Monday, April 18th 2024


    “Please Sir, can you leave the training ground ?”


    Grey Wolf was so focused on hitting the dummy that he forgot his surroundings. He grinded 8 more strength and agility points, and raised his Endurance by 2. It seemed that quite some time had passed since he entered the training ground and he was now surrounded with players fighting in pairs or against other training dummies. The voice came from a man standing behind him. He stopped and turned to him, discovering a giant individual wearing a guard uniform and holding a spear in his right hand.


    “Why ?”


    “You are not a warrior apprentice, you ain’t no city guard as well, you have no right to be here.” the guard stated, looking at him with a severe expression.


    “Isn’t it open to everyone ? Are all these people around ... Fuck, how long has it been ?” Getting his mind back on track was harsh, but the slap in the face he received from the guard was harsher.


    “No it is not, animal scum." The guard was getting angry.


    For a really short moment, he did consider leaving, but he would potentially be loosing the occasion to earn a massive amount of stat points. He also upped his ‘Instinctive Swordsmanship’ to beginner level 2, but he knew this one would need moving targets to be trained.However, he did not anticipate the slap from the racist guard. He smiled and asked:


    “You area swordsman. If I beat you, can I stay ?”


    The guard, desperately trying not to laugh, decided to go along with him.


    “Alright, but if you lose, you’re never setting foot here again. First blood.”


    He walked inside the barracks close to the sand arena and came back with two swords. He took off his chainmail and his helmet. A few players gathered around them as they were facing each other. Grey Wolf was betting on the surprise of his first attack to win the bet. They slowly started to pace, in circle. The guard wasn''t making any movement. He wasn''t looking him in the eyes, focusing his attention on his feet. Grey Wolf kicked some sand at the guard''s face and went for a thrust at his stomach. The guarddeviated his attack with a slash of his sword, swiftly changed his grip on it, grabbing it by the blade, and knocked down Grey Wolf using the iron pommel. He barely saw it happening before his vision faded to black.


    A window appeared in front of him.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You have been knocked out. Due to the adrenaline, you didn''t feel the blow before being knocked out.


    You will however suffer from its effects once you wake up. 10 minutes before return to full consciousness.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    He used the 10 minutes to think back about the fight and his own stupidity. Of course the guard wouldn''t have fallen for a cheap trick.


    <hr>


    [Thursday, June 22nd 2022]


    Kevin Brady wasn''t a good police officer. Not even a standard police officer. 15 years in the job and he never got promoted past detective. He was walking in the office as usual, with his morning coffee and a cookie when he received the call that turned what was going to be another boring day making card castles into the most painful day of his life. He shoudn''t have been the one answering.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Hello... Police ?"


    "Yes."


    "I found... I found a body."


    He put his drink on the desk and got one of the interns to record the conversation and track the call.


    "Where ?"


    "In the hangar where we store our furnitures. Please come as fast as possible. I can hear him breathe."


    "Alright, tell him to hang tight."


    The intern gave him the address, he called the rescue team, and he went down to his car, accompanied by 10 other agents.


    It took them 15 minutes to get there. They arrived at the storage facility, established a perimeter, and walked in. This was where he found the boy, lying on his back, in a pool of his own blood. The caller was there, trying to pull him out of it, she looked like a normal housewife, 0 chances she was crazy enough to do it, though cheating on her husband might be in the realm of possibilites.


    "Please, step away from the victim, the rescue team here will take care of him." he said.


    He approached himself from the boy and looked at him. His arms were cut, methodically, every centimeter. On his torso was a huge burn, probably handmade, by a blowtorch. And his back... Kevin walked away and threw up in a nearby bin. Some of the cops there had a quick laugh, until they saw the young man being carried by the nurses into the ambulance.


    Who could have done such a thing ? And why ?


    <hr>


    3...2...1...


    Grey Wolf opened his eyes. He was lying in a ditch on the side of a road, about 50 meters from the city. His body was hurting all over, but the worst were the head concussion and the jaw pain. Seems he earned a beating post duel as well. He painfully rose up and started walking away. He left the banishment note on the floor. Less than 12 hours in-game and he already couldn''t set foot in the beginner city and its vicinity.


    He found a forest, about 25 kilometers east of the city, and decided to stop there. He managed to stumble upon a small stream, where washed himself and his clothes. This place seemed like a great hunting ground, and he was in serious need of a meal to replenish his hp and stamina. Some heat would also do him good. He started walking around, trying to spot some rabbits. It took him half an hour but he managed to find two healthy rabbits and sneak up near them. He would have to be quick. He focused on one of them and prepared himself to jump. He was almost going to when this particular rabbit received an arrow in his face. Grey Wolf turned to the arrow''s origin point to watch a guy coming down from a tree. He looked like a player, already wearing leather equipment (Hood, Tunic, Pants, Boots) and was holding on a really shitty bow.


    “Hi !” Not much choice in this situation,considering the second rabbit ran away.


    “Hi” he answered, with a very calm voice.


    “This was my prey." He stated.


    The mysterious archer put his bow down and took out some rope.


    "Well I killed it, so it is mine, but you look like you could use a meal, so I''d be happy to share this one with you." He was harboring a shining, warm smile under the massive hood covering his face.


    "I just got beaten up by racist npc guards and banned me from the city, for pretty much no reason.” He said, trying to look as friendly as possible, extending his hand.


    His benefactor grabbed his hand and turned to him, his smile was gone.


    “How can I trust you ? You might be PK or a bait, already met two of them and the game has barely been out for half a day.”


    “I swear I am not, plus I''m in pretty bad shape too so you have more chances to kill me than I you.”


    “Fair enough” Another warm smile appeared on the player’s face “ My name is The Hood, I am a human Hunter, level 6.”


    “Grey Wolf, Beastman nothing, level 1” he answered.


    “Well come on, let’s eat” Hood offered.