The spider boss vanished in a puff of black smoke revealing two large spider-eye crafting drops. A slap on Eric’s back made him turn and he smiled at the tank. They’d been in this dungeon for two-days clearing room after room of spiders, but they’d finally managed to win.

“Great job guys” Said the cleric as he walked over and high-fived Eric. “Nothing like sweet victory.” Eric’s menu-flashed and he smiled as one of the spider eyes appeared in his inventory.

“Oh yeah! Looks like I win this round.” He said with a grin as he heard the swears of the losers and the cheer from the other winner. While they were celebrating the wall on the far side of the room rumbled and slid upwards revealing another chamber.

“What’s that about?”Eric said puzzled as he turned back to the group. “I thought the quest was the kill the spider-boss.”

There were a few moments of silence while everyone checked the quest. A moment later the cleric spoke up again. “Found it. It says we have to remove the source of the corruption. It’s probably a magic artifact or something. Lets check it out.”

The five of them walked forward into the next chamber still congratulating each other and bragging about the boss fight. The room before them was small, circular, and empty aside from a raised rune-covered dais holding a single back orb.

“What the hell is that?” the tank asked. “The artifact?” The five of them leaned forward at the same time to inspect the orb.

Orb of Corruption

(Legendary)Consumable

An orb of power created by the mages of old, but corrupted by being bombarded with dark magic. This orb is overflowing with magical power. Using this orb will imbue the user with that power, greatly enhancing their physical and mental attributes. .

Using this orb will increase all stats by 30 Permanently.

Using this orb will forcefully change users race to Dark-One.

“A legendary drop? This was only a level 10 dungeon. That doesn’t even make sense.” The cleric said flabbergasted. A hushed silence spread over the group and they began to look at each other speculatively. Then the orb vanished.

“Ah Ha!” Won again! This is my lucky day.” The sorceress said from behind them.

“That’s bullshit, you won one of the eyes too.” The tank said scowling.

“Well too bad for you. The game rolled and I won. It obviously wants me to have it.” She said as he held the black orb up in her hand. There was the sound of rasping steel and a moment later her hand fell to the floor still clutching the orb. She screamed and stumbled backwards as she tried to stop the bleeding from her severed wrist.

“Sorry, but do you have any idea what the price of gold is right now?” The tank said as he bent over and picked up the orb. “The first legendary drop ever? I might get twenty grand for this thing. I like you guys but that’s way too much money to give up over a stupid loot roll.”

There was another scream and a flying kick came in from the fifth member of the party. The short dark-haired monk girl who had come with the sorceress had attacked. The kick hit the tanks arm and knocked the orb free. “What the hell was that for?” she shrieked as she sent a flurry of unarmed blows at the tanks face. She was fast being a monk but the tank had too much armor for her. He slammed his shield into her face and with a quick thrust stabbed her through the chest. She gasped and fell to the floor before vanishing.

Eric picked up the orb as rolled against his boot. “Calm down man!” He said as the tank advanced towards him. “We can just split the money, no reason to go killing people. We all worked for this.”

The tank swung his sword and Eric interposed one of his short-swords parrying the blow. “What the hell man! What’s wrong with you.” The tank slammed his shield into Eric’s face and he staggered backwards as the tank advanced. Fed up, Eric pocket the orb, pushed away from the wall, and charged while drawing his second blade. The tank swung his sword and Eric activated his Assassin ability Blur. The world slowed as his Agility and Coordination tripled. He slid under the swing, spun up behind the tank, and buried both swords into the back of the tank's thick neck. He scissored his swords with a sharp jerk, rending the spine. A second later the tank’s head rolled free of his body.

Eric turned his eyes to the Cleric and the short boy raised his hands in surrender. “Whatever man. Do what you want I’m outta here.” That left Eric alone with the orb and the sobbing sorceress. He inspected the orb again again. He could sell it but he liked this game. He didn’t really need the money. He smiled and activated the orb with a wide grin on his face.

Swirling black energy coalesced around him and assaulted his body. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor twitching and moaning. His cries mixing with those of the girl. Then the world froze.

Your Race has been forcefully changed to Dark One!Dark OneA race that was once human but twisted by a terrible curse. Long ago when the Emperor Käffätku II ascended to the Sun Throne he killed his wife and had her body hung from the palace gates. In retribution Alera, Goddess of Order, laid a curse upon his line. In so doing she created the first of the Dark Ones.

Racial Bonuses: +10% Agi, +25% Stealth, +300% XP gain from players. Cannot gain XP from monsters.

“Oh bravo.” A voice said from beside him. A man sat on the edge of the dais smiling at him. His voice was deep and rich, and he was dressed in a modern black suit that was out of place in a fantasy dungeon. He had a Mediterranean complexion and coal-black hair that clashed with his shining golden eyes.“That was some fight. Perfect timing on your ability. Lots of you can fight but only a few of you have a real flair for the thing.”

“Who… Who are you.” Eric gritted out as pain continued to wrack his body.

“That’s a rather complicated question but I’m suppose I’m the villain here, The Antithesis, The Other. That’s a bit of a simplification mind you but I control the monsters of this world and I have work for you Eric Matthews.”

Eric snorted. He supposed this was some sort of quest. He had just used an orb of corruption after all. His race had changed.That likely meant this man was some evil god and he was supposed to be his servant now. “Lemme guess you want me to help you conquer the Ten Kingdoms or something?” Eric said flatly.

“You humans, always jumping to wrong conclusions.” He rolled his eyes. “Why would I, want to conquer the Ten Kingdoms? What pray tell would happen If I actually managed it? Sent a level 400 black dragon and blasted the entire place to cinders. What would I do, camp all the spawns and kill all the players as soon as they loaded into the game? Hmmmmmm…..? ” The man looked at him expecting an answer and Eric shrugged.

“The devs would have to patch the game to put everything back?” He responded questioningly.

“Possibly, but more likely they would just make a new zone and change the spawn points.” The dark god replied. “ However, what would that due to the players?”

“Uhhh…. They’d be really upset.” He said lamely.

“That is a grotesque understatement. It would take weeks for Nexus to fix that mess. The players would be furious. Many would stop playing entirely and it would seriously dampen the game's growth for years to come. He explained impatiently.

“Do you know what the primary trigger for monster spawns in an area is?” He asked meeting Eric’s eyes once again.

“The player population.” Eric responded more firmly. This one he knew.

“I knew you were sharp.” The man said sarcastically before continuing. “So why would the god of monsters what to do something that would make less people want to play and thus spawn less monsters?”

“He wouldn’t?” Eric replied unsure again.

“Precisely.”The god said standing up. “So no, I don’t want you to help me conquer the Ten Kingdoms. In fact I want you to help me do the opposite of that and help them prosper. A few of your ilk seem to be making a nuisance of themselves, killing new spawns, taking over dungeons, extorting people for money. Granted, I’m not opposed to a little extortion and murder but there’s a time and a place. I want you to find them and kill them…. A lot. Kill their allies, sabotage their plans, and do everything in your power to make the quit the game, or at least head out into the frontier.”

The god waved his hand and four menu windows appeared before him. With a wave of his hand, they flew across the room and bumped Eric’s own menu out of the way.

[tr]Krtix

Class: Ranger

Location: Thallin

Guild: PKcu

Level: 12Rage!!!!11!!

Class: Beserker

Location: Westland

Guild: N/A

Level:16Theodore

Class: Paladin

Location: Drannel

Guild: Red Hand

Level: 21Argoth

Class: Knight

Location: Drannel

Guild: Knights of the Round Table

Level: 17

“Take care of at least the first three. I believe my mother is sending her minions to deal with the last one. Although misguided she can occasionally be useful.” He said.

“Now….. I have godly things to be about. So go forth and slay my enemies! or something….” He finished vaguely. Then he waved a hand and was gone.

Eric sat staring at the spot the man had been a moment before. While he tried to decide if he’d just done something foolish.

_________________________________________________________

AN: A bit of world building here.

Edit 1: Spelling

Edit 2: Grammar