133: Obstacles, Part Eight

Obstacles, Part Eight

{Charlotte} 

"Thank you, Roxy. I appreciate this." 

"No, no, it's fine," the woman standing before the journalist, a lady with curly black hair, plump lips, and kind eyes, said as she stepped aside, welcoming her into her home. "You can stay as long as you want." 

Charlotte's home had been burned down. 

It was only due to the Speed she'd recently gained that Charlotte had been able to make it out. 

But, most of what she owned had been destroyed. 

She managed to get a few things into her Inventory, just before she sprinted out of her house. Her laptop, her phone, her tv.

She couldn't get anything else there, though, before having to make the executive decision of prioritizing her life over her valuables. 

And now, she was here, at an ex's house, running away from the group that had just failed in their attempt to take her life. 

"Are you sure you want to let me stay here, though?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask. "There is, after all, a pack of murderers gunning for me." 

"All the more reason you should stay in the most low-key place you can. And," Roxy looked out her window, "if low-key's what you need, what better place than this?"

What she meant was that she lived in the slums, where, hopefully, no one would come looking for the journalist. 

Of course, these days "slums" weren't so much a matter of structural integrity, population density, or property value but, rather, how close one's neighborhood was to the nearest dungeon. 

If an outbreak happening meant that you would be in immediate "pick up a sword and fight or you'll die" type danger, it didn't matter if you lived in a gated fence community like this used to be, or the projects. You were in a slum. 

"Make yourself at home, querida," Roxy said. The Latina walked away, pointing lazily at her couch as she went to the kitchen. "I was just making some food, actually. Let me cook you something nice." 

"Merci," Charlotte replied quietly as the day's exhaustion suddenly got to her. She flopped onto the couch, face-first, as Roxy said: 

"I, uh... Heard about what happened to Jack. Ay, pobrecito. I'm sorry." 

"I-It's..." Charlotte sighed, her voice muffled. She'd been about to say "it's fine" but, she couldn't, cause it wasn't. "I still can't believe it." 

"... Lately, it feels like people are going crazy. I mean, I get it, monsters running through the streets every other day will do that to ya, but... You know." 

"I guess." 

"But, hey, uh," Roxy walked over to the couch. She brought with her the smell of the meat she was cooking and Charlotte took it in, appreciating the nice scent. "You've been all over the news lately. What happened?" 

"You haven't been keeping up." 

"Nah," Roxy replied walking back to the kitchen. "I try to keep my eyes off the news. Nothing too good on there lately, you know? But I saw you, though." 

"I made contact with a player inside the Final Challenge, recently," Charlotte explained. "That's all that happened." 

"Well... That definitely made some people feel, ehm, weird," Roxy said. "You know, since..." As Roxy brought some food to her, rice, beef, and red beans, Charlotte sighed. "You wanna tell me what that was about?" 

"It's hard to explain," Charlotte stated. "Look, for a lot of people in the world, holding onto the idea that we can actually make it through the Unity Trials, that we can survive, is painful. Some folks just don't have that survivor in them. Now, a group popped up that wants the world to end sooner, and I'm apparently a threat to them." 

"That's awful." 

"Yep. But, well, can't say I'm shocked. This is a fight I was practically asking for." 

"So, what are you going to do, then?" She asked as Charlotte took a bite out of her rice. 

"We have to wait and see how the fundraiser does," Charlotte replied, speaking quietly. "Till then, all we can do is hope that Neve doesn't get herself killed somehow." 

---

{Neve}

The healer stood in a damp, dilapidated basement. The filthy water here went all the way up to Neve's knees. 

Up ahead, a zombie's ashes floated in the water. This had been the miniboss Neve had needed to take down in order to secure the next key. The one Thomas's group had been able to find before Kayla died. 

Picking up the needle-like object, she put it in her inventory and assigned the attribute points she gained from leveling up thanks to this fight. 

Level 51

MP: 810/1100

EXP: 250/510

AP: 3690

IP: 30

WST: 47100

---

Endurance: 40

Speed: 23

Precision: 9

Strength: 5

Arcane: 80

She moved along without saying a single word, as Erin stood next to her, resummoned after her minute had run out. 

"... That was quick," Erin said, looking over at the zombie's ashes. "You-" 

As she turned around, she saw that Neve had already gone up the stairs, eager to move on to the next part of the city. 

In truth, Neve hadn't even heard Erin. She was too busy thinking about her tokens. 

[Suddenly, I'm getting a ton of donations. Did something happen? Maybe Charlotte told people to donate to me after I told her about the 100K cost of internet service? If that's the case, then... I might be able to buy it soon.] 

"Neve," Erin said. 

"Yeah?" The healer replied, walking out of the dust-filled building this fight had taken place in. 

"... Never mind. What's our next destination?" 

"If I'm right," Neve replied quickly, her feet beginning to move on their own before she'd even finished speaking, "and the keys are actually just on the corners of the map, then we have to go north now. And... The last key will be right next to the Safe Zone." 

She didn't wait to hear what Erin had to say, and instead just kept powerwalking in the direction she guessed the third key would be in. 

Those memories she picked up from that little girl, memories that were burned onto her mind and became hers as much as any others she had, were a good reminder of why she was here, and what she needed to do. 

The day was almost halfway over and Neve had only found two keys. With two more left to go, she found herself trying to make more progress as quickly as possible. 

It also helped that the anger flowing through her veins was pushing her legs forward on its own. 

A plaza up ahead, located in the middle of an empty space, felt like a good place to look through. With her summon trailing her, Neve ventured inside. The golden building carried multiple floors, all built in a square that surrounded a wide courtyard.  0

A single, ghostly, old man was standing at the center, staring up at the building. 

Neve walked over without a worry and stood before him. 

His faceless visage fell on her. She extended a hand toward him before he did, and he took it. 

Memories poured into Neve's mind once more. This time, she saw herself managing a stall of some sort, selling items to people passing by, until something that was a little bit like a dragon, but far too long and far too thin, fell from the sky, landing just a few steps in front of her stall. 

People ran, people died. The same as with the kid. 

Once the memories were gone, at least ten different ghosts appeared around the healer. 

"NEVE!" Erin yelled out in a panic due to their numbers. 

Neve just gritted her teeth and ran back. 

Moving through one of them before it could sink its sword through her body, she cast {Holy Beckons} as she strafed to the right. 

MP: 770/1100

MP: 720/1100

MP: 670/1100

MP: 620/1100

She didn't pay her mana any mind at all. Instead, everywhere she saw a ghost, she cast that spell under them. 

She missed on one occasion, mostly thanks to her low Precision. But, that only served to make her even angrier, and make more spells come out quicker. 

Neve's strafing made it so that her path was practically a circle. 

By the time she reached the spot where she'd been standing originally, all of the ghosts were gone. 

EXP Gained: 500

EXP: 750/510

Level Up!

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 50010

Neve took slow, steady breaths, looking around. 

[... All of these fights are being scaled down to match the fact that I'm on my own. That means, that if I had come here with, say, 3 other players, this could have been 40 ghosts instead of 10. All of which would be immune to conventional weapons too. It's not hard to see how Thomas's group struggled on this floor. A group without a Priest on their side would probably lose a few players here, at the very least, and there aren't exactly a lot of us out there.] 

A needle-shaped item appeared in front of her. 

Neve grabbed the third key and put it in her Inventory. 

Erin slithered up to her. 

"Good work," she said. "That was quite clean." 

"Hmph." 

Neve turned away and began looking through the ash piles for anything she could use.  As Erin's minute ran out, she disappeared. 

[... Was it clean enough to make up for all the time I've been wasting? I hope so.]

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