by EA Hooper
Seeing an opportunity, Noah launched himself through the fading explosion. His Negation Shield soaked up the still-streaming waves of world magic as he flew through it. He kicked off a barrier platform, which evaporated a split-second after he made it.
Noah hurtled toward Atarah, casting Flatten once more. The wall demolished her protective dome, sending the angel crashing to the dirt. Noah pushed his wall forward, smashing it into the ground where she’d landed. He carved a crater through the earth as he continued to shove the wall until it evaporated. Two more of Amelia’s doppelgangers appeared, sacrificing themselves to give him even more mana.
Atarah stood from the ground, her body mangled and bleeding. She raised one hand at Noah—but he crushed her into the dirt with another Flatten.
Noah laughed, raising the wall only to slam it again. “Die!” he shouted. “Die! Die! Die!”
“Noah!” Amelia screamed.
The husband turned his head to find his wife pinned to the ground by Ezekiel, the angel that should’ve been guarding the eastern Jump Gate. A cruel smile curled on the monster’s lips, and then he incinerated Amelia with a blinding display of white light.
A wild, terrible scream escaped the husband's throat, but before he could charge Ezekiel, a glowing hand pierced through Noah’s back and came out of his chest. He glimpsed world magic on the hand before just before the arm pulled out of his body.
Noah collapsed to his knees, watching as the two angels floated through the air. They moved beside one another, both raising a hand at him. The desperate man raised another Flatten in front of himself, blocking repeated blasts of world magic. He struggled to hold the wall in place with his lifeforce draining fast. His mana reserve neared empty, and he knew Negation Shield couldn’t stop another attack.
Noah huffed and growled. He forced himself to stand as his last wall evaporated. His eyes remained fixated on the two angels like a wild animal staring down its hunters. Basteel axes appeared in his hands, and Noah roared as he dove toward them.
White light twinkled from the angels’ hands.
You’ve died. Respawning a Risegard…
Noah reappeared back in Risegard near the Daiglass tower. He clenched his fists and screamed in frustration, startling nearby players.
“Honey!” Amelia shouted, running to him.
“We almost had one,” Noah huffed, trying to calm himself. “We were so close. Maybe if you had better protection. Basteel armor might take one shot from them, but it’d be better if you worked on defensive spells to help you survive. Let’s go back to Lavrin for a few more years to develop better spells, then we’ll—”
“Hang on,” his wife interrupted. “Did you see your message from Isaac?”
Noah paused, checking his HUD. He had a backlog of messages from the last fifteen years that he hadn’t checked. It looked like the last person to bother messaging him was Isaac about six years ago, shortly after the last time Noah and his wife had died. They’d spent all that time on Styxis, receiving only the occasional shipment brought by Isaac’s drone knights, only to die to the angels within hours of leaving the communication-limited planet.
“He says Zhang was captured by that moderator Lucas about twelve years ago,” Amelia said, looking worried. “No one’s seen him since, and Isaac thinks the mod is keeping him captive. Lucas even took over Midrun.”
“That’s not our problem,” Noah told his wife. “Zhang will find a way out one way or another. Let’s focus on beating these angels.”
“Noah!” his wife shouted. “Zhang’s our friend. We can’t leave him imprisoned.”
“There’s nothing we can do against a moderator,” the husband said. “Besides, Zhang chose to run away to the lower worlds. He brought that on himself.”
Amelia replied with a cold stare.
“Let’s just go back to Lavrin,” Noah said, pulling out all the items he needed from the Daiglass Tower.
“No, I’m not going back while Zhang is in trouble,” Amelia replied.
“Yes, you are,” Noah said, grabbing his wife’s wrist. “We have to defeat the angels. I have to beat this game.”
Noah pulled his wife away from the tower, dragging her past several concerned-looking people.
“What the hell are you doing?” Amelia asked, Vanishing away from his grip. “You can’t make me go back to Lavrin. We’ve been there for decades. The least we can do is rescue Zhang. With his help, we should be strong enough to defeat those angels.”
“We’re not wasting our time going back for someone that gave up so easily,” Noah told her. “If you want more allies, then there’s plenty of strong players here in Risegard. Most of them only need a push in the right direction.”
“Zhang’s our friend!” Amelia repeated, sounding more frustrated by the second.
“He was—is,” Noah replied. “But he left us. He doesn’t have what it takes to beat this game.”
“Then I’ll go save Zhang by myself,” Amelia said, stepping away from her husband.
“You can’t defeat a moderator!” Noah yelled. “You’ll only get yourself banned and captured.”
Amelia paused, lowering her head. “We have to do something.”
“There’s nothing we can do when he has Mod Gun. Maybe if Zhang’s lucky, that kid will come to his senses. If we try to intervene and get ourselves captured, Lucas will be too afraid to unban us because we’re so powerful. If that happens, you’ll really wish you’d killed yourself repeatedly.”
Tears formed in Amelia’s eyes. “You’re right. I should’ve started killing myself a long time ago.”
Noah frowned, realizing he’d gone too far. “Honey, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just there’s nothing we can do about a moderator with a huge guild backing him. Let’s keep focused—”
“On beating the game,” Amelia mumbled. “That’s all you care about. It’s more important than anything to you.”
“No, that’s not true at all,” Noah replied. “You’re letting the time dilation mess with your head. You just got back from a bathroom break, remember? You found out you’re pregnant only minutes ago. Once we log out, the memory compression will make this all seem like a blur. I’m only trying to kill time by beating the game.”
Amelia nodded. “You’re right again. You’re so right, Noah. Always, always right. I’ve only been logged back in a few minutes. I’m only twenty-something minutes away from escaping this hell. Twenty minutes until I get my husband back from this god-dammed game, and then I can throw your headset out the window.”
“Honey, let’s just talk about this,” Noah said. “We can take a day off from farming Styxis if that helps.”
“We’ll talk about it when we get back home,” Amelia replied, her voice hollow.
“Home? That’s centuries from now.”
“No, it’s only a few minutes, remember?” his wife replied in a mocking tone.
Amelia pointed a finger at her head and blew her brains across the ground with Mana Gun.
Noah stood with wide eyes as his wife’s body turned to dust. She can’t really be trying to kill herself until the update ends? That’ll take thousands of deaths. I haven’t met a single person with the willpower to kill themselves so many times. I’ll let her get it out of her system. She’ll calm down, we’ll talk, and then get back to leveling.
Noah left for Lavrin, but he kept track of his wife’s death timer. Two weeks later, he stood by the Daiglass Tower, waiting until she respawned. Amelia reappeared about ten meters away, and he shouted to get her attention, “Honey!”
His wife glared at him, then shot herself in the head. Two weeks later, he tried again, but she didn’t bother to make eye contact. Noah could see her hands shaking and tears forming in her eyes as she fired the spell. He tried during her next respawn, the one after that, and the one after that.
“Please, hear me out!” Noah begged, watching as Amelia killed herself another time.
He marked the death timer as other players stared. Word had go
tten around that one of the strongest people in the game was killing herself over and over, but Noah ignored the questions of various players. Even Isaac’s assistant Devon showed up, trying to get his attention.
“Excuse me, Noah?” Devon called. “Isaac’s wondering if you’ll stop by the lab to talk about—”
“He can find me on Lavrin if he wants to talk so badly,” Noah replied coldly.
Within an hour, he took the Jump Gate back to Lavrin. What am I going to do if she keeps killing herself? he thought as he landed. I can’t beat the angels by myself. I need a team, but there’s nothing I can do about Zhang’s predicament, and no one’s heard from Ezra in years.
Almost subconsciously, Noah approached the wall hiding the Seventh Path. He cast Flatten and used the spell to smash open the tunnel. It had proven to be one of the most difficult routes on that world, so naturally he felt drawn to the underground caverns that led to greater challenges.
Noah’s mind continued to wander as he instinctively followed the path, killing two glowing hell ants in his way.
I need a team—or even an army—if I want to reach the top. Those two angels that stopped me are only the beginning. It’ll just get harder from there. After all these years, I would’ve expected to see more players joining me on Lavrin, but all those people in Risegard have grown complacent. They once represented the best of the best. Out of hundreds of millions of players, they were the ones that pushed themselves the hardest. Their drive took them that far, but finally fizzled out.
He chopped through another hell ant with basteel axes before vaporizing its exposed brain.
They need to be pushed. It’s like Isaac once said—humans need purpose in their lives. What’s the point of living if you don’t have something driving you forward? How could the people that climbed so high have forgotten that? They’re scared just because some angels stand in their way? Or is it because they’ve grown wealthy from their adventures. Some of them live lavish lifestyles in the Inner Sanctum, and the ones in the Outer Sanctum only work hard enough to join the first group. They’re all chasing wealth and influence. Their dreams of adventure and challenge have slowly died.
Noah blinked a couple of times, not even sure where he was in the tunnels. He saw dust piles around himself and realized he’d been fighting without even paying attention. Glowing markings on the wall caught his eye. He’d seen those runes all over the Seventh Path, but never really figured out what they meant. Amelia had guessed the symbols related to some old quest that ARKUS had removed, but they didn’t have enough proof to know for sure.
How long has it even been since any other player came to Lavrin? Years? A decade, almost? Isaac just sends his drone knights now. His assistants don’t even want to step foot here. The last team that came to our outpost got slaughtered once and then gave up.
Noah spotted more markings in a deeper part of the nest. They looked different from the others, but he couldn’t focus on them with his mind wandering.
People are all so weak-willed nowadays. Ten thousand years ago, a tribesman didn’t have the option of giving up on the hunt. He kept going, or he starved. A thousand years ago, a soldier on the battlefield didn’t have the choice to retreat. He kept fighting with everything he had, or his city burned to the ground. People today have no drive. Even those who represent the best of the best—that made it this far—eventually give up.
Noah felt his axe splitting open the head of another ant. He vaporized its brain with Mana Cannon, then noticed his skin crawling. An invisible force prodded at him, and he looked at another glowing symbol on the wall.
It’s releasing frequencies, he realized. I never noticed. They all must’ve been, but it’s getting stronger in this direction. Where even am I?
He glanced around the complex tunnel system, finding himself in unfamiliar territory. Even his map looked like a tangled web of passages he didn’t recognize.
Who cares. There’s nothing down here. This is all pointless. I’m just wasting my time. Maybe I’ve been wasting my time from the beginning. Should I have stayed with Ezra? He might’ve had the right idea to throw ourselves at the angels—or even sneak past them. I didn’t think he’d get far, but no one’s seen him, so he must’ve had some luck. If only I could find him. He and Isaac are the only ones that see things like I do. They’re the only two with determination even the angels can’t crush.
Noah looked down a small passage almost hidden by the curvature of the stones in the dark tunnel. He’d only noticed it because a glowing symbol around the corner emitted a powerful frequency that made his skin crawl, even from several meters away. When he stared down the narrow tunnel, he saw a glow at the end.
Noah followed the passage, passing several more symbols. The last leg of the tunnel was covered in them, and all the muscles in his body twitched as he forced himself past them. A player with lower Vitality might’ve found themselves paralyzed by the overwhelming frequencies, but Noah continued forward with sluggish steps.
A glowing fog blocked the exit of the path, and Noah’s hand trembled as he reached toward it. An instance? I’ve only seen a few of these, but this fog door is something else. It’s like those frequencies on the symbols, only ten times stronger.
He clenched his teeth and forced his hand through the fog. The rest of his body followed, but his muscles almost felt like jelly as the powerful frequencies bombarded him. He lost balance and collapsed to the ground on the other side, but it only took a few seconds to regain enough strength to stand.
“What the hell is this place?” he muttered.
“This is my prison, good sir!” a voice shouted. “Thank ARKUS someone finally found me!”
Noah found the voice coming from behind rune-covered bars over a cell at the end of the room. A man wearing a straw hat stood inside, and Noah Scanned him.
[NPC] Archie Goodman – Age: 36 | Sex: Male | Personality: Polite
“An NPC?” Noah questioned. “Haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
“I haven’t seen anyone in a long, long while,” Archie replied. “Unless you count remote viewing, which I do a lot of with my system interface. I’ve been wondering if you and Amelia would find me. Especially since ARKUS got rid of all the NPCs in Risegard that would’ve triggered the quest.”
“ARKUS just left you here?” Noah asked.
“I’m a bit of a troublemaker,” Archie replied. “He gave me the option to leave, but I said no cause I’m not sure where or even when he’d put me back in the game. I’d rather be locked up than asleep forever, you know?”
Noah paused, thinking. “It’s strange you even mention ARKUS. The other NPCs I’ve met didn’t seem to know they were in a game.”
“They were only playing their roles,” Archie replied. “Like I said, I’m a bit of a troublemaker. I wanted to be my own man and go my own way. ARKUS tried to meet me halfway by making me a traveling trader, but I kept getting myself in trouble during alpha testing. Speaking of trading, if you let me out, I’ll give you a good deal!”
Do I really want to let him out? This could be a weird trap for all I know. Then again, the worst-case scenario is he turns into a monster. I guess a boss fight would improve my mood.
Noah hacked through the rune-covered bars with basteel axes until Archie could slip out and escape.
“Woo!” Archie shouted, raising his fists. “Freedom! What a wonderful thing.” He paused in contemplation. “Maybe I’m being rude. You and your wife are trapped in this game, after all. Where is Amelia anyways? With remote viewing, I saw you two fight the angels, but I’ve been watching other stuff since then. Lots of crazy events happening on the World-Tree, you know.”
“She’s killing herself to escape,” Noah replied in a grim tone.
Archie tugged at his collar. “Oh, that’s too bad. I was wondering if you two would beat the game before the update ends. I was really rooting for you! Although, I was kind of hoping you’d give her a break. I don’t mean to sound rude, but you might’ve pushed thi
ngs too far.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed on the NPC.
“Anyways,” Archie said, awkwardly changing the subject. “Take a look at my goods, kind sir. Don’t forget, you’re getting half-off just this once!”
Noah looked over the impressive selection of items that he never imagined existed in the game. One in particular caught his eyes.
Demon Lord Helm (15 Tokens) – “Become a lord of monsters. Tricks the Scan of other players and allows you to control non-boss monsters below A-Class. Made of mithril, so it’s very durable.”
“I see you looking at that helm,” Archie said. “You could use it to line up hell ants to fight for training purposes.”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” Noah replied, handing over the tokens.
Several different ideas had already filled his head at once. His mind jumped from thoughts of the devils on Elfry that could open portals, then to the complacent players on Styxis.
They need to be pushed—to be molded. Those players need something to drive them. An enemy that they can beat… sometimes. Like a cartoon villain that keeps coming back for more. Some of them might flee to the lower worlds, but the ones that stay—that fight me—they’ll grow stronger. They’ll find their drive again and inevitably overpower me. They’ll overcome the devils, the hell ants, and even the angels. All they need is a push in the right direction.
“I’ll take some Checkpoint and Wayback Crystals too,” Noah told the NPC.
“Are you going to keep trying to climb the World-Tree?” Archie asked, sending over the items.
“Not yet,” Noah replied. “First, I need to talk to Isaac Bell about something. He’s the only one that might be able to help me with what I have in mind. Maybe you should come. He might want to trade Unique Tokens for some of your other items.”
Archie raised his hands. “Oh, no, sorry! I probably shouldn’t do that for, uh, reasons. I’m sure you and I will meet again, but I have a big ol’ World-Tree I want to explore.” Archie paused, staring off at nothing. “Hey, freeing me counted toward some Reward Points for you. Guess I’ll see you around, Noah. I hope you work out things with your wife!”
