After a short walk, Lorelei found herself standing in front of the door to the Mystical Market.
It was somewhat of a shock - although, on reflection, it shouldn't have been - that the Mystical Market appeared to have come into being smack bang where the Bullring Shopping Centre used to be. Because if there's one thing adventurers love more than slaying dragons, it's a good sale on enchanted leggings.
Lorelei was more than a little disturbed to see that the aluminium discs that had covered the outside of the building before the integration seemed to have transformed into a series of holographic eyes. They had all fixed on her as she approached and had carefully followed her progress towards the entrance hall, not unlike a creepy painting in a haunted mansion. The fact that she was the only person currently out front meant it felt like hundreds of judgmental owls were watching her.
In fact - even ignoring all the eyes (oh my word, the eyes) - the whole of the Selfridges building now looked like it had been encased in a giant, shimmering bubble, like a giant child was playing with cosmic bubble wrap. In the early evening darkness, the overall effect was that the whole place was pulsating with a soft glow.
Not unlike a massive pile of observant frogspawn. That was a description that was going to fester.
As Lorelei'd closed in on the entrance, she'd noticed - it would have been quite hard not to - that the System had moved the giant bull from New Street Station right next to the door. It had been enchanted to occasionally snort magical smoke rings and had undergone a glow-up that could only be described as the stuff of a particularly vivid fever dream.
Standing taller than ever, Ozzy (because there had been a public vote for the name. Of course, there had) now shimmered with an otherworldly sheen, his bronze skin a metallic canvas displaying subtle, ever-shifting runes. His eyes - what was with this place and all the eyes? - were fixed on Lorelei and burned with a deep, fiery glow. Likewise, Ozzy's horns had been transformed into twisting spires of iridescent metal. They caught the last of the day's light in strange ways, crackling with static energy.
Lorelei imagined the whole vibe was supposed to be quite threatening - especially as the bull had been reimagined to stand mid-charge, muscles tensed, head lowered, as though ready to burst into motion at any moment. But she had spent so many hours around Ozzy - there was a spot near him in the station where you could eat your lunch in peace without making conversation - it was hard to feel too intimidated.
"How's the integration working out for you?" Lorelei asked the statue, reaching up to rub its belly absent-mindedly.
"Can't complain," the bull replied. "You off shopping?"
Lorelei didn't exactly jump - a talking bronze statue was probably the least of the weird things that had happened today - but she still took a moment to settle herself, carefully removing her hand, before replying, "So you're alive now?"
The bull moved its eyes from side to side in its head, which Lorelei recognised was supposed to reflect a headshake. "Nah, just your standard portal guard NPC. I can talk and do a couple of other things, but I'm not really 'alive' in any meaningful sense. Cheers for speaking, by the way. Most people I've seen so far are either running around screaming or the reason the others are running around and screaming."
"It's been a bit like that so far, hasn't it?"
The eyes bounced up and down in a nod. "Not been pretty."
Lorelei checked her Map and was irritated that the same issue from the Glyde and Glyde building remained. If people were inside the Mystical Market, their dots were hidden from her.
"What's going on in there?"
The bull's eyes completed a complicated little movement, both moving upwards and outwards simultaneously in a pretty decent replication of a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine. I'm fixed out here, I'm afraid. From what I understand, though, there's no violence allowed inside." Ozzy's voice dropped to a whisper. "Tell you this, though - as you've been one of the few people to chat - be careful when you come out. There's a few lads and ladies in there making a habit of following people outside when they leave and . . . relieving them of their purchases." The bull jerked his eyes to an alleyway which - in the regular world - Lorelei would never have risked going down.
"Cheers for the head's up." And she set off straight for it.
"Hang on! Didn't you hear what I said? There's bad stuff going on down that way."
"Yes," she called back, "and I'm going to do something about it."
***Help Message***
Not to be critical, honeypie, but can you pick a vibe? I wasn't wild about you developing into the type of person who left innocent noobs to be horribly murdered, but I respected the hustle. Segueing straight into being a wannabe Jack Reacher is a bit of a whiplash.
Lorelei ignored the words and pressed herself against the edge of the building that opened out into the alley. Nothing was showing on her Map, but she was quickly learning not to trust that. "Guide, can I assume alleyways hide what is in them like buildings do?"
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
***Help Message***
I can neither confirm nor deny that two Level 5 players are lurking down this alley. Likewise, neither will I express my profound distaste for the little murderhobo game they are playing. Nor will I note that should someone decide to put an end to it, I'd have a rummage round in the old reward bucket.
*** Quest Awarded *** NOT ENTERING INTO THE SPIRIT
Objective: Some people play fair, and some people lure others down dark alleyways and kill them. I don't like those people. Do something about it.
Quest Description: You've been alerted to some nefarious shenanigans going down near the Mystical Market. For whatever reason (I don't think I quite get you yet), you seem to be up for doing something about it. So, let's roll with that. Be aware, though, that this is a time-sensitive quest. You're spunky, and I think you can take these two. But the ones inside the Market who are luring people down here are out of your league. Should this 1 vs 2 become 1 vs 4, the quest will be failed. Because - if I'm being too subtle here - you will be dead.
Kill 2 Muggers: I rarely encourage PVP . . . Well, no. That's not strictly true. When I say 'rarely' . . . I mean 'sometimes'. And when I say 'sometimes', I probably should say 'often'. Okay. Look, I always encourage PVP, but on this occasion, I really want these guys taken out.
Rewards: I don't know. Something cool. Maybe a hat. I like hats.
What was she doing? Lorelei gently tapped the back of her head against the wall. The Guide wasn't wrong to point out the inconsistency in her actions. If she couldn't bring herself to free people trapped in a room, why was she bothered about a little bit of violent muggery? She didn't know why, but there was just something about the idea of waylaying fellow players (when did she start thinking of people in those terms?) ground her gears.
There were enough challenges in this new world to occupy the attention without having to worry about fellow humans fucking you over. All she'd done at Glyde and Glyde was to leave people to their own devices. She hadn't hurt them. She hadn't disadvantaged them in any way. She just hadn't been the saviour. Each and every one of them would live and die by their own endeavours. She accepted that made her 'one cold bitch', but she was pretty sure it did not make her any sort of villain.
Hanging around a Quest venue and murdering and looting other people? Well, if there was a line she'd skated a little close to by not opening the mail room door, then these guys had not just crossed it, but they'd rubbed it out, pissed all over it and replaced it with the intestines of a little old lady.
*** Help Message ***
Strong metaphor game.
So, here she was. Nice new quest and a sense of moral indignation. Lorelei guessed there was no point overplanning it. She stepped into the alley.
Two red dots immediately showed up on her Map halfway down the alley. Lorelei had a moment of frustration with the physics of it all - these figures were definitely not there when she'd looked down the alley earlier - but quickly put that thought away in the 'bitch about it another day' box. Both of the approaching muggers were tall, rangy figures from central casting. Lorelei's eyes flicked between the two and chose the one on the left to apply
FOFO, she guessed.
"What do we have here?" said a walking cliche with
"I think someone might have got themselves a little lost," added a second stereotype, also underneath a label that read
Four or five motionless bodies were lying at the end of the alley. Over each of them, rather than a coloured dot, sat a sad little headstone. That gave Lorelei a moment's pause. She hadn't seen anything like that at Glyde and Glyde. Or on the road outside the nail salon.
*** Help Message ***
I mean, I'd suggest you have far more pressing issues, but if it's that which is bothering you, happy to help. We only mark the passing of someone who has both obtained a Class and levelled up at least once. Think of it as a wheat and chaff thing. From looking at the logs, that [Kobold Champion] appeared ten seconds into the integration. I'm not sure anyone in the building would have had a chance to pick a Class before - you know - squish-squosh-squash.
"Fortuna's Herald? What's that?" The second of the two was peering above her head, obviously at her own label.
"Oh, goodness. Well done, you! I would never have expected you'd be the reader of the two." Lorelei turned to the first thug. "Does that mean he's the pitcher and you're the catcher?"
The Rogues exchanged a look. This wasn't quite going the way they expected.
"The fuck you say?" Thug #1 took a step forward, a low red glow appearing around him as if he had activated some sort of rage skill.
"I mean, why else would two strapping boys be lurking in a dark alley? Don't tell me - your girlfriends simply don't understand you, do they? You've got different needs, right? After all, there's nothing quite like a hairy back to cling on to when the going gets rough."
The Rogue on the right snarled and took another step forward. Lorelei threw her coin at him. It hit him in the forehead and bounced straight back to her, smacking against her nose as usual.
Lucky Strike Activated: Your [Double Headed Coin of Fate] hits [Player: Liam Rooney - Rogue], Level 5
Damage Dealt: [Randomised] - 3 HP
Status Effect: [Randomised] - Bemused.
The Rogue, presumably called Liam, touched the spot on his head where the coin had struck. Above his name, a long bar appeared with 99% written in the middle. As her notifications flagged that The Coin's Revenge had done 10 HP damage, she did not necessarily feel she had come out of the best of that exchange.
*** Help Message ***
Well, chin-up. Things can only get better from this point forward. Oh, and I reckon you've got 2 minutes and 30 seconds before this threesome becomes four-on-one. Good luck! (and yes, I realise that was probably in poor taste.)