Pitching my back against a thicket of trees, I open my character screen to check on my status. Looking at my health, I was surprised to see that it along with my energy had been fully replenished by the level up. Next to my health were the bleeding and wounded debuff that surprisingly did not get removed. Between the two debuffs, I need to cure wounded first. Having a 50% movement speed penalty is way too big of a detriment especially if I run into another monster like that Brogen. Retrieving the guide from my inventory, I flipped near the back of the book pertaining to buffs and debuffs. Reading the entry on wounded I was discouraged. The only way to cure this debuff was to have healing magic, bandages, or let the debuff resolve it’s timmer. Pressing on the blood icon next to my health, a timmer showed up.

System: 5 hours 13 minutes 27 seconds

Five hours is not too bad, but what in the world? Pressing on the icon a few more time, I notice that the numbers were not ticking down. Scratching my head, I reopen the guide to see if maybe I missed some minor details. Rereading the short four sentence description I was in total confusion. Nothing, maybe its a bug. The only other thing I can do now is to seek out the ingredients to make the staunching potion to cure my bleeding. Looking at the list, all I needed were five remy leaves, two sage moss, and a lily bulb. Well what do you know, I smirked, ripping a series of moss off the tree next to me.

System: Item obtained 8 [sage moss]

Happy with my take, I pushed myself off the tree and headed over to the pond. With a cautious step, I headed toward a patch of lily pads a few meters from the edge. Placing my hand below one of the lilies, I followed the stem until it reached the shallow floor. With a hard tug, I pulled, but the bulb refused to budge. This is a stubborn one. Letting go, I grabbed onto another set of roots. With another tug, a bulb the size of a baseball popped out into my hands without any resistance.

System: Item obtained 1 [lily bulb]

Why was this one so easy? Going back to the previous lily, I grabbed the series of stems with both hands this time, submerging most of my body into the murky water. With a firm footing, I yanked at the stem but was sent hurling as my foot gave way the muddy floor. Not one to be discouraged, I marched back. Taking a few precautions, I wrapped the long stem around my hand. Placing my feet on some gravel, I made some minor pulls checking to see if my footing was stable. Feeling good about the outcome, I jerked with all my might. A loud plop sound could be heard as I was once again sent hurling across the water.

A series of delicate yellow light dance across the surface. An orangish glowing light pierced my eyes as I gazed at the weird object lying at the edge of the water bobbing up and down. Reaching out my hand, I grasped at the light, wondering what the hell I was doing.

System: Item obtained 1 [Starlife seed]

What is this, I pondered. Pressing at the weird looking orb of light in my inventory, a strange description popped up.

System: Name: Starlife Seed

System: Rarity: Mythic

System: Type: Ingredient

System: Description: A seed imbued with the remnant of a falling star.

First the fish and now this, what kind of place is this? A small ring buzzed in my head almost giving me a heart attack.

System: Server Time: 0000

Midnight, I'm in real trouble now. Monsters become more aggressive during this time and will actively chase down players. Heading back to the grove of trees, I actively search the area for any remy leaves. The sound of gnashing teeth and loud footsteps put me on alert. Evading behind a bush, I could see a band of monsters roaming along the opposite side of the bank. Zooming in on the monsters I was unable to read their names due to the obscure darkness but was able to observe a red skull above each of their heads.

Nope, it’s my time to go. With silent steps, I cautiously made my way out of the opposite end of the bush hoping that none of the monsters would notice me. Running as fast as the debuff would let me, I made it a good twenty yard before I heard the sound of screeching overhead. Turning in the direction of the sound, I could see a huge figure diving toward my general direction. Choosing a random bush, I dove in. The figure of the monster grew bigger and bigger, it’s size dwarfing any monster I had ever witnessed. As the monster approached the area, I zoomed in on it hoping to identify the beast.

System: Creature: Wyvern

System: Type: ???

System: Level: ???

Clutching to my side, I held my breath as the monster neared. The trees sway back and forth in a melodic rhythm as each wingbeat of the monster sent a torrent of air slamming into the ground. With crimson red eyes, it scanned the area hopefully not looking for me. With a burst of energy, it slammed down grabbing at a hog the size of a car. Grasping it with both feet, It carried the hog into the air. Diving down again, the wyvern flung the large beast at the floor with a loud thud. Lading next to me the seismic shock send me hurling out of the bush. Imminently spotting me, the wyvern ignored the hog and dove in my direction, both feet out like crane arms. Diving towards the nearest tree, the monster grasped at the trunk. With a single wing beat, It plucked the tree off its root and sent me flying like a pencil.

System: Health: 47%

Scrambling to my feet, I was stunned by the amount of damage I had taken. Hobbling to the next tree, I smelled a weird odor that you could only be described as soap. Looking back the monster was high in the air, its mouth fully open. The sky became brighter and brighter as a bright blue light emerged from the monster's mouth. The sound of thousands of breaking twigs filled the sky as the monster let loose a thunderous blast. Taking a sharp right turn, I felt the swelling heat behind me.

System: Health: 8%

Not looking back, I continued to run periodically making slight turns. The sky brightens again giving me a good view of my surroundings. Quickly scanning the horizon, I saw what looked like a wooden lodge. Pivoting on my feet, I made a sharp left, as an arc of lightning struck the location I was previously running towards. Making it to the door, I jostled the knob but was met by a prompt.

System: Building 114-125

System: Unaffiliated

System: Would you like to view the building.

Rapidly pressing the yes button, a click could be heard as the door open. Rushing inside, I slammed the door behind me. In front of me was a small reception desk along with a series of passages leading into other rooms. Looking out the window, I could see the wyvern hovering in front of the building, its eyes gleaming a wicked red. I’m safe for now, I huffed.

System: Energy: 11%

Without any lanterns that things going to be hovering around the building until I come out. Not giving it a second thought I decided to scour the building to see if there were any items. Taking the entrance to the right, I walked into a massive empty room a hundred feet in length and sixty feet wide. In the back of the room are a series of multiple doors leading into smaller rooms. Peeking into each one, I saw the same thing, bare rooms. What is all this, I muttered, walking into one of the larger back rooms. A prompt popped up on my hood.

System: Would you like to preview preset options for this room?

Pressing yes, another prompt open, this one listing out sets of different room layouts.

System:

Kitchen

Storage

Bedroom partition

Picking the first option, the room glowed with a faint light as a series of different ghostly objects floated in front of me. What is all this, reaching my hands out towards a series of ghostly pots and pans. Like a misty vapor, my hands past through the ethereal objects. Backtracking, I made my way back towards the reception desk. This time, taking the left entrance, Instantly turning right, I was greeted by a set of stairs. Going up, I could see a wide balcony peering over the vast empty room I was previously in. To the right was a group of doors leading to what I guess would guess to be bedrooms. Quick entering each room, I could see that they were all unfurnished with not even the smallest inkling of an item.

Leaning over the railing I contemplated my next move as I watched the wyvern floating overhead. Walking back down the stairs, I notice a box sitting flush with the wall. On the box was an icon of a letter. Pressing the box, I prompt came up asking me if I would like to send or receive messages. I hardly ever use the mailbox as the only messages I received were by corporate informing us of certain changes to policies or added features to the store. Knowing all too well that I must have received a termination letter by now, I pressed the receive button.

The hell, I screamed as several messages crammed themselves into my inbox each one making an audible ping. A backlog of the ping rang a few times every second sending me into madness as I open my UI and turned off the feature. Looking at the icon of an envelope, a number under it, which read 1k+, flashed in bright red. Pressing the icon, I open my inbox wondering what in the world this was all about.

Inbox: DevianKM4 | Lumi local?

Inbox: Sarchcaster | Dude where?

Inbox: JianTheSpear | Hello, my name is Jian, I would like to…

Inbox: SeriesSuit | Price?

Inbox: 3Krexen3 | Congrats, that a huge catch

Inbox: Orzevhan| Orzevhan has sent you an invitation to join Guild [P1rate Cruze]

A majority of the messages were about my Luminaria, while others were wanting me to join their guild. I scrolled down the list for ten minutes, but all the titles looked the same. Looking at the top corner of my inbox, I notice that there was a filter button. Pressing it, a system prompt popped up.

System: Please upgrade to a [tier 2 standard subscription] to use this feature.

Of course. Why would I ever think they would give basic users this option. How much is it, I pondered, pressing the checkout button.

System: [Tier 2 standard subscription] monthly 1348 credits

System: Upgrade from your current subscription of [Tier 1 basic subscription] 621 credit

Was it worth it? This cost twice as much as a regular subscription just so I could use a sort feature. Hmm… what other benefits does a standard sub give me, pressing on a drop-down arrow?

System: [Tier 2 standard subscription]

Guild affiliation

Party subsystem

Bank access

Regional trading post

Hub messaging

Use of the sort/filter feature for your inventory and inbox

Custom map markers

Not much, for an extra 600 credit, I think I’ll sort my messages by hand. Swinging the subscription panel off my UI, I reopen my inbox and was once again bombarded by more incoming messages. Pressing the scroll down button, a wave of text passed my vision. After a few minutes of scrolling, I was nowhere near the bottom of the screen. Fuck it, I screamed, opening the subscription page. Pressing the purchase button, I large chunk of credits vanished leaving me at nineteen thousand. Initiating the sort feature, I place a filter on all messages that had to do with the word Luminaria, fish, or guild. My inbox, which was not free of all random messages was cut down tremendously. I was left with about a hundred messages which were a lot easier to sort individually. Taking my time scrolling through each message, I notice that some of them were incomprehensible gibberish while others were random ads. What is this even for, I pondered, pressing on one of the ads. A woman dressed in what could only be described as “top tier” armor seductively walked towards the screen.

“I need some help killing a dragon, come help me at...”

Closing the video, I sent it to the trash bin. Scrolling to the very bottom, I saw a message titled “TERMINATION”. Figures, I mumbled, pressing the letter. I was presented with a range of well-worded paragraph summing up the idea that I had been fired and not welcome at any Xuxan’s branch of business. Giving it a shrug, I threw the message in the trash bin, hopefully not having to hear from them again. A message just above the termination letter caught my eyes. It was sent by Ter3.minus, Terry’s gamertag.

Inbox: Ter3.minus | Yo

Sup Sid. I’m taking a big gamble sending this to you before my final escape as I know you never check your messages. As you may know, I have been working at Xuxan for a long time. You're probably wondering, how long? While my avatar might look youthful and agile, on the inside I have been growing more and more distant of this lifestyle. I have been working at Xuxan for the last forty years and that not counting the fact that I was in my forties when I decide to forsake my body. That’s right I’m over eighty years old and tired of living this life, that is why I plan to delete myself from the server. I know that you might find this selfish and unreasonable, but just know that this is something I’m doing for myself and in no way should affect you. I remember the first time you entered our Xuxan four years ago, you were a cheery happy go lucky kid with the ambition of doing something with his life. But as the years past, that ambition has dwindled like a fading star. Attached to this letter is the remain of all my credits. I want you to do something better with your life or at the very least eat something that not stale bread. You have the will and determination of a fighter and the cunning of a shrew. I want you to take that drive and do something big. Your coworker, mentor, friend, and family, Terry.

System: A deposit of 568k credits has been deposited to your in-game account from player [Ter3.minus].