by Rick Scott
I briefly reread what I’ve written, and it comes back sounding harsh and bitter. But it’s the same way I feel. So I hit the send button, and log off.
* * *
I think I doze off for an hour or so before my restless thoughts pull me into full consciousness. Something nags at the back of my brain. Something I should be doing, or should have done, but I can’t figure out what it is. I think maybe, that it’s to look for a real job, so I pull my rig back on and start looking through the classifieds.
Gilly hasn’t logged on yet, and I’m half-relieved to not have a response to that message I sent her. Maybe that’s a good thing. Distance from the game would probably be good at this point. And distancing myself from Gilly will help with that.
Ironically, most of the jobs I see advertised are for in-game stuff.
People looking for help with certain quests, or wanting specific classes to join their guilds.
There’s even mining quotas for special ore deliveries.
Oh, snap! That was it!
I’d already made my decision to quit Crystal Shards, but there were still 8 or so stacks of silver ore lying on my character. Plus a stack of HQs as well. I check the market boards. With the rush on silver at the moment, a normal stack was going for 200 credits, the HQs 500. That’s the rent nearly paid right there!
I have to hurry up, though. I need to get my ores on the board before the market gets flooded and the prices drop down to 50 credits a stack again. I log into Crystal Shards and pay for only one hours’ worth of play time, because that’s all I can really afford. I set my character to spawn in Nasgar and wait for the world to load.
I expect to see myself reappear in Gruzug’s cavern, where I was disconnected, but instead, I find myself outside the mines on the Steppe of Andor.
What the heck?
And I’m buck naked.
What?!?!
I check my inventory and see that everything is gone! What the heck happened? And then it dawns on me: when my brother disconnected me, the system must have glitched and left my character logged in. I must have gotten killed by one of the trolls wandering the cavern, the timer ran out, and I automatically respawned.
My heart rate increases.
How long has it been since I died?
I check the logs and the timers. Do a quick calculation.
I check it twice just to make sure it’s correct, but pray that it’s wrong.
The time I’ve spent away from the game comes biting back at me like a great white shark. I can’t believe this. I’m about to lose everything!
I have less than 8 minutes to collect my corpse!
Chapter 10: Corpse Run
I hit sprint and make a mad dash for the mines. I know I’m going aggro every troll in there, but if I can run past them fast enough and make it back to my tombstone, maybe I can get my gear right before they kill me again. At least then, it would reset the timers.
I run past the first troll and the huge monster roars at me before giving chase.
The ground trembles beneath my feet as it runs behind me.
I run by another troll and aggro it as well.
My Stamina bar depletes and I drop from a sprint to a jog.
Oh crap . . .
The trolls, even slow as they are, are gaining on me.
I aggro a third one, a fourth.
My Stamina bar is still filling, but I hit sprint again to use what few points have returned. I sprint for about a second, and then slow to a jog once more.
One of the trolls gets close enough to swing its massive club at me, and I’m killed in an instant. I hit respawn and reappear outside the mines, with another full tank of gas. This time, I jog into the mines and conserve my sprint until I see the first troll.
Unfortunately, though, I see a bunch of them.
The same ones that were chasing me are now clustered together in one big giant group.
I hit sprint and try to run through them.
Splat!
I respawn and try again.
Dead . . .
I check the timers and see that I have 6 minutes left.
Crap!
I get desperate and do a yell.
***Reece: Can someone help me get my corpse from Silvertooth Mines please!!! D:
I waste another half minute yelling, to no avail.
I do a player search in the mines to make sure I’m not screaming to an empty zone. There are at least twenty other players in there, but none of them are answering. None of them care.
I suddenly feel like one of those beggars outside the elevator car. Desperate and ignored. And if I don’t get to my corpse soon, I could literally be one by the end of the month!
I get a PM.
Blindix: Hey, I’m right next to your tombstone. How much time do you have left on your timer?
YES! Thank you! Thank you! I quickly message Blindix back.
Me: Less than 5 minutes. Can you help me!!? D:
Blindix: 5 minutes? Sweet!
I wait for another reply, but don’t get one. I start to get worried.
Me: So, can you help me get my corpse??
Blindix: Nope. But I’m going to enjoy getting all your stuff in 5 minutes. Hhhahaah! XD
What the heck!
Me: Please!!! Don’t touch my stuff! I need it!!
I send the message, but it doesn’t go through. Instead, a new message pops up.
Player Blindix has added you to their ignore list and can no longer receive private messages from you.
No!! I feel like tearing my hair out and screaming.
What the heck am I going to do?
Gilly! She’d still have some Sneak Potions on her, probably, maybe. I check to see if she, by some miracle, has come back online. She hasn’t. I can’t even afford to buy more potions now, not with less than 200 credits in my account. I wouldn’t have time to run to town to get them, anyway.
My heart is pounding. I rack my brain. I need help . . . but who? I don’t know anyone else in this game!
I do a player search for the only other name that comes to mind.
Your search has found (1) players online:
Val Helena85PLDPlains of Duality
She’s on! But in an area called the Plains of Duality? I have no idea where that even is! I send her a PM and pray that she responds.
Me: Hi! Val Helena! Are you there???? D:
Tense seconds pass.
Val Helena: Yes?
Thank heavens!
Me: Can you help me please?? My corpse is stuck in Silvertooth Mines, and I can’t get to it. I have less than four minutes before the timer runs out, and there’s some guy about to loot it! D:
More seconds pass.
Val Helena: Sorry, do I know you?
She doesn’t remember me?? I can’t believe this!
Me: Yes. I’m the Miner guy from earlier today.
And then I add, for clarity:
Me: The one with the Scroll of Shadow Copy.
She comes back much quicker this time.
Val Helena: And you’re about to lose it?
I didn’t even think about that, but she’s right. It’s an untradeable item. If I lose my tombstone, it’ll disappear as well! Not that I was planning to use it, but the thought of losing it permanently has me fretting over its loss even more than the ores.
Me: Yes!!!! D:
Val Helena: brt
Her “be right there” message comes in only a few seconds before Val Helena herself materializes next to me, dwarfing me with her Paladin armor and eight-foot-tall frame.
She shoots me a party invitation, and I hastily accept.
“Thank you so much for helping!” I say through the party chat. “I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
“How much time?” she says, no-nonsense. “Exactly.”
I check. “3 minutes, 48 seconds!”
She then whips out her sword and starts casting spells and activating powers.
Val Helena casts Minor Favor of the Goddes
s!
Your max HP/Stamina and TP are slightly increased.
Val Helena casts Boundless Spring.
Your stamina regeneration has increased.
Val Helena uses Cover!
Val Helena is covering you.
Attacks against you will now be directed toward Val Helena.
“Run, and don’t stop!” she says. She takes off with a speed that seems impossible for a woman her size. I sprint after her, and together, we enter the mines. The trolls ignore her as she runs past, but as soon as they get a whiff of me, they aggro and give chase.
I can see Val Helena’s stats on my HUD, next to my own in the party lineup.
Val Helena Level 85 Paladin
HP 6012/6012
STAM: 430/430
TP: 390/390
Dang! Over 6k hit points!
I’m so taken aback by the numbers that I don’t even notice when one of the trolls takes a swing at me. I cringe. Miraculously, Val Helena swings her sword behind her and smacks the troll’s club away with the massive blade.
Val Helena covers you!
Val Helena parries the Mountain Troll’s attack!
I almost laugh. I suddenly feel like I’m untouchable. And I probably am with Val Helena protecting me. I follow her as she thunders down the ramps and switchbacks to the lower levels. She takes a different route than what Gilly and I did earlier; which I assume is shorter. I check the timer.
“One minute,” I shout.
“We’ll make it.”
But then I check my Stamina bar. It’s been greatly increased from normal and is draining much slower due to that regen spell, but it’s still draining. And it’s about to run out!
No! So close!
If I stop sprinting now, there’s no way we’ll make it. I watch my bar slowly deplete.
30/237 Stamina
23/237 Stamina
16/237 Stamina
“Val Helena, I’m about to—”
“I got you.” She waves her sword and a green light engulfs me.
Val Helena casts second wind!
You recover +150 stamina.
Hot damn! This woman is amazing!
We power down a few more tunnels and empty into the cavern where Gruzug spawned. I see my tombstone on the other side, that player Blindix hovering over it like a vulture.
Name: Blindix
Sex: Male
Race: Elven
Class: Archer
Level: 42
Guild: Scooby Snacks
I hate this guy immediately, especially his stupid guild name. When he sees Val Helena bearing down on him, followed by me and half the trolls in the mine, however, he books it, looking like he’s just crapped his pants.
Good riddance, scumbag.
“Get your tombstone, quick!” Val Helena cries, and then turns to face the oncoming herd of trolls. As I run past her, she gives a battle cry.
Val Helena uses Mass Challenge.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
A Mountain Troll attacks Val Helena.
I stumble as I pause for a moment, mesmerized as all the trolls chasing me suddenly turn their focus on Val Helena. She’s swarmed completely, and I lose sight of her in the din. For a moment, I fear they might overwhelm her. I check her HP.
5917/6012 HP
5862/6012 HP
5804/6012 HP
Val Helena casts Heal II
6012/6012 HP
Right. What was I worried about? She’s a Level 85 Paladin and these are all just Level 40 mobs. I reach my tombstone with seconds to spare. I collect my corpse and literally shout for joy when I see the spam of my inventory scroll up my HUD.
“Yes! Thank you!”
Before I even put my Miner’s gear back on, I check for it.
Not the ores I need to pay my family’s rent.
But that dumb scroll I can’t even use.
A Scroll of Shadow Copy
I’m relieved to see it, despite myself. But then I sigh as I consider how little it can do for me now. I decide to try to forget about it and put my Miner clothes on instead.
It takes Val Helena a minute or two more to kill off all the trolls, and I join her when she’s done. “Thank you so much for this. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
She sheathes her sword. “No worries. Would have been a sin for you to lose that scroll like that.”
I laugh sardonically. “Wouldn’t have mattered if I did or not, really.”
She gives me a questioning, almost angry stare, and I quickly realize how what I said came across.
“N-no, don’t get me wrong!” I say quickly. “I really appreciate what you just did for me. Really! And I do need the ores I had on me, but when it comes to that scroll . . .”
I trail off and wonder if I should even tell her.
“What?” she says.
I let out a sigh. “I’d need to level Ninja for it, and that’s something I just can’t do.”
Her face goes deadpan for a second, and then she bursts out laughing in her great big goddess voice. “Are you kidding me? That’s what’s stopping you? You could get yourself to 85 Ninja in a week if you pushed hard enough. Then you’d be down here stealing Gruzug from me with that damn Aiko.”
I chuckle. “What’s the story with her, anyway? Seems like you two know each other.”
“We do. It’s a long story. And one I’d rather not get into. But seriously, leveling up Ninja isn’t too hard. It’s difficult at first, but it gets easier the more experience and skills you get. Even unlocking it is not so bad.”
“Unlocking it?”
“It’s an advanced class. You need to have Warrior and Thief to Level 15 and Elemental Mage to Level 5 to get the quest for it.”
“All that, too?” I laugh, even more thoroughly defeated. “I’d better just forget it, then. I couldn’t level any of those classes.”
“Why not?”
Maybe it’s the sincerity in her voice, or the way she looks at me with that goddess face and killer gray eyes. Or maybe it’s the fact she’s gone out of her way to help me, a total stranger, with something so important. But I feel like I need to tell Val Helena the truth.
I feel I owe her that much.
“I’ve got this medical condition,” I say. “Like a neurological disorder. It affects my legs in real life. In-game, I’m basically stuck at -10 Agility no matter how many points I spend on it. Anything combat-related, I just can’t do.”
“Wow . . . I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I went down to the Hub today to see if I could get it corrected.”
“And can you?”
“For 575k credits, yeah . . .” I shake my head. “The messed up part is that that’s more than I need for my mom’s operation. And that’s the main reason I’m even in Crystal Shards. To try to earn enough to save up for it.”
“What’s wrong with your mom, if I may ask?”
“She’s got cancer and needs a lung transplant.” I feel tears start to well up and my throat goes dry. “She’s got six months to live.”
A hollowness enters me as I say the words out loud. It’s almost like I’m hearing them for the first time. In six months, I’m going to lose my mother. I hear Val Helena gasp, but I’m too embarrassed to look up at her and see the pity in her face. “The quickest option is an artificial lung that costs 525k,” I continue. “But even then, it’s still only a 50/50 chance. It could be rejected. The best option is nano-treatment, but that costs over 3 million.”
It’s the first time I’ve told this to anyone. I can’t believe it’s to a person I barely even know. I feel stupid for doing it, for t
elling Val Helena any of this. I’m a total loser. But I’ve gone too far now, so what the heck.
I’m never coming back here, anyway.
“When you told me what that scroll was, and I saw Aiko tanking Gruzug, I thought, just maybe, that this was it.” I wipe my eyes and sniff back a tear. “Like I’d finally done it, you know? I’d found a way to save my mom. I could join Aiko and go up against the world boss, and win enough to afford the lung. Maybe even the nano-treatment.”
Val Helena continues to stare at me. “And would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Take on a world boss. To save your mom.”
I squint at her, wondering what she’s getting at. “Of course, I would. Wouldn’t you?”
Her eyes shift to the side, like she’s contemplating something. Then she looks back at me. “I’d like to make you an offer, Reece. But before I do, there are a couple things you need to know first.”
An offer? My heart rate goes up a bit. Is she actually offering to help me?
“Like what?” I say.
“Fighting a world boss, and especially tanking it, is not something you can do just by hitting Level 85. Shadow Copy or not. There’s a lot you need to learn and understand if you’re going to defeat it.”
I nod to show her that I’m paying attention, but I don’t dare interrupt.
“It won’t be easy. Hell, it may not even be possible. But if you want even a chance at doing it, you’ll have to eat, sleep, and breathe this game. Do you understand?”
I nod again.
“Second: once you defeat a world boss, the game changes. It won’t be the same for you. Ever again.”