“The cake shop must own half of Cobbletown by now,” said Edge. Even he’d been shoveling sweets like a ravenous Slime King.

“I think we should go back to the sewers and farm the boss on the rainy days,” he explained, for the hundredth time.

“No,” said Sakura.

“Nope,” added Claire.

“Never!” barked Daphne.

Belladonna just scowled at him.

They’d taken a vow never to enter the sewers again. “But it would be easy this time. No swimsuits. Armour, instead. Then we can buy a bunch of water breathing pots.” He had it all planned out. The Slime King had some serious weaknesses if you knew how to exploit them.

The girls didn’t budge. It might have been the trauma of the battle, or the memory of the screaming match that took place afterward. Pent up frustrations and countless mistakes built up to a point where no member of the group could keep them bottled. Words were said. Bad words. Also, good words. It was safe to say that what was said in the sewer, deserved to stay there.

“But the loot,” he tried. Someone in the real world had been very mindful with the loot drops.

Edge had received a metal kite shield, wide at the top and narrowing to a pointed tip. Built to be worn sideways, as opposed to up and down, the tip of the shield was a sharp blade, perfect for his punching shield style. It wasn’t the weapon he wanted, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, he now knew that from experience. The audience was probably getting sick of him running around aimlessly, barking orders and throwing rocks. Belladonna received a metal longbow with a quiver full of steel arrows. No unique items dropped for Daphne, which some might argue as karma, while Sakura looted a dark blue wizard’s hat that raised her intelligence, and somehow matched her outfit perfectly. Exactly how much of their experiences in Levia were being manipulated from behind the scenes?

For Edge, it was sorely tempting to try to lead the group into a quiet life. The girls certainly wanted a vacation, maybe even to join the Glitches for a while and just take it easy . . . But it occurred to him that the cameras were always watching. Life here wasn’t about escape any longer; he couldn’t see an avenue for escape for any of them. Looming overhead was the possibility of a worse fate awaiting his friends. What would happen if they refused to play this game? What would happen if the show began to fail? Would the real Claire, or others, change their minds and decide to have their alternate digital selves deleted.

The court’s decision seemed like a sort of victory when he first thought about it, wresting complete control away from the VR-01 company, and maybe it was a win in some ways. But the consequences also meant that control over the people here was in the hands of individuals that may not always consider their copies to be people. Was he even a real person? Or was he already dead? It was confusing, and it meant that . . . that he still had to try to keep them safe.

They were trapped in a death game. In the real world Levia had only one victim, but here. In this world. The only world Edge and his group would ever know. The bodies were piling up. And now the threats weren’t only monsters inside the game, they were outside too.

“No,” they all rescinded again.

So much for being leader. The sewers would have bought them more time to level, more time to play it safe. Perhaps, keep the audience interested.

"Just eat your cake, Edge," said Sakura.

She'd been extra gruff since they made their escape from the cistern, via a handy ladder that descended from the ceiling and lead to the fountain in market square. It was easier to play a death game when you thought you were winning. For Sakura, that dream had died screaming.

"Here Edge, you can have a bite of mine," offered Daphne, hovering her fork toward him. Even Edge wasn’t gullible enough to take the bait. Every girl at the table stared daggers at the pair. Daphne not only ignored the stares, she actually looked quite pleased by them.

Edge sensed the danger of a trap. Plucking an empty plate from the table, he blocked the incoming fork with this makeshift round shield.

Daphne wouldn't give up that easily. Her fork darted left, right, up and down, stabbing at his near perfect defense. The clang of cutlery against china rang throughout the cake shop. It wasn’t working. Edge was too strong. She'd have to use that. Her next super secret special ability. Who would have guessed she'd be forced into a corner so soon?

Edge predicted Daphne’s next move. She could be extremely transparent about certain things. But that didn't mean he'd be able to stop it. It was at times like these, he wished he could throw rocks.

A second caked fork appeared in Daphne’s off hand. "Super special move number twenty eight, [Double Indirect Kiss]." The forks darted from either side, splitting Edge’s defense in twine.

It was too late. There was nothing he could do.

Claire appeared at his side, wielding her mighty butter knife. She slashed at the fork on the left, knocking it aside, sending the cake spiraling to the ground.

Edge shifted his plate to the right just in time to block the second attack, splashing more cake across the restaurant floor.

‘There's more where that came from,’ thought Daphne, turning to the table to reload. Sakura sat in her chair with a knowing grin. The elf was smothered in cake and icing across her front, as she licked up the last remaining bite. The floor around her was covered in mess, but not a single crumb remained in what had been Daphne’s ammo depot.

Daphne only had one last daring scheme in her playbook. She wouldn’t let this chance slip by. Closing her eyes she darted lips first at Edge. Super desperate last chance move number one, [Direct Kiss]. Warm lips met her own, and they shared a long intimate kiss that curled her toes, and would surely drive the others into fits of jealousy. Daphne smirked as she backed away from those lips, ready to gloat over her cunning victory. When she opened her eyes, Belladonna stared back at her with a sultry smirk of her own. Edge sat behind Bell, his face like a stone.

Victory had been ripped from Daphne’s grasp. Her rivals were formidable.

Edge leaned passed Belladonna and kissed Daphne on the cheek. It wasn’t because he loved her, though he did. He loved all of his friends. It was for an entirely different reason. Although she didn’t know it, Daphne had given him a gift. Levia, the world he faced was truly an unfair torturous hell. And he discovered reality to be equally harsh. He might be a digital zombie, and his friends just copies of the originals . . . But to him, these were the real people. The real living people. They had thoughts, and feelings, and desires. They could get sad, or excited or like Daphne, simply be crazy.

It didn’t matter that Cobbletown was ruled by a perverted game developer, or that the captain of guard was working with the bandit leader. He had an [S] rank quest, and even that was small potatoes compared to the truth of what they faced. Just as in everyday life, there was no way to predict what the future would hold. But Edge wouldn’t ever take his own life. He had a purpose now, greater than himself. It was one that made him angrier and happier than any game. One that drove him harder than any obsession. He had friends that he loved. Whatever dangers they were to face, or pains, each moment they could be together was a precious gift beyond compare. He couldn’t control the future or fate. But he could live in the present. Because he was still alive. Eugene might be dead, but Edge lived on. He was eating cake.

Daphne touched her skin where Edge’s lips had fallen. Her face warmed, and blushed. The others didn’t look at all jealous; she checked. It didn’t seem like she’d won anything. It was like Edge cheated somehow. This wasn’t how they played the game. And he had such a cute stupid look on his face. Edge always looked off these days, like he carried an invisible weight. “Did I win?” she sincerely asked.

Everyone broke into fits of senseless laughter, and Sakura hurled a chunk of cake that Daphne and Belladonna dodged. It splattered Edge right in the forehead. Sakura looked appalled, until he threw some back at her, starting a cake war. When had they become a family?

The Kitchen staff stood in a row before the giant mess, with cake pans as helmets, and various kitchen utensils as readied weapons.

Team Edge stood poised, layered in multi coloured cake and icing. They were alive, and they were living.

“Totally worth it,” said Edge. He might even call it, fun. And he didn’t even care who was watching.

____________

And that concludes Volume One. With little to no editing nor proofreading, it was a bumpy ride, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. That being said, the series will continue with volume two. You will see changes in style as I adapt the story as a web novel, and polish it to something I'll be happier with. I'm treating Volume One as an unpublished prequel, so the story can be read beginning from Volume Two. I'll treat everything in volume one as canon, but thanks to some great comments from you guys, I'm adapting to something slightly more mainstream.