In one of the old high rise buildings a mile away from the airport, two soldiers clad in modern equipment, wearing a full Ghillie suit, watch over the airport's movement. The one lying prone on a table facing the airport was using an M82A1 .50 High Caliber Sniper Rifle and another one was sitting beside him with an M21 Sniper Rifle.

The one with the Fifty caliber raises his right arm into his headset that's built in the helmet he's wearing. He speaks with a stoic and mature voice.

"Spooker, We got massive movement at the airport. Berznick is making a move on Libertus. They just sent scouts on Horseback running to the Eastern side of the city. We'll be pushing through the East of the AO."

A rapsy reply with the sound of aircraft engines drowning out a portion of his voice replies.

"Affirmative Stalker, we're passing through MSR Churchill. Continue to report every 5 mikes on enemy disposition."

"Roger that Spooker. We'll start moving now, out”

In front of a large entrance to a Dungeon where two giant Pillars of men lifting the mountain side with an open plain outside it, PilotMan disembarks his Bblack horse with Red Demon eyes. He looks around at the other players, all high level and late game armor with weapons made of the rarest materials in the game to soldiers that look like they came from the Napoleonic Era, with Muskets that have Magical properties.

Many of the players also have high level companions that range from Dragons to the creepier Four Legged Hell spawn. PilotMan opens his horse Inventory by opening a pouch, a large space is revealed. 30X30 boxes. Inside was 1x Two-Handed Dark Sword that takes up 10X10 of the space, 2x Colt Python Revolvers that is 5X5, 2x M9 Berretta’s also 5X5 and the rest full of all sorts of Potions, ranging from Strength+ to Speed and Fast Healing.

PilotMan picks the sword and the guns. His large trench coat covers its Black and Silver scabbard while his two revolvers are holstered on his hip and the M9 Beretta holstered on the sides of his chest, inside his suits Jacket.

PilotMan looks around and it's mostly player guilds and armies that're going to enter the Dungeon, he sees only four to six people in the crowd that seems to not be part of any guild or group. He keeps a low profile and puts up a font that seems like he doesn't want to converse with anyone but himself though some people have already kept their eyes on him. PilotMan thinks to himself.

"I might have overdone it with the disguise."

The large doors full of etches depicting a great war between Heroes and Demons slowly opens and the players outside start to walk inside the Dungeon. PilotMan looks inside and it seems to be very well lit, with green lanterns lighting up the path, though the bricks that serve as the wall are very worn and old, with leaves growing into and outside of it. The only light source inside are the green lanterns that seem to never run out of gas to fuel its light.

"This might be a good chance to test out if my little dragon friend can fight inside a Dungeon."

PilotMan walks over to the open plain where other players in Wizard and Witch class are summoning skeletons and orcs through enchantment and written symbols on the ground. He finds a spot where he can summon his Beast without hindering the other players. He reaches out his right arm and with two fingers forward, he makes a little cross which opens his player options and presses the Companion tab. It shows the various Beasts and Creatures that he had collected over years of playing the VR game.

All their stats and a photo of them is shown. He scrolls up passing through some creature’s reward or captured some over 3 years ago. He scrolls to his latest and he finds it. a max level Dragon God named "Bahamut" which he acquired on December 24, 2038. The Dragon God has a Rarity of "Quest Reward".

The small dragon has a scary and intimidating armored look, with jet black metallic scales that acts as his armor, its stats and levels are all maxed out. It has no more evolution left. Left of the Companion tab lets you select your "Transportation" and below it is the "Companion". PilotMan drags the photo of Bahamut over to the Companion box and it spawns the Dragon God in a little form next to him.

"I hope you won't get one shotted again little guy."

PilotMan takes the little Dragon God with his hands and places it on his shoulder. All equipped and prepared, he walks back to the Dungeon entrance and heads deep. Many of the players have already entered the place and the few remaining are the large guilds and groups getting briefed about their tactics and formation inside the Dungeon.

As PilotMan walks deeper into the Dungeon, the air becomes heavier and more eerie. Sounds of battle already echo into the 1st floor. Monsters roaring and Swords clash against heavy materials creating a clinging sound that could be heard from the entrance. Large fighting is occurring and PilotMan takes his time. Letting the other players pave the way deeper into the Dungeon.

"9 More floors. I wish them luck." PilotMan silently whispers into the large Dungeon.

PilotMan heads off to another path, he went here for a specific item to farm and not to join in the raid of the Dungeon. He picks up his little Dragon friend and says.

"Patrol and find me an Arch Priest."

The Dragon God immediately flies into the Dungeon, its small size makes it easy for it to perform reconnaissance and alert its player of the enemies it has encountered.

"Welp, don't get insta killed. I need your flames in helping me out."

As PilotMan continues his walk, the brick walls become more loose and the well aligned green lanterns becomes scattered, with some on the ground and parts of the wall wide open, as if explosions occurred which destroyed this part of the Dungeon Hall, an arrow suddenly gets hurled at him at an extremely high velocity and it makes a large clang as he hits it with his sword.

"Looks like I walked myself into an ambush."

Orcs push themselves out of the holes in the wall. It seems that these are High Level Orcs. Short swords with poison and have small shields to protect themselves. Hastily, the Orcs attack PilotMan, with one aiming for his chest and another at his legs. But like the high level player he is, he quickly uses his sword and slices through the one aiming for his chest and then pulls out the revolver from his hip and like a sharp shooter, he ends the one aiming for his legs with deathly precision.

"Okay, Half a clip left here & almost empty on the other.."

The other Orcs that wanted to entrap him in a circle quickly charge at him, PilotMan pulls his other revolver with his left hand and with a speed of a trained cowboy, he ends the three with clean precise shots. He immediately makes a small cross and looks at his stats and sees that the Orc has managed to cut down his health a bit. He leaves the loot that spawned after killing the Orcs, he merely walks over it, as if he wanted others to have it instead.

A little bit annoyed with what just transpired, PilotMan opens his player inventory and drinks a small health potion and struts along the even more deteriorating halls of the Dungeon. He hears a ping sound, prompting him to open his Player Inventory, he selects the item called “Map of The Sleeping Princess Dungeon”, it materializes in front of him and unscrolls it, he sees that Bahamut has pinged him, the map reports that it has found the “The First Floor Library”, he hurriedly walks to it.

Outside was Bahamut, in an excited animation loop, eagerly awaiting for her Master to arrive. PilotMan pats the little dragon and orders it to enter his trenchcoat. He lets himself inside through its thick door ornate in Demon Iconology, a giant library full of tall shelves with worn books about various schools of magic is revealed, with one revolver in hand and his sword on another, prepared to fight he encounters a Dungeon Arch Priest after walking a bit inside.

His eyes widen as he realizes that it has already activated a multitude of skills before he even detected it. Instantly he notices that it's at Level 100, this is no joke. This Priest could easily drain his Mana and HP without a single hassle.

“FOOLISH MORTAL! I CAN SEE YOU!”

The Arch Priest, not even seeing PilotMan already detects him, if it weren’t for his scripted lines, PilotMan would’ve not known he was found. It begins to perform its scripted animations like taunting the player to reveal itself, and like the other lower level Priests, it begins casting Thunder shots and Volcanic Fireballs in a time interval. PilotMan notices that it's taking its time to cast magic, but faster than lower level ones, he knows that if this Arch Priest has the same animation as the lower level ones, he has a chance when it tries to cast a more powerful spell since it would take an extra 2 seconds to cast.

Dodging and weaving through the tall book shelves he awaits his chance to kill the Arch Priest. The library’s various shelves come crashing down and burning. The large room slowly becomes engulfed in fire with the Arch Priest, walking about through the burnt shelves and books, destroying every cover PilotMan could have.

PilotMan knew it was now or never, he planned to try to go out in the open so that the AI of the game would see it as a chance to one hit him with a powerful spell. He rolls out of the shelf and goes out into the open area, stepping on burnt books. He looks the Arch Priest straight in the eyes and with a valiant tone he says:

“Try me.”

He sweeps his trenchcoat open, prompting Bahamut to fly out and start blasting fire attacks back. The Arch Priest starts using Ice magic but Bahamut's flame is too strong. The little dragon starts shaving off of its health. PilotMan knows that this was his chance, he holsters his revolver and grips his Longsword with two hands.

He uses a Heat Object spell, directs it to his Longsword and casts it. His Longsword burns Purple with a Blue outline thanks to its special metal that it's made out of. In a matter of a second, he instantly teleports a few meters behind the Arch Priest, with his sword’s blade angled thirty degrees to the right at neck height.

The Arch Priest’s head slowly slipped off, dropping to the floor. His body plops lifelessly into the ground and starts dematerializing. PilotMan looks behind him to check if his sword was enough to take down the high level foe, he knows that Priests aren’t meant to be fought head on, thus giving him the advantage in the situation, but his experience of the game tells him otherwise.

After a few seconds, he lets his guard down. The smoke is slowly filling the room and the Arch Priest’s body has fully dematerialized and the loot has spawn. Its three empty Tesseract's. Used mostly as rare tools to save high level magic found on the world, this was the quest item he needed. He exits the burning room with Bahamut sitting on his shoulder. On his way to the exit, he encounters a party of mid-leveled players. He quietly tries to go around them, avoiding confrontation when one of the group's main tanks taps him on his shoulder.

The man clad in heavy knight armor wielding a Greatsword looks at the dragon on his shoulder and then to his face, and with a voice of a middle aged man, he asks

“Hello sir, may I ask where you got this Dragon of yours? It’s quite unique from the ones I see in towns and guilds.”

“Uhhhh, her? I got her off of an event last year. 2036 was the year of the Dragon and the event prize was a Dragon God you could keep.”

“Wait what?! That’s a Dragon God?!”

“Yes. She’s an Ancient Black Dragon. I was hard at work last year levelling her up. Just tested her now and the Arch Priest was useless against her.”

“Now I want one. Though I can’t even view her stats.”

“Statwise, she’s not really that different from other dragons you can keep. Where she becomes unique is in her later evolution allows her to be labeled as a Dragon God.”

“Is she any different from the ones we can get from Cave diving in terms of skills?”

“Well, the Dragon God evolution gives her a skill that gives her an extra buff against humanoid and demonic beings called the “Queen of Dragons”. It also gives her the Mythical creature class since all Dragon Gods in the game are in that category.”

“Daaang, that’s so cool though. The ones we find can only be evolved into Ancient Dragons, am I correct?”

“Indeed that is correct. But in the end, it's still a Dragon. Unless you’re willing to wait another 12 years for the Year of the Dragon, I just say go find one now and start raising it.”

“Is my friends’ level enough? We range from 60 to 70. We have pretty decent gears and good skills.”

“I can’t really say. Most of my time in this game, I’ve been solo.”

“Hmm, I see. Also how come your Dragon God is not the 50 feet tall ones we fight on Raids?”

“Devs put in the lore that she’s not able to release her massive true form due to the Seven Pillars of the High Wizards. It keeps her in check, which is I’m sure a prevention the Devs put up to make sure players aren’t running around with giant Dragon Gods out in the open world.”

“Oh, that place where players get their statuses upgraded.”

“Yep, game lore stuff. Take your time in getting involved with it. It's pretty deep.”

“Hm. Thank you sir for answering my questions. I apologize for taking some of your time.”

“No problem. Be careful alright? This Dungeon is pretty high level. The first floor is already full of creatures in the Ninety to a Hundred. So stay here, do not go deeper. You and your friends there would absolutely get destroyed.”

“Of course. I’ll be sure to remind the other party members, thank you again.”

ElevatedPopcorn then returns to the party he is with, discussing their plan of attack on farming in the high level Dungeon. PilotMan then walks along to the exit, like someone who just went in and out shopping, he casually walks along the guilds and parties rethinking their strategies outside. He hops onto his Horse and begins his journey back to the Village of Forculi to wrap up his active quests.

Back inside the Abandoned City, two Merchants named “ConningMan” and “[email protected]” are rummaging through the remains of a dining restaurant, they’re picking up the utensils, bottles and cups to be used on selling and trading, they know these items are made with high quality precision and has a lot of value for players wanting to have something more modern on their homes. AssBlaster hurriedly picks up as many items as he could while ConningMan takes his time.

ConningMan opens up, with an older voice that has a calming air to it.

“Now, now. Calm down, the two armies fighting are way over there in the Westside of the city.”

“I’m not gonna let those guys stop us again and make us pay for checkpoints.”

“It’s fine, with these items, we should be able to pay them as we’d make the money back.”

“You see those players in the armies? They’re low level people trying to get exp. They think they’re all big and bad since their part of the group. I’m not gonna waste my time on them.”

“Just try to understand. You're also low leveled you know. It's hard to play this game alone.”

“Yea, and I hate dying, hence why I became a Trader instead.”

The two fill their wagon with all sorts of modern items to be sold on an NPC Kingdom a few days out. As they empty the restaurant, they jump onto their wagon and start roaming around the city.

“Man, I still can’t believe players made this modern city out here.”

“Rumors say, the folks used Skeletons as workers. Big red glowing eyes and has a killer attitude to them.”

“Really? I thought Skeletons are only good as basic grunts for guilds without a high player count?”

“Ohhh, Skeletons here could be scripted to do other things. Many things, from helpers to soldiers. Just that you need someone who knows what they’re doing and NPCs do not like Skeletons.”

“Dang, this place once had a working tramway?”

“Yer, I visited this place twice when it was still populated by players. It looked very out of place with the rest of the game and many of its visitors were still wearing medieval armor and equipment.”

“Ehhh, do these busses and garbage trucks also work?”

“Mhm. Most of the city works as done by Skeletons. This strange guild that had a thing for Dark Knights ran them. I constantly saw them back then, checking and seeing the Skeletons work. Feels like they’re testing the capabilities of the damned things.”

“Players can really do a lot if we put our minds and resources into it can we?”

“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet kiddo. Dark World VR has a very open building system. Some guilds are dedicated to building and architecture while others on maintenance of player built roads and utilities.”

“Wait, so those guys we passed on the border of Avitan was actually doing it for their guilds?”

“Yer, lots of different folks here. 490 Million concurrent players worldwide says a lot with how unique things can get.”

“Then what about these two massive player Kingdoms fighting?”

“Ohhh... just the good ole human nature of wanting something but someone else wants it so you fight over it.”

“I still can’t believe they have the logistics for this war. It must be hard to maintain it.”

“Humanity is always organized, no matter what or where. War or peace, we come together and build things together. This isn’t any different.”

As the two pass along an abandoned bus station, an arrow is fired near their horse, one of the two gets spooked and stops their wagon from moving. At least Ten bandits pop out, swords and spears on hand. One of them, wearing a Officers Helmet steps forward and speaks in a commanding voice.

“FortuningExeter: Step down from the wagon with your hands up. Don’t reach for anything or make many sudden moves.”

The two obediently follow his instructions and step down.

“FortuningExeter: We’ll simply be looking through your cargo and see if we can steal anything of value. We won’t take everything, on behalf of the Bandits of the West coast border.”

“ConningMan: Just please don’t take our potions. We need those as our journey back to the Kingdom.”

“FortuningExeter: As I said, we won’t take everything. Just the things we see value in.”

Two of the bandits immediately rummage through the back of their wagon. Looking for items to pick and steal.

“AssBlaster: We should’ve paid for those mercenaries.”

“ConningMan: Look kid, the important thing here is that we’d be able to haul some of our loot. We should still be able to pay back the cost of going here.”

“FortuningExeter: Which mercenary group is this? The ones hanging about the NPC Holy Kingdom?”

“ConningMan: Yes, those.”

“FortuningExeter: Ah, I don’t recommend those guys. You’re better off looking for ones you find on the guild houses out in the middle of nowhere. Those city slickers can’t stand up to real bandits like us.”

“AssBlaster: But they’re extremely well equipped though. What makes them different from the ones out on about?”

“FortuningExeter: Ah kid, they might look fancy for the ones entering the city, but give them a run along outside their spheres and they start falling like little rats. Me and my boys had already killed about a platoon sized team of soldiers from both sides entering this bus terminal. We might not look that much with our cloaks and leather armor but it's in the tactics.”

“AssBlaster: I guess they did say this game doesn’t hold back in damage.”

“FortuningExeter: Always remember that kid, maybe right now, you won’t think about it as much as your only level thirty, but when you reach my level or the old man here, you’d see that level doesn’t mean everything here.”

The two bandits that were rummaging through their cargo finishes up and screams that there was nothing of value found.

“FortuningExeter: Alrighty, up on the wagon you two go. I recommend taking the West M1 Highway out of this. The Kingdom of Breznick just made a counteroffensive on a lightly defended Libertus encampment. Better for you guys to avoid that mess.”

“ConningMan: Thank you, I wish you luck. Now kid, stand up and let’s go.”

“AssBlaster: Ahhh, I guess this enough.”

The two hop in their wagon and immediately make the horses go. They enter the derelict elevated highway that leads to the exit of the city, while traveling on it, they see the gleaming armor of a woman, and the shiny spark of an Elven Knight fighting alongside one another fighting heavily armored Cavalry and Spearmen.

“Holy shit! That’s the Swordsaint Elizabeth!”

“Keep yer head down and look straight. That’s none of our business.”

The two powerful players stand out like a sore thumb amidst the battlefield, from their shining armor to their swords that reflect the Sun's shine, with almost inhumane precision, the two cut down their foes without hassle. The two traders could only look in awe as their wagon ran along the highway.

“That Elven guy, I think I’ve seen him before on that Keyneth Kingdom of sorts.”

“You’ve visited the Elf Kingdom?”

“Yer, every month or so, I go up North and do some trading with them. They have some items that only they could brew efficiently”

“Then how did you know that Knight next to Elizabeth was an Elf?”

“Ohhh I know that green cape. I think he’s one of the higher ups of the Kingdom of Keyneth. Seen him visit the traders guild on their Kingdom multiple times. Seems to be a true heroic type. We people don’t really see eye to eye with the Elves as much, though not as bad with the Reptilian type and halfbred. Many folks even here in this game don’t like it when they see something different.”

“I guess that’s because this game is very brutal. The player made culture has its ups and downs but still has some very bad downs.”

“Yer. Well, you better start doing some inventory, open up the wagon and start counting the profit. The bandits didn’t take anything so we should be good for the next few weeks.”

“Alrighty, I’ll start then. You better teach me how this trading thing goes. I’m still new to all these.”