This is it! The final boss is here and I still have thirty minutes to beat the record!

“Owl, if you actually pull this off, you’ll be—”

“Shut up Seya, you’ll jinx it.”

Ignoring her moaning, I checked my HP and equipment. All good.

“All-buff!” I said.

‘Skill active — all stats increase 2.5x’

“That skill is way too good!” Seya laughed. “As a battle mage, it’s just unfair.”

I shook my head, as I pushed open the grand double doors.

A dark hallway awaited me, with a lone monster blocking the way.

He stood there in the center, his features impossible to discern through the darkness that hung, like mist, around his body. His red eyes opened with an insatiable hunger as his bony fingers stretched toward me.

Darksoul the level 80 floor boss closed his outstretched hand around a long black shaft. At either end of the shaft, bright purple blades formed long crescents.

With a roar that gripped my soul, the undead king spun his double scythe and summoned a hoard of skeleton knights.

It was said he had over ten million health points, if I wanted to win within the time limit I wouldn’t be able to hold anything back.

I clenched my fist, cracking my knuckles, as I cast my strongest spell. “Spear of the heavens, thunderstorm retribution.”

Lightning gathered at the tip of my outstretched hands, the air hummed, the ground rumbled. A storm of purple lightning formed and with a cry I launched it forward.

Blasting through one skeleton after the next, the bolt crashed into Darksoul, pushing him backwards.

The attack struck him directly, but didn’t noticeably affect his health.

He laughed.

The sound echoed throughout the hall, and sent shivers down my spine.

“So, magic doesn’t work on you? Then how about a holy sword blessed by the goddess Seya!”

“I’m not a goddess, and I didn’t bless your sword!”

I shrugged, then slashed through a skeletal horse, spinning away from its collapse and dashing forward.

A skeleton knight came at me, its blade raised.

I raised my sword, parrying the attack with a metallic clash.

The knight fell backwards and I stabbed through his chest. Like sand, his bones fell apart in little particles.

“Seems like the skeletons can’t tell.” I joked to Seya. 

Three more came at me.

I dodged, parried, and cut them down.

With a roar, I dashed forward, cutting my way to Darksoul.

All buff time remaining, three minutes.

Fuck, I’ll have to move faster.

All at once, I activated double speed, brave heart, bear’s might, and demon smite.

I felt a rush of power as the skills activated and carried me like a missile to Darksoul.

My sword clashed against his scythe, the metal grinding against the black shaft, sending sparks flying.

Darksoul laughed as we pushed against each other.

“Whiling light slash!”

A sword of light, large as my body, extended from my blade. Cleaving straight through the monster's defenses, the blade of light struck Darksoul and shattered the scythe.

With a cry of pain, he staggered backwards, his health now reduced by one percent.

The blade of light carried me in three full rotations, each cutting away a layer of darkness and doing more damage than the last. Then the sword broke apart into three smaller blades that whirled around me, pulling in enemies and eviscerating anything within range.

A third of the skeleton hoard fell to the attack, and Darksoul was down by almost half.

The layers of darkness cloaking his body fell away, revealing black bones and a cursed stone at his core.

“It can’t really be this easy…” Seya gaped. “If you just the core, then—”

Her voice faded into the distance as the scene ripped away.

A pair of eyes, so evil they made Darksoul look harmless, stared down at me.

Mom held my Holoset in her hand as she ground her teeth together.

I was petrified. My mind knew time was limited, I had to get back into the headset and finish the battle. Even excusing the timer, Darksoul would recover his cloak of darkness and once he did it would be near impossible to damage him without waiting for my skills to recharge.

The most crucial, whirling light slash, would take an hour to recharge. If I had to wait for that, I could forget about breaking Daring speed’s record and I damn sure wouldn’t be getting the 100k prize he offered to the first person to beat his time.

“Owl! Owl, what are you doing? You’re about to miss your chance, OWL!” Seya’s voice called from the device, spurring my body to action.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I reached for the device, but mom pulled it out of my grasp, shouting, “I told you to find a job! Why the hell are you playing with this dumb thing and not filling out applications!”

She shook the Holoset While Seya yelled, “Owl, your—he’s gonn—kill you—ust standing there?” her words coming in fragments, as if she were a radio station just barely within range.

My heart pounded. I reached for the headset again, but my mom pulled back further, then cradled it in her stomach, silencing Seya’s pleas.

“There’s…I need to…mom please!” My words wouldn’t come. I was so mad. So afraid. If I died, my character would be gone. I’d have to start all over, grinding and leveling up from the beginning. My items, the spells, everything would be gone. I could run away if I had the Holoset, but unless she gave it back Owl was really going to—I was going to die!

Why? I was so close.

She said to get a job to help pay the bills… what difference did it make if that job was playing a game? Why couldn’t she understand?

She took a step towards my trash can with the device still in her hands. I reacted on impulse, roaring “Give it back!” as I launched out of my bed and tackled her.

We both went down, tumbling in a pile of flailing limbs and screaming curses. I landed on top of her, pinning her arms with my knees as I scrambled to reach the device.

“Allen Worthen Rush, if you don’t get off me right now I’ll—”

I grabbed the Holoset, pulled the headset back on, and thought of every ability that might help me escape.

Seya’s voice whispered in my ear, “Owl…what happened Owl? Are you there?”

Darksoul stood over me, holding a purple orb in his hand. Floating inside the orb was a miniature version of my character. He laughed as he chewed on the orb like it was some kind of edible.

Seya kept speaking, but her words didn’t register.

I pulled off the headset, letting it clunk on the floor and roll away.

My legs felt weak and I leaned on the edge of the bed, trying to steady myself.

Mom had already gotten up and was sitting in a chair. She didn't look angry anymore, just confused.

“Allen... I don't understand what’s gotten into you, but if you never—

“It’s your fault! The money, my character, I lost it all because of you!”

Mom blinked.

I clenched my fists, my heart pounding, blood rushing to my face.

Then mom said, “You lost your character in a video game? That's what all this is about, that stupid game! I don't know how many times I told you not to waste so much time playing games!”

I felt like someone had poured hot coals in my ears.

She didn't get it.

She was never going to get it, but I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “One hundred thousand dollars, mom, that was the prize and I almost had it.”

Her face twisted like I'd just told her pigs could fly. She stared at me like that for several minutes before recovering from her befuddlement.

Finally she asked, “You were going to get a hundred grand?”

I nodded.

“From playing a game?”

I took a shaky breath, as my fists squeezed tighter. She still get it. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I said, “I almost had it mom…almost.”

She stared at me, her mouth wide, her eyes narrowed. Then she began to laugh.

The sound echoed off the walls. She leaned back and laughed so hard she snorted.

I couldn’t take anymore. My legs moved on their own carrying me down the hall and out the front the door. With no worry for passing cars, I rushed across the street to the back alley shortcut I used to reach the convenience store, only I didn’t stop at Riley’s. I just ran and ran with no direction until my lungs burned so much I couldn’t take another breath.

My legs felt heavy and hot, but the sting didn’t really set in until I stopped.

I leaned against a brick wall and slid to the ground, burying my face in my knees.

I was angry, hurt, frustrated. I wanted to throw something or hit something, but even if I could lift my arms, what difference did any of that make? It wouldn’t fix anything, just make more problems I’d need money to solve.

Money.

One hundred thousand dollars would have taken care of everything.

I should have lied to mom about the prize, but why did it matter? I wasn't getting that money. I'd never get another opportunity like that.

That's what I told myself as I sobbed.

I'm not sure how long I stayed in that alleyway, but by the time I got up, the sun had started to set and the alley was almost pitch black.

I stumbled halfway home before a couple of guys stopped me, pushing me against the wall. One of them had dark skin and a nasty hook shaped scar under his right eye, the other was pale with colorful tattoos covering half of his bald head.

“What’s this bro?” The tatted man said.

Huffing, the other guy said, “Looks like some trash to me, let's toss him in the dumpster and call it a night, yeah brother?”

I would’ve run, but my legs barely had the strength to stand. I wasn’t going to get away.

“Sure, sure, but first we gotta make sure right? I mean, we can’t go throwing out money if we find it just laying around.”

The black guy nodded with an easy smile. Clenching his fist, he stepped back then his friend moved out of the way so he could punch me in the gut with his whole body.

I collapsed as the air rushed out of me. My body spasmed, coughing, choking, and gasping as I tried to breathe.

Everything trembled, everything went numb.

The two guys laughed, then the tattooed one knelt down beside me and patted my cheek as his friend searched for my wallet.

I heard a thud, then scarface said, “He ain't got no cash bro, guess we do gotta toss him out.” He moved to look down at my face. Then said, “Shame. The city don’t pay us to clean up these streets, ya know.” Squatting and grabbing a fist full of my hair he added, “That means we gotta take our fee outta you, in flesh.” A disgusting smile spread on his lips as I tried to wriggle away.

It was useless. My body felt so heavy, the pain too overwhelming.

I couldn't believe it. This morning I was going to win enough cash to finally leave this dump of a city, now I was probably going to rot in it forever, literally.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the end coming, but just before the blow landed I heard a familiar voice shout, “Hey!”

Scarface looked up.

“The fuck are you boys doing? Didn’t I tell you to get from round here?” Riley came closer, pulling a Glock from his belt and firing a warning shot.

“Yeah, boss, we got it!” The tatted man said as he raised his hands and backed up.

The dark guy groaned as he pushed my head hard into the ground.

Riley fired another shot, this time close enough that I saw the bullet as it passed between the two thugs.

“Come on Van, it ain’t worth it.” The tatted guy said. He turned and without waiting for his friend, ran off into the shadows.

Van finally released me, his face twitching with frustration as he stood. He glared at Riley, then spat and said, “You better watch your back, old man. Next time I see you, your ass is mine, you hear me!”

Riley grinned, his eyes wide as he waved his pistol. “Well, if there’s gonna be a next time, you better get moving,” he said, then fired a shot that grazed the big guy’s shoulder.

Scarface screamed, cursed, then ran.

Riley waited until the thugs were gone before holstering his gun and walking over to me.

I laid there, staring at the stars and the moon, my head pounding, my vision blurring.

Riley squatted next to me and asked, “You alive?”

“Yeah...” I croaked, the words scraping my dry throat.

He smiled. “Well, you look like shit. An’ you got your Mommy worried sick. She came by my shop three times looking for you, kid. You better get on home before more trouble finds you, or your poor mom runs into some trying to find ya’.”

I took a deep breath, the pain in my chest throbbing. I didn’t have the energy to speak, so I just nodded.