by EA Hooper
Vincent searched around the richer neighborhoods, following the instructions Jim had given him to the upscale tavern he’d been staying at, ever since his wife had taken their house. The moment his eyes fell on the old-fashioned Japanese-styled building, he knew it was the place Jim had mentioned.
I wonder if he’ll even be here? Last time we talked, it sounded like he and Farah were drinking together. Maybe, if I’m lucky, they acted like adults and sorted out all their problems.
Vincent crossed a little bridge over a koi pond that circled the multi-story building. A few broken beams poking through the walls caught his attention, but he didn’t reflect on it as he opened the door. Inside, he found someone had wrecked the tavern. Only the bar looked untouched by the destruction—and that’s where he found Jim.
Vincent didn’t see anyone besides his old friend at the bar, but after a few seconds, a drone knight stepped out of the backroom and refilled Jim’s drink. A broken music player struggled to preserve the tavern’s upbeat atmosphere, despite the destruction, but after a few seconds it started skipping, so Jim shot it to pieces with a mana blast.
Guess I shouldn’t try to surprise him with my mask, Vincent realized, feeling sorry for his oldest friend.
“Hey, Jim,” Vincent called, slowly approaching.
Jim mumbled something sad and incoherent, then took another sip without looking over.
Vincent grabbed a knocked-over chair from the floor and took a seat. “So, buddy, you doing okay?”
Jim replied with a long grumble, but Vincent heard the words “Farah” and “bitch.”
“Did you two have another fight?” Vincent asked, staring around.
Jim nodded, struggling to raise his head.
“Did you win, at least?”
The Rogue sluggishly turned his head left and right.
Vincent glanced around the destroyed tavern. “I’m surprised you lived if she was going all out.”
“My shield… is really good,” Jim replied. “Made for the war.”
Vincent raised an eyebrow. “You’re not using the Gravity Shield?” He Scanned his friend, realizing Jim might be a little too drunk to explain properly.
Alcubierre Shield (Requires Gravity Shield | Requires Phaseshift) – Mana Usage: Minuscule to Low+ | Replaces the user’s Mana Shield. | Generates a spatial distortion around the user that slows or dampens incoming attacks. This distortion pushes attacks away from the user’s body center and vital organs. It might also cause glancing blows to slide off completely at no mana cost. The cost of Phaseshift is halved while this shield is active.
“Wow!” Vincent said. “I didn’t think to combine Gravity Shield with another spell. It always felt like the ultimate shield.”
“Got tired… getting kicked around,” Jim replied.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I know you’ve been having a hard time.”
“I’ll hard time… your mom,” Jim muttered.
“You’re in worse shape than I thought,” Vincent said. “I don’t think I’ve heard a your mom joke from you in forty years. This is worse than when you and Jaqueline broke up our senior year of college.”
“Jacky?” Jim said, raising his head a little. “Where is she? Jacky was best girlfriend.”
“Car crash,” Vincent replied with a sad tone. “Thirty or so years back, remember?”
Jim nodded as he sat upright. “Yeah, yeah. I remember now. What about—” He paused to burp. “Margie? She was hot.”
“She’s still married to Henry,” Vincent said. “They must have like twenty grandkids by now.”
“Good—good on them,” Jim said, his mood lifting. “I’m glad… some people get to be happy.”
“What do you mean?” Vincent asked. “You’ve always been one of the happiest people I know, Jim. Yeah, we were losers in high school and college, but you’ve lived a great life. You’ve had more success than anyone that went to school with us. Even ran your dad’s business better than he ever dreamed.”
“You weren’t a loser,” Jim said, his speech clearing up a bit. At his level of Vitality, the worst levels of drunkenness never lasted long. “You had Monika. I got ex-wives that hate me, my kids barely talk to me, and the grandkids are embarrassed of me. My dad would be ashamed if he was still kicking.”
“That’s not true,” Vincent said. “Your dad would be amazed at what you’ve accomplished.”
“He didn’t want me running his company,” Jim said. “He wanted Roger. I never measured up to my bro. Dad would’ve been so much happier if Roger hadn’t shot himself.”
Vincent held his head low. After all those years, he still didn’t know how to cheer up his friend whenever Jim got drunk and talked about Roger’s death.
“Sorry, Vince,” Jim said, finishing another drink. “I know I’m killing your mood. You were excited to get the team back together, right? The three of you should go on without me.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” Vincent told his friend. “I’ll talk to Isaac and work out something.”
Jim waited for the drone knight to refill his drink, then he downed half of it in a split-second. “Whatever, Vince. I know how you are. You don’t know when to quit.”
“That’s right,” Vincent said, holding out his hand to send Jim a party invite. “That being said, maybe you should slow the drinking down a bit. Try not to cause any more damage, either.”
“I’ll try,” Jim said, taking a sip after accepting the invite.
I’ll take that sip to mean he’s slowing down, Vincent thought as he stood.
“I’ll have you out of here in no time,” Vincent said on his way to the door. “I promise you, Jim!”
“Alright,” Jim muttered.
When Vincent opened the sliding door, he found a young man standing outside.
“Hey, uh, I’m here to retrieve you,” the stranger said. “Noble Vincent, right? No, wait, you changed it to the Wanderer.”
“That’s right,” Vincent replied, Scanning the young man.
Player: Devon in Shining Armor
Class: Fighter
Subclass: Cleric
Real Age: 21
Highest World: Lavrin
Vitality: Lv 183
Spirit: Lv 178
Resolve*: Lv 201
Perception: Lv 174
Agility: Lv 188
Strength*: Lv 207
He’s strong, Vincent noted. But man… that player name annoys me.
“I’ll take you to the Foundry,” Devon said, waving for Vincent to follow.
Once they were on the road, the younger man picked his speed up to a jog. Vincent matched his pace as they headed for the towering building complex at the center of the city.
Chapter 14 | Year 47
Player: Noah the Relentless
Location: Styxis (World) | Risegard (City) | Foundry Sector (District)
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Warden
Vitality*: Lv 286
Spirit: Lv 266
Resolve: Lv 260
Perception*: Lv 287
Agility: Lv 261
Strength: Lv 260
Noah stood on a platform as it rose through the floors of the Foundry. They went past busy workshops, and he even recognized some of Isaac’s various assistants as they worked on sticking control rods into the brains of hell ants.
He remembered talking to Isaac once about the process for turning the ants into useful servants. Thanks to their impressive healing ability, it made it simple to jab the rods into their exposed brains and then let the ants regenerate. To Noah, it sounded like the hardest part was designing the control rods, especially since each required a Hearth Crystal for power.
Noah stopped at the office floor, finding it busier than he’d remembered. Officials from various guilds were speaking to different high-ranking members of Iijin Industries. A few of them were developers and former moderators, but he also noticed new faces as he walked past the window-lined rooms.
Severa
l people stopped working or talking to watch Noah. With the gaps between his deaths growing farther and farther apart, he’d gotten used to people treating him almost like an urban legend around Risegard. Every time he respawned, people would follow him around, asking questions and snapping pictures with him. Before the update, Noah had enjoyed talking to fans, but after the Great Vanguard had broken apart it had become more frustrating, since fans would inevitably ask about Ezra or Zhang.
By now, all these people have heard about my wife killing herself over and over, Noah thought. He glared at several of the guildsmen, and they turned away their gaze.
Noah made his way to Isaac’s personal workshop that took up about a sixth of the floor. When he stepped inside, he found Isaac talking to two men and a woman that stood taller than everyone but Noah.
His eyes fell on the long-haired woman, and he recognized her right away as Dragonspear Jeanie. She’d been an early beta tester, and her team had kept up with the Great Vanguard until both groups left Midrun. Jeanie had lost a lot of time building her guild, the Boss Hunters, but it had eventually become the most notable guild in the game. Noah had no doubt that the combined views on all her guild’s videos surpassed even the Great Vanguard’s.
Noah also recognized the burly man beside her as Worldly Ryker. Just like the Great Vanguard, Ryker’s team had disbanded after failing to defeat the angels. Noah had tried to recruit him, but it seemed like he’d lost all his will to fight.
It took Noah a few moments longer to recognize the shaggy, dark-haired man standing with a slouch. That man had been Jeanie’s teammate, and then her first lieutenant, before he’d splintered off to start his own guild, the Forlorn Assassins. Noah couldn’t remember the man’s name, but a quick glance at his profile showed he used the moniker Ned is here, you’re dead.
“Noah’s finally arrived!” Isaac said with a smile. “Fantastic! We’ve been waiting for you.”
“You have?” Noah questioned.
“Yes, I was getting a team together to follow you back to Lavrin, but one of my men messaged me when you suddenly returned,” Isaac explained. “These three have been staying at my tower, so I went ahead and called them up here. We have so, so much to talk about.”
“Sorry, but I’m only here for one reason,” Noah said. He paused, glancing at the other three. “I’d prefer to talk to Isaac alone.”
“You might want to hear us out first,” Isaac replied. “These two are on the same page as us regarding—” He stopped and stared at the open door. “Can you close that first?”
Noah shut the door, then approached the other players. “Alright, what do you mean they’re on the same page?”
“He means we think the players in Risegard are a bunch of entitled losers,” Jeanie answered. “They’re supposed to be the cream of the crop, but most of my members have grown idle. People are treating Risegard like this is the end of the game. They get this far, then give up the fight.”
“They’re all pathetic,” Ned said. “I bet I could kill half the people in Risegard before someone finally stopped me.”
“Like anyone would even try,” Ryker said in a gloomy tone. “They’d just hold their necks out for you.”
“We need to put more pressure on them,” Isaac said. “I thought they’d get their drive back in time, but time is running out. You must’ve seen my messages about that active moderator, Lucas?”
“Yeah, he’s stirring up problems on the lower worlds,” Noah said. “Even got Zhang somehow. You trying to break the Ice Knight out?”
“Sadly, I’m not sure that’s an option,” Isaac replied. “Lucas has gone to great lengths to keep his prisoners in check. Ned has a few spies in the Justiciars, but they aren’t allowed to enter the dungeon. Ned says he’ll keep a close watch and find out more information. If his men find a way to break Zhang free without getting caught, they’ll do it. However, the odds look very bad for your friend. I’m sorry about that, Noah, but there’s not much we can do for now. The bigger issue is that Lucas has his eyes on the entire World-Tree.”
“It’s just a matter of time until he reaches Risegard,” Jeanie noted. “It might be decades or centuries, but he’ll get here and come after us. We need to get these weak-willed losers to start level-grinding again.”
“If Lucas is relying too heavily on his mod powers, he’ll never reach Risegard,” Noah replied. “You four are worrying over nothing. He doesn’t have the drive to make it this far.”
“Even if he doesn’t, we all agree this idleness needs to end,” Jeanie said. “The people of Risegard were once the best of the best. Out of millions of players, they’re the ones that climbed the highest—that fought the hardest. They had the most drive and ambition. Now, they’re all a bunch of losers.”
“I don’t blame them,” Ryker said, “but I do wish things were different.”
“It’s so pathetic,” Ned added. “These people are garbage, but even trash can be recycled into something better.”
“Please don’t put it so harshly,” Isaac told them. “Those people struggled for decades to make it this far, only to see an impossible challenge ahead. They’ve lost their sense of purpose, which is something everyone needs. Noah, you want to reach the top. Jeanie and Ryker want to find bigger and greater challenges. Ned wants—to be honest, I don’t know what Ned wants. We all have goals and ambitions, though. That’s a central part of the human experience. I think ARKUS understands that, which is why it designed this game to be so difficult.”
“I just want to have fun killing people again,” Ned said, smirking. “It’s so boring now that everyone’s given up. What about you, Isaac? You didn’t tell us your motivation.”
Isaac shrugged. “It might sound a little silly. Nothing so serious as wanting to defeat others or challenge myself. I just feel like I lost my sense of purpose after creating ARKUS. I don’t regret playing my part in its creation, but I’ve realized I’ve inadvertently taken our species down a path without purpose or meaning. ARKUS was the first Tier-Two AI System, meaning we developed it with the help of lesser AI Systems. Those other AI were already outcompeting humans in many fields. ARKUS is far ahead of those systems that were already moving past us. Even the US Government couldn’t reverse engineer ARKUS’s time dilation, so they’ve started on their own Tier-Two AI.”
Ned shrugged. “What’s the problem with that? More AI will make our lives easier, right?”
“Yes, too easy,” Isaac said. “ARKUS is coming up with technological developments faster than the biggest companies in the world. More AI Systems like it will mean faster developments with less human involvement. It’s a matter of time until AI start making even more powerful AI without any human oversight. The era of human dominance and importance is over. Our species will have to learn how to find purpose in a world where we don’t really matter.”
The other four remained silent, and it seemed Isaac had become lost in his thoughts.
“For me, finding purpose is as simple as discovering something new about the world or people around me,” Isaac said, almost like he was thinking out loud. “For you four, it seems you live for the challenge—the excitement and thrill of victory and defeat. You chase it like dogs go after a car, but most people will choose complacency over challenge. Purpose must be thrust upon them like the hunter-gatherers that once struggled just to survive. I’m sure more people will come to this conclusion in time. For now, someone needs to shove them forward.”
“Yeah, but how do we do that?” Jeanie asked. “That’s why you called us here, except you don’t have a good answer other than offering bigger bounties or purposely starting a war between our guilds. The first will have us all broke in a few years, and the second won’t work if each side shares the same spawn point.”
“Hold up,” Noah said. “You’re talking about starting a war, but the people in this room could take on the angels together. Ryker, if you’d joined me and Amelia, we might’ve won the last time.”
“It doesn’t matter,”
Ryker replied. “Have you heard about the developers trapped at Edgelight? They say there’s an army of angels that kill anyone who try to leave the city. That’s the reason I didn’t see a point in helping you. Even if we defeat the two angels at Cryasal, we’ll never make it past an army without one of our own.”
“It’d be a fake war, anyway,” Isaac assured Noah. “I’ve been listening to reports about Lucas’s invasion of Midrun. He really riled up a lot of cities and guilds. The nearest cities to Midrun have been forced to get stronger and increase their defenses. That’s exactly what we need here. With the combined power of our guilds, we could start a long-lasting war that would force the citizens of Risegard to grow stronger. When we have a lot of players with stats in the two-hundreds, we’ll make a truce to end the war so we can fight the angels. Everyone will forget about their old rivalries once we have a unified enemy.”
Noah snorted, and the four players stared at him. “You know, I had a similar idea in my head, but I half-assumed you’d talk me out of it. My plan was a little less convoluted, however. You want humans to find purpose? You need to give them an enemy to hate. A guild war would be self-destructive, so you need an outside force.”
Noah equipped the Demon Lord Helm. The white helm looked like a ram’s skull, but it covered his entire head. Once over his face, it disappeared from his view like other enchanted masks and helms he’d found. Despite the large horns and high material rating, the helm didn’t feel quite as heavy as basteel.
“Scan says you’re an Exotic Boss!” Isaac said in surprise. “I can’t see your eyes behind the sockets, or even your player profile.”
“That’s not even the best part,” Noah said, his voice made deeper by the helm. “It also lets me control most monsters below A-Class. I was thinking about using it to attack Risegard. If a player gets close to killing me, I’ll end myself with a Lotus Capsule, so they’ll never know I’m a person.”
