Argus, Leandra and I, followed by the hopping slime Blue found ourselves standing in front of the town quest marker, a wooden billboard, about my height, plastered with wanted posters, help ads, and all manner of the like. Players and NPCs walked past us, working on their own quests, completely oblivious of the four of us and what we had planned for this town.

"Are you sure this will work?" I asked, my mind tumbling over every possibility and unfortunate outcome.

Why couldn't I just be excited? Why did I have to emotionally feel worry and pain for something going wrong even before it even happened, if it happened at all.

"No," Agus said, as he unrolled a stack of wanted ads and began pinning a few of them to the marker. "I've never requested something from an NPC before... It's always been NPC's advertising to Players."

He was right. It was very abnormal and I wasn't sure if any of the NPC's subroutines would allow them to even accept quests like this. The only other alternative, however, was seeking help from players. And not only could they not be fully trusted, but that would require including them in on the spoils.

The more I had to divvy up the riches, the less left for Leandra, Agus, and myself.

"Well it's at least worth a shot."

Earlier that morning I had filled both Leandra and Agus in on my overnight encounter. Leandra believed me without a single question, though Agus took some convincing.

A tournament?

I don't see anything on the official news board

How many recruits do we need?

At the end, however, he came around and was already coming up with ideas for our trip.

"Okay," Agus said, finishing pinning the last quest to the board, wiping a small streak of sweat from his brow. "And now we wait."

"Nope, now we solve our other issue," I reminded him. Leandra lowered her head, almost in embarrassment. "Don't worry," I said. "We will fix this."

Agus stepped back and we gathered into a small circle. Blue rested on Agus's foot, looking around and rolling his slime-eyes in boredom.

"How many days do we have before the troops withdraw, Leandra," I asked.

"By the end of the week..." she replied somberly. She looked down at her feet almost as if in shame.

"Hey," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. The massive scaled fingers making her seem tiny by comparison. "It's not like it's your fault. We'll do this and everything will be okay." I tried my best to smile but knew that my lizard snout was not too comforting.

She beamed up at me all the same. "You're right. We'll be fine!"

"How much debt are we talkin then?" Agus asked, Blue now on his shoulder as they slowly walked back towards their shop.

"I'm... I'm not sure," Leandra said tentatively. "Earlier this month our local guildmaster disappeared and nobody has been keeping track."

I pondered on that for a moment, realizing that this must be coded into the game somehow. It was becoming harder and harder to separate reality, and whatever was happening to my body, to myself as Fergral.

The vast majority of the game used a dynamic event system known as H.I.V.E, or Hyper Immersive eVent Environment. A little lax on the acronym spelling and usage of V for event, but he supposed HIVE sounded cooler than HIEE.

HIVE allowed the majority of NPCs and In-Game events to run autonomously, without input from the GMs or Developers. That being said, areas, dungeons, town specific NPCs etc all still had limiting subroutines as I was all too familiar with.

So more than likely, this problem was a HIVE generation, but the more I thought about it, the bigger it seemed. Almost as if it was an actual system event and not generated.

At the very least, the story would have been written by the game's writers. I mean a noble king suddenly dying and losing everything to an evil cripple son? There's no way that's random, right?

That plus the disappearance of the guildmaster... It just seemed all too fluid and realistic. More than what HIVE seemed capable of.

"Well," I finally said, coming out of my thoughts, admitting to myself that I didn't know the answer and there was only one thing left to do. "looks like we have to find that out first."

Agus nodded. "Where does this King live?"

"Just a few miles South of here," Leandra said. "He doesn't have a castle or anything, just a small wooden keep right up against the forest treeline."

"Should be enough time to do this then before... Well before I find myself reset."

Leandra looked at me funny, but I didn't explain. If she truly was an NPC then it didn't matter anyways.

"Let's pack up some supplies and head out. Hopefully we can get back before sunset."

"Should we bring some of the Orihalcum?" Agus asked.

"No, don't!" Leandra said. "You can't trust him or his men. Better to keep them safe here."

I nodded. "You're right. Good thinking."

She smiled at me and my knees felt weak.

"Do we have a safe place to put it all? Can Players or other NPCs break into our shop?"

"Yep," Agus replied. "Thieves make most of their living doing just that. We need someone to stay back and defend while we're gone. At least until we can purchase a solid safe and upgrade our shop to be more secure."

"Well it can't be one of us," I said. "Leandra is the only one who knows the details of the agreement, as well as how to get there."

"And you," I said pointing at Agus, "Are the muscle."

He chuckled at that. "I don't think I've ever been called that before."

The three of us had just reached the shop and stood in a line, looking at it from the front steps and pondering our options.

"Hey, you guys the owners here?" came a voice from behind. I spun quickly to find an old man, barely holding himself up with a cane, standing before me, holding one of Agus's flyers.

His head was completely bald, contrasting sharply to the long white beard that nearly reached his knees.

"Umm. That's right," I said, stepping forward and holding out a scaly hand. "Fergral at your service."

The man looked at my hand and shook his head, smiling almost sadly. "Afraid I can't return the shake," he said, and left it at that. "I'm here about the job offer. Said you're needin' some help and protection."

I tried my hardest not to look skeptical, watching the ancient being barely hold himself up. Fortunately my lizard face held most of what would normally be my human expression in check.

Also fortunately, Agus said what I'm sure we all were thinking.

"You can barely stand old man," he said, stepping forward and looking him up and down. "I don't mean to be rude, but how will you protect our interests if a slight breeze could take you down."

The man just smiled and reached out a hand for Agus to shake. Not thinking twice, Agus did so and was instantly knocked out cold.

"Oh shit," I said, scanning him and bending over to make sure he was alright. I took a breath of relief as I realized he was simply manaburned, a state in Horizon Online in which someone's entire reserve of mana was ripped away from them, even in excess. Agus's HP was 100%, but his body couldn't handle the sudden vacuum where his energy had been.

Even as a non-magic class, it still was effective.

"76 Monk," the man said, as I helped a stunned Agus back to his feet. "Age and Level. Name's Richard. Don't call me dick. I'm retired and have nothing else to do but play this damn game. Could use some money, though, as I'm running out of savings. Just so happened to be in this town helping my grandson when I spotted the flier."

"You could have warned me," Agus coughed out, grasping his stomach as his mana slowly recovered, point by slow point.

"Would that have been as impressive?" Richard said, laughing. "Anyways if you need any more information from me, you can add me. I'll send my info ov..."

"You're hired. Can you start right now?" I said, interrupting him.

His eyes widened. So did Agus's.

"You sure man? We just barely met him," he said.

"I'm sure," I replied with a nod. "I'm a good judge of character. Besides, we are on a tight schedule here."

"How does 1,000,000 gold per week sound?" I asked him.

The old man's jaw dropped, dipping his long white beard into the dirty ground.

Both Agus and Leandra looked at me, and I knew what they were thinking. A million gold? That's roughly equivalent to 100,000 dollars in the real world. Compared to the value of Orihalcum, it was nothing however. We needed to think in bigger numbers and if Richard knew how much money we really were going to be making, he would want in on it. A million per week would keep him satisfied for the foreseeable future, as well as buy some initial loyalty since they were technically strangers.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Not only that but having someone of his level and capabilities on our team would greatly increase our initial power level and speed up our plans, getting us to our end result sooner.

"I... I... Sure," he stammered. "I can start right now. But I have to get my grandson."

"No need gramps, I'm already here and I heard everything."

A small kid, not much bigger than Blue to be honest, slid out from a nearby bush and hopped on over to stand by Richard. His smirking face told me everything I needed to know about where this conversation was headed.

"How much," I asked, sighing.

"Smart one, for a weird lizard man," he said, eyebrows raised as he looked me up and down.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Richard, not having caught on yet.

"If you want to work for them, then I'm part of that package deal. You have to watch me or Grandma would be furious, and we both know I am not going to spend my few hours playing video games, sitting in some shop bored. Not unless I get something in return."

He smiled innocently up at Richard.

"So I get paid too, or else I'm going to go wander off into some dungeon somewhere and make sure Grandma hears all about my solo adventures when you were supposed to be spending time with me."

"How much kid," I asked again, already knowing the answer.

"Well if the going rate for employees is 1,000,000 gold per week, then it's only fair that I get the same isn't it? Or do you discriminate."

"No. Absolutely no way," Agus shook his head, but I placed a hand on his shoulder calming him.

"We don't have a choice," I said quietly. "And remember, I'm the NPC. I can cancel the quest at any time. Think big, Agus. A few million gold is nothing compared to what we have planned."

He rolled his eyes but sighed in an agreed upon defeat. "Alright whatever."

I looked at Leandra. She simply nodded and smiled. "We've already wasted too much time. We need to hurry before it gets too late in the day."

I turned back to Richard and the kid. "Agreed. Sending you a request now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Quest : Shop Protector]

[Description]

Protect Wanderer's Wares from thieves, invaders, monsters, fires, damages, beggars, and price gougers until Fergral and party return.

[Rewards]

Experience : 0

Gold : 1,000,000

[Restrictions]

None

Repeatable once per week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They both accepted instantly. Without another word I turned back into the shop and began packing for our day trip.

----------------------------------------

Agus, Leandra, and I... and I guess Blue too, had finally left the town, traversing through a short portion of the forest on our route to Trent the Cripple's keep. Richard and his grandson remained at the shop to watch over things, not knowing that in the backroom there was a wealth far greater than any amount of gold they had accepted to defend it.

"Think we'll encounter any monsters?" Agus asked, his dagger and massive shield already in-hand and ready. We were close enough to a starter town that I didn't anticipate anything strong enough to pose a serious threat to him, or Lendra.

We had been wrong before, however, as I remembered the Orihalcum Golem. That and I was only level 1...

A squirrel could probably kill me.

"Nothing dangerous. We're not far from where I had meant to send you..." Leandra said. "Sorry about that again."

I growled playfully. "Stop apologizing! It ended up being the best thing to ever happen."

"I know but still..."

"Still nothing I said, as I pulled her in for a one handed hug. Thank you."

She leaned her head onto my massive shoulder. "It won't happen again."

We continued onwards, my feet crunching leaves and twigs, as we all were lost in our own thoughts, carrying packs of food, water, and bandages as we made our way to try and convince a supposedly twisted man into being kind.

It went on this way for a while, moving between thick trees and underbrush, to randomly spaced clearings, until suddenly Blue squealed.

"EEeeeeEEEEaaaaaaeeeeEEEk"

"What the hell was that!?" I asked, covering my ear holes, as Blue shook, stretched, shrunk, and leapt onto Agus's shoulder.

"Something's coming!" Agus readied himself, shield raised and dagger behind his left shoulder. Leandra crouched and readied an arrow in her bow. I simply bent over and prepared to run.

Dammit I feel so helpless...

After a few painful, slow seconds, what had startled Blue entered the small clearing, and it wasn't a squirrel.

Three players approached us, all wearing various sets of armor in black.

The tallest one stood to the left, his hair pointing straight up in anime-like spikes. He carried a massive two-handed bastard sword and pushed it into the ground, where he rested on the pommel, watching us with a smile.

Another one, about half of his size, came to the right. She wore a dark black cloak that covered the top half of her face, but in classic VRMMO fashion, wore skimpy armor beneath it, revealing a lot more than necessary and casting the illusion that it wasn't going to protect anything. But I knew better. Armor like that had to be at least mid-level. I didn't see any weapons on her but knew they were hidden beneath the folds of her cloak.

Finally the third, and the obvious leader stepped forward between them. It was another man, and to round out the trio of differing sizes, of average height. He carried a long spear and a breastplate with a massive skull emblem emblazoned dead center. The skull's eyes were indented in the shapes of dark fireballs, with the mouth a smiling half-moon of sharp teeth.

I recognized it instantly and lost my breath.

A symbol I had designed and imported into Horizon online myself.

A symbol of terror and power.

The symbol for the Alliance of Darkness.

My symbol.

My lizard eyes burned with a fiery rage and I growled.

"OOOooh, what do we have here?" the leader said, his smile curving unnaturally long on his face. "A player, an NPC, and a pet Lizard. What an odd party!" he laughed, twirling his spear between fingers.

"Looks like it," The tall one said. "And looks like their pet isn't happy about seeing us."

They all laughed again, stepping slowly closer and encircling us. I knew immediately that they were PKers. Probably from one of the low to mid level guilds in the Alliance.

They shouldn't be here, however. It was one of the first enacted laws when the Alliance was founded. Beginner areas were off limits.

We wanted more players to join Horizon online. Not to give up within the first hour of playing due to PKers and griefers.

"You shouldn't be here," I snarled.

"Shouldn't I?" the leader asked. "That's pretty rude to come from an NPC. What about fair play and all that?"

"This area is off limits for the Alliance."

The man leaned forward, looking me right in the eyes. "Oh, haven't you heard? Nothing is off limits anymore."

He lunged at me, shouting orders. "Take em down. Loot anything they have."

Before the spear pierced my chest, Agus was there, deflecting it and slamming the boss into the enemy's face.

"Bastard!" he was knocked back into the dirt, blood dripping from his nose.

He swung the spear around in an arch, but Agus was too fast. He moved in close to negate the reach advantage and began attacking with his dagger.

To my right, Lendra shouted and loosed an arrow but missed, as the agile cloaked woman dashed from side to side, a pair of knives now visibly glinting in the sun as they passed through rays, penetrating the canopy above. She would be on Leandra in seconds, but I didn't have time to act, as the big one was suddenly between us.

"Don't worry about them," he said, his voice deep and vibrating. "It's just you and me now, lizardman."

I didn't have time to scan him, as his massive sword swung down at me like a hammer, hissing through the air. I leapt out of the way and somersaulted, doing my best to keep my balance as I wasn't used to my lizard proportions quite yet, especially not in a situation like this.

He was on me in seconds, bringing the sword around from the side, I ducked and let his slam into a massive tree, activating my Iron Skin just in case. I didn't know his level, but I knew mine.

Any advantage was important.

I swung myself up onto his sword, which was now embedded in the trunk, and ran down the length of it. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up at me, my clawed foot coming down onto his head.

The claws sliced into his cheek and the blow knocked him back, losing his grip on the sword. I landed and turned to look at what damage I had wrought.

1 DMG

The man held a hand up to his face, and lifted his fingers to find no blood, or anything at all for that matter. He checked his health and began to laugh like a maniac.

"Shit...."

"You call that a kick!!?" he walked over to me, not even bothering to get his sword, and I didn't move. Not out of fear, or paralysis, but out of a complete loss of what else to do. I could barely hurt this Player at my level. I was no help to my team and couldn't even tell what was happening with Agus and Leandra.

In HellBlade I could have snapped my fingers and seen this man implode into nothing.

But now... now...

DEBUG

I dove into my debug menu, feeling time slow down around me. Each second I stayed within the menu and dug into its depths, felt like holding my breath.

I found weapons that I couldn't equip.

I found quests that wouldn't do any good.

I found places that I hadn't been and couldn't teleport to.

I found...

The database itself.

I reached into it, my lungs and body burning. The giant man's fist getting ever closer to my face.

I found our location, then the players here.

I locked onto them.

Level 58 Marauder ISLAY9.

Level 50 Lancer OPdragon

Level 52 Assassin KawaiiFlowerKiller

I smiled, slowly looking up at him. His fist now mere centimeters from my snout.

I deleted them.

As my body shuddered and shook, trying to rip itself apart, I noticed two things.

One.

My name did not say NPC or Player next to it in the database.

It simply said "Irregular"

Two.

So did Leandra's.

----------------------------------------

Horizon Online HQ,

Parent Company ReVISION Games.

Los Angeles

19:00 PST

Customer Support Department

Jack sat at his desk, squinting at his monitor unsure of what he was looking at.

He took another swig of his coffee that had gone cold hours ago, and rubbed his eyes. His shift was almost over, and his eyes had been staring at this monitor for far too long. Surely he was missing something simple. Maybe an incorrect query, or a wrong table?

As he searched again, he confirmed the initial bug report. Something was wrong.

"Player Not Found"

He scratched his chin and leaned back in his chair.

Not only has something like this never happened before but it shouldn't be possible. Player data had backups upon backups. It was one of the heavy government contract requirements since Horizon Online dealt with real world currency conversion and private information.

Yet it was as if they never had existed in the first place.

Which also was impossible, as three separate support tickets, from three separate corners of the globe had come in at the same time within minutes of each other. All with screenshots, bank statements, etc.

Their players had suddenly vanished.

He groaned, realizing he was going to be working late tonight.

He picked up his desk phone and dialed the receptionist.

"Hi, Jessica? Yeah. Get me Development. No no, it's not an emergency, regular routing is fine."

He hung up, waiting for the Development team to contact him.

"At least not yet."