I gasped as I appeared in front of a window in a deeply-familiar room. There were bars covering the outside of the thick tempered glass, and light from the moon shone through to illuminate the white walls.
“Fuuuuck!!!” I yelled, slamming my forehead into the glass hard enough to crack it. “I’m going to tear Steve’s fucking spine out of his body and beat him to death with it!!!”
A bunch of pop-ups hit me all at once:
Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x
‘Animal Cruelty’
Killed a cute innocent Aphid-Dog.
You monster! Everybody loves those giant cuddly bug boys! Have you any idea how much Aphid-Dog merch we sell?? The fact that you killed two of them has really upset a lot of our viewers!
Maybe you didn’t realize, but the Aphid-Dogs don’t even partake in fighting. You basically killed the equivalent of a giant Golden Retriever! Twice!!
Reward: A strongly-worded sanction from the Aphid-Dog Appreciation Society
Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x
‘CPS’ Most Wanted Pervert’
Defeated a Minor Warden.
There are really only two stations higher than Minor Warden, and those are Queenguard and the Hive Queen herself.
Each Warden oversees tens of millions of Minors aboard the Hive Ship, and the loss of a single one really creates a logistical nightmare for them. They’re also not expected to ever lose to a Player, let alone even encounter them, so you really made them mad.
We’ve seen dozens of GREAT GAMES play out, but never before has a Player started beef with the CPS, as they’re considered a positive Agency when compared to the rest. After all, they take care of your world’s children, why would you have a problem with that?
Reward: ‘Warden Juice’
‘Warden Juice’ x
A glass jug of crackling neon-orange liquid that, when imbibed, bestows a fragment of a Minor Warden’s power on you.
Weight: 1 Panda
Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x
‘Return to Checkpoint’
Died and Respawned.
I believe we told you to stay dead, but you must be hard of hearing it seems.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Unfortunately for you, this type of ‘survive death’ is much worse than normal resurrection, as you’ve been sent back to your last ‘checkpoint’, i.e., your location when the GREAT GAME started.
Have fun finding your stuff, because none of it was respawned with you, and is instead left behind wherever your body was dumped following your death.
You’ll need these.
Reward: ‘Clean Pajamas’
‘Clean Pajamas’ x
A pair of soft calming-blue pajamas.
Weight: 5 Pandas
image [https://i.imgur.com/pifa5ke.png]
image [https://i.imgur.com/w1Jhqes.png]
image [https://i.imgur.com/y8EAMfB.png]
image [https://i.imgur.com/30ApRfK.png]
image [https://i.imgur.com/3jHZjtI.png]
A glass jug and blue pajamas landed in my arms, and, as I caught up with the last achievement, I realized that I was utterly naked.
“Inventory!” I said, desperately.
Gambit’s Inventory x
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????, unFake Plugin
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GAME Coins: 0
Safe Zone Tokens: 0
Total Weight: 6.1115 Pandas
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!!”
I lifted my right hand and breathed a sigh of relief to see that Brock was still there, although it raised some uncomfortable questions I wasn’t ready to prod at right now.
“You ‘n me foreva, right Gamby!?”
“Sure, Brock.”
A wet pop sounded from the middle of the room and Pandamonium appeared on the floor between me and the heavy cell door left wide open.
“Gambit! We have to go back! We have to save Bee! Since you respawned, all your abilities are off cooldown!”
I immediately put the pajamas on and lifted him onto my shoulder. The ‘Gambit the Moron’ nametag was slapped onto the right side of the shirt.
“Alright, let’s do this: Rootkit.infiltrate( )!”
ERROR!
No target selected.
“Goddamnit!”
“We’ll have to run back.”
“I know, I know. I’m going!”
I stormed out of the cell, before coming face-to-face with Not-Mike.
With a quick jab, I pulverized his head with my balloon gauntlet, then looked around for the way out of the cell block.
“The layout has changed,” Panda observed.
“We don’t have time for this,” I complained. “Dungeon-Break!”
ACTIVATING DUNGEON MAP
Total Player number: 3
Nearest Player: 17 yards
Total Enemy number: 23
Nearest Enemy: 3 yards
Nearest Boss: 80 yards
Nearest Exit: 80 yards
A map popped up, showing a dungeon layout that looked like a snail’s shell seen from the side, with the Boss and Exit in the middle, and red dots all across marking the enemies, as well as two golden dots in a nearby corridor. I was surprised that there were Players in this place, but it didn’t stop me from immediately clicking the ‘Eject All Players & Enemies’ button.
Ability Confirmation Required
You are about to utilize your Dungeon-Break ability to eject all Players and Enemies from the Dungeon, yourself included.
All Players, Enemies, and Bosses will be ejected out through the entrance to the Dungeon.
The moment you accept, everyone will be ejected.
Are you certain you wish to proceed?
YES ——— NO
image [https://i.imgur.com/MPlNUGy.png]
I clicked ‘Yes’ and immediately felt a falling sensation, before my vision went black.
I landed on hard asphalt and my Transition Lenses passive immediately kicked in. The sound of two Players talking in agitated voices was quickly deafened by the roar of the monsters that’d been ejected alongside us.
Only fifteen yards away was a shimmering tear in the air and I felt how it pulled weakly on my hair, as though wanting me to enter. I’d forgotten that this thing was here.
“Best to avoid that,” Panda warned me.
“I know!” I replied angrily, then summoned my longboard. I took off in the direction of where our battle had taken place, making sure to give the portal to the level 99 dungeon a wide berth.
The two Players behind me immediately started running, when the former asylum patients and orderlies noticed them. As the eager monster chase after them, some of them got too close to the dungeon rift and were immediately sucked in.
Dr. Juliens, the Psychiatrist and boss of the asylum, looked around briefly before walking in the direction of downtown.
One look at the sky already told me it was too late, since the Hive Ship was gone, but I was trying to convince myself that Bee might be waiting next to my body, with Steve and Matthew Twine somehow having been able to repel the Ants.