Two figures stood back to back, surrounded by a thousand people. Tremendous killing intent leaked from the eyes of the surrounding people, clearly directed toward the two figure.

One of the two was a silver-haired female wearing a full set of black leather armor. The body-hugging leather armor glowed with an indistinct red light. Her fierce gaze observed the opponents in front of her cautiously, while her hands held tight a pair of short curved blades. One of the blades was wreathed in flames, the other was coated in ice.

Behind her was a black-haired male wearing a pure white robe. The robe had a faint blue glow, emitting a holy arrow. In his right hand was golden staff inlaid with intricate designs, and on his left hand was an open book, an image of an angel hovering above it.

An assassin clad in black, and a saintly white priest. They were an uncanny pair, complete opposites of each other, but they had been together for a long time.

They had paired up when they first started playing this game right on the day of its release, and now after five years, the game was about to shut down, but they were still together.

The thousand people surrounding them were members of the guild they were in a few moments ago. The guild decided to do dungeon runs for the remaining time of the game, but the guild-master stole the loot that was supposed to be the duo’s.

It shouldn't have mattered as the game was about to end, but the two were prideful people. They couldn't accept such a disgraceful act. With each other’s consent, they left the guild right in the middle of the dungeon and started attacking the other members, which soon led into the current situation.

“Today, your legend ends!”

The guild-master was actually quite happy of the result. The two were known as the strongest pair in the entire server. He had invited them to join his guild and did not make an enemy out of them because of their strength, but now that the two had left on their own and even attacked, he had all the reason to dispose of them.

“You have grown arrogant just because no one dared to challenge your strength! Today, all of that ends!”

The two didn't respond. They only glared at the people surrounding them.

“Hmph! Charge!”

After snorting at their arrogance, the guild-master issued the order to attack. The front-line warriors closed the gap between them and their prey. The ranged attackers readied their ranged weapons and magic spells.

The assassin and the priest only smiled. They already knew the outcome of this battle.

“It was the best thing ever!”

Carl was completely engrossed with his excitement as he repeatedly watched the gameplay video on his smart-phone.

“I just can’t get enough of this!”

He was in a fast-food restaurant together with Allen. The two were college students and classmates, taking Computer Science. They were now in their fourth year with the first semester having started a week ago.

Carl was a gaming addict, and he loved VRMMO games, although he didn't have the talent for it. He could only watch and admire the gameplay videos of the top players, wishing that he were in their shoes.

The two went to this fast-food chain to eat snacks while discussing the paired homework given by their teacher… or that how it was supposed to be. As soon as they seated after taking their orders, Carl started browsing through latest online gameplay videos and found the current most trending and popular video.

It was a two versus one thousand fight, with the duo winning flawlessly.

“The assassin is just so good almost all her attacks were critical and fatal hits, and she was so fast they could barely touch her! The priest is just as amazing! I never thought that battle priests could be so strong!”

“He uses the blessings of the Rai God, and specialized his equipment to boost divine and lightning damage…”

“I know that, but the way he links he skills together is just unthinkable. It’s completely unorthodox!”

“Not really… he’s just using AOE lightning and barrier spells to crowd control and deal group damage, then let the assassin finish off the job. What’s actually amazing is his mana management.”

“Meh, I still don’t know how to do that, and now that the game has shut down, I’ll never be able to.”

The potato fries they ordered had arrive and they started eating.

“Those two will forever be a legend. The Assassin BlackPrincess and the Priest LessHealMoreKill… I wish they had better names, though.”

“It’s definitely much better than someone I know who named his character I Am Carl.”

They laughed as they munched on the food, completely forgetting the homework they were supposed to do.

Allen lined up in front of the cashier in a convenience store. He had separated with Carl after they left the fast-food chain.

The female cashier had a strange smile on her face as she scanned the items in Allen’s basket through the bar-code scanner. The items were mainly bread, instant cup noodles, instant coffee, more bread…

Allen knew that the cashier was probably thinking on how unhealthy his diet was, but he had no choice. He needed to save money now that his primary source of income was gone.

Right after exiting the store, he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate continuously. He first looked around, making sure that no one could see him, and then went to a small back alley.

Hey, hey!

A female voice immediately greeted as soon as he answered the call.

“You called quite early today. What’s up?”

Hehe, I just heard something cool at school, and so I couldn't wait until later to call. Sorry, about that! Were you busy?

“Not really. I’m just on my way home.”

Oh, then do you want to hear it now or should you go home first and call me back instead?

“Now’s okay.”

Nice! Then, be surprised! After last night, I thought I’d take a rest for a while, but after hearing about this game my friends were talking about earlier at school, it peaked my interest and I wanted to give it a try! Wanna partner up with me again?

The girl on the other end of the call was precisely the assassin of the legendary pair who defeated a thousand, the same assassin being praised by Carl earlier.

And of course, Allen was the priest.

The two of them had kept it a secret from their friends. They enjoyed each other’s company in the game world, and they didn't want to be tied up to others, especially to people they know in real life who also plays the game. If their friends knew, the two would end up being obligated to play together with them, which they were not interested in.

They haven’t met in real life yet, though. At first they only sent e-mails, then after two years they advanced to phone calls, and in-game voice chat which made playing together much easier. For five years, they had maintained this sort of relationship and distance.

Her offer tempted Allen. He wanted to play with her again; before he knew it, partnering up with her had become one of the greatest joys he had in life. Looking down at the convenience store bag, he sighed.

“I’m sorry. I’d really like to, but I can’t for now.”

He only had enough money left to pay for three months of rent in his apartment. The small amount remaining will be used to buy meals until he could find a part-time job.

Incidentally, the fast-food meal from earlier was Carl’s treat.

I see… That’s too bad then. I guess I’ll just play with my friends this time.

“Yeah, you do that.”

I will, I will. Anyway, in case you change your mind, the game is called Hazard Frontier Online, then beep me, call me, alright?

“Sure, sure. See ya.”

See ya!

The call ended. Allen returned the phone to his pocket. He wanted to talk with her more, but suddenly asking for that would make things awkward. They had always kept this casual distance between them, and acting differently all of a sudden would definitely be noticed by her.

She was an assassin after all, and her senses were keen.

Allen smiled at that thought, then started to walk home.

Days quickly passed by, and it was now Friday. The two versus thousand fight that happened on Sunday night was still the center of discussion among Allen’s classmates. Carl’s excitement had barely dissipated.

After class, Carl sat on Allen’s desk and placed his smart phone in his hands.

“What’s this?”

Allen took the phone. On it was a paused gameplay video. At first, he felt slightly nervous, thinking that Carl might had figured out that he was the priest from the popular video, although it didn't really matter now that he had stopped playing and the game had shut down.

“It’s her, right?”

Carl pointed at a figure in the video after clicking the play button.

It was a girl with platinum hair with a shade of blue. In her hands were a pair of blades as tall as her, it was a wonder how she could swing those efficiently. In front of her was ferocious-looking four-legged beast as huge as a van. Its body was covered with dark green fur and shards of black and blue crystals.

The first to move was the beast, swinging its mighty paws lined with sharp claws at the her. The girl nimbly dodged under the swing, then rolled to between the beast’s hind legs, appearing right behind it. Before it could turn around, she had already attacked five times with the huge blades. The speed and accuracy of her swings were unbelievable. Each strike drew blood, sending flesh and crystals flying in the air.

Every time the beast tried to retaliate, the girl would just dodge its attack then send a flurry of slashes at its defenseless body.

After nearly three minutes of that repeated process, the beast’s fur was now dyed red. It stumbled due to lack of blood, revealing a huge opening. Taking the chance, the girl slashed with both blades, drawing a crescent moon of blood. The beast’s head flew into the air.

“This video came in early in the morning. They said it came from a game called Hazard Frontier. When I saw it, the first thing that I thought was the assassin BlackPrincess!”

Allen didn't say a thing and instead rewound the video. Her movements were definitely the same as that of his old partner, and the game was the same one she mentioned. Looking at her equipment, they seem to be above average. Could she have gained those within the span of four days?

Suddenly, interest grew wildly in Allen. He wanted to play, too. He wanted to experience what she was experiencing. He wanted to know what this game was, what kind of world it has, and the challenges he could conquer in it.

Handing the phone back, Allen picked up his bag and ran out of the room, ignoring his Carl’s calls.

Without realizing it, a smile had crept up on his face. He had always felt that there was something lacking. Although, he had fun playing with her, he felt that he still needed something more.

He had finally found it.

‘How did I not notice it all this time?’

‘Was I unconsciously trying to deny it?’

He ran, and ran, and ran…

Standing inside the game shop, he scanned the VRMMO games stored in the glass display case. Quickly, he found it: Hazard Frontier Online.

Seeing the price tag of the game, and the subscription cost, he mentally calculated the money he had reserved for the rent.

‘If I buy this now, I won’t have money to pay for the rent after this month, only enough for food if I skimp on meals.’

Making up his mind, he pointed at the game box in the display.

“I’ll buy this!”

All this time, he had played and fought together with her as a pair, and he had enjoyed it to the fullest, but he was still lacking something.

‘I want to fight against someone who is my equal!’

Only BlackPrincess fit the bill.

‘Wait for me.’

He smiled as he imagined how she would react on their next meeting.