Stepping into Stoneburg’s deserted town square was like stepping back in time, a version of history that had gone catastrophically wrong. Gone were the sounds of players chatting, the chirping of birds and business being done with the NPC merchants. It had all been replaced by the thunder overhead and the heavy rain crashing down all around us.

“Here,” Kodiak said, leading me to the general merchant’s shop that was missing half its roof. “The only NPC in town.”

I followed him and saw a single merchant standing behind the open counter. He didn’t even have a name.

“Greetings travelers,” he said as we approached. “See anything you like?”

I opened the trade window and quickly scrolled through the items he had for sale. Starter clothes, a few scraps of worn leather for crafting, and a few pack dolls—basically just collectible aesthetic items. Absolutely nothing of use. I closed the window.

“Come again!” He said cheerfully, his mood a sharp contrast to the rest of the world.

“Nothing?” Kodiak asked. I shook my head and looked around. The town was dead. Absolutely nothing going on without another player in sight.

“Ghost town,” I said softly. “No Blacksmith in town?”

“No,” Kodiak replied. “But then again, it wouldn’t help you much even if there was.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You uh…realize you’re level 126 right?” He asked.

“What?!” I replied, realizing I hadn’t even taken a second to open my character sheet. But he was right. I opened it up and saw that I was max level—well, what used to be max level. All my points were allocated perfectly as an archer as well.

“Wow, 375 HP!” I gasped. My bow skill was a whopping 410, coupled with 310 Coordination, 260 Strength, 270 Quickness and 110 Focus and Wisdom.

“Yeah, you’re a beast. I’ve only got 240,” Kodiak said with admiration. “Now we just have to get you some equipment.”

“Easier said than done,” I grumbled.

“Why would Wintermute send you here without any gear?” He asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“None of this makes any sense,” I scoffed. “But he is an A.I. Who knows how he thinks.”

“Still…it seems pretty basic that if you send someone into a game world you give them some stuff to survive with.”

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing here to be honest with you,” I told him. “He told me that I had to be the one to help get people out of the world, but I have no idea how to do that. Like, do I just wave at them or something?”

“You don’t see any sort of special interface or anything?”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, scrolling through my player interface. Everything seemed like it should. The extra admin tab that had been there after I defeated The Ripper was gone. I don’t know if that surprised me or not.

“Maybe a special gesture?” He suggested.

I frowned and waved my hand around at him, tracing different geometric shapes through the air. Of course, nothing happened. I shrugged.

“Maybe you got duped,” he suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you ever consider that Wintermute might—might actually be The Ripper?”

A fresh dose of anxiety flooded through me as my eyes went wide. “Jesus Christ…that—that never even crossed my mind!”

I felt like a complete idiot. How could I have been so stupid? Getting contacted like that on my computer by an artificial intelligence? It didn’t seem possible. But Norman being on the other end of that communication and using this as a way of getting me back in his clutches? That was well within the realm of possibilities.

“I’m not saying that’s what’s happening,” Kodiak said quickly. “I’m just saying, this is all really strange.”

“Yeah, strange,” I replied as I fought to keep my breathing regular.

I turned around and stopped. A billow of smoke was coming out of the door of the Blacksmith’s hut—Gehman’s hut.

“I thought you said there was no smith in town?”

“There isn’t.” Kodiak replied, turning to follow my gaze. Then he saw it. Instantly, his dagger was in his hand. Again, I reached for my bow, but found nothing. I felt completely vulnerable, despite my high level.

“I thought you said this place was deserted!?”

“It was!” Kodiak hissed, stalking forward towards the hut. I followed slowly behind.

“It’s—it’s probably just another bug,” I suggested. “This backup copy of the world is obviously full of them.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kodiak replied.

But he wasn’t buying it and neither was I. Still, it was the only sign of life we’d seen since Kodiak had rescued me from the lake. We had no choice but to check it out.

As we reached the hut, another cloud of smoke spilled out from beneath the door. The rain beat down on us from above as the same, familiar, acrid smell of soot and metal filled my nose. Kodiak reached out and took hold of the handle.

“Stay behind me,” he whispered. I wanted to protest, but I knew he was right. I may have been the higher level, but I had no armor and no weapon. There wasn’t anything for me to do.

He took a deep breath, then yanked the door open. Smoke spilled out from within, twisting around our ankles like black, vaporous snakes. I glanced behind us in case we were walking into an ambush, but the rest of the town was still.

Kodiak stepped inside and I followed closely behind. It was hard to see in the hut, and the soot and smoke stung my eyes. A glowing orange light shone in front of us, and as we pushed further into the hut, I realized it was the forge, its coals alive, burning hot and fierce.

“What the Hell?” I whispered. In the Dark World, I could actually feel the heat. I held my hands up to warm them and got as close as I could handle in an attempt to dry out my clothes. The warmth felt better than I’d expected. I hadn’t realized just how cold I was until I began to warm up.

“Just a glitch,” I shrugged as my clothes continued to dry.

“One of many,” Kodiak grinned, putting away his knife.

“Let’s stay here for a while,” I suggested. “Until the rain ends?” I smiled hopefully at my companion, and that was when I heard it.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The unmistakable sound of metal on metal—a hammer. A smith’s hammer.

“What is that!?” I hissed, keeping my voice low. Kodiak stepped in front of me, his dagger held at the ready as we both tried to peer through the dense curtain of smoke in front of us. I felt trapped, absolutely helpless again, stuck in the blacksmith’s hut without a single piece of equipment to my name, my safety in someone else’s hands.

“Work…work…work…” A tired voice groaned from somewhere in the smoke. The hammer rang out again and again, like a punctuation after every word.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I watched as the cloud of soot began to move, shifting as though a gentle breeze were blowing from the other end of the hut. Slowly, it began to thin out, and the shape of a person began to appear.

“There!” I hissed, quickly pointing to the man with his back to us, holding smith’s hammer, pounding away on a slab of hot metal.

“I see him!” Kodiak whispered back.

There was something recognizable about the way the man moved. I felt a sense of familiarity as I watched him hammer away.

It can’t be, I thought as I slowly took a step around Kodiak to get a better view. Something caught on my back and spilled to the ground. Scraps of metal clattered across the floor of the hut, and Kodiak and I both froze instantly. But it was too late. The hammering ceased and I watched as the figure turned awkwardly towards us. Slowly, his face came into view, and when I saw who it was, my heart skipped a beat.

“Oh my God,” I said softly. “It—it can’t be!”