Dave smiled at the login screen of Herald online. For the most part, it was a dream job, being a full time game master for the worlds most popular game. Sure, he had to sift through dozens of "bug" reports in the standard week, but most of them could be handled with the quick feedback responses the AI had developed after analyzing trends of questions and answers. He more handled the unique issues, that needed a human touch to be fully resolved. In exchange for that one tiny errand, he was paid to play his favorite game, and could use his coveted position to his own benefit. A fact he was looking forward today in particular, since one of his high school sweethearts had apparently found out about his position and reached out to play together.
GM assistance required: Priority Level Max
A frown crossed Dave's face, as his virtual date was momentarily delayed. He knew better than to try skip the assistance request however, and with a groan opened the help ticket.
Username: Cross Region: Tutorial Details: I can't log out. The button isn't there and none of the verbal commands are working.
Dave's eyebrow twitched as he considered the words he had just read, before he decided that his date was more important than the ramblings of a single troll. Marking the assistance request as a prank and resolving it, he turned his attention back to his character wardrobe. His mother had always said he cut an impressive figure in black.
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I frowned as my support ticket was marked resolved. Opening the menu again, I pushed on the still blank button where logout should be. "Close. Exit. End session. Logout. Return to Login screen. Quit game. Turn off. QQQ. Home." Nothing. I could feel my panic rising again, the feeling having momentarily subsided when I realized I could place a support ticket to get help.
Opening the support menu again, I attempt to place a new ticket, once again with Urgent priority, only to be met with an AI generated message saying that my issue has been marked as resolved and cleared. I checked the menu for a logout button. I cycled through every variation of quit that I could think of. I didn't get logged out and return to the real world. A passing npc slowed down enough to speak to me briefly.
"You alright there, Cross?" his voice was rough yet warm, and for a moment I felt like I wanted to cry, having a friend, an artificial one, but a friend none the less.
"I'm just having trying to decide on my next course of action. Don't mind me." I respond, more cheerfully than I felt. It was pointless trying to talk to the npcs about the system or the AI. That was made clear to us in the character creation screens. The AI drilled it home that it automatically filters certain words to make sense to the npcs, and as such, even if you did somehow manage to explain the system and its menu's to them, they would rationalize it as some form of magic that all of the summoned heroes had access to.
But I had a job interview in 15 minutes, and had just spent the past hour trying to leave the world of Herald Online. My last resort had failed, and as I watched the farmer npc walk away from me and towards town, I noticed for the first time how dry my throat was, my thirst suddenly catching up to me. Weird. Players could eat and drink in Herald, but they didn't need to to survive, unless they had chosen the hardcore options for it.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
I hadn't, so as I saw the thirst icon appear on my status bar, I felt a second moment of panic, as a fear began to form in my mind, followed by momentary relief. What if I had accidentally activated hardcore, which meant I could only logout in certain locations? I turned and took off towards the nearby start village at a run, opening my menu the moment I arrived within its village square. The logout button was still missing. The verbal commands didn't work. A passing player asked me how I managed to say logout without being logged out by the system.
I sent another, quickly ignored service ticket, and deciding that I didn't want to breakdown and cry in the middle of the tutorial village, I walked towards the nearby forest, hiding my teary eyes and sniffles as best I could.
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The goblin watched the lone human whimper pathetically to itself. Even from a distance, it was clear to see that the human was scared and easy prey. Normally too scared to attack a single wanderer while alone, the goblin was slowly working up its courage to ambush the crying human. Creeping closer to its prey, the goblin licked its lips as it imagined the way its spear would penetrate the humans chest, the spray of warm blood accompanied by a tortured scream. It must have gotten a little too lost in its soon to be victory, as it let a soft gurgling laugh out, silenced quickly, but loud enough to have caught the humans attention. Snarling to itself as it leapt towards the human, spear extended, it had a moment of doubt as the sniveling human reacted faster than it should have, leaping away from the sudden attack and drawing its own shortsword in a single fluid movement. But the same fear and doubt that was apparent from the way the human had whimpered and cried was present in its eyes as it stood its ground in front of the goblin. Letting a guttural scream out, the goblin lunged at the human, its spear stabbing into its side.
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The sudden rustle of leaves was the only warning I had before the flash of movement reached me. Instinctively I threw my hands up to protect myself, realizing my mistake a moment later as a flash of pain lanced through my body. The goblin sneered victoriously into my face, its spear lodged into my side. I felt my knees buckle as the pain hit me like a hammer, and as I subconsciously reached out to steady myself, I found myself instead grabbing the shoulder of the goblin. It snarled at me, as it attempted to pull its spear free and attack me again, only for me to desperately snatch at the haft, not wanting the goblin to pull what was probably plugging the wound out and leaving me to bleed to death.
Taking a deep breath to steady myself and move despite the pain, I let go of the goblins shoulder, my hand instead closing around its throat. As the goblin suddenly realized what I was trying to do, it struggled harder to pull the spear free, prompting violent waves of pain to course through my body. As I glared into its eyes my hand tightening more and more, I could feel it let go of its spear, trying instead to pull my hand free, and then trying to scratch my face to let it go. Luckily it wasn't tall enough to reach my eyes, instead scratching at my chest and shoulders.
As I watched the life drain from its eyes, I was vaguely aware of a system popup in the background. A final spasm from the goblin before I dropped it, and I could feel my own strength fading quickly. Dropping to the ground, I could taste blood in my mouth, and as I tried to read the system notification, my world went dark.