The convenience store hummed with the sound of fluorescent lighting, a familiar sound. Fortunately, the music of a local pop station on the store stereo system almost drowned out the annoying noise. Customers came and went as the night hours carried on with tedium. Sean hated the forced smile he had to show every time a new guest to his store came to the register.

"Good evening."

"How may I help you?"

"Did you find everything you were looking for?"

Can I go home yet?

The young man, in his early twenties, had had a long day before he even came in for his shift. What with college classes, where he had yet to declare a major, Sean was feeling fatigued; his smile faltering.

Between work, school, and sleep, he barely had time for the one thing he was still passionate about. Cosmos.

The game was still new. The base game had been out for about a year. But, the scale of it was unlike anything the gaming community had seen before. And much more was promised. The first expansion was on the horizon and people were bubbling with excitement over the new frontiers that would be unlocked.

Sean was one of the lucky few who'd glimpsed the future, traveling from a magic-ruled world to a futuristic space station. All in pursuit of an enigma.

The convenience store worker watched the last customer of the night depart with relief. It wasn't that the people who came and went were particularly unpleasant. It was just that, work was work. It wasn't play.

Fortunately, during this brief window in the early hours of dawn, Sean would be playing his favorite game.

The store swapped custodians and the young man left, finding his way home and quickly showering before lying down on his bed. The Full Dive VR headset was a magical device if anything was. It would transport him not just to different worlds, but unique universes. Specifically, to Cosmos.

The machine whirred into action and a lethargy came over Sean. When he awoke, he wasn't a convenience store worker. He was Dancing Dagger, a dual-wielding Fighter. Of course, his chosen weapons were daggers, a pair of epics he'd gained for completing the enigmatic Koll Luna's raid quests.

Dancing Dagger looked around at the Juniper Space Station he'd been on when he'd logged out. The sci-fi setting had a futuristic silver sheen to most of its rounded surfaces. Hovering platforms flew across the mezzanine outside Koll Luna's office building. Players were coming and going from the building as they came to turn in quests before rushing out to complete the new ones they'd accepted.

Dancing Dagger smiled with relief to be back in the universe he preferred. His feet carried him into the office where the NPC he'd come to know, as well as he could, was busy tinkering with sci-fi gadgets. Koll Luna had always been like this since the earliest days on Ruun, either scratching sigils into stones or blowing arcane dust over common armor pieces. Now he'd advanced to magitech items and Dancing Dagger had no idea what he'd get up to next.

"Hey, Koll," the blonde man, with a charismatic smile, said.

The NPC looked up, his face registering recognition and some degree of pleasant surprise.

"Hey," Koll said briefly, setting down his implements.

Dancing Dagger looked at the NPC's table, a wrist device with nasty-looking bolts was in the early stages of development. Dancing Dagger thought that this must be the reason for the [Butchers of Meesach] quest, along with the collection quest for Spiker tails.

Stolen story; please report.

"New toy for us Immortals?"

Koll nodded. "It will be, once I figure out a few of the kinks in the design."

"I see."

Dancing Dagger thought about what he wanted to ask. He always found himself curious about the mind of this one NPC, a character so unlike the rest.

"Could you tell me more about Meesach? I get the feeling there's more to the story."

Koll looked at him for a moment before shrugging.

"What more is there to be known? A bunch of monsters are spreading like rabbits and need to be put down."

Dancing Dagger crossed his arms. "Come on, I know when you're holding out on us."

The NPC looked to the heavens as if they'd help him.

Finally, he settled and rolled his tense shoulders.

"Okay," he said. "Meesach has a long history in which the Ravenous Spikers never evolved to be a threat until recently. Makes one wonder how the monsters came to be a threat to an interstellar grade planet."

The blonde man nodded, he'd thought the same. But, had chalked it up to a quirk of the system.

"So, you're saying the Spikers were released on the population."

"I'm not saying anything," Koll said dismissively as he waved his hand before returning to his work.

Dancing Dagger evaluated the NPC before shrugging. He took the fresh kill and collect quests before departing the office.

A hovering platform carried him to the teleportation array where he jumped straight to planet Meesach. He had some friends who were already out hunting the Ravenous Spikers and was readily accepted into the party.

Despite how shiny Dancing Dagger's epic gear was, it was all terrestrial-grade equipment. A grade lower than the threat level of the Spikers. This was true for all the thousand-odd players who'd followed Koll into the galaxy. A few had an odd uncommon interstellar-grade item. But, largely they were as paper mache before the dangerous tail spikes of the beasts.

The one advantage the players had was their ability to respawn after death. The Ravenous Spikers were permanently dead when slain, but their reproduction rate kept pace with the players. An equilibrium had come over the ecology of Meesach. Fortunately, the players were getting stronger every day; the balance turning in their favor.

The hour or so Dancing Dagger hunted with his friends was rough and he only partially filled up his quest meters. But, he only had so much time before he had to go back to the real world and get some actual sleep so he could function in class and his night job.

Still, there was something he wanted to do.

Dancing Dagger went back to the outpost the players had been sent to by the teleportation array. There wouldn't be any new information from the army NPCs that populated the base. So, he caught a ride to the population center behind the front line. All the while, agonizing over the limited time he had left to play.

When he arrived in the city, Dancing Dagger searched for the local news station offices and approached the front desk to ask for information.

"Hello," a woman greeted him. "What can I do for you?"

The NPC was somewhat frazzled, the stress of a planetary invasion causing her strain.

"Hi," Dancing Dagger said. "I have some questions about the history of Meesach, do you think I could get some answers here?"

The woman looked at him critically, "Who are you with?"

Dancing Dagger replied, "I'm a mercenary from Juniper Station."

The woman almost chuckled as she looked at his gear.

"Ahem," she collected herself. "If you're from offworld and fighting those monsters, I'm grateful. I can't get you in to see any of our other staff. But, I'll answer any questions you have."

Dancing Dagger smiled his most charming smile and began asking questions. Most of them turned up with no answers. But, he landed on some information that caught his attention.

"The Origin Seekers are a particularly nasty group of scientists. Well, we call them scientists, but they're really a cult. They have been recruiting people from the public, expressing a desire to start over Meesachian civilization on the "proper" path. I don't know much more than that. But, if you're looking for more information, you could find an information broker."

Dancing Dagger perked up at the mention of an information broker, "Where can I find a broker?"

The woman thought for a moment, "Try the Night Regent club downtown. But, be careful. There are a lot of scammers."

The player nodded, "Thanks."

She smiled slightly before turning to her work, "Good luck."

Dancing Dagger left the office and stood on the streets of this alien city. He wanted to continue his search. But, knew that his time had ended.

Regretfully, Dancing Dagger turned back into Sean. The student and minimum wage worker of the real world.

But, for everything else, Dancing Dagger had found a purpose in Cosmos beyond just fighting and killing beasts. He'd come upon a mystery that few others in the game would even be considering.

A smile touched his lips as he retired for the night.