A hand reached in and pulled me up from the pool. I gasped for air and flopped on the wet stones like a beached fish. Shawn was ecstatic. “Dude!! Fuck yeah!” I turned my head and found Khugor’s gelatinous body melting into purple goo. A notification popped up, then another, then another.

Khugor, Eldritch Guardian slain, Exp. +1,500

LvL Increased: 4

HP +2

Atk +2

Def +2

LvL Increased: 5

HP +2

Atk +2

Def +2

I was at a loss for words. This was by far the toughest fight yet, but I never expected to level up twice. If Shawn hadn’t been with me, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to take down a boss at that level. Pulling up my stats, I reveled in my newfound strength.

LvL: 5 -> choose character class?

Exp: 485/2000

HP: 17/17

Atk: 11

Def: 10

Stl: 1

End: 2

Mgk: 1

Choose Character Class? That notification caught my eye. I selected the message and a window opened.

Choosing a class allows you to specialize and get bonuses in a specific field, determines what armor types you find, as well as unlock specific classes of quests for you: Warrior, Ranger, or Mage.

Warrior: Melee bonus, Defense bonus, Heavy Armor, weakness: Magic

Ranger: Ranged bonus, Stealth bonus, Light Armor, weakness: Melee

Mage: Magic bonus, Health bonus, No Armor, weakness: Ranged

Classes can be changed at later points in the narrative.

Making quick choices was something I’ve never been good at, especially rock, paper, scissors ones like this. After barely surviving the fight against Khugor, I just wanted to be as safe as possible. The Health bonus for the Mage Class was attractive but the Warrior seemed to have the heaviest protection over all with heavy armor.

Warrior Class chosen. Lvl 5 Warrior bonus: +2 Atk +2 Def.

Looking at Shawn’s gamertag, I saw he had only gained one level. Only two levels above me. Grinning at the Warrior bonus message, I felt confident that I could catch up. “Too bad we didn’t loot Khugor’s body before it disintegrated,” I said absently.

“There’s got to be something,” said Shawn. “When’s the last time you beat a boss and didn’t get any kind of loot?” I shrugged. “Wait a sec.” My friend walked past me skirted the cave pool. “Follow me!” he shouted.

On the other side of the pool were jagged stairs carved into the cavern wall. We ascended up to the rocky outcrop that Shawn had spotted earlier near the ceiling. At the top was a tunnel, presumably the way out, and two small golden chest that glowed purple. That meant rare items. Shawn and I both walked to one and claimed our reward.

Items Acquired:

Eldritch Hunter’s Helm +4 Def, Lvl 5

Eldritch Hunter’s Cuirass +4 Def, Lvl 5

Eldritch Hunter’s Falchion +4 Atk, Lvl 5

Eye of Insight (1 of ?)

Eldritch Hunter’s Armor 2/4- bonus for complete set: +4 Mgk

This was a game changer. I had just acquired half of an armor set. If I found the remaining two pieces, I’d get a decent increase in magic. That was interesting. Apparently using magic wouldn’t be limited to the Mage Class. I equipped my new loot and opened my stats:

LvL: 5 - Warrior

Exp: 485/2000

HP: 17/17

Atk: 14

Def: 18

Stl: 1

End: 2

Mgk: 1

I smiled. “Hey, man. Did you get armor too?”

“Yeah,” said Shawn. “Got a weird item too.”

I looked at my own inventory. The Eye of Insight. The marble like sphere was shaped like a human eye. I selected it for more info.

Eye of Insight- collect more to gain more insight into a world beyond this. Eyes gained from Eldritch beings must be used at a Khudgath Shrine. “What the fuck’s a Khudgath Shrine?” I asked.

My friend shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, I never done a quest like this before. I have no idea what Khudgath even is.”

“I’m gonna log off, I’m fuckin’ beat,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I’ll see what I can find out about this quest online.”

“Me too,” agreed Shawn. “Let me know if you find anything cool.”

I nod, “Peace.” My avatar disintegrated like dust in the wind.

****

My eyes slowly adjusted as I came to. Sitting up on the couch in my studio apartment, I wiped my mouth and checked the time. After I logged off, I’d passed out for two and a half hours. It was late and if I hadn’t had to piss so badly, I probably would’ve slept till morning. I sat back down after the bathroom and put my AR glasses on and opened a new browser window.

I searched “Eternity Blade, Khudgath.” A few articles came up mentioning a DLC package supposed to be included with pre-orders. The creator of the package was Henry Albright, a freelance contractor that was apparently notorious for off the wall ideas, things that would push the limits of gaming. Apparently he’d spent almost a year designing the DLC, blowing way past the original deadline.

Scrolling down, it read that the higher ups didn’t approve of the direction the DLC was taking the game in and refused to include it in their launch. Somehow Albright had merged the DLC into the game’s code before it dropped, hiding his actions in time for the launch. The rumor was that he might have created a hidden world of Eldritch horror within the Medieval Fantasy game.

There was a bit about potential lawsuits and criminal charges. The programmer said it will blow players’ minds. That it would ‘make Eternity Blade the best that [game] had ever been created.’ A notification popped up on my lense, a new message.

[3:12AM]

Shawn: Did you see the article about EB: Khudgath?

[3:13AM]

Me: Sure did. Seems like we found something not supposed to be in the game.

[3:13AM]

Shawn: I found a forum that said the company’s working to disable the new content but can’t find the code or break the encryption...or some shit like that. The programmer was real sneaky-beaky about it. There’s supposed to be game-breaking loot in there too, bro. Shit you’re NOT supposed to have in the game.

[3:17AM]

Me: That might just make sense. That’s probably what the Elder Star Crystal was.

[3:17AM]

Shawn: The What?

[3:18AM]

Me: Nothing. What are we waiting for? Let’s dive back in there.

[3:18AM]

Shawn: Booting up now.