The Isekai Game

No One Can Hear You Drown (January)

It was the first weekend of January. Vanessa received her mission for the month via text message through her issued phone from the studio. She was rowing her kayak gently down the structured waters into a tunnel.

The kayak was small. Only befitting for one person. The water itself was calm. A thin ledge rested further down the tunnel. Vanessa tied her kayak down before creeping across.

Her little strapless dress fluffed out at the hip. Never to collect when brushing against the walls. It was an anomaly to the dim tunnel. The pink armbands had frills at the end which matched the ends of her dress. Covering her shoulders was a thin kitty-eared hood. It didn't reach half-way down her back. But it covered nearly all exposed skin from her upper half. Her clogs shined pink to match her frilled socks. The random black and white stripes on her outfit topped with black buttons made it pop scream kawaii.

She didn't know what awaited her in these sewers. All the text instructed her to do was to defeat the spirit in tunnel B2. All of the B tunnels were water passages. Might one add, they were darker than normal tunnels.

At the end of the ledge was a large set of stairs leading up. There was a circular lever at the top of the steps. To the left, there was an open cement floor with many drainages. It was as though the place was prepared for a flood of some sort.

After waiting a moment for something to pop up, Vanessa turned the lever. Light shined in from above. Water poured in like a cup of rice. Before she knew it a gate dropped to the exit.

Unable to leave, Vanessa stood out on the wide floor. There was another lever on the other side. It was about 50-meters away and possibly couldn't be a drag.

Cautiously observing her surroundings, Vanessa walked across the ankle-deep water towards the second lever.

A pump of water shot Vanessa in the head from afar. She skidded a few feet across the water. The water itself began shaking around.

Once on her feet, there was a maiden fabricated from water. The maiden's soft petite appearance, with every flowing hair, was a ruse for her violent behavior.

Vanessa unsheathed her sword from her hip and charged towards her opponent. She was met by a series of tidal waves that crashed into her every step. Each one was increasingly larger than the previous.

Many more waves were guided to attack like a raging storm. A fellow water clone appeared that kicked Vanessa into the knee-deep water.

Vanessa jumped to slice the clone away. The blade slipped right through the clone.

The clone grabbed her by the neck and threw her along the now spiraling water. Flailing her arms around like a lost child, Vanessa attempted to stabilize herself from the forceful whirlpool.

The water came to a sudden stop that left Vanessa scurrying for air.

She tried to run towards the main water maiden once more. A series of water bullets shot her in the face from within the pool itself.

Each water bullet felt as though it stuck her 10-feet below water. In reality, she was struck backward a good 10-feet until she fell back into the water.

Unlike most opponents, the water maiden wasn't going for a kill. Rather a pleasure in torturing with large devastating attacks.

One may be fooled by Vanessa's outfit. Truth be told, she was wearing full heavy body armor. The imagery was merely an armor skin. Yet it meant nothing for the water maiden. Taking a fully enclosed stance, Vanessa slowly made her way to the maiden.

The maiden herself completely submerged herself into the water. A calm came to the water. Vanessa couldn't figure out the maiden's next move.

Water began erupting from various positions in the waist-deep pool. At first, they were merely firing upwards continuously. The surge of water was quite catastrophic alone.

Seconds later, those same upward surges of water began moving in the water. Soaring like a shark, Vanessa was sure she could manage to avoid this attack at all costs.

She ran every which way in an attempt to avoid the erupting waters. Their pattern was unorthodox, yet harmonized to trap Vanessa.

After being hit by a surge of water, Vanessa was shot into the air. Midway down, another surge of water struck her hip.

Falling back into the water, Vanessa rose her head gasping for air. She tried to blow the water out of her nose. The chest-deep water glowed in many odd directions.

Surges of water were going about their patterns. The sound was Vanessa's only hope of avoiding them. Before her full vision returned, the maiden punched Vanessa's eye. The cold shot ended the game.

Lying in the water, a lifeguard jumped in to grab her. It was a different one from November. The care was the same. The lifeguard performed CPR to help her vomit out all water intake.

The surges of water that shot up were revealed to be created by electronic water pumps that exited from the wall. They mowed their way through the pool and back into the wall. Likewise, oddly thick pumps receded to the ground. Quite possibly the ones that shot water bullets. It was all a pain for Vanessa. But for the day, it was all over.

A wheelchair was rolled out that she was carried out on. Vanessa stared at her armor realizing how the fragile creature was able to get through her preplanned defenses. It was amazing. It was further proof that The Isekai Game remained a challenge for all types of players.

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In the onsite emergency room, Vanessa sat cold again. A hand came to her shoulder. It was Director Larz. His bold smile warmed the hearts of many. He was there simply to check in on her. Asking about the difficulty of her missions. The fellow players.

Vanessa had only good things to say. However, there seemed to be a further intent of Director Larz. It wasn't as obvious as it felt. Sure he was genuine. But the way he stared at Vanessa was as though he wanted something more from her.

Nonetheless, he patted her shoulder and sent her off. She was allowed to return to the game. But she couldn't face the water maiden again until the next day.

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Excited to go back to the game, Vanessa kept her medium armor and respawned to a nearby shop. It was beautiful, not for its view or its design. It was rather unique for being further away from other shops.

It was a bakery at the quiet edge of the isekai town. An order of crumpets and guava pastelitos was at hand.

While sitting on a nearby bench eating, Hakim took a seat next to her.