The room was hot with the rising heat of late spring. In a corner, a fan hummed as it tried to keep the air flowing. Seated behind a cheap desk was a bald man of African descent, his muscles bulging against the dress shirt he wore.
Brandon Dresden was busy watching the monitor of his computer while a middle-aged woman in professional attire stood next to his seated form. The pair were observing a cage match between two people. Only, it was unlike any battle one would see in the real world. Fantasy weapons clashed against elaborate armor and magical spells flew free of odd crystals the combatants bore.
But, despite how magical the engagement was, it was difficult to separate it from reality. One might even believe the scene to be part of a Hollywood production because of how seamlessly the special effects melded with realistic graphics. Of course, the scene wasn't real. It was a battle taking place inside the video game, Cosmos.
Brandon had a savage smile on his face as he watched the competitor with a hammer crush the chest of his opponent. The gratuitous violence fully displayed the mature content. One might even imagine someone had died such a brutal death. But, the body of the fallen gladiator dissipated as so many light particles, leaving only a pristine skeleton in its place.
"Sir," the young woman beside the seated man spoke now that the battle was over. "I've been in talks with the media networks you mentioned previously."
The muscular man turned from the scene of the arena being cleared and prepared for its next battle.
"And?" he asked.
The woman pulled out a file and presented it to Brandon.
"The Ruin Network is the only one that seems prepared to accept your program. But, they will only agree to display the fights on their station with the mature content filters set to the highest threshold."
Brandon nods. It would be nice if the fights could be displayed in their full glory. But, a mainstream outlet like Ruin would have limits to what they'd allow on their channel. Still, so long as the contract is nonexclusive, he'll be able to do what he likes later on.
"And, the terms?" he asks.
The woman looks unconcerned, "They've agreed to the terms you've outlined on condition of the content rating being moderated."
"Good. Thanks."
The woman nodded and took up her papers before departing.
The bald man cracked his knuckles as the next competitors of the Everlast Gladiatorial Arena on planet Ruun took center stage. He couldn't wait for the workday to end.
Gol D came into consciousness on Juniper Station, his body clad in white prismatic scales. The rare power armor he'd procured from Koll's store was only in the lowest tier of interstellar-grade equipment. But, it was shiny if it was nothing else. And, few players could match the near full set of prismatic power armor Gol D wore.
He flexed his muscles underneath the form-fitting scale armor, the scales shimmering in the changing light. While feeling satisfied with his condition, the barbarian noted the nearby presence of his favorite NPC. A shadow coming over his heart.
"Koll," the giant of a man said as he approached the busily working NPC.
Koll Luna, the NPC he'd followed on a path away from his business venture in the Everlast Arena, looked up and sighed as he recognized the player.
"Hello, Gol D."
The barbarian looked over the table full of gadgets. "You've finished the wrist launcher by now, haven't you?"
Koll crossed his arms, "You asked me that yesterday."
Gol D smiled, "And now, I'm asking you today."
The NPC bit his cheek before processing something.
"Check the store."
Without hesitation, Gol D pulled up the store menu and scanned through it until he found the item he was looking for, [Bolt Launcher].
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The player's expression soured, "You don't have any rares."
Koll shrugged, "I just finished fine tuning the item. Take them or leave them."
Gol D bought a pair of uncommon interstellar-grade accessories. He equipped them in short order.
The player, clad in an almost complete set of rare prismatic power armor now had wrist launchers in addition to his rare battleax.
Gol D nodded and briefly said, "Thanks," before moving on.
The NPC watched him go without a word.
The teleportation array sent Gol D into a newly unlocked node on planet Meesach.
With the players' human wave tactics, the Ravenous Spikers had been losing ground. Though, while they'd been losing ground, the players had been facing harsher conditions in their war to liberate Meesach.
The hives that the Spikers wove from their organically generated threads were small on the frontier. But, the conquered cities were giant mazes of thousands upon thousands of hives.
The city the players were trying to reclaim, New Gentry, had become a death trap that players were running blindly into. But, death didn't stop the Immortals. The promise of XP, reputation, and credits pushed them to dive deeper into enemy territory every day.
Gol D pulled up his friends list and quickly put together his team. The number of players he could count on had been growing since he'd come to Meesach.
With only 1,200 players to rely on on this frontier, the players had been growing into a more tight-knit pack. And, Gol D was without a doubt a leader among them.
Party size ran up to 5 players at a time. But, raid sizes could balloon up to much higher numbers. And, there were hundreds of loose packs of players just waiting for his leadership.
The raid team rose to several dozen. Their party composition runs disproportionately in the direction of damage dealers.
Gol D looked at his ragtag mob and smirked, this would be a mess. But, it always was here on Meesach.
After a ready check, Gol D led the team out of the impromptu fortress established by the NPCs. The hive city had many entrances. Some were the size of a couple of people, while others were gaping maws in the yellowish-brown threads. No one wanted to think about how the threads were made.
The tanks took the front and pushed into a wide hole in the hive. The darkness of the tunnel was illuminated by technological headlamps and the illusory floating lights of some of the magically inclined characters.
It didn't take long before they felt spikes launch at them from the darkness.
"Lay down the [Shield Generators]," Gol D called out.
More players than needed to dropped some of the bubble shields that Koll sold in his store. The glowing white shields provided greater illumination in the tunnels and the players were able to see what they were facing. Dozens of Spikers continued to send spikes flying at them.
While the players outnumbered the monsters, each beast was a match for at least 2 of them.
Some of the players were considering fleeing when Gol D yelled out.
"You fucking run, you'll be on my shit list."
The players sighed and applied themselves to the battle.
"Tanks, move forward. We'll throw down shields as we follow you."
The guardians weren't too enthusiastic about taking the full onslaught of dozens of Spikers but pushed forward all the same. Their healers rapidly depleted their mana in the process of keeping the vanguard moving.
Rather than flee the approaching players as they breached the distance, the Ravenous Spikers charged forward. Their aggression being taken by the front-running tanks.
From behind the allied lines, ranged damage dealers began to unleash salvos of arrows, kinetic blaster fire, and magical missiles. Gol D joined in the assault, bringing both arms up to unleash dozens of bolts from his [Bolt Launchers]. The number of bolts he spent was easy to replace with the numbers gathered and bought from Koll leading up to the sale of his new gadget.
The first of the Ravenous Spikers was shredded under the combined force of the players. But, more of the beasts joined the melee.
The first tank to fall couldn't stand against the combined efforts of so many Spikers, the heals just weren't enough.
The raid team pushed on. Their forces cut apart the front leading monsters.
If the team had more healers and more tanks, they might have stood a better chance. But, when the tanks fell under the brutal assault of spikes, claws, and neurotoxin-laced teeth, the mass of damage dealers was consumed like paper to fire.
Gol D swung down with his ax on the oncoming Spikers, managing to cleave in half the skull of a wounded Spiker. But, even so, he fell before the beast tide. His team was slaughtered in its first engagement.
At the respawn point, Gol D watched as some members of the raid team dropped out to run smaller-scale battles. It was no issue for the barbarian. Players didn't enjoy losing. But, there were other players to take their place.
The team reformed after half an hour and followed the same path as before. This time cutting through the ambush pack that had slaughtered them. The number of Spikers hadn't recovered from the previous battle. But, Gol D's team had.
A gleam flashed through the barbarian's eyes as he watched the team fall upon the following packs of Spikers. Not all battles were as strenuous as the first. And, even when they died, the players just started over.
Hundreds of spikers were culled after hours of farming.
The NPCs marveled at their work and paid them handsomely for the quests they'd completed and the territory they'd reclaimed.
Even as Gol D disbanded the team, the NPCs of Meesach were busy dismantling the hive in regions the players had cleared.
With a trip back to Juniper Station, Gol D repaired his armor and observed Koll Luna. The NPC was busy tinkering, as he always was.
Gol D played down his relationship with Koll, treating the man as one would an NPC. But, even for his gruff exterior, the barbarian was quite fond of the AI that ran the bot.
After a review of the store and planning for his next purchase, Gol D logged out and returned to the real world.
The night was getting late and Brandon prepared for the next day. Tomorrow, he'd take care of business. Just as he had today. And business is good.