VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 23: Sacrificial Breakfast

Belladonna gave the creepy little statue an odd and suspicious look. The mischievous gleam in it’s stony eyes wasn’t that of something that wanted absolute chaos, such as burning down your house with your family locked inside.

Instead, for some reason, she got the feeling that it was more of a playful mischief. That it was the type to steal all of your left socks or cut holes in the back of your underwear, or even a harmless prank that wasn’t underwear related. If such a thing was even possible.

"Okay so... What am I supposed to be looking at with this thing? It’s not going to come to life, is it? That would be weird."

The Wizard chuckled as he stood up from his work and strolled over to the statue with her, "No, no. Nothing like that. This is simply an official offering shrine to the brownies."

"Brownies? That’s a strange name for that little thing. Why is it called that?"

"Why? Isn’t it obvious? Just one look at them and... Oh wait, you can’t see them yet. Well, the short version is that they are a type of earth spirit and they are brown so... Brownies. Incidentally the man who first discovered them was not a creative man when it came to naming his discoveries.

His other notable discoveries are things such as ’Fire Breathing Blue Lizard’ and ’Venom Fanged Red Eyed Green Snake’. I will give you three guesses as to what those creatures are. Honestly... It’s like he wasn’t even trying.

Now the Kintomahepa, that’s a beast name. You have absolutely no idea what it is until you find it, unless you know your ancient languages and I... Wait, what was I talking about? Oh right, the Brownies. Yes, of course."

Belladonna let out a sigh of relief as the wizard caught himself before he went on another one of his endless old man rambles. She didn’t have it in her to ignore another one. If he did it again, she might actually have to pay attention!

As horrifying as that was, nevertheless Belladonna focused and listened closely to what the old man was saying about the strange little statue.

"You will be returning to your own world shortly, so it seems right I tell you about this now. You will find these shrines scattered across the world in places where people frequent. That is because a Brownie is a type of spiritual creature that likes to help people, for a price. Worldly servants, they can be thought of.

While the shrine is not needed, it does show that there is definitely going to be at least one around. If one likes you enough, it may follow and take offerings anywhere you go. But this doesn’t happen often, so shrines are your best bet.

To use them, simply state what you would like it to do and place the offering on the plate. In this case, you should ask them to keep you and your belongings safe until you return."

Belladonna frowned softly, bobbing her head along with the old man’s world, before a light bulb appeared in her mind.

’It’s a save station! Somewhere we can safely log out of the game and not lose our stuff. Makes sense... If bodies drop on death, then it stands to reason the same happens on log out.

If you were out in the wild when you logged out, you could die or get robbed unless you found somewhere safe to do it.’

She nodded to herself, extremely confident in her reasoning and deduction. Everything about this game had been about immersion, so of course they would find some in-game explanation for saving. This had to be it.

Approaching the shrine, Belladonna stuffed her breakfast jerky into her mouth and started to root around in her bag while she chewed. However the Wizard quickly spoke up once again.

"Ah, I should mention. These spirits, while helpful, do it out of willingness. Not any form of compulsion. If they do not like the offering, they won’t help. In fact it is more likely they will find some way to prank you instead.

Offerings like money and food are often the best. You can use other things, but under no circumstances must you offer clothes. They take that as the highest of insults."

Belladonna gave him a concerned look before bobbing her head in understanding. Going back to her bag, she considered it for a few moments before pulling out a few strips of her rabbit jerky.

Some of these were supposed to be the rest of her breakfast, but she could always find some more meat with a little hunting.

Placing the jerky down on the plate, she looked the stone brownie in his mischievous eyes and was about to speak, before stopping. She took another look over the creatures statue, noting everything about it as well as considering the warnings of pranks.

They might be helpful, but her initial judgement about their mischievous and trouble maker personality based on that crafty smile just wouldn’t leave her mind. After thinking for a few more seconds, she finally spoke,

"In exchange for this offering of food I place on your plate, I would ask that you protect my belongings and my body in my absence and see that they are all safely returned, in their entirety and current state, to my possession immediately upon my next return."

Belladonna stared at the meat on the platter, waiting for something to happen. Beside her, the Wizard nodded softly, a sly smile spreading across his lips almost as if he was proud of her. Mainly because he was.

Brownies were playful spirits that enjoyed helping, but sometimes they would use your wording against you. Specification wasn’t always needed, especially if one liked you, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Simply asking for your house to be cleaned is how you find it cleaned out of all your valuables too.

Belladonna’s irritation grew as she stared at the plate, the food remaining there and nothing happening. She was about to turn to complain to the wizard, yet when she blinked before even turning her head, the food had completely vanished in an instant. Not even a crumb left in sight.

Since the Wizard wasn’t saying anything about it, she assumed that meant that her offering had been accepted. Rising to her feet, she quickly checked the countdown and saw it had less than a minute to go.

She turned to the wizard, flashing him an awkward smile,

"I hope to continue my training when I return. You still need to give me the reward for that quest, you know."

"Haha, Indeed I do child. Indeed I do."

Before she could say anything in response, Belladonna’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body went completely limp and collapsed to the floor. The Wizard stared at the body on his floor for a few seconds, a complicated look in his eye and a sly smirk on his lips, before he turned and walked away.

***

Valerie awoke to the feeling of the nurse yanking the IV needle from her arm. She couldn’t help but let out a soft, somewhat sleepy, hiss of pain as the woman was so rough with taking it out. But the nurse quickly bowed her head in apology, dressed her ’wound’ with cotton and stepped backwards.

Valerie glanced at her in annoyance, but couldn’t be bothered complaining. It wasn’t worth it, the most it would give her was a slight bruise. Besides, as she sat up in the gel cushioned chair and stretched out, she was surprisingly feeling better than ever.

Her entire body felt refreshed and energised, the stiffness in her back that she usually got when playing games was gone and she even felt like she had gotten a wonderful nights sleep despite gaming for nearly 8 hours straight. Although that number wasn’t close to her record it still wasn’t one that was usually attributed to this level of comfort.

She couldn’t help but laugh, patting the soft cushion of the chair,

"God, this thing is amazing. I can’t believe they’re really giving us one of these for free. I might just have to turn it into my bed too. What was in that stuff anyways? I feel like I’m ready to run a mile, which is surprising especially for me."

She laughed, gesturing to her withered, skeletal legs as she clambered out of the chair and back into her wheelchair, which had felt comfortable before but now felt like she was sitting on a pile of bricks.

The nurse laughed softly, glancing down at her clip board.

"Trade Secret I’m afraid. We hope that you enjoyed your experience today, however, and your gifts will be mailed to you shortly." She spoke with a curtious, professional tone. As Valerie spun her chair around and started to leave, the Nurse’s smile dropped slowly.

Her eyes trailed down to the clipboard in her hands, focusing on a paperclip that rested on its surface. It had been bent so it was balancing perfectly and free standing, with part straightened out to point directly forwards.

The Nurse watched with narrowed eyes as the paperclip slowly spun in place, its pointed arm following obediently in the direction of the girl in the wheelchair.