General chat:

Lambofdoom: OMG, you guys catch that epic vod on the forums?

SneaknStab: Yeah, that mage totally wrecked some top-ranked players!

Chickendippas: Seriously? Where’s the vid?

Lambofdoom: Posted in the forums under the cheater thread…

SneaknStab: That dude's a freaking legend!

Chickendippas: Which thread?

SneaknStab: Hang on... I'll drop a link.

Chickendippas: thx

SneaknStab: Oh wait the thread has been deleted! WTF!

Chickendippas: …

Lambofdoom: What? Who deleted it?

Desmond flinched; his attention snagged by a sudden ringing in his head. He swiped at the notification beside him, revealing a yellow light. On instinct and without thinking, his hand tapped it open.

Stream offline.

His eyes widened as he read the text. "What?" Desmond muttered, spinning around in confusion. He hadn't intentionally closed his stream, nor did he know it was possible. “How?”

As if in response a purple fog swirled beside him on top of the roof, and from its midst emerged a cloaked figure. The man's voice carried an odd twang, and his annoyance was evident as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Hey there," he whined. "You, sir! Have been causing me so much trouble!"

Desmond, still surrounded by the corpses of the fallen players, asked, "Um, who are you?"

"You're leveling up way too fast!" the man replied, ignoring Desmond's question as he removed his hood, revealing a bushy beard and round face. He didn't bear a player's name tag above his head, and clearly, he was no NPC. "Let me check your progress, mate."

"What?" Desmond was baffled by the stranger's familiarity.

The man edged forwards and placed his hands on Desmond’s shoulders and stared blankly into his face. After forcibly turning Desmond around and muttering to himself, the cloaked figure seemed to come to some conclusion and grinned.

"Well, I think I've identified the bug, but I can't do much about the rest of it," he said, giving Desmond a half-confused smile. He prodded at something invisible in the air and swore under his breath. “Work bloody thing,” he muttered as he worked. “Ah there we go. All fixed. No more strange leveling up monsters.”

He turned to Desmond. “I fixed the bug.”

"What bug?" Desmond was alarmed.

"And for now, I've temporarily turned off your experience point gain," the stranger explained calmly.

"What my exp? How dare you..."

"Calm down, it's just temporary," the stranger interrupted. "Just until I can smooth things over at the office."

Desmond demanded, "What's happening? Who are you?"

The man shushed him and scanned the sky, clearly trying to stay inconspicuous. "I can't tell you just yet. Let's just say I'm a friend who messed up."

"That doesn't answer my question or make me feel better. Why did you turn off my experience points?"

"So that they don't come after you," he said, pointing to the heavens. "I've done my best to keep your whereabouts hidden, but if the boss finds you, he'll delete your account!"

"Delete? What the hell? But I'm..."

"Yes, I know you opted for the body swap. If you get deleted, you as a person are gone for good."

"What?" Desmond shouted, his voice trembling with panic. “They can’t do that!’

"Shhh... They can do whatever they like."

Desmond struggled to breathe.

"It's okay, I'll fix this. I never intended for players to get their hands on those special class tokens."

"Players? You mean there are others like me?" Desmond asked through ragged breaths.

The man chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah, you're the only one who's gotten such a massive level boost so far."

Desmond nodded, attempting to regain his composure. "So, my unique passive, which boosts my experience, has made me a target?"

The man nodded. "The boss thinks you're cheating."

"But I'm not. I'm playing the game as intended. Arnt I?"

The man shrugged. "That's kind of true, but your class was never meant to be an option for players. The Portal Smith was a unique design I thought would be perfect for one of the game masters, not a player."

"So, you're a GM?" Desmond voiced his suspicion.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The man’s eyes widened in alarm. "Shhh..." The man glanced around, then whispered, "I didn’t want to tell you thins but, I'm actually a developer."

"Really?" Desmond asked in a hushed tone.

"Shhh!!!" The developer hissed urgently, motioning with his finger to keep quiet.

"Okay," Desmond whispered, following the man's lead, and glancing nervously at the heavens. "And what's your name?"

The man shook his head solemnly. "I can't tell you that, not yet. If I reveal my name and the boss hears it down here, he'll delete me too."

A shiver ran down Desmond's spine. If this boss could strike fear into a developer, he was certainly a formidable figure - one Desmond had no desire to cross.

"So, what should I do?" Desmond inquired, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Prove you're not a cheater by showcasing your skills in the arena tournament," the developer suggested.

Desmond nodded thoughtfully. "But won't they delete me if they find me there?"

The developer shook his head reassuringly. "Most people don't know your name because I've hidden it from the rankings. When you show up, you'll have a chance to demonstrate your worth in front of the entire player population - millions of people. If you prove yourself, the boss will have no choice but to spare you."

"But won't they suspect cheating since I'm playing a class no one else can play?" Desmond voiced his concern.

The man chuckled, his gaze falling on the floating orb beside Desmond. "You've already found a way to explain the portal magic. But you must be able to appear as a standard class."

"How can I do that? My Portal Smith class can only work with portals," Desmond protested.

With a sly grin, the developer tapped a few buttons in the air, causing a bright light to flash, forcing Desmond take a step back.

A notification appeared:

NEW QUEST AVAILABLE

You have received a summons to the Magic Academy to learn a secondary class.

This is a unique quest.

Accept. Yes/No

"What? A secondary class?"

The developer grinned. "Originally, this quest was meant to be an ultra-rare feature, but we planned to make it available to everyone in a few years, like a soft rollout. We didn't want everyone to be super powerful right from the start."

Desmond stared at the flashing quest notification, his mind racing. Why was this man doing all this?

"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but..." Desmond began, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Why am I helping you?" the developer finished his unspoken question.

Clearly, Desmond's thoughts had been apparent on his face for some time.

"Well, it was kind of my fault you gained the Portal Smith class," the man confessed. "And if they find you and delete you, my ass is next."

Desmond's jaw clenched as he fought the urge to lash out at the man. If it was true that this predicament was the developer's fault, he had more than enough reason to give the man a piece of his mind. But given the man’s godlike status in this world and the fact that the developer was his only lifeline, he had no choice but to remain composed.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you, he thought.

Resigned, Desmond sighed. "Okay, I'll accept." He pressed the "Yes" button, and the world around him shimmered with the familiar glow of the game system.

The developer smiled. "I'll be watching. Good luck."

Desmond was on the brink of expressing his gratitude when the man inexplicably vanished in a melodramatic puff of smoke leaving him alone of the roof. Desmond let out an exasperated sigh and then cast his gaze upward, spotting a distant shimmering light that signalled the location of his new quest. He hastily checked his map and confirmed that the light emanated from the north. In the direction of the Elven capital city.

“Hero!” echoed a voice.

Startled, his attention was drawn down to the sight of the familiar farmer jogging toward him with an exuberant grin. Desmond quickly checked his portal's cooldown and flashed a mischievous grin. "Open an ordinary portal."

Within moments, he stood beside the jubilant farmer, ready to claim his reward for ridding the farm of its vile vermin.

Stream Online.

Chat:

Arlexior: Hey he’s back online!

DarkAssassin: What? Where did he go?

Billyboy: He’s in the open. Anyone left to get him?

Unkillable: no… everyone is dead.

Groundable: …

Lionfury: Good work mate!

Beastman: the fighting before didn’t look like he was cheating imo…

Yolkb4me: were we wrong?

Arlexior: I dunno

Sammyggg: he’s a cheater!

ThatDinosaurKid: is he?

Beastman: we need that vod.

Users online: 18

"Oh, valiant hero, well done! You have cleansed my farm of those wretched vermin," the farmer exclaimed, gesturing toward the littered corpses on his land, which, coincidentally, included the fallen players.

"You're most welcome, kind sir," Desmond replied, fully embracing the role-playing aspect of the destined outcome.

Chat:

Lionfury: see the other players were the bad guys!

Arlexior: ….

DarkAssassin: srlys?

Users online: 18

"Feel free to select any reward left behind by those vermin, in addition to my boundless gratitude."

Desmond couldn't help but find the offer a bit lacklustre. However, his excitement began to bubble when he realized that the farmer had, in a roundabout way, given him permission to loot the players' corpses. His eyes glittered with greed as he surveyed the farm, spotting the gear of the ill-fated players who had dared to attack him. In his mind, he justified that their gear was now rightfully his.

Yet, the prospect of sorting through the loot on his own seemed like a tedious ordeal. Suppressing a laugh, he pulled out his portal box and swiftly moved from one corpse to another.

Chat:

Arlexior: HEY!!!

Unkillable: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Billyboy: Is he corpse looting?!?!?!?!

DarkAssassin: HEY MY STUFF WTF!!!

Groundable: …

Lionfury: lol

Beastman: Um, I guess it’s fair…

Sammyggg: This guys about to get black listed.

ThatDinosaurKid: For what? They attacked him? He kicked their arses…

Yolkb4me: I still haven’t made up my mind

SneaknStab: seems legit imo

Chickendippas: how is he cheating?

Lambofdoom: anyone have the original vod?

Users online: 18

Desmond grinned as on the other side of these portals awaited two reformed and capable individuals, ready to assist with the task at hand and clear away the mess the dead players had left.

After a few gruelling moments, the farm transformed from a gruesome trash heap to a pristine, albeit somewhat reddish, state. With a final wave to the farmer, Desmond left him to tend to his land and headed in the direction of the glowing marker, leading him to his salvation and a new subclass that would conceal his true potential.