“No. No. No…” said her father as he began walking around the hall in circles.

  “Arya. Is everyone starting from rank zero?” she asked.

  There was no reply from it. Instead, the word “Loading…” was printed on the screen with a blank background.

  She let out a grunt and turned her attention back to her dad. “Dad. Stop. Or you will become skinny like Mom and me.”

  He came to a stop and turned to her. “How are you so calm? Did you not hear what that… thing said?”

  “I did. The last one on the board dies. But I have been on the brink of death since the whole chaos began,” she said.

  He paused for a second and replied. “Good point. But what are we going to do now? We need to get you off the list, or something.”

  “We don’t know the details yet. Let’s breathe for a moment, okay?”

  “Where do we get the details from?” he asked.

  “I should be able to get them.” Her eyes shifted to the screen, which was still stuck in the loading screen. “I guess the system is updating at the moment.”

  “What are you looking at?” he asked.

  “There is a screen in front of me. Like a computer screen. Only the other contestants and I can see it.”

  “Oh. Is it related to the powers stuff you were talking about?”

  “It is. Right now it is stuck in loading. So, we will need to wait. But…” She turned back to her dad and looked him in the eyes with a serious expression. “We need to talk.”

  “Okay… What do you want to talk about?” he asked.

  She walked back to the couch and sat down. Tapping on the other seat, she said, “take a seat.”

  He looked at her suspiciously as he sat down.

  She cleared her throat and said, “okay. Dad… I do not plan on staying back.”

  “What do you mean…?”

  “What I mean is… This normal life is not for me. I don’t think I can live my life as an ordinary citizen.”

  He scoffed and asked, “what is normal about all of this?”

  “It is as normal as it can get with what is happening around us. I tried, but…” She shook her head and said, “no. I can’t. Your daughter is now an adrenaline junky.”

  “An adrenaline junky?”

  “Yeah… The rush of battle has got your daughter drinking the Kool-Aid.”

  “I have no idea what any of that meant. But what are you planning on doing now?”

  “I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far ahead. The only goal I can think of at the moment is staying alive and getting stronger.”

  His jaw dropped. “What? Stronger?”

  “Yes… I am basically stuck in a video game. The more enemies I kill, the stronger I get.”

  He did not reply. Instead, he simply looked away.

  She could not read his expression, which worried her a little. “They are all monsters. Evil creatures.”

  “What about the other contestants? I am sure that board is there just to tempt them to start killing each other.”

  “Yes. I know. But… I will only fight bad guys…”

  “Bad guys?”

  “Yes. First, we negotiate. If they don’t agree, then we fight.”

  “Uruvi, I don’t think you are thinking straight. What about you? I don’t want you to die.”

  She pursed her lips, for she had no answer for it.

  He shook his head and got off the couch. “I will be back sometime,” he said, walking towards the door.

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  “Where are you going?”

  “For a walk.”

  “Shall I come?”

  “No,” he said bluntly before shutting the door behind him.

  She fell back onto the couch with a loud grunt. She knew he wasn’t going to be convinced so easily; no father would be. But he had always respected her decisions, no matter how off-putting they seemed.

  Her descent into dread was broken by the ringing of the phone. It felt weird to hear the ringing of a landline once again. It had been years since the era of the landlines.

  She hopped back on her feet and attended the call. “Hello?”

  “Uruvi? Is your dad there?” asked the man on the other end.

  “No. He just went for a walk. Do you need something?”

  “Not exactly. We had another breach in the fence. I wanted to warn you guys to stay inside.”

  “Another breach? Where is it?” she asked.

  “East of your building. Under the metro station.”

  “Don’t worry. I am headed there. And call dad on his phone. It has been linked up to the network.”

  She put the headset back and rushed into the balcony with her axe. She could see the fence from her house and the tear through which the Pisacha were pushing through. Only a few seemed to have made their way in. She checked the screen once again and saw that it was still stuck in loading.

  “I guess I am doing this by myself.” She looked down at what she was wearing, realizing it wasn’t exactly battle-ready armor. “Is this fine…? Yeah, I will be okay.”

  Stepping onto the parapet, she leapt across the street and onto the adjacent building’s terrace. The landing was smooth, hitting the deck running. She picked up the pace, jumping from building to building when she spotted another runner at a distance. ‘Everyone seems to be heading there.’

  However, she didn’t have to worry much, as she reached the fence in the blink of an eye. Leaping off the three-story building, she brought her axe down right onto a prowling Pisacha, cutting its head off as she made her landing.

  Three more Pisacha surrounded her. They had the number 8 hovering over their heads, along with a full health bar.

  She lunged at them, engaging all three at once. The Pisacha appeared to be more coordinated, making sure to take turns swinging at her and not getting in the way of the other. However, her speed was unmatched. She effortlessly weaved her way through, striking them in every opening she came by. As their health bars dropped below 50 percent, she rolled to her right and neatly lined them up. “Domino!” she said and hit the first one with a charged attack. In one shot, she struck down two of the Pisacha, leaving the last one staggering. She quickly put it to rest by separating its head from its body.

  As they turned to dust, she shifted her attention towards the mob that was trying to squeeze through the tear. She spotted one Pisacha desperately trying to push its way in. It appeared as though the wires of the fence had cut into its torso, pinning it down. The tear ran from the top railing to the bottom. It was a large gap that was only going to get larger.

  ‘I can clear this bunch. But who will close the tear?’

  She looked to her left and saw a man running towards her. He came to a stop before her, pausing for a second to catch his breath. “I came as fast as I could.” He turned towards the breach and quickly stepped back. “Oh god. That is a lot of them…”

  “You are…?” she asked.

  “Name is Aman. And you?”

  “Uruvi. I meant to ask, are you a contestant?”

  “No. Just an anchor. Or according to the new rules, a handyman. I can fix the hole. But no way I am fighting those,” he said, shaking his head.

  ‘Handyman… Interesting.’ “Don’t worry. I will take care of the monsters. You fix the fence.”

  “Fine by me,” he said as he stepped back.

  Just as she prepared for the assault, another man came charging at them. “Back off! Back off!” he screamed. He had a sword in his hand, though he did not use it intimidate her. “They are mine! They are mine!”

  He leapt at the Pisacha, which was stuck in the fence, and cleaved its head off. As it began to turn to dust, the other Pisacha began to push through, tearing the fence in the process.

  “Oh god! I hope you guys have a plan,” said Aman as he walked further back.

  She could hear a rush of footsteps, like drops of rain hitting the ground. Several people appeared from around them, charging with weapons in their hands.

  ‘I should have seen this coming.’

  The man with the sword began stabbing the monsters, while she stepped back and stood beside Aman, who looked at her, confused.

  “Aren’t you going to try and get your share?” he asked.

  “Nah. Too many contestants, too few Pisacha. Besides, these things look feeble,” she explained.

  The mob surrounded the tear and began hacking away at the swarm of monsters. Each contestant tried to get their kill, shoving the others for maximum reach. Their hits began to cut down the wires of the fence as collateral.

  “Hey! Watch the fence!” shouted Aman, but they fell on deaf ears. “This is madness,” he said to Uruvi.

  “Exactly what they want. Whoever that is,” she said. She shot a glance at her screen once again and saw that it was stuck on the loading screen.

  One of the contestants kicked another, sending him to the ground. “Asshole! I am going kill you!” Shouted the contestant on the ground as he picked himself back up and charged at his aggressor.

  “Oh no. This is not good!” said Uruvi, as she dashed towards them. However, her charge was interrupted when the ground beneath her began to shake. Loud footsteps filled the air, bringing the chaos to an abrupt stop.

  They turned their attention past the fence, where a massive Rakth-Pisacha appeared out of the shadows.

  “Warning. Elite enemy detected,” said Arya.

  She looked at her screen and saw that the home screen was open once again. “Wonderful. Glad to have you back, Arya.”

  The other contestants stepped back on seeing the colossal monster approaching them. Its head scraped against the bottom of the overhead metro lines.

  “That will rip through the fence!” said Aman.

  The number 11 appeared over the monster’s head, which made her grin. She remembered how cool Bhadra looked fighting one of them, which for some reason made her giddy and excited. ‘Finally! A challenge!’

  She leapt onto the top of the fence before pushing herself back towards the apartment wall. Planting her feet firmly onto the wall, she shot towards the Rakth-Pisacha at full force. Tightening her grip on the axe, she smashed it into the monster’s jaw, sending it staggering backwards while she made a clean landing.

  She looked back at the other contestants, who watched her with dropped jaws. “Take care of its minions. I will handle this one,” she said with a wide grin on her face.

  A Transmigration Progression Fantasy

  LitRPG Transmigration Progression Anti-Hero Lead Grimdark