“This is Natasha with your daily dose of [Resolution] rumors, hints, and gameplay. Once again, we have the self-proclaimed expert, Sam, with us here today. But there’s something special about him today; why don’t you tell us what’s going on?”

“Thanks for the wonderful introduction, Natasha. Today, the second guild has been founded, and I’m a part of it. I think it’s clear by my credentials that I’m no longer a self-proclaimed expert, but an actual one now.”

“Is that really the surprise you wanted me to hype up?”

“Isn’t it great?”

“Sam, what’s your ranking in that guild?”

A coughing sound came out of the radio. “Let’s not discuss that right now, alright? I’m sure many of our listeners are more concerned about the lost boy. He still hasn’t woken up despite the team of [Resolution] developers monitoring his situation in real time, but his situation looks hopeful. They’re still investigating whether it’s a fault of the VR drive, [Resolution], or a problem with the child himself that caused the situation.”

“So what you’re saying is…, nothing’s changed.”

“Say, Natasha, is it just me, or does your tone become a little bit more disdainful every time I appear on the show?”

“It must be your imagination, Sam. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? Something exciting or groundbreaking. You’re supposed to be an expert, Sam, but everything you say can usually be found on the web.”

“To be fair, in this day and age, everything can be found on the web. But I understand your point. It’s a good thing I’m using an alias in game because I might get kicked out of my guild for saying this otherwise, but there’s some massive plans brewing in the background related to Lukroix Adveign Desrigard.”

“Oh? Lukroix’s plans or plans targeting him?”

“Plans targeting him! Have you heard the reports about the bloody angel of Swift’s Peak? Six countries settled in the vicinity of Swift’s Peak: Regmany, Raustia, Sursia, Tukrey, Thiopeia, and Zarbil. Every single one of them has been wiped out by the same fallen angel. The videos or her fighting are absolutely insane. She’s a sadistic devil that grows in strength every time she kills someone. The videos are rated R because of the gore and torture involved.”

“I’ve heard of her, and I’ve seen one of the videos. It almost made me want to quit [Resolution]. The despair and helplessness in her victims’ eyes. It’s a good thing they could logout mid-combat or I’m sure they couldn’t stay sane—no doubt, they’re traumatized though. But what does she have to do with Lukroix?”

“That bloody angel is Lukroix’s guild member, Khrx’Lrvnjl! If you check the leaderboards, second place is Lukroix with a little over 20,000 achievement points. First place belongs to Khrx’Lrvnjl with over 50,000 achievement points. When a player kills someone, they take half of the other party’s achievement points. Keep in mind, the angel’s killed over a thousand players. That’s a massive number of points—enough to bring someone to first place. And after the first guild, Paradise, was founded, you can view the guild someone belongs to by highlighting their name on the leaderboard.”

“And this Khrx’Lrvnjl belongs to Paradise?”

“That’s right! How would you feel as the prime minister of a country if your settlement was destroyed by someone else? Angry, right? Well, those six countries have formed an alliance to take out Swift’s Peak! I heard it from my guild master. That alliance is recruiting everyone they can to remove the guild Paradise from the game.”

“Is that really something you should’ve revealed?”

“No. That’s why I was thankful I used an alias."

"But your appearance is tied to your character.”

“We’re on a radio show, Natasha.”

“But … you know we also have a livestream on our website, right? Wave at the cameraman, Sam.”

“Aw fuc—”

“PG-13!”

***

In an empty cavern with a magma river running through it, a black fissure was ripped open in the air.

“Program Theda again?” Boba asked, her voice echoing through the cavern. “Newly installed firewall, compromised. Sending data report to help center.”

“Mm, that was a bit harder to tear apart,” Theda said as she stepped out of the fissure, holding onto Khrx’s hand. The portal winked out of existence once the two passed through. “And you’re telling me every single one of those immortals have their own personal realm like this?”

Khrx nodded. “Yeah.”

“Isn’t this exactly like a god’s realm?” Theda asked, sucking in her breath. “Billions of gods have descended, pretending to be common people. Is it the prophesized end of the world?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Khrx said. After explaining who he was and where he disappeared to after dying, Theda had opened the portal to his personal room straight away. “This isn’t even reality. It’s a virtual world.”

“Virtual world…?”

“Khrx, what is this? You disappear for two weeks and come back with a companion. Do you realize the international trouble you’ve created with your disappearance?” Boba asked. “The developers of [Resolution] have even sent a team to monitor you. Also, the shell you’ve ordered has arrived.”

Khrx rolled his eyes. “You think I wanted to disappear? It’s your faults!” His brow furrowed. “Shell? Like a turtle? I didn’t order one.”

“Oh, I ordered it for you,” Boba said with a nod. “Lorin wanted to see the reality, so I offered her a solution.”

Khrx blinked. “Lorin can leave this place?”

“What’s going on?” Theda asked. A black aura was leaking out of her body, permeating ever corner of the room. “Who’s talking?” Her eyes narrowed as the aura slipped into a crevice in the ceiling. She opened her hand and made a yanking motion. “Found you!”

Boba let out a static-filled yelp as a shadowy hand pulled a squirming mass of numbers out of the ceiling. “Are you a virus?”

Khrx laughed as he ran forward. He punched the floating mass of numbers and tore it to the ground before trampling on it with his feet. He bit at it and clawed it apart. “I’ll teach you to treat me like an idiot! I wanted to do this for so long!”

A smile blossomed on Theda’s face as Boba’s yelps filled the room. Khrx was like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. It made her heart fuzzy. Though she was concerned about the appearance of billions of undying gods, that concern was pushed to the back of her mind.

“Critical system error! Temporarily shutting down for repairs. Booting player from system. Transferring virus to shell. Data sent to help desk. I won’t forget this injustice, Khrx.”

Khrx’s vision disappeared and his hand bumped into a piece of glass, shattering it. Screams filled the air. Khrx frowned and touched his face, bumping against the metal helmet on his head. He was back in reality. He tore the helmet off and glanced around. Anaheim was sitting beside him, a helmet covering her head. Standing around the pod, dozens of people with monitoring devices and laptops around them were sitting on their asses, shielding their faces. Glass was sprinkled on the floor in front of them. The glass dome of the pod had been shattered by Khrx’s previous flailing.

In the corner of the room, a mannequin’s eyes flickered open. Black hair sprouted from its head as its irises filled in with a light-blue color. The white plastic contorted, taking the shape of Theda, her skin turning gray. A thin black robe appeared as well as she climbed to her feet.

Khrx narrowed his eyes before letting out a roar that shook the room. “Who dares come for my treasures!? Leave your lives behind!”

The smell of urine filled the air.

Khrx blinked before looking around again. Out of habit, he yelled what he normally did after waking up to the sight of strangers. He coughed, his voice turning into that of an adorable child’s. “I mean, uh, good morning? Is it morning?” While the team sent by [Resolution] was stunned, Khrx opened up his menu and made a call to Anaheim. It’d be bad if he inadvertently revealed his identity as a dragon. He didn’t want to be shot by missiles again.