Elizabeth walked into the room.
I turned to my friends—they looked confused, clearly not recognizing her.
"Her name is Elizabeth. Maybe you remember her as Sophie, the girl from Zack's party," I said.
They both looked surprised.
Kaiser: "I don't get it, Jhon. Why should we care about her? And how could she possibly prove your innocence? She's probably just messing with you."
Marie: "Kaiser's right. Why should we care about this skank? She's probably just looking for someone new to leech off now that you wrecked her boyfriend."
Elizabeth visibly frowned but responded politely.
Elizabeth: "I don't think the insult was necessary. And for the record, Zack is my older brother—not my boyfriend."
We were all a bit shocked by that, but there were more important things to focus on.
"Come on, guys. Cut it out. Just listen to her—please?"
Elizabeth began to speak. She told them the same thing she had told me earlier.
They seemed to believe her, but had a lot of questions.
Marie: "Okay, let's say Elizabeth is telling the truth. Why would your skill activate right then?"
Kaiser: "Yeah, and why with that word? And why was the effect so destructive?"
Then, almost in unison, they said:
"If you're telling the truth, then tell us everything about this skill. Every detail."
"Alright, calm down. I don't know much myself. But okay—I'll tell you what I know. At first, the skill didn't even have a name. It showed up in the ability list with just three question marks. It was completely useless until we started playing. From that point on, every time someone used a spell, a system message would appear saying: 'Passive effect of skill... your understanding of the formula... increases.' Even with spells from classes that weren't mine—like Kaiser's—or ones far above my level, like Zack's. That's how the skill behaved until I was down to 1 HP during the duel with Zack. That's when a new system window popped up saying I had met the activation conditions for the skill. And then, the light shot out of my sword, and that word came out of my mouth—all completely against my will," I said, laying it all out, heart on my sleeve.
Marie: "That's... insane."
"I know. But that's how it is, whether you believe it or not," I replied.
Kaiser sighed.
Kaiser: "Alright, Jhon… at least I believe you."
Marie: "I want to try to believe it too. But now what? You've been banned."
"I haven't. Apparently, this skill also protects me from the game's console commands."
Marie, Kaiser, and Elizabeth all turned pale.
Marie: "Damn... that skill's seriously busted—and racist. So, what happened after Kaiser and I left?"
"The Game Master took me to a room for an anti-cheat check. He tried to ban me, but he couldn't. So he dumped me in some insanely hard new area of the game to rot. He said even the best players will take months to reach that place."
Kaiser: "Jeez, what a sadist…"
Elizabeth: "Wait—it's not Green Hell, is it?" she asked, visibly alarmed.
"Yeah, why?" I replied.
Elizabeth: "I read some leaks online. Apparently, even the weakest monster in that zone is as strong as a level twenty boss. Jhon, you're basically stuck. Whether you log in or not doesn't matter—you won't be able to move without dying over and over."
"Damn, I didn't think it was that bad. But I want to try anyway. I've got that weird skill, right? Even if I have to survive with 1 HP every time and scream that word on repeat—I'll win."
What the hell did I just say? I was thinking like I did in my old life—focused only on winning, not on how it affected others. Not this time, I thought.
Marie slapped me.
Marie: "I didn't think you were the kind of person who'd rely on a game-breaking bug to level up. That would actually make you a cheater."
"You're right, Marie. I shouldn't," I replied, stunned by her reaction.
Lunch break ended, and Elizabeth went back to her class.
After the afternoon lessons, it was time to head home.
Kaiser: "Jhon, Marie and I are going to grab something to eat. Wanna come?"
"Sorry, there's something I want to try. Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin your little date," I said.
Marie blushed.
Back home, I ate something quickly.
It was time to log back into the game.
I logged in.