Realmshift: code of the fallen

Kai had faced a lot of weirdness since waking up in Realmshift

Ghosts with emotional baggage. Horses cursed by eldritch bureaucracy. Tutorial zones that doubled as group therapy. But nothing, not even the disapproving stare of the Glitched Tutor, could have prepared him for the feeling of dying.

One moment, he was swinging his wooden sword at a hostile bush (a very aggressive one, with thorns and a surprisingly muscular build), and the next—

YOU DIED.
Respawning... Please Wait...

The world went dark.

But not cold. Not painful. Just... gone.

And then—

Respawn Complete. Welcome Back, Kai!
You have suffered minor memory corruption.

Kai woke up face-down in a bed of moss, blinking at the blinking respawn beacon above him.

"Ugh..." He sat up slowly, rubbing his head. "ouch."

A fuzzy blur sat on his chest.

Kai froze.

"Is that... a squirrel?"

The blur came into focus. It had the general shape of a squirrel, sure, but it was bright purple, wore goggles, and had a tiny vest with "EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL" stitched across it in glitter thread.

Then it spoke.

"Sup, champ. Welcome back to the land of the digitally undead!"

Kai screamed.

The squirrel screamed back.

Then it started laughing. "Hah! Gotcha! Classic noob scream. Ten outta ten."

Kai swatted at it. "WHAT are you?!"

The squirrel hopped onto a nearby rock and posed like it was doing stand-up. "Name's Crumble. Crumble the Support Squirrel. I was assigned to your soul during your death process. Congrats! You unlocked your first Pet Companion™. I come with three emotes, two completely useless skills, and a constant need for validation."

Kai stared.

Crumble grinned. "And in case you're wondering, yes, I can talk. No, I won't shut up. And no, I don't have a refund policy."

Kai blinked. "You were... assigned?"

"Yep! By the death system. Randomised perks, passive memories, companion roll. Y'know, standard postmortem loot crate."

Kai opened his menu. Sure enough, a new tab had appeared:

Companion: Crumble the Squirrel (Rare-ish)
Mood: Peppy and Unhelpful
Perks: Tells Bad Jokes, Can't Fight, Probably Cursed
Bond Level: 1 (You're stuck with him)

He closed the menu and sighed. "Okay. Whatever. Let's just, wait... something's wrong."

His eyebrows furrowed. "There's something I... forgot?"

Crumble cocked his fuzzy head. "First death side effect. Usually a minor glitch. Some players forget how to read. Others can't remember their passwords. One guy thought he was a cactus for three days and died of thirst."

Kai tapped his head. It wasn't something major. It wasn't a skill or a location or even a person.

It was...

"I... what's that yellow thing? It's spiky. Green top. Tropical? I used to know this."

He stared into the void.

Crumble leaned in dramatically. "Wait. Don't tell me..."

Kai whispered the word like it was forbidden knowledge. "Pi... Pi-na..."

Nothing.

The word wouldn't finish. It just... vanished mid-thought.

SYSTEM MESSAGE: Memory Lost — [Pineapple].
You may experience emotional confusion, culinary inconsistencies, or a fear of pizza.

Kai dropped to his knees. "WHY? WHY PINEAPPLE?!"

Crumble put a paw on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, man. You've been pineapple'd."

Kai looked up. "Is that... is that a thing?"

"Only happens to 0.00001% of players. But when it hits..." Crumble whistled. "Right in the fruit salad."

Kai stood and dusted himself off, still shaken. "Okay. I can handle this. I can live without... whatever it was. I think."

"Not if you order pizza," Crumble muttered.

Kai ignored him and checked his map. Emberwatch was close, just over the ridge. His unfinished quest to investigate the town still blinked angrily in his log.

Main Quest: "Welcome to Emberwatch" — Objective: Make Contact With the Locals ( and try to not die, again).

"Come on," he said, walking. "Let's see if this town is at least slightly normal."

Fifteen minutes later...

"I take it back," Kai said, flatly.

Emberwatch was on fire.

Not metaphorically. Actual fire. Buildings smoking. Civilians running. A pixelated chicken pecked at a guard's face while he screamed and waved a broom at it.

Kai watched, slack-jawed. "I was gone for like ten minutes!"

A panicked NPC ran up to him.

"YOU! You're the chosen one, right? You came here from the tutorial zone?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah, sort of."

"Oh thank the code! We're under siege! Some idiot triggered the Mayor's failsafe by stealing an Ancient Breadstick of Power. Now the town is in lockdown, the sewers are sentient, and someone summoned Fire Ducks!"

"Fire what—"

NEW QUEST: "Extinguish Emberwatch"
Put out fires, calm panicked civilians, and definitely don't eat any glowing breadsticks.

Crumble jumped onto Kai's shoulder. "Adventure time, baby!"

Kai sighed and drew his sword. "Let's just get this over with. And no more dying today."

Crumble saluted. "Sir yes sir! I'll be right behind you, emotionally!"