Just then out of the corner of his eye he saw a swirl of dark matter rising from the pool of black goo down at the base of the building.
Run!
As he ran across the length of the roof, far below he saw a line of battered NPC townsfolk being led through the streets by two players.
His HUD identified them as @DeathSlinger and @BlondeWarrior. He ducked in an attempt to avoid being seen.
“Hey you up there!” the girl with the handle @BlondeWarrior bellowed.
Dang it!
“Hey Player!” she called again, “My HUD says your handle is @Hellekith, so I know you’re not an NPC. Show yourself coward!”
He stood and raised both arms in the air in surrender.
“Hey!” the guy with the handle @DeathSlinger shouted. “Throw your bow and arrows down here.”
“My what?” Allan stammered, “I don’t have any. The only weapon I have is a spear.”
The two players exchanged looks of confusion.
“Then what are you doing up there?” @BlondeWarrior shouted, “We thought you were trying to be a sniper.”
“No, no. Just tired of fighting a freaking Voidspawn,” he lowered his hands as he pointed behind him. “It's back that way, probably hunting me now. Do you know of alternate route to the gates?”
“I'm afraid not.” @BlondeWarrior cringed apologetically, “But there’s another player we just met with the handle @DoomsDay16 who is fighting several Voidspawn just past the gate, and unfortunately the path behind you is the only way through.”
“Yeah, that’s my buddy James.”
“You’re buddy?” she raised an eyebrow, “Is he your guild mate?”
“My what now?”
“Ah, okay. That explains it.” she chuckled, “He’s just a much higher level player than you, so I would have been surprised if you were both in the same guild.”
Don’t remind me.
“What’s a guild?”
“Players can choose to team up together, and by forming a guild they earn rewards simultaneously and typically level up together.” she pointed to @DeathSlinger, “Brad’s my boyfriend in RL, and so we teamed up in a guild. It’s helped us both level-up quickly.”
Brad smirked, “And I dare say, it’s helped us a lot in our relationship too.”
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I wish I could’ve convinced Lily to play games with me. Maybe we’d have had more in common.
A deep pain pulsed from his core as he remembered her rejection last night. In his mind’s eye, he remembered how she had answered some ‘important’ phone call and wandered away, meanwhile it seemed that everyone in the entire restaurant was gawking at him kneeling there like an absolute fool.
What could’ve possibly been so important for her to just leave me hanging like that?
Just as an intense feeling of anger began to boil up inside, his HUD glitched with a brief moment of static as if he were changing the channel on a really old television set.
What the…
He blinked rapidly, but the glitch was gone.
How strange.
“I see.” Allan tried to wipe the disturbed look off of his face, “So Brad’s kinda showing you the ropes on how to play? That’s cute.”
A lot could be said for how quickly they had both gained Level 25 in such a short span of time since the game's release.
“Don’t be such a misogynist.” Brad jumped to her defense, “On the contrary, Vickie here is actually showing me the ropes. I’ve never been much of a gamer.”
Allan raised his hands in surrender again, “My bad. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“It’s okay.” Vickie smiled, “I get that a lot.”
“Hey…” a thought stuck him, “I gotta get through those gates back there, and as you already pointed out, I’m not exactly a high-level player. I kinda feel a bit over my head being here. Could you help me get past those Voidspawn back there?”
“I’m sorry, but we can't. We're currently on a quest to save these NPCs first. And I doubt you could match the rewards.” she raised a taunting eyebrow.
The Non-Player Characters could help them fight the Voidspawn, but if the battle became too intense the game's parameters would send them running and fleeing back to their homes.
“If you stay above ground, running into Voidspawn is inevitable.” Allan countered, “And I imagine you'll get penalties for each NPC killed in such a battle. But if you lead the people underground through the tunnels, there may yet be hope. I could show you the way? Maybe I could join your guild too?”
“Hmm…” Brad looked a little annoyed, “We didn’t know there were tunnels. That’s an interesting idea, but you never know what monsters you’re likely to find down there.” he pointed the way to the gates. “As for joining our guild, I really don’t think you have a whole lot to offer. I think it’s about time you should go find your friend. We will make do.”
Allan nodded awkwardly. They had talked too long.
“No worries.” he said. “Good to meet you guys!”
Vickie waved, “See you on the other side!”
Vickie then led the townspeople down the street, disappearing around a corner.
Brad shouted at him. “If you level up and get yourself some decent armor, maybe we’ll reconsider!”
He too disappeared around a bend in the direction he had come from, leaving him alone on the roof.
An NR enhanced message popped up in his HUD.
James: Where are you man?! You were supposed to back me up!
Allan: Sorry, had to subdue a Voidspawn. Now I'm lost. Where are you?
James: I’ll ping you my location.
Moments later, an icon popped up on the mini game map in the bottom left corner of his NR enhanced vision. He was positioned just past the inner city gates. The path to reach James however would force him to confront the same Level 10 Voidspawn again.
Deciding that he had to move forward when he heard screeching sounds in the distance, he jumped onto the roof of another building and then climbed down a stairway that spiraled down to the road. The stairs clanked with his every step. He cautiously rounded each corner until the gates were visible, and just past them he could see a lone armored warrior fighting a group of Voidspawn. James was brave fighting that many of those creatures simultaneously, whereas Allan had tired of fighting just one of them.
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