Joe wanted to wipe the smug grin off Andras’ face so badly it made his teeth clench. But confronting him directly, especially with their vast difference in charisma, would be a waste of time. Instead, he activated Quick Wit to eavesdrop on what the elf bard was saying before he returned to the safety of the Green Zone.

A small crowd of about twenty had formed a line to speak with Andras. Most of them were human, with a few wide-eyed changelings, including one female who looked a bit overwhelmed.

“I know we can’t afford to lose more time, and I suck in the battlebox, but do you really think he’s the answer?” the changeling asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

The kobold beside her frowned but didn’t respond.

“We barely survived floor one. Andras’ offer sounds like a guarantee, but I feel so conflicted,” she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper.

The kobold shushed her, eyes darting from Andras to the others in line. “Sheesh, keep your voice down, will ya? Forget the battlebox. Power’s the only currency that matters, and that guy is going places. We play our cards right, so can we.”

The changeling still looked doubtful. “You think he’ll keep his promise? There are rumors we’ll face squid people, nuclear ants, gun-toting lizards, giant blobs, robo-monkeys with ray guns, crystal swords, and laser whips.”

“Rumors, that’s all they are. You want someone to hold your hand? Find a priest. You want survival? Follow Andras’ lead.” The kobold’s scowl softened as Andras waved them forward, signaling their turn had come.

Joe strained to listen, but Andras had some kind of sound dampening spell or device that even Quick Wit couldn’t break through.

“Why doesn’t that fucker stick to the Green Zone?” TJ muttered under his breath, before raising his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Hey Andras, you use regular toilet paper?”

Andras paused mid-conversation, his attention shifting to TJ.

“Or do you need special bullshit wipes for your mouth?”

That earned TJ a few dirty looks, but it also drew a chorus of laughter. Andras scowled, clearly irritated, and after a quick handshake with the kobold, he left with his wounded ego in tow.

Dawn tutted, looking at TJ and Joe like a disapproving mother. “Quit it you two. We don’t need any more attention.”

Joe opened his mouth to respond, but Dawn cut him off.

“You took some crazy risks in there,” Dawn said, furrowing her brows and delivering a friendly punch to Joe’s shoulder. He was grateful she didn’t put any real force behind her gesture.

“Heck yeah!” TJ yelled, throwing up a rock salute. “You’ve got some new fans!”

Joe gave TJ a half-hearted smile. New fans? He rubbed the back of his neck, debating whether he wanted to dig deeper.

Nope!

“Yeah, I know I took some risks. Messed up using my healer orb way too soon. I could use some attack orbs, maybe an Earth affinity one to test out my new combo orb.”

Brian offered him another potion. “Don’t worry about Dawn’s lecture. With your Quick Wit and rogue skills, I never doubted you’d win Capture the Flag. Learn from the mistakes, but don’t get stuck on them. As TJ said, you probably have tons of adoring fans now.”

Joe shook his head. “There are thousands of ascenders and countless challenge matches. Why would anyone care about ours?”

“Oh, Joe,” Rose said, clasping her hands on the table, leaning in, “you’re so silly sometimes. Gaia’s challenge was sponsored, so extra time currency was thrown into her bet. That meant your match was broadcasted on every screen in every zone. I’m certain she’s kicking herself for that now.”

Joe’s stomach dropped. “Doesn’t mean everyone watched, right?”

“Why don’t you ask Poppy? She’s got the stats,” Brain said, taking out his vape pen.

Joe tugged on his hoodie strings and loosened the neck, waving the air with one hand. “Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here? Hey, Poppy, has anyone messed with the environmental controls?”

“No, no, Joe. Current temperature is 297. Only the best hybrid elemental Titan hypothalamus used in Titan Tower.” Poppy’s Kaiju avatar marched into view, waving a little flag like Ryan’s in her tiny paw. She bounced up and down, yipping, “Joe win, win! Time for happy dance!” 8-bit guitar riffs blasted in his ears as she danced her little heart out.

Joe couldn’t help but grin.

Looking around the common room, he noticed the number of eyes on him. If he’d known taking up a challenge from an ex-goddess would attract this much attention, he might’ve thought twice.

“Keep telling yourself that, chump. A part of you loves the attention, seeks validation. Not that I mind. Your other talents compensate for your many flaws.”

Joe raised an eyebrow. So you’re not giving me the silent treatment anymore?

“No idea what you’re talking about. You’ve got bigger fish to fry, like asking Poppy how to open communications with other factions.”

Since when do you care about that? I thought you wanted me to be a one-man army.

“Oh, I still do. But even superheroes need sidekicks. Until you’re strong enough, you need all the help you can get.”

Joe frowned at that, his eyes drifting back to Poppy, who was still dancing away in the corner of his vision.

“You’re the best, Poppy. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Poppy always happy to help, Joe,” she said with a cheerful bounce.

Joe smiled, though there was a touch of unease he hid. He wondered how much of her drive to assist was only programming and how much was genuine. Could you really be friends with an AI, or was it all simply code? He remembered the AI Butler back home, how they’d played chess during those sleepless nights. But here, with magic and everything else, the boundaries of AI seemed limitless.

Feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze, he gestured to his friends and led them to a quiet corner with an L-shaped booth. As they settled in, the scaly leather squeaked under them.

Back when they were kids, he and his friends used to laugh and accuse each other of farting in the same way the booth squeaked now. The nostalgia made him smile.

“Okay, let’s get back on track,” Joe said, pulling up the party chat.

Joe: Poppy, I’ve got some questions about communication. Can you help?

Poppy: Yep, yep, Joe!

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Joe: First off, how many ascenders actually watched our match live?

Poppy: 1,734 views

“Wow!” Joe was taken aback. More than he’d expected. He half-expected Poppy to say,

‘Smash that like button and subscribe.’

Dawn snorted. “Sounds like you need a PR manager.”

Joe grinned. “Are you up for that?”

TJ jumped in. “I’m in! I’ll promote the heck out of you, make everyone’s heads spin.”

Dawn shook her head. “More likely to scare the hell out of them. Look, Joe, don’t cater to the crowds. Focus on what’s important: growing stronger, gaining more MP. We don’t want to become a popularity contest.”

Brian nodded slow and deliberate as if in deep thought. “Respect is earned, not forced. Intimidation’s easy, but respect takes time. You’ll have more reliable allies if they respect you.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “You might need to get those rose-tinted glasses checked.”

Brian shot back a steady glare. “Better than the blinkers you’re wearing.”

Joe sighed. “We’re going off track. Save the bickering for later.”

Joe: Poppy, how can we open communications with other factions?”

Poppy: No-no, not possible. Party chat is for party only.

Brian: We found a workaround for you Poppy, remember?

Poppy: Rules are rules.

Joe: But the Lich encourages alliances. How can we manage that when we’re so spread out after entering each floor? I don’t want to rely on random chance to bump into friendly factions.”

Brian: Is there a status indicator between factions like there is with you, Poppy? If not, it should be.

Joe: If you give me access to your code, I could help with that.

Poppy’s avatar froze. At first, Joe thought it was a glitch. Then he saw her little tail trembling.

Poppy: Code belongs to Lich Master. We belong to Lich.

Joe shared uneasy glances with the others. Things were spiraling fast.

Joe: There’s gotta be a way to include faction status with other factions. Maybe the Lich Master, in his boundless generosity, will consider adding it to our interface.

He hoped the pompous bastard was eavesdropping. Actually, he was counting on that fact.

The chat went quiet. Poppy’s avatar vanished.

Poppy: Check your submenus on factions. All named ones are present and your status with them. Group only, no individual status due to confidentiality.

Joe followed her instructions, scanning the list. Hundreds of factions appeared. He clicked on Blanche Brigade and read the notification.

[If you wish to see the status of Blanche Brigade, you must set your privacy settings to public. Please note, if you click yes, your privacy setting will automatically change to public. Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No?]

Joe explained the impact of this decision from his past life in gaming chats. “If we set it to public, we’ll know our status with factions that also chose to display their settings to public. Those with private settings won’t see ours, but we won’t see theirs either.”

Dawn hesitated. TJ shrugged. Brian, lost in thought, let vapor curl from his vape pen.

Brian finally spoke. “Not thrilled about public settings, but we’re one of the most well-known factions. We need to adapt.”

Brian returned to the party chat.

Brian: Poppy, what are the status types? Hostile, friendly?

Poppy: Simple. There are four and they are Hostile, Known, Friendly, and Ally.

Joe: What level do we need to be to form an alliance with another faction?

Poppy: QRL 5, then you can open an alliance chat. It’s separate from party chat and has restrictions. If both factions have map access, drop pin locations make it easy to find each other.

Joe grinned. “Excellent. That’s what I was hoping for.”

He clicked “Yes” and a status notification for the Blanche Brigade popped up.

[Blanche Brigade Status with Titan Slayers: Friendly]

A box appeared, similar to social media notifications.

[New alliance suggestion: Blanche Brigade]

Underneath was the option to send an alliance request. [Yes/No?]

Joe clicked “Yes.” His heart raced a little. He rarely sent out friend requests and was surprised by the thrill.

The notification blinked.

[Blanche Brigade has accepted your alliance request.]

“Ryan, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” Joe said, the line from his grandpa’s favorite black-and-white movie running through his head.

Brian’s hand landed on Joe’s shoulder. “Well done. Now, we’ll have more allies if we encounter those hollows on this floor.”

TJ scrunched his nose. “We never had anything like the Touch of Madness back home, only prolific mating cycles—now that you could smell when they were coming.”

“Hmm,” Rose tilted her head. “Your olfactory senses have a rather unique specialization.”

Chuckling, smoke filtered from Brian's mouth as he spoke. “TJ’s something unique himself. But, what's more important is knowing where the Touch of Madness came from. The lich announced their release, so it could be his device.”

Joe shook his head. “You saw what it did with a simple skin-to-skin contact. It’s a virus that spreads like a wildfire.” He turned to his party chat.

Joe: What if this is something to do with the Time Hacker?

Joe’s eyes widened as Poppy was first to respond.

Poppy: Don’t go there, Joe. He dangerous.

Dawn: Did he create the Touch of Madness?

Poppy: … so-so scary. Lich like ascenders, not hollows.

Joe glanced back at the group. “I think we have all we need to know. Even more reason to avoid this. If the Time Hacker created the Touch of Madness, maybe he’s the one stealing the time from ascenders.”

TJ pounded his fist. “We need to hunt this guy down and teach him how to have a good time.”

“I doubt that’d be of any use.” Brian puffed a ring of smoke and stowed away his vape pen. “Those hollows used to be ascenders, GORED for some time before they turned.”

Scratching his jaw, Joe scanned his interface. “Poppy, how much time do you actually have if you’re GORED before you become a hollow?”

Poppy’s avatar swished its tail. “If you don’t get out of the red ticker, you become hollowed. Soul gone. No respawn.”

Joe’s brows scrunched. “How long does the red countdown last?”

“Depends. If Touch of Madness (ToM) infection…time less. Beware, once touched, it might reactivate if health declines to half of what it is for your current QRL level. Then only twelve hours. If no ToM, you get twenty-four hours.”

“It’s like a stress response.” Joe looked at Brian. “The ascender's immune system is already compromised if they ever get infected.”

Brian nodded. “Whether you’re an elf or a ratfolk, your time is in overdraft mode—the ticker holds only so much time before you lose yourself for good.”

“It’s like games I’d played in the past.” Joe crossed his arms. “If you abandoned your character they’d become hollow.” He cleared his throat as Lucky joined their group, glancing back at Andras who continued chatting to the last few in his follower line. “Any news on the floor, Lucky?”

Lucky’s whiskers twitched. “I’m leaving the zone now. Andras agreed I don’t need to worry about battleboxes.”

“Why’s that?” Joe glanced back at Andras who gestured toward Lucky.

“Erhm,” Lucky twiddled his thumbs.

“It’s okay, we know you’re knowledgeable with nature. Might be your best skill.”

Lucky nodded, his whiskers twitching.

“Well, if you need anything, let us know.” Joe patted Lucky’s back. “We don’t all have the luxury of the Green Zone yet, so we’re going to keep practicing in case another battlebox challenge arises.”

TJ stepped back, his hand on the sheath of his weapon. “If I’m not using my BK machete, then you can find me taking on that AI in the battlebox simulator.”

“You did good, Joe. Best to you all in the practice sessions.” Lucky glanced at Andras who beckoned to him, his foot tapping to an unheard beat. “Got to head back out.”

“Hey, we’re expecting two titans on this floor. So watch out.” Joe gave Lucky a nod as he turned, scampering towards Andras who guided him toward the interlocking zone exchange.

Joe glanced back at his friends. “Lucky’s trying to tell us something, but whatever Andras is holding over him, it’s enough to keep him from giving the information.”

Dawn shook her head, displaying an empty smile as though she were thinking about her own past. “Even if you cornered a rat, he’d be so gullible to hop into the hand of the enemy for a piece of cheese.”

Running her hand through her blond hair, Rose glanced around the room. “Not many are willing to protect the ratfolk. Look around. There’s not many ratfolk here in the Orange Zone and there sure weren’t any in the Green Zone when I arrived.”

Joe’s chest tightened. “Then we have to be one of the few ascenders to encourage the Red Zone to rise with us. Keep Andras from warping their minds. We’re in this together, even if we reach the top of this tower.”