Today was the day.

Years of suffering. Months of torture. Weeks of planning. Days of work. And it all had been worth it. The prize was right there before there eyes.

A gem larger than any other, created over centuries by the oldest elemental to exist. Polished and perfectly cut by the oldest of elves. Encased in a glass sphere built by the most crafty of gnomes. Attached to the sphere was a staff refined and molded by the dwarves, using only the finest and rarest of metals. Etched into the staff were runes, written by the few dragons still alive. At the base of the staff curled a tentacle, beating and leaking mist, from the old one that had been so kind to attach to it. And lastly, the colorful aura made from its countless enchantments, curses, and blessings, some from the most damnable devils or holiest of angels. Some believe even gods themselves had marked the staff.

The Staff of Eternity.

And all of this, all this untapped potential and power, was free for the taking.

...

Or it had been until the infighting had begun. Apparently, being at the feet of such perfection had driven a few select individuals mad with greed. Spells cast, blades swung, and skills activated. The  raid party, a group of 50 powerful individuals, had reduced their numbers faster over a few seconds than the raid boss had over a couple of hours. In a couple of minutes, only the co leaders had been left fighting for supremacy.

Out of all the groups of people I had thought to have reached the end of this treacherous quest, the Guild of Heroes had been the least likely to have betrayed each other. While there name had lacked imagination, it was completely accurate. They had acted in a manner befitting such a name. Near unbeatable, righteous morals, and a white knight attitude so clean I could see my face in that armor. No joke, the guild master was one of the only people with a Knight in Shining Armor class. Guy was useless for stealth missions. Glowed like the sun whenever he wore armor. Which was all the time.

Although today, he was a lot less shiny. Being covered in the blood of his former comrades made him look more demonic than heroic.

"Why...?"

Hm? Oh, would you look at that. Semmes their about done. Hope they built some pain resistance because a sword to the gut is a horrible way to die. Game or not, that shit is painful.

Not even looking at his long time friend as they died from blood loss, mister not so shiny climbed the ornate steps up one by one. You'd think when building one of the most powerful items in the game, you'd try to be a secretive and subtle about it. Instead, some idiot thought it'd be a grand idea to have it floating on a podium decorated to the extreme with precious minerals. Sure, it was protected by legions of creatures numbering in the hundreds of thousands from the full spectrum of the enemies list. Sure, it was overflowing with hundreds of mini bosses like Elder Liches, Demon Princes, Ancient Drakes, or other ridiculous beasts.  Sure, the final chamber was protected by The Immortal King. A boss with three phases to be fought in, had to be killed twice, all while under a time limit that would send you to the start of the dungeon if you didn't beat him fast enough. And on top of all that, he was near immune to all forms of damage at all times.

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Hmm...

Maybe leaving the staff out in the open wasn't such a bad idea after all. I'm pretty sure noone was ever expected to reach this far. And if they did, the passive status effects of the staff more than likely would get anyone killed if they tried to take it before the Immortal King was dead. Might be why the infighting had happened actually. In a game that took pride in being as realistic as it possibly could, debuffs were near lethal at times. Thing must have been pumping mind altering debuffs like nobodies business.

Speaking of business, looks like he picked it up.

"Yes... Finally... I-it's mine... I got it! I got the The Staff of Eternity!" He yelled, falling to his knees while cradling the staff like a lost child. Motherfucker started crying to. Running nose and everything. I had to stop walking for a bit, being so sickened by what I saw. Seeing a 'hero' acting so pathetic almost ruined the moment for me.

Almost.

Clapping my hands as I approached, I emerged from the shadows oh so ominously. Considering there wasn't a speck of darkness in this bedazzled throne room because of the artificial sun on the ceiling, that was quite a feet. Mr. Pathetic went rigged when he saw me, trying to hide the staff from my field of view. He failed miserably, unable to do such a thing with a staff a third taller than him. The man was almost 7ft tall, so that thing was huge in comparison to anyone else.

"Yes, you did. After countless sleepless nights, hundreds of transactions, and millions of attempts. You, out of billions of players, got the red slippers at the end of the yellow brick road."

I pulled out a metal cylinder with a string at one end from thin air. I grasped the string while pointing the other end at Mr. Pathetic who I might add, started panicking as I did this. The worm was near death, had exhausted almost all his spells, and had yet to recover from his prior battles. A fly could slap him and he'd die instantly. But there was no need far all that unnecessary stress.

I pull the string. Confetti pops out, with the golden letters 'You Win!' appearing above my head.

It was just a confetti popper. No need to have a heart attack because of it.

Regardless, the man soiled himself. Mr. Pathetic being Mr. Pathetic I guess. You'd think when you're stuck in a life or death game for the last decade, only to finally come out victorious, the hero would be... heroic. I had a hard time keeping a smile on my face. To say this had been a disappointment would have been an understatement. A door of light pops up next to me. The word 'Exit' floating above it.

"Congratulations are in order. It's over. You're free to go."