“Die, punk!” a minotaur member of the opposing team yelled as it activated a Barbarian-class talent called Berserker’s Fury.

“Watch out!” John yelled to his teammates, but he was too late.

The minotaur swung his greatsword clean through one of the Straight As who happened to be the team’s healer, then swung repeatedly at John’s last teammate, Abraham. The barbarian managed to get one good hit in, causing severe damage before a Death Magic Shield of Translucent Bones was cast by the player.

“Crap!” John muttered, frustrated.

“What do we do now!?” asked Abraham, whose now-wounded avatar was a skeletal mage.

They were outnumbered. Both of them were injured and did not have much in the way of healing magic. The opposing team was in a much better situation, with their minotaur captain serving as the team tank, taking and giving most of the damage, while the two Life Magic mages could only cast buffs and heals, maintaining a protective shield continuously.

John knew time was limited. He could see cracks starting to form on Abraham’s shield. They needed to eliminate the number advantage of the opposing team. He could try summoning a death creature. Unfortunately, one of the opposing team’s two mages, being masters in life magic, would kill it off quickly.

“Give it up!” the minotaur said while repeatedly swinging his sword. The brute wasn’t running out of Stamina because he was constantly being replenished by one of his mage teammates.

Where can I catch them off guard? Where can I summon a creature that they kill immediately? Well, their shield covers them completely, except for the ground, of course. John’s introspection struck an idea. “Rimi,” he said to invoke his spell. If he couldn’t summon a creature out in the open, he could conjure a ground-dwelling Ghul to burrow over and catch them off guard, he hoped.

Hearing John’s incantation, the opposing team’s two mages went on high alert and stopped casting buffs on their tank. The pair looked all around them for a portal somewhere. Suddenly, a gray hand with open sores and sharp claws appeared from underground and grabbed one of the mage’s legs. In an instant, the player was pulled down and completely engulfed under the ground before anyone could respond. Only a brief, muffled yell had been heard.

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It worked! John thought.

As the other mage looked down and the tank looked back to see what had happened to their teammate, John and Abraham capitalized on the distraction. John ran toward the minotaur while conjuring a Death Magic handaxe in his left palm. Abraham buffed him with increased death damage, increased weapon damage, and a poison weapon spell. By the time the minotaur turned back, John was right on him. With a primal yell, he took his translucent magical handaxe and sliced right through the neck of the player’s avatar.

Kingdoms & Valor was just a game, but it had very realistic special effects. John felt arterial blood spray on his face as it erupted from the decapitated body of the minotaur before the hairy brute dropped to his knees and collapsed on the ground. Though the players couldn’t hear it because of their full immersion, the audience erupted at the dramatic turn of events. The last opposing player was so flustered by the situation that he completely forgot about the Ghul under his feet and quickly suffered the same fate as the other mage.

“We did it!” John yelled out. He and Abraham high-fived and gave each other congrats with their avatars. A loud clap echoed as John’s flesh touched the bony hand of his teammate.

“Let’s go celebrate, man!” Abraham replied.

“Good call. Let’s go,” John said.

The skeletal mage disappeared.

John took a moment to savor his time as Ace and being in the game that meant so much to him. Then he logged out, took off his headset, and, as he opened his eyes, was struck suddenly with a sharp pain in his chest. He blinked once and looked down, finding a knife sticking out of his chest. He looked up at the muscular minotaur player standing in front of him, his hand still holding on to the weapon and a smug look plastered across his face.

Screams of terror erupted from the crowd.

“How do you like that, you cheating bitch?! No one beats us and gets away with it!” The musclebound player pulled his knife out of John’s chest with a wet thunk.

John sat there stunned. Warm blood ran down his body. Everyone around them stood wide-eyed, completely thrown off by this real act of extreme violence.

The attacker raised his hand to go for the killing blow.

John’s mind raced. My life is over? Just like that? There is still so much I want to do! With a strange mix of melancholy and fear, he thought, If only I could get a second chance!

The knife came down, and John’s world went black.