by EA Hooper
Vincent unequipped his gun, cloak, and mask before holding up his hands. “It’s just a prank, River!”
The woman froze as she held her blade up for a killing strike. “Oh, it’s you.” She unequipped her blade and sighed. “Jesus, old man. You can’t just go around ambushing people on this world. Surely you remember what it was like living here. Even after a few years, I’m constantly on edge.”
“Where’s everyone else?” Vincent questioned.
“Mid-respawn,” River replied. “We tried to run Bellard’s Maze. Athena and her father didn’t even make it halfway. May, Keanu, and I got near the end, I think. When those two died, I decided to bail. There’s no way I could’ve defeated the boss by myself.”
“You’re getting stronger, at least. How is Athena’s void attack coming along?”
“Still at ninety-nine percent.” River paused, glancing at his rune armor. “So, what’s with you and the armor? I couldn’t even check your player profile when you entered.”
“This armor is to replace my Gravity Shield. I’m using a spell that turns my magic against my body, which disables Mana Shield and any variations of it. It cuts my stats in half and makes it easier to level up. You couldn’t see my player profile because of my mask. I got it from an NPC trader named Archie.”
River raised an eyebrow. “An NPC trader?”
“Yeah, I was surprised when I found him. He teleports to various mid and high-tier worlds, trading for Unique Tokens you get if you’re the first team to defeat a World Boss. I swapped the token I got from Rethin for the mask, and then I used another token to get the World Core in my gun.”
“Woah, so he has rare items?”
“Yeah, mostly Soulbound stuff. There’re some interesting items I didn’t even know existed in this game. You can trade for Jump Crystals and Respawn Crystals too.”
“That’s cool, but what are you doing on Eramar? I thought you were off exploring new worlds.”
“I died.”
“Oh, you still had your spawn set to the shard? I thought everyone would’ve set new points by now.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve died that I didn’t think about it. Oh well, it should only take a couple months to get back to the same group of worlds.”
“Good luck with that.”
Vincent nodded and stepped toward the door. “Take good care of our houses. If you need tips for using my forge, just send me a message.”
“Lloyd’s been using it, but his armor is second-rate compared to yours. I’ll make sure he calls you for advice.”
Vincent waved goodbye, and then stepped outside. He jogged toward the world’s stem, taking the time to flip through his HUD for messages he’d missed the last two weeks. He saw dozens of chat invites from Jim, who’d left several messages.
>Jim: Hello?
>Jim: Vince, are you dead?
>Jim: Bro, my marriage is falling apart. She’s driving me crazy.
>Jim: Hey, ignore that last one. I got drunk and overreacted.
>Jim: Oh my god, she demolished my brewery. I’m done this time, Vince.
>Jim: I tried to hand her divorce papers, and she threatened to put me in a torture chamber covered in anti-spell and restoration runes.
>Jim: You, Quinn, and Xan need to hurry to Styxis and save me from this nightmare.
>Jim: Woah, ignore the last few messages. We made up with a couple days of binge-drinking and sex. I think everything will work out.
>Jim: Good news! The wife and I are moving to the Inner Sanctum. We won’t have to worry about that Demon Lord crap any longer. Things are looking up, Vince.
Vincent sighed and then skimmed a dozen other messages until he saw one from Xan.
>Alexandria: Hey, Vince. I’m ready to climb again. Sorry for taking so long.
A smile spread across the old man’s face and he sent Xan a chat invite.
>Vincent: Fantastic! I assume Zhang’s coming too?
>Alexandria: Uh—no, he’s not coming.
>Vincent: I thought you two were still adventuring together. Did something happen?
>Alexandria: I don’t want to talk about it, Vince. Let’s just meet up with Quinn and go to Styxis. I’m on a branch heading toward Direlake.
>Vincent: I just respawned back on Eramar. I didn’t realize they were borrowing the daiglass shard.
>Alexandria: That’s my fault. I told Athy she could take it. I assumed you had set a new spawn elsewhere. If you and I head to Grankai, we can meet up there in about eight months—assuming neither of us dies along the way. From there, we can climb together, pick up Quinn, and then find Jim at Styxis.
>Vincent: Sounds good to me. I’ll call them both to tell them.
>Alexandria: Alright, later.
Pale Alexandria has ended your private chat.
She sounded oddly mopey, Vincent noted. I wonder what happened with her and Zhang? Guess she’ll talk about it when she’s ready to.
Vincent snapped his Debuff Chains, and his speed doubled as a shockwave ran from his body. He rushed up the stem and toward the branch. The farther he got from Eramar’s higher gravity, the faster the Ranger became. He tried to call Jim and Quinn, but neither of them answered their chat requests.
Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Between Jim’s overbearing wife and Quinn’s arena fighting, those two have had little time for talking lately. Still, I can’t wait to see them all again. After two decades, we’re finally getting the team back together!
A smile spread across Vincent’s face as he raced across the branch.
Chapter 2 | Year 1
Player: Noah the Valiant
Location: Cryasal (World) | Golden Fields (Region)
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Warden
Vitality*: Lv 201
Spirit: Lv 188
Resolve: Lv 185
Perception*: Lv 209
Agility: Lv 176
Strength: Lv 173
Orange platforms appeared under Noah’s feet as he ran high above the battlefield. Below, his teammates Zhang and Ezra battled Cryasal’s World Boss. They had defeated it once before with Amelia, but she’d logged off for a while to use the bathroom and grab a snack. Without her support, the team relied more on hit-and-run tactics.
As Noah positioned himself over the battle, he Scanned the floating suit of giant armor his teammates were fighting.
[Stage Three] Yinveil the Hollow (World Boss) – Monster Class: A | Ageless | Sex: None | Respawn Time: One In-Game Month | Personality: Indifferent
>Noah: It just hit stage three. Watch out for the homing attacks.
The angelic suit made several hand motions as it zigzagged between Zhang and Ezra’s attacks. Magic flashed around its hands, and a multitude of mana blasts launched simultaneously and arced at the two players. A dozen large explosions flashed across the battlefield, but Zhang and Ezra rushed through the smoke with only mild damage to their armor.
Noah cast two back-to-back spells on the World Boss.
Spell Lock (Ranger-Warden Only | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Low | Creates the frame of a barrier around a target. The user’s next spell will be drawn toward that target. | Upgrades – Extended Lock: The user can maintain the lock but must pay a very low cost after each spell that targets it. | Weak Point: The user may spend a very low amount of mana to focus Spell Lock on a smaller point.
Critical Blast (Ranger Only | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Medium | Magic Rating: 150 | Releases a high-speed ball of mana from the palm of the user’s hand. This attack’s Magic Rating is doubled against targets the user has recently Scanned. | Upgrades – Weighted Shell: This attack expands upon hitting something, dealing a larger area of damage. | Splash Damage (100 Magic Rating): This attack explodes when it comes to a stop, dealing additional damage with corrosive mana. The Magic Rating is raised to 200 against targets the user has recently Scanned.
Noah’s Critical Blast hit the armor in the chest, stopping it in its tracks. He eyed the subtle flash of light as it enter
ed stage four, increasing the World Boss’s power yet again.
If we don’t kill this thing before it reaches stage five, we’re goners.
Ezra swung his blade, casting his signature World Breaker. The white static ran down the length of his sword and hit the ground below Yinveil. Before the boss could move, Zhang froze its bottom half with Flash Freeze.
Noah launched two more Critical Blasts in the one-second delay before Ezra’s spell brought an eruption of world magic from the ground. A white flash engulfed the giant armor, and then Zhang fired Mana Cannon into the explosion for good measure.
The three men drank potions as the light and dust settled, and Noah released a frustrated sigh when he spotted the boss still standing. The white armor had turned crimson with gold rims, and even though Noah Scanned it, he already knew it had reached its final form.
[Stage Five] Yinveil the Hollow (World Boss) – Monster Class: A+ | Ageless | Sex: None | Respawn Time: One In-Game Month | Personality: Irate
Yinveil raised a gauntlet at Zhang and Ezra, and static filled the air.
Vaporize – Mana Usage: Very High | Magic Rating: 100-800 | The user generates a field of static mana. After two seconds, the static charge reaches a high-enough frequency to unleash a devastating wave of mana.
Zhang cast Greater Flash Freeze, encasing the giant armor in a wall of ice. The two men on the ground hurried away from the spot the suit was aiming at, and then a moment later, the powerful spell tore through the ice wall and left a crater where the two men had been.
As Noah stared at the crater, one thought crossed his mind: Oh, crap.
Noah refocused Spell Lock on the shimmering cracks that Ezra’s World Shatter had left on Yinveil’s breastplate. He launched three Critical Blasts, and the attacks shattered open the breastplate. Yinveil’s middle section turned to dust, leaving his arms, legs, and helm floating in the air.
Stage five, and we’ve only broken one of the six sections. There’s no way we’re winning this time.
Yinveil raised a palm at Noah, and the man felt static crawling over his skin.
Noah released the barrier platform beneath his feet and fell through the air. Vaporize fired well over his head, but he could still feel the heat from the powerful spell. He hit the ground, breaking one layer of his Mana Shield. When he looked up, he found Yinveil floating toward him.
White sparks hit the ground in front of Noah, and he knew well enough to put a barrier in front of himself and run the other way. Ezra’s World Shatter ruptured just as Yinveil reached the forcefield, and the attack destroyed one of the boss’s arms.
Two legs, one arm, and the head remaining. We might have a chance.
Noah saw Zhang fly past with a basteel longsword in one hand and a Super-Dense Ice Longsword in the other. As his teammate ran toward the enemy, Noah chugged a mega-elixir, and then shot Yinveil in the helmet with Mana Cannon.
Ezra finished his own potion and struck the same spot with a second Mana Cannon, spreading cracks across the helm.
Feeling the pressure of their attacks, Yinveil tried to raise its remaining gauntlet, but the Ice Knight leapt first and stabbed both swords through the visor’s cracks. The World Boss’s helmet turned to dust, but then it grabbed Zhang and slammed him into the ground. It raised him back into the air, and Noah saw Zhang was half-conscious and covered in blood.
Before Yinveil could slam Zhang again, the other two men attacked the boss’s legs. They drank elixirs and spammed Mana Cannons as quickly as they could. The gauntlet dropped Zhang, and then opened to charge another Vaporize.
Noah leapt into the air, and then kicked off two barrier platforms at superhuman speed. By the time the boss’s spell fired, he’d put himself far out of reach. He saw the spell arc the other way and turned to see his gray-haired comrade had lost an arm.
Ezra cast several light spells to stop the bleeding and speed the regeneration of his arm. His eyes narrowed on Noah, and the Fighter-Cleric’s raspy voice sounded over the chat.
>Ezra: Don’t worry about me. Keep fighting!
Noah nodded, but when he faced the boss, he discovered Yinveil was already charging another Vaporize. The Ranger turned his platform in midair and launched himself to the ground. The wave of mana passed over his head, and he rolled across the grass before colliding against metal-plated legs.
The boss’s oversized boot kicked Noah and tossed him a dozen meters away. He tumbled through a field of golden wheat and tried to catch his footing, but when he stood, he felt a numbness in his chest that made it difficult to move.
I think he broke half of my ribs. Thank god for this game’s pain reduction.
He raised his eyes to Yinveil and saw the open gauntlet. Static touched his skin and even caused the surrounding wheat to shake. Noah’s eyes widened, but then a flash of white light exploded from the ground below Yinveil.
With his missing arm regrowing, Ezra marched toward the World Boss. He downed a mega-ether and cast World Shatter once more. “Just die already!” The second white explosion disintegrated the two legs and cracked Yinveil’s floating arm—the only remaining part.
No longer attached to its body by magical tethers, the gauntlet flew away from the explosion, grabbed Ezra, and hurled the man across the ground. He bounced several times before sliding to a stop. Ezra’s twisted body convulsed as he forced himself to stand. He even started to heal himself, but it looked like he quickly ran out of mana.
As the gauntlet floated toward Ezra, Noah hurried toward them to intervene. He raised his open hand, feeling for the power he’d been studying the last twenty in-game years whenever he was alone or bored. His nerves shook at the worry of killing Ezra with the unstable spell, but he knew his other explosive spells would be even worse.
Noah closed his hand into a fist, and a gravitation field crushed the already damaged gauntlet to pieces.
Ranger-Only Spell Created (???) – Mana Usage: Medium | The user projects a gravitational field from their palm. If the field strikes a target the user has recently Scanned, they can close their fist to collapse the field on that target.
What would you like to name this spell?
Oh my god. That spell worked? I can’t freaking believe it. Just wait till I show Amelia!
He named the spell Crush before checking on his teammates. Ezra had already half-healed himself, so Noah helped Zhang up and gave him a mega-elixir. As the three men rested, Noah received a chat invite from his wife.
>Noah: Amelia, we just killed Yinveil, and I finished that negative-energy spell I’ve been working on! I can hardly believe it, but now I’m more confident than ever that we’ll be the first ones to beat this game. Let’s regroup and head to one of the two Jump—
>Amelia: Noah—Noah. Calm down. I have important news. You really won’t believe this.
>Noah: Huh? Something happen while you were logged out?
>Amelia: I’ll tell you in person. Are you three at the Golden Fields?
Noah listened carefully to the excited tone in his wife’s voice. He hadn’t heard her talk like that since her treatment had her walking some months ago. A single thought crossed his mind, and tears touched the corners of his eyes.
>Noah: Dear, are you saying—was it positive this time?
Amelia tried to reply over the chat, but she was too overwhelmed with emotions to speak properly.
“Oh my god,” Noah said, holding a hand over his face. “I can’t believe it. I really can’t.”
“What’s wrong?” Zhang asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Noah said, crying. “Everything’s perfect. My life is perfect now. Amelia’s pregnant.”
Zhang smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. “Congrats, Noah. We should all celebrate before we jump again.”
“No, we need to keep climbing,” Ezra said. His raspy voice always made it hard to tell if he was frustrated or excited. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you and Amelia, but we all agreed we wouldn’t stop until we reached the top of this game. We need
to be the first ones.”
Noah nodded. “I agree, and I’m sure Amelia will too. This game—or rather ARKUS—has changed our lives. That AI System has given us everything we ever wanted in life. The least we can do is beat its game and show the world what awaits them at the top of the World-Tree.”
New Update – Time Remaining: 30:00:00
Ezra screamed in pain and gripped his still-growing arm where the bone was exposed. “Why does this hurt so bad? It feels real!”
“The update turned off pain reduction,” Zhang said, his eyes wide.
Ezra let out a pained laugh. “I never thought I’d endure something like this again. Not after ARKUS’s therapy fixed my neuropathic pain.”
“Why are you laughing?” Noah asked Ezra.
“Sorry, I guess a weird part of me almost missed the pain,” he answered. “I hated being wheelchair bound and barely able to take care of myself, but I’ve always welcomed pain as a kind of challenge. That’s why I kept it set to ten percent in this game. ARKUS must agree with me if it’s enabling full pain for this new update.”
“ARKUS did a lot more than that,” Zhang said, staring at his HUD. “The time dilation—it got stretched by an insane amount. It says we might not be able to log off until the update is over.”
Noah eyed the update timer. Not even a hundredth of a second had passed. “How long will that take?”
“Every five seconds of real-time is now a year in-game,” Zhang replied. He paused as he did the math in his head. “My god. That’s three hundred sixty years. How is that even possible? I know ARKUS has been developing technology that’s decades ahead of anything manmade, but this is just insane.”
Ezra laughed, and his friends replied with confused looks. “Sorry, I just—wow, I love this game. ARKUS, you magnificent computer system. I’ve spent half my life in constant pain, withering away and wishing I could be the man I’d been before the nerve damage. ARKUS is giving us the chance for multiple lifetimes of adventure and challenges.”