Chapter one: Log in
“Finally! I did it! I reached level one hundred!” Mercy could feel a warm and intense energy begin to spread throughout her body. Golden particles of shattered light swirled around her, becoming infused with her body. A brilliant glow covered her from head to toe, and, for a moment, the sound of a tower bell clanged loudly overhead. An announcement to her and the rest of her party that she had just leveled up.
An old leather wrapped book with stained, uneven pages, and a feather bookmark appeared in front of her out of an energy vortex made of light. On the cover, written in scrolling gilded lettering, was her character’s name: Marello. Below which, a large flat jet-black gem was faceted.
Mercy placed her hand upon the gem and it pulsed in response; with a small red glow. The book edged away from her finger tips and opened itself in front of her. Hastily, she began flipping through the pages until she reached the one she had marked with the red feather. A page highlighted by a large single word at the top; “Dexterity.”
This was her Ascension book. It contained nearly 200 different skill trees consisting: Stats, Magic Schools, Combat Arts, Professions, and more that she could choose to level up. The sheer number of possibilities is what allowed a player to customize their character in any way they could possibly imagine. Allowing one to play any way they wanted.
Mercy reached her hand out above the book. A blue feathered quill materialized in her grasp. She brought it down onto the paper and made the final check mark she would ever put down. Then, she leaned back and examined the page. She smiled as she looked at all 100 of the tally marks she had worked so hard for over the years. She had finally done it. She had maxed Dexterity.
The book closed in front of her. Then it vanished, along with the quill, back into the energy vortex from where it had come. The process always felt invigorating, revitalizing, and strengthening. It was almost like being completely reborn. But, all things must come to an end and, as the glow began to fade from her body, so too did the feelings of serenity. Once more, she found herself back in the dirty smelly miserable swamp that she and her party had been exploring.
They called themselves the Storm Wolves; A mismatched, rag-tag, group of people that she had been playing with since her early levels. Currently, they stood watching as the body of the once Great Zombie Dragon Lorde: Mor’tag began to dissipate into rainbow-colored particles. They were waiting to rush the Loot Chest, soon to appear from the slain boss.
Mercy on the other hand had a matter she was far more concerned with.
She made a swiping motion with her hand in the air. A motion which brought up the game’s menu screen. After flipping through a couple of the pages her smile vanished, and her feelings of triumph turned into those of panic. After checking a few more windows, she swiped down and exited the menu.
The carcass had fully vanished by now, and her party stood around an opened chest made of platinum and gold, shoving each other.
“Marello! Get over here so we can split up the loot! You wouldn’t wanna get left out now would you!?” Screeched Starcloak, over his shoulder.
His long green goblin ears caught on the shoulder pads of his midnight black cloak, as he turned his head to do so.
She started to approach the group.
“I don’t want any loot.”
“Huh? What do you mean you don’t want any loot?” He said, confusion spreading across his face. “Welp, more for me then.” He shrugged, before turning back.
“You...lied to me.” said Mercy.
It was a struggle for her to get the words out.
“Is everything okay?” Asked Barren, in his soft dwarven accent.
He pushed past Starcloak, whose complete concentration was now on the Loot Drop menu. As he approached her, he sheathed the flaming axe he still held in his hands and scratched under his red scraggly beard. Then he placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
“He lied to me.” She said a little louder.
Barrens comfort had helped her find her voice, but the pain had started to seep into her words.
“Hey now. What’s going on?” Said Angel, as he made his way towards the commotion. She lifted her head to look up at his blue eyes and handsome facial features. He was the party leader, and the only other human in the group besides her.
“He lied to me!” Mercy finally snapped. “He Promised me that if I hit level 100, that if I put every single level into dexterity, that I would receive a Unique item! I’ve checked my notifications, quests, inventory, inbox, everything! There’s not even a congratulations on max level in my mail!”
She could feel wet tears forming in the corners of her eyes. They began to puddle and trickle down her cheeks.
He brushed back his blonde her and looked into her eyes. He bit his lip before saying,
“Mercy look, you have to understand. We did this for the party, you know our luck with healers, you understand don’t you?”
There wasn’t a trace of guilt on his face.
“You...you knew? You were in on this?” Her heart began to break, “Why would you do this to me? You know that levels can’t be undone! I spent three and a half years on this character!”
“Listen Mercy, I meant to tell you, I really did, but-” Barren started to say.
“No! Not you too!? Why? I trusted you above everyone!” She cried out in anguish, her heart finally shattering. How could they all have betrayed her like this?
Starcloak was one thing. He was the rogue and Mercy had never really trusted him from the beginning. Angel was the team's DPs and a great leader, but, he often could be selfish. It was his position that the party came before any of its individual members; himself excluded. But Barren?
He had always been exceptionally sweet to Mercy. He would let her pick out loot before him and made sure to pick up her favorite foods when they topped up for adventures. He’d even given her advice on equipment builds and went out of his way to buy her a few of the more expensive items she needed but couldn’t afford. Never in a million years would she have assumed that he would be scheming behind her back with the others.
Were all those acts of kindness and comradery just a part of this ruse? Or was it pity that drove his actions? She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the face. She couldn’t breathe, The weight of it all was too much for her to bare. She needed to get away.
“Log out!” she shouted.
Instantly, a black nothingness surrounded her, accompanied by the sensation of floating. After a moment she felt a rushing feeling, like a stream of water spewing into her forehead, as her consciousness reintegrated back into her physical body, bringing her into the real world.
After her mind settled, she opened her eyes to the main menu screen of her virtual reality helmet known as the Reality Sphere. On the curved glass in front of her was a message that read.
“Thank you for playing Rise of the Broken, if you have been playing for an extended period of time, please remember to stretch, and move slowly before continuing regular physical activity.”
She switched off the power and the blank glass reflected back to her own puffy green eyes. She took off the helmet and placed it on the bed next to her. Letting her long red hair spill down onto the white satin pillow as she did so. She stared up at the popcorn ceiling of her bedroom before tears began to well again and everything became blurry. She turned on her side, curled up into a ball, and threw the blankets over herself completely. Hidden away from the world, she let the torrent out.
How could she have been so utterly stupid. Every one of the many game guides she’d read, every streamer she ever watched or follow, and even the game developers themselves have stated over and over, not to put all your levels in just one thing. And yet, what does she go and waste thousands of hours doing? Not listening. To make matters all the worse, she had put it into arguably the most useless Stat.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Dexterity only increased her movement speed, ability to dodge, and accuracy when using ranged weapons. Yes, it was great when she didn’t want to get hit, or if she wanted to hit something with a bow. But, building just dexterity gave her absolutely no damage potential, even with the best weapon she could use, she could only hit for a mere 13 points.
She was promised a Unique Item that would change all of that. But no; they had tricked her, and used her as a cheap support. Her only job in combat had been to run around and avoid enemy attacks, delivering health and mana pots to the party members participating in the fight. It was a highly unconventional way for a party to get the support it needed. Normally a group would use a magic healer, a druid, or a cleric. Even a Blood Crafter would do if their members weren't squeamish.
The problem was that her party could never keep one, and hiring a healer always seemed to cost much more than what they originally advertised. Not that Mercy could blame them for charging extra. Angel had a bad habit of just rushing forward, not paying a lick of attention to his health. While Barren, who was supposed to be the Tank of the party, wasn’t much better. He played more like a secondary DPS and hadn't put any of his levels towards anything defensive-related.
It was hard enough for a support caster to have to worry about spell timers, their Mana Pool, and keeping track of everyone's health. Never mind two idiots hell-bent on getting themselves killed. Even Mercy had trouble keeping up with all the healing needed until level 65.
Her mind started to jump to all the things she wished she had leveled instead of just dexterity. She should have put at least the majority of her points in Skill or Strength. As she had almost always desired to be at the forefront of the battle. Trading blows with the enemy back and forth, always on the verge of death. Now that would have been far more exhilarating.
A Strength based build would have allowed her to wield massive Greater weapons that dealt large amounts of damage when the blade was delivered into the body of an enemy. Although, building into Skill would have probably worked best as it was synergistic with her higher dexterity. Skill was all about using precision weapons that dealt critical hits upon the enemy’s weak points. If she had combined that with her Dex, she would have been able to deliver those deathly blows, while still being able to easily dodge in and out of the fray.
Any of the hundred or so magic schools could have been fun. Her original plan had been to put most of her stats into Summoning. Then she would have had a ton of pet friends that she could raise and train, just like in her old favorite game Farm Simulator. But, she had been turned off because it was fairly common for the creatures to die while in combat. Unlike player deaths, creatures were permanent, and back then, the idea of losing even a digital companion was heartbreaking.
Had she chosen an elemental magic, She would have most likely chosen the School of Flame, allowing her to blast away all she saw in a massive Fireball. Or, maybe Wind, so she could have flown around the world with wings made of air, or both. Rise of the Broken had a very elaborate magic system that allowed its players to spell weave and mix magic spells as they sought fit. It also would allow players to infuse their magic into their weapons. Essentially allowing them to become magic knights. The possibilities in the game were truly endless. And she had wasted it all on just stupid dexterity.
She had only started putting her levels into it in the first place because getting hit hurt. Dying in the game was even more painful, and just as terrifying, as she assumed dying in real life would be. The only difference was that in game she could respawn. By now though, she had been hit and died hundreds, if not thousands of times, and she cursed the scared weakling she was in the past.
Suddenly a light illuminated the darkness of her blanket void, a sprite flute melody began to ring out, and Mercy felt a vibration on her wrist. She opened her eyes and brought her wrist phone up to her face. With a finger from the opposite hand, she traced down her wrist, and a hologram screen followed her finger
“3;45 p.m. Note: Get ready for work!”
With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, Mercy clicked off the alarm, lifted the covers, and rolled out of bed; right onto the floor. Like a slug, she made her way across her bedroom to the dresser. Reaching into the drawers, she pulled out whatever was on top and put it on without getting up. Then, she made her way to the door.
When she reached it, is when she finally pulled herself up to her feet, via the doorknob. She glanced back at the Reality Sphere still sitting on the bed. A mistake that shot a fresh burst of hurt through her chest. She grabbed her work apron off the hook on the back of the door and headed out; before the tears could spring up again.
Mercy made her way through the hallways of her family home. It was small and quaint, with barely enough rooms to occupy everyone. Old photos of past holidays, birthday’s and celebrations hung on the walls of the narrow hall; she glanced at them as she walked by. The end of the hall transitioned into the kitchen. From there, she headed through the door in the back room that led to a set of stairs that would take her down to the grocery store that her family-owned.
As always, the shop space was cold and mostly empty. Fluorescent lights flickered on and off overhead, on ballasts that had long ago needed replacing. Their pale glow made the prepackaged food items look even drabber and cheaper than they already were.
It hadn’t always been this way. Once, long ago, as her grandfather would often reminisce, the grocery store had been the biggest in town. It had been the sole support of his father's family when he was a little boy, And his, after he had grown up. But, that all changed when big business took over and the town started to expand.
Now the store that had been passed down to her father, it barely brought in any profit. The only ones who cared to shop here anymore were those with generational loyalty to the store. In essence, mostly old folks, and occasionally, a random person who needed a drink and didn’t feel like crossing the street to the gas station.
She closed the door behind her, locking it as she did so. The “Employee's only” sign fell from its rusty nail as the door came to a close. She stooped and then rehung it, before proceeding to slowly drag her feet towards the checkout counter at the front of the store. She had only gotten halfway there when her mother poked her head out from behind a shelf of tortilla chips.
“How was your session today, Mercy?” She asked cheerfully, brushing away the locks of messy, mostly grey hair that had fallen into her eyes.
“It uh…. it went okay Mom.” Mercy replied, trying to make her smile seem as real as possible so that her mother didn’t have to worry.
“Oh dear, what’s happened?”
"Dang it. How does she always know?"
She could never hide anything from her mother. No matter how hard she tried; no one could. It was as if she had a supernatural ability to see into someone's true emotions.
“Nothing mom, just...didn’t beat the boss again today, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay sweety. you’ll get him next time don't worry. Now, hurry up, your father is still stuck at the doctor's and we're shorthanded.” She said smiling.
Mercy felt a new pang; this time of guilt. Like mother like daughter, she could tell her mother was secretly worried. Four years ago, her father had fallen ill with a rare form of lung cancer. It was slow-moving, and even today's modern medicine couldn’t cure it. His failing health had only exacerbated their financial struggles and it was for this reason, and a few others, that Mercy had taken up playing Rise of the Broken in the first place.
Before, she had stuck to mostly easy and simple games. Like Animal farmer, or Pet simulator. She had once stepped out of her comfort zone and tried to play one called Restaurant Aficionado. A game where you cook meals and run an eatery, aiming to grow from a small diner, up to 5-star restaurant. But, she didn’t get very far. All the orders coming in gave her anxiety, and she had quickly quit due to a panic attack.
After seeing an advertisement for RoTB, something just, snapped. She felt an inexplicably strong pull towards the game. Despite the fact that the trailer she had seen had been pure nightmare fuel: causing her weeks of sleepless nights. After it was announced that digital items gained could be traded for real world cash, she was off making pie charts, Power Points, and anything else she could in order to convince her parents to buy her the game. They weren't convinced at first but, with consistent effort, she managed to get on the pre-release list.
Of course, it didn’t pay off at first. Rise of the Broken was considered by everyone to be the hardest game to come out of all time. It took place in with Beast ravaged world of Algrim, where monsters, bloodshed, and death awaited around every corner. The creatures were horrid, twisted, and cunning; the AI battle programs top notch. There were no patterns to memorize, no indications on when to dodge or block. The combat was simulated to be as real as it could get.
The bosses of the game were on a completely different level from the rest. Most of them were big, all of them were powerful. Their health pools could be miles long, with HP numbers that totaled in the millions. They were even more intelligent than their minions.
They analyzed the way the players fought against them. Memorizing their moves and abilities, and learning the best way to counter them and...they hit like a train. A party could quickly find themselves all wiped out in a single swing if they weren’t careful.
Despite this, the game rewarded those that were dedicated. It might take many, if not hundreds of attempts before a boss was able to be cleared but, the prize at the end was usually worth it.
If that weren’t enough, only a few of the major cities had areas that were designated by the game as Safe Zones, areas in which both PvP and PvE were forbidden. Other than those the game had an open PvP system that allowed a player to initiate a battle with anyone, at any time, for any reason. The targeted player could do nothing other than flee, if they could, or defend themselves and fight for their lives.
For those unlucky in either of those prospects, the prevailing player would gain access to all of the loser's items; with the exception being those marked as Soul Bound.
This made PvP not only lucrative but popular. And many guilds built themselves up around the practice. Some even grew large enough to control large swaths of territory and going so far as to wage wars and raids against more PvE-concentrated guilds.
Consequently, this boosted the prices of what truly fueled the markets in the lands of Algrim. What were called Unique Items; what Mercy had expected to get when she reached max level. Naturally Soul Bound, these were obtained in one of the many dungeons that filled the world. Some of which were easy to find but, most of which where hidden away. Some even had secret means that needed to be discovered to unlock their entrances.
The first party to clear a dungeon and defeat its Boss is given a completely one-of-a-kind item, such as a weapon, piece of armor, jewelry, or a rune. Not only were the items powerful, they also fetched far larger sums of gold than even the best non-unique variant. After the Unique item of the dudgeon had been claimed. Following parties were only given regular loot.
As a way to force players to explore or as a way to help fix the market, If a party were to re-clear a dungeon multiple times, They would consequently be given prizes of lesser and lesser value. For instance, if they acquired a +10 sword, the next clear would likely net an +8 sword, then a +6 sword, and so on until the boss stopped giving items and EXP all together.
This mechanic had created a bit of a contention point between Mercy and the Storm Wolves. If they got stuck on a boss for a while, the income flow that Mercy desperately needed for her family would stop; and Angel would almost never authorize re-clears. His excuse was always along the line of, that it wasn’t worth the party’s time or effort to go back for things of lesser value. But, none of the other party members were in the same financial struggles as she was. They didn’t understand. The only one who did had been Barren. He had stood up for her and argued on her behalf. If she was really desperate, she would even resort to begging Angel, and had on several occasions.
Right now, she didn’t even know if she even wanted to still be a part of the Storm Wolves. They had lied to her and wasted her character’s potential. Still, they were the first and only party she had ever been in since she had started playing. Back then, she was running from everything.
She had been playing the game for over 3 weeks at that point and hadn’t even managed to make it to level 5. She had been escaping a trio of skeleton spiders that spewed flames from their spinnerets. They chased her through a dark and cobwebbed forest. It had been daytime, but very little sunlight reached through the canopy.
She'd only been on a simple quest for spider silk, but when she went to harvest it, the first of the three had descended upon her and she had run scared, deeper into the wood.
Her face had become covered in webs during her flight, and by the time she hit the road, she couldn’t see a thing, running head smack into Barren. She had struggled to clear the spider silk from her eyes and see through it. When she had managed to regain her sight, it looked like he was about to strike her when a jet of fire burst from the underbrush.
Instead of attacking her, he quickly pushed her to the side and blocked the incoming flames with his shield, while he rallied the rest of his group to action. Together, they had quickly dispatched the creatures, then turned back to Mercy. She had pleaded with them not to kill her; she didn’t have anything of value. When her waterworks had ceased, they looked at each other in turn, smirked, and handed her a satchel of potions and a Party invite.
“Mercy, are you sure you’re okay?” Her mother said.
Mercy’s concentration was brought back to the present. She shook her head and looked back into her mother’s caring, soft, brown eyes.
“Yea mom, I'm sure, I'm all good.” She reassured her.
She gave her mom a quick hug and thanked her for her concern, before continuing towards the checkout counter for what was about to be a very long and very stressful day.