Chaos. Gina was in her element.

Invading Randel’s Refuge had been ridiculously easy. Many of the teams had already infiltrated the place by the time the operation began. The people coming through the entrances were just a distraction. Gina was with one of those teams, the Ravagers. Disguised as a normie Ravager thug. Dark clothes, with a red armband for identification.

She fished a small packet out from her cleavage, then took out a pink and popped it into her mouth. The pill dissolved quickly. She was running out. Again. Yorg promised to get her more if she did her job well tonight, but tonight would be a long night. She would run out.

Royce, the sub-leader of the Ravagers gave her a disapproving look.

“No narcotics during the mission.”

Gina shrugged. Royce thought he was clever, using fancy words like narcotics instead of drugs. He was an idiot. Still didn’t realize that Gina was a spy. Big, bald, eyebrowless idiot. Not as big and bald as the leader of the Ravagers, though. Hruk was a Noruk, a fatty rhino guy with a giant hammer. He led the way, scaring off the locals.

Hruk and Royce were the only Players of the Ravagers. This group Gina came with had all their best fighters. Two Players, and twenty or so of their elite thugs. Plus Gina. No one questioned what she was doing here. Yorg had really insulted her talents by assigning this task to her.

The Ravagers’ job was to make noise. Also to get a piece of the puzzle. A slice of portal, hidden in the smithy. Gina had scouted the place already. The grumpy Noruk smith guarded the puzzle too well to take a sneaky peek at it.

They walked. Gina looked down from the gallery. Huge central cavern. Full of houses, people, screams. Some of the locals fought back. Idiots. Couldn’t they see that they stood no chance? Some gangs targeted them, looting, killing. Or worse. But most of them left them alone. They were here for the Dungeon Core, not the residents.

The Ravagers arrived to the smithy. Nondescript place. Blood on the doorway. Someone got here first? Hruk didn’t bother with doors. Swung his giant hammer, smashed in the front wall. Stone exploded inward. Dust settled. A half-finished golem stepped out, attacking Hruk. The smith wasn’t dead yet.

“S-Stop it right there!”

Oho! A short girl stood further down the gallery, facing them. Wore strange armor with a bucket as a helmet. Her eyes were glowed green. A Player. Gina felt a thrill. Was it the girl, or just the pink she had taken?

The group stared at the girl. The girl trembled in fear. Many began to laugh. Twenty men plus two Players against a little girl. She clutched her tiny war hammer tight. About to run off? No, she did not; instead, she charged right into them. Gina barely had time to blink. One moment the girl stood still, the next moment she was gliding without moving her legs. She rammed into the group of thugs like a bowling ball. Another moment passed and Gina – no, everyone – was hit by a wave of force. It flung her back and off her feet.

Gina was lucky, sprawling out on the sidewalk. Not everyone did. Some fell off the gallery, some slammed into the smithy. Only Hruk and Royce hadn’t lost their balance. They stared at the girl, whose armor was now glowing green like her eyes.

“I know you,” Hruk grumbled. Deep Noruk voice. “You’re the Mad Painter’s left hand.”

“Y-Yes?” the girl said as if unsure.

“I’m going to enjoy our battle,” Hruk said. “Royce, you get the blacksmith. I deal with this human.”

Royce wanted to say something, but a piece of metal struck him across the head. The smith didn’t plan to go down quietly. Gina rolled to her feet, backing off. The large form of the Noruk smith emerged from the smithy, clad in steel. Even beefier than Hruk. Royce’s head withstood the blow, but he stumbled. Dazed. As he righted himself, he got struck again. Then again. And again.

Hruk walked toward the girl in the meantime. The girl backed off. So did the thugs. Didn’t want to get in the crossfire. Gina kept low too, watching from a safe distance.

“You look scared, little human,” Hruk said. Gave his two-handed hammer a spin. Compared to it the girl’s hammer looked like a toothpick.

Hruk didn’t let her escape. Wind gathered around his trunk-like legs, and he jumped. Up and forward, with his hammer raised in an overhead swing. The girl used her trick again; a bubble of expelled force, pushing off the closest thugs for a second time. The force hit Hruk mid-jump, and for a moment he hung in the air. Didn’t stop the attack, though. Ground-shattering crash. A blur of motion. The girl dashed under the strike, her feet gliding over stone. Like ice-skating. With rockets. Gina giggled a little. She slumped to the ground beside the smithy. Pretending to be injured. Watching the Players. Yorg will reward her for the intel she gathered here.

Small pieces of the rubble around Hruk floated up. He pointed at the girl, shooting stone bullets at her. The armor she wore blocked some. She batted a larger piece aside with her shield. The bullets weren’t precise. Many hit the thugs, killing the unfortunate ones. They also hit Royce, who stumbled again. His pathetic ass was losing against a normie smith. A piece of rock almost caved in Gina’s head too, but it twisted off-course in the last moment. She hoped that no one noticed the oddity.

“You are just like the others,” Hruk boomed. “Always running! You think that helps? You think I’ll ever tire out? Hah!”

The girl squeaked as the fatty rhino man charged her. She dashed backward, almost falling over the dead thugs. Faster than Hruk, creating space. Then she surprised Gina again; she switched directions, meeting Hruk’s charge with her own. She ducked under Hruk’s swing and struck his knee with her hammer as she passed by. Powers flashed. Hruk wore light armor, but it protected his rhino ass well. The girl skidded to a halt. Turned to face Hruk, looking even more scared. Hruk laughed.

Then one of the dead Ravager thugs stood up and stabbed Hruk from behind.

Well, tried to. Hruk’s armor flashed again. He spun by reflex, swinging his giant hammer down. The thug met it with an open palm, stopping it cold. An eerie purple glow surrounded the dead man. Hruk took a quick step back. Another girl stood further behind, wearing all black. Black choker around her neck; she was a Player too. Had a wooden staff planted in the ground while her hands held something else. A small object. A controller device?

“Hey there, girl,” the newcomer said. “Need some help?”

“You interrupt our battle,” Hruk grumbled. “Who are you?”

“Just a necromancer who doesn’t like the shit you’re stirring. I have no issue with you creating corpses, but you should go do it elsewhere. I liked this Dungeon the way it was.”

Hruk didn’t answer, just took a step to the side. The newcomer shifted her fingers on the controller. The corpse moved to stand between her and Hruk.

“I got this,” Royce said, cracking his neck. Gina spun her head around, seeing the smith on the ground. Metal armor dented. Beaten, but not dead. Hruk would be angry if Royce killed any Noruk. Some of the thugs moved quietly inside the smithy, going for the puzzle. They paid Gina no mind. She took her packet out, popping another pink into her mouth. Mmm. Whoopsie, the fight between the Players already resumed. Gina giggled. She didn’t miss much, hopefully.

Hruk’s battle with the short girl looked boring. Cat and mouse stuff. Hruk was twice as tall as she was, trying to catch her. The necromancer looked more interesting. Royce had engaged the zombie in hand to hand combat, striking it with his knuckle dusters. The zombie had a health bar. Gina rubbed her eyes. Yes, there was a red bar above the creature. Half empty. Royce’s attacks were draining it slowly.

The zombie moved in a weird, almost robotic way. Jumped up, roundhouse kick. Back to standing still. Lash out in a series of punches. Standing still. Royce landed a few blows in-between, but they didn’t injure the zombie much. The purple glow around it kept it in one piece. Suddenly, Royce had enough. During one of the zombie’s recovery moments, he dashed for the necromancer girl. He jumped up, impossibly high, his feet trailing fire—and slammed into an invisible barrier just in front of the girl. A message flashed in the air.

Invalid target.

Royce fell down, then spun and kicked again.

Invalid target.

The zombie came after him, but he just danced away. Kicking and punching the air around the necromancer. She watched him with a bored expression, her fingers fiddling with the controller.

Invalid target.

Invalid target.

Invalid target.

Complete the first stage to unlock the next encounter.

Gina giggled. Royce was so stupid that the system changed its message just to make him understand. Idiot. Royce got back to beating the zombie. Gina wondered which of them had more brains. Then the wall next to her head exploded. She yelped, throwing herself to the ground as Hruk stepped over her.

“Enough running! I know you’re out of mana. Come, face me and die like a warrior.”

Gina crawled away, keeping her eyes on the rhino brute. That had been close. Phew! A giggle escaped her again. The things she did just to learn more about rival Players’ Abilities…! Yorg would have no complaints about her commitment.

Hruk rushed forward. The girl dashed away again. This time Hruk lunged after her. Swung his hammer, hit the girl from the side. Loud crash. The girl was sent flying straight into the cavern’s wall. Louder crash. Stone got cracked like a spiderweb at the point of impact. The girl looked up, surprised to be alive. Her armor glowed even brighter than before. She climbed out of the dent she had made, then—grinned.

Gina missed what happened next. Shouldn’t have taken that second pink. Anyway, the girl appeared in front of Hruk. Striking him with her toothpick, making his armor flash again. Hruk’s feet slid backward from the impact. His weapon was too long, so he just punched the girl so hard that she was launched in the air. Her armor glowed even brighter, almost hurting Gina’s eyes. The girl landed, uninjured. Then she dashed in again, feet gliding. Hruk swung his hammer, hit the girl head on. Splattered her against the wall. The girl stood back up. Grinning. Then she dashed forward again.

Idiot bruiser-type Players. Gina looked away from the bright flashes, rubbing her eyes. Royce had finally killed the first zombie. He was now fighting two zombies at the same time. The necromancer girl yawned behind her barrier. Looked like a troublesome opponent. Easier to assassinate than fight face to face. Gina licked her lips. The thugs chose that moment to return from the smithy. Puzzle piece recovered. Two of them came over, helped her up. Thought she was injured, dragged her away. Bummer. She wanted to watch the necromancer some more.

But then they stopped. Another figure stood in their way. A Bolob in a colorful dress, wearing a flowery shawl. Looking oddly feminine for a Bolob. Her hooves rang sharply on the stone. She walked closer. The thugs panicked. Royce shouted angrily.

“Get out of our way, two-faced freak!”

The Bolob turned her dull grey eyes at Royce. Technically, she wasn’t in the way. The walkway on the gallery was wide. Plenty of space to go around her. But the normies around Gina were afraid to get too close to the Bolob. None of them wanted to go first, and neither did Gina.

“I will let you go if you promise to leave this place,” the Bolob spoke. Her voice was even, yet oddly threatening. It angered Royce. He had already been frustrated with the necromancer.

“I’m not in the mood for your peace talk, freak,” Royce said, leaving the zombies behind. Walking closer to the Bolob. “Final warning. Step aside.”

His footsteps left burning patches of ground behind. The Bolob wasn’t impressed.

“You are free to leave, if you promise—”

Royce attacked the Bolob mid-sentence. Haha! Bull-headed idiot. He jumped up with flaming feet, landing a kick at the side of the Bolob’s head. The creature didn’t even flinch. Stood still like a statue. When Royce dropped to the ground, the Bolob’s flexible hand reached out and grazed Royce’s face. Royce froze, then fell. Still like a statue.

The cavern was quiet for a moment. Even Hruk stopped fighting.

“W-What did you do?” the necromancer girl asked. Haha, so she was an idiot too. Didn’t know about Preservation magic. Didn’t she ever wonder why everyone feared those immortal bastards? The Bolob glanced at the necromancer.

“I stopped his blood flow.”

“Uh … isn’t killing against your religion?”

“It is, isn’t it?” the Bolob said. “Taking a life is against our tenet of preservation and balance. I, however, much prefer to preserve peace over lives.”

She turned her head, looking straight at Gina. The thugs around her had already began to sidle away, skirting the Bolob.

“I’m peaceful like a peach,” Gina said. “Going away peacefully now.”

“Good.”

The Ravagers ran. Even Hruk did. The best way to handle a pissed off Bolob was to escape. They weren’t able to move fast and disliked to hurry. As long as those untouchable bastards didn’t touch her, Gina was fine. The Bolob woman watched them go without turning, the eyes on the back of her head following them. Did she know? Was she naive enough to think that they would leave because she told them to? Gina had no idea what thoughts brewed in that symmetrical brain of the alien.

Royce was dead, Hruk ran the other way, and the thugs around Gina were painfully dull. Time to leave. She stumbled to the edge of the gallery, slowing down. The idiots around her didn’t even notice. She then went over, falling down. Cat Fall. Gina landed on her feet. Stalked away to the nearest stone buildings. Easy.

This was one of the living quarters. Gina had to blend in. The small street around her was empty, so she stopped. Closed her eyes, concentrated. Pictured herself as a homeless local. A sexy homeless local, with large breasts and clothes torn and worn out at just the right places. Her imagination always worked better after taking some pink. Holding the image in mind, she cast Disguise.

Her previous Disguise as a Ravager thug disappeared. Gina opened her collar’s menu, inspecting her holographic model critically. Had she gone overboard? She looked too attractive to truly blend in. Just how she liked it. Hahaha! Well, she just had to make sure to change back if she came across other gangs. Wouldn’t want to give them the wrong idea.

She wasn’t sure where she was going. Headed for the main entrance. Her job here was to spy on Players and to make sure they suffered as many casualties as possible. Sides didn’t matter. Her right earring vibrated. Dang. Someone saw through her Disguise. The earring pulled on her ear, and Gina turned her head until she saw a small figure standing in the shadows. A Ratkin. It flinched under her gaze, then ran.

Gina sprinted after it, her tracking perk activating. Small puffs of clouds in the air. Stupid creature. Gina hated Ratkins. The little furries had a tendency to see, or rather hear, that she was wearing a Disguise. The Ratkin ran fast, but Gina’s boots made her run faster. She caught sight of the furry ahead of her. Pointed her hand, finger gun. Charm! A thin, pink line flashed through the air and hit the furry. It stopped.

Gina looked around. There were humans down the street, panicking people. None of them saw the pink flash. Her Charm Ability was level 8. Higher chance to work, even on non-human creatures. The furry walked back to her, drooling. Disgusting. Gina considered interrogating it, but she found herself with her knife in hand. She knelt down and stabbed the furry in its chest. Kept the knife there until it died, drooling still. Ugh. The people further down the street didn’t notice. Gina had a plan. She picked up the Ratkin, knife still in its bleeding chest, and ran toward the crowd.

“Help!” she screamed. “Somebody help! He’s dying!”

She even had tears fall from her eyes. Top notch acting. Unfortunately, she barely got any reaction. Something else had already stolen the attention; two Players had arrived. The first of them was impossible to miss. Dark blue skin, silver hair, crown of horns. Gina had never seen a Sylven woman before, and now it struck her how beautiful she was. She wore leather armor, but didn’t carry herself like a fighter. Graceful, chin held high. Like a noble at a fancy party. The Mad Painter’s right hand.

Next to her walked the Mad Painter himself. Gina almost didn’t recognize him. His clothes looked no better than what the locals wore and he didn’t have his black dagger on him. Only the collar around his neck marked him as different. Gina was amazed at the stupidity. Didn’t he know that the Dungeon was under attack? He seemed bold enough to come unarmed. Bold, or perhaps—mad. Gina almost giggled before remembering the role she was playing. This was perfect! She stumbled toward the Mad Painter, her face a mask of anguish.

“P-Please! Help him…!”

The Mad Painter turned his eyes on Gina, and she froze. There was something inhuman in that look, something cold and distant lurking behind those green eyes. Eyes that almost seemed to glow. Gina’s earring didn’t vibrate, though.

“What happened?”

The question came out flat and disinterested. Gina gulped. She knew that it was normal to look frightened from the Mad Painter. She didn’t have to pretend much. How was she going to do this without raising suspicion? She shifted the dead Ratkin, holding him in one arm while reaching out with the other. Her illusory dress stretched from the movement, revealing more of her skin.

“P-Please! The b-bandits—they stabbed him! Please help…”

Surprisingly, the Mad Painter let her touch his arm. Gina did not hesitate; she cast Charm immediately. The pink flash was muted by the direct contact. Her earring didn’t vibrate; none of the onlookers realized what happened. The Mad Painter swayed on his feet. Gina pressed herself against him, lowering her voice.

“Please, protect me. Please…”

Did it look too disturbing? Fake tears falling, pressing herself close, holding a warm corpse between them. It didn’t matter. The Mad Painter was hers. Gina wiped at her tears, sneaking a glance at the Sylven woman. She looked confused. Oh, Gina was going to make her so jealous! She would take her place as the right hand.

The Mad Painter reached up, stroking Gina’s cheek.

“I—yeah, sure,” he said. “I’ll protect you.”

Gina gave him a small, relieved smile. “R-Really?”

“No.”

The hand that had caressed her face stabbed a dagger into her throat. Gina tried to push herself away, but the Mad Painter kept her in place. It hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt! Gina wanted to scream, but her throat was filled with blood. Gina couldn’t breathe. She met the Mad Painter’s eyes. Cold, green, merciless eyes. The last thing she ever saw.