Marty’s POV

I smiled as I relived the battle in the dungeon, watching it from my new desk. It had been two months, and the Sundered Worlds expansion was a massive hit. New subscriptions had increased by 20%, and accounts that had been idle for at least 6 months had dropped by nearly 75%. I hoped people enjoyed the new content, but I was far too busy with my new job to play. After sacrificing my character, my time as a beta tester came to an end. Having worked hand in hand with the developers for quite a while, I was pulled in to help create new storylines for players to discover. A lot of that included researching world mythologies, and I was having the time of my life. It helped that Frank was a very relaxed boss. I did miss having a beer with the crew on Friday’s but they were understanding and I was making some progress with the therapist. I did like her favorite saying. “Even if you are only taking baby steps forward, you will still reach your goal. The time it takes doesn’t matter, so do what is comfortable for you.”

As soon as I was in a different department, Emily and I gave dating a try. She was holding herself back because of rules involving same department dating. While it didn’t work out, we are still great friends. We just weren’t cut out to be more than that.

Derrick is having a blast with his Roving Raid boss status. His favorite picture is an oil painting of multiple raids running away in terror the first time he pulled out his equipment. So far he is undefeated, but the light siders are getting stronger and will eventually overcome him. He has a running bet with Frank that he won’t lose unless they bring multiple raids at the same time, one I am confident he will win.

Jon entered a special program with permission from both Arctic Storm and the medical agency that was overseeing the children’s growth. The confidence boost the children got just from their brief stint in the dungeon is something the doctors are wanting to explore, and Jon is at the heart of it. They have a sandbox server to play around in, and Jon is one of the caretakers in their game. His and Phoebe’s Christmas card this year was them in their characters. Jon’s character was doing curls, only instead of weights he had six goblin children on each side of his staff, giggling uncontrollably. Inkler was in the background, eyeing Jon’s tail while several other children were trying their best to tackle Phoebe.

Phoebe still played her character as normal, and was trying to become the second Roving Raid boss. I didn’t know it, but the seal on the god Sin who gave her power had greatly weakened, and she was trying to free him. The quest the devs thought up was incredible, and part of it included her sneaking deep within the Gray Phase to find some hidden ruins. If she can manage it, Inkler will become a companion animal for Sin.

While the original dungeon is no more, the outcry from light siders wanting to test themselves caused the devs to go back and recreate the dungeon. The bosses aren’t quite as hard, and the divine boosts are not there anymore, but people still love challenging the Shadow of the Progenitor. The Needler’s guild, led by Mr. Whiskers, was unsurprisingly the first to finish the raid. They received a special statue for their guildhall of my character. It is the first thing to greet people when they enter, and has a plaque challenging their members to always strive to improve.

The drow loved the attention they got for their help in the raid, especially the challenges from Lolth. Of all the monster races to choose from, nearly one in three start out as drow despite the difficulties. Cinder still hasn’t ascended to the title of archmage, but he hasn’t given up. He is taking the slow route, working hard to be one of the few who has managed to obtain all boosted elements before challenging the current archmage. Lady Fisticuffs became the first traveler to become a drow General, and has been gleefully leading raids through portals to the Light Phase. Blackthumb has accepted his quest for evolution, though he hasn’t managed to finish it yet. He is the Master of Poisons in the Dark Alchemist’s Guild. There is some trade of knowledge between phases, but for the most part the Dark and Light Guild counterparts keep each other at arms distance.