“Alright, man. Thanks for taking one for the team,” Sivlander said.

“Oh I’m going to survive the attack. It’s the final blow that might kill me if you aren’t fast enough,” Trefor said. “Germane, you go right. Samir, do you have any more useful spells?”

“I’m just about out of all of the good ones. Turning you guys into giants took the last remaining scroll that I had. I’ve got enough juice for one more spell.”

“Then at the last moment, I want you to turn me invisible,” Trefor said. “That should confuse him enough for you guys to flank him.”

“Nice thinking, Trefor,” Sivlander said. While he was the official leader of the team, he knew that the mark of a true leader was the willingness to allow others to give strong input. This plan was risky but at least Trefor was willing to spearhead it. Of course, it if the whole thing went wrong, it would be their heads on a spear.

“Charrrrrrge!” Trefor screamed as he bum-rushed the Wyrm.

“Really? Trying to make a last stand? How pitiful!” the Wyrm said as he stayed low to the ground, waiting for the right time to strike at the charging paladin. Sivlander and Germane both went on opposite sides of the dragon.

“I’m not going to waste time with you, paladin!” the Wyrm said as he turned his attention to Sivlander. “You’re going down, warrior!”

Right before the Wyrm could pounce, however, Samir executed his invisibility spell and Trefor vanished from sight. This sudden vanishing was enough to distract the Wyrm as he instinctively slashed forward to avoid being attacked by an invisible warrior. Sivlander took the opportunity to leap up high into the air and sailed down atop the dragon, thrusting downwards with all of his might. The blade sank into the back of the dragon and the words 300 damage floated above it.

“Oof!” the Wyrm screamed as it thrashed and slashed at Sivlander. At the same time that he tried to swipe at Siv, Germane came crashing down on the dragon with his enormous hammer, cracking him in the skull for 200 more points of damage.

“I see that I am outplayed by you four,” the Wyrm gasped as it slumped down to the ground. Trefor appeared at the side of the beast, his longsword sticking out of the gut of the creature. The words Fatal Blow hovered above the monster’s head. “Not bad. Not bad at all. I suppose in a way that you did free me of this place. As I lay dying, I realize how trapped I have been. Now I can leave to the next life. But be warned, you fools, that whatever hell that is waiting for me will not be strong enough to keep me contained. I will escape and I will return with a fiery vengeance.”

And with that the Wyrm fell over dead.

“Huzzah!” Trefor and the rest of the team shouted in unison.

“Alright, four minutes left. Where is that sweet, sweet treasure!” Sivlander asked.

“Over there!” Samir shouted as he pointed at a large box that appeared in the middle of the island. Everyone rushed over and opened it up to find a bunch of gold pieces.

“I count almost 20,000 gold pieces!” Samir said. “That’s almost…half of the value of the potions, scrolls, and magic items I used on this quest.”

“Yeah, well how much is that bracelet worth?” Sivlander asked as he pulled out a shining golden helmet. It was known as the Helm of Forlorn Victory. When worn, it would allow a player to deal critical damage if he were the last player left in the battle. This would be insanely useful and it was somewhat apropos to the situation.

“Oh man, who cares about gold? We got the skull and we beat one of the rarest and hardest quests in the game with only four people,” Trefor said as he pulled a large dragon skull out of the chest. “This bad boy is going to go right into our guild hall! It’s gonna put us on the map!”

“Guys, we got a few minutes left,” Sivlander said as he watched the clock continue to drop. “So I wanna say a few words.”

“Here it comes,” Trefor chuckled as he sat on the ground and stretched his legs out.

“Today was probably one of the toughest missions that we’ve done and there is only one reason that we won this,” Sivlander said. “We won it because of our unity. At the end of the day, we don’t have a lot going on for us. This game is brutal and we’ve all had our fair share of deaths. The fact is, we were up against incredible odds tonight and we overcame them through sheer unity. There was a chance for all of us to bail or half-ass it but we didn’t. Instead, we chose to fight together, to save the world, and in the process, we not only got the best possible reward for our team, we also grew stronger as a unit. I’m proud of you guys, and Samir, I’m most proud of you for not bailing. That bracelet is one of the most powerful items in the game and you chose to risk it all for your fellow comrades. I’m proud to call you my friends and even more proud to call you my team.”

“Here! Here!” they all shouted in unison.

“And on that note, let’s log out. We can check the quest rewards and XP logs later,” Sivlander said. “I’ve been awake for way, way too long.”

“Nice work, Van,” Trefor said. “You are a kickass leader!”

The rest echoed that sentiment as they all logged out one by one. Sivlander remained behind in the lava world for a few moments, soaking in the game. Dragon Kings of the New World was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he wanted to stay in the world for just a few seconds longer. He took a deep breath of the warm, lava-infused air and waited for the game to kick him out.

***

Moments later, Van pulled the VR goggles off of his eyes and blinked. Even though his haptic gear wasn’t nearly as powerful as some of the higher-end models, the transition from the game to the real world was always somewhat jarring. Not that he preferred being back in the real world. The smells were stale and dull, the lighting was always way too bright, and the taste of food wasn’t even that great. With a heavy sigh, he pulled off his haptic gloves and face mask and walked over to the corner of his room, where a piece of cardboard was waiting for him. That piece of cardboard was his bed, as he had spent every last dime he had on making a computer strong enough to run the game. Each night he would pull the goggles off, eat a handful of the cardboard-tasting Gamer Chow so that he wouldn’t starve to death, and then lay down to sleep.

Each night he would fall asleep dreaming about the future of his career. Someday he would become a professional gamer. He would earn a contract from Draco and all of the money would come pouring in. Then he’d have a real house, with a real bed, and maybe even a car. Not that there was any point in ever leaving the house, of course. Everything that Van wanted was inside the game. It was the only thing that really mattered to him. He sighed wistfully as he lay down and closed his eyes, too tired from the fight to even eat. He had given this quest his everything and it had paid off. He knew that someone was watching him in the game; the Wyrm had mentioned as such. Whoever was watching was certainly going to be impressed with everything that he had given. They would see him as a true leader and then someday soon, he would get a message from Draco saying ‘Work for us.’ And that would be the best thing that would ever happen to him.

As Van drifted off into sleep, there was a soft whirring by his windowsill. This whirring that he was blissfully unaware of belonged to a hidden camera that had been watching him for quite some time. He had been right; there was someone watching him, but it was not Draco at all.

“See? I told you. He’s perfect!” said a man by the name of Special Agent Neil. He was sitting next to his partner, a redhead by the name of O’Hara. They were watching the screen together. The hidden camera they had bugged the gamer’s apartment with was powerful enough to watch not only Van, but also his game. They had been awake as long as he had been, watching him play for nearly 20 hours straight without taking a break.

“I don’t know,” O’Hara said. “He doesn’t seem very special.”

“Don’t be so fooled,” Neil said as he tapped on the screen. “This guy has what we need. Look at him; he’s laying on a piece of cardboard, for crying out loud. He’s the perfect combination of brave, bold, clever, and desperate. There’s no way a guy like this won’t be useful for the mission.”

“We don’t know him at all,” O’Hara replied as she crossed her arms. “I have to admit, he knows the game very well, and he’s got enough of a criminal history for us to pressure him, but…I don’t know.”

“Look, O’Hara,” Neil said as he slammed both hands on the table. “I got this gut feeling about the guy, okay? I know at the end of the day, he’s going to be our best bet. We’ve been looking at hundreds of potential guys but this is the only one who refuses to give up, no matter how tough it gets. If he has that kind of work ethic, then it’s worth recruiting him.”

“Well if you say so,” O’Hara said. “So we gonna wait till he goes outside to throw him in the van and tell him he works for the CIA now?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Neil said as he shook his head. “He never goes outside. We’re gonna have to go to his apartment and drag him to the van ourselves.”

“I’ll get my coat,” O’Hara said, “while you get the boss’ permission.”

“Eh,” Neil said as he grabbed the keys off the desk. “Let’s just assume the boss’ll say yes.”

I hope you enjoyed this free introduction into the game-world of Dragons Kings of the New World, and following Van and his friends on their epic quest!

If you’d like to read more about Van’s LitRPG adventures, look out for The Star Dragon, now available on Amazon: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B075RF8L83 !!