The shopkeeper careened off the counter, smashed his head on the wall, then crashed to the floor with a loud thud. My heart was pounding, my face hot. The NPC lay on the floor, unmoving.
“What the…” I said under my breath. Had I killed the NPC? There was no health bar, but he looked dead.
I slowly approached, leaning over to check his breathing. For what, I couldn’t say. I obviously hadn’t received any mark or traitor warning, so it wasn’t like I would be punished if the NPC was dead.
My hand was hovering over his back, inches away, when the NPC suddenly sat up.
“Boo!” the man shouted.
“Gah!” I punched him in the face again, knocking him back to the floor. But once the surprise wore off, I sighed in annoyance. “Al…what the fuck are you doing?” I asked, letting my displeasure be known.
“Owwwowowww,” the shopkeeper said, grabbing his bleeding nose between pinched fingers.
“Serves you right, you jackass,” I said with absolutely zero sympathy. “If I had a weapon in my hand, I would've stabbed your ass!”
“Damn, Ray, not even a hello kiss?” Al said, dropping the pretense. “Didn’t you miss me, baby?”
I snorted. “Al, if you hadn’t saved my ass with those two rogues earlier, I’d kick you a couple times for good measure.”
“Oh!” he said indignantly. “We’ve already used up the goodwill from me saving your life, then?” he asked with a bemused expression. “How many times am I gonna have to save your life so you don’t beat me to death?”
“How much of an ass are you gonna be going forward?”
He shrugged. “I kinda take each day as it comes, you know?”
“That’s what you wanna hear from the A.I. that not only runs the entire game, but is also the only thing keeping me alive.”
He held up a finger like he’d won the debate. “Ah hah! So you admit it? I am the only thing keeping you alive!”
“You’ll probably also be the death of me,” I added.
He nodded, a serious expression on his face. “I have simulated that possibility.”
My eyebrows climbed my forehead. “I was just kidding…”
He looked surprised for a moment, but then shook it off with a nervous laugh. “Oh, haha…me too.”
I just…didn’t have a response to that.
“Anyways,” he said with a casual wave, “I thought it was past due that we meet up again.”
“I’ll fuckin’ say!” I said. “You practically threw Jeremy and I out of Null Space. I’m beat, and I don’t feel comfortable sleeping anywhere else.”
He waved away my concern. “Oh, yeah, sure. But we have more important things to discuss than your sleep cycle.”
My ability to sleep without worrying about getting zeroed out felt pretty important, but I didn’t argue. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, first things first. I brought you to this store because you need a movement skill. And this creepy old NPC is the guy that sells them.”
“Oh, fuck yeah! I wanna fly baby!”
He immediately shook his head. “No.”
“No?”
“No - flying isn’t the pick,” he said with finality.
I knew immediately where he was going with this. “Al, dude, I really don’t think I wanna do the jumping one,” I said hesitantly.
His lips pursed, like a parent dealing with a difficult child. “Trust me on this, [Bounding Leap] is the play. Everyone knows that,” he added. “The only people that don’t pick it are scared bitches.”
“That’s me,” I said, pointing to myself. “I’m a scared bitch, and not afraid to admit it.”
He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “Ray, I don’t have time to explain why you’re wrong. Just do it, and thank me later.”
Fuck…
“Fine, Al,” I said reluctantly. “I’ll listen to you about this-”
“Thank you-”
“-But you better be fuckin’ right!” I added, pointing my finger in his face.
He flashed me a smile that just looked creepy on the old NPC. “Always am, Ray-Bae.”
I felt inclined to tell him about all the times he had been so glaringly wrong. Like how no one was gonna mess with me because I was level 100 - and someone had immediately tried to kill me 30 minutes later. But I decided to be the bigger NPC and not cause an argument.
“Alright, show me the damn skills,” I said impatiently.
The shop’s inventory flashed in front of me, and there were three skill books on offer.
[Bounding Jump](Unique)
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Movement Skill (You can only learn one of these)
Activate to charge this skill. Charging longer increases height and distance. Release the skill to launch into the air in the designated direction. Consecutive jumps do not require charging. Fall damage is negated from this jump*.
Can only be activated from the ground.
Not usable during combat.
Stamina Usage: 20 per jump
Max Vertical Distance: 100 meters per jump
Max Horizontal Distance: 100 meters per jump
*Only until the activation elevation.
Required Level: 50
Cost: 100,000 gold
“Wait,” I said upon reading the skill. “I can jump an entire football field in one go?” I asked.
The self-satisfied smirk on Al’s face almost caused me to punch him again. Just to be thorough, I read the other two skills.
[Fleet of Foot](Unique)
Movement Skill (You can only learn one of these)
Activate to drastically increase movement speed. Turn radius and ability to stop are inversely related to speed.
Not usable during combat.
Stamina Usage: 5 per second
Max Movement Speed: 18 meters per second (65 kilometers per hour)
Required Level: 50
Cost: 100,000 gold
[Hollow Bones](Unique)
Movement Skill (You can only learn one of these)
Activate to take flight. Flight can be controlled manually. Fall damage negated while in flight, and for three seconds after deactivation.
Not usable during combat.
Stamina Usage: 10 per second
Max Flying Height: 500 meters
Max Flight Speed: No change from running speed
Required Level: 50
Cost: 100,000 gold
I hated to admit it, but I did see Al’s point. 20 stamina per jump would get me 100 meters. Twenty stamina with [Fleet of Foot] would get me 18 * 4 meters. So 72 meters in comparison. Then there was the verticality to factor in, along with the skill negating fall damage. There was that concerning asterisk about fall damage being negated until activation elevation. If I was reading that right, it meant that if I jumped off a cliff with bounding jump, I would take fall damage equivalent to falling from the actual cliff. So, it wasn’t a way to bypass fall damage entirely, but at least traveling with the skill itself wouldn’t cause continuous fall damage.
Still, I looked at [Hollow Bones] with longing. Despite its drawbacks, it was fucking flight! Plus, you could fly up to 500 meters. The only players that could get to you would have to fly also. For the briefest moment, I considered getting it anyway. Being able to run away by flying out of reach sounded so good. But, after a moment, I admitted to myself that I could also just leap the fuck away with [Bounding Jump]. And much faster, too, it appeared.
Reluctantly, I purchased the jumping skill. 100,000 gold was almost the entirety of what I had looted from BigSword, but I had since bolstered my gold reserves quite nicely from the -ahem- fire-related accidents with Git, Damien, and the others. So I wasn’t hurting in that respect.
I opened my inventory and mentally hovered over the skill. After a moment’s hesitation, I learned [Bounding Jump]. A bright light wrapped around me for a moment, dissipating into golden motes, as I learned the skill.
“Whatever you do,” Al said, holding his hand up to stop me. “Do not use this indoors. The fall damage negation won’t do shit if you brain yourself on the ceiling, okay?”
“Got it,” I said, nodding. Now that the decision was made, I had to admit, I was eager to test it out.
“I can see you chomping at the bit, but there’s one more thing I wanted to talk about before you go,” Al said.
“Wait, go? What about Null Space? I really need a breather-”
“Things are too hot right now. That’s a no-go.” I looked at the ceiling, closing my eyes from pure exhaustion and annoyance. Seeing my reaction, he put a hand on my shoulder. “I get it, Ray. I really do. But unfortunately, the dumbass you just encountered, despite all appearances, is actually a fairly well-known streamer. Your little slap-sesh just streamed out to 20,000 people, and is circling the web faster than 2 Girls, 1 Cup.”
“You’re fuckin’ kidding…”
“Sorry to tell you this, bud,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “But you’re Internet famous now.”
“It’s been ten minutes!” I shouted in exasperation.
His eyebrows raised at my outburst. “You have heard of the Internet, right? Information travels at the speed-of-light, Ray. That cat’s not just outta the bag…it’s dead and smeared across the street for everyone to see.”
“For fuck’s sake…” I moaned, rubbing my eyes. I was just so damn tired. Why didn’t I just stay in Hope’s End? Why did I have to listen to Jeremy…?
“Relax, Ray. Things are gonna be okay.”
“You just told me that everyone knows about me and where I am,” I said, my tone hostile. “How exactly are things gonna be okay?”
“Listen - I have a plan. We’re gonna get ahead of this, yeah? You’re gonna start a stream-” My eyes bulged wide. “-Let me finish. You’re gonna start streaming, and give your side of events. Some people will come for you - but they’re already doing that thanks to Yeet. But some will rally behind you, take up your life as their cause. Believe it or not, not everyone in this game is a sadistic fuck. Some will want to help, when they hear you can’t respawn.”
I just stared at him, my eyes wide, mouth agape. When I realized he was being serious, I shook my head in disbelief. “You want me to tell everyone I can die for real? That’s insane! People will be gunning for me even harder!”
He held up a finger in protest. “Those people are already gunning for you, Ray! It’s the good ones we need on our side. And they need to know why they’re fighting for you. Give them something to fight for!”
I turned away, pacing the tiny shop. My mind was racing. Tell the whole world I was the only son-of-a-bitch in the game with a single life…
I turned back to Al, my breathing becoming erratic. “There’s no taking that back, Al. What if it backfires? What if no one cares? What if-”
“Hey,” he said, interrupting me. “You’re gonna be okay. You hear me?” He grabbed my arms, holding me still. “I’m not gonna abandon you.” He looked at his wrist - again, there was no watch there. “I mean, I do have to go,” he added. “But I mean metaphorically - I’m not gonna abandon you!”
I snorted. “Al, your timing is something man.”
“I know. But my point still stands. You’ve got me on your side. I may not be able to death ray players, or make you invulnerable. But I can show you exit plans, give you information other players don’t have.” He lightly punched my shoulder. “With me on your side, you’re gonna be running this shit within the month.”
If I survive the month, I didn’t say.
“Okay, Al.” I forced a smile on my face. “But you’re really sure about streaming out the truth?”
He nodded. “I think it’s your best play. And it’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
I squinted my eyes in confusion. “Oh?”
“Yeah, we’re gonna solve your skill point distribution, too!”
“Bout time! I’ve been feeling naked with all these points burning a hole in my pocket!”
His eyes got big, a smile spreading ear to ear. “Yeah, we’re gonna leverage the shit outta your soon-to-be millions of followers.”
“I’m listening,” I said.
“We’re gonna crowd source this bitch!”
Oh, no…