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Trapped in the Game: An NPC Survival Story
Gol D – Faction Raid – Meesach Arc

Gol D – Faction Raid – Meesach Arc

The forums of Cosmos were buzzing with activity.

[Crimson Jester: Is there any truth to it?]

[Anonymous: I think so. Now that I'm looking at the Origin Seekers, there are a lot of NPCs with a negative view of the organization.]

[Winter Storm: It's true. I'm in the Seekers' compound. I've seen the logs.]

[Crimson Jester: Where's the compound?]

[Winter Storm: I'm not sure. But, if you invite me to your party you'll see me on the map.]

[…..]

While the players buzzed over the potential for bringing justice to the world of Meesach, a muscular black man was scrolling through his phone in observation.

A slight smile could be seen on his face as a plan formed in his mind.

Gol D logged into Cosmos and made his way to Koll Luna.

"Koll, what do you know about the Origin Seekers?"

The NPC started chuckling.

"What made you so curious about them?"

The barbarian, in his prismatic power armor, glared at Koll, "Tell me."

The man shrugged, "They might have something to do with the Ravenous Spikers."

A look of frustration came over the big man. "So you sent me running into Spiker fire all this time when you could have just told me who the real enemy was?"

The NPC looked back to his table filled with Spiker bolts and [Bolt Launchers]. "The Ravenous Spikers are the real enemy. And, you never asked who might be behind the outbreak."

It was Gol D's turn to chuckle, "And you would have told me if I had asked."

Koll smiled enigmatically.

Frustrated, the player sighed. "At least you've confirmed it….now."

Without wasting any more time, Gol D began walking away from his favorite NPC and made his way to the teleportation array of Juniper Station. In transit, he pulled up his friend's list.

After partying with Winter Storm in the dungeon near Lain on Ruun, he had the player's information. The player was active, so all Gol D had to do was message him.

"Winter Storm, I'd like to invite you to my party."

A short delay followed before a reply came.

"Hi, Gol D. Sure. Can I assume you saw my post."

"Yeah."

Gol D sent the invite and soon Winter Storm's location appeared on the Meesach world map. It was off the beaten path. But, not so far that the player couldn't reach it.

"Thanks. Stay in party for a while. I'm gonna put together a raid team."

"Raid team?!"

A fearsome glint came to Gol D's eyes.

The process of assembling a raid team was quick for Gol D. He'd spent the past weeks compiling a list of competent players. And, as word spread about Gol D's intended target, hundreds of the 1,200 players on Meesach began sending the barbarian messages for invite.

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The process of commissioning transport for hundreds of players to a rural location was easy enough with the high reputation Gol D had farmed with the world government of Meesach. And the NPCs, surprisingly, seemed unfazed by the massing of the planet's greatest military force against the Origin Seekers. It seemed that the NPCs viewed the cult as a hostile force already.

Hours passed as the team was shuttled to a location some distance away from the Origin Seekers compound.

[Anonymous: It's happening.]

[Player One: Does anyone know how strong the Origin Seekers are?]

[Hurricane Rachel: Well, it's a faction. If it's like the Red Sect, they might have someone like the Holy Daughter.]

[Player One: ….]

[Anonymous: ….]

[Unender: ….]

Gol D turned off the forums and focused on what lay ahead of him. The compound had high walls of sturdy metal. But, unless it was some indestructible alloy, it would break like anything else.

His eyes surveyed the gathering of hundreds of players. They weren't soldiers, just gamers. They'd die to stupid things in the process. But, they'd just find out where the respawn point is.

It was a rabble and this whole thing would be a cluster of epic proportions. But, Gol D had a core of experienced raiders who would keep pushing into the heart of the enemy compound.

"Get yourselves ready!" he bellowed. "We're moving!"

Across the field stood the white walls of the compound as an army of Immortal Braves began to charge madly across the green grass, the sun beating down on them on this clear day.

When they were within 500 meters of the walls, they began to see the enemy taking to the high walls. The NPC defenders began firing with kinetics down on the players.

All at once players started dropping.

"[Shield Generators]!" Gol D yelled.

On cue, the players began placing the white bubble shields down along their front line. With Koll's engraving and enchanting of the technological [Shield Generators] many buffing effects triggered on the players in range. Particularly useful were the misdirect buffs that reduced the chance for ranged damage to hit, this kept the [Shield Generators] up for longer.

As the line drew in close to the walls, the ranged damage dealers began to snipe the snipers on the wall.

Gol D led the charge up to the main gate and began chopping into the metal with a force beyond human capacity. His epic axe dug deep into its surface.

Other players attacked the barrier with similar levels of ferocity. The magic-wielding players bombarded it with [Fire Balls], [Ice Spikes], and [Magic Missiles].

All the while, the NPCs unleashed weapons fire on the players and even launched biological attacks that led to players bleeding out of every orifice.

The forward line of players dropped like flies even with the [Shield Generators] deflecting attacks. But, every player lost was returned when the respawn revived them.

The brutal exchange was brief. The players on the losing end. But just as Gol D began to fear that they'd need to regroup, the gate they had been pounding so desperately buckled.

The gate fell apart under the superhuman powers of the players.

As the players breached the gate, a challenging roar arose from within the compound. Men and women in blue jumpsuits, their arms banded in black, had donned battle armor and carried a wide array of weapons.

Gol D roared, "Kill them all."

The players filed into the compound and came to blows with the defenders.

The melee savaged both sides, with the Origin Seekers dominating the conflict. Their fortifications came to their aid with turrets rising from hidden places on the walls and buildings.

The barbarian slammed his axe into the force field shield of one of the defenders and was about to unleash one of his abilities when he felt his body quiver.

All the players, and even the defending protectors, trembled as they felt an evolutionary threat enter the battlefield.

"Who are you?" a voice barely above a whisper carried across the battlefield.

Gol D struggled to see where this voice was coming from.

"Who are you to trespass on our holy sanctum?"

The figure of an old man, hobbled by many years, came into the barbarian's vision.

Cold sweat ran down the back of the Gol D's neck as he realized that this must be the equivalent of the Holy Daughter.

The raid boss.

"Who are you to stop Origin?" Rage seemed to bolster the decrepit figure's voice as it grew in volume.

The blue jumpsuit-wearing protectors turned from the battle and fell behind the figure of this old man.

As both sides glared at one another across the field within the compound, it was the players who felt intimidated. Spikers were bad. But, a true faction raid boss was something they didn't know if they could handle.

The old man in a white lab coat pulled the coat aside and took out a vial.

"You are no one. You have no place on Meesach."

His final words spoken, the old man popped the cork from the vial and drank down its contents.

The transformation began in an instant. The old man's skin began to turn purple as if bruised. His arms grew in length to reach down to his knees, savage claws replacing his fingers. His clothes stretched and tore as his muscles expanded. And his face became a horror of fangs and shaggy black hair.

In a moment, the monstrosity attacked.