*Zetsumei*

Well, that solves that debate. Here I was wondering if I could freeze the poor sap in some type of permafrost to induce a coma or something and spare him. But he reminded me, the weak perish and only the ruthless survive.

"Rather dramatic of you. Should have just killed him right off, I should say."

I sheathed my blades with a sigh. "If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart…"

The skull hummed in doubt. "And yet you deemed it wise to bring me back in this aberrant state."

I strode towards the exit door, notable for being slightly wider than the entry doors. "I was keeping my promise. I tend to do that."

"And my sage counsel would be well listened to little goat. Surely you recognize this, we are in this together as a pair of things that do not separate."

The doors seemed to take awhile to open, I suspect it was to allow the others to finish fighting. "Just say 'stuck like glue', 'peas in a pod' or anything that is an actual sentence you meatless, calcium bowl! We both know your noble english speech is bullcrap."

"And we both know I won our battle."

I snorted, "I did not realize that as a matter of fact. Given that you are my trophy. A trophy who keeps warning others when I'm near…"

"Yes well. We do have a score to settle you and I."

"If I die, you the brainless dipshit will also die…"

"Yes yes. So you claim though you've no proof of this."

The door opened outward, slowly and dramatically. I strode through it, "Enough. I'll put you back in my inventory if you don't shut up for a bit."

Fortunately he remained silent. The last time I put him in the inventory he described his experience as being in cold darkness with no form or sight. Much like my experience after the scroll. This has caused me a great deal of conflict but, well its them or me…

I entered into a small room with arches and pillars, atop a flight of stairs was a single throne. Made of stone with no ornamentation it seemed…. overly basic and foreboding.

"The Soul Keeper is the victor. How quaint." I looked around and spotted a middle aged man, tall maybe 6 feet? He had salt and pepper hair with a beard to his chest, he wore decadent robes of yellow and green. "Though you were the expected champion so you'll forgive me if I don't clap."

I looked around but found no guards, no one in the waiting to attack, only this odd man. "Who are you?"

He cracked a mirthless smile, "Straight to the point! Excellent. Who am I you ask. I am the Game Master and this is my world."

I stared at him as rage, cold and powerful as a glacier welled within me. "Your world. You trapped us here?"

"Trapped?" He grabbed his chest in mock injury, "I liberated you dear. You're free from that world. The politics, the 24/7 grind for basic needs, the….the….whatever else you millenials whine about."

"How many are dead. How many died alone. afraid. Thinking of family they would never see again, spouses, children. parents…."

He dismissed me with his hands, "Millions. Oh the weak died yes, but the strong have lived. Look at you! Sporting the skull of a stronger opponent. You embraced the power and thrived!"

He was about 10 feet away, I need to get closer to strike. I began to pace, gradually moving closer. "Thrived? I've killed countless. I feel dead, empty. And I only 'thrived' because RNG gave me a scroll."

"And you killed me with bullshit." I might kill Glaive after all.

The Game Master laughed, "So you found a way to summon the dead. Well now that's unexpected. Kudos. Truly. But I digress, Rng? There was no random number generator that gave you that scroll. You played that class longer than everyone else who loaded in as the class. That's all. So I gave it to you. No fate, no chance, just an unhealthy amount of play time."

I ran a hand through my hair. Only a few more feet and I could attack. "So what. I didn't diversify my interests. Still random luck on my part. What's the point of this anyways?! You just like to watch? Porn couldn't get you off anymore?!"

"There's no need to be crass my dear. I want what every Game Master wants. To finish a story. I prefer classics myself. 'A blight scours the land and an intrepid hero raises an army to destroy it!' Simple yet beautiful to me. But with a glaring problem, the hero rose to meet the blight while the world allowed it to fester and spread. The only way to fix this problem is to purge those who stood by and permitted the problem to begin with. The hero must cleanse the world."

I judged myself to be close enough and swallowed my vomit from the idiots babbling. "Seen it. Overdone and cliche, the fallen hero. The audience is supposed to feel sympathy for them because they were forced into the role. Get an imagination next time."

I lunged forward and swung a blade at the Game Master, there wouldn't be much force as it was being unsheathed with the strike but it would suffice. The weapon sliced through the air at his head and suddenly stopped mid swing, it did not suffice.

The game master held the blade in his bare hand and with a flex of his hand. snapped the blade in two. "In my domain? You attack me here? Foreseeable, which is why everyone's levels and gear are set to 1. Regrettable, I'd have preferred to debate story theory. You owed me that much."

I stepped back from him with caution. I was clearly out of my league here. "Owe? For what could I possibly owe you?!"

He shook his head, "You think disconnect coins just drop off corpses? I helped you right a wrong."

The rainbow coin, for Frost...but why did he give me that? My instincts screamed there was something amiss here. I needed to get out but a casual look revealed no doors, not even the one I came in through. Damned video games. "What do you want? What's your goal with all of us?!"

"I already told you. If you aren't going to pay attention then our time together is over. Though you've earned your prize I guess." He tossed me another coin that shimmered with greens and purples. "From one hero to a villain. I look forward to our next meeting when you're at full power. The next time we meet it will be upon a field of battle…"

"Wait, I-" the room disappeared and I found myself back in that attic room where I last saw Frost. "Fuck!"

I paced the room. "I like the old chap."

I scowled at my pauldron, "of course you would. Both of you are murdering psychopaths."

"Yes. You're hands are clean. never a single person killed. Otherwise you would never be able to mount your high horse."

That's it. I ripped the skull off my shoulder, "Wait! I rescind my previous state-" and shoved him into my inventory. Fucking hipster.

Now what do I do? The story is pretty apparent, he wants to be the hero, hell he called himself such at the end of the encounter. And he wants to kill everyone. So if we could all unite… The fuck am I thinking? I have a get the fuck out of here coin, this isn't my problem. But...everyone who's still in here. Eire, the kids. No! No, I can't be a martyr, I have a chance! Gripping the coin, I crushed it in my grip. Time to go home.

I waited. And waited. Why am I still here? I looked at my hands and inspected the remains of the coin.

"Zet?" Frost's voice cut through my thoughts but not before I saw the item name, Coin of Interdimensional Communication. "Zet! Answer me damn it!"

I turned around and saw a window, akin to a television screen, floating in the air before me. Through it I saw Marie, she was in our living room. "Marie…h….how are you?"

She stared at me with a mix of rage and sadness, tears filling her eyes. "Getting better. How could you do that?! We said we would stay together!"

I blinked the tears from my eyes, I felt very vulnerable all of a sudden. "I… do you remember the question 'if the house was on fire and everyone was trapped inside what would we do'."

She rolled her eyes, "that's not-"

"We both agreed, we get the kids out and trust each other to save ourselves. But once they were safe I would go back in for you. I'd do anything to get you to safety. I did what I promised I would do Marie."

Tears began to flow down both our faces, "and I made the same promise Stephan. But you took that choice away. I'm happy to be out, don't get me wrong. But I'm fucking terrified for you every day. Every God damned day while you get into fights!"

".... I didn't see another way…." We sat in silence a moment, the weight of the topic donating the mood. It was Marie who broke the silence.

"I know. I'm just...I'm so fucking angry you're in there alone!" She brushed tears from her cheeks. "We don't have much time, KIDS! COME SAY HI TO PAPA!"

I smiled, "how are they?"

"Fine. They're fine. You need to know some things, they're important. You've been in there nearly a year."

"What?! How-" she held up a hand to forestall me.

"It's Congress, they want to pull the plug. Shut it all down and give up. It's not just that, everything you do, everything in the game its str-"

The window disappeared. "Frost? Marie?!"

I looked around frantically and as my anxiety peaked it reappeared. But the face was not of my wife, the Game Master was there. "Uh uh uh. No spoiling the fun. Hope you said what really mattered…."

It winked out of existence before I could respond. I thought on the conversation while practicing breathing exercises to calm my racing heart. Congress wants to pull the plug and kill us all. That's the most pressing. I'll think on the time jump later and whatever she was trying to tell me. Apparently time grows short. Right now I need an army. A real one. Fortunately, I had an idea on where to start. I opened my class portal with a wave of my hand and stepped through to seek my salvation.