“You know what? I’m gonna say it,” said Aries. “You’ve had a lot of crazy ideas, but this one takes the cake.”
“Why does it always have to be harebrained schemes with you, man?” Packman grunted. “Why can’t we just do the sane thing?”
Alex smiled and said nothing. They were right, of course, both of them–which made it all the better. He didn’t mind one bit. As far as he was concerned, he was in heaven. It was Friday night, he had enough money for takeout, the whole gang was online, and they were about to attempt to raid an epic-level dungeon all by themselves.
Life was finally good.
He quaffed a Potion of Rejuvenation to top off his health bar, checked his cooldowns, and assumed his position by the gate. This was their fifth attempt at the Attack on Greystone Keep final quest, and everybody had their game face on. All they had to do was to make it through this wave without losing any party members. If they managed that, the boss that followed would be smooth sailing–or so Alex had promised the others.
According to his latest harebrained scheme, they’d simply lure the towering Raider Warchief boss to an side chamber they’d previously trapped with all the explosives they could get their hands on. Then Aries would throw a delayed-blast fireball in there, close the door behind the boss, and wait for the big boom.
That, of course, was easier said than done. They’d practiced and finetuned their strategy a thousand times, but it still felt like something could go wrong at any time.
“Incoming!” came Packman’s warning, and the game was on again.
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Aries let fly a fireball at the first line of charging raiders, blasting a good handful of them to kingdom come and setting another dozen or so aflame. Alex heard her cackle through his headset and couldn’t help but smirk. The sheer panache with which she played her Pyromancer class was something to behold. Not that it had made much difference. Compared to the oncoming horde of raiders, she’d barely made a dent. Still, he had to give it to her. When it came to blowing things up, she was a pro.
Packman used one of his bolstering auras to give the rest of the group some much-needed oomph, then rushed to meet the raiders face to face, shield held up. He was the group’s tank, which most of the time meant he was the only thing that stood between them and a total party kill. When push came to shove, there was nobody else Alex would rather have watching his back.
As for Alex himself, he was a kind of a wildcard, both as a player and as a party member. Admittedly, he didn’t have Packman’s head for tactics or Aries’s fiery temperament. What he did have, however, was a gift for thinking outside the box, a +3 Black Knight Greatsword, and a full intent to stick it to the raiders where the sun didn’t shine.
As the first fireball-scorched raider got close enough for Packman to slam him with his shield, Alex had already downed two and was about to cut a third in half. He swung his heavy blade and pop went the raider, dropping a tidy little pile of loot. Alex gave it a greedy glance. Picking it up was out of the question for the moment. He didn’t have a single second to spare. Two raiders rushed to take the place of their fallen comrade, and hundreds more were coming.
“Nice one, Alex!” Packman shouted as he shoved another of the assailants away from Aries. “At this rate, we may even have a chance to-”
Whatever Packman said next, Alex didn’t hear. Someone–a very heavy-handed someone–started shouting and pounding at his apartment door, startling him so bad he almost dropped his gamepad.
“Alexander Rulin!” roared a man on the other side of the door. “Police! Open up!”
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Uh, guys?” said Alex, numb. “I think I’m screwed.”