Jim's desk was a cluttered cacophony of hardware and cords, illuminated by the vibrant light from two computer monitors. His fingertips clacked on a mechanical keyboard with an almost musical rhythm, his laser mouse slicing through the air like a master swordsman while a headset crackled with sound. The glimmering aura of blues and greens lit up the room in tandem with Jim's rapid movements, while a headset perched atop his head like a crown of steel.
Nekomata strolled across Jim's screen with ease. The character's two white-tipped orange tails swayed as it moved. WNC's best and worst players were famous for maining the Divine-Devil class -- it was a major asset or utter liability depending on who was at the keyboard. Jim found that perfect balance where he was both an oppressive force of destruction that more often than not left his teammates in the lurch.
Jim's fingers moved with swift precision, imbuing Nekomata with blue holy power and red demonic damage that spilled out of the screen. The light shifted to his every action as he danced Neko from one pack of mobs to another, uncaring if the healer was ready, or damage dealers were in position. He out healed the healer, out damaged the DPS, Jim out-played the game.
He was distantly aware that his Divine-Devil core was at critical mass. One minor misstep, not even a wrong move but a 'not the right' move and his character would implode, taking whoever else was around with him. That only made it more fun, everyone freaked out in party chat when his Neko started flashing red.
In an astounding show of skill, Jim continued to play as he glanced at party chat, squinting to make out the text. He felt a mix of curiosity and pride as he scrolled through the messages.
HunterKrillen - What are you doing?
HunterKrillen - died typing, wait for me.
JustSaybro - HEALER IS DEAD. HEALER IS DEAD
Mewletthedogsout - Tank, care, you're exploding.
HunterKrillen - Let me catch up or I can't heal you.
HunterKrillen - Fine, no heals for you.
JustSaybro - HEALER'S DOWN! Can't you see that?
JustSayBro - You gotta be kidding me! What is your deal?!
Mewletthedogsout - You are going to get us ALL killed!
JustSayBro - Stop healing him.
Mewletthedogsout - and we're all dead. Reported.
HunterKrillen - I did...
Mewletthedogsout - I waited 30 minutes in que for this.
Jim let out a chuckle as he watched party chat implode as they all struggled for a way to shift the blame. If they'd kept up, everyone would still be alive, it was as simple as that. It was a pathetic show, one Jim had seen time and time again- you had to admit you made a mistake to learn from it.
Jim's character was already far ahead of his team, leaving the rest of the party to wallow in their own incompetence. They were pitifully trapped in a vicious cycle with the mini boss, chain dying over and over again instead of resetting and sneaking around like Jim had. They kept flooding the chat, asking for help, for him to go back.
Jim saw in the players what they'd never admit to themselves. Failure. They didn't know mechanics, didn't understand their classes, a couple didn't even know the layout of the dungeon they were in. Any success these people ever got was because somebody else was doing all the work for them. They probably wonder why some dungeons were easy and other's were hard, no idea that someone in their party was having to pick up their slack. He wasn't about to. He wanted them to stew in this, then may, just maybe, they'd learn.
He smirked to himself as their messages continued to pour in. They were 'kidding' about reporting, so would he please come back and save them? It was a little late for that; his Divine-Devil core was overcharged. If he stopped, he'd die, so he sprinted into the boss room.
An inferno of energy buff boiled Nekomata, but he burned some divine energy and healed through it. The Boss monster's form was that of an impossibly-large scorpion, twenty meters tall, its armored shell cracked with heat and age. A stinger, hard as iron, jutted out over the creature, dripping with poison.
The ominous figure before him bellowed with rage, shaking even the walls of the cavernous room with its fury, singling out Jim for an onslaught of unstoppable force. Screams. Hundreds of voices, all feeling terror, sorrow, and pain. Each crying out, pleading for life in its own tongue. There'd been complaints on the forums about the screams, but it was some dev's baby so it stayed.
Jim's timer on his screen flashed as he readied himself for the Boss's RP to end. He channeled demonic and divine energies at the same time, A risky move that multiplied his damage per second channeled, but drained health.
He launched his character forward at .01 seconds remaining, popped a battle potion that increased damage per missing health, and forced a critical blow by targeting a weak spot. The massive scorpion launched back into the wall behind it - shattered pieces of rock in a shower of sparks as its armored shell scraped and shattered against the cave.
Jim desperately self healed himself, up from less than 3% health as the thing recovered. The monster roared, its monstrous form emerging from the wall. The force of its roar shook Jim's screen.
Nekomata leapt out of the way as the scorpion lunged at him, slashing his blades down its sides, leaving it wide open as he rushed forward and sliced into the scorpion's hardened shell. His divine-devil core already thrumming with power. The beast brought down its sharp claws in a frenzy, but Neko quickly sidestepped each attack, smashing them into the rocky wall. He baited the creature until it lodged its stinger into the unforgiving stone, then deftly cut it off.
The scorpion backed away in fear with only its broken claws and severed stinger left to attack. In a last ditch effort, it charged forward once more—but this time it was met with Nekomata's cold steel piercing through its center, ending the fight in a clean kill.
The real treasure wasn't the loot drops, the bonus drops for breaking the scorpions pincers, stinger, and the wall, or even the achievement for not taking any direct hits, it was his party losing their mind in chat, trying to say that some of the drops were theirs too. He looted everything, as he should, but decided in the end that the rest of them deserved something.
Before queuing up for another dungeon, he sent a message to the others in his party, an olive branch to hopefully set them on a path of personal growth. His first and last communication with them was:
Nekomata - "You know, losing is just an opportunity to learn and get better, I used to be terrible too. Practice makes perfect!"
The party chat exploded into a frenzy of obscene threats, but Jim's eyes darted to the notification on his screen. His fingers itched with anticipation as he clicked the message open. The words glowed on the vibrant screen like an incantation. “RAID TIME!!! - Hey everyone..."
It was finally time.