Y.O.W

Chapter 6: A New World

He jolted upright, flared around, and screamed. He rubbed his hands over his chest expecting severe pain, but there was none. Gasping for air, he blinked rapidly a few times. I'm alive? I'm alive! When he calmed down, he looked around and froze. He wasn't in his apartment, but back in his tent he'd set up in Y.O.W. What happened? Did I dream that I was having a heart attack? The memory of the pain felt too real. How did I log into Y.O.W?

"Status," he commanded, but nothing happened. He tried again, but nothing. "Um, Inventory."

Nothing. That's weird. He scanned his tent and found a large backpack. His staff was leaning against the bag. Why is my staff not in my inventory? He picked up his staff and inspected the rest of the tent. Is this Y.O.W's way of adding a new penalty? I can't open status or inventory. He tried the backpack first and dug around in it. There were potions and small items that should have been in his inventory. Plus a small pouch he didn't recognize. He opened the pouch and found coins in it. Picking up one of the gold coins, he felt the smooth metal in his palm. When did Y.O.W start making their currency physical? That's a pain. He put the coins back in the bag and inspected the rest of the tent. There wasn't any useful information.

"Hmm, oh. Log out!" He commanded. Nothing happened. "Emergency Override."

Silence. That can't be good. He grabbed his staff and crawled out of the tent. I need to find a game master and let them know I can't log out. He glanced around what should have been Beast Forest. His brow furrowed in confusion at the sight before him. The trees weren't their usual green but were in full bloom. A playful breeze rustled the branches and knocked some buds off. Pink cherry blossoms floated down around him. What's going on? Is this some sort of event?

A growl came from the bushes and an enormous cat like monster with yellow eyes dripping blood from its mouth crawled out. He recognized the monster as a Cat Claw, but its tag wasn't showing up above its head. Their average level was 10. He sighed and held out his staff. You're not even worthy of my Death spell. Might as well just freeze it to death.

"Fro—" The weirdest sensation like a massive sucking of his energy occurred in his arm. "Aah!"

He dropped to the ground in surprise. The Cat Claw growled and lowered its haunches before springing at him. In a second, the monster was on top of him. Its sharp fangs ripped into his shoulder. He screamed out in pain as fangs entered his flesh and blood spurted from his shoulder. My pain level shouldn't be this high! Blood? Y.O.W doesn't make players bleed! The pain seared through him and the monster bite harder. Help, I don't want to die again! He struggled to get the monster off him, but it only resulted in the monster biting even deeper. Ren cried out in pain and tears poured out of his eyes. Y.O.W doesn't do tears either! What's going on? Is this Hell?

"Idiot boy! Why did you stop your incantation?"

Large armored hands appeared and grabbed the Cat Claw's mouth. They pried the monster's mouth open and tossed it off him. Ren looked up at his savior and recognized the familiar silver and black armor of the Amore Guards. The man looked down at him with sharply defined features, too clear for an NPC's. He had a brown shaggy beard, a square shaped face, and deep blue eyes. Isn't he the burly guard that kicked me out of Amore last night? How is he talking to me right now?

"Quickly, cast again!" He ordered Ren. "This time don't stop the incantation!"

Ren flinched. An uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach from being yelled at made him want to run and hide, but he resisted the urge. He tried to grab his staff, but his arm wouldn't move.