It was just another regular Saturday. The sun was barely showing itself but Lukas Crow was already wide awake. He had been awake for hours now in fact. The screen of his laptop illuminated the pale complexion of his plain-looking face in the darkness of his room. His long black hair was dry and frayed and in desperate need of a shower. The bags under his eyes show the signs of sleep deprivation but his grey pupils were alive and animated.

Lukas had been up since three in the morning reading and analyzing the new patch notes on the latest expansion of his favorite game; Grand Fantasy Online. There were big changes. The notes were three pages long and the contents were very detailed. Lukas had read through it several times already and the paper pad next to his laptop was filled with badly written notes and scratches. The developers added an entirely new feature; the subclass system. He was very excited.

Grand Fantasy Online is the most popular game in recent memory. It is a full emersion MMORPG that all streamers and game bloggers have at least played once. For most people, GFO was a very exciting and expensive hobby. For Lukas, it was his life. In the real world, he saw himself as no one and a burden. In GFO, he could be a great Swordsman, a skilled Archer or an all-powerful Mage. He could face dangerous monsters and do daring tasks without fear of physical injuries. No bleeding and no pain. The only consequence is a few points deducted from an HP bar. If you die, you get to try again as much as you want. GFO was an escape from a reality that he could barely endure.

He reached the end of the patch notes again. He rubbed his itching eyes with the palms of his hands and pushed away from the table. His wheelchair collided with the metal frame of his bed making a loud clanging noise.

“Fuck.” Lukas cursed silently. He held his breath to listen for any panicked footsteps rushing toward his room. His mom always overreacts over the smallest things. But there was only silence.

Lukas propped himself up from the wheelchair and threw himself bodily on the bed with a move he had done many times before. He looked at the clock at the nightstand and it told him it was six in the morning.

I still have a few hours.

He grabbed a small blue box off the nightstand and opened it. Inside was a bottle of blue pills and a small grey disk the size of a coin. Lukas popped the bottle open and saw there were only three pills left. Three log-ins.

“Damn it.” He swore. He would have to buy more soon and Neuro-pills were getting more expensive. The money he makes selling items and boosting players in GFO was barely enough to help cover medical bills. The thought of asking his mother for money to buy more made his stomach squirm.

Lukas paused for a moment, contemplating if he should save the pills for later. He looked around the room that his mom always kept neat and clean. It was just like any other seventeen-year-old boy’s room except for the dextrose stand at the foot of the bed and the heart monitor next to the nightstand. He could hardly remember the time when those things weren’t there. In a few hours, his weekend routine would begin; a bland breakfast followed by a cocktail of medications, a visit from Mat the nurse for his physical therapy, an hour being rolled around outside to get some sun and finally placed back in his room for the rest of the day. Anxiety suddenly gripped his chest and he started breathing deep and heavy. He wanted to escape.

With one swift motion, Lukas popped one of the pills in his mouth and swallowed. He took the small disk from the box and placed it on his right temple where it glowed a dull blue on contact. Within seconds, his eyes went blank and closed.

***

Log-in successful. . .

Servers online. . .

Welcome back Lukas Crow. . .

He opened his eyes. Lukas was sitting on an ornate black throne inside a large chamber with red carpets and tapestries. The floor and walls were made of white marble veined with blue. This was a rare log-in theme he got on an event a few years back.

His characters were in neat rows and columns in front of him like an army, arranged from the highest level to the lowest. His strongest character was closest to the throne.

Name: Gaius Crowbound

Class: Lord Knight Subclass: N/A

Level: 80

Gaius was his strongest and most famous character and would always get invitations to parties and raids. This character was one of the very few to actually accomplished the hidden endgame goal of slaying the strongest monster in GFO; Dark Lord Obsidius. Only a dozen players hold the honored title of Lightbringer.

Lord Knights were hard-hitting and very durable if you build them right and Lukas always knew what the META was. But with this new expansion, everything could change.

Gaius was already at the max level but the current patch raised the level cap to 90. Lukas figured he should get a head start before the servers get too busy.

He pointed to the Lord Knight and Gaius stepped forward. Lukas closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was in the middle of Babel; the capital city of Patiram. The city square where he stood was filled with shops, NPCs and other players going about their business.

A smile crossed Gaius’ handsome features as excitement filled Lukas. He couldn’t wait to get started.

In an instant, his vision was bombarded with notifications. His chatbox kept blinking as message after message came in. He tapped the air to open one of the messages.

“Yo Gaius!!! Help me level? Please? :)”

He opened another message.

“Party me, please. I pay. $$$”

He read every message, each was different but said the same; I need help.

Lukas sighed. He just wanted to be left alone and play a little. Some were even offering money but he wasn’t in the mood today.

The price of being famous...

He swiped his finger through the air and navigated to character selection.

He was now back in the throne room, unsure of what to do. Logging out now would just be wasting the Neuro-pill. Instead, he pointed to an empty character slot and the new character screen hovered in front of him. Lukas decided that spending the next few hours running around and experiencing GFO from the beginning with a fresh character in this new expansion might just be the thing he needed to get through the day. He was going to make another Swordsman. It was his favorite class, after all.

He clicked one of the presets in the character customization and proceeded to allot his starting attributes to where he generally does when making a Swordsman; Str and Vit. Then he remembered that there was the new subclass system. The notes he had scribbled on the paper pad for a new possible build popped into his head.

I wonder...

Lukas reset the attributes and instead placed everything in Int. In the character name bar, he typed; Lukas Corvo and pressed confirm.

***

Lukas Corvo appeared in the small village of Simula. He was surrounded by a few fellow novices just starting a new character. He breathed in the simulated fresh air smelling of grass and flowers and smiled. He took a step forward, and then another. Soon enough, he was running.

God! This feels good!. Lukas thought. In GFO, he could run as much as he wanted and not even break a sweat. The last time he was able to run was a long time ago. The game engine didn’t replicate the sensation perfectly, but it was close enough.

He skipped through the tutorials, gathered every starting quest he could get and headed straight for Novice Fields. After years of playing the game, he knew exactly where to go and what to hunt for the most efficient leveling.

He spent the next hour slaying plant monsters and slimeballs, savoring every movement of his body. The starting monsters weren’t that strong and would only do a small amount of damage. Every time Lukas would get hit, he would feel a jolt but no pain and his HP bar would go down by a few points. With each kill, the monsters vanished like vapor leaving their loot behind and his golden Exp bar increased.

Every level up, Lukas got +5 attribute points and he placed it all on Int. This was an experiment. He wanted to see his idea was viable.

When he got to level ten, Lukas went back to the town and found the Swordmaster NPC to changed his class from novice to a Swordsman. To his surprise, the NPC gave him a strange look as if to say 'Are you sure?'

This was odd but Lukas decided it was just his mind playing tricks on him and proceeded with the class change.

Lukas rushed to the next town of Caldium. There were higher level monsters there. His specific target was the Field Wraiths, a level 15 aggressive undead type monster that took the shape of a floating hooded specter with two clawed hands. This particular mob gave a big chunk of experience. The only problem was they hit very hard and cast a spell; Cold Bolt.

Normally, only Mages and Acolytes farm Field Wraiths because their classes have high M.Def provide by their Int points. They can also keep the monster from a distance with spells and debuffs. Other classes don’t even think of killing Field Wraiths unless it was for a quest. But Lukas wanted to test something.

With a swipe of his hand, he opened up the common inventory and scrolled until he found what he was looking for. It looked like a vial filled with grey swirling smoke.

(12)Horror Mist [Event Item]

(100% Evation Vs. Non-boss Monsters for 5 mins)

He obtained this item in the Holloween event and had been saving it. Now was a good time as any.

Lukas crushed one of the twelve vials and grey smoke surrounded him. He had exactly one hour’s worth of Horror Mist. He better get started.

The first Field Wraith came floating toward him when Lukas entered its aggro zone. When it got in range, it took a swing at him with its ghostly claws. Lukas’ body moved out of the way on its own and he struck the monster with his sword. The monster’s HP bar decreased by a tenth. The Field Wraith struck, again and again, each blow was evaded by Lukas and answered by a sword swing. When the monster’s HP bar reached half, it retreated back several meters and started glowing an icy blue.

“Here it comes,” muttered Lukas.

With a flash, the Cold Bolt shot toward him and collided. Lukas felt a chill and saw his HP bar decrease but only by a few points. He smiled and went after the Field Wraith to deliver the killing blows. After the monster was dead, his Exp bar filled up nearly by a third. Doing the calculations in his head, Lukas determined that he could be level 20 by the time he ran out of Horror Mist. If he could achieve that, his experiment might turn out to be a success.

Lukas carried on running down the Field Wraiths despite getting strange looks from other players. He was the only swordsman there without a party. He happily hacked away at the ghostly figures one after the other. Each level up he still placed his attribute points to Int. This time, however, he wasn’t just swinging his sword. He learned a few sword skills as well.

Wild Strike[Active: Attack Modifier]

[Next attack deals increased damage and has a chance to stun. CD.10s]

Parry Stance[Active]

[Deflect a certain number of incoming physical attacks. Duration 10s. CD.30s]

Swordsmanship[Passive]

[Increase damage while using swords.]

His Wild Strike didn’t do much damage however due to his low Str and bad starting equipment, but he could cast it as much as he wanted without using expensive blue potions. His MP bar and MP regen were now abnormal for a Swordsman of his level.

He was making a good pace. The only issue was that all the items the Field Wraith dropped were robes and wands. None of which were suitable for his class.

After an hour of slaying Field Wraiths, Lukas finally reached level 20. This was his new record for power leveling a Swordsman and he smiled at the small personal achievement.

I hope this build works.

He looked around the field and found himself alone.

That’s odd. He thought. Where did everybody go?

He stuck his sword in the ground and leaned on it to catch his breath and realized how strange the sensation was.

Am I tired? Why am I out of breath?

Before he could think any further, another Field Wraith appeared before him. A fresh spawn. Lukas looked at his status bar and saw that the last vial of Horror Mist was about to expire in tens seconds. He picked up his sword and held it ready. His forehead beaded with sweat, he noticed.

That’s a first. Was this part of the new patch?

The Field Wraith advancing on him somehow looked more menacing, more realistic. It swung its claws and Lukas’ body moved out of the way automatically but something felt off. It felt unnatural and awkward.

He attacked with Wild Strike and saw the monster’s HP bar nearly drop to half, sending the ability on cooldown. The stun didn’t go off. The monster countered immediately with another slash aimed at his head. His body started to move away but Lukas noticed that the effects of Horror Mist had already worn off. He was moving on his own reaction. It wasn’t enough. He lost balance and clumsily fell backward on his butt. He saw a tenth of his HP bar disappear.

Lukas felt a stinging sensation on his forehead and something warm ran down his cheek. He reached up to his face with a gloved hand and saw it come away bloody. His stomach dropped.

“Is this part of the new patch?!”