Luckily, Eve didn’t try to sleep with me.

  She did undress in front of me before getting into her bed, though, and she kept looking down at my air mattress while I checked Wonderwind’s forums. She then mentioned that her bed did fit two if I was uncomfortable on the ground.

  Okay, maybe she did try to sleep with me. But the air mattress was plenty comfortable, and I wasn’t really in the mood to be completely honest.

  Before crashing into bed, I opened the mobile app and sent a message to you know who from my phone.

  Assassin: “I got your staff. Let me know when you’re online to distribute the items, I’ll be on in like 8 hours.”

  With that, I fell asleep within minutes.

  ***

  The clock read 3:31 PM when I woke up after a full night’s rest to a wave of messages on my phone—a few rather rude messages from PinkBerry and his guildmates, and another from Annath. Celestial Order’s guild leader. So I was probably in beef with those guys.

  Most importantly, I smiled as I saw three messages from Veyra in response to mine.

  Veyra: “Wait, really?”

  Veyra: “I’ll be on in eight hours too, then, I guess?”

  Veyra: “Where do we meet?”

  I grinned. What, did you think I’d run off and scam you?

  Assassin: “I’ll be in Renshire in an hour tops.”

  I rose from bed. Eve was still asleep, her face buried in her pillow and hair ruffled from moving around in her sleep. Quietly, I made it to the kitchen and living room combination, which was the only other room in her small apartment—alongside the bathroom, of course. Her apartment was clean for the standards of a Wonderwind player. As in, there was only one empty bag of chips under the kitchen table and a few paper plates here and there, but I could walk without having to push garbage out of the way. Far from spotless, but still nice and cozy.

  I boiled water for my last cup of instant noodles and took one of Eve’s single-use plastic forks. I sent her a text, saying, “Thanks, hit me up if you need someone assassinated.”

  Then I headed out with my cardboard box and called a cab to The Cave: the second best internet cafe in town.

  ***

  The Cave wasn’t nearly as atmospheric and comfortable as Ender’s Cafe, but it had one benefit that made it the ideal choice for my upcoming lifestyle.

  That being, this place was catered to absolute degenerates. Upon entering, the smell of sweat and dirty carpets welcomed me into a long hallway. Cell-like rooms surrounded it, though instead of steel bars, each room was blocked off with curtains. Some of the curtains were open, revealing the contents. Each room had precisely three things. A game pod, a tiny rollable mattress for sleeping, and a small locker for belongings.

  This place is literally the dystopia the boomers warned about, I thought, and I couldn’t have been happier to see that the place was still in business. The Cave offered one thing only, and that was semi-permanent residence to game addicts. The place was like a screwed-up hostel for game addicts. Many of the people who played here were homeless.

  Walking further, the place had a tiny canteen serving some shitty hot dogs, a bathroom, and a single shared shower, which was rarely used. I checked up at the counter to see a low resolution image of the pricing.

  24-hours: $50

  1 week: $300

  4 weeks: $1000

  Literally cheaper than rent, I thought, and for now, I paid three hundred for a week. My bank account didn’t have a full grand yet, since most of my wealth was stored up in items. Not to mention, I didn’t know if I wanted to stay for a full month yet.

  Regardless, I happily headed over to the pod I’d been assigned to and logged in.

  ***

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  Rayshire and its misty atmosphere welcomed me with its usual flocks of players. The aromas from The Cave disappeared, and I was back in fresh, cold air, surrounded by a city that New York could never match, even if all of its parking lots and highways gathered together.

  I was living in a matrix dystopia, and it was fucking awesome.

  Assassin: “I’m here now. Let’s meet in a tavern.”

  Veyra was already online. The system told me that, since she was on my friends list.

  I studied the city and entered the first generic brick tavern. It had a pretty wooden interior. A fireplace offered warmth with a miniature stone dragon head as a plaque in the wall. Dragonborn NPCs were drinking at the tables, and a system notification read [Join For Gossip]. Even while walking past, I could hear them talking about some quest details.

  I ignored them and booked a room for three copper—which was essentially free. Then I sent my location to Veyra. She said she was coming.

  [You are in a soundproof area. Discussions here cannot be overheard.]

  For some reason, I found myself nervously pacing around, as if I was about to be involved in some grand event. Except all I was doing was giving her her items back. If I wanted to, I could have pressured her for money and all that. She had betrayed me once, after all. Ultimately, I was in charge of the negotiations now.

  So what will I ask? I thought. Obviously, we should hunt together more. Should I ask to join her guild? Or is that too much? Maybe—

  A knock on the door made me flinch. I took a deep breath, straightened my cloak, and opened the door.

  Veyra stood there with her hands together close to her body and a cautious look on her face, as if she was entering some sort of scam. She eyed me warily as she entered the wooden room.

  Even still, I smiled at the sight of her. “Did you see the forum post?” I asked. “Everyone went crazy again.”

  “Meh, it’s just praise from a bunch of noobs,” Veyra said.

  “Deserved praise, though,” I said.

  Veyra looked away. “You said you had my staff. I don’t need the other items. You can keep the robin hood hat or whatever. But you said you had my staff. I can buy it from you.”

  “Yep, here it is,” I said, and I placed it in her hands.

  [You are transferring ownership of Legacy Of The Portal Mage to Veyra. yes/no?]

  I pressed yes, and the staff transferred to her inventory.

  Veyra blinked in surprise, and the cautiousness in her face disappeared entirely. She waved the staff around, as if to confirm that it was real, and that it was really hers.

  I felt warm inside as I watched. I couldn’t help but smile. “Ah, and here’s the hat,” I said, handing over, Demonspawn Bycocket, the Robin Hood hat. “That was your boss drop, right? Everything else in your inventory seemed to come from the players.”

  I then began laying out all of Cupcake Crew’s items on the table. It was mostly high mid-game gear, probably worth around seven grand in total. The boss drops were much more valuable. Still, seven grand was a lot of money.

  “Which ones do you want?” I asked. “I’m fine offering anything, as long as we divide them fairly.”

  Veyra’s mouth was stuck open as she stared at the items on the table. She held her staff close to her body, looking like she wanted to hug it. Then she looked at me with that same surprise.

  “You’re just… giving my staff back?” she asked.

  “Of course,” I said. “Your build revolves around it, does it not? You’d be set back by at least half a year if you lost it.”

  “I could pay for it,” she said.

  I flicked my wrist dismissively. “Nah, forget that. You died to a goddamned forced log-out. I’m not going to steal from you like that. I like money, but I’m not that desperate.”

  “I betrayed you, you know,” she said. “I ruined your quest.”

  “But you did it with class,” I said. “You left me alive. And because of you, I got a legendary dagger. Of course I’ll give you your staff back. That’s just basic decency, is it not?”

  She stared at me for a moment longer. Then she took a deep breath. “I suppose… But we are still Wonderwind players.”

  I noticed that my heart was racing. Veyra was flustered underneath her wide-brimmed witch’s hat. Seeing her like that… I hadn’t ever felt anything similar.

  “At least keep Cupcake Crew’s loot drops,” she said.

  “But you need money too, right?” I asked. “That’s why you stole the quest from me. Someone important to you needs money. That’s what you said. I can help you.”

  She bit her lip.

  “And in fact, I think we can both help each other,” I continued. “That’s the second reason why I invited you and sent you a friend request.”

  She lifted her head.

  “I’m an assassin,” I said. “I spy on top guilds, and I hunt their players for gear. When I hunt alone, I can usually kill one or two players before having to make an escape.” I looked her in the eye. “With you, we wiped full guilds like it was nothing. I haven’t earned gear like this in ages.” Ever.

  Veyra said nothing, but she clearly considered my words.

  “We should work together,” I said. “Like for real. Not just on whims like we have so far. Let’s actually team up and play the game together. Quests, guild wipes, whatever, all we need is each other and we’ll get rich.”

  She wasn’t nervous anymore, but contemplative. “You really don’t want to deal with me…”

  “Oh, really?” I asked. “I don’t want to grow rich with the best mage player in the world?”

  “I’m the solo mage for a reason,” Veyra said.

  “And who says we can’t be solo together?”

  She chuffed through her nose. “Solo together? What does that even mean?”

  “It means you should invite me to your guild. Or should I make one and invite you?”

  Veyra gave me a look, her cheeks slightly rising. “You’re a silly idiot, you know that? Fine. I’ll give your idea a shot. But this guild is my home. You’re staying as a recruit.”

  A system pop-up came.

  [You have been invited to join guild Solo Mage]

  - 572/1000 Followers

  - 56/100 ratings

  Patreon!