Flames surrounded Ether on all sides as he spun his glaive, desperately trying to keep the damage to a minimum. His MP plummeted as [Silent Lesser Heal] and [Reflect Projectile] burned through his remaining strength, but he forced himself to push forwards, through the inferno. He chopped through the source of the flame with one smooth motion, his glaive cleaving the blazewolf in half.

The entire time they’d been playing, he’d never felt truly tired. Sure, some skills left him winded or briefly exhausted, but that faded in seconds.

Now, though? His head was pounding and his hands trembled. It took effort just to keep standing in the face of the seemingly endless horde of blazewolves. Worse, he wasn’t the only one running out of strength. Perseus was breathing heavily, Shar looked queasy as she downed her 4th potion. How many of the wolves had they killed already? It must be at least two dozen, but another 8 filled the passage still, split into two groups of four, flanking his team.

“Perseus! Behind y-”

“On it,” the [Rogue] replied, throwing one of his daggers through the head of the nearest wolf. “I’m out of potions, though. This’ll be the end of my skills for a while.”

“We’ll rest when we win,” Shar said through clenched teeth as another wolf pounced towards her. She ducked beneath it, her arm snaking out to land a quick [Slice] on the beast as she spun towards Perseus. The beast landed behind her, gurgling as it slumped to the floor, blood flowing freely from its throat.

With a nod and a cocky smirk, Perseus blurred into motion, dodging waves of flame to stab another beast in the eye. He twisted away from the fresh corpse and left a long gash down the side of another wolf in one smooth motion, but stumbled as a third beast tackled him to the ground. Ether winced as the wolves latched onto his friends arms, trying desperately to hold him down. The final wolf on that side opened its mouth, ready to roast the adventurer even at the cost of its own allies, but it never got the chance.

Ether’s glaive came down on the beast’s neck, effortlessly shearing through flesh and fur as lightning danced along the bloodstained blade. The remaining wolves surrounded the party leader, desperately trying to finish off at least one of the 3 invaders, but turning their back on an angry [Rogue] turned out to be a fatal mistake.

He landed on top of the largest wolf and buried his freshly reclaimed dagger in its skull, backflipping away from the dying beast as one of the others turned to unleash a fresh wave of flames. Ether lashed out with his glaive, channeling [Shock] down its edge as he swung desperately towards the nearest wolf. He saw another blazewolf opening its mouth out of the corner of his eye, and instinctively tried to activate [Reflect Projectile].

It was pointless. He couldn’t possibly pull back his attack in time to -

For combining magical and martial techniques while under extreme stress,

you’ve unlocked the hybrid skill [Storm Slash]!

A wall of wind and lightning extended from the tip of Ether’s glaive, tearing through both astonished wolves as he spun in a full circle, nearly clipping Perseus as he did. Realizing it was, for the first time, outnumbered, the final wolf slowly backed away from the [Rogue] and [Adventurer], only to pause as it felt the sudden sting of something sharp on its neck.

Shar stepped away from the decapitated wolf, wiping down her knife with a white cloth before sheathing it. The frantic struggle had felt like hours, but in reality had taken them only a few minutes.

“Fuck this dungeon!” Perseus said abruptly. “This stopped being fun around the eighty-fifth fireball. You saw the rules! With the number of wolves we fought, we’ll probably hit level 10 even if we leave right now!”

The other two glared at him.

“And have wasted days of effort and most of our potions?!” Shar snapped.

“This was your idea,” Ether added, nodding in support of the [Battle Chef]. “Besides, there’s a pretty good chance we just cleared the whole damn place out, right? We should take a quick rest and then try the boss. If we’re going to level no matter what happens, and we respawn when we die, then there’s no reason not to!”

“It’d be a shame to go back,” Shar said slowly, “but charging in blindly isn’t smart either. We want to win, right? Then let’s take a moment to recover before we go any farther. I have a few snacks left!” She tossed each of the boys some sort of a fruit filled bun and slumped to the ground, pulling out a third bun for herself. Ether followed suit, almost as eager to rest his legs as he was to try the sweet treat. Perseus sighed, stuffing the entire thing into his mouth and shaking his head.

“Not bad,” he said grudgingly. “Wish you used peaches or apples, though. Not a big berry guy.”

“Ladies and gentleman,” Ether said melodramatically, sweeping one arm towards his irritable companion. “I give you… The whiniest man in the world! Capable of complaining about literally anything, even free food!”

Noticing the scowl on the [Rogue]’s face, Shar couldn’t help but play along, applauding with a smirk.

“How about we shut up and take a break while we still can?” The lanky, irritable fellow snapped at his friends. “If we’re really doing this, we need to recover from that fight and push on ASAP.”

Ether frowned. “What’s got you so anxious?” For as long as he could remember, Perseus had been the reckless one in their circle of friends, always starting boss fights early and abandoning safe positions to score a few extra hits. Now, though, he seemed uncharacteristically unnerved by the prospect of dying in game - a discomfort that Shar seemed to share.

Perseus glanced back and forth between Ether and Shar before letting out a long, low sigh. “Dying…It’s not a fun experience, man. Hurts like hell. There’s penalties for death, too - you might even lose a piece of gear! Plus… back in the beta there were a lot of rumors flying around about dungeon monsters. You remember how I said that they respawned faster than normal monsters?”

The other two nodded almost in unison, waiting for him to get to the point. “Well, I never saw it myself, but… a few people said that they tried to save on potions by just waiting until their natural regen topped them off between fights, and had something spawn right on top of them. If that’s true, and we take too long…”

The trio shuddered at the thought of facing the horde of blazewolves without any potions. “Understood.” Ether pulled up his status screen to check his MP. His heart sank.

2.

He finished his pastry in two bites and rose to his feet as the exhaustion that had overwhelmed him slowly faded away. “How fast did those rumors say the respawns were?”

Perseus shrugged. “It’s never consistent. Some say an hour, some say half an hour, and a few even insisted it only took about ten minutes!”

“Then we assume ten minutes is correct, and move out in five.” Ether half expected a fresh complaint from Perseus, but both he and Shar simply nodded, albeit sullenly.

Who knew 5 minutes could feel like a lifetime? Ether certainly wouldn’t have guessed. Of course, he wouldn’t have guessed he’d be eager to hurry up and charge into a dangerous, violent situation without any concern for his own life, either. He also wouldn’t have suspected that technology would ever reach the point where a video game could compress time, or that he’d be willing and even eager to play a game where enemy attacks caused him actual pain.

Come to think of it, how did a game company like I.T. manage to create something so advanced? Why release it as a video game when they could’ve marketed it to students who needed to learn complex subjects quickly, countries that wanted advanced and complex hi-speed military training, or literally any other group that could’ve paid them MUCH more than random, desperate gamers? And while he was at it, why didn’t he care about the game hurting him?

“Time to move,” Shar said abruptly, shaking him from his reverie. Ether blinked dumbly at her for a moment before nodding. Somehow, that had felt like both the longest and shortest 5 minutes of his life.

“Let’s do this,” he said with a sharp nod towards Perseus. The [Rogue] sprang to his feet and responded in kind, stretching in a manner that reminded Ether of Olympic runners.

“If your plan gets us killed,” the obnoxious assassin warned his friend, “I’m stealing your place as party leader.”

“No chance,” Ether told his old friend. “You were in charge of our team for the last three MMO’s.”

“And our guild was among the top 10 on our server for all three!”

“If you let him have anything vaguely approaching authority, I’m finding a new party,” Shar warned the [Adventurer], her playful smile discrediting her words.

Ether opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, a howl echoed down a nearby corridor, cutting him off. Everyone abruptly drew their weapons, twisting to line up back to back as the strained their ears, listening for the sound of rough paws on solid stone.

After nearly a full minute of standing in tense silence, Ether realized nothing was coming. “The sound came from that way,” he whispered, pointing with his glaive towards a pair of diverging paths at the end of the corridor. “Right path, I think.”

“That sounded deeper than the barbeque pups from before,” Perseus pointed out as he nervously twirled his blades. “Good chance that it’s meant as a que, to tell us which way leads to the boss room.”

“Well,” Ether said with a grin, no longer bothering to keep his voice low, “it’d be rude to ignore such a polite invitation.”

The massive, pale wolf growled as the doors to its chambers slowly opened, drawing the immediate attention of the three adventurers. It was easily twelve foot tall at the shoulder, if not taller, and the pale blue flames that burned in its eyes gave at least one of them pause, but only for a moment.

Then, in nearly perfect unison, they leapt forwards.

Ether threw a quick [Shock] at the creature to draw its attention, but to his astonishment, it ignored him, instead leaping towards Perseus, its burning fangs bared in a vicious snarl. The [Rogue] cursed, throwing himself to the floor in a desperate attempt to avoid the startlingly swift beast, but too late. It was on him in an instant, its massive jaws clamping down on one of his legs. He screamed in pain as a sickening cracking sound reached Ether’s ears.

The stomach churning sound of his best friend’s leg breaking filled the [Adventurer] with rage, and he sprinted towards the massive Boss, calling on his newest skill. The [Storm Slash] swept out from the edge of his glave, twisting winds and crackling lightning smashing into the beast’s side with enough force to push it back - and more importantly, startling it enough to open its jaws.

Ether’s mind raced as Shar tried and failed to land a [Slice] on the boss’ hamstring. The battle had only just begun, and already, they were on the back foot. He fired off a barrage of [Silent Lesser Heal] spells at his wounded comrade, noting with apprehension that he’d already spent more than a third of his MP.

Perseus leapt to his feet as soon as they could support his weight, his blades blurring through the air with deadly accuracy as he surged towards the Dire Blazewolf. The beast yelped in shock and pain as the blades pierced its thick hide, letting loose a blast of azure flame towards the party’s [Battle Chef] as it leapt away, turning midair to try and face the recovered [Rogue]’s golden gaze.

“Come back here, you fucking mutt!” The foulmouthed player screamed, still running towards the boss.

Ether darted towards the opposite wall, trying to loop around the beast and flank it, but the canny creature put its back to the wall, not only making it nearly impossible to sneak up on, but preventing Perseus from retrieving the blades lodged in its back legs. Perseus left a long gash down the boss’ side as he darted past it, the kitchen knife in his hand burning bright as it tried in vain to scorch the fiery canine. Shar had passed him her blade Something about the attack seemed to hurt it far worse than the tempest the [Adventurer] had struck it with before, and it writhed in pain, whimpering and yowling Then, abruptly, something changed in its gaze.

Fear was overcome by fury as the Dire Blazewolf howled, unleashing a massive wave of blue flame towards Perseus, but Ether was ready. His [Storm Slash] not only batted aside the flames, but also struck the powerful boss in the face, dazing it. Normally, such an attack would mean little - the blaze was merely the first of many tricks it began to use when pushed to its limit- but today was no ordinary day.

The last thing the poor creature saw was a magically reinforced carving knife slamming into its eye with system-defying force.

“Is that it?” Ether wondered aloud. It seemed too easy somehow - the boss had actually been easier than the journey to reach it in the first place! Surely, there must be a phase 2, or -

C̵̫͔̃̒͝͝o̵͔͙̙̊n̸̰͈̹̻̒͆́g̷̡̘͇̼͔̰̦̙̥̣̦̹͗͑̉ŕ̸̨̫͖̰̥͓̺͕̻͍͕̮͎̂̂̕a̸̡̛̮̝͓̟̾͐̀̈́̚t̴̨̡̯̹̠̟͇̣̬̟̲͔̰̣̥͑̈́̌̓̀̏͌̄̅͗̃̐̎͝ư̸̢̛͍̠̝̟̭͓͛̽͐͌̀̾̍͆̓͂̈́̇̚l̴̪̙̉͋̇a̵̡̜͆̓̇̍̓́̈́̂̚͝t̴̢̧̼̘̖͕͖̖̮̮̰͕̤̝͖̅̀̇̅̂̂i̵̩̘͔̰̍͆͒̾̓̀͝͠o̵̖͙̲͚̤̳̳͖͔̻̾n̶̪̫̟̞͌̌s̷̡̨͔̺̜͇̬͔̗̏̒̆̀̈̔́̍̕!̵͙͕̆͋͊͊̄̽͗̆ ̵̢̝͕̬̻̎͋͋͐̏̆̄̋́͌̅̌̉͝Y̸̧͈̺͈͖̖̅͗̓̓͗̉ò̶͓͉̠͓͗̀͂̅̓͛͆͒̕͝ŭ̶̾͘͝ͅ ̸̗̝̗̗̟̭̗̒d̶̡̺̗̬̘͕̠͍̫̝͇̾̑̾́̽͜͜ḛ̵̯̣̭͉͚̩̫̽̀f̵̛͇̥̻̩͙̣̆́̿́͒͘͜͠͝͠ę̷̜͗͆̕a̷͎͈͕͔͕̫̮̖̐ṱ̶̡̨̛͓̙͉̯̞̔͛̀̿̈̑̐͐͐͆͒́͌̚ę̸̡̨̥̤͍͍̙̬̯̱̗͊̉̅̎̉͑͋̊͘͝͝͠d̸̛̞͈͎̺̓̿̈͋͛̋̅̑̾̊̂͝ ̷̗̆͆̈́͑́̓̊̈́́̀̈̍̕͝͝

̸̢̦̫͖̱͙̦̉̈̊̂̏̕ț̶̢̨̢͎̜̱͙͔̙̹͉͂́̂͌̄̀̉̈ͅͅh̶̛͈̣̮̼̊̆͛̂͒͐̈́̍̑͐̉e̶̛̬̳̬̞̰̟̻̫̼̰̟̙̍̓̽̓͘

̷̥͎̻͊̐́͊̑̏͋̊͂͘͜͝͝ḓ̶̌̍͊̅̎̊̓̌̑́̚ũ̸̗̉͛̓̿n̷̝̑̇̐͗̽͝ǵ̷̨̧̛̲̮̟̙̓̾̇̌̈̿̀̓̀̍͊̍͠

̵̡̨̟͖̦͚̪̗̳̠̝͔̥̼̅͜͝o̴̢̯̬͉͕̲̦̖͓̪̣̟͉̞̊̈s̵̻͉̠̰̞̆̋͌͜͠͠s̸̨̡̗̦̜͎̠̱̪̺͚͋̏̉͜͜ͅ

̷͍̥̼̼̹̄̎̔̄̊́̏̋̐͠

What the hell?

A sharp pain suddenly ripped through Ether’s chest. He stumbled backwards, staring down at the apple sized hole that had just appeared in his torso.

Or, more accurately, the small, gray, clawed hand sticking out of it.

The not-goblin smiled as Ether collapsed to the floor, a new message filing his vision as a terrible, painful, hollow feeling settled in his heart.

Y̴͈͚̅ő̵̬u̸̳̣͒ ̶̖̬͊ḥ̴̆ḁ̸̲̀v̶͖̜̎e̵͎̺͐̀ ̶̠͋͂d̴͇̊̿i̴̡̥͛͘ȩ̷̬͑͊d̷̟͂̒

Name: Ether

Species: Human

Class: Adventurer (Lvl 9)

HP: 30

MP: 36

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 13

Vitality: 14

Willpower: 16

Active Effects:

[Adaptive]

[Aegis of the World Tree]

Skills:

[Casting] Lvl 2

[Identify] Lvl 3

[Reflect Projectile] Lvl 2

[Running] Lvl 2

[Basic Weapon Proficiency: Glaive]

[Pocket Sand]

[Storm Slash]

Spells:

[Shock]

[Silent Lesser Heal]