Callous, cold, and with a hint of amusement, those eyes that pierce through the darkness now pierce through my heart. And as though swapping his gaze for a blade, the manic man thrusts a short sword into my chest. Endamaging both body and soul, my heart is broken, both literally and figuratively.

"Thou art a fool for trusting in me. The wise know that the only person worthy of trust is oneself."

I grasp at my wound, rendered speechless from utter shock. 

❰-50 HP❱

The blade retracts. 

"Have you any idea how hard I worked to accumulate these items?"

"Does't matter?"

"Honestly, you could have betrayed anyone else, but you had to choose me, huh?" I say, exasperated. 

"What can I say, plundering hard-earned loot is much more satisfying. And you sport quite the set-up, so I couldn't resist."

"Whatever, just take it, it's not worth the fuss anyway." I request a trade and transfer the items. 

"Ha ha! All of this would sell for quite a lot. I am ever so grateful, I hope this won't be our last exchange!"

"Get a life."

What just happened now was an annoying tactic used by lazy idiots who don't want to expend their precious time playing the game properly. I'm not too bothered by it, since I've been playing this game for quite a while, and thus have collected quite the substantial amount of wealth. I'm what you'd call a 'Veteran'. But it's still annoying. They only ever manage to get worthless stuff anyway. 

I play a character named PETRA AKAMARAKUS in a video game called RUINIFORM Online. Despite being a male in real life, I play a female ingame. Why? Because why the hell not? I've been playing since RUINIFORM's launch 3 years ago, and I'm pretty much maxed out in all aspects of the game. Normally, being maxed out isn't anything out of the ordinary, but RUINIFORM Online is far from ordinary. This game, is without a shadow of a doubt, fucked up. 

All things taboo, messed up, and genuinely disturbing can be found and explored in this game. Occurrences of rape and manslaughter are common and normal. There are few areas in the game where one can remain generally safe. The fact that the game was made to be as realistic as possible while still maintaining fantastical aspects makes it much scarier and much more difficult than your usual MMO. 

❰INCOMING CALL…❱

"Hey man, are you done with that side quest?"

"Well, yeah, but the guy stabbed me in the back. Took all the rewards and my gear with him. Luckily, I wasn't carrying my usual stuff."

"HAHA. Fucking hilarious. I told you not to trust that weirdo. Those guys that take the game too seriously are the ones you should always avoid."

"Yeah you're right…. Well whatever. How'd it go with you?" 

"Uh, I got fucked over too. All my stuff is gone…" 

"…" 

"Yeah…turns out that NPC I helped was working with some group of bandits. They lead me straight to em, and they killed me." 

"Wow. That's just sad, I'm not even going to make fun of you. So all your armour is gone?" 

"Yup. That stuff was legendary. I worked my ass off for that armour."

"Going to quit?" 

"Hell no."

"Good. What are you doing now?" 

"I'm heading out to Avalon to get some new armour."

"Isn't it dangerous, though? You said you got all your stuff stolen." 

"It'll be fine. I have a quick-ticket I got from Morgan on a quest a while back. And Avalon's one of the safe-havens, so there shouldn't be much trouble."

"Ah I see." I say nonchalantly, but secretly I'm impressed with his readiness. I won't tell him that though. 

"What about you? Where are you right now?" 

"Just stepped out of the Dark Forest. I'm probably just going to look for a nearby town."

"Oh? You're by the 3rd exit, right? The one with the big knight statue?" 

"Yeah."

"Well, if you carry on down the path, you'll find a town. It's pretty safe, too. Though you should keep an eye open while on your way, though even without gear I'm sure you'll manage just fine if it's a few monsters." 

"Thanks man. I'll head there now."

"No problem. I'm probably going to log off soon, so I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright, see ya man."

❰CALL ENDED❱

Wow, who knew he'd actually be helpful. That was a friend of mine. He plays a character named SOTERIUS STOUP. He's just some muscle-head knight, but is also one of the few who actually do good in the game. We're pretty close, though I've yet to even learn his real name. We've been playing together for about a year, and basically made it our routine to play for a couple of hours before bed. 

I look at the clock. 4:13 AM. I should probably retire too. I could keep going for a couple more hours, but that'd be pretty unhealthy. 

I log off and shut down my PC. The room is now pitch-black and quiet, but I can still hear some cars driving by. I head downstairs to get a drink of water before I sleep.