[THE HAVEN]

Jay woke up wrapped around his glowing green computer. It was at least better than waking up on his incinerated mattress. Bits of Flame stained every perceivable surface of his unit. The blood would never come out, and the smell would only get worse.

Esara and Bander had the right idea - they fled to Zero Space. Jay hurried to join them for similar reasons. That, and he had a level two material to spend.

[ZERO SPACE]

“I’m not very surprised you upgraded Pause Shot,” said Smith, massaging Shae’s shoulders with four brutoid hands. “That ability is very overpowered!”

Shae’s holographic menu projected across Smith’s dark office:

Shae Abilities – Path of Xieter ABILITY NAME ABILITY DESCRIPTION CURRENT LEVEL Piercing Shot A shot that can penetrate surfaces and objects. 2 Ricochet Shot A shot that can bounce off surfaces and objects. 2 Poison Shot A shot that does damage over time. 1 Rapid Shot Shoot many bullets quickly. 0 Pause Shot Take your time and aim a powerful shot. 2

“Rapid Shot’s next,” said Shae. “That’s gonna be OP with Ricochet Shot.”

“Any ability is very powerful in the right hands!” said Smith. “It’s all about how you use them!”

Pause Shot had endless utility. What other functionality did his abilities hide? Zero Space had an excess of secrets --

Wait --

NPCs like Smith knew lots of secrets!

Shae’s eyes opened wide.

“Smith,” said Shae. “What do you know about the Blue Path?”

“A lot!” said Smith.

Shae’s eyes opened wider.

“So it’s a real thing then,” said Shae.

“It is!” said Smith.

Shae’s eyes opened widest.

“Tell me about it.”

“I can’t!”

Shae’s eyes narrowed again.

“Anyway, if you walk the Blue Path, I might not see you anymore,” said Smith. “That would make me very sad.”

“What’s that mean?” said Shae.

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Your choice,” said Smith. “Anyway, it’s very much the same result.”

Shae groaned. This was going nowhere fast. It was time to go somewhere else.

Somewhere Shae could get some answers.

[THE HAVEN]

Zydan rapped his rings against a glowing computer monitor, illuminating the darkened cubicle around him.

“Put a tree there,” said Zydan. “And another one there. No, that’s too many trees.”

Super Duper’s hands glided across intricate patterns of hotkeys, fulfilling Zydan’s every wish in rapid succession.

“Yo, it’s cool if you watch, but I’ve got a handle on this art stuff,” said Super Duper. “Maybe give me some higher level feedback?”

“Just make the forest as dense as you can,” said Zydan. “Too many players have the Dragon Sword. We need more places for Dark Goblins to hide.”

“Sure thing boss!” said Super Duper. “But that might take a while. Sunlight Forest’s a big place ya know.”

Super Duper glanced at the empty workstation in her cubicle.

“A second artist would be pretty dope right about now,” said Super Duper.

“Hire someone better than Ceri next time,” said Zydan.

“Yo, Ceri was one of the best in the Haven,” said Super Duper. “And I’m shocked you remember her name.”

“I make an effort to learn everyone’s name,” said Zydan.

“Oh yeah?” asked Super Duper. “What’s my name?”

“Super Duper, of course,” said Zydan.

“Nah fam, my real name,” said Super Duper.

Zydan drew a blank.

“I’ve been art lead for ten years, dude,” said Super Duper. “I took on this baller nickname just so you’d have something to call me.”

Super Duper raised her fedora.

“So it’s kinda funky that you know Ceri’s name.”

Zydan went quiet. Super Duper placed her feet on the desk.

“Real talk Zydan,” said Super Duper. “Talent like Ceri is irreplaceable. She coulda made your game hella dope. When you hurt someone like her, you’re just hurting yourself.”

“You act like I had something to do with it,” said Zydan.

Super Duper paled.

“Oh no, of course not boss!” said Super Duper, taking her feet off her desk. “Gotta get back to work now. Lots of forest to cover!”

Zydan scowled, slapping her cubicle wall on his way out. Useless fools. They needed to respect him as lead designer. His vision. His game! Everyone else was just there to support him.

No one knew how hard game design was. Designers had systems to balance. Dialogue to write. And most importantly, they needed lots and lots of brilliant ideas!

He was certainly the most brilliant designer in the Haven. There wasn’t much competition - Zydan made sure of that. Or more accurately, the people he hired did.

Only one dev outranked Zydan; that person stood right by his cubicle --

“Zydan!” shouted DD, stroking his goatee.

Zydan groaned, glaring at the balding man before him.

“Hi Dad,” said Zydan.

“Just DD, please,” said DD. “I’m still your development director. That’s embarrassing.”

“Your visits are embarrassing,” said Zydan. “What do you want to yell at me for this time?”

“Actually, I’m here to congratulate you,” said DD.

Zydan gave him a blank stare.

“A small percentage of players are getting the Dragon items,” said DD. “Your difficulty adjustments seem to be driving up engagement.”

Zydan grinned.

“This was always my plan,” said Zydan. “Scarcity of rare items increases demand.”

“Huh,” said DD. “I suppose we can slow our search for your replacement.”

“Wait, replace me?” asked Zydan.

Several developers peeked out from cubicles.

“Of course,” said DD. “This was never meant to be permanent Zydan. You’re still an interim design lead.”

“It’s been almost twenty years!” shouted Zydan. “You can’t do this, Dad. I earned this!”

“It’s DD, please,” said DD, adjusting his tie.

“I studied game theory, I learned the tools, I wrote all the dialogue,” said Zydan. “This is my game. No one can replace me.”

“Everyone is replaceable on a dev team,” said DD.

“Even the DD?” asked Zydan.

DD’s brushy brows narrowed towards Zydan. Zydan’s pale skin grew paler.

“W-Wait, I didn’t mean that,” said Zydan. “Sorry Dad. I have a few numbers to adjust. Bye bye.”

Zydan hurried away.

“It’s DD,” DD called after him.

Zydan collapsed into his seat, bashing an imprint of his rings into his metal desk. Stupid desk had it coming.

Zydan sighed, browsing to the forums:

ZERO_SPACE [FEEDBACK] POSTER TOPIC VIEWS DesignGod1 *PINNED* Keep your feedback constructive. No complaining… 14,266 GoblinDeezNubz hate hate hate the goblin chef 1,502 PterAnnoyed12 Are the catacombs even posible 864 BlueAwoo3334 dark goblins are broken af 3,872 KillerFail002 I’m done playing this stupid game i swear it gets worse every... 2,001

Zydan winced. Cynical commentary from jaded players.

Twenty years ago, he came to the dev team with a design document and a dream. It was a complete reboot of the same droll Zero Space experience that players had endured for a lifetime. Blood, sweat and years went into its development. And on the day of its release, Zydan awaited with open arms, ready for the world to embrace his masterpiece.

But players didn’t want change. They wanted the same old content that Zydan had so gleefully deleted. Their backlash was swift and devastating, a mob of furious forum feedback invading his inbox. “Hack” they called him. “Lousy” they said. Every other e-mail was a death threat. The rest were just normal threats.

No one appreciated Zydan’s world and all of its wonderful characters: The goblins and the villagers. The dragon in his castle. The wizard twins. They were all so inspiring and original. Zydan spent half of his accrued PTO alone in his room, dampening design documents with his tears.

When Zydan returned to the office, he was a changed designer. GameDev required thick skin, but fan feedback pierced his paper flesh, breaking his brittle heart. Zero Space was on fire, and Zydan decided to let it burn. Entitled gamers! Players didn’t know what they wanted; he knew what they wanted.

Zydan had a new design now - one for the planet itself. The entire world would soon know his genius. His head held the blueprints, and the Blue Path held the key. Rebooting the real world didn’t just require a God. It required a God-Tier designer.

Until his plan came to fruition, the only person Zydan had to please was himself. And nothing made Zydan happier than pleasing himself.

He settled back into his chair. Time to refine his design!

Too many players possessed the Dragon Sword - Dark Goblin ambushes would help with that. But why had over four guilds acquired the Dragon Shield in the last few days? Those metrics were disturbing.

Even more alarming - two guilds acquired the Dragon Song. How was that possible? Zydan cut that content long ago.

He analyzed the data further: One guild was the Deadly Skulls. That figured; the Deadly Skulls were a top guild before Zydan reset the world. And their guild leader was someone Zydan was regrettably familiar with. That would be a delicate situation to untangle.

The other guild was the Feather Birds. Now this was surprising. Their high numbers infamously overcompensated for their low power. Unless something changed recently --

-- Apparently so: they appointed a new Raid Captain. A kick-ass Raid Captain that inspired other guilds with his replays. Twenty three percent of all players had now defeated the Goblin King. Outrageous! This was a disaster.

Maybe it was time for another full game reset.

No, Zydan wouldn’t get away with that twice. DD kept a closer eye on him now. He’d need something more subtle. More insidious.

The Raid Captain of the Feather Birds was some humanoid loser named Shae, currently loitering in Shield Tavern. Something about him looked familiar, but Zydan couldn’t put his finger on it.

And across from Shae was --

No, it couldn’t be --

Zydan stared at the monitor, unable to believe his eyes --

Lanzer! That damn QA Tester. Zydan banned his pirahanoid ass long ago. The Feather Birds must have freed him - that was the only explanation.

Zydan should have taken Lanzer more seriously - no one ever took QA seriously. It was all coming back to bite him now with sharp pirahanoid teeth.

His rings rattled against his keyboard. Design was about finding creative solutions. And Zydan was the greatest designer in the Haven.

It was time to squash this QA bug.

[ZERO SPACE]

Lanzer tore away at a drumstick, flicking turkey flesh across a wooden table. Silverware and plates trembled from thunderous music and drunken merriment. Shae peeked out from their private booth, making sure that merriment remained a safe distance away.

“So so so,” said Lanzer. “I assume you didn’t ask me here just to watch me eat.”

“What’s the Blue Path?”

Lanzer choked on turkey, spitting masticated meat across Shae’s outfit.

“Wow wow wow,” said Lanzer. “Straight to the point! What kinda question is that?”

“An important one,” said Shae, wiping himself down.

“I’ll say!” shouted Lanzer. “Where did you learn that term?”

“Around,” said Shae.

“Around, huh huh huh?” asked Lanzer. “I don’t want to meet who you’ve been around.”

Lanzer coughed up half a turkey leg.

“Okay okay okay,” said Lanzer. “Check this out --”

Lanzer grabbed a couple of bread rolls.

“So, you already know how paths work.”

Lanzer stuck a fork between both rolls.

“Paths connect servers,” said Lanzer.

“Yeah, I got that,” said Shae.

“Well, the Blue Path is a special path,” said Lanzer. “It’s like a normal path, but it’s one way! Once you enter, there’s no coming back.”

Lanzer placed several more bread rolls side by side.

“All servers have a Blue Path,” said Lanzer. “And all Blue Paths are leading to the exact same place.”

“Which is?” asked Shae.

“No one knows,” said Lanzer. “But there’s a theory:”

Lanzer leaned in.

“You know how the cap for abilities is level three?” asked Lanzer.

“I do now,” said Shae.

“Good good good,” said Lanzer. “Well, in other servers, that cap can be higher.”

Lanzer placed his turkey drumstick at the end of the bread roll trail.

“The Blue Path leads back to the original server,” said Lanzer. “A place where there is no cap.”

Lanzer shook with excitement.

“Can you imagine a server with no limits?” asked Lanzer. “You could create god-like builds!”

Shae paused. If premium account users extracted power from Zero Space, what could a server like that let them do?

God-Like power --

Godhood.

Those were Flame’s final words.

Shae’s eyebrows elevated to new heights. Was it really possible? Could a premium player become a real-life God? There was no way. If that were true, the Static would have been defeated long ago. Gods were surely capable of defeating monsters. Unless the Gods were the monsters --

No, Shae’s poor brain couldn’t take this right now. He smacked his head, dissuading the deluge of thoughts and theories pinballing in his brain.

Lanzer gobbled every bread roll in order, saving the turkey drumstick for last.

“Anyway anyway anyway,” said Lanzer. “Don’t worry about it. If the Blue Path’s real, it’s very very very hidden. And there’s kinda other things to worry about. Like the Dragon Shield.”

Shae snapped back to reality.

“I don’t know where that is,” said Shae.

“No leads at all?” asked Lanzer.

“Nope,” said Shae.

Lanzer took a sad bite of turkey.

“Well well well,” said Lanzer. “That’s kinda bad then.”

“The Dragon Shield, you saaaaaaaay?” asked a high-pitched voice. “Kyah hah hah!”

Shae and Lanzer glanced up towards a brutoid, concealed in a dark flowing cloak. Six blue eyes shined from beneath his hood.

“You’ve come to the right plaaaaace!” said the brutoid. “Kyah hah hah!”

“Well well well,” said Lanzer. “A new annoying NPC.”

Shae was almost positive that NPC gave Lanzer a dirty look.

“The Dragon Shield is here, in this very taverrrrrn,” said the brutoid. “Kyah hah hah!

Shae and Lanzer shared a dumbfounded look.

“Shield Tavern,” said Shae.

“Yup yup yup,” said Lanzer. “Wow, it’s right there in the name!”

“Yessssssssss,” said the brutoid. “You two must be VERY dummmmmb. Kyah hah hah!”

“This NPC sucks sucks sucks,” said Lanzer.

Shae was positive he saw a dirty look that time.

“Gather your friends and follow meeeeeeee!” said the brutoid. “To the tavern catacooooombs! Kyah hah hah!”

“Wait wait wait,” said Lanzer. “Doesn’t this seem kinda suspicious?”

“We’ll blast our way out if it’s a trap,” said Shae. “It’s the only lead we’ve got!”

***

Shae and six Feather Bird companions wandered through dreary catacombs, guided by the brutoid NPC’s lanturn.

“Fooooooollow meeeeee,” said the brutoid. “Kyah hah hah!”

Dalli scraped at spiderwebs with his spear.

“I hate this NPC,” snarled Dalli.

“Same,” said Shae. “We need him though.”

Lanzer studied Dalli. Even in this dim corridor, Dalli’s change was apparent. Wrinkled folds of flesh. Dark shadows under his eyes. And a few missing teeth.

“Um um um,” said Lanzer. “Is anybody going to ask why Dalli looks older?”

“It’s just a character change,” said Dalli. “Everyone calls me old, so I decided to look the part.”

“Uh uh uh,” said Lanzer. “You can’t change your character’s appearance. Not unless you --”

“Stop asking questions!” Dalli snarled.

Lanzer stopped asking questions.

Umi laughed, batting away a skeleton skull with his warhammer.

“I’m just glad y’all decided to take me!” shouted Umi. “I haven’t seen y’all since we escorted Shae to the tower! Praise Ledgess for my amazing friends!”

“Who are you?” asked Dane.

Umi pulled Dane into a tight brutoid hug.

“I love your funny jokes Danger Face Eight Six Nine!” shouted Umi.

“Call, me, Dane,” Dane managed to squeak out.

Bander and Asira navigated to Shae’s sides.

“Can we please discuss finding a new unit?” said Asira. “I can’t go back to that smell.”

“I had to sleep in the bathroom,” said Bander. “It was actually sorta convenient --”

“Later,” muttered Shae.

“Later is soon, idiot,” said Bander.

“You need a new roooooooom?” asked the eavesdropping brutoid NPC. “Well, I have just the room for youuuuuu! Kyah hah hah!”

The room in question was a symmetrical space, built into the side of a catacomb corridor. Just enough space for a party of seven.

“After youuuuuu!” said the brutoid NPC. “Kyah hah hah!”

Shae’s team stepped inside. Lanzer attempted to glance beneath the NPC’s cowl, but menacing blue eyes deterred him.

Wait, Lanzer recognized those blue eyes --

No.

It couldn’t be --

“Yoink!” said the brutoid.

The entrance to the room sealed shut, a cubic catacomb wall popping into the doorway.

“Welcome to my prison roooooooom!” said the brutoid. “Kyah hah hah!”

The brutoid pulled back his cowl, revealing six blue glowing eyes. Every polygon was meticulously constructed, from the warpaint on his cheeks, to the triangular tattoos beneath each eye. This was a custom character, sculpted by the Haven’s finest artists.

“It’s me, Zydan!” yelled the brutoid.

The room fell silent.

“Zydan!” the brutoid repeated.

“Are we supposed to know who you are?” asked Asira.

“Probably some sort of hip kid celebrity pulling an e-prank,” said Dalli.

“Hi Zydan!” shouted Umi. “Nice to meet you!”

“Guys, guys, guys,” stuttered Lanzer. “That’s the Lead Designer of the server. He’s the one that banned me!”

Everyone fell silent.

“So good to see you again Lanzer,” said Zydan. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to give you --”

Zydan literally kicked Lanzer’s ass. Lanzer’s head hit the ceiling.

The Feather Birds drew their weapons.

“You dare challenge the server’s lead designer?” asked Zydan. “You can’t even imagine how overpowered I am.”

The Feather Birds undrew their weapons.

“That’s better,” said Zydan.

Zydan rapped upon a wall with four ringed fingers.

“Get comfy,” said Zydan. “This is your new respawn point. Enjoy the rest of your miserable Zero Space existence!”

Asira was the first to panic.

“Why are you doing this?” yelled Asira.

“You’ve made too much progress,” said Zydan. “Because of you, I have to rebalance everything. It’s a real pain.”

“Pretty sure that’s your job, idiot,” said Bander.

“You don’t know anything about my job!” yelled Zydan. “There’s hundreds of meetings. And spreadsheets. And -- well, it’s mostly meetings and spreadsheets. But they’re terrible!”

“Maybe you’re just a terrible designer,” said Bander.

“Yeah yeah yeah!” yelled Lanzer. “Worst designer in Zero Space history!”.

“Please let us out!” said Asira.

“Enough!” yelled Zydan. “I won’t waste my valuable time arguing with entitled gamers. Unlike you, I have places to be. Bye bye.”

Zydan blipped from existence.

“That sucks,” said Dane.

“What do we do?” asked Asira.

“Leave it to me y’all!” shouted Umi. “I have a plan!”

Umi slammed his warhammer into the wall seven times.

“No no no,” said Lanzer. “That won’t work.”

“PIERCING SHOT!!”

A level two bullet crumpled against the wall.

“No no no,” said Lanzer. “That won’t work either! These walls don’t have damage colliders. That means we can’t destroy them.”

“What the hell?” snarled Dalli. “We’re actually stuck here?”

“Yup yup yup,” said Lanzer. “This is kinda bad guys.”

“Don’t worry y’all!” shouted Umi. “I have another plan!”

“As good as your last plan, idiot?” asked Bander.

“Even better!” shouted Umi. “Everyone hold hands!”

The group reluctantly linked palms. Except Dane. He stood still, staring into the distance with blank demonoid eyes.

“Come on Dane Eight Six Nine!” shouted Umi. “This will work better with everyone!”

Dane stood his ground.

“Okay, that’s fine!” shouted Umi. “Dear Ledgess, please show us a way out of here --”

“You’re praying?” snarled Dalli. “That’s your plan? This is serious!”

“I am serious!” shouted Umi.

Bander prodded Dane with his staff.

“Guys --” said Bander.

“I prayed we’d beat the Goblin King!” shouted Umi. “And I prayed we’d get the Dragon Sword! Ledgess answered my prayers!”

“That wasn’t Ledgess,” snarled Dalli. “That was Shae!”

“Hold up,” said Shae. “You’ve been praying to me?”

“Guys --” repeated Bander.

“I believe in Shae!” shouted Umi. “And I believe Ledgess was with him!”

“I don’t believe this,” groaned Dalli.

“We have to believe --”

“Guys!” Bander shouted. “Something’s up with Dane.”

Dane stood stationary, his demonoid eyes staring into oblivion.

“Dane,” said Asira. “Are you still with us?”

Dane’s head suddenly twisted towards Asira. Everyone leapt back ten feet.

“Geez geez geez,” said Lanzer. “Demonoids are creepy.”

“We thought you went afk, idiot,” said Bander.

“I did,” said Dane. “I need to go.”

“Don’t you dare!” snarled Dalli. “Not until we find a way out of here.”

“Later,” said Dane. “This is urgent.”

“Job stuff?” asked Shae.

“Yup,” said Dane. “Same thing as last time.”

“I’ll come with,” said Shae.

“No,” said Dane. “This is official business.”

“I can help,” said Shae. “You know what I can do.”

“What are you two idiots up to?” asked Bander.

“Please,” said Shae. “I want more experience with that, uh -- stuff. It’s not like we can do anything else right now.”

“Fine,” said Dane. “I’ll message you where to meet.”

Shae nodded. Both him and Dane went AFK simultaneously.

“Well, that’s just perfect,” said Dalli.

“Are we screwed?” asked Asira.

“Nope nope nope,” said Lanzer. “That jerk designer isn’t going to push me around anymore.”

Lanzer studied the wall.

“Designers make stuff,” said Lanzer. “But QA breaks stuff!”