Alyssa jolted upwards from her bed, damp sweat matting her greasy hair and shirt. Raising her hands, she wildly ripped the sleek VR headset off her face, revealing bloodshot eyes that were slightly twitching underneath.

"THAT FUCKING RAT!"

The woman's veins began to bulge as hot blood rushed to her head, her breath becoming increasingly unsteady. Snatching the headset from where she had dropped it on her blanket, she reared her arm back, intending to throw it across the room.

"ARGHHH!" she roared, shaking the device in the air haphazardly with a frenzied expression.

With every bit of restraint she had in her body, Alyssa gently placed the VR headset back onto its stand with an exhausted sigh. She had skimped and saved every extra penny to buy the system, even going as far as to living off cup noodles for a whole year. The day she destroyed it was the day she finally went insane.

The woman collapsed back onto her bed, wrapping herself with her weighted blanket. The sensation of cold fear was beginning to seep into her brain, replacing the previous anger. She brought her hands up and rubbed her temples, her head aching just from thinking about the previous events that had just occurred.

It should have been a piece of cake, she had been sent by the league to stop a low ranked villain from robbing a bank. Even worse, it wasn't even a player who had humiliated her.

Alyssa rolled to her side, manically chewing on her finger nails.

There's something different about that NPC...

Compared to his AI peers, the villain had been especially ruthless, even going as far as blowing up his own team member.

...it has to be a glitch... right?

CRACK

The nail on her index finger shattered from the pressure of her teeth, the sharp pain snapping her back to reality. Tilting her head downwards, she rubbed her face as hot tears began to well up in her eyes. Her bottom lip quivered while her nose scrunched up, soft cries echoing in her trash filled room.

"I-It's not fair... I spent so much time trying t-to get a good ability...ergh..."

Alyssa had re-rolled her character exactly 157 times, spending two weeks resetting until she had finally gotten the optimal tutorial world. Her origin story was quite the unique one as well, she had been placed in a town that was cursed by darkness. Exploring a cave filled with monsters, she found a fragment of the sun and lit up the entire village once more. Completing the world netted her the power of light, an A ranked ability.

Wiping her face that was now smeared with tears and snot, an anxious expression settled onto her features. Pulling the VR headset over her eyes, she silently prayed that her character hadn't been killed already.

The moment Alyssa woke up in game, she would activate her special skill that she had acquired from reaching hero rank C. It was safe to say that the glorified rat would be obliterated in an instant.

[HEROES ONLINE]

[PLAY?]

Alyssa raised her transparent hand and clicked the button, mentally preparing herself as the loading screen flashed by.

[TIP: CONSISTENT RIVALRIES WILL RESULT IN BONUS EXP!]

Heroes Online is a permadeath game. Once you have been slain, there's no coming back. The only option is to start a fresh character.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

While this feature deters some, most of the player base is absolutely addicted to this mechanic. It's one of the main reasons why it has a massive player count of five hundred million.

The Rivalry System is also in place, discouraging most users from wiping their opponents after defeating them. Every subsequent battle you fight with your "rival" there will be an EXP multiplier, actively encouraging just leaving the other person knocked out.

[WELCOME PLAYER RADIANCE!]

Alyssa's eyes jolted open, a furious expression distorting her face.

"CRUEL SUN!"

However, the powerful skill did not activate.

Confused, the hero swiveled her head. She was in what seemed to be an attic, a single light bulb flickering in the center of the room. A shadow in the farthest side of the room seemed to be gazing at her while the dying bulb illuminated the surroundings, stacks of old newspapers and heaping piles of junk filled the area. Weirdly, the light bulb seemed to be propped up from the floor while the trash looked like it was glued to the ceiling.

Oh...I'm upside down.

BAM BAM BAM

It was the sound of heavy footsteps, someone was ascending to the attic.

A sensation of pure terror washed down the hero spine, cold sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

"C-CRUEL SUN!" Alyssa wailed as she wriggled around, trying to break free from her bindings.

BAM BAM BAM

The woman's panic increased tenfold as the footsteps grew louder.

"CRUEL SUN! CRUEL SUN! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?"

The hero was practically thrashing in the air, the boards of wood overhead squeaking from the weight.

"Have you been well?"

From the shadows appeared the villain from before. Shadows were cast upon his masked face, his suit stained with her dried blood. His gloved hands gripped a metal bat, his dead eyes creased with excitement.

"CRUEL SUN!" the hero screamed, desperately hoping the skill would activate.

The villain laid the bat over his right shoulder, stuffing his other hand in his coat pocket.

"Ah. It seems like your missing these," the villain cheerfully sang, kicking two mangled objects into the light.

The objects were shaped like tubes wrapped in some sort of cloth, similar in color to her suit. Squinting her eyes, Alyssa could make out a bloodied hand with arcane symbols ingrained into it.

Oh. I'm fucked.

----------------------------------------

Happy chuckled with a humorous glint in his eyes, he had sawed off the hero's arms in advance in case she decided to pull any tricks. Turning around, he pulled one of the plastic chairs forward and sat down, crossing his legs.

"I'm just going to ask you some questions. If you cooperate, I'll let you out," Happy gently whispered while interlocking his fingers.

An expression of relief flushed onto Radiance's face, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned with joy.

"O-Okay!"

Leaning forward, the villain planted the metal bat onto the floor with one hand.

"Okay, first question. How rare is it for people like me," Happy pointed at himself, "... to have an ability?"

"U-Um... you mean NPCs?"

"Yep."

"Well uh... I think one out of um... a thousand has a ability? Yeah a-around that number..."

Happy clasped his chin, pretending to give a thoughtful look.

"Welp, okay. Time for the second question."

Wrapping a gloved hand around the handle of the bat, he swung the weapon in an arc.

THWACK

A devastating blow connected right into the woman's teeth, knocking one of her molars loose. Rearing back, he let loose another swing, smashing her nose. Following it up, he sent the bat down overhead, smashing the club into the hero's skull.

CRUNCH

Radiance's nose began to leak crimson blood that trickled downwards, staining the thick rope that bound her. However, a weak smile was plastered on her face.

"I-If you wanna h-hit me more... go ahead!" The hero smiled innocently, clearly unfazed.

Huh... so players feel less pain than normal. That makes sense.

"Last question, okay?"

The hero shook her head enthusiastically, her eyes shining brightly .

"Why were you at the bank?"

The woman's mood shifted almost instantaneously, a shadow looming over her eyes.

"I-I can't tell you... I really can't... I'll answer any other question! P-Please..."

Happy tilted his head, curiosity pricking his brain.

"Who sent you," the villain uttered, tapping the bat onto the hero's forehead.

tap

tap

tap

"E-Ergh... p-please, I really can't tell you..."

CLANK

Happy released his grip on the bat, letting it fall to the floor. Raising his hands to his head, he covered his eyes as if he was utterly disappointed.

"I thought you were better than this, Radiance," the villain sighed while shaking his head. Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out a shiny, silver revolver.

The hero instantly went pale, her high perception stat was screaming only one word at her right now.

DANGER!

There was something wrong about that gun, as if it was something that shouldn't exist in this world.

Happy pressed the barrel of the revolver against the side of her skull and questioned one last time.

"Who sent you?"

"X Machinima! IT WAS HER, X MACHINIMA!" Happy squealed while shutting her eyes. If the League of Heroes ever found out she snitched, her hero career would be over.

And unfortunately, they always found out.

"Okay, thanks!" Happy smiled.

"O-Okay! C-Can you let me go now?"

Happy crossed his arms and sighed, the barrel of the gun still pressed against her head.

"Sorry Radiance. I have a problem with lying."