Lily Thatcher stood clad in her gleaming virtual armor. Her vision was filled with an augmented screen of scrolling code overlaying the serene landscape ahead while she busily typed away on a virtual keyboard suspended in mid-air. Most of the other CyberBolt developers preferred to sit behind a desk in a stuffy cubicle inside the company headquarters tower, but Lily preferred a more inclusive environment. She enjoyed the full immersion experience while she logged away her hours at work. It helped make her tedious day-to-day routine more enjoyable.
System Alert!
A player in the Lost Zone is in distress and in dire need of assistance. Would you like to utilize this opportunity to provide World Class Customer Service?
Yes | No
Although CyberBolt feigned the option of a choice, with a dual responsibility as both a game developer and a tester she was occasionally required to jump in unannounced and offer player assistance. To decline such an request was frowned upon by upper management, and would be flagged on her employee record.
Lily sighed and pressed "Yes".
I wonder what kind of mess this player has gotten themselves into?
In a swirl of mist, Lily's avatar @SuaveQueen25 was whisked away to a new spawn point where she appeared in a flash of light in the middle of a small clearing somewhere in one of the many forested areas known as the Lost Zone. Almost immediately she identified the blonde player in distress and cringed.
Of course it has to be a dumb blonde.
Ironically Lily had chosen to adorn her own avatar with blonde hair - but she had purposely done so as a decoy. Her flaming red hair in Real Life (RL) would have been a dead giveaway, and there was a certain player in particular that she needed to keep a close eye on in-game - namely her boyfriend Allan - so she didn't want to call attention to herself.
Suddenly she heard a loud hiss from directly behind her. She moaned in frustration as the prompt appeared.
Threat Detected: Level 20 Basilisk
HP| 2,000/2,000
Strengths: Prolonged exposure to the basilisk's eyes can cause temporary paralysis of players and on occasion instant avatar death. Once paralyzed, the basilisk will often bite it's prey with its poisonous fangs, causing instant avatar death. Further, a single drop of basilisk poison is potent enough to melt skin upon contact. Classified as one of the rarest creatures in CONQUEST, but yet one of the most dangerous.
Weaknesses: [Unknown.]
Without warning the vile creature swished its tail and slammed her into a tree with a resounding crunch of her avatar's bones. She crumpled in a heap, having left a large dent in the thick bark of the tree.
[-500 Damage]
Lily winced in extreme pain. With her remaining good hand she quickly opened a back door interface in her developer tools and entered a cheat code to turn off the pain receptors. With the pain now eliminated, she accessed her inventory to procure a healing potion and gulped it down.
System Alert!
Your HP has been filled to 100% capacity.
[HP | 2,500/2,500]
Her wounds instantly healed and her bones snapped back into place as she quickly assessed the situation. A little ways off she could see the Level 8 female blonde player attempting to retreat further into the woods. Trailing close behind was a massive high-level basilisk and five more lurked a ways off.
She's no match for these creatures. No wonder I got a prompt to help!
Lily charged at one of the lurking creatures from behind.
Threat Detected: Level 18 Basilisk
HP| 1,800/1,800
Strengths: Prolonged exposure to the basilisk's eyes can cause temporary paralysis of players and on occasion instant avatar death. Once paralyzed, the basilisk will often bite it's prey with its poisonous fangs, causing instant avatar death. Further, a single drop of basilisk poison is potent enough to melt skin upon contact. Classified as one of the rarest creatures in CONQUEST, but yet one of the most dangerous.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Weaknesses: [Unknown.]
She attacked the unsuspecting creature from behind with her enhanced broadsword, making quick work to lop off its head.
Decapitate: Easy
Instant Kill
[+990 XP]
Skill Refreshed: Decapitate
Delivers an Instant Kill when hacking off the head of an opponent. Only works at close range. Greater chances for Instant Kill increase with higher levels. Requirements: Level > 11, Agility > 8, Stamina > 12, Willpower > 8
***Disclaimer: This skill can only be utilized with a large sword***
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the blonde try to challenge one of the basilisks in a moment of stupidity. She too immediately found herself smashed into a tree and crumpled to the ground in a bloody heap.
Well, I tried. It was a lost cause from the beginning anyway.
Lily shrugged and pulled up a spawn stone from her inventory and attempted to activate it.
WARNING!
You have not completed this opportunity to provide World Class Customer Service. Failure to complete this task will result in a penalty of -1,000 XP and may affect your Annual Incentive Award (AIA). Are you sure you want to forfeit this task?
Yes | No
Lily sighed in annoyance and selected 'No'.
Apparently she's still alive. Go figure.
The blonde player rose wobbly from the ground and stood in a feeble attempt to face the the basilisk that had attacked her, but it roared and quickly encircled her in a tight embrace with its tail. It was attempting to squeeze the rest of the life out of her and readying for a strike. She slapped the tail with her free hand, but it was no use. She squirmed in the grip, but to Lily's surprise the player didn't scream out in terror but instead fought back with resolve in her eyes.
Okay, so maybe this girl's got some guts after all.
Lily charged forward, swiping away at the prompt identifying the creature as a Level 21 Basilisk. She attacked the coiled creature by thrusting her sword deep into its belly and twisting the hilt as she withdrew.
[-300 HP]
The massive snake gave a loud screech and released its grip on the woman who collapsed to the ground.
Dang it. That didn't work.
She had hoped to gain a StabTwist Instant Kill with that maneuver, but all she succeeded at was to thoroughly piss it off.
Suddenly the remaining four creatures that had been holding back sprang into action. They too joined the fray and soon Lily was hard put to defend herself against all of them.
Slash
[-45 HP]
Jab
[-80 HP]
Stab
[-100 HP]
Strike
[-150 HP]
To her relief, the blonde player gulped down a healing potion quickly and joined back into the fight. But the help was fleeting. The stupid girl stared right into one of the basilisk's eyes and immediately stiffened like a board with temporary paralysis.
Its fangs bared, she saw the green ooze drip onto the woman's armor which melted on contact. But surprisingly the blonde pushed past the paralysis and drove her spear deep into the top of the creature's mouth. She twisted and yanked it out. The basilisk screeched and raised itself before falling down again. The basilisk's entire weight bore down on the woman, but she rolled over out of the way before she got crushed. A second basilisk was now eliminated.
Lily found herself cornered, taking a defensive stance against the basilisk she had injured. She parried against its fangs as the beast took special interest in her - clearly seeking revenge. Though she was avoiding any Damage points, she wasn't gaining any Hit Points against her foe either.
Screaming a battle cry, the woman attracted the attention of two of the creatures. They slithered towards the woman, fangs trying to strike. She swiftly moved from one to another and back as she stabbed and jabbed. She thrust her spear into one of the basilisk's eyes, blinding it. Reptilian screeches were the only sound in the forest. Unable to see, it moved here and there, crashing into the others.
To her good fortune, the blinded snake slammed into the one that had been keeping Lily busy. The temporary distraction gave her just enough time to take advantage of the situation and slash across the basilisk's neck, leaving a large gaping gash.
NeckSlash: Difficult
Instant Kill
[+1,030 XP]
Skill Refreshed: NeckSlash
Delivers an Instant Kill when slashing across an opponent's neck in close range. Greater chances for Instant Kill increase with higher levels. Requirements: Level > 7, Agility > 2, Stamina > 4, Intelligence > 4
Lily glanced over in admiration as the woman appeared to be quite the marksman after all. She climbed up a tree and jumped onto the blind snake, brandishing a broadsword she had just pulled out of her inventory and stabbed through its head. The basilisk crashed down to the ground.
Apparently she had better weaponry than she initially led on.
Four down. Two to go.
Almost simultaneously, both women took out the last two creatures. The blonde slashed across the neck of while Lily managed to decapitate the other with a powerful stroke of her sword.
Decapitate: Medium
Instant Kill
[+1,110 XP]
A new system prompt appeared once all threats had been eliminated.
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed your task to provide World Class Customer Service. For your service, CyberBolt proudly rewards you with the following:
+500 XP
+1 Strength
+1 Willpower
Lily swiped the prompt away to see the blonde staring at her with eyes opened wide, her mouth about to open to speak.
Lily always hated long goodbyes, let alone awkward introductions. So, to save them both the headache Lily quickly accessed her inventory and activated a spawn stone and disappeared in a flash of light.