The Player Plague

by Lucas Flint

  The Stalking Shadow I had stabbed tried to stab me, but I Dodged his attack pretty easily and stabbed one of my Ice Daggers into his head. The Ice Dagger pierced his brain and he immediately collapsed onto the floor, earning me another 1,000 EXP, but before I could focus on that, two chains came out of nowhere and wrapped around both of my arms.

  With a gasp, I looked down either chain and saw the other two Stalking Shadows holding either end. The two Stalking Shadows began pulling and I could suddenly feel the pressure on my arms as the Stalking Shadows threatened to tear me in two. And that wasn’t just an idle thought. The two Stalking Shadows were so strong that I felt like I was literally going to be ripped in two if I didn’t act fast.

  Dropping my Ice Daggers, I grabbed the chains wrapped around my arms and activated Freezing Touch. Ice shot out from my hands down the chains, so when the Stalking Shadows pulled again, the chains completely shattered, sending both enemy ninja falling onto their behinds.

  Without waiting for them to respond, I scooped up both Ice Daggers and ran over to and stabbed one of them in the head. When the Ice Dagger pierced his brain, the Stalking Shadow stopped moving and I got another 1,000 EXP.

  Just as I ripped my Ice Dagger out of his skull, the remaining Stalking Shadow drew a freaking katana, of all things, out of nowhere and bounded toward me with shocking speed. His sword flew toward my neck, but I held up both Ice Daggers at once to block the attack.

  The Stalking Shadows’ sword smashed through my Ice Daggers, but I did manage to Dodge and avoid getting my head taken off by that attack. Skidding to a halt a few feet away from him, I fired Ice Beam at the Stalking Shadow. The Stalking Shadow, however, easily dodged my Ice Beam and then rushed toward me again, his sword flashing in his hands.

  Without thinking, I slammed my foot on the ground and ice shot out from my foot toward the Stalking Shadow. The floor underneath the Stalking Shadow became solid ice and he slipped and fell on his back, dropping his sword at the same time.

  Sensing an opportunity to end the fight, I slid across the ice and picked up the Stalking Shadow’s katana. When I got close enough, I drove the weapon directly into the Stalking Shadow’s skull, instantly piercing his brain and killing him in less than a second. I got another 1,000 EXP from that, which made me smile because it meant I was now less than halfway to Level 26 already. Dang, I should kill more Stalking Shadows, given how much EXP they give out.

  All thoughts of leveling up left my mind when I heard another feminine yell followed by a loud squelching sound. Having forgotten about Aimi, I looked over, ready to rush to her rescue, but to my surprise, it looked like I didn’t need to. Aimi stood by herself with the three dead Stalking Shadows lying around her feet. Her clothes were ripped and bloodied in a few places, while her knife dripped with Stalking Shadow blood, but other than that, she looked surprisingly okay.

  Then I heard another squelch and looked over in time to see Riku finish off his last Stalking Shadow. Riku also stood in the center of a bunch of dead Stalking Shadows now, though unlike Aimi, he looked relatively uninjured, if a bit more tired.

  “Thank you for your aid, Hero Winter,” said Riku as he wiped the blood off his dagger. “For a moment, I was sure that Miss Aimi and I would have perished at the hands of the Stalking Shadows. Had that happened, I would have had to commit seppuku as punishment for my failure to save Miss Aimi.”

  “But you would have been dead,” I pointed out. “How can you kill yourself if you’re already dead?”

  “It does not matter,” said Aimi as she sheathed her dagger. She winced slightly due to the pain from her wounds. “The point is that we managed to stop the Stalking Shadows. As well, we set the charges, so all that needs to be done now is to set the timer and leave.”

  I was about to say that I agreed when my Hero Sense suddenly began tingling. In particular, one of the crates behind Aimi was setting off my Hero Sense like crazy and I soon saw why: A lone Stalking Shadow, having apparently watched the battle, was waiting in the shadows between two crates behind Aimi and Aimi didn’t even notice. The Stalking Shadow pulled a long dagger out from his belt and jumped out toward Aimi, his knife aimed directly for the back of her skull.

  Without hesitation, I threw the katana I had stolen from the last Stalking Shadow I killed at Aimi’s attacker. The katana flew straight and true, sailing over Aimi’s head and striking the final attacker in the chest.

  The last Stalking Shadow let out a gurgled cry of pain as Aimi whirled around to face him, shock in her eyes. But despite the hit he had taken, the Stalking Shadow wasn’t dead yet. He raised his knife, but then Cy leaped over his head, snatched the knife out of his hands, and stabbed him in the back of the head. The Stalking Shadow died instantly, collapsing onto the floor as Cy landed on his two feet, giving me another notification:

  [Sidekick Cyclone] kills [Undead Stalking Shadow]! +1,000 EXP for both you and your Sidekick!

  “Whoa,” I said as I dismissed the notification and looked at Cy. “Where were you this whole time?”

  Cy scratched the back of his head. “Taking a nap.”

  “Taking a nap?” I said in disbelief. I gestured at the dead zombie ninjas lying all around us. “While we were fighting for our lives?”

  “Sorry,” said Cy. “I just got really tired and found this cozy little space on the floor that was really nice. Besides, I like to think I was fabulously late as usual.”

  I sighed deeply, but then Aimi bowed down at Cy and said, “Thank you for saving me, Cyclone-san. I declared victory too early and nearly paid the ultimate price for my mistake.”

  A new notification popped up when Aimi said that:

  Your Sidekick has gained favor with [Elite Ninja Assassin Aimi] Aimi’s relationship with [Sidekick Cyclone] has increased from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Friendly.’

  Unfortunately, your Sidekick’s increase in relationship with [Elite Ninja Assassin Aimi] does not apply to your own relationship with her, which is still at ‘Neutral.’

  What the—? I helped save her, too. If I hadn’t thrown my katana—

  A couple new notifications suddenly appeared in my vision without warning:

  Skill Level up: Dodge [Level 3]. After all the dodging you did during your battle with the Stalking Shadows, your Dodge Skill has increased! Now you can perform dodges that other people might describe as ‘superhuman.’ Continue to level up your Dodge in order to perform even greater feats of evasion!

  New Skill unlocked: Blade-Throwing [Level 1]. Throwing a bladed weapon not only looks cool but now your Accuracy increases by 3% whenever you do so. Continue to level up this Skill in order to throw swords, daggers, and other bladed weapons with greater accuracy!

  Well, I guess that was an acceptable reward if I didn’t increase my relationship with Aimi. One Skill leveled up and then a brand new Skill on top of that. Not to mention I leveled up earlier. All in all, not a bad night.

  “No problem, Aimi,” said Cy casually. “I do those sorts of tricks every day, you know. Like a walk in the park.”

  Aimi stood up, but she didn’t seem entirely impressed by Cy’s display of faux casualness. “Regardless, I do not understand what happened. Why were the Stalking Shadows able to withstand so many attacks, even the loss of limbs? No normal human can handle losing a limb without suffering some kind of pain-induced shock

  “The Z-Virus,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention to me. I pulled out the Z-Virus bottle from earlier and held it up for everyone to see. “The drug these guys are selling to everyone? A weaker, but still deadly, strain of the Z-Virus.”

  “The Z-Virus?” Riku repeated in horror. “I thought that disease had been wiped out years ago. Are you sure that is what they are selling and distributing?”

  “I am completely sure about that,” I said. “Even worse, the Stalking Shadows are taking the Z-Virus themselves. Master Haru has promised to make his Stalking Shadows immortal rulers of the world if they follow him and consume the Z-Virus.”

  “Master Har
u is even crazier than I thought,” said Aimi, shaking her head. “He was always a shifty man, but I would never think he would go so far as to knowingly and deliberately spread the Z-Virus among the population. Does he not realize just how dangerous this disease is?”

  Thinking about how Giggles, Atmosfear’s Sidekick, had sold the Z-Virus to Robert, I said, “It’s possible Master Haru might not be doing this alone. I think he has an accomplice who is supplying him with the Z-Virus.”

  “I hope not, but I have the sinking feeling you are correct,” said Aimi with a shudder.

  “But where could he have possibly gotten his hands on the Z-Virus?” asked Riku. “It was wiped out years ago. Not a single strain of that virus survived the Purge.”

  “I don’t know,” said Aimi. She looked at the charges. “But this just makes this mission even more important. These charges should be more than enough to completely level this entire warehouse and everything in it. Hopefully, they will be strong enough to vaporize the Z-Virus inside the bottles.”

  Putting my Z-Virus bottle back in my inventory, I said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s activate these charges and—”

  Without warning, my Hero Sense started tingling like crazy. I sensed someone sneaking up behind me and whirled around just in time to see a knife coming at me.

  It was coming too fast for me to dodge. The knife slashed across my throat and I saw my Health bar drop to zero. The world around me went completely dark as a new notification appeared in my vision:

  You are dead!

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Abruptly, I sat up in my bed in my room, gasping and sweating hard. At first, I had a hard time remembering what happened to me and why I was back in my room. I even thought I must have been having a bad dream or even a nightmare. Zombie ninjas deliberately spreading a horrific virus into the general population … Kids Mode … god, it was horrible.

  But that was when it hit me that none of that was a dream. Kids Mode was still enabled on my character screen. My EXP was now set squarely back at zero. I had lost half of my credits. I was sitting upright in my bed in my room. Which meant that I had died and respawned back in my Base.

  How did I die? I recalled my Hero Sense going off and then turning around to fight whoever had appeared behind me. Then a knife slit my throat and I died instantly. Either the guy who killed me got really lucky or he had some kind of Power or Skill that must have increased their chances of killing someone by slitting their throat. There must have been one last Stalking Shadow who we didn’t see or even know existed who chose that moment to take me out. I felt like such an idiot for getting killed like that. Total amateur move.

  That was when I heard a small ping in my ears and noticed I had a message in my inbox. Opening my inbox, I saw a message from Cy entitled ‘Re:HELP’:

  Boss! Please help us! I know you’re stuck in our Base for an hour, but we’re getting completely overwhelmed here and I’m just barely able to write this message!

  P.S. What do you think my chances with Aimi are? High, low, or in between?

  I sighed deeply, but honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Thinking about his chances with girls in the middle of a deadly assault from an unknown enemy was exactly the sort of thing Cy would do.

  Nonetheless, I started to type my message when, without warning, Cy appeared right next to me like he had teleported here out of thin air.

  Deadpan, I looked at Cy and said, “Did you get killed, too?”

  “Yep!” said Cy cheerfully. He rubbed his stomach. “Got stabbed in the stomach. Blade went all the way through my back. It wasn’t fun.”

  I sighed and closed my inbox, seeing no reason to respond to Cy’s message now that he was here in person. “What about Aimi and Riku? Are they okay?”

  “They were when I saw them,” said Cy, “but I had to distract the guy who attacked us, so hopefully they got away. If they didn’t … well, I’ll always remember Aimi’s really cute behind.”

  I sighed for the third time in a row and rubbed my forehead in exasperation. “Well, it was my fault for not paying attention to our surroundings. We should have done a complete circuit of the warehouse to make sure that there weren’t any more Stalking Shadows hiding. We celebrate victory too early.”

  “Actually, the guy who killed us wasn’t a Stalking Shadow,” said Cy. He was now tapping his foot on the floor to a beat I couldn’t hear.

  “It wasn’t?” I said. “Then who was it?”

  “Atmosfear and Giggles,” said Cy without missing a beat. “Giggles was the one who killed you. Guess he must have used his Assassin Powers to take you out.”

  “Atmosfear and Giggles were there?” I said, staring at Cy in shock. “No way.”

  “Yes way,” said Cy. “Atmosfear actually killed me himself. He stabbed me with his sword. It hurt. A lot.”

  “Did Atmosfear say anything?” I said. “Anything about his role in the Stalking Shadows or the Z-Virus?”

  “Nope!” said Cy. “He just called me an idiot and killed me without thinking about it. Not a nice thing to call someone, but then again, Atmosfear isn’t really a nice person.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” I said. I swung my legs over the side of my bed. “We need to get back to the warehouse. Atmosfear is probably still there, so if we hurry and leave now—”

  I was interrupted by a notification popping up in my view:

  SUB-MISSION: Financially cripple the Stalking Shadows

  STATUS: Completed

  Thanks to your efforts, the Stalking Shadows have been dealt a crippling financial blow! Although this is hardly a fatal blow, the loss of so many illegal goods will make it harder for the Stalking Shadows to pay their bills and advance their own interests.

  REWARDS: Increased reputation with Grandmaster Yamamoto, +1 PP and +1 SP, plus a chance to complete the mission ‘Defeat the Stalking Shadows.’

  As soon as I read that notification, another one popped up without warning:

  MISSION: Defeat the Stalking Shadows II

  With the destruction of Warehouse 25 and the loss of a good chunk of their illegal goods, the Stalking Shadows have been harmed but not yet defeated. Go to Grandmaster Yamamoto in the Ninja Guild HQ for further information about what to do next.

  ALIGNMENT: Hero

  DIFFICULTY: Easy

  RARITY: Unique

  SUCCESS: Speak to Yama-sama

  FAILURE: Do not speak to Yama-sama

  REWARDS: Higher reputation with the Ninja Guild, plus a complete set of Ninjutsu Armor [Rare] and 10,000 credits. Other rewards dependent on how well one completes the mission. Only available after the entire mission has been completed.

  I scratched the back of my head. “I don’t understand. We died. I thought one of the conditions for failing the sub-mission was dying at the hands of a Stalking Shadow.”

  “But a Stalking Shadow didn’t kill us,” Cy pointed out. “Atmosfear and Giggles did. If I had to guess, I would say that Atmosfear and Giggles are probably working with the Stalking Shadows, but don’t count as Stalking Shadows themselves. And since Aimi and Riku managed to set off the charges, it meant the mission was basically a success.”

  I looked at Cy in bewilderment. “You figured that out quick.”

  “What can I say?” said Cy with a shrug. “I’m a quick thinker.”

  I nodded. As spacey and random as Cy could be, I forgot that he really understood more about how the game worked better than me. As well, I recalled that the wording of missions was extremely important. That’s why you always had to read the victory and failure conditions very carefully. That way, you make sure you actually understand what the conditions for victory are, rather than assume what they are.

  That meant it wasn’t a complete waste of time after all. I even got some Points to distribute, which was a nice unexpected bonus. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go to Grandmaster Yamamoto yet and wouldn’t be able to for an hour, at least.

  Dismissing the update for my current miss
ion, yet another mission prompt appeared in my vision all of a sudden:

  MISSION: Stop the drug dealer II

  Your raid on the Stalking Shadows’ warehouse helped you understand that the drug dealer who sold the Z-Virus to Kathy’s boyfriend Robert likely got his supply from the Stalking Shadows. You still don’t know where the drug dealer is or even who he is, but you are now one step closer to stopping that man from ruining any more lives.

  ALIGNMENT: Hero

  DIFFICULTY: Hard

  RARITY: Rare

  SUCCESS: Find the drug dealer and stop him from selling drugs

  FAILURE: Fail to capture the drug dealer

  REWARDS: Increased reputation with Kathy and +2 Stat Points and +1 Power Point and +1 Trust

  In all of the excitement, I had almost completely forgotten about the mission Kathy, Robert’s girlfriend, had given me. I was glad to see an update, but at the same time, I couldn’t believe how big a coincidence this turned out to be. I hadn’t realized my two missions would intersect like this. It made me wonder how often this happened with missions and what would happen once I completed them both.

  Dismissing the notification, I didn’t get any more notifications this time, thankfully. I looked at Cy and said, “I know we can’t leave our Base, so why don’t you go and cook us a meal? I’m starving.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” said Cy, rubbing his hands together. “I’ll make my mama’s secret meatloaf and burrito recipe! See ya!”

  Cy zoomed out of the room before I could stop him. I had eaten his mom’s secret meatloaf and burrito recipe for dinner last week and got a horribly nasty Diarrhea debuff as a result. Cy insisted that he had probably just mixed the wrong ingredients together, but frankly I thought he had probably gotten it right and it just didn’t settle well with me.

  Seeing as it would be a while before Cy finished our meal, I pulled up my character screen to start distributing my newly-acquired PPs and SPs: