Archaic Venture_The Myth Of Cerberus

by Henry D. Milton

  Over the hill, Michael can see a tiny village in the distance—nothing special, five little huts with smoke billowing from a few of them. On the outskirts, there was what appears to be a farm or two full of different animals grazing. With nothing in his way, Michael happily trotted down the hill into the valley toward the village. When he got there, post stood on its outskirts with a sign that read, Lightdale – home to few, open to many. Looking around, Michael could see that a few others were wondering about appearing to be as confused as he was. They also were wearing very similar apparel. Naturally, every character was given the same armor at the beginning of their journey. Instead of listening to what the icon had said earlier, Michael made his way over to one of the characters wandering around the town. The first person was a tall, incredibly build warrior human who took one look at Draynor and walked away without saying anything. Michael was a little discouraged, but not entirely. The next person he walked up to was a slender, female half-elf with a slightly different set of armor. She had already visited the blacksmith. Although the half-elf declined to become Michael’s companion in the game, she was kind enough to point him in the direction of the blacksmith. Politely, Michael walked away, and since he was 0-2 in the making friend's department, he made his way toward the blacksmith.

  “Arumph?” the half-orc said. “What can I get for you dark-elf?”

  The screen scanned a table with many different items to choose from. Underneath each item, a small box popped up with the name and statistics of the item. Scrolling through them, there wasn’t much he could choose from. After all, he didn’t have much money. All he had done was kill a few sheep, so with the twenty pieces of gold, he bought a plane steel breastplate. His choice was based on the fact that death knights often have lower defense due to their inability to hold a shield.

  “Is that everything?” The half-orc asked.

  “Yes, I believe so,” Michael responded. It made sense to him to speak into the microphone to talk to other players of the game, but it was still crazy to him that he could speak into the microphone to characters in the game, like the blacksmith.

  Michael, after pulling away from the blacksmith, looked around the town and realized he didn’t have the faintest clue of where to go from here. For a brief second, he considered going to kill more sheep and build up his stocks of gold and level up a few more times, but this seemed dull. Michael hadn’t bought his Oculus Rift and the game Archaic Venture just to kill sheep. He wanted to feel something. Luckily for him, it didn’t take long for something to catch his attention. A few doors down from the blacksmith was the pub, and two people were arguing outside of it. With nothing else to do, Michael decided to investigate.

  “No, give me a second Rampage. Let me consult the players guide before we decide to do anything,” said a tinier male character who appeared to be a hobbit druid.

  “Dammit, Komodo, you are always consulting that stupid thing. It doesn’t matter if it is World of Warcraft or Diablo, you can’t make decisions on your own,” Answered Rampage, a female humanoid who appeared to be of the warrior class.

  “Yeah Rampage, a lot of good that did us in Diablo or do you not remember what “making decisions on your own” did for us?” Komodo retorted.

  “Oh shut it down, I am so sick and tired of you holding that over my head. Let it go already.”

  “Let me consult my player's guide, and you’ll never hear about it again,” Komodo said as his player stood there tapping his foot on the ground.

  “You’ll never hear about it again,” Rampage said in a mockingly. “I doubt it.”

  Michael decided that this would be the best time to interrupt considering the two were just standing there. He cleared his throat and in a shallow voice—he was trying to sound older—he said, “Hello, my name is Draynor. I am a dark-elf death knight.”

  “We can see that,” Rampage said. “Look at this adult, Komodo. He thinks he’s cool playing a children’s game.”

  Komodo laughed out loud before saying, “They always crack me up. They think they are so cool and that they should be able to breeze through the game because they are “smarter.” Komodo motioned air quotes when he said smarter. “Buzz off noob!”

  “No, no, no, I’m not an adult,” Michael said in his actual voice.

  Komodo and Rampage exchanged looks of confusion. “Why did you try to sound like one then?”

  “I’m sorry,” Michael quickly said. He was embarrassed. “Honestly, I had tried to make two other friends earlier, and I assumed that I sounded too young to add to their clan. Is that what you two are?”

  “We aren’t a clan; we are a twosome bud. We have been playing together for over two years and three games now, and we aren’t looking to add any others. We don’t need you.” Rampage said.

  “Oh, alrigh—” Michael said in a disappointed voice before getting interrupted.

  “Wait!” Komodo said. “Maybe we can use him,” Komodo continued but only to Rampage now.

  “Why? He has probably never played an RPG in his life. Look at him; he stinks of noobness,” Rampage said.

  “Excuse us, do you mind give us a second to talk privately?” Komodo said politely.

  “Of course,” Michael said. He walked away a few steps, just outside of earshot. He could see the two of them arguing in the distance, but he was confident. This is the first headway he had made with any of the other characters. He would just have to not take no for an answer.

  After a few minutes of talking, the two approached Michael. Komodo started, “Have you heard of Soto Akiyama?”

  “I think I remember seeing his name on the cover of Archaic Venture?” Michael half asked half answered. “Is he the creator of the game?”

  “Very good,” Komodo answered.

  “He barely even knew that Komodo. He was asking you if he was right,” Rampage said.

  “Easy big girl, cut the guy some slack. Now, Draynor have you seen the newest press conference with Soto?”

  “I can’t say that I have, why?”

  “Do you have a computer,” Komodo continued.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Go get it right now and pull up YouTube and watch the news clip. Don’t worry; we will wait for you.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back,” Michael said before taking off his headset. Once off, Michael spun in a circle looking for his family’s laptop. Not seeing it anywhere, Michael hobbled off to his father’s study where the computer sits when it isn’t in plain sight. Relieved to see the computer sitting on his father’s desk, closed and nothing being used, Michael sat down as his in the chair and opened up to the computer.

  The MacBook came to life instantly with its familiar bunn sound. Bringing the cursor to the Google Chrome icon and double-clicking. He typed in the URL, youtube.com. After accessing his own youtube.com account, he went to type in the name of the creator of Archaic Venture, but he forgot. He thought long and hard but it never came back to him, so he was forced to type in exactly that, “the creator of Archaic Venture.” Luckily, the interview was so popular—nine million views to be exact—that it came up right away. He clicked on the screen, and it instantly started playing.

  Soto Akiyama, the creator of Archaic Venture, sat on a plus loveseat across from the interviewer, Alexis Bitter— a top-rated talk show host on a show called Much News. Much News discussed many different topics that affect pop culture. It could be anything from music to politics. The fact that Soto Akiyama was on the show was a testament to how well the video game was doing.

  “Welcome to Much News, Soto Akiyama, I’d like to start by saying thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today,” Alexis said.

  “It is my pleasure,” Soto said in surprisingly great English. He barely even had an accent.

  “I am just going to get right into it Soto, your newest creation, Archaic Venture is all the rage right now. It has been on the market for only two weeks, and it has already sold fifteen million copies,” Alexis said clapping her
hands together and encouraging her crowd to join in. Once the clapping subsided, Alexis continued, “That is a huge number! Grand theft Auto five has been out for years, and it has only sold sixty-five million copies. You are the pace to smash that number.”

  The crowd erupts again, but Soto put his hand in the air to quiet them down so he could say something. “I realize that this is a big accomplishment—and, we are making money, so that is a good thing. However, I do not judge my accomplishments against others, only myself.”

  “That is a very humble attitude, Soto,” Alexis said. “I guess it is a good thing that Archaic Venture has destroyed your previous games already, and by over five millions sales no less.”

  “Agreed, I am pleased with Archaic Venture’s success, but I don’t think you quite understood what I meant by that,” Soto said.

  “What exactly do you mean, Mr. Akiyama? What are you comparing Archaic Venture’s success too?” Alexis asked with a furrowed brow.

  “Well, as much as I enjoy your company, Mrs. Bitter, it was not the main reason why I took this interview,” Soto paused for dramatic effect. “I have an announcement to make.”

  The crowd clapped because of this exciting twist to the show. “Mr. Soto, I think I speak for everyone in the building, and everyone watching around the world, when I say, we are all ears.”

  “Thank you,” Soto said, repositioning himself on his chair and getting comfortable. He then cleared his throat and begun, “Over the last two weeks, my team and I have been working very hard. We have barely paid attention to all of the good feedback we have been receiving, not because we don’t appreciate your thoughts about what we have done, but because we have already been trying to perfect it. Tonight, we will be uploading an expansion to the game. It comes at no extra cost and extends the lands that players can play on, as well as gives the game a purpose, a goal if you will. So, at midnight, for all those that will be logged on and playing with their characters, the lands will automatically be added for you.”

  Everyone in the audience loses their minds. This is unheard of for a game to receive an extension with no extra cost. “Wow!” Alexis began. “That is incredible for you to do that Mr. Akiyama. What made you want to do that?”

  “I grew up playing World of Warcraft. The game is amazing and was the first of its kind to make the possibilities endless for their characters. When we started off making Archaic Venture, we had a similar goal. Of course, we wanted to enhance the graphics, and we had the virtual reality thing that was different, but it was too comparable to me. Our producers were ready to move forward with putting Archaic Venture to market, and there wasn’t anything I could do, but before they did I made sure that they knew I was going to continue working on the game until it was perfect. Thankfully, they agreed.”

  , “I think we are all very excited to find out what you have added to such an amazing game already,” Alexis said.

  “But?” Mr. Akiyama asked.

  Alexis chuckled a little bit because Soto Akiyama had just beaten her to the punch. “But, you mentioned that you added a goal, a purpose, to the game that wasn’t there before? If this game is every lasting and you can do whatever you want in it then how can there be an ending?”

  “Well, I’ve added another element to the game,” Soto said. “Now, there is evil energy sweeping across the lands in Archaic Venture. No one will know where they are coming from or how to find them, but until someone does the game will never be the same again. And, the best part of all of this is that if a player does manage to find the evil energy—let’s call it Cerberus—if Cerberus kills them their character will never re-spawn.”

  “Wait, so let me get this straight, you are adding in something that will be difficult to find and needs to be defeated, or else everyone who has already bought the game will suffer?”

  “That is correct, Ms. Bitter.”

  “Don’t you think that will be bad for publicity? Or, worse yet, bad for your investors?”

  “I don’t care to be honest. I care that the game will be the best it can be, nothing else.”

  Alexis and everyone in the audience was a little confused. There was no clapping and hooting, and hollering had stopped. Ms. Bitter had no words, and she was looking around at the people backstage to send her another question to ask when—thankfully for her—Soto saved her and said, “Don’t worry Alexis, and everyone else out there. I have an incentive for those daring to attempt to find Cerberus.”

  A striking look of relief swept across Alexis’ face before she said, “Thank god, Mr. Akiyama. You had me worried there for a minute. What is the incentive?”

  “Well, for starters you will have saved everyone who plays Archaic Venture from the negative, evil energy that plagues the land,” Soto said. “But, if that isn’t enough incentive when you destroy the evil energy and dispel all darkness from the realm, your characters will ascend to a level that cannot be touched by any other character. Essentially you will become omnipotent.”

  “Are you saying that if someone defeats the evil spirit, they will become a god?”

  “I don’t like to use the word god, but if that is what you need to do to understand, then yes. These characters will become so powerful that it will be next to impossible to defeat them. My thought process behind this was that you would need at least three people to defeat the evil spirit. If they can work together to win, then they will—essentially—receive the strength and powers that the evil spirit possesses will be bestowed on them. Their weapons and armor will be upgraded to the same level as their characters, and they will be allowed to rule the realm however they see fit. They will either replace the evil spirit with more darkness. Or, they can be nice and gentle rulers, who only destroy those that do wrong.”

  “That seems like a lot of risks, Mr. Akiyama, especially if they are risking losing the character that they have been working on. What level would they ascend to?” Alexis asked.

  “To put it in your words, there isn’t exactly a level cap for a god, is there?” There were a few claps in the crows; it seemed like Soto Akiyama’s experiment was starting to gain traction with those in attendance. It was then that he dropped the bomb, “Oh, and I almost forgot. The people who rid the Archaic Venture world of Cerberus also get to visit my complex in sunny Los Angeles, California. And, they win a $30,000 grand prize. I repeat, this prize is only offered to a group of three or less. You cannot get a group of twenty together and try to take out Cerberus, the gate in which to find him will simply not appear. I wish you all good luck.”

  The crowd once again loses their minds. The volume of the group started to shake the camera filming the interview before the YouTube video stopped. Michael’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god,” he thought. “I could solve our family’s money problems.” Now that he knew what Komodo and Rampage were arguing about, he knew that he had to convince them that he was the guy to join them on their journey.

  Michael closed the laptop, pushed off his father’s desk, and stood up. After making his way down the stairs, Michael put on the Oculus Rift’s gloves, shoes, and headset. Thankfully, Komodo and Rampage were true to their word. There they were, still debating on whether it was a good idea to add Draynor to their group.

  “We could split the money two ways, Komodo,” said Rampage. “It is simple math; we would make fifty percent more money if we don’t let him join us.”

  “Thank you Rampage, I’m terrible at math, and I couldn’t put that together,” Komodo said sarcastically. “But, I did the math, and the probability of us being successful with an additional person is seventy percent higher. And, might I remind you that if we make it all the way to Cerberus and we lose, we lose for good. All the work we put in beforehand would be a waste.”

  “I want in,” Michael interrupted. “I want to go after Cerberus.”

  “We got that, thanks,” Rampage said.

  “I don’t think you do, Rampage,” Michael said. “I have all the time in the world to put towards this, and I will not be turned down. I wi
ll put in the time and improve my character faster than you have ever seen. I will not rest until I prove to you that I am a worthy companion.”

  “Works for me,” Komodo said, looking toward Rampage.

  “You are such a pushover, Komodo,” Rampage said.

  “Welcome to the group, Draynor,” Komodo said walking over to him and putting out a hand. “Don’t worry; she will come around.”

  Michael smiled, he had made a friend. “Thanks,” Michael said, shaking Komodo’s hand. “I hope so, or else it’s going to be a long trip.”

  “It sure will be,” Komodo said with a laugh. Rampage never did shake Michael’s hand but she nodded in his direction, and that was good enough for him. It was Michael’s first time playing the game, and it had already surpassed everything he could imagine. He had never had friends before.

  “So, what do we do now?” Rampage asked.

  “I think we should have a beer to celebrate,” Komodo said.

  “A beer? You gotta be kidding me,” Rampage said. “I would like to get this show on the road.”

  “That is the thing, Rampage. We don’t know where to go from here. It says in players guide that you should go somewhere that has more non-player characters in it and you may receive some much-needed information. I can’t think of a better place than the pub, not the mention the new guy is buying.”

  “Pardon me?” Michael asked.

  “I didn’t stutter Draynor,” Komodo said.

  “How much are beers?”

  “They are just one piece of gold.”

  After a quick assessment of his gold situation, he realized that he would have to kill a few sheep before he could afford to take out his new friends. “Do you guys mind taking a detour on the way to the bar?”

  “I don’t mind,” Komodo said.

  “Fine,” Rampage said.

  So, the three of them loop around the edge of town for Michael to kill a few sheep before heading to the bar. The only problem was, was that there weren’t any sheep. Michael ran up and down an adjacent hill trying to find one, but there was nothing to be seen. Finally, he ran into a horse wandering around one of the buildings on the outskirts of town. Michael took his two blades and sliced the horses head off. The result was perfect, Michael gained some experience, but more importantly, he earned six pieces of gold.