“So that’s your plan? Win the tournament? Isn’t that going to be hard?” Dom asked as he dug into a pork taco. They were in the cafeteria at school.

Cedric leaned back in his chair. “It’s a pretty good idea, Gary. But, you have to remember, it’s not just going to be Tommy and his goons in the tournament. We are talking about hundreds, if not thousands of players who are going to try to get their hands on this loot. I mean, they are giving out 100,000 gold, which is right now evaluated at 1,720,000 dollars.”

“Yeah, I know Cedric. Everybody and their mother wants a shot at that type of cash, obviously. We just have to train harder than anybody.”

Dom shivered. “Ugh. Training hard sounds so not chill.”

Cedric shot Dom a warning glance. “I know Gary, but first of all, we are still in school! You know there are some pros out there who are gaming 10 hours a day! We are already way behind the top level players.”

Gary visibly deflated. “But, this arena is in our city. That means most of the players entered will be from Litchfield, right? We’re a pretty small city, that’s got to make things easier.”

Cedric twiddled his thumbs for a few moment. “Umm, you're not wrong, but the tournament is in three months. Word travels fast, especially in a video game. I’d say we are going to have at least one, if not a few pro teams showing up.”

They were all silent for a few moment.

“Shoot,” said Gary.

Dom slapped Gary on the shoulder. “Bro, we gotta try. They may be higher levels than us or whatever, but fighting in Foreverquest seems to have tons of strategy! I say, we level up the best we can, and then we out think ‘em!”

Gary smiled. “You think so Dom?”

Dom chipped in, “And yeah! I forgot about the physical component, duh! That throws a huge curveball at conventional gameplay. Pro gamers may know everything there is about leveling in a traditional MMO, but I bet some of them have terrible real-life levels. That will definitely give us a leg up in the competition. Plus,” he playfully punched Cedric in the shoulder. “Cedric is strong, I’m smart, and your fast! We are the perfect trio, right?”

“So, uhh, you guys are down?”

“Of course we are down!” said Cedric.

“Most definitely,” added Dom.

Gary felt fifty pounds lighter. He was glad that Dom and Cedric were excited about this.

A few moments passed, and then Gary asked the inevitable question, “So… uhh, what now?”

Dom shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. I might get my right ear pierced.”

“Dude,” Cedric said. “You know the right ear is the gay one.”

“For real?” Dom said with wide eyes. “My cousin said the left ear was the gay ear!”

“Quit it guys!” Gary said. “Come on, it doesn’t matter, let’s make some progress.”

“I guess we just finish class and get home to train?” Cedric suggested.

“Yeah, sure.” Gary agreed. “But, how bout this. We actually start studying for class and stuff. We need more intelligence.”

“For real?” Dom said. “I don’t want to.”

“Come on, mage.” Cedric said. “We need you to get your intelligence as high as possible.”

Dom huffed. “Fine, whatever.”

The three went home after school and immediately logged in. Suddenly, Gary remembered the Retrieve the Zorin Family Orb quest. He messaged Cedric and Dom.

Gary: Yo guys, where are you? Want to do the Retrieve the Zorin Family Orb quest? The faster we quest, the more exp, obviously.

Cedric: Maybe? It’s a bit dangerous, don’t you think?

Dom: Yeah dude, we got wrecked last time. I’m not so sure about it.

Gary took a moment to think. They couldn’t afford to lose another 12 hours, sure. But, no risk no reward.

Gary: Let’s just go for it. Meet me in Terrid Woods?

Dom: Sure. Let’s do it.

Cedric: See you soon.

The three shortly found each other at the perimeter of the forest. There were a few clouds in the sky, but other than that it was pretty clear day. Terrid Wood seemed even creepier than the last time they visited, the trees were twisted and menacing, bark colored black and ragged. Several large ravens populated the otherwise vacant trees clustered in the forest. Even though he knew it was “just a game”, Gary was starting to get nervous.

Gary hadn’t seen it rain in ForeverQuest yet, but he was sure it was possible, given some of the footage he had seen of other parts of the map.

“Ready?” asked Dom.

“Sure,” said Gary as he drew his [Bronze Dagger].

Cedric yawned as he tightly gripped his dagger.

“Dude, for real? Yawning at a time like this?” Dom asked.

Cedric shrugged. “I’m not tired. I just...I yawn when I’m nervous.”

“Oh, okay. Guess that makes sense.” Dom reasoned.

Cedric bravely trudged into the thick brush, his hand gripped tightly on the handle of his dagger. Gary followed closely, wanting this to engage the any monster as a group. Dom was only a few steps behind.

Suddenly, Gary heard a moan, and Dom screamed. Sure enough, he turned around to find a Zombie already attached to Dom’s arm.

With a few quick strokes, Gary chopped at the Zombie, severing its hand off completely. The beast lets go of Dom with a terrible growl. It then rushed toward Gary. Suddenly, Cedric burst forward and tackles the creature.

“Die you filthy animal!” Cedric yelled as dropped his dagger and started to beat the creature with his bare hands. Zombie blood pools around the creature as red damage indicators shoot above the fallen monster.

Soon, the Zombie gave a final groan and disintegrate into dust and a green orb. Cedric rolled to his back, panting heavily.

“Woah, the orb!” Dom yelped as he grabbed the loot.

They were silent for a moment. Cedric had 64% health, Dom had 80%, and Gary was still at 100%.

“You think that’s it?” asked Dom.

“I dunno, there were way more last time,” said Gary.

Cedric picked up his dagger. “I don’t know why I even use this, if it just gets in the way…” he muttered.

Suddenly, they heard a stampede of footfalls and groans. Horrified, Gary released there must be a swarm of them coming.

“RUN!” he screaming as he tore away.

Not only was he running for his life, but he was doing so through heavy forest. Cutting through trees and hurdling fallen logs, Gary was really putting his dexterity to the test.

Additionally, he kept an eye on his rapidly diminishing stamina. Right now he was fine, it was still at 76%.

Suddenly, a spider leapt at his face. Gary’s heart nearly spasmed as he swatted at the flailing creature. He manages to knock the spider off, but it shot a web at his ankle, tripping him.

Gary tumbled forward, slamming his head against the hard ground. Cedric dragged him to his feet but everything now looked hazy.

“You have received a mild concussion. Your dexterity is reduced by 20% and your vision is now blurred.”

“Dang!” Gary yelled as he continued to dash out of the woods.

“Come on bro, we are almost there!” yelled Dom.

Dom was right, Gary could see the trees thinning up ahead. Only a few more steps and he would be free….

Suddenly, Dom screamed and Gary saw a flash of Zombie. Dom had just gotten tackled.

Gary slid to a stop and kicked the undead in the head. It groaned but didn’t loosen its grip on Dom.

Dom stabbed it in the chest, not killing it, but its grip loosened--just for a second. Dom did a backwards somersault to get away, barely escaping the Zombie’s clawed hands.

Another Zombie had closed in on Gary, but Cedric slammed it in the chest with his foot. The Zombie stumbled backwards, and the boys took the moment to flee.

When Gary hit the treeline, it felt like he had just escaped prison. Gary came out tumbling on his left, and Cedric literally tripped over the last root in the forest, slipping on his belly, laughing as he sprawled out into the soft grass.

Gary quickly pivoted, running backwards, looking at the woods cautiously.

“They can’t chase us out of there territory, right?” Gary asked.

Dom stopped running. “Don’t know.”

Cedric, still lounging on the grass, laughed. “Nah, we are safe. They can’t find us here, according to my AI.”

Gary stopped, almost at the same time he got the exp notification.

You gained combat experience: + 8 Strength exp, + 26 Dexterity exp, + 15 Endurance. Congratulations, you grew to level 2 Endurance.

“What a relief,” said Gary. “That was close.”

“But we got the orb!” Dom said, his voice brimming with excitement.

“Oooh, look at it.” Cedric said. “Shiny.” Cedric poked it with an outstretched finger.

“Let’s bring it back to the robe guy and get our reward!” Gary said with a grin.