Chapter 49: 3G and Pixels

Small, bald, with heads far too large for their scrawny bodies, they looked like a cross between rats and miniature orcs. They barely stood a meter tall and wielded swords that looked more like toothpicks carved from bone. But the most disturbing detail remained their outfit: completely naked, except for a single piece of clothing... a kangaroo pouch. Real pouches. Kangaroo-style.

Her sword raised in front of her, Blanche waited for them to lunge, trying not to burst out laughing despite the shock. They didn't take long. And suddenly, a brilliant idea crossed her mind. It was time to use Carnage. But not on them... rather on Argy. She couldn't attack a player, sure, but nothing prevented her from exploiting his stats.

She shot him a quick glance and whispered the spell. Instantly, a blue window appeared:

Calculation in progress... Error.

Calculation in progress...

Loading impossible... Error.

Then a colossal power surged through her. Surprised, Blanche dropped her sword and threw herself into close combat, cutting down the goblins one by one in a true bloodbath. A total, uncontrollable carnage, almost intoxicating.

A few seconds were enough. When the spell faded, she blinked, stunned to see that her idea had worked. One of the goblins was still breathing—or at least, as much as a goblin in pieces can breathe. She finished it quickly with Drain. She had indeed doubled Argy's strength... and used it to slaughter everything. Brilliant.

Well... without that fortunate bug, she probably would have died. But what's a game without a good old malfunction?

"Damn... next time, give me a heads-up, " Argy muttered.

She nodded, still dazed, covered in sticky green blood up to her forearms.

" Ugh," she grumbled, wiping her hands on her khaki cargo pants.

"You're doing the laundry next time! "Argy groaned, disgusted.

She picked up her blade as well as the three small daggers from the creatures.

" Your base stats must be insane! "she breathed. "My spell only doubles them, and it nearly tore my arms off."

"Your skills are way too barbaric for me. Once, you used one in front of me—I had nightmares for months!"

" Wimp," she shot back.

Even though, truthfully, she wasn't exactly fearless either. All that slaughter churned her stomach.

"I get why I sometimes wouldn't let you eat... " she murmured, placing a hand on her stomach.

" Now that you mention it," Argy replied while continuing to level his abilities, "it's true that when I was little, I had a sensitive stomach."

Blanche sat down to do the same. Fifteen minutes of waiting was long... but she might as well use it to increase her skills.

She repeated her tactic against the next group: no need to change a strategy that works, especially since Carnage only increased this way. This time, however, a goblin managed to stab her straight in the abdomen. Argy rushed over to heal her, but she took the opportunity to show him Rest. The spell only erased the superficial wound... but made it presentable, stripped of battle marks.

" That's nice, but you're visible from miles away! "Argy said as he completed the healing.

" True. I should try combining it with Shadows, or with Time. That could be useful, especially at night, when I glow a bit too much, " she replied, taking a sip of water.

Argy had slipped a fresh flask into each bag, thanks to the snow. A detail Blanche appreciated.

"We'll test that when we get back."

" What do you think, "she asked," when will they realize we're here?"

"Who?"

"The goblins."

Argy scratched his head, embarrassed.

"You're going to laugh, but there's nothing dumber than a goblin. They function like a giant hive, except they forgot intelligence along the way. You can kill as many as you want... They reproduce like cockroaches, and every year, half the species disappears without anyone caring."

Blanche waited for the punchline. It never came.

" That's a bit cruel, don't you think?"

"It is. But trust me, it has to stay that way. When they attack, they slaughter everything: men, women, children. We're the safeguards. No matter how many times we clear these tunnels, the next year it all starts again. Without our regulation, they would have already wiped out the Otherworld. It's like we were "made" for this."

He shrugged, miming quotation marks. The first bodies disappeared in a shower of tiny pixels. It was both beautiful and unsettling.

"They disappeared! "Blanche exclaimed.

" Yeah. Quest monsters always end like that. No need to bury them."

The rest of the time, Argy showed her his highest skills: Call, which summoned all the birds in the area; Vines, which bound a target... and a series of other powers, each more impressive than the last.

The third wave arrived. Blanche killed one of the goblins with Drain, then set the other two on fire. Argy extinguished the flames with a gesture, his expression dark.

"What? I'm testing my limits, "she protested.

"A bit too much. I don't like fire..."

"Says the water-earth guy. Makes sense you don't like it."

"I prefer to say we're complementary..."

" I like that version," she admitted.

" Of course you do, it's yours, "he murmured with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes.

"I can feel the migraine of the century coming. How am I supposed to keep track of all this?"

"One day, you told me your worst nightmare would be getting lost in time and no longer knowing which era you're in compared to others."

" Brrr... Can you imagine waking up one morning in the bed of a complete stranger who knows you by heart—or the opposite, waking up in your boyfriend's bed and having him scream at you to get out because he doesn't even recognize you?"

Argy nodded silently.

" I think I'd rather die," the young woman continued.

The kid didn't reply, but gave her an apologetic look. You didn't mess with his mother, and even she didn't have the right to give up like that.

" Alright, we've got one wave of monsters left. So let me remind you of the plan. When we're done, we move away a bit, just to be safe when you come back. When you reappear, you don't attack your new mission, even if it's right next to you. You go home, straight away, as fast as possible. Okay?"

"Okay," Blanche replied.

She was starting to understand the concept. The last three monsters arrived and, since she was heading home afterward, she figured she had nothing to lose by using Time. She even doubled it with Carnage. Result: not a scratch.

They set off again and, after a good fifteen-minute walk under the forest canopy where the snow melted in the sunlight, with a blue window hovering in her field of vision, they stopped. That's where Argy left her: the rest didn't concern him. Not for now.