My path took me along the perimeter of our domain to the Plagued Forest. I paused at the edge and browsed my inventory.

An otherworldly voice whispered, “You’re a player?”

Goosebumps spread across my skin as I whipped around. Nothing was there.

“Show yourself, ghost,” I said.

What appeared was a translucent child no taller than the top of my hips. She had midnight black hair tied into pigtails. Her pert nose, puffy cheeks, and a cupid's bow mouth were perhaps the cutest thing I’d ever seen. She wore a pink dress with black Mary Jane shoes. The whole look was spoiled by the gaping holes where her eyes were supposed to be. A faint yellow glow emanated from them.

This one knew what they were doing when they chose their outfit. Even I was a little spooked.

She floated up, so we were eye to eye. “You are a player!”

I despised being called that, especially while I was this engrossed in the experience.

“I am one of the Hexed,” I said.

The little girl smiled and nodded. “A Hexed then.” She glanced at the woods ahead of us. “You’re going to go in there alone?”

“I must,” I said.

“Where are your friends?” she asked.

I crossed my arms. “I don't need friends to pawn my pickings.”

“All zombies need a—”

“Shamblers,” I interrupted.

Her mouth curled into a frown as she paused. “Shamblers, need a party, or you'll be picked off the moment someone sees you.”

Most of my kind were forced to group up to do anything. Other Hexed believed we were only meant to be used as fodder. To take the hits from the blades of the Enlightened while they did all the killing. I'd found another way.

“Who says someone will see me?” I said as I reached out, and a hooded cloak appeared in my hand.

She watched as I expertly attached it around my shoulders and pulled the hood over my head.

The little girl's mouth opened, and I raised a finger.

On my other hand, a smiling Venetian mask with harlequin inlays materialized. I pushed it to my face, where it stayed. To finish the outfit, I shimmied my hands into long black gloves and slipped on a pair of knee-high boots. Admittedly, if boots like these went on as easily in real life, I would probably wear them more often to school.

“What about your voice, though?” she said.

I pulled the cloak closed. The bottoms of my feet and hands were the only exposed parts of my body. “I only need to speak to the shopkeeper.”

The city was a no-kill zone, and the only thing between me and it was the forest. I'd made the trip on multiple occasions, but tonight's patch would make the journey much more difficult. Not because of the changes, those wouldn't happen till midnight, but because of the increased population anticipating the update.

The ghost backed off a bit. “What's your name?”

“Inethiel,” I said as I stepped around her, pushed past the mist, and treaded into the forest. I kept my pace steady and my footing sure.

“Wait!” the girl said.

I ignored her.

She caught up and floated alongside me. “You’re fast for a Zombie.”

“Shambler,” I corrected.

In the early days of my adventures, I was often defeated in battle because of how slow I was. It was one of the things I could work on without fear of being killed. As my agility improved, so did the condition of my legs. When I started, limping was the only way I could move around.

“Aren’t you going to ask my name?” she said.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The ghost was beginning to annoy me, but her voice was adorable and hard to resist. “What’s your name?”

“Molly,” she said.

That stopped me in my tracks. The ghost floated a few feet forward before turning and pointing those glowing eyes at me. “Molly? Really?”

“Is there something wrong with Molly?” she asked.

I was expecting a name like ‘Death Spirit,’ ‘Shadow,’ ‘Black Gaze,’ or something a normal “gamer” would use. Molly alone was a little more disturbing. “I thought it would be something, I dunno, more generic?” I shrugged.

“Molly Ann Smith, the third is my full name,” she said with a smile.

As I took it in, I laughed. “Well met, Molly.”

“Can we be friends?” she said.

I’d always had difficulty making friends, even in my online adventures. People didn’t like how dedicated I was to staying in character. With a name like hers, though, I didn’t think it would be an issue. “Sure—”

A friend request popped up in my view. I pinched my fingers together, and my menu popped up, allowing me to accept the request.

She giggled and screeched. “Yes!”

“You should probably go invisible so you don’t get me killed, though,” I said.

She complied and nearly disappeared.

That's new. I'd never seen a ghost go partially invisible before. They were always completely gone or in an intangible yet seeable form. Anyone far away wouldn't see her, so it would work.

“You know people who play zomb— I mean, shamblers are pretty rare,” she said while skipping around me. She was still in the air, which was a little unsettling.

There she went using that word again. I sighed and eyed the unfriend button next to her name. Ultimately, I decided against removing her. Besides, we'd just met, and I didn't tell her about my preferences yet.

I unclenched my fingers, and the menu disappeared.

“Who do you normally party up with?” she said.

I waited for her to skip behind me before continuing my trek. “I don't group up with people.”

“Well then, how do you level up?” she asked while easily keeping up with me.

My fists clenched. “Can you not reference that type of stuff?”

“What?” she asked.

“Leveling up and the ‘P’ word,” I said.

Molly floated in front of me. “What's the ‘P’ word?”

“Are you going to make me say it?” I hissed.

She stayed silent, hovering backward in front of me as we passed an abandoned building. I wondered what would happen if I led her directly into a tree.

I lowered my voice. “Play.”

“Oh, so you're an RP'er,” she said and continued circling me. “I've never met someone who RP's in this game.”

The look I gave her caused her to mouth, “Sorry.” She put a hand to her chin. “How does this even work?”

“This region is a Hex Empire, and yet the Enlightened own most of the territory. Why is that?” I asked.

Molly was quiet for a moment and then answered, “There’s a lot of mobs for them to kill, so they level up fast.”

“Mobs,” I hissed. “They are fellow Hexed and don’t deserve to be slaughtered by the hundreds.”

“But our fellow Hexed are leaderless, and even if we had a leader, they wouldn't listen to us,” she said.

Molly was trying to roleplay with me, which was pretty cool. She didn’t know about my ability to command the dead, and I wasn’t ready to share that with anyone yet. My best friend Darryl, who I usually told everything, didn't even know. The main reason was that he'd abandoned me and joined the “Enlightened” side with his other friends. I wasn't about to give them any information that might be used against us.

“I'll find a way,” I said.

Although I could control other shamblers, it was very limited. They had to be close, the highest number I'd ever been able to guide was twenty-nine, and I had to concentrate pretty hard to keep them under control. It had taken me months of work to train my abilities enough to get where I was. Figuring out the right combination of skills I needed was even harder since there were no guides.

Dark Offerings was relatively new and still in early access, which meant that there were a ton of features that weren't released yet. I’d searched the qweb for anything to do with shamblers, and no one had mentioned being able to do what I could do.

“Okay…” she said.

We walked in silence for a while, which was a good thing because the woods were becoming more populated the closer we got to town. Molly had to be just as careful as I was because if there was someone skilled in perception, they could find her.

It wasn't uncommon for the Enlightened to wear cloaks like mine. I'd found one after a particularly frustrating battle with a fire mage. There was a segment of the population that never took the cloaks off. It made me wonder if there was a secret society or something weird like that.

There were rumors about vampires existing, but I'd never seen one. Vampires were generally considered part of the undead family which would likely make them Hexed.

Enlightened and Hexed alike weren't shy about sharing their experiences. There were multiple VR streams and videos, but none of them claimed to be vampires.

In the distance, there was an elf fighting a shambler. A part of me was happy that one of ours could make it this far out.

I relaxed, letting that part of me that could commune with the dead seep out. In my mind, it was like a cold wind spreading throughout the area. When it touched the shambler, I could feel its eyes roll in pleasure. Something was wrong, I wasn’t supposed to sense its emotions. There was a real-life human mind connected to it.

It turned and stared directly at me. I saw myself through its eyes, and my concentration faltered. When they began to move in my direction, ignoring the elf, I picked up my pace.

“What did you do?” Molly said.

I glanced behind me, and the elf had skewered the shambler in the back, but it didn’t stop. It was only after the elf pulled out a bow and shot it several times did it fall over. Our eyes were locked and for a brief moment, I felt sorry for it.

“Hello, did you hear me?” Molly asked.

“Shhh,” I said and dashed toward the now-visible city.

***