Why does this keep happening to me!?

It was almost 3pm when John stepped off the bus, thanking the driver politely as he got off. In his hands he held the stuffed animal and the bracelet. He looked forward to giving both of them to Cynthia, something in his mind silently telling him that if he gave her a gift she would give him something in return as well.

Whistling a tune as good or as bad as he could, he started walking into the forest, made his way past the spot he got attacked at on Monday, and smirked, somewhat confident that something like that would not happen to him again. After all, he was increasing in power daily and getting better. No one would get the drop on him like that again, he was sure.

As John walked, Jack mewled happily. “Yes, Jack! Indeed! No one will be able to get the drop on us again!” John grinned, patting the little cub as he felt Toph crawling up onto his shoulder.

John’s eyes shot wide open a few moments later. “Jack… Why are you out in the real world?” John’s voice quivered slightly, doing a double take of their surroundings, a popup floating in front of his eyes. The forest was quiet once more, warped as it was Monday.

You have been dragged into a trap barrier. You can not leave until all enemies have been defeated

John’s eyes turned weary, mumbling something about having to say it and famous last words. He gave the gifts for Cynthia to Jack as his right hand flicked around in his inventory to switch his gear out.

Seconds later, he had his battlegear on, scanning the surroundings when suddenly out of nowhere a yellowish blast came flying from between the trees.

It took John a lot of effort to dodge it, rolling onto the ground and out of the way, Toph jumping off his shoulder and hiding behind a nearby tree with Jack.

John shot an arrow in the direction the blast had came from, still not seeing who was after him this time. “Show yourself! I know you are out there somewhere!” he called out, staying on the move as he aimed at every perceived sound. Shooting a couple more arrows into the warped trees when he thought he spotted something.

“Oh really? You know I am out there? What gave me away…” a mocking feminine voice came from all around him, sounding rather young and energetic.

Small bolts started coming from the surrounding trees. The first blast was the size of a water balloon, but these were more like raindrops. John tried to dodge, but the droplets were all around him, covering too wide an area for him to be able to evade. John saw a flaring red popup appear in front of him as he felt his movements slow down.

Status effect: Paralysis
It will be harder to move your muscles depending on the severity of the paralysis. Current severity: 2/10

John indeed felt it harder to move his hands, his legs starting to respond to his will only after a delay. Slowly but steadily, more and more drops hit his body. The voice from the surroundings called out again, “If all hunters are like you, I don’t get why The Collector is so afraid of you guys. Not that it matters, as long as she pays me, I will follow orders.” A loud sigh could be heard before the voice grumbled. “Not that the bitch pays that well, but hey, we all need to make a living somehow, don’t we?”

“Show yourself! C, C, Coward!” John mumbled at the trees, his jaw clenching and unclenching in an effort to keep it within his control, seeing the severity of the paralysis tick up to 4, his legs almost giving in as he was still barraged by small drops of what must be some kind of potion or other numbing agent.

“Rule one of hunting, never show yourself until your prey is totally without a means to defend themselves… You are a hunter, you should know,” the voice continued to mock him, a laugh that sounded like chiming bells following her statement.

John slowly crumpled to the ground, finding it rather odd that he was not losing health; he was literally just getting paralysed. He feared for his pets; by now, he knew that he must be dealing with one of the mercenaries Arnold had spoken about yesterday. What made him feel worse was that he walked right into their trap once again, and this time he would not even be able to defend himself before he got taken out.

The rain of paralytic liquid slowly ground to a halt, John falling over as his entire body refused to listen to him. Jack, still carrying the stuffed animal, together with Toph ran from behind the tree, nudging him as they let out angsty cries.

John managed to mumble softly. “Hi, de. D, don, don’t let her get to you.”

From between the warped forest, a girl leisurely walked out, a smouldering cigarette in one hand while above the other two small yellow balls of the liquid danced.

John managed to get a good look at her, unable to even turn his head by now, completely paralyzed on the floor.

The girl looked to be a mix of Asian and Caucasian, her skin pristinely white, the slight hint of Asian heritage at her eyes betraying her ancestry as well as the dark black color of her hair. As she moved, her hair moved slightly, showing off red streaks that were probably dyed into them; somehow the color combination reminded John of a black widow. Her ears were filled with piercings, two rings on both her earlobes and a few more dotting the shell, jingling slightly every few steps. Her eyes were piercing blue, trained on him with her lips were curled into a half smile. She pursed her lips, blowing out a small, thin trail of smoke to the side. Her torso was covered by a loosely hanging tank top, thin strands holding it up over her shoulders, the fabric barely containing her perky bosom as it danced with every step. The tank top did nothing to cover her arms, showing off the small bangle bracelet on her left wrist. When she brought her cigarette to her lips again, John noted that her nails were painted the same shade of black as her hair and tank top. Her legs were clad in a pair of ripped jeans, small tears showing off her creamy thighs in a few spots, the tears continuing sporadically to her knees, thin strands of black fabric seemingly trying to keep the holes from ripping too far as it crisscrossed across the tears. Finally, her feet were clad in black combat boots, which made loud thudding sounds as she made her way over to John, tossing her cigarette away when she reached him.

John grunted, trying to form the words, “ Ob… ser...v...e. “

John got a surprising result: he only saw a fraction of the info he would normally see. She winked at him, brushing over a bangle on her wrist. “Anti scrying charm.”

Ellen Hollmey
Level 15

Ellen crouched in front of him as she wagged her finger, chastising him. “Tsk, tsk. Bad boy. You are supposed to stay still and be helpless. Anyway, you don’t want this song and dance, neither do I. I am supposed to kill you and leave this little scroll here on your corpse,” she said with an audible groan, producing a scroll from her pocket.

“Sadly for my boss, and lucky for you I guess, I am not getting paid nearly enough to kill the followers of a god so close to one of her camps. Neither am I in the mood to stay here any longer than I need to…”

Ellen put the scroll into one of John’s hands and closed his fingers around it for him. Patting his cheek as she continued, her voice reminding him of a viper, playing with her food. “Don’t see this as a personal thing, I’m just the hired help. Not everyone has the luxury of a god providing for them in the Abyss,” her voice sounded a tad bitter near the end. To John’s surprise, he did not smell tobacco on her, and stranger yet, she smelled faintly of strawberries.

When she leaned forward, she noticed Jack and Toph hiding beneath John’s cloak. “Oh, what do we have here, a cub and a shell, how cute,” she chuckled. Her left hand deftly grabbing Jack by the scruff of his neck, the leopard in question hissing at her while her right hand grabbed the stuffed animal and the bracelet from his jaws.

“I thank you for your addition to my paycheck,” Ellen teased him as she blew John a kiss.

“Don’t… Take, them. Please… N-not, m-m-my… P-ets.” John groaned out, struggling to form words.

“Don’t worry babe, my orders were to kill and deliver a message, and if the pay ain’t right, you get no extra service,” Ellen giggled once more, placing Jack back down as she leaned over John’s face. Her blue eyes staring into his as her left hand coiled around his head, bringing her lips closer to his as she whispered.

“Now, be a good boy and go to sleep.”