please take note that only your team and selected teams will receive this bonus room due to the rapid advancement of the team's Total Strength and Total Skill. You will no longer have a timer since you completed 3 rooms without fail. I hope you make it out alive!"
We were stunned but alas, we were back in the puzzle room.
"I thought I turned..." Claire mutters. She then pulls back her head and looks at my face. "Ow, I think its starting to get me. My neck hurts from where you bit me."
I chuckle and give her a smile. "Silly, you're not turning. I gave you a hickey. I pecked her lips once again before seeing her face turn red.
"Don't fool me! Why did you do that?!"
"Because you looked cute."
"Cute?!" her face gets even redder. "Idiot!"
"Come on, get off now, We have puzzles to solve."
With that she realizes our current position and quickly releases herself. In a hurry, she loses her balance and I had to catch her again.
At this point, John and Migs couldn't hold back their laughter anymore and fell on their butts.
"Who would have thought that this game was the only wasy our Captain would open up her feelings for Marshall?" John remarks.
"Really? I thought she was just bad at hiding her feelings!" Migs replies.
Claire burries her face in my chest as I set her on her feet again. "What did it feel like?" John asks me.
"Well, it was soft. Though I couldn't breathe, it felt really good."
Claire hits my chest. "Idiot." she says, her voice muffled by my shirt(what was left of it).
Soon, after the laughter died out, everyone moved to yheir respective puzzles; mine on the ceiling, Claire on the floor, John on the right and Migs on the left.
"Your username changed." John says, observing it.
"I equipped a title of Obsidian level."
"Already?"
"Yeah. You can see it when you check my [Player Profile].
My name is now written in Violet, the colour for the Obsidian level rank.
We seach solved our puzzles respectively and proceeded to the last room before going for the "Bonus" room. The next room had been empty and we came from one entrance. The door behind us shut and soon, the door accross from ours opened, welcoming another team over. The gates were not opened still, until the other two rooms were filled with teams.
I gave Claire the [Wind Bow] and John the [Dragon Sword]. I equipped the [Star Shield] and the [Shadow Dagger] for myself--the other two artifacts from the first room.
The [Star Shield] is a forcefield that absorbs 20% of the damage while the [Shadow Dagger] has a +3.0% critical. It should be enough. Now, I also have a mana slot which is (150/150).
Soon, the gates opened followed by a voice. "Greetings! Players! Among the four groups, one has managed to finish all the previous rooms and has only this room to complete. However, if the group's leader were slain in battle with its comrades, they shall return to the begining. All timers for the remaining groups are temporarily paused and will resume once one team is left standing. Success or failure, it is but one choice over the other. Good luck!"
After that, we got yellow bounties above our heads. Claire's at 50, John's at 30, Migs' at 20, and mine at 10(+70).
We could feel the eyes of the other teams on us and we had to come up with a strategy to make it through.
"Let's team up until they all die."
"Agreed, but what about the bounties?"
"We should split them."
"Wouldn't that be impossible-"
The teams were arguing over our bounties and were trying to destriy us, 3 to 1.
"What's the plan boss?" Migs asks me.
I turn to see everyone looking at me expectantly.
"Okay, here's the plan..."
*soon*
"Ready Teams? Start!" The voice rang off, and we scattered to our designated areas to defend our positions.
"You made a terrible mistake splitting up!" A girl from another team says, rushing for me.
Then I come to a sudden halt and turn her direction. "Maybe not."
(Slash)
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Xoffe_Louvre
Xoffe_Louvre Its all I could write at the moment. My classes start next week and I've been busy with preparations. I hope its okay.
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