Mike appeared.

He stood next to Ice and Hero. His sudden return went unnoticed at first because the crowd was still pushing. Mike recognized Ice only by her white hair that stood out slightly. Otherwise he would not have found her. He looked around and pushed his way toward Ice, shoving people lightly aside. He did not apologize. Some fell and were trampled.

Mike stood next to Ice. She immediately jumped up and shouted, "Mike, there you are. Hero and I were already looking for you."

Mike quickly thought of an excuse. "Sorry, some bandits tried to rob me and dragged me away."

Mike did not hear Ice's reply because something else caught his attention. Hero stood next to Ice and looked around nervously. No one dared to attack Mike after witnessing the fight with the snake. But Mike had other problems.

His face was pale. He could have been mistaken for a ghost. His muscles twitched nervously and his gaze was fixed only on the system message he had received.

[Too much admin power consumed. Errors may occur.]

The message vanished and left Mike cold. He hated this place in general, the crowd and the waiting to be teleported. And now this as well.

"Errors may occur?" Mike whispered. "What is that supposed to mean?"

As if answering him, a white rift appeared above them. It reminded him of the beginning on the giant cloud, when the creator or something similar had emerged. Everything grew quiet. Everyone looked up.

Dead silence lay over the coast. The clash of swords stopped. The blood on the ground dried and no new blood was spilled. The white rift opened wider.

Then it suddenly stopped and vanished. The blue sky returned. Some people whispered things like, "Are we finally being teleported?" and "What was that?" But many stayed silent and kept staring upward.

Suddenly the coast trembled. The yellow sand transformed into white pixels and everyone standing on it glitched into the ground. Panic erupted. The white pixel sand spread and did not stop. People ran backward. Many were thrown to the ground.

When it reached Mike, Ice, and Hero, time stopped.

A system message appeared for everyone.

[World 5 is loading.]

A grin appeared on Mike's lips.

It was perfect.

Ice and Hero were teleported away, but Mike remained standing. The coast was empty. Not a single player was there. Only Mike. He could see everything clearly now.

The ground was partly stained red. There were many holes in the sand. A few abandoned items lay around, but Mike was not interested in them.

He stayed where he was. The white sand had touched him, yet it seemed to have no effect. Mike did not know why he was left behind. He simply was.

But it was time to visit Aqua Kingdom as well, since it was the only way to reach World 6.

So Mike took a deep breath and looked at the message again.

Mike pressed teleport and was transferred within seconds.

He fell from the sky. A loud splash rang in his ears. When he opened his eyes, Mike realized he was underwater. In panic he swam upward, but then he noticed with terror that an invisible layer would not let him pass.

A true horror scenario.

Mike began to panic. He looked around desperately. Because of the invisible barrier he could not reach the surface and get air. But Mike knew there had to be a way to survive. The game was not unfair. On the contrary, Godslayer followed its own sense of fairness.

With only a little air left, Mike forced himself to look around more carefully.

And then he saw it.

When he looked downward, he noticed a glowing shape. No, not just one. It was an entire city.

The houses were white.

But one large house could be seen even from far away, almost perfectly. It glowed orange and seemed to be a kind of home for something special, because it was the only house among many that was bigger and a different color.

Mike quickly realized that this was far from the most unusual thing about the city.

The truly special thing was that the entire city was surrounded by a gigantic air bubble.

Mike had to get there fast.

He looked up one last time and noticed that the way up was still blocked, then he took a strong swing downward. The air in his lungs was getting tighter, but if he kept going like this, he would make it in time.

But Mike had bad luck. Very bad luck.

About four large fish wrapped around him. Mike could not move. They looked like sharks, but with huge teeth sticking out of their mouths. He twisted his body, but the creatures were relentless. They even dragged him farther away.

In panic, Mike tried to gasp for air.

Now he had a real problem.

Water entered his mouth and he had to cough. Mike knew he had to act quickly, so he summoned all three hundred of his shadows. They immediately surrounded him and tore the strange fish away. A few shadows grabbed Mike and pulled him toward the city. With a powerful push, they sent him through the air bubble.

Mike landed on the sandy city ground and coughed violently. When he finally stopped coughing, he lay on his back for a moment and processed what had just happened.

After a short pause, Mike sighed.

"I already really hate this place."

In a bad mood, he looked out through the air bubble. His shadows dissolved. Now Mike saw the city up close. He was inside it.

As he looked around, he noticed something strange. There were no players. All the streets were filled, but not with players. Mike took a breath and wanted to scream, but his throat still hurt from the water, so he screamed in his thoughts instead.

He was surrounded by NPCs and fish.

There were all kinds of them. Normal villagers with fish like bodies and fish heads, only their arms were normal, though covered in scales. Mike had to admit that it was funny. But there was also a kind of fish knight. They all carried large axes on their backs, so big they had to be held with two hands.

It seemed like the villagers were living their normal lives. They went to the market, bought things, and the knights patrolled the streets.

When two knights appeared next to Mike, he stopped them.

"Uh, hello?"

Mike tilted his head, wondering if they could understand him. One of the knight fish lifted his head and asked in a doubtful tone,

"Uh, yes?"

Mike had to grin at his voice. It was too deep and, well, very fish like.

"I am sorry, but where am I?"

The other knight jumped slightly and answered kindly and politely,

"You are in Aqua Kingdom A2."

Mike stayed where he was.

"A2? What do you mean by that?"

He waited for an answer. The other knight spoke now.

"Aqua Kingdom is divided into several lines, and you are currently in A2."

Mike sighed. That was just what he needed. More traveling.

"Alright, okay. And uh, how do I get to," Mike thought for a moment, then continued a few seconds later, "well, another line?"

The knights looked at each other.

"There are tournaments where you have to win. There is one every day, and soon there will be another one."

Mike thought about it. Of course. A tournament in a foreign land. How cliché. Did it really have to be like this?

So Mike asked further,

"Okay, good. Where do I go for that?"

The knights told Mike to follow them.

After about five minutes of walking, they arrived. While walking, Mike had carefully observed the city. It reminded him a lot of home, except all the houses were white.

And he was surrounded by fish.

Mike looked around. A massive arena surrounded him. There were about fifteen levels of seats encircling the arena, stacked higher and higher toward the top. Mike noticed how crowded the seats already felt.

He looked at one of the knights.

"Uh, can I just fight now?"

The knight laughed.

"Yes, but be warned. He will literally tear you apart. So just stay where you are."

Mike listened to him and stayed at the bottom of the arena. He felt a bit uncomfortable, though he had been feeling that way the entire time anyway. Now it was probably because tens of thousands of fish were staring at him.

Well.

Mike called after the knight who had accompanied him and asked another question.

"Am I allowed to use weapons?"

The knight laughed again. Mike wondered what was so funny.

"Of course you are. Otherwise it would be unfair."

Now Mike really started to wonder who or what he was about to fight, if the knight was so confident that he would be destroyed. So Mike waited and looked around a little more.

The sandy ground beneath him began to glow, and a narrator's voice echoed through the air.

"A new fighter dares to enter the arena. Let us see how long he lasts."

Mike looked up and realized that above him floated some kind of moderator. He wore a long black hat. This time it was not a fish.

It was an eel.

"I hate fish creatures," Mike whispered and listened on.

"Well then, well then. Are you reeeeady?"

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