Finally, I was starting to get the hang of things. After struggling to move without getting stuck in the game's glitches, I discovered a trick—if I kept jogging, I didn't get caught in the terrain. It was an odd workaround, but in this broken world, you took what you could get.
"Well, it took me ages to figure that out," ShadowStalker said as we jogged through the map.
"Probably wouldn't have figured it out if you hadn't told me to jog. Seriously, who jogs that much in an RVR?" I replied, slightly out of breath.
"Well, I do," he shrugged, unfazed by the constant motion. "Sometimes I wonder, if the Devs made the glitches on purpose."
We kept walking through the barren landscape, a new map stretching out before us. There was a faint hope that somewhere ahead, we'd find a settlement—or at least something more interesting than floating rocks and broken textures.
As we advanced, I noticed that my stream chat was more active than usual. To my surprise, more viewers were beginning to trickle in. The number wasn't huge—only five active viewers so far—but considering how quiet it usually was, this felt like a big deal.
Viewer4: Nice moves! How long have you been playing?
Viewer5: Loving the stream. Keep it up!
I responded between battles, trying to balance my focus between the game and my audience. It was a delicate act, especially when ShadowStalker suddenly had mood swings for no apparent reason: he was mostly jolly.
"So, you stream?" he asked casually, not breaking his stride.
"Sometimes. Got like seven, no, wait—eight subs now," I said, feeling a tiny bit of pride. Sure, I only had eight subs but most of them gave small donations that kept my side hobby still kicking.
He chuckled. "Small streams are fun. You get to know everyone."
"Yeah," I agreed, but deep down, I wanted the fun to expand just a bit more.
After a while, we found a clearing where we could rest and take stock of our supplies. I opened my inventory, noting with some concern that I was running low on health potions. Scratch that—I had no potions left.
"Where are we heading, anyway?" I asked.
"There's a town nearby," ShadowStalker replied. "We can restock and maybe find some new gear."
"Good idea," I said, but something was bugging me. "How come we don't see any animals or even birds around here?"
"According to the game lore, the developers—or, as the game puts it, 'the gods'—abandoned this world. That led to everything dying off. Now, towns are mostly empty, but you'll always find one or two NPCs willing to trade. The game's more or less broken, though."
"I see. So, no hope of anything changing."
"I mean, there's always hope. But I'm not playing for hope—I'm playing for fun. That's the appeal of RVR. You can do anything, even change the world, if that's what you want."
"True."
We stumbled upon a narrow path leading through a dense forest. The trees were tall and twisted, their branches forming an almost impenetrable canopy overhead. The path was barely visible, but it was the only lead we had.
"One moment it's a barren hellscape, and the next it's full of trees," I said, leading the way. "It's like the devs are messing with us."
"They'd probably be laughing their asses off if they were here," ShadowStalker quipped.
"Well, someone's enjoying himself," I replied, smirking at his laughter.
As we walked, we encountered our second monster—a giant chicken. It was just a chicken though, and I decapitated it without much effort. No level-up this time, but at least we had food now.
"Do we even need to eat food here?" I asked.
"Up to you. It gives certain buffs and restores health, but there's no penalty if you go hungry."
"Nice!"
"You don't talk much during your streams, huh?"
"I do when I'm alone. But yeah, my streams are a bit… awkward."
"No worries. Everyone has their own style. Some people don't talk at all."
"I guess…" I trailed off, realizing I hadn't really put much thought into being a streamer. I was mostly doing it for fun, but I did want to make something out of it. Maybe I should have looked up how to be a better streamer, or used my money to buy better gear, but I never did. I guess I wasn't taking it too seriously.
The forest was eerily quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves. Every now and then, we heard distant growls—a reminder that danger was never far away. Suddenly, the path opened up to a small village nestled in a clearing. It looked abandoned, the buildings in shambles, and the streets empty.
"Looks like a ghost town," ShadowStalker remarked, surveying the area.
We cautiously approached the village, weapons at the ready. As we entered, a notification popped up on my screen:
>> New Quest: Investigate the Abandoned Village (P)
"My first quest," I said, feeling a rush of excitement.
"Our first quest. Apparently, we're being treated as a party," ShadowStalker noted. "No party options tho," he said.
"Oh yeah," I mumbled, still staring at the quest notification.
The village was eerie. Torn clothing, broken weapons, and ominous scratch marks on the walls suggested a violent struggle. The smell of decay lingered in the air, and I could see bones scattered on the ground.
"I have a bad feeling about this," ShadowStalker muttered. "Instead of the usual 'abandoned,' this feels more like 'massacred.'"
"Yeah," I agreed, picking up a piece of paper with hastily scrawled writing. It wasn't writing, though—just scribbles in black ink. Or was it blood?
"GAQWR!" A loud howl echoed through the village. We turned to see a massive creature emerging from the shadows. It was even more terrifying than the monster we had fought earlier, its eyes glowing with a malevolent light.
"Get ready," ShadowStalker said, drawing his dagger. "Looks like an area boss."
I tightened my grip on my sword, my heart pounding. "Roger that!"
The creature lunged at us, and the battle began—no music, just the growls of the beast and the sound of our weapons clashing.
The creature was a massive wolf, its fur pitch black and its eyes glowing red. Saliva dripped from its fangs as it snarled, preparing to strike.
"Use your special skills!" ShadowStalker shouted, dodging a swipe from the creature's claws. "I'll draw aggro." He kept dodging and still didn't take out his spear.
"What special skills? Tell me this stuff sooner, man!" I shouted back, frantically searching my menu for abilities. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline, making it hard to click the right options. But eventually, I found the abilities menu. "Blade Dance!"
My character performed a series of rapid strikes, each one glowing with a blue aura. The monster howled in pain as its health bar dropped significantly.
"It's not dead," I mumbled, slowly backing off.
"Of course it isn't," ShadowStalker said. "Try to last three seconds."
"Oh god…" I muttered as the wolf leaped toward me. Three seconds? I wasn't going to last one!
"PENETRATION!" ShadowStalker screamed, plunging his red spear into the wolf's throat, passing through its innards with utter ease.
"Aren't you embarrassed to shout that?" I asked, barely believing what I'd just heard.
IKYKYK: NOICE!
"Kinda," he blushed, albeit only for a second. "Anyway, that should do it."
The monster let out a final roar before collapsing, its body disintegrating into pixels.
>> Level Up!
>> Quest Complete: Investigate the Abandoned Village
>> Level Up!
A treasure chest appeared where the monster had fallen. Inside, golden coins, including new weapons and much-needed health potions. I got a cool-looking sword called "Wolf's Bane." Apparently, it gave a 20% bonus to my attack when used against canine monsters.
"Not bad," ShadowStalker said, inspecting his new dagger.
"Yeah," I agreed. "We're getting better at this, I think ." But SS was a veteran player. Of course he was good. Was I getting good though? Was I improving at all?
My stream chat was buzzing with excitement.
Viewer3: Epic fight! You guys make a great team!
Daisy: SS comes in clutch!
IKYKYK: Gtg
Viewer6: That was intense. Can't wait to see more!
"That's the NPC, by the way," ShadowStalker said, pointing to a holographic figure that had appeared nearby.
"Unfazed," I said, noticing how it just stood there, smiling. It looked like a classic NPC on call.
I initiated trade with the NPC and noticed I had some D-coins, the game's currency. I checked my log and saw that I had earned 27 coins from the first monster and 200 from this boss and the rest from the chest, bringing my total to 1,127 (100 were starting coins). I could buy 11 potions with that or a revival potion that would let me cancel the cooldown of five minutes after dying, either for myself or a friend. I decided to buy one of each.
"Bad choice," ShadowStalker said. "You could always wait five minutes. But more potions never hurt."
"Noted," I replied.
ShadowStalker yawned. "What's the time, 2? Guess this is it for me. Need to sleep. Cya," he said.
2? Huh, so lived in the same time zone. Made sense, considering we had the same accent.
"Yeah, thanks for all the help. Maybe we could play together again sometime?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.
"Of course!" His avatar disappeared. A second later, I received an in-game mail. It was a friend request from ShadowStalker.
I clicked accept immediately. My friend list was empty no more.
I checked my stream chat, where my viewers were still engaged and eager for more content.
Viewer7: Solo time! Let's see what you can do on your own.
Viewer8: Don't worry, we're here with you.
I smiled. Eight concurrent viewers? That was a new record for me. And wait, I had nine subs now?
Noice!