Sometime after. . .
The competition had finished, the victors had claimed their prizes and the streams were closing.
A guild named Five Suns took the 1st place title for the guild 5v5 battle. A team with well coordinated member, high tier gear, and top tier hidden classes was a recipe for success. Five Suns popularity sky rocketed, many players wanted to join their guild for an equal amount of reasons.
For the ordinary team 5v5 a group that called themselves Falling Downstairs took first place. At first look it seemed like a team of goofing around fools. However after watching a few more matches anyone could realize that the team were highly skilled and always coordinated with their members. Their newly acquired fans claimed that the team hardly tried, their main point to prove this was the teams carefree attitude.
Finally the 1v1 victor was a guy named Vordic. An excellently skilled player who fought with a mixture of flashy and deadly. Such a style caught the interest of many viewers. Vordic acquired many of his own fans.
At the end of the stream the company behind A World's Legacy had two major announcements. First, since the prize of the competition included real life money. There would be an in-game transfer of currency. The beginning ratio would be 10:1. With ten gold coins being worth one USD.
Of course to make things a bit more fair there was some basic additions. Players could only purchase coins put up for sale by other players. Additionally there would be a transfer fee of a certain percent. In order for this to work for players, a player would need to link a supported purchase app to their account to transfer money.
Secondly, the second VR headset had been developed. This one boasted a higher realistic experience compared to the older model, at a higher price of course. This meant that the first edition headset price would decrease. Meaning a more players would be able to access the game.
There was some major backlash about how the new headset came out far too quickly, yet the company behind developing the headsets, Multimount Inc, stated that the feedback and data from the older model provided much needed information. With this information they were able to improve the headset considerably.
With those two announcements the stream ended, a decent amount of profits were acquired from donations. All in all the company decided that the competition was a huge success.
Until they noticed what was going on in-game...
~ ~ ~
Desk Guy stretched, being a guest for a several hour long livestream wasn't his first choice for a time spender. He had walked into the development room. He liked the atmosphere there, as he got comfortable in his seat he noticed a small note on his desk.
-You would probably want to watch this.
Taped on the note was a small usb. Not knowing where it came from Desk Guy did a few virus scans and security checks before opening what was inside. Inside was six video files. Each named with a typical generated video name.
Desk Guy opened one and it began to play.
~ ~ ~
A desk was hit, "Why is there such a major event going on?!"
An executive was angry, the destruction of a player town so soon was not within their schedule.
Scott answered quickly, "Due to a glitch a player had access to the undead class at the start. They had managed to summon the end game boss Orothus. Another player had managed to acquire his finger bone shortly before his full summoning.
The executive wasn't braindead, it was quite easy to understand why Orothus would attack a town with the little bit of information.
"Why haven't we fixed the issue then?"
Another worker answered, "If we had manually changed the players race forcefully we would have to compensate accordingly. The undead race is one of the top races in-game. The compensation would have to be massive."
"It's just a singular player, why do we have to compensate for that?"
"If word got out we cut off a player's chance to achieve something without compensating, the backlash would be terrible."
"The backlash we are getting from this disaster of an event is terrible!"
The executive sighed and slumped into their chair. Accidents happen, however this was a large accident. The executive quickly came to a decision, "Did the players still acquire rewards for their contribution?"
An answer was quickly given, "We made sure it was."
"Then make an announcement that we had released this event for players who were not participating in the competition. However an issue arrived letting the whole event spiral out of the desired outcome. As compensation for the event give all players a 10% experience potion."
The order was swiftly carried out, the executive walked into their office and sat down, a frown on their face.
It was crucial that their public image was kept well. As the first ever company to design a full immersive game they had to make sure they were loved by fans. If VR received a lot of hate then that could put a major stop on any future development plans.
There was a lot they were hiding, if any of it got out then the public would riot. At least they would online. It was part of their job to keep the players tamed like sheep. They intended to keep it that way as well.
~ ~ ~
Desk Guy closed out the final video clip. He had watched all six of them without any breaks. It had become late at night, yet he didn't feel like going home just yet. It wasn't like anyone was waiting anyway.
He closed his eyes, what he witnessed was a catastrophic failure. His favorite team played a crucial card into the fall of Goldlight. As a developer he was angry, as a fan he was disappointed.
He knew he shouldn't be dissatisfied with the team. Everyone made mistakes, it wasn't like they were invincible. Capable of destroying any boss at the small level of 100. Yet he couldn't help but feel that way.
Like watching your idol commit a fatal error that made you lose all respect. Of course he didn't lost all respect. He was only disappointed.
Desk Guy unplugged the usb and stuck it in his pocket. Destroying evidence of someone's failure wasn't a smart choice. Especially as a fan. At that point you would no longer be a fan, but something much worse.
Shutting down his computer he grabbed his stuff and headed home.
~ ~ ~
The party were all sitting around a table. Silence filled the air as everyone's morale was down. Akiol coughed and began speaking, "This was a loss, that much is obvious. However there is much we can learn here. I know most, if not all of you, have come to a conclusion."
Kan'na interrupted, "I know I lack MP, I may have been able to do a bit more had I been able to make more spells."
Akiol nodded, "Then let's treat this like a basic learning session. I know that levels aren't something we can overcome easily."
Jarvis added, "I need more tames for more situations."
"I died far too easily." Yielya added sarcastically.
A bit of laughter rose, it was true.
Tilia mentioned her inability to protect in-game. Wrock came to the same conclusion as Akiol. Levels were superior.
"Then what we need to do is simple, the same we have been doing for years. Get stronger."
It was at this moment the party all received a notification.
[Revenge for Goldlight!]
The failure of your quest caused the downfall of a town. Take revenge and regain your honor.
Objective: Kill
General Vertigo (0/1)
General Northan (0/1)
General Carthino (0/1)
Great Lich Orothus (0/1)
Time limit: None
Rewards: ???
Everyone read the notification, they now had another objective.
Kan'na complained however, "That's so far away! Now they are a maximum of level seven-hundred. How long would it take for us to even approach that?"
"How do you know this?" Akiol prompted.
Kan'na sent a forum link in the group chat, "An apology by the developers, it gave some information about the event. Ever since Orothus regained his power he is now level 700."
Akiol whistled, that was indeed very far.
"No matter, we approach that battle when we get there. So how about we do some dungeons early tomorrow? It would be best if we start grinding soon."
Everyone agreed on a time and logged off. As Akiol put away his headset he rubbed his temples. It was his job as the party leader to keep morale up, sometimes it was hard to do so.
After eating dinner Akiol headed to sleep, there would be a lot of boring grinding to do for a while.
~ ~ ~
"So, you decided this was going to be your path huh?" Travis asked.
Several players pointed their weapons at him. One of the players responded, "You have a lot on your head. If we finish you now then our lives will turn for the better."
Travis scowled, "I will remember this."
"Not much you can do, this place wipes a characters data after death. It's far too late to start anew."
The players finished off Travis, he stared angrily at the people he once called friends. He had been betrayed and backstabbed. His account would need to be started anew. His future seemed dire.
As his vision faded black he cursed his fate.
Travis awoke with a start. He quickly searched his surroundings and was thoroughly baffled. Hadn't he just been in-game? As he searched further he noticed something important, this was his apartment from three years ago!
He quickly grabbed his phone, the old cracked screen greeted him. Travis checked the date and put down his phone. He couldn't believe it.
He was in the past three years before!