I managed to sleep the entire way home. It was beyond needed. My body and mind had been put through endless stress these last few days. Part of me did feel relieved at not having to work tomorrow. Visions of Miss Yonks danced through my brain. She had a giant rubber mallet in each hand and was chasing down [Gobbler]s while cackling. Those monsters defeated in her dream were promptly subjected to a stream of ‘what time is it?’ questions.

The final straw was when she hit a [Gobbler] with Jacob's face. His blocky feature kept saying the same words over and over. ‘Her Asinine, her asinine’. Soon I had stolen one of Miss Yonks' mallets and hit him until his face was mush. Then the Jester popped in. He strode through the carnage that was inexplicably frozen. His final words shot me out of my sleep.

“I guess you would kill a man.” Its stilled smile seemed to spiral out of my dreams and into the car with me. I jerked awake and grabbed at the seat-belt. My feet flailed in the air and banged into the glove compartment.

I huffed as adrenaline rushed through me. That was the first nightmare to come to me in months. At least it was a new one. My prior flavor of the year included images of the night I tried to off myself. A graveyard filled with screaming versions of my fiancée that insisted I ‘join them’. Those nightmares had almost won.

No. I was better now. There was a certificate celebrating my success. Continue Online had given me skill and stat increases. I needed to keep fighting. Success would be measured by my ability to attack the monsters in front of me. The ones behind me had already taken their pound of flesh. Those kinds of demons would never be full.

The rental car pulled up to my drive. A door popped open.

“Have a nice day, Mister Legate.” The car said. It played a jingle for the rental company. I grabbed my things and got out. Soon my ride was driving off on its merry way.

Home felt much the same as I had left it. Trillium's van and the Hal Pal unit were tucked away in the garage. My front yard looked plain. Maybe I should pick up some lawn ornaments or invest in a hedge. Something to help the place look lived in.

That thought made me both happy and sad at the same time. The two emotions had often crossed paths in my life. I was happy because even thinking about decorating the yard was a step up from my normal narrow-minded focus. It made me sad because the last time my front lawn was decorated had been two years ago at the old home.

One hand waved at the door. There was a click as the locks on the entry way scanned for authorization. I could have paid more for a version that used vocal patterns and finger prints, but that seemed excessive. What would someone steal from me, my depression?

Never mind. I was better now. I tried to focus on the positive. When that failed I thought of music. Food was taken from the fridge. The bathroom was used. After the basic needs were completed I lay down in the ARC and worried.

Here I was, signing back in just to play a game. Vice President Riley had warned me that ‘they’ would try to draw me back in. ‘They’ were evaluating me. 'They’ had a plan that wasn’t obvious from my angle. The Voices provided enough of a lure that I would keep going. Despite the creepy factor of the Jester. If he was friends with death then the solution was simple. I had to not die.

Besides, I was more worried about Dusk than the Jester. At least Dusk was my main concern when not face to face with the smiling Voice.

“ARC, Log in.”

Consciousness sunk down into the virtual landscape. My Atrium was still a blank canvas compared to the replication of my room that it used to be. I would deal with it later. For now, the doorway to Continue Online beckoned.

The first thing that displayed from the game was a message.

The required time for resurrection has passed. Would you like to revive at your bind point? Yes No

At least now I had an arm to press the button with. Physical gestures were much easier than concentrating on the user interface. The world came to in a blinding flash of light.

I was in a courtyard of some sort. There were birds chirping in tall pine trees that towered into the sky. Further up on either side were two mountain peaks that were covered in snow. They reached so high that clouds caught on their tips. Much further below, and much closer, was a gray brick wall.

"What the?" I asked. The wall was on all four sides and at least thirty feet in height. There was no method of escape that was obvious from here.

"A ladder will be two gold!" A voice shouted down from above. I looked up and squinted against the sunlight.

"What?"

"You want out, I'll rent you a ladder for two gold!" The man shouted. I squinted and activated [Identification]. The results stated this man was a player like myself. His current role seemed to be a Guardsman Rank Six.

"Why would I pay for a ladder?" I asked. This whole thing stunk of a setup.

"'Cus otherwise you're stuck!" The man yelled back. He started laughing.

Screw that. I had things to do and places to be. There were a few pop-up boxes displaying on my screen.

Lingering Disease

Special conditions tied to your death have imposed the following effects

[Brawn] reduced by 10% until cured

[Toughness] reduced by 25% until cured

[Mush Mouth] sense of taste is impaired until cured

[Stink] added until cleansed

Great. The game was telling me I stunk. At least this time it wasn't from soiling myself in the face of a giant spider. I shuddered and tried to remember that [Morrigu's Gift] might serve as an excellent hammer.

The next spider to cross my path would get it. Then my hatred for bugs would be completely demonstrated. I would get some additional bug stomping skill and just go on a rampage. Anthills be damned! Bugs weren't people. They deserved it. Though the man up on top of the wall demanding two gold was also irking me.

"Well? Gold first, you can just toss it up here." He said. The man started laughing again. What kind of nonsense game allowed someone to build a wall around a resurrection point?

I looked around and tried to figure out another way. There was no way to pay the man any gold. I haven't even been to a real town yet!

Oh. I should look at my quest and see what the Voices had left me regarding the [Pass to Pass] mission.

Quest: Pass to Pass!(Round 2) Difficulty: Unknown Details:

The Voices have agreed. You’re better than you were. There's still a ways to go. Your trainer has been advised that the pupil shall be late. Rest assured, this extra delay is going into making your training that much harsher. (Harsher? I mean more useful! – Sergeant Bloom)

New deadline: Sixteen Hours

Failure: Revocation of status as [Messenger of the Voices]. All other traits of NPC Conspiracy]

will be unchanged.

Success: Better skills to pay bigger bills.

Well, that shed some hope on the situation. My own performance in the cave had apparently achieved the same results partial training might. At least they were happy about it. I was too, stats aside. The journey had been full of ups and downs, but those two days underground had been a turning point for me.

But where was Dusk?

When I played as Carver the small guy always found me. I was sure he could do the same now. Plus there was still this scroll to deliver to a person named Shazam. I pulled it out of my inventory to see if there was any response. Sure enough, a beacon lit up that was fairly close.

"Dusk!" I yelled. The man on the wall was grumbling to himself. He seemed upset by my lack of desire to pay.

“You won’t get out!” The man yelled from up above.

Today had to be a good day. The run down with Vice President Riley and my strange dream there meant I had to make today a positive from the get go. One step at a time, only forward, try not to get stuck on the past.

First, that annoying guard had to be circumvented somehow. I cracked out [Morrigu’s Gift] and tried to imagine a giant hammer like from my dream. It didn’t work. The weapon shimmered and fuzzed before turning to cane form. A box displayed clearly citing a lack of [Focus] and my poor chance skills.

“Dusk!” I yelled again.

Interestingly enough, my mana bar also dipped a little upon trying a completely new form. That was new. None of my past attempts had involved trying for more than a bigger walking stick. There hadn't really been downtime.

“That won’t work!” He laughed. I could hear him tromping around up above. The man wore heavy armor and had a giant spear in one hand. There was a line of weapon tips just off to the side. Their tops were barely visible from this angle.

I went with [Morrigu’s Gift] in sword form and started to swing at the wall. The giant two-handed weapon halted just inches away from my intended target.

Aggressive action not allowed. Travelers are not allowed to attack in resurrection regions.

That was both neat and aggravating. This guard and his friends, since he clearly wasn’t alone, had managed to build a wall around the resurrection spot. I put my head over my eyes like a visor and looked up at the guard.

“How much again?” I asked.

“Three gold!” He shouted back happily. Moments later he was laughing.

There was a spot of darkness moving in the sky behind him. A tiny creature was barreling through the sky in our direction. That had to be Dusk coming in for a landing. My hand raised and tried to give the small dragon a signal. I pointed at the guard instead.

“He has cupcakes!” Dusk came in with a screech and claws out. The guard turned and had just enough time to flail his arms.

The small creature collided with a mocking guard and both fell over the edge. Dusk squawked and took back to the air as the guard plummeted down. Now he was down here with me and neither of us had a ladder. His eyes crossed as he tried to move. I pulled one of my large, flat rocks out of inventory. I held in the air and pretended to let it slip out of my fingers.

“Whoops.” Gravity did the rest. The giant rock fell flat on the guard's face and broke his nose.

“Ahhh!” He shouted and I managed to keep my face from reacting.

“Oh, my. I’m sorry about that! Are you alright?” I said.

Acting successful!

Act: Accident Prone Gained!

Act: False Sincerity Gained!

I tried not to make eye contact with the system messages. They wouldn’t display on his side. He stood up and held his nose. My flat rock from the Dakota fire was laying off to the side. A single toe tap was enough to get it back into my inventory.

“Yoo broke my nosss.” He slurred.

“Completely by accident, I am sorry. Honestly. I was trying to find a healing potion.” I said. Now I was lying on top of everything else. That was outside my normal character. It was only three falsehoods.

“Nob yoor noh.” The other tried to stab his spear in my direction. Its tip stopped well before reaching me.

“Aggressive actions are not allowed.” I smiled and stared at him. Today would be a good day. This would help. Putting some jerk in their place.

“Yoo absholl.”

His face did look messy. There was blood running all down his forearm and clothes. He clearly didn’t know first aid. I wasn’t willing to try and learn it right now either. That clanking armor of his was full of dirt which tried to absorb the running river from his nose.

This was exactly the type of behavior Xin had found so amusing in movies. We only got to watch them once in a while. I felt even better knowing that my actions were like one of her television shows. This acting skill was proving to be neat.

"How much was that ladder again?" I asked. Dusk, who had finally landed, chirped from my shoulder. "Yeah. Sorry, he doesn't have cupcakes. Maybe they have a store nearby."

“Eyy gonmba kill yoo.” He said something that almost came out like a threat. There wasn’t enough in him to actually scare me. Honestly, my fears had never come from dealing with people, it was my own moments of self-doubt and hesitation that caused problems. Telling an idiot they were an idiot was well within my comfort zone.

“Voices have mercy. What idiot maneuver did you try to pull this time, Gaston?” Another person called out. This newest voice was male and much younger.

I turned in time to see a wooden ladder get lowered into the pit. A man slowly clomped down each rung with heavy boots.

“Were you trying to extort the ressers again?” The new player asked once he reached the bottom.

“Nob,” Gaston, the first man in the pit with me, looked miserable.

“Look, I won’t tell Triple X, but you need to find a better way to pay off your gambling debts.” The other man said. His hands were very expressive as he approached us.

“Buuh my Noose,” Gaston said. He tried to stab me against with his spear. I just stood there, confident in the system. Poking me with a weapon was an obvious attack. Me dropping a rock was just enough to get around the system. Plus the Voices were on my side. Right?

Gaston dropped his spear on my foot. It fell with a solid thud. My earlier confidence in the Voices being on my side was shattered. They were equal opportunity jerks. I hopped around clutching my toes. These [Travelers Boots] that I had been equipped with sucked.

“You alright?” The newest person asked. “How did you break his nose anyway?”

“Gravity and a rock.” I wiggled my toes and stood on the tender tootsies. The previously extorting and now bleeding guard seemed to be all facial hair. This new person was as smooth as could be with a light tan.

“That worked? Hah! I wonder why none of the others tried it.” He said.

“Others?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. Other suckers like you who die in the area. Smells like the Ooze slimed you, though. Yeah?” He had a bit of a lisp.

I nodded. The other man smiled and rubbed his bald head with a hand.

“Come on, you’re not flagged so we can get you to the bounty board. After that, you’re free to go about your day.” He motioned me over to the ladder and started climbing up without waiting. I went up after him and kept talking.

“So is this normal?” I asked.

“Out here? Sure. Come on.” We reached the top and he helped me over the last leg. My body still wasn’t in very good shape despite the increases to my [Brawn]. Everything wobbled and my fingers felt lax. “And Gaston, you can just stay down there and deal with the next resser.”

“Screu yoo, Urgot!” My temporary tormenter yelled.

“Hey! You should start a casino!” I shouted down to the grumbling guard. Gaston was still holding his nose. He flipped me off with a free hand before picking up the spear again. The shout had left me huffing for air and wondering what was wrong. Oh, [The Ooze] had left a number of debilitating status icons.

Neat.

I managed to recover and keep marching forward. At the top of the wall there was a pleasant ramp back down to the ground level. We used that to reach a well beaten path that traveled between sloppy wooden housing and strung up tents. This place could use a nice casino. Los Vegas had probably started with a similar frontier style area. Hopefully Gaston would oblige me by making one. It would just earn me gold in the long run. The idea of getting anything from the man after his attitude made me smile. I almost started doing a jig right there.

“Alright, the board's over this way. You don’t have a bounty do you?” The other guy asked. His name was actually Urgot according to an [Identification] check. It felt all wrong. Bald men and that name didn’t fit.

“I’ve only been playing for a few weeks,” I said.

“Wow, you’re out of your depth way out here.” He gave a chuckle. There was something about his smile that set me on edge though.

“I blame my quest.” I mostly blamed the Voices. And being kind of a push over. Some other person might have stood up and said ‘Nope, I’m going to be awesome without you’. Shadow maybe. He seemed like the sort to tell someone when to pack it.

“Oh, yeah. The game will send you all over if you let them. The trick is to push back just a little with the NPCs.” The man waved an arm. His armor had small bits of metal lining it that caught the light. “But hey, welcome to Camp Grey Skull.”

“Thanks.” I was still confused on the pleasantness of this treatment after the attempt at extortion. These were players, though. Personalities varied among all groups of people. “That’s a funny name.”

We passed through a few small buildings and into an area with two high walls and a counter. On our side, with the two walls, was a series of mug shots outlining all sorts of people. There were bounty totals along with warnings and danger levels. If I concentrated enough a small pop-up box would display.

Bounty Offered Player: Sam Hill Reward: 40G or a Rank 4 Weapon Note: This guy cheated me out of three rolls in a dungeon a week ago. Kill him, and I’ll pay you. Proof of kill must be displayed on your Bounty Card.

Special condition: Reward doubles if Sam Hill is brought in alive and bound

I chuckled. Players putting bounties on each other over stolen drop items was outright childish. Sam Hill didn’t look young though. Oh well. Personally I wouldn’t get into that sort of gameplay anytime soon. The other side of the counter seemed to go into a storage room of some sort. There were racks filled with provisions and other items.

“Okay. Let’s see. Board says…” Urgot was looking around on the wall next to him. My commentary caught up with him eventually. “Oh yeah. Camp Grey Skull, gets me every time. We make new recruits to the guild climb halfway up the mountain and give their best He-Man impression.”

“Seriously?” I asked. Urgot wasn’t looking in my direction. He kept checking the pictures and mumbling under his breath.

“Oh yeah. It’s a hoot every time.” He said to me after another pause. Urgot gave a short smile and this time I managed to identify what was disturbing me.

“Are these all bounties?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. The first half of the alphabet is over here, second half over there.” He waved an arm at the wall I had been reading. I tried to ignore his slight slur of the longer words.

“Neat,” I said. A player accessible bounty system was really interesting. I poked through a few more while reading the notes.

“Let’s see, nope, nothing on here for a Hermes. I have a Hernando, and a HiddenBlade and a HarlotKing, what the…” He shook his head and barely lifted his cheek as his lips curled. Clearly the man had noticed my noticing. “No Hermes. Grats. You’re as free as anyone.”

Whew.

“Maybe you can help with my quest.” I kept checking to make sure, but the man clearly had sharpened teeth. They were almost shark-like. Once it was confirmed I hastily pretended to study the wall of faces nearby.

“Fire away. I’m on duty for another twenty minutes before real life kicks in.” He was consciously covering it up now. It must have embarrassed Urgot because he kept tucking in a lip.

“Do you know a, Shazam?” I asked.

“Uhhh…”

“Maybe. Wait.” He poked a finger at the air. Urgot was a player so he must be checking his user interface. “Hold on.”

“No rush.” I put on my customer service voice. Dealing with pleasant people always made things so much easier. This one just happened to have strange teeth. Given my niece's red tinted skin this was nearly invisible.

“Hey, Alucard! What’s Miss Thing's actual name?” Urgot shouted over a counter top.

There was a small, thin man in the back polishing a piece of armor. His skills were probably slightly better than mine. I would have to ask Hal Pal for tips once back in the real world.

“Our guild master?” The thin man answered. His voice seemed to bounce around the storage room. Alucard, wasn't that from a television show during my childhood? James was right. People picked all sorts of names.

“Yeah. I can’t tell past all the stupid titles." Urgot reached over the counter top and plucked something that looked like a pink banana. "You know she has a million of them. Whenever I try to analyze I want to take a nap.”

“Her name is Shazam.” Alucard stared at Urgot and put out a hand. The hairless man with pointy teeth sighed and forked over a few coppers.

“Really?” Urgot turned back to me. One hand was busy banging the pink banana against a wall making the small shack shake. “Why are you looking for our guild master?”

“Uhhh…” It was almost easier to show the two men instead of explain it. I pulled out the [Bound] letter and held it up for them to use [Inspection] on. Alucard was behind the counter looking for a stool to stand on.

"Well?"

“I've got a letter for her,” I said. Shazam was a weird name for a female guild leader. Then again my name was Hermes, what right did I have to judge?

“No shit? There’s mail in this game? Hey Alucard! There’s mail in this game! And a player is delivering it!”

“No shit?” Alucard didn’t seem impressed at all. His short frame was lined with annoyance at the other man.

“This guy totally has a bound scroll for Miss Thing!”

“You mean Shazam,” Alucard said.

“So, where is she?” I asked.

“Oh. You’ll have to walk up the mountain for that. The path is over there, can’t miss it. In fact I think there’s a new scrub headed up there now.” Urgot pointed down the way. There was a fairly beaten path that went from the pit we had been at all the way towards a steep mountain path. It seemed to shoot straight up the cliff side and vanished in clouds.

“Huh?” I questioned. “That’s convenient.”

“Nah. There’s always one scrub on the path, takes em a while to build up their resists. That’s part of the point, plus it’s funny.”

“It is pretty funny. They scream ‘I have the power’ and it just echoes. Everyone gets a laugh.” Urgot said.

“Even the people in the jail cells.” Alucard nodded. He was straightening up the counter top.

“Even them. Speaking off, did you see the latest catch?” The bald man said. Both of them shared a glance before looking at me. Urgot motioned with his head to one side.

“Oh, man did I…” They grew hushed as Alucard hopped over the counter and walked off with Urgot. The last thing I heard was commentary about the perfection that was some other player's backside.

“Can I help you?” Another voice said. The store was still being manned by someone. I shook my head and eyed the mountain. Shazam was up the path? Interestingly my quest marker for [Pass to Pass] also showed in that direction. A giant blue arrow bobbed over an area obscured by clouds.

“Good luck.” The other person behind the counter said. I smiled and started off.

Climbing a mountain was completely new to me. I had only ever looked up at them. My childhood contained a few plane rides over entire ranges. None of those real-life experiences looked quite like [Broken Mountain]. What had once been a giant mountain now seemed to be literally cleaved down the middle. There was a road maybe four people wide that went straight through. Clearly that was the pass in [Broken Mountain Pass]. Age had done a number on the landscape. Both mountains only shared a few points in common anymore.

Camp Grey Skull was parked on one side with the resurrection point. There was a handful of constructed buildings and a fortified wall that faced outward from the mountain's path. This whole thing seemed to be a defensive point between this side of the mountain range and the other. [Broken Mountain Pass] must have been a choke point.

Neat. The political arena of Continue Online was still vague and unimportant to me. First was this quest for the Voices and their letter. Afterward, I would probably need to learn more landmarks to go with my retained knowledge from William Carver's hut.

The path upwards was clearly marked. Everything was well worn for the first few hundred feet. My arms and legs felt heavy and tuckered out but finding purchase was easy enough. I managed to hike up a few hundred feet without much in the way of issues. It razor-backed upon itself a number of times. The marker for my [Pass to Pass] quest was still a ways up there.

Shortly after that things turned annoyed. The temperature dropped and a small box came up telling me what was happening.

Chilled!

Stacks: 1

Total stacks that can be endured are measured by your [Endurance].

Response times will be delayed the higher your chill stacks grow. This can be overcome by a high [Focus] or [Tenacity].

Great. I had those skills, but there was no easy way for me to tell if they were high enough. I would need something to stave off the cold air. None of the gifts provided by the Voices for my starting equipment were useful. The cloak that had once been new and undamaged was still torn from where I used it as a fire blanket, plus my physical stats had taken a hit from [The Ooze]

“Hey, Dusk.” The [Messenger's Pet] seemed fairly comfortable. I was tempted to grab him and try to steal some fire or something.

The small creature chirped and had a frowning face above him.

“I’m glad you survived,” I said.

The face shifted a little and seemed less annoyed. These thought bubbles above his head were neat. Not realistic, but they helped me understand what was happening. I doubted there was any better way for the game to provide feedback regarding the [Messenger’s Pet]’s mental status.

“If we can get up the mountain, and meet Shazam, I think we’ll be one step closer to desserts.” Pie sounded heavenly. Thoughts of dessert kept me going for another twenty minutes of climbing. Dusk and I had a vague conversation. Every so often he would scamper off and get into a fight with something. I sat down twice to eat the last of my rations while he triumphed over nature's mountain creatures.

The longer I climbed the mountain, the more it occurred to me how woefully unprepared I was. All I really had was a cane and a hat.

“Nnngh.” A groan let out. Of course, that had slipped my mind. One hand fumbled around in the frigid air and found it sitting on top of my head. This was my prize for gambling within Continue and had been one of my mysteries to look into upon returning. Another stack of [Chilled] made my teeth chatter. I grabbed the hat and brought it down for visual inspection.

Skill Used:: [Identification] Item: [Wild Bill] Durability: Above Average Added Trait(s): Regeneration, Gamble History:

This hat has been worn by Ray for an age. As you left the room of Trials a bet was made. He gambled that you wouldn’t honor the deals proposed or receive the same coin side three times. Clearly, he lost. Due to once belonging to a Voice this hat has added traits.

The Gamble: The owner of this hat may propose a wager to the Ray. This bet must be fair; rigging the game will not be tolerated. In addition, 5% of the Traveler's accumulated wealth must be bet. This is non-refundable. (I need a new hat – Ray)

In the event of winning the Gamble, the Traveler may ask for a blessing.

In the event of losing the Gamble, the Traveler will receive one Curse.

Balance Dictates: The Voice of Balance has touched this hat prior to that fool Ray being allowed to lose it. All results from your gamble will be limited by your highest Rank and Path.

Ray’s Reminder: All luck based activities suffer -10% to results for one year. “Know when to hold, and know when to fold.”

What was this name all about? Wild Bill? Was that some clever allude to William Carver being called Wild Willy? I used [Identification] again and didn’t get anything new. Oh well. It was beyond me right now. That would be a problem for life outside the ARC.

The use effect was nice. Maybe there was an effect that would help me. I licked my lips and tried not to wonder what could possibly go wrong. This hat could be my salvation. Or at least it would be interesting to see what came of it. This game was all about distraction with a goal.

“Still, isn’t this a little too convenient?” I stared out across the landscape. No clever thunders or pulses of light answered. Thunder was more Selena’s gig. Heh. Wait until I found a statue of her as myself. Picking on the female Voice made me feel like I was bothering my sister in high school all over again.

“Dusk, you don’t happen to have a coin?” Wait. I did get a few coppers as a new player. It wasn’t anything impressive in terms of total, but it was enough to flip. Losing five percent of my money didn't mean much to me this early in the game.

For a moment, it occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t feel so comfortable with the Voices. I had spent a lot of time with them. It was hard to think of them as distant creatures that ruled Continue and the continent of [Arcadia] from some great distance. Of course, they had allowed me this neat [Messenger of the Voices] title. A title I would lose if things didn’t progress forward in time. Fourteen hours were left on my timer.

“Alright. Copper coin, sorry, Ray. Here’s the proposal. Heads I keep walking up the hill. Tails I go back down and start over. How’s that for a starter?” I flipped the coin and almost lost it over the cliff's edge. This was too small a platform for such a high arc. Luckily it landed in Ray’s old hat and came up tails.

Predictable.

Curse activated!

[Chatterbox] – The Traveler is currently suffering from an inability to filter their thoughts. The system will translate all understood thought patterns to verbal words.

“What the heck? Dusk? What is this nonsense. Oh, Voices. Now I have to deal, is that what I sound like? Jesus. I’m whining!” I crossed my arms and slowly started my descent. The deal was to walk back down the mountain after all.

“Seriously. This is crazy. Why on earth would they send me out to meet someone up on a mountain anyway? How cliché is this? I bet there will be some silly training montage where I have to haul rocks around.”

On the way back down I managed to pass a grumbling player. He seemed to also be suffering from an inability to hold back on what he was thinking. A single glare was his greeting.

“Hi. I hate this mountain. It’s cold up there. That’s nonsense. How long does it take to get to the top? Do you think it takes a long time?” I unleashed my stream of words at the other player. He shook his head and stomped past me still grumbling.

“Fine. I don’t like you either. Jerk. I’ve got to walk all the way back down…” And so it went for another hour. At least climbing back down took less time than the first attempt at going up.

Once at the bottom I held up the coin again.

“Heads I win, Tails you win! Do what you will.” Up the copper coin went into the air. This time it came down tails again.

Curse activated!

[Hiccups] – The Traveler will suffer from intermittent hiccups until cured.

“Are you kidding..” I had a series of hiccups right in the middle of my commentary.

“This is nonsense.” More of them ensued leaving my midsection groaning with pain. The combination of [The Ooze]’s left over debilitations with these two new ones was just unfair.

“Last.” The latest hiccup almost made me screw up completely. “I need.” Hiccup. “I need cold resistance! Heads, me, tails, you!”

The coin went into the air for a third time. It landed in the hat with a plink. Thank the other Voices, all the other Voices besides Ray anyway. Heads, this time I won the coin toss.

“I don’t know why I even said I would walk down here. That was just stupid of me. What was I thinking?” I was upset too, but at least the system rewarded me with a box.

Blessing Given!

[Frost Immunity] – You’ll find no bite from a frigid sting for the next twenty-four hours.

“It’s about time. Now I’ve got to walk all the way back up this stupid mountain.” This time I was able to keep right on going. Complaints escaped me about nearly everything nearby. I got distracted talking about the state of my shoes, Carver’s cane, the setting sun, and anything else that was visible.

“Look at these footsteps. This must be from that other guy. He’s way faster than I am. I wonder how many times he’s failed to get up this mountain. I bet it was at least a few times. I know I wouldn’t…” My feet traveled the same path as the other player. He had to be at least an hour ahead if not more. After a few hundred feet, the mountain path was covered in snow.

Every five minutes I would get a message about the [Chilled] effect being resisted. The system was happily reminding me that without this [Frost Immunity] I would be a meat popsicle somewhere along the path. This climb upwards trailed along the broken passageway between the once whole mountain. There was just enough visibility to look over and see where it fell off into the road below.

Dusk was having the time of his life. He hopped from one bit of snow to another. He seemed completely unaffected by the cold. Every so often he would run over and his tiny scales would tingle the side of my neck with a chill. The sensation quickly passed in light of my immunity.

“I have the power!” A lingering shout rang through the entire passageway.

“Okay, that is kind of funny. I wonder how much further it is until I get to that spot? It can’t be too far now. The quest marker is only an hour or so tops right. What do you think, Dusk?” The words showed no signs of slowing. Covering my mouth didn’t work. I just mumbled from the side of my mouth.

“Oh, there, we finally found it.” The other player I had passed earlier was on the ground huffing. Chilled air escaped him and faded into the surrounding fog. He looked happy at least.

“You could just jump off. That’s a quick way down. I’ve heard that it’s a rush. My niece plays this game and she really likes doing that sort of thing.” My face was lighting up with horror. Talking about my family to random strangers in a game was not a good idea at all. “I shouldn’t have said any of that. Just ignore me.”

The other man raised an eyebrow but otherwise stayed silent.

“Hey, do you know where Shazam is?” I just kept talking and hiccuping. My sentences took almost three times as long to get out. Each time my body heaved with the reaction I would restart the sentence. “Is she this way? I’m going to go this way. Goodbye.”

Twenty minutes more passed with me following the quest arrows now. The former path that I had been trailing after stopped at the outcropping. Apparently they only cared about guiding new recruits to their designated hazing point. Further directions weren’t needed. Luckily I was getting close.

Around the latest corner, there was a person fighting. One woman clad in white leathers had a completely passive face. She carried a small dagger in a hand and was clearly facing off against something else. I strained to see who her enemy was through the snow.

On the other side of the small snow plane was a difficult to pick out mass of white fur. Its coloring blended almost perfectly with the mountain top. I couldn’t even make out enough to trigger an [Identification].

The two figures clashed a few more times. My quest marker for [Pass to Pass] was following the female around as she engaged her foe.

“Well, this is silly.” I hiccuped. “What are you doing up here, ahhh!” The creature was huge and a lot closer now. My stream of talking must have set it off.

“No! Do not want! You’re ugly and remind me of a giant dog! I hate dogs. My sister had a dog that peed on my bed!” In all honesty, cats were much better anyway. My hand reflexively switched [Morrigu’s Gift] to its two-handed sword form. I swung away at the approaching creature.

“Stop trying to hit me! What is with this game! Why is everyone so violent! Why can’t a monster just attack me with a nice sandwich and some afternoon tea!” My mind was clearly fully of complete nonsense. The sentence didn’t even come out right in the midst of all my attacking and hiccups.

The white-furred monster fought back. Shazam, I think it was her anyway, maintained her silent stare and passive expression while attacking the creature's back. Ribbons of red crisscrossed from where the small blade sunk in. My constant stream of talking must be attracting a lot of attention. The only actual damage from me was one gash on its shoulder.

Then came a solid connection that sent me back ten feet.

The [Snowman] has attempted to shut you up with his fist.

Total Damage: 40%

“Mah noos!” In a twist of irony, my own nose had been busted by the giant creature's lucky shot. “Wub is dis!” Today had started off so well. Now it was ending with a creature attacking me, a broken nose, hiccups, and an inability to prevent myself from saying exactly what was on my mind.

I tried to concentrate and switch the weapon to a better form. This large two-handed blade kept getting caught by the mountain top's wind. By the time I managed to connect with the furry white creature my blow was reduced to a love tickle.

Finally, Shazam landed on the thing's back and dug her small blade into its neck. The giant gave way as its huge eyes rolled backward. I scrambled to escape its face to ground collision. The snow was thick enough that the monster's falling thud was minimized. Instead, there was an almost happy puff of snow floating around.

“Hho woold put a.” I hiccuped and lost my thoughts. “Why is der a ye.” Another one interrupted me. I huffed and banged the giant sword down. “Really. Dibs is annoying. Whatever. Zaazam. Derr. Thibs is yours.”

I managed to get the scroll out of my player inventory without letting blood from my nose or face fall onto it. Dusk was down on the ground sniffing at the giant, furry white creature but otherwise unexcited.

Shazam took the scroll from me. I tried not to lose my mind while hiccuping and babbling constantly. She didn’t comment either way and maintained a passive expression. There was a lack of color to her face that was from more than the cold. I tried to remember my exercises in paying attention to other people. Deep green eyes were visible if I tilted my head back to see. It looked like her face had freckles buried under her already dark skin.

“Yoor.” My own body betrayed me once more. “Dis autopilot. Oooo kehy.” Shazam’s autopilot seemed more intent upon cleaning her gear and wiping off the red blood than any real interaction with me.

[Pass to Pass] complete!

“Wubever. I need coffah.” I logged out of Continue Online and took a break.