“I’m really sorry,” he said as he looked directly into her eyes and cast Frost Breath for the final time. He knew exactly what happened when a player died and how much it could smart, bottomed-out pain sensitivity levels and all. He watched as her body froze up, and a thin, blue coat of snow-like moisture crept across her skin. The crystalline layer formed first on her extremities and then crept inward in a glistening sheen, perfectly capturing her annoyed and frustrated facial expression as she finally froze over.

He felt bad having to kill his own party members, especially ones who had helped him through the dungeon and offered to do all of the work for him, but part of him didn't hate it. Part of him actually enjoyed the thrill. He had been in control of almost the entire fight, but even so, he had been unsure of whether he would win or not. His heart was still beating at a mile a minute, and he didn’t even realize it until the moment the fight was over, but he had felt alive. The adrenaline, the challenge, the thrill—it all made him feel, and that was something he hadn’t experienced in over half a year of real-life time.

Before he could even read Valerie’s death notification or the level-up notification, his thoughts were interrupted up by the sound of Xun Guan’s clapping.

“Good job,” Xun Guan said. “You did beautifully.”

“I’d rather not have,” Lucas retorted. “Why did you tell me to do this quest if you were just going to have me turn on my allies at the end?”

Xun Guan began waving her hands about as if she were performing for a crowd. “Because I needed you to prove your deep-seated feelings to me. Only through a beautiful display o—”

“I don’t have any,” Lucas interjected, cutting her off. “I think of you as a friend, nothing more.”

“Hmm? Is that so?” Xun Guan asked. She shrugged as if it didn’t really matter after all and plopped back down on the chair. “A pity. I never thought a woman of my caliber would be stuck in the friend zone.” She reached around behind her chair and retrieved a small bag from which she produced the block of cheese Lucas had been working on before he began the introduction quest—only it was already half eaten. “You still hungry?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Lucas said pointedly. “Why did you make me choose between their lives and yours?”