The Player Blackout

by Lucas Flint

  Dillo sighed and muttered to me, “Sorry about that. Hop is basically a teenage girl, if you couldn’t tell. A really moody one, at that. Sometimes I wish I had gotten your Sidekick instead. Cy seems really friendly.”

  I glanced at Cy—who had picked up a piece of discarded bubblegum off the ground and apparently trying to decide if he should eat it or not—and muttered back, “Don’t worry. You’re not missing much.”

  “Anyway,” said Dillo in a louder voice, addressing all three of us, “since you guys are here, let me invite you guys into my Team so you can see the requirements for the Secret Mission.”

  I suddenly received an invite in my inbox from Dillo that read:

  Hero Dillo has sent you a request to join Team Dillo! Accept? Y/N

  I hit ‘Y’ without hesitation and got another notification:

  You are now part of Team Dillo! You can now use the Team Dillo chatroom feature to talk to your Teammates in private! Useful for keeping in contact over long distances or in the middle of a heated battle, but be warned, if you go too far out of range (1 mile from the Team Leader), you might disconnect.

  Congratulations! You have joined your very first Team. Please be aware that any missions complete while in a Team will result in equal distribution of rewards to all Teammates.

  Dismissing both notifications, I said, “All right, Dillo, what’s this Secret Mission all about?”

  “It will be easier to show you than explain,” said Dillo. “Since you guys are part of my Team now and this is a Team Mission as well as a Secret Mission, you should be able to see the mission’s explanation.”

  Curious, I looked at the Team heading on my menu and saw ‘AVAILABLE TEAM MISSIONS.’ I clicked that button and a mission notification appeared in my vision:

  TEAM MISSION [SECRET MISSION]: Defeat the supervillain Omega Burst

  Infamous supervillain Omega Burst has been spotted in the area around the Adventure Mall. The mall police believe that Omega Burst is planning to destroy the Mall and kill tons of Civilians. Track down and defeat Omega Burst before he succeeds in his dastardly schemes!

  ALIGNMENT: Hero

  DIFFICULTY: Intense

  RARITY: Unique

  SUCCESS: Defeat Omega Burst before he can harm any Civilians

  FAILURE: Fail to stop Omega Burst

  REWARDS: +1,000 EXP for all Teammates, increased reputation with the mall police, and +10 Stat Points for all Teammates. Other rewards are dependent on how well you do.

  I whistled when I read the rewards. “Nice. How did you get this mission in the first place?”

  Dillo shrugged. “Just lucked into it, I guess. I helped a couple of mall cops catch a jewelry thief and they offered me this mission as a reward.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” I said as I dismissed the notification. “Let’s do this thing.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “But where do we begin?” asked Cy as our Team of five—including me, Dillo, Funky, and our two Sidekicks—walked up the front steps of the Adventure Mall. “Do we even know where Omega Burst is?”

  “No,” said Dillo, shaking his head as we walked. “But the mall police think that Omega Burst will probably try to attack the main plaza of the mall because that’s where the most people are at any one time. They think he’s going to try to kill as many people as possible.”

  “Why?” I said as we made our way through the seemingly never-ending throngs of consumers who made their way in and out of the mall. “What does he have to gain from doing that?”

  “Omega Burst is insane,” said Dillo. “And evil. Doesn’t need much more motivation than that.”

  “So he’s an NPC Villain?” I said. “Not a player?”

  “Yes,” said Funky, causing me to look at him all of a sudden. “While the vast majority of Heroes and Villains in the game are players, there are some who are NPCs. They’re rarer than players, but they give much better experience and item drops than normal enemy NPCs, so it’s usually a good idea to fight them.”

  “Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to explain this stuff to boss,” said Cy, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Stop intruding on my turf, yo.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry about that, Cy. You are truly irreplaceable.”

  A big smile spread across Cy’s face when I said that. “Thanks, boss! I wouldn’t replace you, either. Unless, maybe, with a hot girl, but being a man of good taste yourself, I am sure you would understand why—”

  I tuned out Cy’s rambling as he went on about why he wouldn’t mind being dominated by a woman and looked around at the mall as we entered.

  If I thought the Shopping Plaza was huge, the Adventure Mall was somehow even larger, even though it was enclosed in a much smaller space. Nearly everywhere I looked, I saw store upon store selling an even wider and crazier variety of items, equipment, and weapons for players and NPCs alike to purchase. The crowds here were packed like sardines, making it almost impossible to move in any timely fashion. Despite that, I didn’t feel claustrophobic. It helped that the ceiling was ridiculously high and made mostly of glass, allowing the bright sunshine to shine down on all of us. The ceiling was so high that I thought I saw clouds forming near the top, though that might have just been my imagination.

  Luckily, the center of the Mall was far more open than the entrance. A gigantic water fountain spewed tons and tons of crystal clear water in the air, the water shining beautifully under the rays of the sun above. All around the fountain players and NPCs alike stood or sat. Some players were clearly looking at their character screen, based on their out-of-focus expressions and the way their hands would swipe across empty air every now and then. Others were resting or talking with friends or Sidekicks, while still others were flicking coins into the fountain for some reason. I was just glad that I couldn’t see everyone’s nametag because that would have made the Mall even more overwhelming than it currently was.

  Cy gasped. “Oh. My. God. It’s the Fountain of Luck!”

  “The Fountain of Luck?” I said as Cy rushed over to it without further ado. “What does it do?”

  Cy, who was now rummaging through his pockets for something, looked over his shoulder at me. “If you toss a coin into it, you can get your Luck increased!”

  “Really?” I said in surprise. “Is that how you get Luck Points?”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” said Funky, his arms folded in front of his chest. “It’s a random event. The Fountain is programmed so that if a player or Sidekick tosses a coin in it, there is a very rare chance it will award the player in question one Luck Point that they can use to increase their Luck Stat. But like I said, there’s a very rare chance.”

  “How rare are we talking about here?” I said.

  “One in a million,” Funky replied. “And that’s if you’re already lucky.”

  “See, boss?” said Cy, smiling at Funky. “I’m not the only one around here who makes puns!”

  I sighed, but pulled a coin out of my pocket and said, “Eh, you never know. If it will get me even just one Luck Point, it will be worth it.”

  I flipped the coin into the Fountain. The coin hit the water with a soft splash and swiftly sank to the bottom of the Fountain, where it lay with the millions of other coins that had been thrown into there by players and Sidekicks over the years. I was surprised the Fountain wasn’t overflowing with coins. It seemed like a new player or NPC would come up every second to throw in another coin or two. I wondered if the people who ran the Adventure Mall collected the money at the end of the day or if it was just a weird quirk of the game engine.

  “Aw, man,” said Cy, his shoulder slumping. “I didn’t get any Luck Points.”

  “Same here,” said Dillo, who had also tossed a coin into the Fountain.

  “Me, too,” said Funky. He shrugged. “Oh, well. I’m lucky enough as it is. Probably don’t need anymore.”

  “It’s a scam,” said Hop. She still hadn’t ripped her eyes away from her
phone. “Just another way to get stupid people to waste their money. I bet the Mall takes all the money at night and makes some nice change.”

  “Hey, I did not waste my money,” said Cy, pouting. “Next you’re going to tell me that buying a lotto ticket is a waste of money, too.”

  I was about to tell Cy just that when I suddenly got a notification:

  It’s your lucky day! Today, chance has bestowed exactly 1 Luck Point just for you! It is automatically added to your Luck Stat, bringing your total Luck up to 2! Luck affects everything in this game, from increasing your chances of finding rare item drops to being offered Secret Missions by NPCs and even surviving attacks that would kill a normal person. The full extent of Luck’s effect remains to be seen, but it will surely be in your favor one way or another.

  “Whoa,” I said, my eyes widening. “I got a Luck Point!”

  Cy gaped. “Whoa! I guess you really are lucky after all, huh?”

  “I … guess so,” I said.

  “Well, hopefully, that will help us complete this Secret Mission,” said Dillo. He glanced around the plaza. “Okay, so I think we should split up and patrol the area. Omega Burst is known to have minions who are good at hiding their identities. If we can root them out before they can cause any harm, then that will make it easier to complete this mission.”

  I nodded and said, “Cy and I will take the north side.”

  “Hop and I will patrol the south side,” said Dillo. He looked at Funky. “As for you—”

  Funky held up a hand. “East and west. I’ll patrol the east, Lennox here will patrol the west. Easy peasy.”

  “All right,” said Dillo. “Remember to use the Team chat, guys, if you see anything suspicious or need help. Until then, keep your guard up. With so many players and NPCs everywhere, it will be easy for Omega Burst’s minions to sneak up on us and take us by surprise.”

  Remembering the Assassin who had tried to kill me in broad daylight, I nodded and said, “Sure thing. Let’s split up.”

  With that, we all went our separate ways. Cy and I made our way around to the northern side of the Fountain, while Dillo and Hop stayed where they were. Lennox leaped off of Funky’s shoulder and went east, while Funk went around to the western half of the Fountain. I thought it was interesting how Funky and Lennox could separate like that, although it did make me wonder where Funky’s Sidekick was. I recalled Cy explaining to me that some Heroes and Villains didn’t have Sidekicks. Perhaps Funky just fired his at some point.

  In any case, that really wasn’t any of my business. What was my business, however, was searching for Omega Burst’s minions. It was hard to tell people apart in the throngs that surrounded us everywhere we looked, but I kept my eyes open anyway just to be safe.

  “Cy, how do we know if a Civilian is actually a Villain in disguise?” I asked, stepping out of the way of a couple of teenage girls who were chatting excitedly to each other about boys they were crushing on.

  “I dunno,” said Cy with a shrug. “I guess if they run up to you and try to stab you, they’re probably not a good guy.”

  “You mean there isn’t a game mechanic that allows you to determine who is good and who is evil?” I said.

  Cy stroked his chin in thought. “Well, that’s what the Justice Stat is supposed to do. It heightens your awareness of a person’s Alignment. At low levels, it can be fooled by characters with high Stealth, but at high enough levels, even the best-hidden Hero or Villain will be unable to hide their true Alignment for long.”

  I checked my Justice Stat. “It’s eleven. Is that high or low?”

  “It’s kind of low, but should work on low-level Villains,” said Cy. “Try Scanning the crowd and see if you can sense anything out of the ordinary.”

  I nodded and Scanned the crowds all around us. At first, all I saw was a huge mishmash of various character names, descriptions, and stats. Many of them were quite sparse, probably due to the low level of Scan, but it was still high enough that I could tell that none of them were Villains in disguise. Of course, I didn’t really know how I would know someone was a Villain in disguise anyway, given how this was the first time I was using this particular ability available to me.

  But then I saw someone with a strong, shadowy aura around them. It was a tiny old man, hunched over like a humpback. He was walking with a cane, appearing to be nothing more than a simple elderly man going shopping. He even had an unmarked brown paper bag in one hand, which looked kind of like the kind beer bottles were put in.

  But the dark aura around him was so strong that there was no way I could ignore. When I saw it, a new notification popped up:

  New Power unlocked: Hero Sense [Level 1]! When a Villain is in the area, you will be able to sense his or her presence almost immediately, although only in a general way and you will need to use Scan to see where they are exactly. Level up this Power further to be able to detect hidden or disguised Villains with even more accuracy.

  “That guy,” I said, pointing at the old man. “That’s one of Omega Burst’s minions. I see a dark aura around him.”

  “Are you sure?” said Cy, squinting his eyes. “’Cause he looks like a normal ordinary man to me.”

  “He’s definitely a Villain,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go ask him a few questions.”

  I immediately began walking toward the old man, Cy at my side. Although Cy wore a doubtful look on his face, I had no doubt in my heart at all that this man, despite his appearances, was most definitely a Villain or at least working for Omega Burst.

  “Hey, old man!” I called out as we approached him through the crowds of shoppers. “Stop!”

  To my relief, the old man stopped when I told him to. He turned around to face us, a look of perfect innocence on his face as he clutched the brown bag at his side. The nametag [CIVILIAN ARNOLD] hovered over his head, which seemed like an oddly normal name for someone with such a shadowy aura.

  “Yes?” said Arnold in an innocent-sounding voice. “Do you need help with something, Mr. Hero?”

  “Yeah,” I said as I stopped in front of him. I pointed at the brown bag. “What’s in the bag?”

  Arnold didn’t stop smiling. “It’s just a bottle of fresh wine for my dear wife. It’s a very rare, expensive brand that you can’t find anywhere else but here. The missus asked me to pick it up for her, so I did my manly duty and braved the crowds of the Mall to purchase it for her.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said abruptly. “Show it to me.”

  I knew I came across as harsh, maybe even unreasonable, but I didn’t care. I was hoping that I could scare Arnold into revealing his true nature. If I did, then I could actually attack him and not suffer a blow to my Hero Alignment or reputation with Civilians in general.

  Still smiling, Arnold shrugged and said, “If you wish.”

  Arnold slowly opened the bag, ignoring the curious looks from passersby who watched the scene playing out between us. I glared at everyone who passed, however, as a warning not to get involved in something that was none of their business.

  At the same time, however, I watched Arnold expectantly. I figured there was probably a bomb or weapon in the bag, so I prepared an Ice Beam in case I needed to defend myself. I could sense Cy behind me tensing as well, no doubt ready for a brawl.

  When Arnold finished opening the bag, however, what he showed me wasn’t a weapon at all. It was a simple black bottle of wine and Scan showed me that it was indeed just a fancy bottle of wine.

  “What …” I looked up at Arnold. “Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?”

  “Joke?” said Arnold, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Why would I ever play a joke on a Hero like yourself? I have nothing but the strongest respect for the work that your kind does in keeping our streets safe from Villains and criminal scum of all kinds.”

  “But …” I didn’t understand. Arnold’s aura was still pitch black. He had to be a Villain. Or was my Hero Sense glitching up for some reason? Funky would probably know. He s
eemed to know everything about this—

  My thoughts were interrupted when the Fountain of Luck suddenly exploded.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  A massive explosion erupted from the middle of the plaza. Chunks of stone and metal went flying everywhere as massive flames shot up toward the ceiling. Players and NPCs alike screamed and ran away from the explosion, but many of them got hit in the head or struck by the debris and went down, though whether they were dead or unconscious was impossible to tell.

  “What the—” I said as a ping alerted me to the Team Dillo chat room, which had a message from Dillo himself that read thus:

  Dillo: Massive explosion over at the Fountain of Luck! Hop says she saw a couple of teenage girls leave a brown package there that was probably a bomb in disguise. Loads of Civilians and even a lot of Heroes were harmed. Everyone drop what you’re doing and get over here NOW.

  I read Dillo’s message uncomprehendingly. It was those girls I saw that set off the explosion, not the old man? But if that was the case—

  “Oh, dear,” said Arnold. He was staring at the burning remains of the Fountain with a complete and total lack of fear or shock. “That certainly looks like a dangerous situation. Being a Civilian, it really isn’t my place to rush into danger like that. We were quite lucky to have a brave Hero like you around to help those people, weren’t we?”

  Arnold winked at me and walked away. I considered going after him, but decided that saving the lives of innocent Civilians was more important at the moment than stopping whatever Arnold was up to.

  Cursing myself for being such a fool, I rushed toward the scene of the destroyed Fountain, Cy racing by my side and keeping up with my long strides.

  The scene was even worse up close. Despite the water practically gushing out of the spot where the Fountain had stood not even five minutes ago, fire was everywhere. The ankle-deep water also slowed down our movement considerably, forcing Cy and me to slow down a bit in order not to trip and fall over pieces of debris that were hidden just beneath the surface of the now-dirty water.