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  He gestured to those in his party and the robed forms leapt from the platform onto the floor around us.

  “Brock, your Transfer Orb, get us out of here!” Siena whispered.

  Still on his knees, Brock shook his head. “They’ve taken away my ability to access its Key Trigger. There’s only one way we’re getting out of here.”

  Siena grinned. “Yeah, we fight our way out!”

  Chloe shook her head. “I don’t think that’s what he meant.”

  I ground my teeth as they surrounded us. “You’re such a pessimist.”

  “The word you’re looking for is realist.” Chloe smirked at my side. “Although, I guess it won’t be the first time I’ve been taken out fighting next to you, Noah.”

  “Me, too!” Keri called, as though it were a club she was proud to be a part of.

  “It’s not something to brag about!” David shouted.

  Weapons arose from their cloaks as they closed in on us. Siena charged in and took out one of the Warriors without much effort. However, as soon as I took out a Spellcaster with a Plasma Beam, that same Warrior was respawned and charged in to attack us. Bitcon hadn’t been lying; they really could respawn like an Instant Reforge.

  “We have to run!” I called.

  “Where?” Chloe asked, jumping back and tossing out her throwing knives. “We’re surrounded and the floor above has caved in so we can’t get to the stairs! We’re stuck here!”

  “There has to be something we can do!” Keri cried. “There must be some way out of here! Some way . . .”

  * * *

  There wasn’t. I’d like to say we went down gracefully, all of us fighting to the bitter end, but to be honest, it was devastating.

  For every member of Bitcon’s crew we cut down, previously killed members swiftly took their place. The first to go was Brock. Having lost all hope in getting the orb back, my old friend barely even put up a fight.

  Frank went quickly after. Although he was by far the weakest among us, I could at least say the Heavy fought bravely. Battered around by an enemy Heavy, he was finished off with an arrow through his helmet’s visor. When he vanished, he left behind his suit of armor, uncommon to have an entire suit all of the same plate.

  The next to get taken out was Chloe, which was only natural for a Range fighter in a close combat situation. After leaping back from a sword swing, she was blown to pieces by an explosion from a respawned Spellcaster. She dropped her assassin’s leathers and two of the throwing knives she had been holding.

  The fourth to go was David, although it took two Heavy’s to finally take him out after Keri cast Enrage on him and he pulled out his battle axe. They managed to stun him with a flail as another ran him through with a Broadsword. When he disappeared, he dropped his axe as the weapon they could steal if they chose to.

  With enemies generally going for the supporting mage first so that they couldn’t assist their teammates, Keri lasted longer than I would’ve thought. However, after casting a final protection spell on Siena and another level two speed spell on me, she was severed at the waist by a passing warrior Siena must have killed several times already.

  In the end, Siena and I fought back to back, just as she had always wanted. She took out the Heavies and the team’s tougher Warriors while I launched spells to cut down the Range and Spellcaster avatars. Siena finally went down laughing after Bitcon trapped me in an Ice Coffin and she was left to fight all six Wanted rank players alone.

  I watched from the cold prison of ice that held me as she fought like a demon. She was finally brought down by a player she’d already killed at least seven times over. It wasn’t the worst way to go down, but it was hard to watch the redheaded Range Niche claim her Ruby Edge, her prized possession, after she was gone.

  I can confidently say my own death was the worst of the lot. Not only did I stick around to watch all of my friends die and lose their cherished items, not only was I shattered within the ice that imprisoned me, leaving me completely helpless, but I recognized the big dumb grin of the Heavy that finally finished me off with his Morning Star.

  It was the barbarian avatar Bitcon had pointed out to me in Rubik’s castle, the player he claimed had been the driver of the truck that had crashed into us on his orders. I was forced awake with the knowledge that this was the second time the bastard had succeeded in screwing up my life irrevocably.

  The only bright side I could find, and I really had to look hard to find one, was that the most valuable attributes of my avatar were the spells and abilities I had collected over my time in the game, and they couldn’t be stolen. However, it was little solace with how easily we were defeated.

  Chapter 14: Continue?

  I wasn’t sure what hurt more after our loss, my feeble body or my broken heart. We all arranged to meet back up outside the village of Yarburn. It seemed fitting as it was where we had gathered to do our first dungeon together only months ago. Like at the New Calandor harbor, cries of seagulls could be heard over the crashing waves, however, here the heat and smell of salt and fish was much more prevalent.

  As I made my way to the beach seats that wound their way around the village wall, I realized I was the last one to arrive. Although some of us had weapons hoarded away on other accounts, I resorted to using my navy blue Silk Robes that I had synthed from Spider’s Silk in Galrinth after completing the Widow’s Forest with Data.

  Was he working with Bitcon even then, or did he bend the knee only recently? He claimed he had no idea Sirswift was Bitcon when I mentioned it to him. Either that was true, or his time as a game salesman had taught him a little more than just promoting game mechanics.

  Needless to say, we looked like a diverse group of newbies and vets brought low. Brock in particular still had his leathers and a spare bow. Despite this, he slouched against the seat looking miserable, and for a good reason. I figured by this point that most of us were thinking of giving up on the Dream State entirely, even me.

  “Let’s get the obvious out of way,” Siena said, her tone more solemn than I was used to. It only made sense considering she had just lost one of seven rarest items in the game. “We were beaten . . . badly, and there was nothing we could have done to prevent that.”

  “It wasn’t fair!” David shouted. “If they didn’t have their administration powers we would have beaten them ten times over!”

  “Maybe not that much,” Chloe murmured, sounding rather sour herself.

  “In any case, there’s a chance to get back what we lost,” Siena continued, a smile playing on her lips. “After all, I still have Data’s item tracking software.”

  Keri’s eyes widened and she smiled. “You didn’t delete it?”

  Siena shrugged. “Why should I? It’s not like Data kept his promise to us. Besides, I plan on getting my Ruby Edge back.”

  “It doesn’t matter!” Brock called out.

  We all turned to him at his sudden outburst.

  “Don’t you get it? The Transfer Orb was all that could take Wona down! Without it we’re just playing the game!”

  “Yeah . . . ?” Siena said, as though waiting to hear his point.

  Brock shook his head. “I’ll play for as long as it takes to get your equipment back, I owe you guys that much, but that’s it. After that, I’m leaving the game for good. It’s messed up my life enough already.”

  I nodded, feeling I might do the same, but I still wasn’t sure how I felt about playing the game for the game itself. I had to admit that there were times where the experience provided much enjoyment, but with how personal my goals in the world had become, it also provided a whole lot of heartache.

  “Considering the Ruby Edge is the most valuable item, I think we should try to retrieve that one first.” I noticed Chloe frowning at me. “Also the party only had one Range Niche, that’s the redhead. I don’t know what his name i—”

  “His name is Dice!”

  We all turned to the unfamiliar brittle voice behind us and saw an avatar staring at us
from down the beach, breathing heavily, as though she had rushed up to meet us. It was rare to see a female Heavy, let alone a Heavy not wearing armor. The woman had a wide frame, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and had soft features for a giant.

  “Who are you?” David asked.

  The Heavy sighed as though ashamed of herself and I suddenly realized who she was.

  “Frank?” I asked incredulously. “FranktheTank?”

  The large woman nodded.

  “But Frank’s a boy’s name . . .” Keri said thoughtlessly but then covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s short for Francine, but I admit I wanted to give the idea that I was male here without having to change my gender in the game. Frank also rhymes with tank. No one likes female tanks and I guess I just got used to being considered another male tank.” She looked down in sorrow. “FranktheTank was my identity here. That’s all.”

  Chloe screwed up her face. “But why be a tank? The female designs for them aren’t very flattering.”

  “Because tanks are awesome!” Frank exclaimed. “They’re massive and can take out almost every other Niche in close combat.”

  Siena nodded in approval. “Good answer. So how do you know the name of the guy from Bitcon’s team?”

  Frank’s eyes shifted. “A friend of mine told me to go meet him to trade the Transfer Orb. She said he’s the only male Wanted rank with red hair.”

  “Well, at least we know the name of our target, but it looks like you’ve been looking for us.” Brock gave Frank a suspicious glare. “So what do you want?”

  “I figured some of you would want to get your gear back. Well, you’re not the only ones. That armor was my disguise for my identity here. Without it I’m just another freakish female heavy.” Frank’s gaze dropped. “Besides, I don’t know if I can trust the friend who told me about Dice anymore. For Pete’s sake, I should have been more suspicious about a player with a name as simple as Dice!”

  “Alright.” I stood and gestured to Siena. “Put the item code of the Ruby Edge into the tracker and we’ll see if we can ambush him in a Tertiatier dungeon.”

  Siena’s gaze lifted, as though she was looking at the map brought up by the tracking software. She tapped the air in front of her, entering the code, but then frowned.

  “Why the pout?” Chloe asked.

  “Well, that’s just weird.” Siena repeated her actions and then frowned again, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t really know.”

  “Does it not show the item?” Keri asked. “This Dice guy might just be logged out.”

  “The opposite actually.” Siena grinned in her confusion. “There must be some kind of hack put on the item because it’s saying it’s in four Tertiatier dungeons at once!”

  Chloe leaned forward. “The heck?”

  Siena pointed at her invisible window as though offended by something it was showing her. “That’s what it says.”

  Brock stood from his seat, hands in his pockets. “We’ll have to split up into groups of two to find the right location. Everyone alter your menu settings so that you can receive messages while in dungeons. If you come across Dice, message me and I’ll use my own Transfer Orb to grab the others and back you up.”

  Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. “But there are only seven of us. That means one of us will have to go alone.”

  Brock grinned at her. “And you hassle me for pointing out the obvious. I’ll go by myself. I’m still pretty powerful even without my best equipment.”

  We nodded.

  “So what are the dungeons then?” I asked.

  Siena started reading them off. “Cobra’s Den in the Barrens north of Onjira, Diamond Hollow west of Onjira—”

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to that one!” Keri said, raising her hand excitedly before turning to David. “You should tag along, Davey. I’ve heard you can get some really strong armor there.”

  David nodded in agreement. “Sounds like we’ll be taking that one.”

  Siena continued. “There’s Ghost Town north of New Calandor and the Ice Fortress in Lucineer.”

  I bobbed my head. “I did want to explore New Calandor a little bit more, so I’ll do the Ghost Town one if you’re all fine with that.”

  “You should go with him, Chloe. It’s a great place for Range Niches to train up. Besides . . .” Brock inclined his head mockingly. “The smell of gunpowder might grow on you.”

  Chloe gave him an annoyed look but then walked over to stand next to me. “I doubt it, but I do need new weapons with my throwing knives stolen. Maybe a pair of pistols or a rifle will be just the ticket.”

  “That’s leaves Cobra’s Den and the Ice Castle,” Siena raised her brow at FranktheTank. “How about it, Efty? Want to explore a giant snake pit with me?”

  Efty?

  Frank laughed nervously. “If it means doing a dungeon with Siena_the_Blade, I wouldn’t care where I went.”

  She winked at her. “Another good answer. You’re on a roll.”

  Brock turned his back on us. “That leaves me with the Ice Castle. I fortunately still have all the frost resistance I need after our excursion there.”

  I knew he was talking about the time we had done the Lucineer Glacier together. “Alright, good luck.”

  Brock nodded. “You, too.”

  He vanished and the rest of us began to make our way to the Yarburn Gateway down the beach.

  “You need to stop looking so down, Noah.” Chloe grinned proudly beside me. “This gives you a good excuse to spend some valuable one-on-one time with me.”

  I grinned at her and said sarcastically. “Oh, goodie.”

  She punched my arm and I laughed.

  There were some good parts about playing this game; it all depended on the company you kept.

  Chapter 15: Ghost Town

  We arrived next to the fountain in New Calandor and began searching the shops for equipment we could take with us to Ghost Town. Luckily, Chloe still had her ten thousand Moola from Pirate Cove. I sold six of my Wakizashi, keeping two for an emergency. Of the four I’d had equipped in the Broken Clock Tower, two had broken and the other two had been stolen.

  We moved down the black brick sidewalk. The shy smiles Chloe had been hiding became more obvious as we walked alone to the main shopping district. The face she made when I caught her doing it reminded me of her expression after she had kissed me on the Yarburn shore after Bitcon had first attacked me.

  What did that even mean? Nothing came of it, after all.

  We stopped outside the firearms store and I gestured Chloe in. “Ladies first.”

  Chloe smiled. “What a fine young gentleman you are.”

  She slipped up on the doorstep, catching herself in embarrassment before entering. In the store, we searched for different weapons that appealed to us. I wondered if there were any niche-crossover weapons in there. Usually such weapons could only be synthed, but this was New Calandor after all, and a player had to be able to last in a Tertiatier dungeon just to get to this place.

  It only makes sense that a setting that could only be accessed by elite players would provide more advanced weaponry.

  Among the revolvers and crossbows, a weapon caught my eye. It was a rifle, but one end was designed to look like a wizard’s staff. A gunstaff?

  The weapon was called a Boomstick. I nodded at it appreciatively and took a look at its stats. Although not as strong as my Druid’s staff, it had high magic and also increased the range of whatever spells I cast.

  In the demonstration window that I selected, it showed via a blank avatar how a player could launch a spell through the rifle-end to wherever the player was aiming.

  Neat. What are Spellcasters but a slower, more powerful version of Range fighters, after all? Although I better not say that in front of Chloe.

  I gestured the cowboy hat-wearing store clerk over to the Boomstick and purchased it with the Moola I’d received from selling my blades. I had learned my lesson
from before about fighting Bitcon’s team close up. His Instant Respawn ability made taking them out one at a time completely pointless.

  I turned and watched as Chloe stepped out of a dressing booth. I had never been so amused and endeared at the same time before. She was wearing the cutest cowgirl getup I had ever seen, complete with vest, leather chaps, a wide brimmed hat, dual revolvers and a belt of bullets.

  She narrowed her eyes at me, as though daring me to say something bad about it. “What?”

  I raised my hands. “Nothing. I just think I figured out one of the perks of making it this far up the ranks.”

  She blushed and turned away. Deciding to add to her wardrobe, she purchased a beige duster to make her look more like a cowgirl and less like a stripper.

  I nodded. “Much better.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned to the desk. “Whatever.”

  Despite her reaction, we each walked out with our own western attire. With my own trench coat over a dark suit and pants, we made for a formidable looking duo. I grabbed the collar of my coat and pulled it tight, ready to make our way out of the city to the Gateway that led to Ghost Town.

  When we walked out onto the dusty trail we saw a stable of horses. The Gateway shone on top of the horses’ backs. We mounted up, and like with the ship to Pirate Cove, there was only the starting scene of our ride, merely setting off before teleporting us straight to the dungeon.

  The Ghost Town was exactly what you would expect of a dungeon with that name. The place was completely desolate, not even a mule and cart were in the street. A brisk wind blew a tumbleweed across a barren hardpan road between two rows of wooden houses.

  Chloe looked around, still holding onto her horse’s reins. “Looks like a scene out of every western I’ve ever watched.”

  “Reminds me of the town from A Fistful of Dollars,” I murmured as we dismounted our horses and strode in.