Boss: ZELO (LVL=42, HP=2561, MP=543, STR=54, DEF=78)

Boss: JONGUP (LVL=39, HP=1932, MP=268, STR=48, DEF=13)

Ally: YONGGUK (LVL=58, HP=3745, MP=96, STR=72, DEF=24)

Ally: HIMCHAN (LVL=?, HP=10000, MP=1000, STR=∞, DEF=100)

* * * * *

“Let’s see what you’re made of.”

At that moment, Hyuk wanted to do a thousand things at once. He wanted to fall under the table in case of possible gunfire. He wanted to shout something, anything, that might stop Zelo from beating him into a pile of goo. He wanted to scream for Yongguk, or for Ravi, or the tutorial boy, or even Changmin or Kyu or Mr Jung, for anyone and everyone who could possibly help him.

And yet, he did nothing but stare at Zelo in mute shock.

Where there had been flesh a moment ago, now was just cold metal. Zelo’s skin was shrinking, thinning, fading, revealing the mechanical blue surface beneath, as blue as his hair. His eyes were changing as well, going from dark to bright red in a matter of seconds. Along with his skin, his eyebrows, nose and lips practically disappeared, leaving only gaping holes. Even his hair transformed, puffing up as though from an electric shock. Slowly, the red of his eyes spread, covering his iris, his pupil, and the whole white of his eyes, until his eye sockets had nothing in them but a pulsing red light.

Mouth agape, Hyuk could only watch as Zelo’s forearms twisted outwards at an impossible angle, creaking and groaning as they fell off at the elbow. What they left behind was even scarier that Zelo’s eyes – it was a set of two matching gleam-sharp swords, poking from his elbows instead of hands.

Robot Zelo took a step forwards, then another. Jongup was right behind, smiling wickedly at Hyuk’s reaction to Zelo’s true form, before casually pulling a katana out from under his clothes. Inching backwards, Hyuk’s chest froze in terror as his back hit the wall.

Without a warning, Zelo lunged, aiming at Hyuk’s left side, the sharp swords gleaming orange-red under the eternally setting sun. Hyuk closed his eyes, unable to do anything but wait for the inevitable pain that would, surely, soon burn across his body.

If I only had some skill, a weapon like Ravi’s, or a sword, or magic… Hyuk thought, eyes tightly shut.

Right then, something big and warm crashed right into Hyuk, making him fly meters away, turn over a table and fall hard on the ground. For a split second, he could feel the weight and warmth of another body on his, before Yongguk stood up and turned towards Jongup and Zelo, hands balled into fists.

“I knew you’d do that the moment I was out of the room. Stupid punks. I knew it.”

“Shut up, you old geezer!” yelled Jongup. “And stand out of the way!” joined Zelo. “This is between us and him, ” he said, his voice a hideous scrape of metal on metal.

Yongguk let out a long sigh.“Then you leave me no choice.”

He closed his eyes.

Yongguk’s chains, the golden chains that hung from his neck, turned out to be not many, but one. It uncoiled from Yongguk’s neck and slithered down his toned torso like a snake. The chain slipped through his hands and continued below, falling and pooling on the ground, the metal links crashing into and scraping against each other, ringing together in cacophony.

“Come at me.” Yongguk growled, voice a mere whisper, low and dangerous.

And Zelo didn’t need to be told twice. Just like he’d lunged at Hyuk, he now aimed at Yongguk, his right sword-hard coming down in a vicious circle.

But Yongguk’s chain moved as though it had a mind of its own, jumping up and wrapping itself around Zelo’s metal arm, right behind the point where the arm turned into a blade. Hissing, Zelo jerked the chain off, only to have it suddenly slither around his leg. With a violent jerk of Yongguk’s strong arms, Zelo came crashing forwards-

Cursing, Yongguk pulled away and took a step back into the unoccupied side of the room. Hyuk was left under a table, closer to Zelo than to Yongguk, but the two boys seemed to have lost all interest in Hyuk in the light of a fight with the inn’s owner.

An explosion of profanities passed Yongguk’s lips, as he glanced at the wound left by Jongup’s katana. While he was winning over Zelo, Jongup had taken the opportunity to land a blow on his bicep. Still spitting curses into his chin, Yongguk tore his left sleeve off, revealing a long, thin cut on his muscular arm.

“Think I can’t fight two of ya punks at once, huh? ” Yongguk smirked, balancing the golden chain in his hands.

Humiliated by his fall earlier, Zelo was too angry to reply. He started towards Yongguk, but Jongup was faster. At first, Jongup took a step to the side, but then quickly backed away, only to slash at Yongguk’s wounded left with his katana. But whether he cut left or right, Yongguk’s chain was there to block the blow.

In a flash, Zelo joined in, and the three turned into a blur of sword and katana and chain. Hyuk watched, half in horror, half in admiration, as blows and cuts flew faster than he could see. At one moment, Yongguk was thrown backwards, rolling over three tables before landing on his feet, moving quickly aside just as Jongup slashed at him from above. Zelo’s eyes, red with fury and power, sent a beam of light that nearly cut Yongguk up in two. But then, Yongguk’s chain wrapped tightly around Zelo’s neck, who let out horrible metallic choking sounds, at least until Jongup practically leaped on top of the inn’s owner-

“That’s enough!“ said a stern, motherly voice. Sure enough, Himchan stood there in his pink apron and his absurd spotted cape, glaring at two armed men and a robot as though they were a bunch of naughty children.

Startled, the trio just stood there, Yongguk’s chain immobilising Zelo’s arm-sword, while another part of it was coiled around Jongup’s waist.

After a moment’s pause, Zelo tried to get the fight going again, slashing with his other arm-sword towards Yongguk’s thigh-

“I SAID THAT’S ENOUGH!!!“ squealed Himchan.

Exactly what happened then, Hyuk had no idea. The next thing he knew, Zelo was back in human form, sprawled on the floor in a corner of the room, while Jongup was in another corner, groaning into the floorboards. In the third corner was Yongguk, eyes almost closed in exhaustion, his chain slithering around in random directions, portions of it bumping into each other like a bunch of confused snakes.

In the middle of it all stood Himchan, apron and cape tossed aside, hands on his hips. He pouted, strictly looking over the three males in the corners of the room, all three panting heavily and in pain.

Hyuk just couldn’t take his eyes off Himchan. He simply couldn’t understand what he was seeing. Because on Himchan’s stomach, from his upper abdomen and all the way to his hips, were scales - not soft ones like fish have, but tough and unbreakable like some kind of built-in armour. They gleamed pink and purple under the setting sun, along with an occasional line of dark blue. But that was nothing compared to Himchan’s back.

“Wings… wings.” muttered Hyuk like a madman. His head was getting heavy. “You… you have in wings-“

“Oh my god! Are you alright?!“ paniked Himchan, rushing to Hyuk’s side. “Are you hurt?“

“You. Have. Wings.“

“That’s - that’s true. I do.” said Himchan, obviously confused. He didn’t seem to think having wings was especially unusual. “What about them?” Hyuk was too stunned to even reply. Picking Hyuk up as though he weighed no more than a doll, Himchan put him into a chair, his cheek worriedly. “I’ll be back in a second, as soon as I deal with these idiots.“

Beat-up and exhausted, it took Zelo and Jongup a good few seconds to realise Himchan had picked them up by the backs of their shirts, like kittens.

“Yah, what are you doing?!” squealed Jongup.

“Put me down, put me down!!!“ demanded Zelo, kicking around and flailing his arms in midair.

Himchan let out a tsking noise.

“Time to go home, kids!“ he said cheerfully, tossing the two boys right out the door before slamming it in their faces.

Dusting his hands off, Himchan turned to Yongguk, carrying him into a chair next to Zelo’s. In a matter of seconds, Himchan had pulled out a green object from somewhere. It was hard to make out what it was since it wasn’t much more than a blurry pixel.  Yet, Hyuk, being the long-time gamer he was, recognised it instantly.

“A potion!“ he exclaimed. It was great to see something familiar- and something that might actually help him in his search for a way back to the real world.

“Have you run out of them?“ asked Himchan, lips pressed together in worry. “Here, take these.“ he said, putting something in Hyuk’s hand.

“AAAAGH!!!“ yelped Hyuk. A message, framed in blue, stood in the center of his vision, right over where Himchan’s face should be.

“Inventory: Items: Potion x 10, Foreign Coins x 500. Key Items: Chopper Doll.“

“All right, all right!“ Hyuk yelled out loud.

“Hyuk, are you okay?!“ asked Himchan worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.“ claimed Hyuk.

Himchan was unconvinced. “How is your HP?“

“What? Oh,“ said Hyuk, checking his health bar, “Not bad. 80/100.“

It seemed as though when Yongguk had saved him from Zelo’s attack, the fall he endured made him lose a few health points.

“Take a potion, then.“ insisted Himchan, putting one more in front of him, before tucking one into Yongguk’s hand as well.

Hyuk blinked at the object on the table. It was just a blurry pixel.

Gingerly, he reached out to touch it, only to be attacked by another message in a blue frame.

“Potion. Use?”

“YES!!!” shouted Hyuk.

“That’s it,” decided Himchan, turning towards him, ”I’m getting you to bed.”

Before Hyuk could protest, he was cuddled in Himchan’s arms, arms that were so thin and pale, but that had still somehow managed to defeat three dangerous warriors.

“How… how did you do that?” asked Hyuk tiredly, watching Himchan’s wings that poked behind his shoulders. Every so often, a wing would stretch out a little before folding back. It seemed like Himchan was doing it subconsciously. Suddenly Hyuk’s eyes lit up. “Can you teach me to fight like that?”

Himchan looked thoroughly confused. “Why do you want to fight? It’s stupid!”

“I… I want to go home.  But I don’t even know how to get there...”

“Sounds like you need a map.” said Himchan lightly.

Hyuk raised his head a little, only to let it fall back on Himchan’s shoulder. Only then did he realise how close their faces were.

“What room are you, again?” said Himchan, oblivious, carrying Hyuk up the stairs.

“Room five. Third floor.”

Hyuk sank into an exhausted silence. Himchan adjusted him better in his arms.

“Can I touch your wings?” Hyuk suddenly asked.

He could swear he saw Himchan blush. “I- I guess you can.” he stuttered.

“I’ve never seen a guy with wings before,” confessed Hyuk, reaching over Himchan’s shoulder and tracing the soft scales of his pink-purple wings. Much like a bat’s, Himchan’s wings were just bone and skin. But the colours on them, morphing and blending into one another and shimmering when he moved, made them look truly beautiful.

“I’m a dragonblood,” said Himchan, as if that explained even a tenth of the questions Hyuk had. “This is you room-” Himchan suddenly halted, horrified, “God, I don’t know your name! I’m sorry-”

“It’s all right, “ said Hyuk tiredly. “I’m Hyuk.”

Placing Hyuk in the bed (which was quite big, just like Yongguk had said), Himchan smiled, before softly closing the door.

“Good night, Hyuk.”

* * * * *