I’m reaching my limit. Not just with this tunnel, with the whole damn game! Did I really tell Link Tetra Chronicles was fun? Was I out of my mind? I’m so sick of this place—endless tunnels and no way out. No matter how many times I check my map, it won’t work. It’s just black. And not only that!

  My inventory bag has also reached its limit, so full it’s nearly bursting at the seams. If I get one more unique monster drop, I’ll have to either leave it, or start throwing stuff away to keep it. This worry weighs heavily on my mind as I continue through the endless tunnels, searching for a way out. Then, after rounding another corner, my eyes are greeted with a most unexpected sight.

  Ari! That bastard! Floating on his belly in midair and talking to—a goblin?!

  What is this language? It sounds like a parody of something from the latest Star Wars movie that came out last Christmas, Fourth Reboot of the Prequel, the Pursuit of Even More Money!

  Of course Ari can actually understand that thing. He’s the soul of the game, after all, there’d be no monster he can’t communicate with. Well, maybe he’d like to translate this?! I show him a hand gesture from my world he seems to know the meaning of well, since it sends him into giggling fits.

  “Revelator, my friend,” he greets me with wide spread arms. “So nice to see you again.”

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “This here is Yock, have you met?” Ari indicates to the little yellowish green goblin dressed in commoner’s garb, whose head barely comes to my hip.

  “Doubtful, though I may have met a few of his cousins in the hall back there,” I reply, and Ari smirks. Then he turns to the goblin and says something unintelligible. The goblin replies. Their exchange goes on a few more seconds.

  “Yock here is a merchant by trade, did you know?”

  “I did not,” I reply sarcastically.

  “He says he’d be willing to trade with you. Come, have a look at his wares,” he says, stepping aside to reveal a little cart the goblin has set up in this random corner of the cave. I feel my eyes might bug out of my head. Is he serious right now?

  Hesitantly, I approach the goblin’s cart. The little fellow has already waddled over behind it, and now glares up at me with shrewd eyes.

  I offer him cyclops spider eyes from my pack, valued at 20 cp a piece. He takes them and gives me the appropriate amount of money in return. My mouth falls open. I look to Ari who sits casually atop an empty wall sconce, legs crossed, hat tilted over his eyes, a knowing smirk on his pretty boy face. As quickly as I can I unload the rest of my non-craftable items. Then I stop to consider what’s left.

  Forty-two wolf hides from my quest for Penelope. It’s true I learned the recipe for making a Wolf Pelt Cloak, but I haven’t got the patience to mess about with something like that right now. Besides, it will only remind me of—

  “Make them.”

  I look over to Ari, startled. I forget this guy can read my mind.

  “Why should I?”

  “Your Armor Crafting skill is about to level up. Once you get it to level six, you’ll be able to choose between leather and forged armor specialization.”

  “You mean—”

  “You’ll be able to make better gear for yourself.”

  Aw, yisss!

  I plunk down right where I am and start making the cloaks. It takes me some time, but what’s time in a place like this?

  “Ah. Keep two wolf hides,” Ari says as I’m nearing the end of my stack.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll need them later.”

  “For what?” I ask, but he does not answer.

  I’m tempted to ignore his advice, to use them up purely out of spite, but a part of me holds back. Curious what I might need them for.

  By the time I’m finished, just as Ari said, my Armor Crafting has reached level 5, and I have an inventory full of capes to sell. Fortunately I’ve got my very own goblin merchant right here. As I interact with Yock, over my shoulder Ari speaks to him in the goblin language. Suddenly four silver disappear from my screen.

  “What the—”

  “Yock just taught you the skill for Mining. That will come in handy down here, and when you start forging your new gear. Don’t forget to buy a pickaxe.”

  [Mining level 1: You can detect and extract common ores.

  Chance to detect common ore: 30%]

  But what’s this? Together with Mining, I have eleven skills? This is new.

  “You unlocked a new skill slot when you reached level 10, didn’t you know?” Ari’s smile mocks me.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  This guy. I should be mad at him. I should be cussing him out for getting me stuck down here in the first place. But I’m torn, feeling gratitude for all the help he’s just offered me.

  Once more reading my thoughts, Ari grins.

  “Thought you were too proud to accept my help. Thought it was cheating.”

  “You’re the one who cheated when you threw me down here. I was supposed to be in Area Three by now, not trapped in this endless dungeon.”

  Ari just laughs. He makes a motion at Yock the goblin merchant who packs up and rolls his cart away. Then he holds his hand out to me with a flourish, producing a small set ruby token.

  “Any time you need the merchant, you can summon him with this.”

  It’s cheating, I think, considering the token. It’s definitely cheating. But hell if I care anymore! I snatch the gem from Ari and stuff it in my pack, relieved beyond words.

  “Anyway, where is this place?” I ask him as together we begin down the hall, me walking, Ari floating casually alongside me.

  “Just an area that never made it into full development. Too many people working on it, too many ideas. They couldn’t get it off the ground so they boarded it up, not intending for anyone to ever find it,” he says, gesturing for emphasis as a creepy clown riding a donkey comes charging down the hall with a machete. At the last moment, Ari makes us incorporeal, and the clown rides right through us and down the tunnel without taking any damage from my aura.

  “It did seem rather like that might be the case,” I say, choosing not to remark as we become corporeal again, and I resume my stride down the hall. “Then, is that why my map isn’t working down here?”

  “Bingo. It’s an unfinished area, so they never bothered mapping it. And I’ll just be the one to tell you, it’s huge. So don’t imagine you’ll find the exit any time soon.”

  “Well, I’d like to find the exit, thank you. Sometime today would be nice.”

  Ari laughs, and as always I can’t decide if the sound is pleasant or truly grating.

  “Hm, shall I help you?” he considers playfully. “Here, see that branch in the tunnel? One of these leads directly to the exit.”

  “Which one?”

  “The right.”

  I stride purposefully into the left and Ari laughs. He follows me into a maze even more twisting than before.

  “You were telling the truth after all!”

  “Was I? You’re very trusting, my friend.”

  “Then neither one led to the exit,” I realize with dismay.

  “Hahahahaha!”

  Ah! This guy is maddening! I can never tell if I should trust him or disbelieve every word that comes out of his mouth.

  “What do you get out of trapping me here, anyway?”

  “Well. It’s not as though I’ve anything better to do than play tricks on you.”

  “Why, you!”

  “Hahahahaha!” That laugh again! Grating! Definitely grating!

  “But in all seriousness,” he says. “You were so down before, after getting dumped by your girlfriend. There were moments you even seemed ready to give up on the game. And I couldn’t have that.”

  “I’m even more ready to quit now that you trapped me here!”

  “Don’t quit! There’s a way out, I promise.”

  “Where?!”

  “Hmm, just a little bit further.”

  “Which direction?!”

  “This way!” He cries abruptly, and he takes off flying through the tunnel. I chase after him, scrambling to keep up as he leads me through narrower and narrower tunnels. This asshole! Is he trying to get me more lost on purpose? I swear I’ve had it with him! If he doesn’t lead me out of here in the next five minutes I’m logging off and burning my capsule!

  I come to the end of a narrow tunnel. At least, I think it’s the end. That’s when I notice faint light coming from a hole in the ground. Looking down, I recognize Ari’s feather cap.

  “This way!”

  “You jerk! This had better be the exit or else!”

  “Hurry up!”

  With a grunt I lower myself feet first into the hole and drop onto a softly glowing platform. The light is coming from just ahead, but it doesn’t seem like sunlight. Curious, I move towards the glow, and the edge of the platform. And I gasp.

  Below me, stretching for miles, is a fantastic city of crystal and stone. It’s silent, seems abandoned. Like an ancient, untouched ruin.

  “What in the world?”

  Ari picks me up then, flies me gently down to the streets far below. I am thunderstruck as I look around at the ornate architecture. So beautiful. Structures carved from stone, arching elegantly. Others are carved of a white, pearl like crystal that shifts and glimmers in faintly rainbow colors. All around me are statues, features of stained glass depicting all manner of enchanting scenes. But even more fantastic than these are the shades.

  “People,” I murmur, watching them move through the streets, going here and there without a sound.

  “Ghosts,” Ari says, and I’m surprised to find him standing beside me for a change, and not hovering in the air.

  “Is this...the realm of the dead?”

  “Nothing like that. They are merely ghosts of ideas not fully formed. This city was meant to be a player destination before the game got a major overhaul, and like the tunnels, the area was scrapped completely. It represents six months of work. A certain dev couldn’t bring himself to scrub the server of it completely, so he left it here, buried, with no idea anyone would ever find it.”

  “Why show it to me?”

  “Hm?” Ari twinkles at me. “I wonder...”

  I tour the city like a man walking in a dream. The NPCs ignore me, but they smile at Ari, waving and even bowing to him. He accepts their attention disinterestedly, like a detached god.

  “Ah,” he says, stopping in front of a transparent, ghostly merchant. “Do you still have those wolf hides?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Talk to this guy. Buy his recipe for the Travel Pack.”

  “But—”

  “Just do it. My presence allows him to interact with you.”

  “Um, hello?” I say to the merchant, and to my surprise he smiles at me.

  “What can I interest you in, Traveler?”

  “Ah. Do you have a crafting recipe for a Travel Pack?”

  “I do. For you, my friend, ten silver pieces. Do we have a deal?” Befuddled, I hand over the coin, which falls through his ghostly fingers and onto the ground. But he doesn’t seem to notice. And in my pack, the recipe.

  “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  “Yeah...”

  “I’ll take those,” Ari says later, and I watch with dismay as he plucks the coins I retrieved from my palm. “Wouldn’t want you to accuse me of cheating.”

  “Hmph… Anyway, what’s this for?” I examine the recipe.

  [Travel pack, sturdy and spacious pack for adventurers.

  60 slot bag

  Material required:

  2 Wolf Pelts

  2 Linen

  3 Fine Thread]

  “It’s a recipe for a bigger pack. It has eighteen more slots than your current bag. They’ll come in handy, especially in this place.”

  “I realize this, but it’s a Tailoring recipe. That’s not a skill I have and my skills are maxed at eleven.”

  “Go learn Tailoring. This lady here will teach you.”

  “Over what?”

  “What do you think?” Ari prompts me, violet eyes sparkling. I consider his question very carefully.

  “Jewelcrafting,” I decide. “The amulets seem more and more tailored to spell casters.”

  “Precisely,” he confirms my thinking with a narrow grin. “You have no use for that skill. Of course, you have no use for Tailoring, either. But for now, get it to make the bag.

  “I can’t decide,” I say, glaring at him.

  “Can’t decide what?”

  “If taking your advice is cheating or not.”

  “Take it while I’m here, my friend,” Ari says, and for the first time I see a shadow of something like regret in his grin as he watches the shades of NPCs walk past him. “I won’t be around forever.”