“Careful, lad, that be the Beast of Unfettered Evil.” Torbin swept his arm in front of him, pushing back the branches of the bush to reveal the creature they were spying on. The cinematic way the creature was revealed, left no doubt that Torbin had done this before. Likely for dramatic effect.

Ignoring the drama, Arron stared dumbstruck at the creature. Disbelief froze him in place at the sheer size of the thing. Were they crazy? What could they possibly be thinking?

“It…” he started, lost for words.

“I know,” Torbin replied, thick fingers smoothing his bushy beard.

“It… it’s a bunny,” Arron growled. “I thought you said we were going to fight a rabid monster!”

Torbin scoffed. “Rabbit monster. And that, ya thick-headed lunk, is not just a bunny. That is the Glendale Zone Boss, the Beast of Unfettered Evil!”

Torbin wiggled his bushy eyebrows. Clearly he expected this to mean something to Arron.

Arron was unaware of the bookie who took bets on new players taking their first shot against the Zone Boss. He was especially unaware that gambling on the “newb runs” had become a favorite hobby for many higher-Level players in the area.

He certainly wasn’t aware he’d been given decent odds, being with Torbin and all.

Being thus uninformed, as well as ignorant of the general design of game zones as a whole, Arron had no reason to think anything special about the killer bunny.

“Whatever that means, it’s still a bunny, man,” Arron replied, standing up to give his knees a rest. They’d been crouching and crawling through the bushes for an hour to get here unseen and safe. Now that he was here… it was a bunny. All that buildup of the terrible beast awaiting him, and Torbin drug him out to tango with a tiny little rabbit.

Much to the dismay of players who cast their bets in favor of Arron, he soon realized this was not just any ordinary bunny.

Torbin’s surprised face was the last thing he saw. The dwarf reached out to shush Arron, but he moved too slow. Then it was flashes of pain, blood, and darkness.

***

“Hello again,” Brynhild said, smiling down at him. “Beast of Unfettered Evil, huh?

“What the hell just happened?” Arron sputtered, sitting up.

“You were slain in battle, hero,” Brynhild replied helpfully.

Arron rolled his eyes. “No kidding.”

Cracking his neck and stretching, he got to his feet, and with a less than kind gesture, left Brynhild behind and started the hike back to the clearing.

It didn’t take nearly as long to get back. Laughter drifted on the air to greet him the closer he got. He groaned, knowing the ribbing that awaited him.

Four high-Level players were casually relaxing while they fought off giggles. Torbin and three of his guildmates, each with tears in their eyes, recounted what Arron quickly realized was his most recent gruesome death.

“Did you see the look on his face, though?” A slender woman laughed, dressed head to toe in black like the midnight sky, her long dark hair swept back. “I swear he respawned still not knowing what actually killed him! He was looking around like, ‘What—what’s hitting me!’”

Her theatrics, complete with what he hoped was an over exaggerated mimicry of his ineptitude, prompted another round of laughter from the group. She laughed so hard she grabbed her side in pain.

“Alrigh’, Iris. I don’t think he’s quite that dense,” Torbin replied with a smile and waved dismissively at the air.

“Oh, rest assured, I will be asking him,” another woman said with a coy smile, covering her own chuckle with a hand. She had hair the color of fire and wore a velvet dress lined in gold with arcane runes sewn into the fabric at asymmetrical angles.

Arron recognized her as Sonya, the team’s main magic-user. He didn’t understand much of how she played—lots of studying books and scrolls and such—but she’d been kind to him thus far.

The way people are kind to the slow kid in class.

If those three were still here, then…

“What a fantastic tale it will be! How nobly he stood. How regal in his self-assurance at his own impending victory. The sheer confidence sweating off the man. Could you feel it, Iris? I could feel it! Why, I could bottle that level of confidence!”

…Mercutio, the Bard, was here too.

Arron stifled a groan as he entered the clearing, nodding to everyone before sitting on a log next to Torbin. Silence followed his entrance. Each member of the team locked eyes on him, fighting back amused grins.

He looked back and forth between them, letting the moment drag intentionally before asking, “What uh, what just happened?” he asked, cracking a smile at his half-joke.

The clearing exploded with laughter yet again. Arron joined in their mirth. Soon, tears streaming and sides splitting, they all gasped for breath. It took nearly ten minutes for everyone to calm down enough to talk.

It felt good to laugh. Almost as though he hadn’t laughed in a lifetime.

Torbin had introduced him to his guild, Ominous Latin Name, soon after he finished the tutorial. Arron expected a far larger group from the way Torbin talked. Apparently, guilds came in all different sizes in Interius. Torbin’s was relatively small, with enough members for a few teams to be running simultaneously. Nothing fancy like 10 Inches Unbuffed, the Noble Hobos, or some of the other mega-guilds Torbin told him about on their way to the guildhall.

“Granted, when you start dealing with a larger guild, you gotta start dealing with politics,” Torbin said, making a fist and moving back and forth in a gesture that was very difficult to misinterpret. “I’m not interested in any of that.”

Arron understood, not being interested in politics or drama himself.

The members of Ominous Latin Name, or OLN, had been quick to take him under their wing. They equipped him with several items, like basic clothes, a backpack, and good boots. He felt awkward taking the goods, but they assured him the pieces were all but worthless to players of their Level. They explained the loot system scaled as you Level, bombarding him with Stat descriptions that he still didn’t quite understand.

In the end, he was more comfortably dressed than he had been since entering the fantasy world. And then, of course, he died and lost it all.

“Uh, sorry about losing your stuff, everyone,” he mumbled sheepishly.

Torbin patted him on the shoulder. “It’s ok, boy. I grabbed your crystal.” Torbin offered a small glowing crystal to Arron.

“My crystal?” he started to ask, but the moment he touched the crystal, it disappeared. He moved his hand, checking to see if he’d dropped it, but no. It was gone.

Torbin paid it no attention, like the stone disappearing was completely normal.

Arron really wanted to ask about the crystal, but he wasn’t eager to bring up yet another area of the game he knew nothing about. At least not so quick on the heels of his most recent bumble. He would check in the tutorial about it later.

“I really must hand it to you,” Mercutio chuckled. “Not even an artisan such as I could truly capture just how glorious the look on your face was. And presenting a task which even I cannot complete? Nigh unthinkable for one of your stature! The prose, the poetry, I weep to dream of the verse I shall compose from this encounter.”

The group chuckled again. Arron glowered at Mercutio, whose smile broadened at getting under the man’s skin. He took a moment to extend a carefree wave at Arron.

Beams and bolts, that guy was annoying.

“Alright, so what did actually happen?” Arron asked, moving quick to cut off Mercutio. “Without the theatrics, please?”

Mercutio put a hand on his chest, throwing back his head as if mortally offended.

“It’s sort of a known bug, actually,” Torbin said smiling. “But first, check your notifications.”

Arron remembered seeing an option for notifications in his System Menu, but he hadn’t paid it much attention yet. Would the things he needed to know about playing this damn game ever come to end?

Sighing, he focused his intention and opened his notification window.

Welcome to Interius!

Many adventures await you in this land… not all of them good.

Let’s kick the tires and light the fires!

New Region Discovered!

– Glendale –

An excellent place to start any adventure.

What a small provincial town.

New Region Discovered!

– The Darkened Lands –

Along your adventures, you will see many places, but this one is new… and terrifying.

We aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Level Up – You are now Level 2!

You have met the necessary requirements to progress along your path.

While each step is necessary, not every step is important.

You Have Died!

Respawning at last selected respawn point.

When it’s your time, well, now you know.

XP Lost! Level Down – You are now Level 1!

You have died, and in death, lost some of the vital experience which made you more dangerous.

Sometimes it is better to leave the road untaken alone…

You have defeated Wesley the Rat King! [x26]

Through valor, cunning, or sheer luck, you have slain the king of the rats.

With him gone, you could live here quite comfortably for some time.

Level Up – You are now Level 2! [x26]

You have met the necessary requirements to progress along your path.

While each step is necessary, not every step is important.

You Have Died! [x25]

Respawning at last selected node.

This is actually getting a little ridiculous, isn’t it? Seriously? Dude. Catch a hint.

XP Lost! Level Down – You are now Level 1! [x25]

You have died, and in death, lost some of the vital experience which made you more dangerous.

Sometimes it is better to leave. The Road. Alone.

You have defeated Frank the Zombie!

Yes. Even zombies get names. You probably think this is an achievement. But it’s clear you aren’t that bright.

Achievement Unlocked!

– David and Goliath –

You have defeated a creature alone that was at least 10x your current Level!

He did it! The son of a bitch actually did it…

Level Up – You are now Level 5!

Your defeat of this enemy has progressed you on your path!

While each step is important, this one actually is.

Congratulations – Class Assigned!

Congratulations on being assigned your Class! See your Character Sheet to learn more!

While the foe you slew is great, the experience was not.

You Have Died!

Respawning at last selected node.

When it’s your time, well, now you know.

XP Lost! Level Down – You are now Level 4!

You have died, and in death, lost some of the vital experience which made you more dangerous.

Here we go again…

You are Inebriated!

Your reflexes and Skills will operate with a 65% penalty until you are sober.

Beer beer beer… tidily beer beer beer…

You have been banned from The Fallen Sparrow!

You have lost reputation with The Fallen Sparrow and are no longer welcome within its walls. Perhaps you can improve your relationship later.

You must have caused quite a stir to be banned from that place.

Tutorial Complete!

You have completed the Gameplay Interface and Combat Sections of the tutorial. Feel free to return at any time to conduct further sections or refine your knowledge.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

You were slain by The Beast of Unfettered Evil!

Respawning at last selected node.

Grr. Argh.

The massive amount of information overwhelming his vision would have knocked him backward if he wasn’t getting used to the sensation. Scrolling through, it looked like everything significant he’d done in-game was listed here.

He glared when he came to the section where he tried to stubborn his way through the zombie. At least the game stopped listing all the deaths individually, grouping them together for the sake of space.

He paused at the zombie’s name. He wasn’t sure why, but something about that was disturbing. Sighing, he skipped the rest. It would be there if he needed to come back and look at it later. Scanning below, he found what Torbin had to be talking about.

“‘Grr. Argh’?” Arron asked.

“Aye, lad,” Torbin laughed. “Gotta love the classics. Anyway, now that you’ve been slain the first time, it’ll be possible to win. Not easy, mind you, but possible. Took a while for everyone to get it, but, you basically have to die first. I think it’s to make sure you understand the respawn system before leaving the starting zone, but that’s just my theory.”

Arron rolled his shoulders, his spirits rising with that bit of good news. “Ok! We just… go kill the bunny then.”

Torbin shook his head. “For this one, you don’t want any of us on your team. We would dilute the XP, and we wanna get you your Class quick as possible.”

“Great. Well, I guess I’ll see you all in a minute,” he huffed.

“If you come from that direction,” Mercutio said, pointing back towards town, “I’ll have a special sonnet composed to glorify your fall in battle!”

“Quiet, Merc,” Torbin chided. “Ignore him, boy. You got this. One good swing from you should do it.”

With a last look, Arron started crouching his way toward the Beast, trying hard to be quiet.