Capítulo 13: A Journalist in the New World
{Charlotte}
Sure, a lot had changed since the Unity Trials, but one thing that hadn't was that people were still looking for interesting stories to hear about.
And, as a journalist, providing people with those stories was Charlotte's calling.
Even if it meant putting her life on the line.
In the middle of a field full of dangerous creatures and players in armor and mage robes stood a woman with flowing pink locks, wearing a white pencil skirt and heels, with a microphone in her hands.
"As you can see, monsters are pouring out from the sewers!" Charlotte reported to a camera as players battled fish-like creatures in the street, right behind her. "The Golden Dragons were the first guild to respond. The battle is raging on and- WHOA!"
A car landed right next to her, thrown in her direction by a monster pounding on its chest, as though it was proud. A couple of adventurers took it on as Charlotte tried to keep going.
"A-As I was saying, the battle is raging on and, so far, there have only been a couple of casualties on the players' side. Let's see if we can get a statement from one of the players involved!"
Charlotte ran toward a player who was cowering behind a garbage bin.
"Excuse me."
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" The player yelled out, flinching as he saw Charlotte.
"Would you like to provide a statement for the local news?" Charlotte asked. The cameraman zoomed in on him.
"No!"
"As you can see," Charlotte said, turning toward the camera, "this player is petrified. I am fairly certain I can smell urine. Stay tuned, and we will keep you updated as the story develops!"
---
At that moment, the tv cut out, and Charlotte's boss sighed next to her.
"Well, what do you think?" Charlotte asked, grinning and gesturing at the footage they'd just looked at. "Didn't manage to get a real interview, but, still. A fight broke out in the middle of an intersection. Spicy, right?"
"This kind of shit stopped being spicy a day into the Unity Trials. Charlotte, you know you're gonna get yourself killed if you keep walking into this type of stuff, right? That car could have crushed you."
"Buuuut it didn't!"
The pink-haired reporter jogged through the office. She walked over to her desk where she pulled out a USB drive that was full of footage just like that.
"Arnold, look. Just because death and peril are exceptionally common nowadays doesn't mean that people aren't interested in the terrible things that happen to their neighbors, you know?"
"You worry me when you say shit like that."
Charlotte ignored him.
"Haven't you seen those clips online where people try to clear dungeons and the whole squad gets wiped out? Millions of views! Sure, people type about how terrible and awful it is, but in reality, they're aching to see this kind of stuff because it validates their own experiences. I really think we should focus on this sort of thing if we want to be the hottest news outlet in Starlight City."
"Charlotte..."
"Arnold..." The woman pressed her hands together. "It's not like we can change how awful the world is by providing our viewers with fake positivity. Why not capitalize on the bullshit everyone's going through while we can?"
"Look, if you want to focus more on monster outbreaks and player casualties, I can't stop you. But, I really think that what the people need right now is to be inspired."
"I..." Charlotte chuckled. "I don't think that's possible right now. I'll be back later, Arnold. Gonna go get some lunch."
"Gotcha."
Thus, Charlotte grabbed her belongings and walked out of her office.
Before the Unity Trials had begun, it had always been her dream to be a reporter on the field. Someone who was willing to cover the stories no one else wanted to talk about. When the Unity Trials began, that plan came to a temporary halt.
Soon, however, society began to rebuild as players steadily cleared the newfound dungeons around them. Eventually, World Shop tokens became the new currency that everyone was in need of.
And it was through reporting on the random fights that would occur in the city that Charlotte began making her money.
However, she felt like there was something missing. Something that would take her journalism to the next level.
She couldn't quite figure out what that was, but it was there.
She rounded a corner and ended up at her favorite ramen shop.
Sure, everyone could buy ramen from the World Shop, but some people, Charlotte included, believed there was just something special about homemade food that the World Shop couldn't replicate. Food from the World Shop just tasted too artificial to her.
The owner of the shop recognized her, smiling in Charlotte's direction as a couple of the other customers left.
"Mornin', Charlotte. How is everything?"
"Same as always, Jack. Can I get the usual?"
"Of course."
In just half a minute, a hot bowl of ramen was sitting in front of her on the counter, with a glass of cold water right next to it.
Charlotte transferred 10 WS tokens into Jack's inventory and began eating the day's breakfast.
"So, uh..." Jack started. "I caught you on Tweeter."
"What, the intersection fight?" Charlotte asked.
"Yep," Jack nodded. "It was cool and all, but... is that really worth the time and energy to report on?"
"My boss pretty much asked me the same thing," Charlotte replied, keeping her eyes on her meal. "People say they see that stuff every day, but you still watched, didn't you?"
"Well, mostly because you're hot."
"Don't let your boyfriend hear that."
"He agrees," Jack shrugged. Charlotte rolled her eyes, holding back giggles.
As she ate her breakfast in silence for a moment, it then came to Charlotte to ask about something. Something she hadn't gotten the opportunity to report on as it happened.
"So, the Final Challenge group," she muttered.
"What about them?"
"Did they head out already?"
"I think so," Jack nodded slowly. "I think I saw someone say they left yesterday."
"Hm, damn. I wanted to get a statement from at least one of them before they went in. Rest in peace to them, I guess."
"You don't think they can do it?"
Charlotte shook her head.
"Nine other groups tried before them," she stated. "Why would they be able to do it?"
"I dunno. I heard they had some heavy hitters on this team. They might just prove you wrong."
Charlotte raised a brow.
"Like who?"
"John Dulan," Jack quickly replied.
"... What?" Charlotte stopped. Her spoon hung in the air as she waited for an answer.
"Yeah," Jack nodded. "John Dulan is on that trip."
"The Golden Dragons' prodigy? Holy shit."
A part of Charlotte was confused to hear that. Was someone like John Dulan a person the Golden Dragons could afford to lose on a suicide mission like this?
Then again, if they had more people like John Dulan on this team, maybe they actually stood a chance.
"Jack, where can I find the list of people who went on the mission?"
"Oh? I piqued your interest?"
"Just tell me."
"Fine, fine. The list is on the Golden Dragons' website, I'm pretty sure."
Immediately, Charlotte pulled out her phone and looked for it. It didn't take much time to find it.
And, Charlotte was not disappointed by the names that popped up.
"Damn..." She whispered. "Wait, this list is full of top-tier players."
Alongside the names of the players were some of their accomplishments. For example, next to John Dulan's name was "Frost Queen Slayer", due to his accomplishment of having taken down a level 30 Ice Elf Queen during one of his dungeon runs.
Eventually, she found someone who had an accomplishment that was impressive, but who she'd never heard of before.
"Neve Stephens," Charlotte muttered. "Main Accomplishment: dozens of dungeons cleared without a single casualty."
"Is she a healer?" Jack asked.
"Yeah. I mean, that is an impressive feat," Charlotte said, tilting her head. "How come I've never heard of someone like that?"
"What guild is she a part of?"
"Doesn't say," Charlotte responded.
Curious, looked up the girl's name and found a government player profile.
Charlotte's eyes widened.
The girl was gorgeous. Genuinely. From her silky sapphire hair to her deep, captivating blue eyes to her slender frame, she looked like a model.
Maybe it was this beauty that had Charlotte feeling like she'd seen this girl before.
"Uh, Jack, do you know her?"
Charlotte showed him the image on her phone. The man whistled.
"Holy shit," he muttered. "Unfortunately, no."
"Yeah," Charlotte replied. "I feel like I've seen her somewhere, though."
"If she's not with any guild... maybe you saw her in a clip?"
Nodding, Charlotte went on MeTube and searched up the girl's name. The first few clips yielded no results, but, eventually, she came across something.
A video titled: Beautiful Healer INSPIRES Despairing Tank (INCREDIBLE!)
See, the only kind of footage that could compete with a video of a player dying or a team failing was the opposite. Those fairytale moments where underdogs win against all odds.
Charlotte didn't build her career around those, however, because those moments were painfully rare. They couldn't be relied on to put food on the table, as a reporter.
Here, however, Neve had been the subject of one such moment.
Charlotte played the video. It featured a group of four players, one tank, a lancer, an archer, and Neve, battling a horde of zombies. They were doing fine until their tank went down and nearly had his arm bitten off.
He was the one holding the camera on his chest piece. And, at that moment, Neve appeared before him.
She kicked the monsters off and distracted them until the damage-type players could take them out. Then, she ran over to the tank.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" She asked, looking just above the camera. "You're a tank! Get up and do your fucking job!"
"B-But..."
Neve cut him off.
"Don't worry," she said, with complete confidence in her words, "I'm the best healer in this fucking city. I won't let anything happen to you."
The video came to a close as the tank ran back into the action and Charlotte smiled, pausing the clip. The rest of the video featured the dungeon clear in full, but Charlotte had seen everything she needed to see.
[Holy fuck,] she thought, biting on her bottom lip. [That was hot. I like her.]
"See ya later, Jack. I'm gonna go do some research on this girl."
"She was that good?"
Charlotte turned and winked at him.
"Hell yeah. I think I just fell in love."
Capítulo 14: The Only Option
{Neve}
The sun poked through the tent's open flaps and prodded at Neve's eyes, forcing her to wake up.
"Ah..."
The healer yawned, standing up and stretching her arms.
[How many hours did I sleep?] She wondered.
She had occupied the high-level players' tents last night, trying to ignore the smell coming from their bodies that forced its way inside. managing to fall asleep had been difficult, but once she succeeded in doing so, it seemed like she'd been out for a while, judging by the angle at which the sunlight was coming in.
[What time is it?]
Her HUD said that it was currently 11 in the morning. She nodded to herself and bought a cup of coffee along with a plate of eggs and bacon in the World Shop.
[Judging by the fact that I'm still in the main dungeon, I'm guessing Thomas and his goons didn't beat the Final Challenge last night. Good.]
She scoffed at that fact. Of course, she had no way of knowing how well they were doing. Maybe they had failed miserably and were currently regretting their actions. Or, maybe they were on the cusp of reaching the 10th floor and were just gathering some energy before what would be their final fight.
"Hm. Maybe I should check how many players are left?"
The answer to that question was a mere 17, which included herself, meaning Thomas's group was 16 players strong. It seemed some of his followers had died.
[Deserved. Fuck them.]
That still did not answer the overarching question of "how well were they doing overall?" And so, all she could do, judging by the fact that she was still here, was guess that they were stuck somewhere.
[... They might not be stuck for much longer, though,] she thought, feeling anger simmering under her skin. [I need to get started.]
So, as she finished her breakfast on a wooden table in that tent, she thought about what she would do next.
"I can't really do the same thing I did on the first floor in the second," she muttered. "With those zombies coming out of the ground, it would be pretty easy to end up getting myself killed. These things weren't designed to be taken down single-handedly... Well, none of these monsters were probably designed to be taken down that way, but, yeah."
Neve walked away from the camp, heading to the bench she'd bought the previous night. The one where she'd spoken to Carson. Pacing back and forth in front of it, she considered what she could do.
And, unfortunately, there weren't many options to choose from. In truth, she had two.
She could press on through the second floor, following Thomas's trail without having leveled up or gotten stronger in any way, or...
"Ah, fuck."
All of the energy she had left her body.
Just thinking about this was enough to make her feel like she'd just run ten laps.
What she had in mind was a death sentence. That much was certain. The problem was, at this moment, she could only choose between two death sentences.
And, this one seemed like it had a slightly, only slightly, higher chance of working. Both plans that she thought of carried a high probability of resulting in her death.
Knowing that caused the strangest feeling to appear within Neve's heart. It was foreign, something she hadn't felt in so long.
[... What the fuck am I feeling right now?]
It was an odd, but potent, anxiety. That feeling, the fear that she would lose her life, hadn't been there since the day the Unity Trials began. She had gotten used to lacking it and, to be honest, Neve wished it wouldn't have come back.
However, there was nothing to be done about it. This was the best idea she could think of, for one simple reason.
If, and that was a big "if", by some miracle, she managed to succeed, then the benefits would be huge.
Mainly, that she would gain access to the Final Challenge's overworld again.
Then, she could try to find low-level dungeons. Preferably, ones that held equipment she could actually use. After clearing enough of them, she could amass enough strength, somehow, someway, to get her revenge.
The other idea, following Thomas's group, simply did not hold as many benefits. Thomas's group had already likely gotten any and all loot she could find herself, alone. Anything they disregarded was probably for a reason, and she would have to do the same.
So, she was close to settling on this one, horrible choice.
Before she committed to the idea, however, she needed some confirmation. Just a quick "yeah, that's how things work" on behalf of the ones in charge.
She cleared her throat and said:
"Tamira."
"Mhm?" The snake asked, appearing before her in a slightly shrunken state.
"If I walk out of the main dungeon, I'm going to get punished, right?"
"Of course," she replied, quickly. "You do not have any Activity Points."
"Right. Now," Neve continued, "let's say I beat whatever punishment I get," Neve said, beginning to pace again from side to side, without even looking at Tamira. "After that, I can go outside the main dungeon and there are going to be other dungeons I can look at, right?"
"Yep," Tamira replied with a pop.
"And..." This was the question she'd been leading to, "some of these dungeons are going to be low-level, right?"
"There are dungeons of all levels around the main one," Tamira confirmed for her. "Did you hit your head or something while I was gone? I swear, we went over all of this."
"I know, I know, I'm just... FUCK!"
Neve cursed loudly and Tamira laughed. The snake reduced her size even further and then wrapped herself around Neve's body.
"Ah... If I'm understanding your frustration, it seems you've come to *that* conclusion."
"No shit," Neve replied. "I'm not exactly being subtle about it."
"Have you decided on this course of action?" She asked.
Neve paused.
[... I literally only have two choices. I can either do that or move forward. Take a huge amount of risk and, if I survive, be rewarded immensely, or, take a huge amount of risk with the only possible rewards being whatever scraps Thomas's group left for me. I... The choice is already made for me, isn't it?]
"Yeah," Neve replied, sighing. "I have."
"It is simply a matter of figuring out whether you have the heart to go through with it. Do you?"
"... Do I have any other choice?" Neve asked.
"The only other one is to venture forth through the second floor, as I'm sure you understand. However, you know how perilous that option is. And, even if you manage to make it through, that path will only lead you to Thomas and his group. Do you believe you can defeat them as you are now?"
"No."
"Then, unfortunately, it would seem that this is your best choice. In my opinion, anyway."
Neve let out a sigh that carried years of hopelessness and failure, packed into one exhaled breath.
"I guess that's what I should do, then. Thanks."
"Anytime."
Tamira disappeared, leaving Neve with the reality of this mess she found herself in.
[... Whatever. If I die, I die. That's the attitude that took me into this fucking place. That's the attitude I should keep throughout it all.]
With that being said, Neve turned, left, and exited the Second Floor's safe zone.
She figured this could very well be the last time she saw all of the bodies, so she gave them one last look before crossing into the First Floor. It was still so hard to believe that this had happened, but now, she would try to do something about it.
On that note, she walked through the first portal. Cutting through the battlefield, she kept going until she was standing at the next portal that she and all of the other players had come in through.
Neve stopped.
Balling up her hands into fists, she felt chills go up her spine.
She was scared. She couldn't deny it. Fear filled her heart as she stood before this portal, knowing she had to walk through it.
[Come to think of it, Tamira had said it would be a random dungeon. Not necessarily a high-level one, even though that's pretty likely... Please, don't suck too much, don't suck too much, just don't suck too much, please.]
And so, willing herself to move forward, she stepped through.
The instant she did, a message came up.
{Activity Points: 0/500}
{You have failed to meet the quota!}
{Punishment: Generating...}
{Generating...}
{Generating....}
{Punishment generated!}
Neve got just about four seconds to look at the Overworld before she was instantly teleported somewhere else.
It was a disorienting experience. She lost her balance and fell to her knees.
[Ugh, I'm going to puke... Where am I?]
She looked around and saw that she was on a stone bridge. There was a strange smell in the air like something was burning. The path led to a black castle. The air was so hot she started sweating immediately. As she looked to the left, she saw a burst of lava explode up into the air.
{You have entered: The Ruined Fortress of Roha Vala}
{Recommended Level: 50}
{Warning: You are unable to leave until the Boss has been defeated}
Neve stared at the message.
Level 50. Her eyes remained fixed on that prompt.
"... Shit."
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
200+ Ranking de
Poder 
18 Pedra de
Poder Você também pode gostar
Comentário de parágrafo