After a long, awkward silence, Freya stepped in, her voice breaking the tense air. "Hold up just a moment. Before we follow you to who-knows-where, you mind telling us how this whole thing happened?"
Jett sighed, gathering his thoughts. He began explaining how they got sucked into this world, touching on the prophecy, Alok, and how Finn mistakenly activated the trials. He carefully omitted what happened why they actually got there, leaving out some crucial details.
"Alright, since you've all been brought up to speed, shall we proceed?" Matthew asked, stretching his muscles in preparation.
"Hold your horses, big guy. We still have one big issue," Aiden said, stopping him in his tracks.
Matthew, confused, asked, "And what would that be?"
"Use your head, dummy. We have to complete fourteen trials within three years. If that's the case, then everything we'll be asked to do will probably take us the full three years to complete," Elora scoffed, crossing her arms as she explained.
"Hold on, that means..." Finn's eyes widened as he quickly understood what they were implying.
"Exactly, we're stuck here until it's all over," Aiden said, his voice heavy with resignation.
"Maybe time moves differently here, don't you think?" Morrigan asked, her voice wavering with a mix of hope and anxiety.
Rosa turned to Alok, pitching the question with a glance.
Alok shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid not. Both worlds are connected, and so time flows the same in both."
"Well, can we leave and come back later? I'm getting kinda hungry," Evelina chipped in, rubbing her tummy, trying to lighten the mood despite the gravity of the situation.
"My apologies, but you can't leave until the trial is done," Alok replied, his face a mask of stoic indifference.
"That can't be true. There has to be a way, right?" Evelina's voice trembled with desperation.
"That's total BS! First, you threaten us, and then you trap us? I ought to give that master of yours a piece of my mind," Elora fumed, her frustration boiling over.
"That annoying angel said we'd know more about this world because we've encountered it before, but from what I see, the movies and TV shows are nothing like this," Morrigan complained, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.
"Damn right you are, and the only useful people here are the ones that played the game. I don't even remember there being a light novel; maybe I would have read it," Rosa added, her tone laced with sarcasm.
'Well, duh... The producers thought that cutting down important details from the original source material would be cheaper and ended up filtering the real story. You basically got served diluted orange juice without realizing it,' Jett thought as he listened to Morrigan and Rosa complain.
'They did publish the novel but stopped after a year, but the sales were so bad that you had to personally beg the publishing company to provide you with copies after paying a hefty price because they stopped printing and threw away the source material.
I almost drained my account just to get it after stumbling on it by chance,' Jett sighed internally, his thoughts tinged with a mix of frustration and resignation.
Jett had always had a soft spot for WAR BOUND. He couldn't stand when people talked about it like it was trash or tried to badmouth it. It was a world he cherished deeply, a realm where he'd spent countless hours, and hearing it dismissed so casually irked him to no end.
Rey and Seraphina had been standing in a corner, sharing amused smiles while the others argued about the situation. They found a strange comfort in their shared understanding of the game's mechanics.
"How are you guys smiling at a time like this?" Marcella asked, finally noticing their calm demeanor amidst the chaos.
"You seem to be enjoying this a bit too much, you two," Freya added, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Yeah, tell us. Is there something we don't know?" Aiden pressed, his frustration evident.
Rey burst into laughter, bold and proud. "You lot look so terrified right now, like we're really going to spend three whole years here," he said, his laughter.
"Okay, we need a plan," Asher said, his voice calm and authoritative. "Jett, you Seraphina, Elora Ray and I take the lead. Rosa, Marcella, Morigan and Evelina cover our flanks. Aiden, Matthew, and Cedric, keep an eye on the rear. Freya, stick close to the center and be ready to support with magic and Finn, Stay close to her."
Everyone nodded in agreement, their expressions serious. The urgency of their situation was beginning to sink in.
But while the planning was going on, Aiden was having a meeting of his own in his head.
'No penalties for failing?' Aiden pondered quietly before making a bold decision. He dashed forward, leaping to the first island. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"
"Stop, Aiden!" the others called out, but Finn smirked, curious to see how this would turn out for Aiden.
Aiden reached the first island unscathed, landing smoothly. 'Nothing happened?'
"This is too easy!" Aiden yelled in excitement, his voice echoing through the serene landscape.
The others hesitated, contemplating joining him, but Jett stepped in, blocking their path. "Wait for it..." he said, his eyes fixed on Aiden.
"For what?" Elora asked, her worry for her brother evident.
"Wait for it..." Jett repeated, his tone tense.
Before they knew what was happening, Aiden was forcibly teleported back to the starting point. He landed with a thud, confusion and fear etched on his face.
"I'm alive?" Aiden yelled, half-crying. "What the hell? What kind of game is this?"
"Let me guess, you stepped on a mine?" Asher asked, trying to hide his amusement. "You're lucky that didn't kill you."
'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' Jett wondered, his unease growing.
"Please be aware," Alok's voice echoed from above, "that if even one of you loses a life during the trial or the timer runs out, the most used skills and five stat points from each of you will be sacrificed to bring back your dead comrades and restart the trial, even if you didn't participate."
"The timer will reset automatically if there are no participants." Alok added.
"You're telling me that if we fail, we all get stat reductions and lose our favorite skills?" Evelina asked, her disbelief clear despite having already heard Alok's words.
"Only until the trial ends," Alok replied, his tone emotionless.
"You tell us that now? Ugh I don't know where you and your master came from but in my world. that's a freaking penalty!!!" Freya said in annoyance.
Jett quickly checked his status, confirming his fears. [Tactical Mirage] was gone. The others followed suit, discovering their most used skills had vanished, along with some points from each stat.
"AIDEN!!!" they all yelled in unison, their frustration and anger directed at the cause of their plight.
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Thanks for making it this far
I really appreciate