I sat on a bench in Elfhinam and watched as people passed by. Me and Tom are gathering intel the old-fashioned way since the latest batch of PVP matches haven't been uploaded. A message pinged in my heads-up display; it was a message from Tom. “Hey, I was talking to some people here in Dragonsport and they all said there’s a guy claiming to have matched with Glitch_Slasher and won.”
“That’s strange? I thought the skill locked players into a death match. Does that mean Glitch_Slasher is dead and were chasing a ghost?” I replied.
“I thought the same thing. Come to my location and we’ll interrogate him.” Underneath Tom's message there was a prompt that said 'Fast Travel to Dragonsport'. I clicked the button, then the world shifted, and I was standing in front of Tom’s avatar.
His Character wore a black cloak with a large clasp around his neck. Underneath he wore a black long sleeve shirt with jeans. His hood was down so you can see his short hair with a fade all around. “You changed your character to have a scruffy beard?”
“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve last logged in and I wanted it to match what I actually looked like in real life.” Tom said, stroking his beard.
I chuckled. “You seemed to forget to include those vibrant lilac eyes.”
“Don’t remind me. I wish I was never diagnosed with Alexandria’s genesis. I miss my beautiful black eyes.”
"Your eye color changing was the best thing that could have ever happened to you.” I chuckled. “Those soulless black irises and that last name would not have gotten you all those free drinks from the ladies last night at the bar.”
“Hush, we need to stay focused.” Tom said. Thanks to the new update in the VR system, it shows your avatar blush when you are embarrassed in real life. “Let’s go interrogate the sus…”
“Hey guys!” Ruzo said, appearing next to us. His character resembled Tom’s character, but his cloak was silver and black trim around the cuffs.
“Ru? What are you doing here? It’s late and you have school tomorrow.” Tom said, taking a step back.
“I was about to go to bed, but I got a notification that you were online! You’re so busy with work that you don’t log on and visit anymore.” Ruzo said. “Besides, it's my senior year. I’m almost an adult, so I don’t have a bedtime anymore.”
“Tom’s a busy guy kid. He doesn’t have time for us anymore.” I snickered, I then looked him in the eyes and pointed at him. “Just so you know, I've been an adult for a long time kid and even I have a bedtime. A good night's sleep is so important for your health.”
“Guys, let's focus,” Tom said. He then cleared his throat. “Ru, I’m working right now. I won’t have time to play today either. When this is…”
“Oh, you’re doing a spy mission!” Ruzo jumped up and down. “I can totally help out!”
“I’m not a spy and absolutely not. If my boss, no, if Autumn found out. She’d kill me,” Tom said, shaking his head.
“What’s the harm Tom? The kid has some connections in the game since he's always playing.” I said, winking at the kid.
I sent Ruzo a private chat. “You owe me big time for this, and you need to be serious on this mission. It’s the real deal.”
"Of course! Thanks Vin!” Ruzo replied.
I looked over at Tom. His eyes were closed, and he crossed his arms around his chest. He looked as if he was pondering what he should say. “Okay, you can join as an informant.” Tom said, Ruzo jumped for joy. Tom raised a hand, telling him to stop. “However, you cannot let either of your moms find out, and you need to take this seriously.”
Ruzo stood at attention and saluted at Tom. “Aye, Aye, captain!” He said, clicking his heels.
Tom pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t make me regret this,” he sighed.
After our brief reunion, Tom and I gave Ruzo the run-down of what happened in a private chat. “Don’t bother talking to that guy. He doesn't know anything. That guy is one of the biggest liars in the game. He can’t even afford to do PVP matches because he is so broke. There’s a guy in Zeftin that just encountered him, and he’s lived to tell the tale.” Ruzo pulled up his map and sent us the location.
I nudged Tom. “See, I told you the kid knew his stuff.” Tom gave me a look, and I clicked the button on the prompt in front of me before he could say anything.
We were now standing in a tavern that was filled with players of all species and sizes. The only thing in common between them was every player was level 50 and above. “This is one of the new mid–high level taverns that were introduced in the new update. Players usually come here for bounties or to verse each other.” Ruzo said, walking towards the corner of the tavern, “Come this way, he’s over here.” He then walked us over to a guy sitting at a table, the gentleman tapping a message displayed in front of him.
“Hey what’s up Earlybear_Sorcerer.” Ruzo said, waving to the man.
“Ah young traveler, I see you brought some friends!” Earlybear_Sorcerer said, closing the window. He walked over and shook our hands.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir. We won’t take up your time, but we heard you know something about the player Glitch_Slasher, we just had a few questions about him.” Tom said, recording the conversation. Thanks to some developer options I gave Tom’s account, Earlybear_Sorcerer didn’t know that this conversation was being recorded. It’s nothing I can’t pull up from his audio logs, but this method is just quicker than waiting for the updated file.
“Of course, come sit,” Earlybear_Sorcerer took a seat at the table. “What do you guys want to know?”
“Let’s take it from the top. How did you encounter him and how did you get away to tell the tale?” I said.
Earlybear_Sorcerer sat back in his seat and put a finger in front of his mouth. “It was strange after I completed the bounty to slay the purple knight on the leader board over there. I received a message for a 1v1 match. The bounty is a typical solo mission where you have to fight through a wave of enemies and the mission ends when you beat the purple knight. So, it was strange that immediately after the mission, I received a message to have a PVP match from a player I’ve never met before, Glitch_Slasher. I only accepted the challenge because the reward for winning was 5 million coins. That’s when I teleported to Gleley and there he was.”
“Did you notice anything about him that seemed off?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, it was strange he was level 50, but the sword and his gear were level 1. I thought nothing of it at first and just thought he liked the aesthetic.” Earlybear_Sorcerer continued, “But he used the sword in the match, and that was strange because I’m only level 52. We should have a similar amount of abilities and gear, and yet he only had equipment that you would get at the beginning of the game. Needless to say, the match was completely one sided.” Earlybear_Sorcerer said.
“I thought he was some sadomasochist, because even though Glitch_Slasher was losing pretty bad, he kept smiling like a maniac. I was about three hits away from winning the match and he begged for mercy. Not wanting to rub salt in his wounds, I told Glitch_Slasher it wasn’t a problem at all and forfeited the match. Then he stopped wearing the manic smile, and a terrifying scowl took its place. Then Glitch_Slasher spat on the ground and teleported away.”
“Wait, he just left?” I said.
"Yeah, I thought it was strange too, but soon after he left, I got a notification that 5 million coins were added to my coin balance.” Earlybear_Sorcerer scratched his head. “Shortly after I heard a bunch of murders were happening with a character wielding that sword, but when I looked into it, none of them were committed by the Glitch_Slasher I met, so there must be someone else running around wreaking havoc around in the game.”
I looked over at Tom. He had a large smirk on one side of his face. “Thanks for your time Earlybear_Sorcerer, have a great day.”
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