The Overseer’s huge face loomed ahead of the RV, grinning in a way that made Pete want to punch the goblin as hard as he could manage.

  

  >> In recognition of your extraordinary achievements thus far, and particularly for defeating the notorious Coin Lord Grindle and surviving your encounter with none other than Ulrick Blackfang, High Baron Tongsly Belch has decided to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  Pete grimaced. “I’m not gonna like this, am I, Nero?”

  [Nero] It is unlikely, Pete. Overseers rarely interact with players. They are charged with ensuring the smooth running of the Dominion Ultrimax Contest as far as it relates to the governance of the host world. I cannot recall another instance when an Overseer intervened directly in the game like this, however. In fact, the role tends to be more ceremonial than practical. Most of the duties of the Overseer will be handled by underlings.

  Sam, Coop, and Pete all watched as the hovering head of the Overseer moved closer, shining more brightly and showing more details of Augustus Greedwell’s goblin face. Pete immediately noticed what he had first taken to be a piercing on the goblin’s left cheek, but which he now realized was a bruise with what looked like a ring mark at the center of it. Clearly, the Overseer had recently been punched, and hard enough to leave a mark. Pete didn’t need to guess which diminutive, power-hungry baron had made that mark.

  

  >> The opportunity is as follows. Instead of the regular timeframe, you now have just three hours to reach the Novice Arena. Various obstacles will be placed in your way, of course, but if you triumph, you will each be rewarded with twenty Core Attribute points! You will also be able to gain monetary rewards, loot, and Core Attribute points from any enemies or challenges you face whilst heading to the Novice Arena. There will be three primary phases to this challenge, each increasing in difficulty and providing great opportunity for explosive action and high-stakes betting!

  Pete turned to Sam. “Three hours? What the fuck?!”

  “We could make it in under an hour if we go hard,” Sam replied. “But that’s without any obstacles.”

  Coop snorted. “They’re gonna make us run the gauntlet. Bastards will send everything they have at us.”

  

  >> If you manage to reach the Novice Arena ahead of time, you will also be awarded an additional reward of a thousand Belch Bucks per minute ahead of the deadline.

  The goblin paused for a moment, and Pete realized that this was most likely to allow time for the viewers who were undoubtedly watching the whole affair on the feeds to catch up. There would probably be betting going on as well, with Dominion citizens already wagering on whether Pete and his crew would survive and, if they did, how close to the deadline they would reach the Novice Arena.

  Craig’s head poked through the gap between the front seats of the RV, with Grizzle and Torgo on either side. They watched with undisguised hatred as the Overseer continued.

  

  >> Of course, you’ll need some motivation to ensure that you stay on task throughout the encounter, and what better way to stay motivated than by using a well-worn trope from many of your own hooman stories.

  The head seemed to move back a little, and a body appeared, arms stretched out wide, his newly revealed body clothed in a bright green suit.

  

  >> Behold, the princess in distress, waiting for rescue from her beloved prince.

  Pete watched in confusion as a second figure materialized in front of the Overseer. There was a woman sitting in a seat of some sort, tied in place with rope. That seat was dangling over what seemed to be a huge vat of acid or lava; he couldn’t tell which.

  It was only as the perspective of the holographic forms shifted and zoomed in on the woman that Pete saw the full horror of what he was being presented with. His mother sat tied to the chair, eyes wide with fear and confusion, her mouth gagged as she looked left and right.

  Pete felt his gut twist in knots as rage instantly roared between his ears.

  “You fucking bastard!” he shouted. “I’ll kill you!”

  Either unable to hear Pete or caring nothing for his words, the Overseer continued, still wearing his smug smile.

  

  >> This particular princess will be slowly lowered into a vat of Goretusk acid over the next three hours, timed so that her little hooman toes won’t actually touch the acidic liquid until the clock strikes three hours precisely. Should you fail to reach her in time, you will of course forfeit all the rewards for the challenge, but you may yet recover your princess…in part at least, provided you don’t reach her too late.

  “FUCK!” Pete shouted, smashing a fist against the dashboard so violently that Coop was dislodged from around his neck and went scurrying off onto Sam’s lap. “Fucking…FUCK!”

  To their credit, neither Sam nor anyone else in the RV told him to calm down. Instead, they all stared ahead at the huge goblin head as Pete’s mother vanished from view and the Overseer resumed his former position.

  

  >> You’ve been the standout surprise in this season’s contest so far, Vault Breaker, so we can’t wait to see how you perform. As for those viewing from home, now’s the time to start betting on the outcome of this challenge. Here’s a quick look at some of the enemies the Vault Breaker and his band of misfits will face on their way through the challenge to assist you in your bets.

  >> BETTING SURGE TRIGGERED!

  TOP OPTIONS:

  +| Vault Breaker is killed prior to reaching the princess

  +| Vault Breaker reaches the princess with more than 50% of her body dissolved by acid

  +| Vault Breaker reaches the princess with less than 50% of her body dissolved by acid.

  +| Vault Breaker refuses the challenge and arrives after the challenge ends.

  BODILY DISMEMBERMENT OPTIONS:

  +| Vault Breaker loses an eye.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  +| Vault Breaker loses a limb.

  +| Vault Breaker loses one testicle and one other organ.

  Pete stopped reading the absurd list of bodily injuries as it scrolled down his display. He forced himself into something like calm as he realized that the whole point of this was to infuriate him. Tongsly Belch had obviously had enough of Pete publicly calling him out and had decided to take more direct action against him. This challenge was nothing but another attempt to kill Pete, but in a way that would undoubtedly net the High Baron even more cash.

  Pete wondered whether this was the reason why the System had offered the Berserker subclass option in the first place. They wanted him to be wild and unsettled because it would be entertaining and, more importantly, because he was much more likely to fight himself into an early grave.

  The use of Pete’s mother. The absurdly short timeframe. Listing all the possible ways in which he would fail. All of these were simply designed to make him so infuriated that he wouldn’t be thinking straight. But Pete wasn’t going to play that game. He wasn’t going to let his mind wander down the path of all the horrible things that could happen to his mother if he didn’t finish the challenge in time. He wasn’t going to consider what failure would look like.

  Instead, he pictured himself standing above the Overseer, the smug smile wiped off the goblin’s face as Pete strangled the life out of the little bastard. That fueled an internal rage that he held in store, a cold fury that he pressed deep down inside.

  

  >> Okay then, Vault Breaker. Good luck. Your time starts…NOW!

  The moment a countdown clock appeared on Pete’s display, Sam slammed her boot down on the accelerator, and the RV took off to the accompanying screech of squealing tires. Craig and his fellow goblins were thrown back into the rear cabin of the Winnebago while the RV fishtailed down the road.

  Sam turned to face Pete, cold determination behind her eyes.

  “We’re gonna do this,” she said. “No matter what these fuckers throw at us. We’ll get to your mom.”

  He nodded. “Won’t be easy. Coop is right. This bastard is going to throw everything he has at us.” He turned to her. “You saw the ring mark on his face, right?”

  “Of course. I’m looking forward to making a mark of my own if we ever find the little goblin fucker.” She turned around to Craig and the others in the rear cabin. “No offense.”

  “The Overseer is no friend of ours,” Craig said, settling down in a seat as the RV swerved sharply to the right and then back to the left. “And we will also assist you, Pete. The Company seeks to make a mockery of all that we care for. Such cruelty must be answered with violence.”

  “Here, here,” Coop said, shuffling off Sam’s lap and resuming her place around the back of Pete’s neck.

  A message appeared on his HUD, and Pete pulled out his comms unit.

  Ollie: Dude, saw that [REDACTED] Overseer [REDACTED]. I’ll come help as soon as I can. Save your mom, then we’ll [REDACTED] that little green [REDACTED] until he [REDACTED] out of his [REDACTED] and he has to brush his teeth through his [REDACTED].

  Pete chuckled in response, noting just how much the message would have cost Ollie to send and feeling sure once more that, regardless of his status as a Reaver or not, Ollie was on his side. He thumbed back a message, trying to keep costs down while still relaying his thanks.

  Pete: Thanks, dude.

  Ollie’s response came back almost immediately.

  Ollie: FUCK YEAH!

  Tires screeched as Sam wrenched the steering wheel sharply to the left. Pete was slammed against the door while Coop sunk her claws into his neck in order to stop from being flung off his shoulders. He grimaced, reaching up to grab the ferret.

  “Fuck! Enough with the claws already!”

  “Don’t blame me,” Coop barked back. “Blame the crazy witch at the wheel!”

  “Sorry!” Sam shouted as she turned the wheel the other way and the RV’s tires squealed once more. “Shit! Did you see that?! There’s something running alongside us. Looked like it was going to try and ram into the RV, and it looked like—”

  

  >> SPECIAL ENCOUNTER PHASE ONE

  >> GOBLINS ON GEARHOUNDS!

  Survive a stampede of Gearhound Goblins and you’ll earn yourself a special reward! Slow down, stop the vehicle, and you will fail this phase of the encounter and pay the penalty. You’ll probably also be gutted by a pack of crazed goblins with machine parts fused to their brains and a habit of eating dead players.

  ENCOUNTER REWARD: 5 Core Attribute Points

  ENCOUNTER FAILURE PENALTY: Seized Gears Debuff [1 hr]

  “Nero?” Pete asked as the RV continued to race along the road. “What the fuck is a Seized Gears Debuff?”

  [Nero] The vehicle will be forcibly stopped, and you will each be unable to move for the duration of the debuff. You will still be able to fight and use your various abilities, but you will have to do so whilst inside the vehicle in whatever position you are in when the debuff takes effect.

  “So we’ll be sitting ducks then?”

  [Nero] Sitting ducks. Fish in a barrel. Lambs to the slaughter. Each of these is a fitting idiom that would describe your circumstances if you suffer the Seized Gears Debuff.

  “You forgot royally fucked!” Pete added as he looked out the window and spotted something moving parallel to the RV about thirty feet away.

  The only light in the area was coming from the dull green shielding that covered all the residential buildings and the spill of headlights from the Winnebago, so the figure was difficult to make out. As he tried to focus, Coop climbed down off his shoulder and peered out the window.

  “Am I going crazy?” Pete asked, “Or does that look like one of those goblin boar riders we fought yesterday morning?”

  “Much bigger,” Coop said. “But you’re not wrong.”

  A flash of light reflected off an upturned car, illuminating the figure riding alongside the RV, and Pete caught a quick view of a huge, dog-like creature that looked like it was entirely mechanical. A goblin rider was sitting on top of the huge, mechanized beast, in an open cabin with something like a steering wheel in front of it.

  Pete couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw gun barrels jutting out from the side of the car-sized hound and thought that there might have been a dull light coming from the barrels. He opened his mouth to say as much when he caught sight of a second and third goblin rider just beside the first, along with others further back in the darkness.

  “Ah, did Orin say how strong our new shield is?”

  Sam was laser-focused on the road ahead, her grip tight on the steering wheel. “Enough to take some light damage and protect us from the Coinflayer Storm for an hour or so.”

  Pete nodded. “Right. And how do you think it would go against cannons?”

  She quickly turned to face him. “Cannons?”

  He threw a thumb over his shoulder. “Whatever these fuckers are, they’ve got some kind of cannon. A bunch of them, actually, all pointed at us.”

  Sam turned back to face the road ahead as a description appeared on Pete’s display.

  

  >> NON PLAYER CAPITALIST [NPC] CLAN

  NAME: Gearhound Goblins

  TYPE: Mounted Raider / Tech-Saboteur

  THREAT TIER: Mid (Unstable Engineering Risk)

  >> CLAN DESCRIPTION:

  Gearhound Goblins are feral engineers who have abandoned traditional mounts in favor of their own violently improvised creations. Their “Gearhounds” are piston-legged, scrap-forged mechanical beasts built from scavenged servo joints, industrial grinders, and whatever explosives a goblin can cram into a chassis. A Gearhound is never truly stable—steam pops, gears scream, and metal plates constantly shake loose—but in the hands of a goblin rider, that instability becomes a weapon.

  >> OFFENSIVE ABILITIES:

  +| RAM RAM

  The Gearhound rams into its foe, using heavy-duty ram bars and side spikes to crush, gouge, and ram other vehicles and enemies to deadly effect. Given the instability of Gearhounds—the likelihood that they might explode at any moment due to the excessive use of unstable materials and shoddy workmanship—ram damage can range from mild to catastrophic.

  +| GEAR-GNAW RUSH

  The Gearhound accelerates into a piston-driven lunge, jaws spinning with rotary blades. It deals high shredding damage and applies Metal Rend, a stacking armor-break effect. Enemies struck suffer reduced defense for the next few seconds as the Gearhound’s teeth tear through plating and flesh alike.

  +| SCRAP-LAUNCH IMPACTOR

  The goblin triggers an improvised cannon, which launches a chunk of compacted metal surrounding an explosive core. On each hit, the projectile explodes into razor debris, dealing impact damage plus bonus fragmentation damage to nearby enemies. Targets struck by the main projectile suffer System Unbalance, reducing their accuracy and disrupting targeting modules.

  >> UTILITY / PASSIVE TRAITS

  +| JAMMER HOWL

  The Gearhound emits a mechanical screech that disrupts scanning equipment and magical detection fields. Enemies within range suffer reduced tracking accuracy and slowed lock-on times.

  “They’re gonna ram us!” Pete shouted as the closest Gearhound veered directly toward the RV, the barrel of its two side cannons flaring with bright yellow light a moment before it fired.