Back inside the castle, multiple thick stone walls were busted through by the ragdolled body of Gamer. He went into one headfirst, and the world glitched. His head noclipped through the wall, while his body hit it like normal. On the other side of the wall, Gamer's bloodied head had entered a bathhouse. The floors were white marble, the walls were grey, and anything metal was gold. Even the baths, basins, tubs, and chairs were golden. The heat created a thick haze. Right in front of Gamer's head was Persica. Her body was bare, aside from the folded towel laid across her lap. She was halfway through rubbing a dampened cloth across her pristine arm.
"Gamer? What is the meaning of this?" Persica didn't bother covering her exposed bosom or bottom.
"One gloryhole, hot and fresh," Gamer only saw dancing stars. Something grabbed him by the ankles and yanked. Due to the glitch, the yank only squeezed on Gamer's head. As the tugging continued, the senseless Gamer giggled stupidly, "What are you doing, big brother..."
Asterion pulled with all his might. Gamer became unclipped from the wall, and his opposition chucked him against the ground. He rolled until he met the bottom step of another spiral staircase. Asterion waited a moment to see if Gamer twitched or wiggled.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" a door opened behind Asterion.
Asterion turned to respond, but put a hand up and glanced away. Persica leaned out with her towel wrapped around her body, but it needed to be a size bigger to cover everything properly. Asterion censored her torso out of respect, "Woah, apologies, madam. Official business. I'll be on my way."
To his dismay, Gamer was already gone. The trail of blood left by his injuries led up the stairs. Asterion followed, and ignored more calls from Persica.
By the time he reached the top, Asterion could hear moans of agony. The stairs exited out to a hallway with multiple glass doors on either side. They went out onto the battlements. Gamer limped and stumbled, nearly falling over with each step. The stretch led to a boss room entrance, though the door hung from the hinges.
Asterion casually walked towards the target, "I can make this quick and painless. You're already dead in reality. There's no need for you to suffer."
Gamer reached the bedroom door and collapsed forward. He desperately crawled towards the bed. Asterion leaned his arms up against the door frame. His bulk could act as the door. He pitied what he saw; a broken man, "This is the fate of those who break the rules."
Gamer picked himself up, blood pouring from his wounds and painting his shirt red. When he timbered over and landed on the bed, he simply said, "...rest."
Immediately, Gamer popped up to his feet, good as new. Asterion gawked, and even took a step back in disbelief. The broken nose was gone, and the head wound no longer bled. The only thing wrong with him was the bloodstains on his shirt. Gamer's hypothesis was demonstrated to be true, "Heroes never die!"
"How?! Did you cheat?!" the trick baffled Asterion.
"Nah, that's gamer logic, baby," Gamer's confidence also recovered. He moved into his own fighting stance, equipped with better knowledge of the world than Asterion. He could win, and dramatically declared, "Now I'm going to shit yourself."
Fury built up in Asterion. He prepared to charge, but a voice from behind cracked out like a whip, "Halt this instance!"
Gamer and Asterion peered down the hall and saw the towel-burrito Persica. She stared daggers into the minotaur, "I am Princess Persica of Chanterelle. As a pacifist, I do not permit you to spread violence in my home. This is a land of peace, and you will abide by my rule."
Asterion relinquished his fighting stance and relaxed. Gamer edged over to the door and stepped out next to him. Both men glared at one another, before Gamer slyly asked, "You gonna break the rules?"
"I'll respect the laws," Asterion nodded at the princess. "However, at some point, I will find a way to get my hands on this man."
"How romantic..." Gamer rolled his eyes. Asterion used a foot to step on Gamer's toes. Gamer couldn't retrieve them from under the weight of the minotaur.
"I do not mind you staying, as all are welcomed. I must ask, however, will you attack my people and I?" Persica narrowed her lax eyes.
"Mino Martial Vow #2: One must not strike unless first struck at," Asterion recited.
"What about me?!" Gamer countered, finally freeing his toes.
"Mino Martial Vow #5: Those who deserve a punch shall be exempt from the vows."
"You made that up!" Gamer sneered. "You might as well leave. The princess and I are tight, and I won't be leaving anytime soon."
"Coward," Asterion insulted.
"That is a problem, Gamer," Persica crossed her arms. "I have no issues with him staying if he remains docile. However, once we leave my land, my rule ends. On Lord Shellie's island, the bull man will have the freedom to do as he pleases."
Asterion glared at Gamer with bidding satisfaction. Gamer couldn't argue, but didn't have much to say. Persica asked, "Perchance is there a means in which we can resolve this without violence?"
"He's wanted dead only," Asterion gave an apologetic look to Persica.
Persica sighed, and then said, "There is a lakeside cliff north of the castle. I will permit you to settle your business there."
"Thank you, princess," Asterion bowed.
Gamer started to contemplate the number of ways to kill a mountain, but then Persica sliced with her words, "Gamer, as for you, I do not give you permission to die. Defeat this man, and let us be off."
"I thought you said you were a pacifist?" Asterion noticed the darker side of the princess.
"It's conditional pacifism. I can't relate to desperation," the princess turned on the spot. The towel rode high on her backside. It purposely revealed her well-rounded behind. Gamer and Asterion tilted their heads and bodies to get a better angle. When she vanished in the stairwell, they corrected themselves and pretended like they weren't perverts.
Asterion took a few steps forward, and then faced Gamer, "I suppose we're doing this cordially. First and foremost, my name is Asterion. I'm an avid fan of fighting games, and have been..."
Gamer held up a hand, "I don't need your bio, pal. Are you with an agency or are you independent?"
Asterion cocked a smile, "Independent, but I have connection. A friend sent me a private invite link and your bounty. A cheater who resisted the effects of eternal gamenation and didn't turn into a mindless NPC. Quite a juicy proposition. With that said, you still got access to your thoughts and some player features. How peculiar..."
Gamer played coy, "Yeah, funny that..."
"You're quite the conundrum. I see why they stacked three thousand credits on you."
"Three thousand right off the bat? Nice..." Gamer took pride in the amount.
"It is, which is abnormal. All your info is scrubbed from records and reports. What exactly did you do to find yourself here?"
Gamer contemplated on sharing, but actually yearned for human interaction. He confided, "Pissed off the wrong people. Trying to help out the right person. You're only a criminal if the other side casts judgment. I'm just trying to survive."
"Right person?"
That detail Gamer couldn't share. Perhaps talking about it was a bad idea, "You don't need to know my bio."
Asterion popped his neck, "Hmm, fine. Like I said, you won't appeal to my sentimentality, cheater. I'll head to the cliffs in the north and await you there. I'm an honorable man; I won't ambush you or set up any traps. All I ask is for a fair fight. Your bounty already enforces a specific agreement..."
"The Gamer's Gambit," Gamer knew what Asterion referred to. The Gamer's Gambit was a special Player vs. Player, or PvP, ruleset that was high risk, high reward. In normal PvP, taking on other players can earn you half their high score if you win. The reverse is true if you lose. What the Gamer's Gambit added was a wager. Players could wager pretty much anything. When it came to Gamer, however...
"Your wager is already set. Any player who takes you out gains not only the bounty, but your entire high score. Granted, in return, if you end up beating anybody who takes on the quest, you'll gain half their high score. Though the game is set to invite only, not too many high-ranking players will be interested in taking that risk without knowing how good you are."
"Yet if I keep racking up my high score, it'll draw more attention. That kind of temptation can keep a person up all night," Gamer surmised. It was a nefarious game in its own right, as though the ones in charge are playing with what's left of his existence.
"I'm not too big on the high score thing, since I'm in the fighting game community. High scores flux too much for anybody to make it anywhere. I could use the prize money, though. My son's birthday is coming up," Asterion admitted.
"Wow, my deletion into non-existence is going to fuel a kid's birthday party. How depressing..."
"You won't get a pity party from me. You're a criminal who doesn't deserve mercy. You cheated in life, and now you're cheating in here. That's why I want to place my own Gamer's Gambit. You simply have to agree not to pull any stunts during our fight."
"And your wager?" Gamer asked.
"I don't need one," Asterion turned on his heels and headed for the stairwell. "I won't lose to a dirty cheater."
"That's a blank check!" Gamer yelled with venom. Not stating a wager meant that if the Gambit is taken, and the one who didn't wager loses, the winner can ask them for anything. One free request, unbound by laws or morals. Asterion put a hand up, waved it off, and descended the stairs. Gamer sighed, now tempted, "Cocky bastard knows what he's doing..."