Proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

Year 2040

Feb 24, Friday, 10 am

“Hello everybody! Welcome to all! Today LBC Media brings you a special program! Yes, for the first time, after the release of the epic game DRAGON LORE, Mr. Allen Perez, the CEO of Phoenix Enterprises is going to appear in the show. And I am going to be interviewing the master brain behind the game. Stay tuned folks. Here comes the big man. Welcome, Mr. Allen, welcome to our show”

“Thank you Miss Beth, you look beautiful as always” Allen walked over and kissed the top of her hands lightly. Beth blushed from the unexpected course of actions.

“Thank you Mr. Allen. I am honored to be praised”

“A beautiful flower must be praised, a flower like you are really exquisite”

“Mr. Allen that is a little too much for a fragile girl like me. So shall we start the live interview?”

“Go ahead. I am all ears” Allen gave a fake smile. He was not one bit interested in interviews but had to come because of his secretary Yuki pressurizing her.

“Mr. Allen, what inspired you to take the initiative to produce such a game”

“Initiative? When I was young, my grandmothers would tell me bedtime stories in which the hero would ride a dragon and slay the evil king. Like any other boy those action scenes had captivated my heart.” Allen replied while he was thinking ‘What a pain’.

“Oh, so that is how the theme of the game was set. How long did it take you to design it?”

“It was tough, you know. This being the first VR game, it took me 3 years to accumulate the knowledge I wanted, another 3 years to select the staff who would work with me, a year of trial and error, 4 years of programming, 2 years of testing and debugging, 1 year to get the necessary approvals. So that makes it 14 years. I would even venture on to say more than 14 years.”

“Wow, that’s a pretty long time Mr. Allen. Well, leaving that aside and moving on to the gameplay. Recently there was an interview of the strongest player in DLR (Dragon Lore Reality), Adrian. What are your thoughts about the strongest player?”

“I did watch that interview and frankly I do not consider him the strongest”

The interviewer, Beth and everyone watching the show were shocked, that included Brian Woltale himself. “Why do think so Mr. Allen? Are you indicating there is a person stronger than Adrian, the Apostle of Light? ”

“The Apostle of Light is indeed the strongest class in DLR, but just because he has the strongest class one cannot be assumed to be the strongest player. There is one single person who has power beyond all others. Miss Beth, have you heard of the rumors of NPCs going rampant?”

“I did Mr. Allen and that was to be the main topic for today’s show. There were reports from all around the globe that some NPCs are attacking the players as if they were cursed. Is this some kind of event or a bug Mr. Allen?”

“Bug? In my system? Not at all. The occurrence of such rampages are due to a single person. Actually these things were meant to happen only after a year or so after the launch. ”

“Then why has it been triggered now?”

“Miss Bella, do you play DLR?”

“Yes I do. I will be frank, I hardly get time to play, so I have not been in the game much.”

“Then I believe you are still ignorant to the history of the world that this games is based on. Am I not correct?”

“Yes you are”, Bella replied sulking slightly. She was kind of angry at Allen for making her seem like an idiot to the entire world.

“Have you heard of the name Orrinshire?”

“I have. Is it not the name of the world in DLR?”

‘True. I will tell you an interesting fact. Orrinshire is the name of a man who once ruled over the world. The world was named after him by his followers after the fall of his empire. As for who and what that man is, I will let you find out yourself. Now back to the point. These events have unfolded because somebody has inherited Orrinshire’s will”

“So what you mean is that that single man is responsible for all these events?”

“That is the truth”

“To cause such havoc, he surely must be an evil overlord” Bella said the first thing that came to her mind. Allen did not reply but just smiled at Bella, making her and the viewer’s believe that an overlord has come. He had accomplished what he had wanted to, to bait Ryu Yasahiro and to turn the other players against him. For that he had purposefully omitted the part about Orrinshire being the child of Oberon. He knew mentioning that would make Ryu Yasahiro equivalent to a god.

‘You better come to me boy or you are going to suffer’

Little did Allen Perez know, that he was digging his own grave.

---***---

The interview with the CEO of Phoenix Enterprises became viral instantly. The news had a global effect. Every single player was now discussing the rise of an evil overlord unaware of the true intent of Allen’s words. An uproar was being caused by the players. News of the existence of a powerful evil man had spread like wildfire. And as a means to counteract it, guilds had begun to form. The stringent conditions for forming a guild were simplified by the company itself. Allen had expected the players to form guilds when there was a large scale event happening. And so hundreds of guilds rose in a single day. Players diligently began grinding to become strong. Allen had another trick up his sleeve which was to reduce the cost of the capsule and the subscription fee. The costs were cut by half thus allowing influx of new players. He was reaping profit while at the same time, trying to make Ryu bend his knees.

Not knowing any of these, the boy who was supposed to be an evil overlord was now having a heated conversation with his younger sister.

“Bella, lend me Kate for a day”

Bella’s eyes widened, jaw dropped, cheeks reddened.

“Brother! I did not know that you were a pervert. To ask your own sister to help you get a girl, that too your sister’s friend.”

“Wait! Let me rephrase it. I need Kate’s help with a small rescue job”

“Rescue? Who?”

“Norn and his sons have not returned yet. So Ames has asked me to go look for them. And I thought that having Kate with me would makes things easier”

“Hm. You do have a point. You could have asked her directly. Why ask my permission?”

“I want you to ask her to accompany me”

“I am asking you why I should be doing that.”

“Because she does not know that I am a traveler and I want that fact to remain hidden for a while longer”

“Why?” Bella asked tilting her head, a finger to her chin.

“I can’t tell you yet. It’s something I have not even told you. ”

“A secret? What is it? I want to know” pouted the cute girl.

“After I come back girl, I promise” Shiv said patting the girl’s silky hair making Bella blush slightly.

“Fine, I will ask her to. When will you be leaving?”

“Now. I have a bad feeling about this, so you better run to her right away. Ask her to meet me here as soon as possible”

Bella nodded and scuddled away.

‘I hope those three are ok’

---***---

“Kate!”

“What is it Bella? Your face seems pale”

“Kate, help me”

“What is it Bella? What happened?”

“My brother! He is going to do something dangerous again. Please Kate, lend him your strength”

'trrrng'

QUEST: AN ESCORTBella, your close friend has asked you to aid her precious brother in his task. She believes something bad is going to happen and requests you to protect her brother.

Difficulty : +F

Rewards

Unknown?????

+50 intimacy with Bella

Failure

The quest will fail

1. If you die

2. If Shiv dies

Failure will reset all intimacy with Bella. She will be hostile towards you if you refuse.

“Don’t worry Bella. I will go with your brother and bring him back safely”

“Thank you Kate” Bella hugged her “Right now he is waiting for you. Come with me, I will take you there”

---***---

Shiv could see the two girls walk towards him. ‘It went well, just as I imagined’ he thought smiling. Shiv knew that his only option was to ask Bella. Had he approached Kate himself then the fact that he was a traveler like her would have been revealed. Shiv did not desire that, he had plans and he had things that he wanted to confirm.

“So my escort has arrived. Then let us depart right away. The three blacksmiths might be in some grave danger.”

Kate nodded, she was briefed by Bella during the walk. Now that Kate understood the mission, she was better prepared.

‘A +F difficulty quest is easy for me, with my level of 84 and my class this should be like a walk in the park’ Kate was confident in her levels.

Shiv and Kate bid farewell to Bella assuring her that they would return soon. When the two were considerably far from the village Shiv posed a question to the girl behind him.

“Hey rag woman, Are you a swordsman?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“It helps if I know how strong my escort is”

‘He is just a NPC, telling him won’t be a problem at all’ Kate thought.

“I am a swordsman, I am an Elemental Healer”

“Elemental what?” Shiv asked, he was curious to know what the class was but played it cool.

“Sigh! You NPC’s are such idiots”

“NPC? And why are you calling me an idiot you rag woman”

“My name is not rag woman, it is Kate. Well whatever. Elemental healer lets me use the elements to attack my enemies and I can also heal and purify”

“Heal? Well you will be useful I guess. Let us pick up the pace” Shiv then began running, Kate followed him close.

In minutes the two reached the stone mine. Shiv stopped abruptly when he saw something he did not want to see. There at the entrance of the mine lay a person, collapsed on the ground, with blood flowing from a wound on his torso. His clothes were bloodied and it seemed that he was barely alive. The moment Shiv stopped Kate glanced towards the direction Shiv was looking. Seeing a bloodied man Kate rushed towards him. She had already finished casting a high level healing spell. The spell gave of an orange glow which then slowly spread over the person’s body healing all wounds he had on his body. Slowly the person opened his eyes.

“Are you alright?” Kate asked concerned.

“Thanks to you lady. You have saved me. I am Vern, son of Norn”

“Norn’s son? The blacksmith’s son?” Shiv asked, his eyebrows furrowing. ‘Not good. If he was wounded so badly then what would be the condition of those two?’

“Ah! You know my father? That is great. Strangers please help me. My father and brother were taken away by a foul beast. I somehow freed myself from my captivity but before I could escape the beast attacked me, wounding me fatally”

“Do you know where those two are held at?”

“I know. Let me take you there. Thank you strangers”

“Lead the way” Shiv said to the man who was now fully healthy.

Vern then slowly began walking towards the cave with Shiv and Kate following. Shiv remembered the last time that he had come to the mine. The group of five had then only taken the left paths. This time Vern was taking the right turns at every junctions.

“Kate follow me closely” Shiv whispered to Kate

“Are you getting scared? How unsightly” Kate mocked.

“Please just follow me closely”

“Fine fine. I did not know you were a scary cat” Kate moved closer to Shiv.

The three then walked for a while. Suddenly Vern stopped and then pointed forwards and said, “The beast and my family is ahead. I don’t want to see that thing again. I will wait here. Please bring them back.”

“We will” it was Kate who replied this time. She felt that Shiv being a NPC was not cut out for action.

“Shiv stay here with Vern. It will be too dangerous”

“What are you saying. You are following me. Not the other way around” saying so Shiv took out his worn out dagger.

“Are you going to fight the beast with that? You must be out of your head”

Normally a player would talk to a NPC politely in hope of getting a quest or any other reward or valuable information. But Kate could not bring herself to talk politely to Shiv who had always teased her.

“I will do what I want woman” with that Shiv ran forward at his maximum speed disappearing from Kate’s view. A panicked Kate started running too, determined to catch up with Shiv and knock him off his feet. With boiling rage she dashed forward. The tunnel she was in began widening and at a point it became huge. Kate stopped for a second as she could hear muffled voices of a male.

“Hello! Anybody there? Is that you Shiv? Don’t play around” Kate asked, panicking. She was not concerned about Shiv but about her friend Bella who was the only NPC Kate genuinely liked. She then again heard muffled voices. The voice was coming from a little ahead. She slowly walked forward, casting a lightning spell which covered her body like an armor.

“Where are you?” she called out even though it was dangerous as she had no other option. She then sharpened her ears and waited for the voices, which she heard again. This time it was much more audible. Her movements were with care, he eyes scanning the area. With a few more steps she came across the source of those muffles she had been hearing.

There on the ground were two humans, their mouths stuffed with their own clothes. Kate could not see any chains that were binding them which confused her. ‘If they are not chained then why are they still here?’ before she could finish the thought something caught her eyes. ‘Huh? Can human limbs bend at such an angle?’ She then took a closer look, which caused her to shudder. The two who were on the ground had both their legs and hands broken and bent in the opposite direction of the way they were supposed to be. She could not believe her own eyes, such cruelty was not a common incident for her.

“Divine Healing” she once again casted the same healing spell as the one she had casted before. The orange glow then covered the two victims fixing their arms and legs. She then moved to remove the clothes in their mouths when she saw the faces of the two in front of her distort, their eyes reflected fear. She understood that there was something behind her and so she slowly turned back ready to attack. But she cancelled the spell when she saw it was just Vern.

“I thought you were not coming. I have found your father and brother. Let us leave now before the beast comes” Kate said smiling at Vern. But there was no reply from him

“Vern? Are you alright? Why are you looking at the ground?” Kate asked feeling uneasy.

Vern then slowly lifted his face and looked at Kate. Kate shuddered when she saw Vern’s face. What was a normal boy a little while ago was now nowhere visible. The face was now distorted, what was supposed to be his eyes were now hollow with a black miasma leaking out of it endlessly. The ears sharpened, the long hair no longer visible, and his skin began to decay and showed traces of bones, fangs protruded out of his mouth. Vern’s hands were now black, with claws as sharp as knives, his legs were hairy and looked like that of goat. The legs were too long compared to his upper body which made the ‘thing’ seem towering. The most menacing thing was the wing shaped bones from his back which gave the impression of a dark angel. Kate could not move a muscle, she was paralyzed due to fear. It was then

‘trrrng’

QUEST: AN ESCORT 2You have come across one of the foulest creature that has ever existed in the history of Valmoor. The Satyr is considered as the underling of the greatest darkness of the world, the jabberwocky. Slay the satyr and free the village and the mines from evil.

Difficulty : D

Rewards

Unknown?????

Failure

The quest will fail

1. If you die

2. If Shiv dies

Failure will have no effects

Kate did not move, she wanted to but could not. Her body had already given up. ‘I am sorry Bella. I could not protect your brother’ Kate closed her eyes waiting for death to claim her.

“What the f*uck are you doing, you idiot?”.

This made Kate open her eyes in shock. She looked at the person who had just said those words. What she saw was something she could never forget. A man with black hair, holding a dagger and a black sword covered with a red aura, in midair. She could for some reason see his golden brown eyes and a yellow glow around his body, which made the boy appear as some kind of god in that poorly lit area. The way he was in air made Kate think that he was flying even though she understood that he was just trying to jump on to the satyr’s back.

In a flash the boy was on the beast’s back, the sword running through the satyr’s chest while the dagger was pierced into the head. The satyr cried with pain and then yanked its body to get rid of the invader.

“How long are you going to sit there? Get up you idiot”

“You are a player too? You lied to me”

“Do we really have to go through that now? Move you idiot.”

Kate then snapped out of her trance. She then used the only piercing attack she had.

“Wind spear”. And wind began to gather on her hand which slowly began to take the shape of a spear. She then aimed at the satyr who was busy with Shiv.

“Are you going to kill me along with this thing?”

“Of course. That is the least you deserve you baka!”

“Baka? Japanese? Wait, now is not the time.” Shiv then jumped of the satyr with his black sword. The dagger was still stuck to the Satyr’s head. “This thing does not have as eyes. I should have thrusted the dagger somewhere else” Shiv had used his most effective way to deal with a stronger monster. ‘Blind it and kill it’ was a strategy Shiv usually always used against strong monsters.

“Kate! Use your strongest attack. I will buy you time”

“Don’t order me around, you cheater”

“Kate” Shiv shouted

“Fine. I need 1 minute”

“Here you go. Chains of time, Kaze, Hono, blood aura, wind scythe” five skills together was not something that Kate had ever seen. She had seen players use up to 4 skills, that too rarely. Now she was witnessing a player who she had thought to be a weak NPC activating five at the same time. The skills he activated made him glow yellow, while the sword gave a red color, suddenly she felt a shift in time, and she could not tell if time got faster or slower. Then he suddenly vanished. Kate for a second panicked, but the next second she was surprised when she saw him appearing in front of the monster. She gaped at him with wide eyes when the boy with golden eyes, used the satyr’s leg as a boost to jump higher towards its face. Making a flip in midair, with his left hand the boy gripped the dagger while the right hand pierced through what was supposed to be his left eye and finally landing behind. The instant that he landed, his next attack began, this time using the sword and dagger. The attacks were all directed towards the satyr’s feet. The attacks were so fast she could not count the number of strikes the satyr was suffering. The final attack was with the black sword. A horizontal slash, Kate saw the sword make a red a line in the air and with that Shiv jumped back. Kate was confused with this move, she could not understand why he would move away suddenly. As if to answer her doubts, the satyr collapsed on to the ground. The continuous attacks to the legs had caused so much damage to the beast that its legs could no longer support it.

“Your 1 minute is up babe” Shiv said calmly looking at Kate instead of the beast. In those eyes Kate saw something she had never seen before. The eyes which were calm and beautiful were now cold. It gave her the feeling that Death itself was looking at her, making her shiver. Waking up from the trance she activated her strongest spell.

“Light fall”

Light fall, a spell which was granted the third strongest holy magic. But to unlock its true potential one had to be a ‘pope’ of any church. Kate was just a healer thus the spell’s strength was greatly reduced. Nevertheless the spell was devastating for unholy beings such as the satyr. The poorly lit room was then suddenly filled with light, light that came from nowhere. The light then began to gather around the beast as if it was attracted by it. The beast began to scream, its flesh was being eaten away by the light.

The already weakened satyr could not bear the intensity of the last holy attack. When the last rays of light disappeared there was not even a flesh piece of the beast left. Instead there lay on the spot a small black rock.

---***---

here is a question guys. Why do you think Shiv, who normally plans all his attacks, just ran away when Vern said the blacksmiths were ahead? gimme your thoughts with the reason.

enjoy. have fun

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