“It’s down there,” said Yuri, coming to a halt and pointing down a narrow alley.

“That’s it?” I said, squinting my eyes. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Most of it is underground,” said Yuri. “Behind those doors is a staircase into a cave.”

Unlike the main cobblestone thoroughfare, which was flanked by large marble and stone structures and filled with moving bodies, this offshoot corridor had no activity or aesthetic appeal. On either side were back entrances to shops that looked run down and neglected. The cobblestone had a slithering layer of fog near the dead end where a pair of wooden doors stood in the mountain wall, unguarded. They were painted dark red, or perhaps brown—it was difficult to tell. It was daytime but the alleyway was so deep inside the scoop of the mountain it was perpetually shrouded in shadow, which contributed greatly to its ominous, ‘come-get-butt-raped-down-here’ vibe.

Motion caught my eye.

“Hey,” I shouted, as I realized what was going on.

A hog appeared from behind a stack of wooden crates carrying what looked like a young boy. He’d probably just stepped out from one of the shop's backdoors. The hog tossed the boy to the ground in the middle of the alleyway and kicked him once in the stomach—hard. The boy curled up on his side and covered the back of his head.

“Hey, you, back off, man," I shouted.

“Jack,” Yuri called. “Don’t …”

I didn’t hear the rest of her warning as I ran to intervene.

The hog kicked the boy again, this time in the face. The boy uncoiled like a spring from the impact then pulled himself back into the fetal position. The hog was about to kick again when he noticed me. The ugly bastard pulled a bow out of nowhere, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at my head faster than what seemed physically possible.

I slid to a stop. “Oh, shit,” I said, my hands up.

“Da hell you want, human?” said the hog, spittle flying from the side of its snout.

I pulled out a crunch ball as discreetly as I could, clenched it tight in my fist. I was about to respond when I heard footsteps behind me, heavy and fast. I wanted to look over my shoulder but didn't dare move. The hog twitched and adjusted his aim slightly to my left as the steps got louder, breaking into a run.

Yuri’s MOD flew past me with such speed it nearly knocked me over.

The hog squealed and let his arrow loose. It found purchase in the MOD’s diaphragm just as it leaped over the boy and drove a fist through the hog’s snout so hard it picked the beast up off the ground. The hog landed on his back with a crack and slid a good three feet.

In one swift motion, Yuri swept past me like a cold breeze and slid to her knees next to the hog. I didn’t even see her pull out the knife, but I saw blood spray from the hog’s neck. She held the hog’s head to one side as the NPC twitched and struggled, blood seeping through Yuri’s fingers. Her eyes lit up, and her MOD sprung back into action—this time to grab the hog and drag the body deeper into the dark. I could see a dark purple liquid oozing from the wound in the MOD’s chest where the arrow still protruded.

I found myself with my mouth agape, crunch ball still in hand. I just blinked a few times not sure what to do. My attention diverted back to the kid when he started getting back up, holding his stomach. I put the crunch ball away and helped the kid to his feet.

“Hey, buddy, you okay?” I said.

The boy, who was some sort of pink skinned elf, looked up at me ... then ran.

“Woah, hey, I’m not gonna …” my attempt to reassure the boy drifted as he dissolved into the ignorant motion of pedestrians on the thoroughfare. I let out a sigh, ran my hand through my hair, then hustled towards Yuri. I paused as I stepped into the shadows to take in the grisly scene.

“You’re freaking scary,” I said, resting my hands on my waist. “You know that, right?”

“You can’t do that,” she whispered. She was on her knees now, her hands swimming around inside the hog's intestines.

I felt my eyebrows lower. “Do what? Try to save a kid from getting the snot beaten out of him?”

She cut the organ free with a visceral snap, slipped it into her special bag, and let out a sigh before standing up. “We need to find a place to clean up,” she said. “An inn or—”

“Hey, we just saved a kid’s life,” I said. “That could have been Gilda for all we know. What do you mean I can’t do that? That was a good thing.”

She put a hand on my chest. “That was an Archer Mage Hog. You wouldn’t have known, but they’re dangerous. You just … have to be more careful.” She patted my chest a couple times, gave me a flat smile, then walked around me back towards the thoroughfare. I looked down at my shirt where she’d left a bloody handprint on top of the already dried, crusty blood stains.

Notification

Note: you’ve been cock-blocked.

It would seem someone stole your kill. That totally sucks balls, doesn’t it? No experience points for you, I’m afraid. However, you’ve earned a "That’s My Kill” Reward Chest. Want to know what’s inside of it? I bet you do. I’ll give you a hint: there’s nothing inside of it. Why? Because we don’t reward slow pokes with cool shit, that’s why. Oh, and by the way, no need to look around for a chest either because there isn’t one. We were just messing with you. Be faster next time, Captain Glacier.

Notification

Congratulations

You just saved an innocent NPC from an untimely demise. Way to go, hero! Here’s a “Super Hero Cliché” Reward Chest. Since you’re a Spacialist, we took the liberty of slipping it into your Small Inventory for you. Aren’t we nice?

You've earned three experince points.

I pulled the chest from my inventory. It was another small, simple wooden jewelry box. There were five coins inside and a paper note that said, "One time area boost for a momentum portal. Burn this paper to activate the one time boost."

I put the chest away and looked up to see the MOD closing the lid on an open crate that no doubt now housed a dead body. After it was done, the MOD simply fell over in a heap. Dead.

“Ooh,” I said, then turned, looking for Yuri. I found her just in time to see her vanish into the flow of foot traffic.

***

As I followed the Korean woman, I realized just how terrifying she really was. In her quiet, subtle, efficient—almost tender way, she’d swooped in and relieved a person—granted an ugly-ass NPC—of their life and sacrificed a MOD in the process, all to save me. She did it with such grace and ease it made me wonder—not for the first time—what really got her tossed into this virtual world.

She’d claimed it was a cyber crime, but that was a lie. You had to be really tech savvy to commit crimes with computers, and she wasn’t. I’d probed her with some basic questions earlier and it was shockingly apparent how little she knew about technology in general. It’s true, six months inside this place could have easily turned her from a hacker into a slick, cold killer, but something in my gut told me there was more to her back story, something much darker she wasn't telling me.

Now wasn’t the time for that though.

As I caught up to her, I realized she now wore the pack her MOD was carrying. I tried apologizing for the MOD but she waved it off. She said something else but I couldn’t hear, thanks to all the passing carts and chatting passersby.

I watched Yuri casually cut a sack of coins from the belt of an unexpecting cow creature and keep walking, completely undetected. The cow stood on two feet and wore a top hat. He had a monocle on one eye and was pointing a cane at three dwarves, chastising them for something in a language full of moos and moans. To be honest it sounded like the cow was having a series of orgasms but was, for some reason, pissed about it.

The thoroughfare opened up into a large common square where NPCs roamed aimlessly about. I followed Yuri past a large stone statue of a cow, much like the one we passed, standing on a circle platform carried by six of those tin-hat guards we saw on top of the city gate. I had to stop for a moment to look at those hats. There was no way around it, they definitely looked like penis tips. That had to be intentional, some sort of inside joke the programmers had going on.

I snorted a laugh to myself. It’s the little things in life that made all the difference.

Yuri veered off to the left and I hurried to catch up with her. We traveled down another large thoroughfare, then another until we finally came to a place called the “Journeyman's Stay.”

It was a quaint establishment—Victorian almost in it’s design—that had a pretty little garden growing out front. We walked inside to find an old, female gnome, much like Gruda, standing behind a counter. A safe zone notification appeared in my peripheral vision, but I ignored it.

“G’morn,” said the gnome.

“How much for two rooms?” said Yuri.

“Right to the point, are we? Well then, it’ll be two coins a night per room. And by the looks of ya, you’ll be wantin’ bathin’ accommodations, no doubt. It’s an extra coin fer that too, per room.”

She had the same accent Gruda did too, I noticed.

Yuri pulled out the coins and dropped them on the desk. The Gnome produced two keys from under her desk and handed them to us both and told us our room numbers.

“Thanks,” I said, with a soft smile and a wink. I looked at Yuri, who was eyeing the front garden through a window.

“Do you have a garden in the back as well?” said Yuri.

“Oh, yes’m,” said the gnome. “A nice'n back there too.”

“Hmm,” said Yuri, looking at me. “Get cleaned up and meet me down here in an hour. I want to get to Rolo Village before it gets dark.” She turned and made for the stairs.

“Hey, Yuri,” I said. “Uh … just, you know, sorry about what happened to your MOD back there. I just …”

Yuri shook her head and put a finger to her mouth, motioning towards the gnome who was now chewing on her toenails.

I cringed at the gnome for a moment. When I looked back at Yuri, she was gone.