Once more, he looked over the other, then carefully stroked some of his hair out of his face. “These clothes really do suit you.”
“Are you flirting with me?”, Aspen teased, although his eyes narrowed happily.
“I’m not”, River stiffly replied. “…I don’t know how to flirt.”
“Perfect. That matches my level of experience.”
The smaller man looked quite satisfied with the thought and nodded to himself. Then he smiled, more softly.
“Come on, Handsome. Let’s not make the Gamblers wait too long for us.” Aspen pulled back and intertwined their fingers before walking forward. He dragged River along as if he didn’t care about the other wanting to leave already or not.
Through the other door in the room was… a bedroom.
A door into a bathroom, another door somewhere else. A big wardrobe and a little table. There were two beds on each side and out of the window, you could see the night sky. Street lights illuminated the otherwise dark room.
“Is this our safe-room?”, River wondered, pressing a simple light switch. When he walked to the window, Aspen followed.
Outside was a world of years ago. He could tell from the way the buildings were formed, from the street lights and far away cars. This was a time that had passed already. They were up high, several floors, and a quick glance down revealed a simple but neat apartment building.
Inside the room, a small cube that had been placed on the table suddenly made a cracking noise. The voices of their Gamblers sounded, one after each other.
【Hello, hello! Welcome to your room!】
“Hi you two”, Aspen said, picking the cube up. “Thanks for helping us again.”
【No problem! We do like it this way. It’s fun! Everyone thought it was good.】
【Is the room good? Is it nice?】
The eager yapping interrupted the other Gambler.
The two humans looked around. The room was rather simple, but it did look nice and comfortable. It was cozily warm and had everything they needed.
River was content, but Aspen smirked.
“One bed is enough”, he said teasingly, poking his elbow into River’s side.
【Okay!】
River had no time at all to react to the tease.
Reality changed in a way that reality shouldn’t be allowed to change. The ground stayed steady but both humans suddenly started swaying and grabbing their heads with uncomfortable groans.
“Ughhh”, Aspen whined, leaning on River as much as River was leaning on him. “Humans aren’t made for this.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The bed was tempting. River crawled onto it, suddenly finding himself in a hug exactly the same way he had dreamed of before. His head was pushed into the nape of Aspen’s neck, his body held tight.
“I like the bed”, he heard the rumble above him. It vibrated in his skull. “I like that we will be able to sleep together. I can wake up and see you.”
“Yeah. That’s nice.”
River closed his eyes and sighed in contentment.
“One bed was a great idea. I want a reward.”
“What kind of reward?”
“A kiss!”
River’s lip twitched in amusement.
He didn’t not like kissing Aspen. The other’s lips were nice to the touch and he wasn’t averse to it. As for the intimacy of the action, he didn’t judge it.
“Fine.” He gave in, indulgence tinging his voice. He wasn’t good at kissing, but he still placed a sweet kiss on the other’s grinning lips.
“Not enough. Another!”
Another indulgent sigh. A smooch to Aspen’s cheek left the other guy giggling, and River found himself pasting random smooches here and there until the person in front of him was breathless with laughter as if they weren’t kisses but tickles.
They clung to each other, revelling in the feeling of being perfectly secure.
“How come I don’t get a deeper kiss?”
“I have no idea how to french-kiss, Aspen.”
“Neither do I. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn!”
“There’s people- …There’s watchers.”
“Well.” Aspen paused but snorted out a laugh right afterwards. “I kind of feel like there’s nothing shameful as long as we aren’t ashamed?”
With a species that could watch humanity whenever they pleased, it did seem to be a bit weird to worry about kissing in front of them.
“But I’ll take the hug”, came a muffled voice from Aspen. It was a bit awkward, which sounded oddly cute. “I like hugs. They’re warm and nice.”
“Yeah.” River’s voice started drifting a bit. The bed was perfect and the human pillow in his arms was even better. It made him drowsy. He yawned audibly, then whispered a couple of words under his breath. “Aspen… Thanks for being born.”
Thank you for being you.
He ignored the slightly strangled sound that escaped Aspen’s throat, as well as the shake of his shoulders.
The Gamblers kept their distance, leaving the two to themselves as they rested for a beautifully serene few minutes.
Only when the humans sat up did the Gamblers return to talk.
【Are you ready for the rules?】
“Of course”, Aspen shouted, full of motivation.
The Gamblers started talking. It was an entirely different voice, not one of theirs, and something about it made it sound like a pre-recorded message.
【For this game, there are two groups. Both groups have a goal they have to accomplish. Only the group that accomplishes their goal first will win and leave. It doesn’t matter which person completes it; the win will count for the whole team. The winning team will have their wish granted.】
A different voice, but also in that same, pre-recorded speed.
【You are not allowed to attack the other group directly. Other than that, you may accomplish your goal by using all people around you.】
For the last bit, Aspen’s Gambler.
【This time, you are a part of the world, or rather, this building. People will recognize you as someone they have known for some time. Try not to stick out too much or things might end up badly!】
A giggle, River’s Gambler. Not recorded, but talking directly to them.
【Your goal is to complete the ritual. Any other questions?】
“Which ritual?”
【Not telling!】
“What is our identity in this game? How large is the map? Who are the other players?”
【Not telling, find out yourself, aaaaaand… Actually, that’s fine for you to know. We will give you the information later.】
“When does the game start and how long does it go? What about repeats?” Realizing that the Gamblers would not give them any additional information unless they asked, River quickly continued.
【No repeats this time. The game starts tomorrow and lasts for one week! You can stay inside your room for as long as you want. But I suggest you don’t!】
River looked around. He found a simple notebook and pen on the same table to jot some things down.
- Two groups with their own goal
Our goal: Complete ritual - Map: Apartment building? City?
- Length: Seven days, no repeats
- No shadows – real setting
- Own identities?
Aspen glanced over his shoulder and read along. He nodded in agreement, seeing the little notes. It’d be very useful to note down things considering they would be here for seven days and somehow had to figure out their own roles inside the apartment building.
“Can we ask you more questions if they pop up?” The easterner didn’t even lift his head from his notebook.
The answer took a moment. 【You can ask when you’re inside here. We might not tell you though.】
“That works for us. Considering we are real here… I imagine exhaustion, hunger and other things will affect us?”
A hum – very awkward but still recognizable as a confirmation – sounded.
Aspen hopped to check the bathroom and wardrobe.
The bathroom itself had all needed toiletries – shower gel, toothbrushes – and the wardrobe a section for each of them. The clothes inside mimicked the style they were currently wearing, with uniform colored underwear and socks placed into drawers.
Apparently, everything basic was thought of.
“In that case we best rest for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will have to scout the area, find a way to manage our meals, and attempt to gather as much information about ourselves and our neighbors as possible.” River blew up a lock of his hair.
【Good night】, both Gamblers whispered together, and in some odd way, it sounded like the voice of a pair of parents tucking in two children.
Night completely fell in the almost real world. It could have been creepy – it was in color, he couldn’t see the end of the map and there’d be people around who acted as if they recognized him.
But the fakeness of the world was oddly pleasant. River loved knowing that this game was both real and fake.
When it got late enough to sleep, he curled himself up in a blanket and looked through the simple sheet of paper showing the names and faces of his opponents.
Aspen tugged and pulled at River’s blanket until he had managed to slip under it as well, then leaned on the taller man’s shoulder to watch him as he scribbled down things on the simple notebook.
The scratching of the pen had him fall asleep before he realized he even closed his eyes.
Author’s Note
River takes notes during this game.
While I will show some of them in the chapters, I’d not note down all of them because it might disrupt some readers. Thus my question:
Would you guys like River’s complete noteset at the start of each chapter in a dropdown section? They will always show the current state of River’s notebook, so there won’t be any spoiler for the chapter or the future.
It might be fun in case you want to try solving/guessing the mystery (which I hopefully made neither too predictable nor completely unsolvable) alongside the characters.
Yes, please!
Thank you for the chapter 🌸
Having his notes would be really cool! Thx for the chapter btw 😊😊😊
I wanna see his notes too! Thank you for the chappy:)
Notes? yes please~!
Let’s go. Maybe we will solve the mystery with notes, before river and aspen
Oh yes thanks~ thanks for the chapter!
Oooh ! That would be fun ! Yes please!