[ZERO SPACE]

Sunlight Forest had a simple name for simple reasons: it was pretty during the day. It was also more dangerous at night. There were still plenty of dangers in the day, but they were easier to see.

Umi didn’t seem concerned. He charged forward, swinging his warhammer through trees and wildlife alike.

“Umi, this is a stealth mission,” cried Julvor.

“I’m great at stealth!” Umi shouted. “No one ever sees me coming!”

Shae matched Julvor’s pace.

“Julvor,” said Shae. “I need a favor.”

“I know better to exchange favors with you,” Julvor replied. “You have quite the reputation. And by that, I don’t mean reputation points.”

“Look, it’s really important I don’t get last place here,” Shae said. “Can you like, just let me kill a few more things than you?”

“I’m the healer,” said Julvor. “My goal isn’t to kill things. But if I see something I can kill, you should expect me to kill it.”

“If I get last place, I’ll get kicked out of the guild,” said Shae.

“Well, you should have thought of that before you were an asshole,” said Julvor.

Julvor, like most healers, was an upper floor dweller. Healers were too valuable for the Haven to risk placing on lower floors. Even mediocre healers like Julvor were treated like royalty. That gave him an excuse to be a royal pain the ass.

Frustrated, Shae put some distance between them. Finishing the mission would be hard enough on its own, even without having to worry about rep points. There was no way Shae could keep up with a powerhouse like Umi. And DangerFace869 was a wildcard.

DangerFace869 took up the rear, jogging at his own pace. This was his first time leaving guild headquarters, and he was savoring every moment of it. His long fingers scraped against passing trees. The soles of his feet glided through blades of grass. It all felt so real here. How could this be possible?

“We made it!” shouted Umi.

A giant purple bubble surrounded a forest clearing, obscuring its inhabitants. This was an instance, a special place in the game made just for Shae’s team. The moment they ventured inside, their mission would become active. No other players could join them or interfere – it would just be them and their objective.

Umi was the first to pass through. The purple bubble bent and molded around his figure, absorbing him into its interior. Shae went next. Then DangerFace869. The bubble however, rejected DangerFace869, hurling him across the forest floor.

“Umi, Shae,” Julvor called out. “Come back here. We may have a problem.”

Umi and Shae emerged from the purple bubble, confused by the interruption.

“The bubble doesn’t like me,” DangerFace869 said.

Umi knew what was up. He wasn’t the brightest, but he was the most experienced.

“That’s because you haven’t picked a Starting Weapon yet, buddy!” Umi laughed. “Starting Weapons determine your Special Power. You can’t enter a mission without one!”

This was excellent news for Shae. Choosing a Starting Weapon took most players several days. Several weeks, for some. And it couldn’t be done here. DangerFace869 would need to go into town for it. If the mission was cancelled, that would mean more time for Shae on floor twelve. Enough time for him to figure something out.

“Hand to hand is fine,” said DangerFace869. “I don’t need a weapon.”

Shae went pale.

“I like your style!” shouted Umi.

“Wait!” Shae injected. “This is your Starting Weapon. You’ll be stuck with it forever. You should take a few days to think about it.”

“I’m good,” said DangerFace869.

This couldn’t be happening. Who was this guy? What the hell was his problem?

“We’re all set then!” shouted Umi.

DangerFace869 glowed with a vibrant fuchsia hue. Rippling energy crawled across his skin, through his scrappy armor, and into his eyes and mouth. It was a curious energy, studying him both inside and out. Eventually, the energy settled. And then –

“I have a new power,” DangerFace869 said. “Watch this:”

DangerFace869 turned, unleashing a series of rapid punches straight into Umi’s torso and face. Fuchsia energy flowed through each fist, impacting Umi’s body with a barrage of shredding strikes. Even Umi’s thick brutoid flesh couldn’t withstand an assault like this at close range.

Eventually, DangerFace869’s ability elapsed, leaving him winded and sweating from the effort.

“Fury Strikes,” said DangerFace869. “Pretty cool.”

DangerFace869’s was met with six angry brutoid eyes. Both Umi’s armor and head were dented beyond repair. Even a new player like DangerFace869 could recognize the severity of this mistake.

“Julvor,” said Umi, with a disturbing calmness. “Heals.”

Julvor strapped a jagged blade to his tentacle. He extended this blade in Umi’s direction, projecting a ray of white light from its tip into the brutoid’s body. Seconds later, a fully-formed Umi stood before him again.

“Good as new!” shouted Umi.

DangerFace869 was frozen in fear.

“It’s alright,” Umi reassured him, slapping him across the back. “When I first started out, I made mistakes like that all the time. I still do!”

“I have four heals left,” Julvor warned. Special powers used a metric called SP. A healer’s SP was paramount to a party’s success.

“Danger-Face, eighty, eight-something… you’re down some SP too,” Shae said. “We should probably just go back.”

SP took an entire day to recharge. If Shae had his way, this meant one more day of floor twelve.

“We’re fine!” Umi shouted. “This mission isn’t that hard. We can do it! We’ve got Ledgess on our side!”

Umi grasped Ledgess, the blue puppy idol around his neck, then disappeared into the bubble. Both Julvor and DangerFace869 followed behind.

Shae was petrified. He had never succeeded at this mission before, and he didn’t like their odds. He needed an excuse. Any excuse. Maybe he could just stall out here until –

“Come on Shae!” shouted Umi. The brutoid’s hand shot out of the bubble, dragging the screaming Shae inside.

***

A cozy settlement rested just beyond the bubble’s border, consisting of four houses and a large hut in the center. Each house was crafted from grass and stone, held together by rope. It was an impractical design, vulnerable to fire, heavy impacts, or even a bit of wind. Zero Space could be selective with its realism.

A path of villager corpses guided Shae’s party to the settlement. Hungry goblins lurked between houses. Several goblins held villagers hostage. Others searched for new prey.

There were many interpretations of goblins in popular fiction, and this was one of them. They were pale green humanoids, with little pot bellies and clusters of yellow moles. Their few remaining teeth were old and rotten. Their eyes were red and piercing. Each held a single tomahawk. Loin cloths exposed all but their most sensitive bits. The art direction for these foes was uninspired, but serviceable.

“I count ten goblins,” said Julvor.

“I count fourteen villagers!” Umi shouted.

“There’s seven living villagers,” Shae said, correcting Umi. “That’s not a lot. We need to be sneaky.”

DangerFace869 dipped out of the conversation, maneuvering behind a hut.

“Be sneaky!” Shae called after him.

Umi snuck right into the open with his Warhammer held high, issuing a loud challenge to every goblin in the village. All captive villagers were immediately slain. The goblins then shifted priorities, charging towards Umi with their weapons held high.

“Umi, no!” Julvor screeched.

It was too late. Umi met them with several wild warhammer swings. Each swing resulted in a decapitation or dismemberment. A pile of bodies formed around Umi, with more incoming goblins eager to join his collection.

DangerFace869 wedged himself between two bushes, staring towards an unprovoked goblin. This goblin was ripping into what may have been a villager - it was hard to tell at this point.

DangerFace869 was confident in his fighting ability. But he didn’t know what to expect from these goblins, or even his new demonoid body. Playing it safe, DangerFace869 unleashed a Fury Strikes into the goblin’s upper half. Soon, only the goblin’s lower half remained. The demonoid’s SP was down to three.

Shae peeked out from behind a grass house – two goblins lingered ahead, playing soccer with a villager’s head. One goblin wasn’t a problem. Two however, could be a big problem.

A mangled villager body rested at Shae’s feet. Shae didn’t how this villager died, nor did he want to. Could NPCs feel pain? It was always on his mind. Their faces conveyed real suffering, but good programming could be quite convincing.

Either way, this NPC was probably not in pain anymore. It probably didn’t feel Shae detach its head, before punting it in between both goblins. As the head rolled in front of the goblins, Shae rolled behind them.

“PIERCING SHOT.”

A penetrating purple bullet passed from one goblin mouth to another. Shae’s SP was reduced to four.

Umi’s warhammer vanquished his last few opponents. No living goblins existed in his proximity. Only goblin pieces, and goblin weapons, lodged in every part of his body.

“Heals!” shouted Umi.

Julvor’s head emerged from a bush. His tentacle blade released a concentrated beam of white light towards Umi, restoring the brutoid to his former healthy self. Umi stretched and groaned as the healing energy passed over him– he was enjoying this way too much.

“Umi, try not to move around,” said Julvor. Julvor’s healing ability only worked while his beam was focused directly on a target. Knowing Umi, he’d need to make every heal count. Three SP of healing remained.

Shae patrolled the village – there was nothing left alive. Not a great start, but the mission could still be salvaged. It wasn’t this part of the mission that he was worried about…

“Did we lose?” asked DangerFace869.

“We’re fine!” Umi shouted. “The mission was to protect the village. Not the villagers!”

Another brutoid emerged from the chief’s hut, on par with Umi’s size. He wore grass and stone armor, held together by rope. Clearly the architect of this village, as well as its governor.

“You are thanked for saving this village!” the chief’s voice boomed, oblivious to the carnage around him. “But your fight is not an over.”

“He’s talking weird,” said DangerFace869.

“It’s just a bad translation,” whispered Julvor.

“The goblins,” the chief continued. “They will, return! It is you, our rescuers, who must save us all. The villagers!”

“Weird that they still haven’t updated his dialogue,” said Shae.

“I love his dialogue!” shouted Umi.

“In my four villager houses,” the chief continued. “There are, villagers that are must be rescued. Convince them to join you, and they will be of your help in the upcoming battle.”

“Save villagers in the houses,” DangerFace869 clarified. “Got it.”

DangerFace869 dipped out of the conversation, heading towards a nearby house. Julvor’s tentacle snagged him.

“Not yet!” Julvor warned. “This is an old quest. If you enter a house before the chief’s done talking, the quest will bug out.”

Shae pondered Julvor’s words. If the quest bugged out, would that count as a failure?

“Gather my villagers, and then you will return here, to where I am here,” the chief concluded. “Then you will must all fight the goblins. But together!”

And with that, the chief stomped back into his hut. One of the hut doors didn’t open all the way. The chief’s body clipped through it, warping and shaking violently, before falling through it sideways.

“I’ll never get used to that,” muttered Julvor.

“He looked tough,” said DangerFace869. “Why doesn’t he just save the villagers?”

“Then we wouldn’t have anything to do!” shouted Umi. “Let’s split up! To the houses!”

***

Julvor entered his house first. It was a tiny place. Stone furniture with grass cushions. A stone fireplace, burning grass. And a cozy grass bed, with a stone frame, built on a bed of grass. There was a clear pattern here.

Beneath the bed, a villager sat in the fetal position. A goblin patrolled the room, searching everywhere except the villager’s obvious hiding place. The goblin’s patrol path was predictable – it would be an easy kill for a competent fighter. Unfortunately, Julvor was barely a competent healer.

When Julvor had joined Zero Space, his goal was to play a rogue - a sneaky character that could pick off unsuspecting enemies from the shadows. Zero Space however, had other plans for him. Upon selecting his Starting Weapon - a jagged tentacle blade - Zero Space gifted him with the power of healing.

Most players would have considered this a blessing. Healers were guaranteed a spot in most guilds, as well as a high Haven floor. But this wasn’t the experience Julvor had signed up for. He wanted to be where the action was, not stuck on the sidelines. His fantasy life had been spoiled by circumstances beyond his control, and he was forever bitter about it.

“I’m scared!” cried the villager under the bed. The goblin somehow didn’t hear him.

Julvor tightened the strap of his tentacle blade, his eyes trained on the goblin’s head. Just one well-timed strike would do the trick. A rare chance for Julvor to flex his amateur assassin muscles.

He lunged forward, slicing the goblin’s neck with his blade. A near fatal blow, but near fatal wouldn’t cut it. The goblin jerked around, clamping its teeth around Julvor’s throat.

Suffocation was a strange sensation in Zero Space. Early playtesting had indicated that players disliked not being able to breathe. As a result, the designers had made it so that even when breathing wasn’t possible, players could still experience the sensation of it.

They still found a way to make suffocation miserable though. First, a player would suffer extreme heat, then extreme cold. Their vision would become blurry, before finally, becoming dark and distant. It was an odd collage of sensations, far removed from reality. Nobody on the development team had volunteered to research actual suffocation – this was their best guess.

The goblin ripped and tore at Julvor’s exposed neck. Despite Julvor’s crushed windpipe, he could still smell the goblin’s foul breath. Another tentacle strike severed the goblin’s head from its body. Even in death, the teeth took some effort to pry free.

“Thanks for saving me,” said the villager, emerging from beneath the bed. “I will help you in the upcoming battle!”

Julvor attempted to respond, but was unable to do so without a throat. He aimed a ray of healing light at himself, patching up the damage. One villager had been saved. Two more heals remained.

Umi’s house was bigger than Julvor’s. There were five villagers in this one, and only two beds between them. In the Haven, Umi lived on a low floor, sharing a unit with six other people. The villagers’ situation hit close to home.

“We will help you,” said one villager. “But first, you must do a quest…”

Umi smashed that villager’s face with his Warhammer. The next villager spoke up:

“We will help you, but first, you must do a quest…”

Umi smashed that villager’s face with his Warhammer. The next villager spoke up:

“We will help you, but first, you must do a quest…”

Umi smashed that –

Umi hesitated. “Alright, fine,” he shouted. “What’s your quest?”

“You must take us with you to fight the goblin army.”

Umi’s six eyes shot him a blank stare.

“That’s it?” Umi shouted. “Praise Ledgess! I was gonna do that anyway!”

The villagers cheered. So did Umi.

“Us villagers stick together!” a villager said.

Umi’s blunt charm had won them over. Another three villagers secured!

Shae’s house looked like all the others. The only unique addition was a small table made of stone, and a hanging chandelier, also made of stone. Two villagers occupied this house. The first was an elderly woman, brandishing a boiling tea kettle.

“Cup of tea?” she asked.

“I’m good,” said Shae.

The other villager approached Shae. He was a burly pteranoid - the same race as Asira. His fuzzy pterodactyl wings smacked the tea-bearing villager as he passed; she didn’t seem to notice.

“In this house, we shake hands,” said the pteranoid villager, extending a fuzzy hand in Shae’s direction. Shae’s palm met his own. They embraced in a long, awkward handshake.

“The village is in danger, yadda yadda” Shae said. “Join us, yadda yadda.”

The two villagers stared at Shae.

“In this house, we will join you in combat.”

“Cup of tea?”

Shae had been through this quest plenty of times. This part was easy.

In the corner of the room, there was a lockbox that Shae had never noticed before - a thin treasure chest made from grass and stone, secured with rope. It didn’t look hard to bust open, but knowing Zero Space logic, he suspected he’d need a key.

By coincidence, a key hung loose from the pteranoid villager’s waist, taunting Shae with a tantalizing jingle. These villagers had already agreed to help Shae’s cause. There was no way they’d turn on him now.

He crouched down, just beyond the pteranoid’s line of sight. His finger tapped the key once - no movement from the pteranoid. With minimal effort, Shae could pull it free. He just had to gently --

-- The pteranoid’s long snout snapped towards him.

“In this house, we kill thieves!”

Anton’s training kicked in. Shae reflexively launched himself beneath a table as the pteranoid’s foot came crashing down. Two axes materialized in the pteranoid’s hands. This was bad, and not just for obvious reasons. Friendly NPCs, when provoked, were almost always overpowered.

Pteranoid axes smashed through the stone table, pulverizing it to pebbles. Shae dove out of harm’s way, firing both pistols to propel him across the slick stone floor. He rolled to his feet, then dodged around incoming axe swings, struggling to find an opening. NPCs were more predictable than human players. The downside however, was that they were immune to mind games, one of Shae’s few strengths. The only way Shae would get into this villager’s head was with a bullet.

Leaping over an incoming axe, Shae bounded off the grassy bed, and flipped towards the stone chandelier. Hooking his legs around it, Shae aimed his pistols downwards, showering the pteranoid with bullets. The villager hardly noticed, scissoring towards Shae with both axes.

Shae dropped from his perch, clamping his legs around the pteranoid’s neck, before flipping backwards. He hurled the pteranoid with his weight, sending him hallway through a window.

“Cup of tea?”

Shae accepted the offer, frying the pteranoid’s face with hot tea. An upsetting roar escaped his opponent’s scalded snout. NPC suffering could be uncomfortably convincing. All the tea in the world wasn’t going to bring his enemy down. There was only one way to end this --

“PIERCING SHOT!”

Shae’s purple bullet tunneled through the pteranoid’s snout, exploding out the back of his head. The pteranoid collapsed across the bed, never to wake again. The battle was over.

Shae fell to his knees, breathing hard. His whole body trembled with adrenaline. One less villager, and one less SP. Had it been worth it? Shae crawled towards the lockbox to find out. Inside of it: a vintage tea kettle and a set of matching cups.

To the untrained eye, it was a miserable treasure. For Shae however, it was worth the risk. Spoils of war in Zero Space could be sold for credits, and these were no ordinary spoils - this was a Rare Material, an uncommon item that was difficult to obtain. Rare Materials fetched a high price. This tea kettle was worth one or two new zero discs. Maybe Shae could finally get that fancy hat he’d always wanted.

“Cup of tea?” asked the surviving villager.

One villager saved. It wasn’t a complete disaster. He just had to hope his allies had greater success.

***

Shae and his villager made their way to the chief’s hut. Umi and Julvor were already waiting there, four additional villagers in tow.

“We did great!” Umi shouted.

Shae kept his opinion to himself.

“Where’s the other guy?” asked Julvor. DangerFace869 hadn’t returned yet. Had something happened inside his house?

The village chief decided not to wait. He emerged from his hut, strutting towards the party with a poorly-animated walk cycle.

“You have gathered, five, villagers, I am seeing!” the chief exclaimed. “A worthy force of friends. The goblins will soon come in a worthy force. If all your villager friends die, it will result in your loosing. Good luck with that fight, and!”

The chief stopped moving. His mouth hung open, but no more words emerged. He began shaking, and then suddenly, flew sideways into the forest, never to be seen again. This was typical behavior for the chief – no one questioned it.

Shae dreaded what was about to happen. It was time for the grand finale. If every last villager fell, the quest was over. And they had only gathered five.

Shae didn’t like those odds. This was always where everything went wrong; he’d never made it past this part. It wasn’t just some make-believe village on the line here. It was Shae’s spot in the guild, and his spot on floor twelve. His future depended on this.

Julvor felt uneasy, his eyes scanning the surrounding trees for movement. He didn’t have much to lose, but he had plenty to gain. A few rep points separated him from a higher Haven floor. Most healers lived above floor thirty - he was slumming it up on floor twenty eight. A victory here was all he needed to reach new heights.

A goofy smile curled below Umi’s six brutoid eyes. Umi didn’t care about victory. He just wanted to smash as much stuff as possible. His companions on the other hand, looked like they needed a pep talk.

“Don’t worry,” said Umi. “This part’s not as bad as people say. There’s only about twenty more goblins to fight. They all come out of the same place, and use the same weapons. There’s nothing to worry about! And we have Ledgess on our side!”

Umi held up his blue puppy idol. Shae and Julvor remained uninspired. Whatever came out of that forest had the potential to ruin everything.

The forest stood steady. Summer leaves rattled in the faint wind. Light from the evening sun bathed the party in a warm glow. The sweet smell of pollen and berries drifted out from silent trees.

This prolonged silence was starting to bother even Umi. Hushed whispers of NPCs, repeated the same lines over and over again:

“I’m scared.”

“Us villagers stick together!”

“Cup of tea?”

Shae’s thoughts overpowered their chatter. This was taking too long. Did the quest bug out? No, that was too good to be true. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

A single rock whizzzzzzzed through the air, colliding with the soil near Umi’s feet. The next rock crashed into the brutoid’s skull. And then another, into his shoulder.

“Slings!” Shae yelled. “They’ve got slings now!”

A fleet of stones launched into the sky, descending towards the village like a meteor shower. It was finally time for Umi to use his power. The brutoid’s warhammer raised, and then with a mighty roar, he brought it down against the soil.

“GRAVITY SMASH!”

A translucent ripple expanded from his warhammer, tearing across the open sky. An invisible net of energy tore flying rocks free from their trajectory, dropping them against unoccupied Earth.

“I love their new weapons!” shouted Umi.

From the forest, ten, twenty – no, over forty goblins emerged. Some spun cloth slings, armed with stone projectiles. Others gripped tomahawks. Each goblin held an unquenchable thirst for death and destruction.

“Us villagers stick together!” said Umi’s three villagers simultaneously.

“No, wait!” yelled Shae.

No logic would deter them. These three villagers charged forward, meeting the goblins head on. It was a slaughter. The trio perished, taking several goblins with them. An unfortunate trade.

“Get to safety!” yelled Julvor towards the remaining two villagers.

“I’m scared,” Julvor’s villager replied, before leaping face-first into a bush.

“Cup of tea?”

Shae’s villager lacked common sense, but at least she remained stationary.

“Umi,” yelled Shae. “You said there were only going to be twenty of them!”

“There used to be twenty of them!” Umi shouted. “Must have been a balancing change! This is gonna be fun!”

The brutoid batted away an incoming stone projectile, hitting a homerun. A goblin caught the rock with its face, sending it into several more.

Shae aimed his pistols –

“PIERCING SHOT!”

Four goblins, for the price of one of bullet. Not bad, but Shae would have to do better with his final shot.

A sneaky goblin emerged from an alley between houses. One villager noticed:

“Cup of tea?’

Tea was the only thing this goblin didn’t consume. In an instant, only a single villager remained. Shae spotted the goblin halfway through its meal, unloading a few dozen bullets into its chest.

“No!” Shae screamed. “Umi, there’s goblins coming from behind us too!”

“Another change!” Umi shouted. “Neat!”

As the approaching horde drew close, Umi went on the offensive. The brutoid barreled through their masses, his warhammer’s momentum steering his body. Julvor struggled to maintain a clear line of sight on Umi.

Several more goblins leapt out from behind houses. These goblins sniffed the air, seeking villager blood. It didn’t matter how many goblins were left. If the last villager fell, this quest was over.

“Hey morons!” Shae yelled to several of them. The goblins didn’t know the word, but his intent was clear. Shae became their new target, hissing as they charged forward.

Shae flipped over one goblin, and slid through the legs of another. A third goblin was less interested in Shae – it was more interested in a nearby bush. The last villager was “hiding” in that bush.

“I’m scared!” the villager cried.

Shae didn’t have long to react. He would have to use his last SP.

“PIERCING SHO –“

Two goblins seized Shae’s arms, dragging him away. His SP hadn’t been used, but his shot hadn’t fired either. Shae screamed in anger. It couldn’t end like this. He watched in horror as the villager was yanked free from the bush, suspended in the air by a hungry goblin hand.

“I’m scared!” the villager cried.

The door of the fourth house swung open - DangerFace869 charged out of it, three young villagers following right behind him.

“Sorry, they made me play hide and seek,” DangerFace869 said. “It was a stupid game. Took me forever to find them. What’d I miss?”

The answer to that question lay all around him. DangerFace869 sprinted forward, eager to join the action.

“We’re going to hide,” said one of DangerFace869’s villagers. “See if you can find us!”

The three villagers spread out across the village. DangerFace869 didn’t bother keeping track of them. He figured they would be fine.

The two goblins holding Shae were now biting through his arms. Shae regretted his current gore setting; he watched the goblin in front of him reduce their villager count to three.

Julvor caught wind of Shae’s plight. His tentacle blade raised in Shae’s direction.

“Heals!” shouted Umi suddenly. The goblins were getting the better of him. Bites, stabs, and stones were stacking up in the brutoid’s body.

Julvor had to choose between his two allies - it didn’t take much deliberation. He assured himself it wasn’t a personal preference, redirecting his aim towards the struggling Umi. Goblins were crawling all over the brutoid.

“Umi,” yelled Julvor. “I don’t have a clear shot on you!”

“I hear ya buddy!” shouted Umi. “GRAVITY SMASH!”

Umi’s warhammer touched down - grasping goblins fell in a ring around him. Umi shook with euphoria as a ray of light cleansed his wounds. If players weren’t supposed to take damage, why did healing feel this good?

POP POP

One pop for each of Shae’s dislocated arms. Shae fell backwards, thrashing his legs towards approaching goblins. The goblins casually knocked his flailing feet away, biting down into his --

-- DangerFace869’s knee met one goblin in the face. His elbow smashed the other. Two blows - two kills.

A shrill shriek indicated that Julvor was next in line for rescue. DangerFace869 dashed forward –

“FURY STRIKES!”

Three more goblins met their end.

“You don’t need to say the name of your power,” said Julvor. “Why do you all feel the need to say the name of your power?”

“It’s fun to say it,” DangerFace869 insisted. “Go help the human.”

Julvor was aware of Shae’s condition. It seemed illogical to waste his last SP on Shae, but there wasn’t much time to argue.

“You help the brutoid,” Julvor barked back.

DangerFace869 agreed to his terms. Another group of goblins were already upon Shae. Julvor’s healing beam couldn’t reach Shae at this angle – he’d have to move to higher ground. Leaping onto a grassy wall, Julvor scaled a house with his tentacle blade.

Goblin ribs and teeth ricocheted off Umi’s warhammer, paid for with tomahawks and stones. Little pains in the brutoid were adding up again.

“Heals!” shouted Umi. His words were lost in goblin screams.

The brutoid wasn’t ready to die. Not while there were still so many goblins left to kill. Umi could feel his bones shaking. His muscles spasmed. His legs threatened to collapse.

DangerFace869 performed his third consecutive rescue for Umi. What this newcomer lacked in strength, he made up for in raw fighting prowess. Each blow was concise and focused. Equal parts offense, equal parts defense. This new guy was a genuine martial artist - Umi couldn’t imagine how tough he was in real life.

Shae was now cornered against a grass hut wall, surrounded by several goblins. The goblins communicated with clicks and pops - a primitive goblin language, probably debating how to distribute Shae’s meat. He held them back with a display of spinning kicks. This wouldn’t delay them for long, but it was the best he could do without arms.

A ray of light poured across Shae’s body - Julvor! The healer had made it onto the rooftop above him. Two wobbling stumps emerged from Shae’s arm sockets, churning like boiling clay, before forming into arms. Shae used them immediately, scrambling up the wall as several goblins pounced upon his position.

“Good save,” Shae said.

“That was my last heal,” Julvor replied. “You’d better make it worth it!”

“The brutoid’s down!” DangerFace869 yelled, retreating into the village. Umi’s wall of death had fallen. The main goblin force was finally breaking through.

Shae spun to the roof’s edge, firing his pistols towards them with wild fervor. Most of the goblins had been weakened by Umi’s efforts. It didn’t take many bullets to finish the job. One goblin fell, then two, then three – within moments, six or seven goblins fell victim to Shae’s bullets.

A wave of goblins swept across the village, engaging the remaining villagers in a high stakes game of hide and seek.

“Where are the other villagers?” shouted Shae.

“I don’t know,” DangerFace869 admitted. “That was my bad.”

Shae gritted his teeth, then continued firing.

Nine goblins… Ten goblins…

Julvor witnessed Shae’s actions with envious eyes. Even Shae was racking up more kills than him. He couldn’t let this happen. Not when he was so close to reaching a new Haven floor.

Julvor leapt from his rooftop perch, squashing a passing goblin underneath two hundred pounds of tentacloid. A nearby goblin squealed with joy – it had discovered a villager, hiding by the chief’s hut. Goblin noses were tuned for this exact sort of thing.

Julvor was no longer confident in his stealth abilities. If he moved on this goblin too early, it would rip him to pieces. No, Julvor had to wait for the right moment. Maybe, when it was distracted with a villager? There had to be less than a dozen goblins left. Surely, the party could spare just one villager…

Meanwhile, Shae’s body count was racking up.

Fourteen… Fifteen…

Every goblin kill increased their odds, but even a single goblin could end it all. Shae had no idea where the remaining villagers could be. The goblins seemed to be gathered around a pile of corpses. Strange behavior. Unless one of those corpses was –

“Danger, man, guy!” Shae yelled. “Those bodies – there’s a villager in there!”

DangerFace869 correctly assumed Shae was yelling at him. He sprang into action, lashing out with every part of his body. But it was too late. The villager, hidden among the corpses, was now another corpse.

“FURY STRIKES!”

The remaining goblins were stripped of their extraneous body parts. Another goblin however, managed to slip behind DangerFace869. He spotted this foe in the corner of his eye, yet found himself unable to turn around. His fuchsia fists were locked in front of him, incapable of rotating while his ability was active - a critical weakness of his power, discovered at the worst possible time. A swift goblin tomahawk did him in. Two of Shae’s party remained. Their villager count was at one.

Julvor tore his tentacle blade from a goblin’s throat. He had scored a kill, but at a villager’s expense. Was the extra rep worth it? He was starting to doubt it. If Chief caught his actions in the mission replay, it could cost him a lot more than just some rep points. It could cost him several Haven floors.

Shae slid across the rooftop, slamming his foot into the face of a climbing goblin. He rolled to the roof’s edge, sniping what remained of the dwindling goblin swarm.

Nineteen…. Twenty…

Where the hell was that last villager? Several roofs had been mysteriously set ablaze, drowning the sky in a blanket of smoldering orange haze. The battlefield was becoming difficult to see. Shae frivolously blew at the air, searching for any signs of movement.

There, in the smoke – a single goblin, sling in hand, rotten teeth grinning up at Shae. What was it smiling at?

The answer was a single rock, catching Shae in the temple. Shae collapsed across the rooftop. A black flash of pain, followed by a nauseating spinning sensation. His skull went numb. Shae would have vomited, if that were possible in Zero Space.

Julvor’s blade tore through another goblin throat. He’d gotten lucky with this goblin; it had slipped on a rock.

“Heals!” cried a desperate Shae.

That was Julvor’s trigger word. He ran towards Shae, finding the human nearly unconscious at a roof’s edge. Shae was too far away, and Julvor was out of SP. The goblin that struck him was winding up his sling for a follow-up attack. Julvor only had one option – he dashed out of cover, slicing the goblin’s belly with his tentacle blade.

Goblins could be stubborn creatures. They were happy to die to a well-aimed player blow, but not always immediately. This goblin’s sling-changed course, nailing Julvor point-blank in the mouth.

Julvor’s jaw literally hit the floor. The healer departed the land of the living, with the goblin joining him soon after. To add insult to injury, this goblin technically died after Julvor – he gained no rep points for that one.

It was down to just Shae. His blurry eyes scanned the battlefield. The mission was still active, meaning that somewhere out there, there was a living villager, and at least one goblin looking to change that.

Smoke infiltrated Shae’s vision. Bloody tears, accompanied by a bloody cough. One more hit would do him in. He knew his dead allies were watching him. Maybe a few other guild members too. He couldn’t let them all down. He couldn’t let himself down.

He couldn’t let Anton down.

A hint of movement, from behind a tree – the final villager! This villager was a young human boy, wearing grass clothing, held together by some rope. He giggled to himself, gleefully unaware of his impending demise.

Fifty feet away from the boy – one last goblin! It was missing an arm, but one arm enough. The goblin limped forward with a hateful gaze, narrowing its eyes on the villager before him.

Shae had a single SP. It was finally time - his time to be the hero. All he had to do was land this one shot.

It wouldn’t be easy. There was quite a distance between him and the goblin. Smoke and tears obscured his vision. But it didn’t matter. This was Shae’s destiny. He could feel it. Everything came down to a single, purple, bullet.

Shae aimed, and –

“PIERCING SHOT.”

The violet bullet pierced through smoke, slicing through the goblin’s ear before vanishing into the grass. A punctured ear wasn’t enough.

Shae had failed.

No, this wasn’t possible. Not after all this.

Shae released a deep, guttural sob - a sound his character had never made before. Tears fell from his eyes, soiling the grass below. He didn’t care if anyone was watching. He couldn’t stop himself - it was reactionary. His days in this guild were over. His days on floor twelve were over. He had let Anton down, again.

His vocal cords tore open with a manic screech. Both pistols opened fire on the distant goblin. His bullets pierced soft soil, shredded blades of grass, and reduced small stones to powder. Some bullets even hit the goblin.

Some bullets…

No, it wasn’t possible.

Was it?

It was a longshot.

The goblin was thirty feet away from the villager now. Was there a chance? A small chance maybe, but --

A small chance --

Shae screamed towards the sky, opening fire with both pistols. One out of every forty bullets struck goblin flesh. The goblin shambled forward, a single stubborn intention on its mind.

Twenty feet away.

Shae’s fingers grew sore. Each bullet required its own trigger squeeze. His knuckles grew stiff. His hands trembled from pain.

Bleeding bullet bumps sprouted across the goblin’s body. Both ears were now missing, as well as one of its eyes. The goblin didn’t need those things to rip the villager apart.

Ten feet away.

Pain shot through Shae’s wrists, then up through his arms. It spread to his shoulders, and across his neck and chest. He didn’t care; he was ready to sacrifice his whole body.

The goblin’s wounds opened into bleeding holes, draining its body like a sponge under pressure. Muscle and bone jutted from its flesh. It choked on a bullet that had slipped past its teeth.

The goblin was still going.

Zero feet away.

The goblin pounced on the boy.

Stillness, from both parties. Shae wiped dirt and dust from his eyes. The outcome was unclear.

Had he succeeded

Had he failed?

Shae waited. Restless. Breathless. Until --

-- Movement!

It was the goblin…

No, from beneath the goblin!

The villager’s arm emerged, dragging his body free. The boy grinned up at Shae.

“You found me!” the villager laughed.

Large letters appeared in the sky:

QUEST COMPLETE

Shae couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He wanted to laugh, but all he could manage was a chortled squeak.

The goblin’s exact killing blow was unclear. Most likely, a combination of everything. Zero Space didn’t show mercy, or pity. This was Shae’s victory. He had earned it on his own.

Both pistols fell from his hands. His cheek rested against roof stone. He knew his allies had seen it all. He wondered what they were thinking.

MVP

Shae

Those two words had never appeared in that order before. MVP didn’t mean much to Shae, but seeing his name highlighted like that - it felt pretty good. He could see why people liked it.

The MVP title came with a credit and rep bonus. Enough rep points to almost move Shae to a higher floor. Those credits wouldn’t hurt either - it was enough to buy a fancy new hat.

2nd Place

Umi

Umi had fallen early, but his assistance was invaluable. It wasn’t often that someone surpassed Umi's kill count. Without Umi however, Shae’s placement wouldn’t have been possible. Umi set them up, and Shae had knocked them down.

3rd Place

DangerFace869

DangerFace869 was a weird dude, but he had potential. Third place was above average for a player’s first mission. Shae had been on a last-place streak for his first several months in Zero Space. Even now, Shae considered third place to be a stretch goal.

4th Place

Julvor

[THE HAVEN]

-- Orion ripped the Zero Space helmet from his head, chucking it against the floor. He didn’t care if it broke. He could always just buy another, assuming the Haven didn’t replace it for him.

This was Julvor’s real life form. Not a sneaky tentacloid healer – just a tall lanky dude named Orion. He stomped around his haven home, cursing at full volume and knocking down furniture. Post-tantrum cleaning would be someone else’s problem. Some lower floor shmuck would be delegated to it. Even on floor twenty eight, healers were royalty.

Orion fell into his bed, curling up in its silky sheets. He didn’t understand how pretty things in Zero Space could be so much more expensive than real-life luxuries. His foot kicked on a radio, blasting power metal. He thrashed back and forth to its rhythm, mimicking the guitar line with his fingers.

Loud knocks from his wall vibrated his entire unit. It was his neighbors. Again. They didn’t appreciate his musical taste. Orion didn’t care; he was a healer. What the hell were they going to do about it? He cranked up the volume, leaping and screaming indecipherable lyrics towards their shared wall.

He bounded from his bed, delivering an aerial kick to his bathroom door, before releasing the contents of his bladder into an open toilet bowl. His long dark hair whipped to the beat. His fist slammed against the bathroom wall, giving his neighbors a taste of their own medicine.

Orion almost didn’t hear the knock on his door. It was a faint, yet prevalent knock. Each repetition of it grew louder, struggling to compete with his music. This was no doubt it was his neighbors; they never learned. He’d handle it the same way as always – open the door, shout a few insults, give them the finger, and slam the door in their face.

Orion hacked a loogie into the neon toilet water, then stepped away without flushing. A dribble of urine touched down on the bathroom tile – another problem for the lower-floor cleaners.

He didn’t bother washing his hands, or even pulling his zipper up all the way. His neighbor grew impatient, as indicated by their intensifying knocks.

“Alright, I hear you!” Orion screamed, throwing the door open.

This wasn’t his neighbor.

It was a man in his underwear, tattoos covering every inch of his body.

These tattoos were of strange and horrible things. Tentacled monsters. Trees made from black worms. Tornados with eyes and teeth. Vomiting spiders with stilt-like legs. A lizard, composed of human tongues. If these images were from Zero Space, it wasn’t an area Orion had ever seen.

The man smiled at Orion. It was a strange smile, not one of pleasure, or even malice. His eyes stared past Orion, into some dark unseen entity. His lips were like those of a corpse - blue, suffocated, and dry. A steady stream of saliva rolled across his cheek, licked clean by a long black tongue.

In the man’s hands, there was an oversized weapon – something like a cross between a shotgun and a bazooka. This was an enforcer weapon. But this man was not an enforcer.

BANG

A large hole appeared in Orion’s chest. Orion perceived his large intestine. Or was it his stomach? It was hard to tell from this angle. Injuries like this were common in Zero Space. But here? It didn’t feel real. Virtual violence had desensitized Orion. His brain refused to believe this was happening.

Orion’s body fell forward, splitting his face open against the floor. A pool of blood spread across his carpet. There would be a whole new type of mess waiting for his cleaners today.

The tattooed man’s bare feet slid through a warm puddle of blood, tracking crimson footprints across the floor. His vacant eyes studied Orion’s Zero Space headset, tracing its cord to a glowing green computer nearby. The computer was all that mattered – Orion’s Zero Space data was there. Julvor was there.

The man’s weapon aimed towards it --

BANG

Julvor was gone.