For the second time I found myself inside the accursed black dome. This time, instead of a plain bare space with only a conference table, I was standing inside…a garden park? Whatever this place was, it was full of flowers blooming in every color.

I will not be played with like this! I fumed.

Facing the barrier, I reached with my mind and pushed at the wall of my prison, determined to break out of the imprisoning dome.

Nothing happened.

I pushed harder, closing my eyes, and willing the black wall to yield to my will. Still nothing. In fact, I couldn’t even sense the barrier with my mind. Despite being composed of a black substance it was not made of darkness or shadows. It was beyond my reach.

A male human, but almost the size of an Ogre, materialized out of thin air in front of me. A barbarian.

He’s a Traveller! I realized in alarm and started casting.

He spoke in a rumbling voice, “Hey, bro--”

Without pause I loosed the Drilling Arrows I’d conjured, and followed up with my bone-dagger.

All three hit their mark, but although the man flinched at the attack, he showed no sign of being hurt.

He scowled at me. “Come on man, I have admin privileges, you know you can’t affect my character in here.”

“Let me out.” I snarled, baring my teeth.

“Can’t do that bro,” he shook his head slowly. “Not until we have a good long talk.”

“LET ME OUT!” I roared.

“Damn,” he muttered to himself, “it’s worse than I thought.”

Reaching for the surrounding darkness I cast Shadow Web over him. He ignored the tendrils of darkness reaching out to ensnare him, and they faded away as soon as they touched him. I tried to teleport out of the bubble, but only ended up smashing against the black barrier.

“It’s no use man, you can’t leave unless I let you, and I won’t do that until we’ve talked.”

I will not be dismissed so casually by a wretched Traveler! I fumed. I started throwing every bit of offensive magic I had at him. Drilling Arrows, Shadow Hounds, more webs, I even tried dominating his mind. I drew more and more mana, losing myself in the expression of power and rage, an endless barrage born of fear and anger.

My foe sat on the ground among the flowers, unruffled through it all.

“You might as well sit down and talk.” He said after the onslaught was exhausted, leaving me spent and drained of mana.

Still shaking with the intensity of my emotions, I forced myself to calm down, but remained standing.

“Very well. Talk.”

“Last night I got a call from your caretakers. Your brain wave pattern became erratic for almost an hour. When the pattern stabilized it looked significantly different than before.” he looked at me searchingly. “They said it was probably caused by stress and that there’s no physical danger, but they couldn’t explain the new patterns. That worried me, especially as I haven’t heard from you for nearly two days, which is about two weeks from your perspective.”

He looked me up and down, his expression full of compassion. “We located the logs of that hour. It coincided with a ‘player stuck’ ticket coming from the same location. I know you were tortured. Badly.” He shifted uncomfortably, his voice full of concern.

I chose not to reply.

Tal shook his head. “We don’t know how it happened, but the experience changed your psyche. It’s as if your brain rearranged itself to cope with the situation. I can see some of how the change is manifesting now. You don’t even remember me, do you?”

I stared at him uncomprehending. What was he talking about? Brain waves patterns? I was tortured yes, but I found a way to turn it to my advantage and get rid of my enemies in one stroke!

This blabbering barbarian-traveler can’t be more powerful than Barska was, I will find a way to overpower him.

Analyze.

TheRagon, Level 232 Human

Active profile: SuperWolf#23

Role: Game Admin ${role:1}

UserId: uid#4591

Email: [email protected]

What is that gibberish? The barbarian’s level was evident, but I stared, uncomprehending, at the strange words, and the hauntingly familiar symbols...

“This is a ruse. A damned Traveler’s magic.” I declared uncertainly. “You were sent to destroy my clan!”

Tal shook his head, “No man, think! We’ve known each other for years, we’re friends!”

I shook my head. His words had a ring of truth to them. But it can’t be! Traveler’s were the enemy, we were nothing but fodder to them.

“Don’t you remember our past, Oren?” Tal continued, “we copied from each other during our final exam in economics, and we both failed. We used to go out to bars, trying to hook up with girls, though we usually just ended up walking back home drunk and singing. Remember?”

I held my head with both hands. Images imparted by his words swirled around my head, confusing me.

“No, that wasn’t me...that was...someone else.”

“And then NEO came out, and you became an almost instant celebrity,” he went on without missing a beat. “You were so damn proud of yourself, Oren. You established your own guild, the Manapulators. Do you remember that?”

More and more images spinned in my head. The guild...My old clan, a clan of humans…

“Four days ago, you were betrayed by Vatras, your guild second in command. He turned you into a goblin and threw you out. Think Oren!”

The images stopped spinning, and a single one remained lodged in my mind. The smarmy smile of that accursed Vatras, as he gleefully threw me out into the street.

“Vatras will pay,” I hissed.

“For what?” Tal encouraged.

“For betraying me!”

“How did he betray you?” he pressed.

“He threw me out of my old clan! Then he killed me!”

“So Vatras is another goblin?”

“No! He is a Tra--” I stopped mid sentence. How could a Traveler throw me out of my own clan? Vatras was not part monster like the twins, he was one of the despicable, undying Travelers.

Suddenly, my mind felt like it was shifting inside my skull.

I groaned and clutched at my head, trying to force it to stop.

It was as if pieces of a jigsaw puzzle I had always had in my head, but was looking at from at the wrong order, assembled themselves into a picture. The final piece fell into place, and the entire picture lay clearly before me. I knew who I was.

I closed my eyes. Traveler...Player...goblin. World....Game...NEO.

I was trapped inside a world that had near absolute control over me. A world in which I could be tortured and be put through harrowing trials. A game, where collections of code called VI had human-like intelligence and were enslaved to operate its NPC population.

NEO was a prison. And I was no longer a Player, I was just another inmate.

I opened my eyes.

“Tal?”

“I’m here buddy.”

“Tal, I think I got myself into a bit more trouble.”

He laughed, “that’s the understatement of the year. Good to have you back, bro. You got me worried there for a moment.”

“I have to get out of here, Tal. I...I don’t know how long I can last. Without…”

I looked at my green goblin body hands and swallowed hard. I knew I was a human player, but still, my goblin body felt more natural to me than the one I remembered having before. My instincts still told me this person was a threat, but I was able to suppress them, for now.

“I think I might be losing it.”

Tal nodded soberly. “You’ve been through a rough patch, but every indication shows you’ve become stronger. And not only in terms of levels; your immersion in the game deepened. Your thoughts shapes the world around you. As long as you keep that firmly in mind, there’s no obstacle you won’t be able to overcome.”

I looked at him with amazement. “How can you be so sure?”

“Remember our last visit, when we talked about CCP?”

“The Cerebral Connection Percentage?”

“Exactly. Since your ordeal, your CCP has skyrocketed and is now at 99%. That means your mind achieved a near perfect synchronization with the FIVR capsule.”

Tal had once disclosed to me that the only person to have ever achieve a 100% CCP was David not-the-one Tenenbaum. His was a famous case of a person getting stuck in FIVR, a situation unheard of until then, though the circumstances of the case were unique. David was a savant who suffered from extreme autism, his integration with the game was so deep that his mind took roots inside the virtual world and refused to leave. According to Tal, David could make things happen inside NEO that were unheard of before. The notion of me being one percent short of his situation was ... alarming.

As if reading my mind Tal continue. “Your integration is so high, you can accomplish things other players can only dream of.”

Despite having recognized Tal as my oldest friend, my gut still told me that person could not be trusted, that it was all a ruse of some kind. I clenched my fists and did my best to ignore that feeling.

Though the comparison to David still bothered me, what Tal was hinting intrigued me. “Like what?”

I tried hard to keep the suspicion from my voice.

He shrugged “I’m not really sure, you had about 45% CCP before the incident and you could easily control spells and mana. Now that your CCP has more than doubled, who knows what that could mean?”

I nodded slowly. It could explain several things, like my ability to ‘read’ information directly from NEO, without needing the system messages, or my innate understanding of Runecrafting, not to mention being able to dominate minds. Tal was right, the possibilities were staggering..

“I see the gears turning, are you figuring it out?”

I nodded and forced my fingers to unclench.

“You’re on the right track bro. You’re boss tier 2 now, on your way for the next rank up. Your clan should be large enough to support the upgrade in a few more days, my time.” He grinned. “At this rate, you’ll probably be crowned the emperor of all goblins by this time next week.”

I smiled weakly. “I’m working on it.”

Then I remembered my clan’s current predicament and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Tal asked.

“A search party found my clan, they were sent out by Vatras. He is no doubt already mobilizing the entire guild against me. We have almost no chance of surviving an attack by them.” I couldn’t help thinking; And you just happen to appear right after their initial attack.

Tal face clouded. “That’s bad, but in a very short time you’ve accumulated some pretty impressive forces. And you’re already what, level 17?”

“Twenty, but that’s nothing. Vatras can field dozens of level 200 players or more against me. There’s no way we could stop such a force.”

Tal concerned expression relaxed and he began to smile.

“What’s so funny?” I scowled. His casual disregard of my plight caused my goblin instinct to kick in. I eyed the traveler suspiciously.

“Bro, I think you’ve been playing this little green...well, little green-and-black monster for too long. There’s no way Vatras is going to be able to muster that kind of a force against you.”

I stared at him.

Tal rolled his eyes. “Come on man, use your head. Getting high level troops to march for days just to handle one tiny goblin clan? He’ll be the laughing stock of the guild. There is no way professional gamers would lose days of grinding and leveling to hunt lowbie monsters for zero experience. People might actually leave the guild if he tries to force them to do it. At most, he might gather a few dozen low level players to come against you. Probably no more than level 30. You can handle that.”

My mood immediately improved. And the conflicted turmoil in my gut subsided.

All players, without exception, considered killing goblins only as a way to level up low-level characters. No one took goblins seriously. Tal was right!

Tal noticed my change of mood and grinned. “Being randomly cast into a goblin might prove to be your saving grace in the end. Things would be different if you’d played, say… a Giant or a Surian.”

He was right again. But then an alarming thought occurred to me. “He might still come in person, or one of his cronies, or several of them. They are all over level 200. We can’t hope to stop even one of them.”

Tal pondered my words. “Maybe…” he finally replied. “But still, I think it’s a small chance, Vatras can’t leave the guild for long, he might lose his position if he stayed away for an extended amount of time. But even if a few high level players will come, you know there are ways to handle them; use a powerful artifact, a scroll, or summoning magic. Something! You’re resourceful enough to handle one or two high level players.”

He had a point. I still had the Outrider summoning bracelet I found at the remains of the force that imprisoned Nihilator.

I smiled. “You’re right. I’ll find a way. It’s not like I have much choice. At least now I know I have a chance at winning. I thank you trav--Tal.”

“Don’t mention it man. You know I got your back.” he grinned mischievously “I’ll get my buddies to post a few rumors about the great Manapulators. Something about them falling into hard times and becoming desperate enough to launch a full scale raid against goblins. That might damage their reputation enough to prevent the attack completely, or at least reduce the amount of players willing to sign on.”

What could I say? Tal was the man.

“You’re the man, bro.” I grinned at him.

We fist bumped. My hand looked pitiful small compared to his.

“So that’s some pretty interesting dark magic effects you got going there, pal. How did you get them? The logs contain no information about it.”

I felt my suspicions soar. Now why would he ask something like that. I had to consider carefully what to reveal.

“Nihilator.”

“Oh shit, that old-gen boss? He isn’t supposed to exist in NEO anymore. I have no idea how Guy missed that one during the culling. How the hell do you keep turning up these archaic content, Oren?”

“Guy didn’t exactly miss him.”

Tal looked at me questionably.

“He sent a host of high level divine servants, Outriders, to destroy him. But it turns out, he can’t be destroyed, so instead they locked him away deep in the earth, to slowly wither away.”

Tal shook his head. “We really don’t want one of those old boss-gods influencing events in NEO again. They were too powerful, which severely unbalanced the game. That’s why they had to go. Good thing you got away from him, best keep your distance in the future.”

For a moment, I felt a pang for not being honest with Tal. But how do I tell him I hadn’t exactly escaped Nihilator…That I had actually turned into one of his worshipers and was, in fact, working to set him loose on the world.

But that moment passed quickly. I couldn’t shake off my gut feeling anymore, screaming at me not to share too much with this outsider, that it could still all be somehow a trap aimed to get me.

Besides, even if my gut was wrong, sharing those things would only get Tal upset, and there was nothing he or I could do to change the course of events now. So for those reasons, I decided not to bring up the subject of being bound by the dark deity.

“By the way, how long have we been here?” I looked around. “I better get back to the clan. Got a lot of stuff to do; empire to build, invasions to stop, you know, the usual.”

Tal chuckled, and his eyes lost focus for a second, checking his interface. “About an hour and a half.”

“What?!” That was almost a full day in my world. “We haven’t been talking that long!”

“Well, you did rage on for a good while at the start, tried to kill me in increasingly innovative ways. That took a while.”

My memory of that part was hazy, but it didn’t matter. As much as I valued and even enjoyed Tal’s company, I couldn’t waste any more time. Perhaps this was his angle all along, delaying me while setting up another attack outside. That thought surfaced almost on its own, making me agitated and anxious.

I stood up. “I gotta get back to my clan”

Tal nodded and got up as well. “Before you go, I want to give you something that might help.” He reached to his belt.

I tensed up, expecting some sort of betrayal.

My fears proved to be unfounded, as Tal handed me an item. It was a semi-transparent, smoky white sphere.

“Here you go man.”

Dimensional Trade Orb

Requirements: Marketplace with a Export-House attachment. Exporters.

Effect: Opens up an inter-dimensional trade menu with friendly factions.

I immediately dropped my guard, my suspicions evaporated as I read the item’s description.

“That almost doesn’t look like a game description” I noted.

“You’re right.” Tal placed the orb in my hand. “I overheard a couple of developers talk about NPC economics. Apparently this item unlocks an option for NPC factions to trade items instantaneously. It was meant to give NPCs the ability to support each other through a sharing of resources. From what I understand, it works like a regular player’s auction house.”

My heart beat faster in my chest. A personal trading hub? In my own settlement? Yes please!

Something occurred to me, “Wait, won’t you get into trouble for giving it to me?”

“Nah! After the Divine Intervention I gave you last time, this is small potatoes. But I think it might be just the thing you need to build up your clan faster.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” I placed the orb in my inventory.

We shook hands and said our goodbyes.

With a new hope for the future and a magical item in my pocket, I knew there were exciting times ahead.