Ever since I can remember, I’ve always strove to be the best. At school, at games, it didn’t really matter. Some things were harder than others of course, but victory earned was reaped with skill gains and experience. My perseverance triumphed and grew the most out of all of it. But then reality hit, and all the ones and zeros of the digital world didn’t equate as clearly to the regular world as I originally thought they would. My digital achievements were lackluster compared to back breaking work in the eyes of society. There was no dragon to slay, no maiden to rescue, hell there was barely even a quest list. And as I slowly drowned in that stark reality a voice called out, echoing down and throughout the deep sea of despair and torment that I had found myself in. It was as simple as a friend telling me about a game. A game where you could hone digital skills and make some money too. A place called Holy Wars Online. And that’s how my salvation started. I grinded for months and months in between classes and a crappy part time job I couldn’t give two shits about, building my character, unlocking secrets only I, Seleth the raven queen herself could find. I didn’t call myself the raven queen, others did and for good reason. At 3am, under the cover of darkness, I would be grinding in sewers and caves for rare loot and drops, and again at 12am the next day. In those days, it was a rare occurrence that I wasn’t propped up by at least 3 energy drinks, my stamina gauge needing a recharge before the next class, or shift. But I always made sure to log on for dailies, and to grind some more. The only time I really got rest was on Wednesdays since the weekends were prime time for grinding and every other day was eaten up by school or work, or both.
But then it finally happened. All of my hard work finally began to pay off and I quickly rose among the leaderboards for the Holy Wars Arena, a dome of pvp battles and prizes banked in cold hard cash. After a while I dropped out of college and quit my part time job. And I’ve been living off the game ever since then. It's not much money, but it's enough to survive, pay bills, and take care of Grendel. I thought I had mastered at least part of this game that we call life, but then someone had to come along and change the rules. So as I’m here, face to face with what my observation skill can only describe as a Howler, I want to remember what got me here in the first place, perseverance.
[Phase 1: Conversion. Time Remaining: 1 hour 32 minutes]
As the sun began to set on the city around me everything from the day had seemed to settle down. The news reports had mentioned word of some amount of chaos, but nothing that could have constituted the end of the world. Most people were still confused, as was I, but everything seemed to be going alright. The city streets around me were quiet. All except for the slightly muffled sound of a neighbor a few doors down yelling at her husband for something that could only be made out as sister. Seems like someone else got some sort of lie detection skill early on, huh. It wasn’t until the end of the first phase that things really seemed to take a turn for the worse.
It was around 9pm. The sun had already set for the day and the streets were akin to some long lost barren wasteland. I hadn’t reached back out to my friends in a while, but I assumed if everything seemed alright with the world then they were probably faring about the same as I was.
Didi.
There came a chime. It was similar to the other notification sounds I had awoken to, but this time it was different, a softer tone. Strange. This time a screen didn’t immediately pop up. Concentrating, I lifted my hand to find it facing my profile screen again. Nothing much had appeared to have changed other than the lie detection skill I had acquired being added to my skills list. In the top right there appeared to be a notification number beside a chat bubble icon. I wonder if I could message the others through this… As I pressed down on the icon it opened up to a new tab. On the left was an empty list of contacts, save for one, Beowulf. It reminded me of the chat service Entropy that I used to use with my gaming buddies in highschool. On the left was contacts, or friends, a little right of that was current chat logs between you and the person, and then the rest of the screen was taken up by said chat log selected. There was only one message available to view from this mysterious Beowulf. I wonder if it's an NPC? Wait… are there even NPCs? My eyes frantically darted to read the message.
Beowulf: Ever played a tower defense game?
Huh? What does a tower defense game have to do with anything? Tower defense games are usually built so that you have units that defend and fight off incoming waves of attackers, whether its people, monsters, or balloons. I had always enjoyed a good tower defense, but many of my favorites had faded away into oblivion over the years.
“If this person is asking me about tower defense games I wonder if it has to do with the next phase? The first one should be done quite soon I think,” I said, looking back at my notifications. Two minutes. Jeez. Well, in a tower defense game we need defense of course. I quickly pushed a heavy set of drawers in front of the apartment door with only slight difficulty. It was a surprisingly easy task. I guess six strength does come with some perks afterall.
Ding.
[Phase 1: Conversion. Status: Complete]
[Phase 2: Compression. Time Remaining: 8 hours 0 minutes]
“Great, now what?”
[Welcome to Phase 2: Compression. Many of you were confused by Phase 1, so here’s an explanation for Phase 2. In Phase 2 we will be releasing the first wave of mobs upon larger settlements, this will in turn compress the amount of players. In turn, players will now be able to earn exp from killing mobs, so don’t be afraid to get out there and try your new skills! But be careful, not every mob has a lvl 1 rating, and some people are sure to perish. Have fun!]
“What kind of fucked up cheery notification is that? People might die, but have fun?” I huffed. “Okay… so tower defense right? I need offense as well.”
Searching through the kitchen cabinets, I found a large kitchen knife still in its packaging. I bought it cause that's what adults do right? They buy big fancy knives even if they have little to no intention of using them. Looking back at my short list of skills a sigh slipped out involuntarily. I only have tackle lvl 1, right… It won’t do much good if something deals a lot of damage. Then I remembered the other skill I was given. I wonder…
Slash, CLANG.
The sound from the knife hitting my fridge reverberated back at me. After a few more strikes I had managed to make large scratches in the aluminum coating.
Ding.
“Perfect,” I said with a smirk the size of the room.
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