The dragon's body simply did not disappear. It lay there, lifeless. Everyone stared at it, wondering where the despawn animation was, but it never came.
For the first forty seconds there was only silence. Everyone just watched the body, and no one spoke.
Three minutes and forty seconds remained, but it quickly became clear to everyone what awaited them after a "no." The decision was easy.
Mike looked at the display and moved his finger toward "yes," but then he flinched and looked up. A female knight fell to the ground. She screamed in pain and her last words were, "I would rather die than live in this game, I…"
Her body did not despawn either.
Mike looked into the crowd and reached a conclusion.
"The despawn animation not appearing is not a bug. It is death. If you want to live, everyone choose yes!"
The creature in the sky turned to Mike and looked him directly in the eye. Mike fell silent and simply stared back. He had only one thought.
Shit, I should have kept my mouth shut.
Mike stepped back and the creature's gaze slid away from him. Silence fell and everyone thought it over. Whispering could be heard.
"So no means death, huh?"
"Well, three years…"
"I will say yes."
Mike sat alone in a corner. He watched the time run down: 1:29. He turned his eyes away from the timer and looked down from the cloud. He could see only water and land, no buildings.
"Well, I will die anyway, now or in the game… shit, then I could choose no. I have to…"
Mike leaped into the air with a clenched fist and cheered. The others looked at him strangely; why would anyone be happy in such a situation?
"I will hide at Level One for all three years," he said.
But suddenly a wind blew against Mike's face and his resolve returned.
"No, that is the wrong way. I will level up and become exactly as strong as my character!"
Mike's finger touched "yes." For a moment nothing happened. The screen vanished and then nothing. But a few seconds later a golden light appeared in Mike's chest.
Mike opened his eyes. The sun shone on his face and he felt the pleasant warmth of its rays.
He found himself in a field. He stood up and looked around, but saw only a cliff and grass. Then, as he looked more closely, Mike noticed a window floating beside him.
Mike Tyl
Status: Level 1
Class: Shadow Warrior
Complete the tutorial to gain access to the world.
"I'm in the tutorial? Hm, okay."
Mike drew a sword from his inventory. He had received it at the start.
"A Level Three sword right at the beginning?"
He gripped the hilt tightly and walked straight into the field. After a short while of walking:
WILD BOAR! Level 2
The boar was completely brown and had two large tusks in front of its snout. It charged at Mike, but he reacted quickly and moved into a fighting stance. As the boar leapt at him, Mike dodged to the right and slashed its side. Instantly, it exploded into a thousand black pixels.
"The death animation."
With one strike, the wild boar was successfully defeated. Now Mike received his first quest:
Tutorial: Kill the ants and their queen.
Suddenly, Mike transformed into pixels and was teleported. He now found himself in a tunnel, an earthen tunnel. Torches were mounted on the walls, but there was no stone, only packed dirt. It seemed as though he was inside an anthill.
Behind him, he could already hear the disgusting noise of many feet skittering across the ground.
Mike quickly turned around and saw the black armoured ants. There were three large ones with protruding fangs. Mike looked at the grip of his sword, held it even tighter, and then charged at the ants.
The first ant swung its fangs straight at him. Mike quickly stepped back and slashed his sword at it. Since it had attacked, Mike was able to counter without trouble. He cut through its armour and added a strike across its head, then thrust his blade forward to finish it off.
Mike rolled quickly to the right, as the other two ants now stood facing him. They dashed toward him, but just before reaching him, both stopped and spat a stream of venom. Mike quickly held his sword up so that the venom splattered against the blade, parrying the attack.
Then Mike dashed forward at the two ants and sliced cleanly, severing both of their heads in one strike. He kept his sword extended and did not return it to his inventory.
"Good. I need to keep exploring. Too bad you cannot earn any EXP in the tutorial, what a shame."
Mike continued straight down the earthen tunnel, going deeper and deeper. The torches along the walls flickered more and more the further he went.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed and he fell even deeper.
Reacting quickly, Mike realized he had landed in a nest. Around him were about twenty ant eggs, all close to hatching.
The red eggs where the ants had been started to burst open. Mike reacted instantly, slashing through the ants' chest armour. Since they were all Level Zero, they went down quickly.
When there were no smaller ants left, Mike looked around the nest and noticed a way out, a hole in the earthen wall that seemed to lead outside.
But suddenly, the ground began to shake and a massive ant broke through the wall, its claws thick and razor sharp. Mike flinched as debris exploded from the wall, hitting him in the face. His eyes snapped into focus and he was ready to attack at any moment.
As the giant beast fell from above, large chunks of earth and stone rained down. The tunnel could collapse at any moment.
I cannot die now… not in the tutorial.
The huge black ant had descended into the tunnel, blocking the sunlight from above. There was no doubt, this was a boss.
Only a few seconds later, the boss's health bar appeared.
General of the Ant Queen
HP: 300
Level: 1
The general of the nest.
Mike lowered his head.
"General? Damn, I thought I would fight the queen as the final boss."
The general just stood there, seemingly waiting for Mike's attack. Mike was about to take a step forward when suddenly the tunnel began to shake. Something burst through the side of the tunnel.
"Arghhh, what the…?"
Then Mike saw the creature that had emerged from the side. It pierced straight through the general.
"T… the queen!"