The Riker’s den - present day

  The party was in full swing. Dazzling lights embedded into the thick matte-bck fabric of the ceiling created a blinding cascade for anyone who walked ih the glow, crystal-clear tables den with an array of foods and drinks shimmered like stars, their refles amplifying the room’s inviti overwhelming atmosphere.

  The space was enormous, stretg out to floor-to-ceiling windows that lined aire wall, seemingly with no visible support. The breathtaking view of the city at night stretched out below—the den erched at the very top of Riker’s Tower, the tallest skyscraper iy.

  Everything about the den screamed excess and allure, desigo overwhelm visitors with beauty and opulence, entig them to spend before they realized what was happening.

  Lucas entered with his favorite mask in pce, his smirk hiddeh the anonymity it offered. He wasn’t alone in this—most of the guests wore masks, their true faces cealed, blending mystery with dece.

  “Focus!” Perl’s sharp voice jolted him out of his momentary admiration.

  “I know,” Lucas whispered into his shoulder, where his unication device rested. “But it would be stra to py along.”

  That said, he casually approached a table in the back, where several monitors dispyed the night’s first game: a simuted hag test focused on breaking into a sewage system’s security grid. Lucas sed the s, his trained eye quickly disseg the amateurish codes in use.

  “Amateurs,” he muttered. Then, louder, “This suits the kid, Reider. Let’s bet on him.”

  “What?” Perl’s surprised voice barked, loud enough to draw a frown from Lucas. “It’s ten to one!” she protested.

  Lucas chuckled softly, gng at the s again. “He’s got a good head. The others barely know how to ha-3. Easy money.”

  It wasn’t unusual fuests to talk to seemingly no one—some even shouted at the air—so Lucas wasn’t ed about standing out. Moments ter, his watch blinked as Perl relutly pced the bet: three thousand on Reider.

  With some starting capital, money was always easy to make in pces like this. Lucas was already calg his potential winnings when an all-too-familiar voiterrupted.

  “Mister Lucas, wonderful to meet you again!”

  Lucas stiffened, his mind freezing before his body could react. Jeffrey.

  The young punk grinned, raising a gss filled with yellow liquor. “And mysterious Perl, too. gratutions on surviving another week.”

  “Logging out,” Perl announced abruptly. Lucas didn’t even have time to stop her before her e cut off, leaving him alone.

  “Thank you?” Lucas stammered, downing his own drink in one gulp, but his legs refused to move. His body betrayed him, locked in pce, while his mind screamed for escape.

  Jeffrey’s slow, deliberate approach felt like a predator cirg prey, his grin widening with every step. “Charlie’s beeing fiercer than I expected,” he said casually. “That’s why I prefer aiding her. She almost faced Dmitry—that would’ve been a catastrophe.”

  It was bizarre, watg this young punk exude a level of mehat could paralyze even someone like Lucas. “Pardon?” he managed, his voice barely above a whisper. His feet still wouldn’t budge. Last time I fought him, I didn’t know. But now... now I know what the ring does to people like me.

  Jeffrey’s expressihtened as if he’d solved a puzzle. “Ah, an expnation is in order. Have you noticed our simution?”

  Lucas could only nod.

  “Good. That’s correct. But do you uand why?” Jeffrey’s grin didn’t falter. Lucas shook his head in response.

  With a heavy sigh, Jeffrey turned his gaze toward the twinkling lights of the city beyond the gss. “We’re captives in a never-ending loop. The game is the only thing that ever ges. These barbaric times? They’re our punishment.”

  He walked toward the window, his steps slow and deliberate, the yellow liquid in his gss swirling zily. “See, iure, this is sidered humane. Prison? So uncivilized. The uptight gover prefers giving us an alternative—a way to survive in fort.” Leaning against the gss, Jeffrey sipped his drink, his tone dropping.

  “Am I simuted?” Lucas blurted out, his voice trembling.

  “It’s... plicated,” Jeffrey replied. “They couldn’t imprison us for life; that would be inhumane. Instead, they gave us a path to redemption—a seed in the game.”

  Suddenly, everything clicked in Lucas’ mind. The strange behavior, the endless loops, the cryptic clues he’d uncovered over the past month—it all made sense now. Whether Jeffrey was eruthful or not didn’t matter. Lucas only cared about ohing: surviving.

  “I see,” Lucas said carefully, his poker face still, despite the sting in his head.

  Jeffrey’s grin widened, sensing Lucas’ mental overdrive. “Tell Charlie to stay clear of the other heroes. I’ll visit her soon and expin what she o know.”

  A blink from his watch caught Lucas’ attention, but he ig as Jeffrey turo leave.

  “Oh, and Reider lost, huh?” Jeffrey added with a chuckle, vanishing into the crowd and leaving Lucas standing there—perplexed, shaken, and, of course, penniless.

  Vilge number seventeen - chief’s office

  iating prices had always been hard for me—impossible, really. That’s why I didn’t buing and agreed to the first price he offered: a hundred gold. The unknown man waved off the subordinates gathered behind me and began examining my s.

  “Huh? What are you waiting for? Take yold and leave,” he said after a moment, his eyes still fixed on the s.

  Throwing my now-unbound hands around in an exaggerated gesture—eling Katherine—I asked, “That’s it?”

  “Oh, I almost fot.” He rummaged under his table again and pulled out a letter. “I sent a imperial doan to your fortification. You delivered Duke’s request, didn’t you?”

  “Yes? Wait—aire doan?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my voice as my hand reflexively ched the edge of his expensive desk. “Why?”

  That cheeky bastard ughed, slipping the Duke’s letter bato a drawer. “Not aire doan. Just three thousand humans.” The glee on his face was absurd, as if he were delighted to be rid of them. As if indeed.

  “You’ll be powerless when Irwen—” I started, intending to shatter his fidence, but his proud, unwavering stare cut me off.

  “We will gdly join our queen in her rightful struggle,” he said with unshakable vi.

  “But…” I hesitated, thinking of warning him about what would happen if they stayed and died—that he’d bee undead. But his stare told me he already khere was no point. Time to go.

  “Thanks for the money,” I muttered a.

  Outside the guild building, I realized the night was still in full swing, though dawn couldn’t be far off. To plete the mai, I rength. Artifacts. That’s the priority now. Getting stronger was all that mattered. The ruins were critical, but I also knew of other potential locations.

  Unfortunately, going there without first getting information from NPCs could lead to a ban by the administrators. Damn.

  One way to get the info was to track down a lore keeper—they always khe legends and sometimes even provided precise clues. Spotting a guard standing under a magic mp, I approached him.

  “Do you know where I find a lore keeper?” I asked.

  The guard, a male in full armor, leaned zily on his spear. “He should be back there,” he replied in a bored tone, gesturiward. “Old man loves to tell stories to kids in the ms.”

  Ms? I g the horizon. Oh. It’s m already.

  As I was hopping dowreet, the world suddenly turned bck. Someone’s hands covered my eyes. “Guess who!” Katherine whispered in my ear, her voice pyful.

  “A small girl?” I guessed, fighting to hold back a smile. That failed miserably whe out an annoyed grumble and released me.

  “Ya no fun!” she huffed, falling into step beside me. “Whatcha doin’?”

  As we walked together, a faint, fresh st filled the air—something like the forest after rain. How does she smell so he game’s one-hundred-reality limit didn’t hold back, clearly. “How did you find me?” I asked, gng at her. “Did you follow me from the guild?”

  “Wat?” She stopped mid-step and gave me a look that screamed, you’re an idiot. “Friend’s finder?”

  ht. I was an idiot. I’d never used the thing, so of course I fot it existed now. Clearing my throat, I tried to shake off the sudden awkwardness. “Never mind that!” My cheeks were slightly rosy as I quickly answered her earlier question. “I’m heading to a lore keeper to grab a quest. Want to e with me?”

  Katherine’s grin widened, and my heartbeat responded by pig up a few extra beats per minute.

  “Sure,” she said, her tone light. “I’ll stick. Killin’ s ain’t fun anyway.”

  Exactly as the guard had said, the lore keeper was seated by a rge fire, surrounded by little kids sprawled across tree logs. The fmes cast dang shadows on their faces, adding a touagic to their captivated expressions.

  “Tat’ ‘im?” Katherine asked, following my gaze.

  The old man was cliché—white hair, rare among elves, flowed down past his shoulders, and he wore ceremonial white armor that gleamed faintly.

  [Lore keeper Lv.15]Type: 5-epic | HP: 330/330Wheepped into the fire’s glow, the lore keeper was midway through a tale abion—or so I guessed. The children’s gzed expressions mirrored how I’d looked reading the five-thousandth page of the Atriel Mao, the first and st religious book I ever attempted.

  “Hey, old man!” Katherine suddenly stormed forward, her voice bursting with excitement. “Do ya know ’bout treasure?”

  Her energy left us all speechless. Even the kids stared at her, wide-eyed. The lore keeper froze mid-sentence, and I? I could only gape at her.

  “Wat?” Katherine asked, gng around with her head tilted like an i puppy.

  It fell to me to salvage the situation. Bowing slightly, I said, “Pardon my friend. She meant to ask if you knew any iing stories.”

  The lore keeper recovered quickly, rising from his seat with the grace of someone half his age. “Naturally, my children. Please, sit!” He gestured with a wrinkled hand toward ay log.

  We took our pces, and the warmth of the fire seeped into my skin. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how cold it had gotten. Ice Dance perk ag up again?

  “We’re ied in stories about Eeleim,” I began, rubbing my hands over the fire’s glow. “I know a little myself, but I’d love to learn—”

  I didn’t even finish before he shot up from his log, closing the distaween us with startling energy. “What did you say?” The old man’s hands cmped onto my arms, shakih a strength that shouldn’t have been possible for someone his age. “Repeat that!”

  My brain bnked, as if I’d suddenly been transported back to Patric’s bar mid-hangover. “Now! Repeat the name!” His pierg stare dropped to my tiara, and something about it sent shivers down my spine. “Only the royals are exempt from the curse.”

  “You mean… Eeleim?” I managed, my voisteady.

  At the sound of the name, his mouth stretched into a grin so wide I could see every one of his teeth—and smell his breath.

  “Go away!” I snapped, shoving against his chest. He stumbled back, and I slipped from his grasp, dug beh his wiggling arm.

  He didn’t follow. Instead, he froze, staring at me as though seeing something—or someone—for the first time.

  “You truly are a princess.”