After the scream - 1 billion universes remaining

Isadora woke up from a short night of sleep. She had immersed herself in the world of Monarchy late into the night, and her sleep had suffered for it. This wasn't the first time she'd spent all night in the game, and it surely wouldn't be the last, but the past few days had severely tested her energy reserves.

'A war is brewing.'

All the guilds knew it. Their relations had taken a hit when the game's creator announced the possibility of exchanging in-game gold for real-life money. The already scarce resources for low-level players in Monarchy had faced a shortage due to the influx of new players, and conflicts had already arisen between guilds. Everyone was now waiting for the spark that would set everything ablaze.

But in the meantime, work had to continue. She unlocked her answering machine. Over fifty new messages appeared on the screen, but only one was really important, as it was highlighted. It was a message from the guild master, who wanted to plan a boss raid by the end of the week. The rest were interview or sponsorship proposals. Some offered her clothing or beauty product endorsements, while others invited her due to her role as vice-guild master of the top-ranking guild in Monarchy.

'I really need to think about hiring an agent to handle this,' she thought, massaging her temples.

She got out of bed to prepare breakfast before starting her long day. On the wall of her kitchen, a screen displayed the news. All the media seemed occupied talking about new talented players conquering dungeons but remained silent about the looming war between the main guilds. They relied on the element of surprise to attract as many people as possible to their sites. They, too, were preparing by mobilizing their journalists from all corners of the game.

Isadora sighed, thinking about all these conflicts. She didn't play Monarchy for glory or wealth. The main reason she roamed the world was the unparalleled pleasure she felt when discovering new continents and following the epic quests offered by some non-player characters.

After finishing her breakfast, she lay down on her bed and put on her headset. Players could choose to log out in the wild at the risk of reconnecting face-to-face with a monster or other players with hostile intentions. The other choice was to log out in a city. If they could afford it, they could choose to log out in an inn room. They would benefit from an experience multiplier upon their return, and most importantly, no player could ambush them as long as they stayed in their room.

She had logged out in a room at one of the city's inns. With the guild's ever-increasing number of enemies and her status as vice-guild master, she couldn't risk being attacked upon reconnecting. After the brief sensation of passing through a viscous wall, she was inside the game.

No matter how many times she logged into the world of Monarchy, it always seemed so real. She would never forget the launch day of the game. She had appeared in the middle of a forest, the wind gently caressing her hair and her feet treading on the damp earth beneath. She had never sought to understand how it was possible and had contented herself with running from quest to quest. She wanted to discover this world, explore it in every detail. She wanted to live it.

But to do so, she first had to access all its zones, often guarded and populated by monsters far too high-level for her alone. That was one of the reasons she had joined a guild. The higher the monster levels, the more necessary it became to have an entire team to defeat them. But all that would have to wait until the end of the guild wars. For now, she could only level up while waiting for the impending storm to pass.

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She lay in her immense armor covering almost her entire body. She was indeed back in her inn room, but there was a small difference. In the previously empty room stood three men. One of them was observing her with curiosity, his face just a few centimeters from hers. The most disturbing was the childish demeanor he exuded despite appearing older than her, at least in his thirties.

"It's her, big brothers!" he exclaimed, turning to the other two men.

Isadora's face showed no fear before the three strangers, only deep confusion.

'They must be non-player characters,' she thought. It was the only explanation since other players wouldn't have been able to enter.

'But what are they doing here?'

That was the question running through her mind. She had never heard of NPCs entering a player's inn room before. They seemed to have been programmed this way. They weren't surprised that people appeared out of nowhere before them. They weren't surprised that players were immortal. Of course, players could die to monsters, but they would always reappear after a few minutes. There had to be a first time for everything, but her instinct told her something was wrong.

"Well, by turning the door handle before pushing it open to enter," Orion responded, puzzled by the question.

Before Isadora could analyze the implications of this response, Jason added:

"We do not exist for the game, but we need to fulfill the prophecy."

To avoid further confusing the young woman, he added:

"We need you to know the necessary steps to awaken the Monarch. In exchange, you will receive an opportunity of unimaginable value."

Isadora remained calm and used the game's identification system on the three men before her. Her mask of indifference cracked for a fraction of a second at the results.

Name: ???

Age: ???

Race: ???

Level: ???

Class: ???

Danger Level: ???

This inability of the system to provide results could only mean one thing: the three men before her surpassed her level by at least several hundred levels. She had already encountered the zone's king, but even for him, the identification had provided his name despite their difference of over 200 levels. In any case, her first reflex was to log out, leaving Orion particularly bewildered by her reaction. She wanted to contact her mentor for advice on how to proceed. A misstep before such significant figures in the world of Monarchy could mean the end of her avatar.

The game creators had ensured that each player could have only one avatar, no matter the headset they used. Before Orion could analyze this sudden "disappearance" in detail, Arden calmly announced:

"I will go get her."

And with those words, a portal opened beside him, through which he stepped before returning a few seconds later with a terrified Isadora under his arm. Jason frowned at her state. Her complexion was pale, and she seemed unable to stand on her own.

"How is she useful to us in this condition?" Jason asked Arden, his tone full of reproach.

"You can come to talk to us when you feel better, so go rest and we'll continue this discussion later, okay?" Jason continued in a tone meant to be as comforting as possible.

She nodded, unable to stop trembling with fear. Arden took her back to her room, crossing the portal again before returning to his companions.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Jason asked once back in the room.

"I promised to arrive as soon as possible," he replied.

Jason raised an eyebrow at his response.

'Just what we needed, a stoic with an obsession for honor,' Jason thought, sighing.

They waited for several hours: Jason, arms crossed and leaning against a wall; Arden, who seemed to be meditating, his hair waving as if in the wind even though there was none; and Orion, who was frenetically jumping on the bed attempting various acrobatics, often bumping against the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Isadora hid in her bed under several blankets. She stubbornly ignored all the calls from her answering machine, preferring to stay safe rather than reach out to grab it. This situation was interrupted when someone rang her doorbell:

"Isadora, did you want to contact me? Isadora? Is there a problem?"

She instantly recognized that voice: it was the guild master, who was also her mentor.