The blond, cat-eared human sat in the small inn, his face was covered by a white mask disguising his name as: “???”.

In order to disguise himself even further, he equipped a red coat instead of his normal blue robes.

He also held his sword out on his hip, instead of hiding it in his robe.

“Bolst: I can’t believe someone with an admin account is actually banning players… I wish one of those hackers came in handy for once and actually took care of him…”

He wore leather armour with the occasional metal plate strapped on for extra protection.

His hair was back and curly, it hung down to his shoulders.

“Llime: I heard someone found an expired listing for a second-hand moderator account for this game, he must have bought it – but that was almost a year ago…” the frogwoman wearing a white rabbit costume remarked.

She worked as an informant and messenger for the jGuardians as evident from the tabard she wore.

“Revenberry: Yeah, at least it isn’t an admin…” remarked a female harpy with pink feathers and a light-blue robe.

Her face and hands looked human, while her feet looked like talons.

Her hair hung a little past her shoulders and curled upwards away from her head.

“Llime: There were only four admins and they were the developers, they were the first to disappear,” she sat in the front of the small establishment.

Large yellow windows let the amber light inside the “L” shaped inn which was no more than half the size of the one in Grimwood.

The walls were made form bricks and plaster, the floor was wooden.

“Bolst: Shouldn’t we all log out and wait for this to blow over?” asked the muscular human standing behind the till.

He was polishing a pint with a cloth.

Since he purchased the building, he was essentially running an inn.

As long as Bolst paid a certain amount of gold every week he could keep the inn.

Even if he fails to pay for the building, he wouldn’t lose it unless someone else chose to buy it.

“Revenberry: Probably, but we’re all kind of hoping it’ll blow over by the time we’re in danger,” she shrugged.

Alexander sipped on a pint of beer in the back as the doors slammed open.

A group of three players barged in.

The female wolfman armed with a mace was the one who led the group.

“Cellerious: What’s good b#*ches?!”

“Bolst: I told you to f#*k off!” he exclaimed jumping over the till and heading towards the uninvited guests.

He grabbed the large, two-handed sword from his back.

A male harpy armed with what looked like a steam-punk inspired assault rifle stepped forward.

Unlike Revenberry, he looked more animal-like, he had a beak and no appendage of his looked human.

He wore a blue paddy-cap and black sweater.

“Muffinski: Get back!”

Seeing as his charge never stopped, Muffinski unleased a storm of bullets at the incoming human.

His level was slightly higher, even so, Bolst died moment later.

Most of the gun classes were unbalanced, the rapid-fire ones even more so.

Bolst’s body hit the ground with a thud.

“Cellerious: Well, no point saying this now that you’re dead… but this is a robbery!” she laughed.

Another harpy wielding a rapier ran up to Llime who disappeared with a puff of smoke.

“RedPancake: Bloody illusionists…” he sighed, turning his sights to Revenberry.

After snatching up all booze form the shelves and nearby boxes, Cellerious turned towards the disguised Alexander.

“Cellerious: hey, cat-ears!” she exclaimed, pointing over to Alexander who was busy being tabbed-out, watching a video of a fat cat walking on a treadmill in the water.

He was casually chewing a sandwich of his making with a side of black tea.

The sandwich was made from normal, non-toast bread, covered in toasted seeds on the outside, buttered lightly with a piece of lettuce, tomato slices, cucumber slices, large-holed yellow cheese and smoked ham.

After every bite, Alexander took a sip of his lightly sweetened black tea with a few drops of lemon juice.

“Cellerious: Are you afk?” she demanded, stomping over to the preoccupied Alexander.

Moments later, Alexander tabbed back into the game and saw the he was about to be attacked by Cellerious.

In an instant, Alexander moved from his seat and stepped behind the foe.

He was about to ban her when he remembered he was under-cover.

“Breaks are important, I can’t just keep banning people twenty-four-seven…” he thought.

He reached for a blade.

Alexander hit the wolfwoman with the butt of his sword causing her to smash into the wooden table with a loud crash.

Her character barely clung to life with every bone in their body shattered.

“Cellerious: WHAT THE F#*K?!”

“Muffinski: Cheater!” he targeted Alex and fired his gun.

The bullets flew at Alex only to be vaporised by azure flames the instant they touched him.

With the charge spell, he zipped through the small building, over several tables towards Muffinski.

With a single spin-slash he cut the harpy into three distinct parts.

“RedPancake: …”

“RedPancake: I think… I might… just go…” he said stepping towards the door.

Alexander didn’t follow him outside.

“I… may have overdone it…” Alexander thought.

“It looked cool though!” he thought.

He began heading towards the door, when he was suddenly stopped by Revenberry.

“Revenberry: Hold on!”

“???: Yes?”

“Revenberry: What the f#*k was that!?”

“???: …”

“???: Cheats?”

“Revenberry: Oooh… That makes sense!”

“???: Yeah…” he began heading outside again.

“Revenberry: Hold on, are you going up to the Rolling Plains?” she asked.

“I’m just looking for places with a lot of players…” he thought.

“???: Maybe, would you say there are a lot of people there?” he asked with folded arms.

Revenberry shot him a curious look.

“Revenberry: Yeah, that’s where everybody says the moderator guy is heading, so a bunch of strong players and cheaters are gathering there!” she explained.

Alexander nodded.

“???: Yeah, that’s the place, I was just testing you… to make sure… you weren’t the moderator…” he replied.

“Revenberry: That does make sense!”

Alexander breathed a sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe she bought that!”

“Revenberry: Bolst and I were heading there too, you should tag along!”

“???: Uhm, I’m alright, thanks.”

“Revenberry: Are you sure? We could use an over-powered swordsman!”

“???: …”

“???: Really?”

Alexander was starting to loosen up.

“Revenberry: Yeah dude! The way you destroyed those guys was awesome!”

Alexander was soaking up the complements like an edgy fourteen-year-old.

“???: Well, I suppose if we’re all going there, I might as well join you guys!” he laughed.

“Revenberry: Cool, it’s a long journey, at least we’ll get to chat on the way!” she exclaimed with a thumbs up.

“Revenberry: And then we’ll take out that bastard once and for all!”

Alexander nodded.

“???: Yeah! We’ll show him!”

“I guess I could take a break from my quest to humiliate that guy!” he thought smugly.

A few minutes later Bolst respawned.

He noticed the carnage caused by Alexander.

“Bolst: ARE YOU THE GUY WHO BROKE MY TABLE?!” he demanded, grabbing Alexander by the collar.

“???: Hold on!” he tried to wriggle free.

“Revenberry: Slow down, Bolst! He’s the one who killed the bandits!”

“Bolst: THE BANDITS DIDN’T BREAK ANY FURNATUIR!” he exclaimed shaking Alexander madly.

“???: Dude! I was attacked in your inn! I should sue!” he yelled back.

“Bolst: Don’t bring the law into this, bastard!”

Alexander shrugged with a masked expression of smugness.

“???: What kind of establishment leaves me fearing to AFk for a few seconds?” he asked.

Alexander shook his head.

“Revenberry: GUYS!”

“Revenberry: The meetup in the rolling plains!”

Bolst breathed a sigh, as he let go of Alexander, causing his character to fall to the ground with a thud.

He stood up and patted his clothes clean.

“I guess players like running their own inns and stuff… I need to keep that in mind for the next update…” he thought furrowing his brows.

“One issue at a time! First, I launch the game, then the update!”

He nodded to himself.

“Bolst: Quit spacing out! We’re leaving!” he exclaimed shoving Alexander towards the door leading out of the inn.

“???: Alright, alright!” he yelled back.

Stepping outside the inn, he could see the large open fields of amber grass with the occasional cluster of three or four birch trees.

Large, winged bulls with fur so long they resembled walking mops, travelled around the barren land in packs of no more than five.

The road seemed to stretch infinitely past the inn.

The slight fog that filled the zone truly made the scenery a dreamlike scene.

In the distance, large, chalk-white stones with markings written in a long-forgotten tongue stood guard over graves and remains of ancient towns.

“???: What an interesting zone…” he remarked upon seeing the endless expanse of grass and rocks.

“Revenberry: Is it? It’s a little bland for my taste,” she remarked turning back to see Bolst’s shabby inn.

“???: Really?”

“This is bland? I thought this look cool…”

“Maybe I should have made my zone look more… magical…”

“I hope they’ll like them…”

“Revenberry: It fits the… poverty-aesthetic Bolst is going for!” she exclaimed with a thumbs up.

“Bolst: …”

He turned towards his inn, the roof was patched with random bits of wood, a few windows were cracked and the outside was filled with discarded glass bottles.

“Bolst: Sure…”

He breathed a sad sigh in real life.

The group began travelling north.

After a few minutes of walking they came across a giant, it looked like a human coated in fur, even its eyes and mouth were obscured by the long, brown locks.

“Revenberry: So, how long have you been playing this game?” she asked curiously.

“???: I’ve been in and out for a few years,” he replied with a shrug.

“Bolst: I bet it’s easy going up against a player-banning madman with cheats…” he leered.

“Revenberry: Don’t be an as#*ole!” she demanded, staring at Bolst.

“Bolst: You sure are getting attached to this cheater,”

“Bolst: I wouldn’t be surprised if the jGuardians were taking names when they see all the cheaters attend their ‘collaborative effort’ in the plains!”

“Revenberry: How can they take his name if he’s wearing a mask, genius?!”

“Bolst: NOT HIS NAME, RETARD! THE NAMES OF WHO THEY ASSUME ARE HIS ALLIES!”

Revenberry rolled her eyes.

“Revenberry: You’re just paranoid…”

A smug look spread across her face.

“Revenberry: Hold on, don’t tell me you’re jealous!” she fake-gasped.

“Bolst: I WILL BREAK YOUR SPINE!”

Alexander watched the conversation awkwardly at a distance.

“Those jGuardians… I think I remember something about them…”

“It’s been a while since I’ve logged in to check up on the game…”

As they walked in relative silence, a player holding an over-sized syringe travelled in the same direction.

“Bolst: Another player?” he asked, reaching for his weapon.

“Revenberry: Way to look inviting…” she remarked, glaring at his blade.

“Bolst: Shut up, you never know who’s the mod in disguise!”

Alexander nodded.

“???: Yeah, you can’t be careful enough…” he agreed.

She folded her arms.

“Revenberry: Don’t get infected with his stupidity…” she pleaded.

“???: That said, it’s not like you could defeat a moderator with a regular sword…”

Bolst frowned.

“Bolst: I guess… It’s better than nothing thought!”

Suddenly, the person in question spoke up.

He had dirty blond hair and the scruffy beginnings of facial hair.

He wore glasses and a white lab coat which was stained with all sorts of liquids.

“Kevin: I can hear you guys, you know…” he replied awkwardly.

“Revenberry: Never mind, it’s Kevin.”

She looked over to Bolst and nodded.

He nodded back and began to approach Kevin with his weapon.

“Kevin: HOLD THE F#*K ON!” he exclaimed.

“Kevin: What did I ever do to you?!”

Bolst pointed his blade at the scrawny human.

“Bolst: YOU’RE THE AS#*OLE WHO PUT CIDER SLIMES IN THE BREWERIES!”

After successfully recalling the even, Kevin shrugged.

“Kevin: That was like… a year ago!”

“Bolst: YOU RUINED MY BUSINESS!”

Revenberry nodded.

“Revenberry: Yeah, turns out virtual adventurers care about the virtual quality of their virtual booze…” she remarked.

“???: Wait a second… you ran out of alcohol?”

“Bolst: All players ran out of alcohol because of this as#*hole!”

“Revenberry: You can still buy beers and stuff from NPCs, but it’s not worth it for inn-owners! I mean, nobody will buy beer from you for more than they could pay an NPC…” she explained.

“???: …”

“???: What did you serve me then?”

Bolst contemplated whether giving him an honest reply was a good idea.

Eventually, he relented and told him the truth.

“Bolst: Diluted cider-slimes with water…”

“???: …”

“Bolst: …”

“Kevin: That’s kind nasty…” he butted in, prompting a glare from everyone.

Alexander virtually threw up the beer he drank, revealing a few small slimes hopping around the stomach acid.

“???: …”

“Bolst: …”

“Bolst: You’re not getting a refund…”

“Revenberry: Gross…” she remarked.

Alexander stared wide-eyed at the scene before him with a feeling of both horror and morbid curiosity.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS GAME?!”