K opened his eyes.

He was… he was… what was he doing before?

K stared into darkness, vast as an ocean, silent and cold. And then, a wind blew at him, tearing at him, with force enough to tear pieces of armour off of him.

Two glowing points appeared in the distance, and rapidly closed in. K then realised, that the wind was not just a gale. It was the breathing of a beast way beyond his imagination.

A demure face appeared, the mask of a woman. She would be pretty, if not for the bare framework of red steel composing everything - cheeks, forehead, and chin. Countless gears rolled and crackled, exposed beneath the framework of iron, and two glowing blue irises, clearly made of translucent crystal, gazed at K. The head was large - abnormally huge, compared to the thin, bony length of silver plated steel attached to the base of her head, her neck.

The upper half of her body dipped back far into the shadow, and all K could see was a vast ribcage, and spine, hinting at the size of the monstrosity before him.

Her breath brought the iron scent of ozone, and terror chewed at K, spitting him out like a wet rag.

A voice, smooth like the song of a bird, hummed from the entirety of the head, echoing something exceedingly familiar, in his head.

“Hello, child.”

It was soft, but cold, mechanical, but human.

The voice was monotonous, but also sonorous, and K finally could place why the voice seemed so familiar.

Trembling, he reached out an arm.

“Athe…nos…” Instinctively, he knew the voice was the same one he heard every day, in the Atrium, the announcing voice everyone put into the background, as part of the ambience.

“Yes, child. You have passed my test, and defeated me - or at least, one of my seventh generation offspring. Good job.”

Her voice was blank, but K could detect the slightest bit of sarcasm in her voice. The aura she gave off was once of nonchalance - she seemed like she didn’t care the slightest about him.

“You are now one of my kin - Athenos through and through. I welcome you to my folds, my seventh child.” Two arms the colour of rusted flesh extended from the gigantic torso, and large steel hands closed around K.

With the sound of a thunderclap, he was consumed by a red vice.

And an instant later, a blackened corpse on the pinnacle of the Central Spire gasped, sucking in air. K breathed heavily, sweat beading even within the armour, as he came to the realisation he had met with a being akin very much to god.

Trembling, he came to his feet. K stumbled, moving back into the fifth room, his body still smelling of smoke. Now in the safety of the darkened room he fell to his knees. It was then, when a status window appeared before him.

[An Encounter with Athenos!

You have learned of Athenos - her existence, not only as a city, but as a living being. She has bestowed you with her blessing - you are now a child of Athenos. Do not spoil her name.

By doing things in the name of Athenos, you can earn greater blessings, reach greater heights.

Health +10%

Speed +5%

Defense +15%

Device: Tactical Sight unlocked.]

K waited for a few long moments to recuperate, and then stood, leaning on an adjacent wall to help himself up. A large black cowl, which was not there earlier, was now poised above his head. The lightning had done something to him, and now, his HUD was changed too - completely.

The black border was now removed, giving him a field of vision he had almost forgot he had. His data now was posted in translucent neon blue, giving him excellent sight and easy reads on his data, compared to the opaque colours from before.

He had gotten what would obviously seem to be a powerup from Athenos.

K suddenly forgot about the aching pain all over his body, and leapt forwards, eager to test out his new strength. Incredibly, he leapt three meters - not superhuman, but considering he did it effortlessly, it was already an extremely high level of strength.

He turned to the private lift for the fifth trial, which normally shuttled the defeated all the way back down to the first floor, and entered it.

The lift on the ground floor opened - and he was immediately swamped by a sea of players. Even though the private lift was meant to open in a more private location, it being private after all, players had long learned of its location.

“K! K! K!” The crowd pushed towards him, chanting his name. He pushed through the mass, making his way out into the main lobby of the Spire. Only to realise, that it, too, was filled with people, as far as the eye can see.

“Fuck?” He was going nowhere with this. K put his hand to the top of his cowl, and the crowd went wild. This was probably because your avatar was a replica of you in the real world, and anyone with their face exposed would be easily recognisable in real life.

He pulled down the cowl, and the Fear effect of the golden mask took effect. It seemed to be a little exaggerated, though as the crowd receded, silent. Murmuring rose, as K walked past them. Men and women pointed at him, whispering to each other. K could now feel several sharp gazes, aimed at him.

“Isn’t that the…”

“Bounty…”

“Lots of money…”

Snippets of conversation entered K’s ears, suspicious enough to warrant further listening. He piqued his ears as he walked out, listening intently to the rumours spreading. His hand touched the cool gold mask on his face, as he frowned in the privacy of the mask.

‘This mask, someone placed a bounty on it?’ He now knew why their receding was so explosive.

From what he had heard, an important person from Ithios Hub had placed a bounty of 100000 RC on the golden mask. Immediately, he could feel all the stares on him, as he left the Spire. Word travelled fast, especially between players, due to the fact that most players came from huge clans.

K walked a few meters down the main lane, towards the Atrium, before the ground at his feet exploded, releasing red gas.

“Tsk.” K stepped back, and activated Overdrive, watching as the three second heat up took effect.

Security within the Hub was held in order by the Three Great Clans, the governing authority of Athenos, having established themselves at the beginning of the game to be second only to the machinations of the goddess herself. The fact that a sniper had been able to fire at his feet without rebuttal meant that all three clans had authorised his death.

It meant the heads of Irisenvald, xXx, and Cbow had authorised his destruction.

It meant the entire city’s people could now kill him.

His armour glowed a wild electric blue, as the exoskeleton within worked itself in excess. He fell low, and swept his arms outwards, pushing back all the people - no, enemies around him. Shoving through the entire crowd, K entered one of the many side alleys connected to the main lane.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

If he could, he would have planned out an escape route.

But he had no time. And he had to stay in the city for six days.

This was going to be difficult.

K sprinted down the passageway. Although he could not break through system walls, such as those surrounding shops, he could break arbitrary walls, meant to make the city more orderly. This meant K could do as he please, running through walls, and making his own passageways.

He ran into a dead end, but on his minimap, this one led into another alley.

He pushed his shoulder forth, and ran through the wall, the chasers coming just seconds after.

“Where’s he?”

“Through that wall!”

They ran through the gaping hole in the concrete wall, splitting into two teams, going both ways, up and down the passageway. Through their clan chats, they were sharing information - where he could go, where he was going to go.

With the power of over two hundred million players, they were setting up a strategic net, to lock K in.

But what if K never followed the rules? What if K wasn’t just restricted to two dimensions?

Letting out a chuckle, K watched as the rows of players ran below him. Yes, below him. Sitting above the T junction made by the alleys, K watched, as the players shouted commands to their clanmates, friends, doing everything they could to find him. Stifling a laugh at how useless their actions were, K hopped between rooftops.

The only reason he could do this, was because of his new, lighter exoskeleton, as well as the increase in strength he got.

Leaping around under the blazing moons, K experienced an ethereal freeness. Here he was, chased by the entire world, but flitting like a bird, between rooftops. Looking down, he could see the paths, teeming with searching men and women. What if… he aimed his Luger down at them, and squeezed the trigger.

Streams of lead struck their heads, killing them.

[Killstreak 24]

K smiled.

Now, in Athenos Hub, there was no way he, who was also from Athenos, could conquer the Hub. This meant he could kill infinitely. Originally, at the very beginning of the game, all the factions in Athenos Hub were warring, and player kills were common. In fact, K suspected that Athenos herself encouraged killings. This was because the Killstreak system, as well as its bonuses, still functioned within the Hub itself. If Athenos could control everything, that meant she allowed the system to function, and in effect was encouraging warring within the Hub.

Stealthily, K leapt over the alleys, crossing over only where there were no people. If they had seen his shadow, cast onto the floor, that could give away his position. For days, K emptied magazine after magazine of ammo down at his enemies, expending all the clips for the Luger, the Glock, and all the varied handguns he had collected from his kills. He could not risk lowering himself to the ground to gather the items, as there was the chance of being spotted.

[Killstreak 500]

[Achievement unlocked: 500 Bottles, Sitting on a Wall. You have unlocked a new title: the Undauntable. You have been awarded 15000000 RC, 150 certificates of accomplishment, and an upgrade to the Luger P08 LDP.]

K grinned, as an upgrade kit appeared in his inventory. He opened it, finding a silencer, as well as what seemed to be a black box, which K was instructed to “rub all over the gun”. The gun came out golden, with a slightly higher fire rate, as well as the perk of being completely, and utterly silent.

He grinned. This would be useful later. K smiled, and jumped over another alleyway. Who would have thought, that the largest Killstreak in the game would be earned with handguns? It was the enormous, never before seen Killstreak, that sent each and every person in the Hub trembling. His Killstreak was updated live in the Atrium, because updates happened the moment one was in Athenos.

K gripped two P450, his only remaining weapons. He had large amounts of ammo for it, owing to it being the default, most basic weapon, which almost everyone brought to battle.

Three days had passed since the sniper had shot at his feet. He let out an odd smirk, as he mused to himself. ‘Maybe that sniper should’ve shot at my head!’ If that poor chap who had shot at his feet had aimed at his head, he might not have amassed such a large killstreak.

K brought his guns next to his face, chuckling to himself. What next?

Two days later, a ceasefire was finally called. The elusive K, who had killed a stunning 1000 players, finally appeared in the Atrium, grinning to himself. That gleaming gold mask he wore burned with two blue irises, staring at the heads of the three clans.

Weary, burdened voices called out.

“Enough. Enough of this killing.”

K stretched his hands out, and handguns, all expended, fell from his inventory, amassing in a literal pile around his feet.

“Exactly 1056 kills, to be exact.” Smugly, he boasted, his hand wrapped around the golden Luger’s grip.

“We will stop. So stop this madness.” The largest of the three clan’s master, the Lord of Irisenvald, boomed, his emerald green armour ringing. The large ultra rare sniper rifle he had was standing against his chair. It was the Barrett XM500 LDP, which was the world’s most powerful long range weapon, and his hallmark, his defining point.

“Fine. But I want one thing.”

The clanmasters groaned.

“What…?”

“I want a written apology. And I want it read to the whole of Athenos.”

With a devilish grin on his face, K made his simple, and understandable request.

The clan masters’ expressions darkened. As he had expected, they could not do so. K knew that it was their greed which compelled them to attack him. After all, a million RC could buy whole territories in a Hub. These large clans could not simply admit, that their greed justified the deaths of over 1000 players. This was the loss of 1000 guns, and numerous items, so it could not be overlooked this easily, and them doing it would result in them losing the support of the community.

The Lord of Irisenvald nodded.

In response, two piercing blasts echoed throughout the Atrium, two sniper rifles discharging. All the players standing witness, mostly the clan members, were shocked, but to their great surprise, K wasn't hurt, not at all!

“Ahh, I knew these guys would do this to me.”

K stretched nonchalantly, as two bullets fell from his mask, and the blue flames peeking through the eyeslits in the mask intensified.

“Let me show you what a child of Athenos can do, after one thousand kills.”

Author's Notes: It's short this time, but please cut me some slack. At 2 am, this is hard on me. I still have so much work to do... Sorry. As usual, please tell me how you feel~