by DB King
“I… Well, thank you, Haruki, I’m honored—” Andy began, but Mr. Tanaka interrupted him.
“I don’t have much time left, my boy. Please, let me speak. You must listen very carefully to what I’m about to say. This is no mere ornament, Andy. It is a powerful, wondrous tool. I… I never unlocked its full potential myself.”
Andy noticed that when Mr. Tanaka said this, his forefinger drifted over to his left pinky finger. This finger was horrendously scarred, as if it had almost been severed long ago. Andy had noticed the scar as a child, but had always assumed that one of the sanctuary’s residents—perhaps the old lion or the tiger, or the grizzly bear—had tried to bite it off. Now, though, he had a feeling that somehow, this strange box had something to do with the deep scar on Mr. Tanaka’s pinky finger.
Mr. Tanaka stroked the old scar absentmindedly as he continued. “This box is not a family heirloom, if that’s what you were thinking,” he said. “It was given to me by a family friend in Japan, before I came to this country. He was one of my father’s friends from the war…” Suddenly, his eyes grew wide and his body spasmed, and he burst into another fit of coughing. This time blood sprayed out of his mouth, splattering the sheets with bright red.
A sense of deep dread and unavoidable tragedy gripped Andy. He knew that he was witnessing his godfather’s final moments. Mr. Tanaka tried to speak after the coughing fit passed, but only an empty rasping emerged from his gasping mouth. This was it—the end was here.
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About the Author
DB King’s stories feature competent main characters, magic and skill progression, and nothing too dark. While he doesn’t shy away from violence, he mostly avoids cursing and doesn’t have any adult scenes. When he writes a character, he’s always interested in “what would I do in this situation?” and not forcing them to be dumb and/or ignorant just for the sake of the plot. Most of his stories aren't strictly Gamelit/LitRPG, but a lot of his magic and progression systems often feel like something you might find in a video game.
