"Uh, is this game telling me to find a way to escape from here...?"
Sister Zoe quickly got the idea.
Just then, a red dotted line appeared in the lower-left corner of her vision.
It looked like a health bar—but barely filled. At best, it was only about ten percent full.
"Whoa! Why am I starting with barely any health?!" she cried out.
"Whatever. I'll figure out how to get out of here first."
She looked around. Smooth stone walls lined both sides. There was a path ahead—and behind her, she noticed a narrow waterway.
The space above the water was tight, meaning she'd have to dive and swim through. But Zoe wasn't afraid.
"Hey, there's water! Might as well check it out first," she said. With a splash, she dove in and started swimming forward.
Thanks to a month of playing Deep Sea Trek, Sister Zoe had become a pretty solid swimmer. Her movements felt light, and she could swim much faster than in the previous game.
But as she moved ahead, she noticed a new bar popping up in the corner of her vision—her oxygen level—and it was draining fast.
Zoe quickly realized: There are no oxygen tanks in this game!
The tunnel looked long, too long. She turned back and tried to swim up, but it was too late—the oxygen bar was completely depleted.
"Oh no! Why is it dropping so fast?!" she shouted, her body growing heavy. She started sinking, and her vision dimmed...
In the darkness, a blood-red word appeared in front of her:
"DEATH"
Audience comments:
"Pfft, Sister Zoe drowned again!"
"I'm dying! First she drowned in Deep Sea Trek, now she's drowned in Sekiro!"
"She really can't handle water, huh?"
"She obviously went the wrong way. The real path was in front, not behind!"
"She's too deep into Deep Sea Trek. Sees water—dives in. Same here, honestly."
"Man, the Wolf character's great and all, but he really sucks at holding his breath."
Zoe finally got it too. "Oh... guess I went the wrong way," she muttered. She'd been playing Deep Sea Trek for so long, she dove instinctively.
She reloaded the last save and found herself back in the dark sewer.
This time, she chose to move forward. Soon, she hit a stone wall—seven or eight meters high.
A prompt popped up in her view:
[Press jump while running toward the wall to perform a double jump.]
"Wait—double jump?!" Zoe gasped.
Excited, she sprinted toward the wall and leapt high—nearly three meters in the air! She quickly kicked off the wall—
Whoosh!
Her body rose again, and she landed firmly on top of the ledge!
She hadn't even used her hands. Just two jumps, all legs.
"Nice!" Zoe exclaimed. "These skills are wild…"
The audience watching the stream was stunned. A double jump wasn't new in games—but seeing it executed so smoothly in VR? Totally next level.
Zoe kept moving forward. Soon, she exited the sewer and reached level ground—only to face her next problem:
A massive cliff.
She walked to the edge and peered down. It had to be at least 300 meters high. Just looking at it made her feel dizzy.
"Uhh, no way I'm surviving that fall. Even with Wolf's skills."
She glanced around—and spotted something to the left. A small ledge, hugging the cliff face, made of protruding rocks…
"Wait… don't tell me I'm supposed to go that way..."
Sure enough, another prompt appeared:
[Stick close to the cliff wall and walk along the ledge to proceed.]
Zoe's jaw dropped. "Seriously?! They actually want me to go across this thing?!"
She looked more closely. The ledge was narrower than the infamous Sky Plank Road on Mount Hua—maybe 10 centimeters wide—and below her, nothing but a sheer drop.
Audience comments:
"Tsk tsk, what kind of evil design is this?!"
"One misstep and she's gone!"
"Does the dev actually think we're ninjas?!"
"Old Thief Developer, you okay up there? We're still normal people!"
"Bruh, I thought Deep Sea Trek was hardcore, but Sekiro is next-level."
The chat lit up:
"Come on, Zoe! Go for it!"
"Do it for the content! Even if you fall!"
After all, it wasn't their character at risk of splattering on the rocks.
Zoe took a deep breath.
"Alright, here goes nothing," she said. She steeled herself, leaned against the cliff, and carefully stepped onto the narrow ledge.
🎉Advance chapter in PATREON 🎉
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