Sacrificial Pieces

by Cosimo Yap

  “A unique set of rules binds each Anomaly. You are allowed to find work or re-enter the Gam3 as a beginning player,” the Administrator said. “You are to prove yourself worthy of restoration within 100 standard days by achieving Major Player status or face deletion and assist the Administrators when required. Only Ascendants may restore deleted data, with the permission of the Authorities.”

  “Khersath, my place of residence in what I considered real life. Where would that be? Is that location available, or has it been deleted?”

  “As the Black Rose guild is still an active guild within the Gam3, the area still exists within the Gam5. A rank B capsule in the Traveler Alan’s possession was kept active and undeleted due to its importance to the Gam3.”

  Alan considered his options, then shook his head. Who was he kidding? He would re-enter the Gam3. This time, though, he knew what the Emperor meant by true enemies. The Ascendants would pay, and he would evolve to become stronger than all of them.

  Alan decided there and then that he would stop playing to win. Instead, he would make sure he didn’t lose.

  Fuck, Alan thought, I just lost the game.

  What I like to think of as the Gam3’s Prequel Trilogy is done. If you've enjoyed the series please leave a rating on Amazon, it makes a massive difference!

  I've never been one to promote my own work much, and the truth of the matter is I don't think it's good enough. Not only is the Gam3 incomparable to many other great series, but the books I've written have never been able to stand up to the ideas in my head—the novels I want to write.

  It's been an amazing journey becoming an author and being able to write for a living, but I feel like I've let everyone down because I haven't given writing my all. Instead, my focus has been more on playing games, reading books, watching TV, and consuming content in practically every form imaginable. Five years ago this would have been my dream, but it hasn't left me fulfilled. Perhaps it's just human nature but I'm not content with where I'm at. I'm not happy with my work so far, with my life so far, and with the world so far. I hope to fix all that, though changing the world is probably wishful thinking.

  So I'm going to write something else. That means the Gam3 will probably take a longer hiatus than I intended. To be honest, I'm not sure how long it will be, but I have every intention of continuing Alan's story, and hopefully when I do return I have the ability to bring the characters and universe to life in a way I haven’t managed yet. I want to level up my writing abilities, and right now I think the best way to do that is to focus on another story for a while.

  If you want to be kept updated follow me on my blog or on Twitter.

  Thanks for reading my work so far, and I hope to publish another series someday soon!