[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjk2LjAwMDAwMC5UV1Z6YzJWdVoyVnlJRzltSUVSbFlYUm8uMA/rise-of-kingdom.regular.png[/img][/center] [indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=black][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] Enos blinked, “Guys… Atlas isn’t getting back up.” [color=green]“What’d’ya mean he ain’t getting up? That’s not normal.”[/color] “I’m using as much magical energy as I can, but he’s… not healing. He’s bleeding out.” [color=378E75]“Players don’t bleed out in Pariah.”[/color] Aaginim frowned as he kneeled down, checking for Atlas’ pulse. It wasn’t a normal thing to check for, but between his own instincts as the son of a nurse and all of the weird things that were happening it made some modicum of sense to the blonde-haired tank. As his fingers touched the man’s neck Aaginim’s eyes widened and he took a step back, looking at his hand in shock. Atlas wasn’t bleeding out. [i]He was dead.[/i] The ogre had crushed his body with his bare hands before throwing him aside, as the rest of them focused on the ambush of goblins and ogres. They were dealt with now, but Atlas wasn’t getting back up. Between the pain Siegfried had witnessed by a stray goblin arrow and the fatigue Priscilia was feeling from her spells… this was going well beyond a glitch. They needed to turn back but he knew the way they came was blocked off. He wasn’t sure they would be able to force their way out and they had no intent to go through the room of fire and lightning traps all over again. [color=D2D586]“He’s dead.”[/color] He said, [color=D2D586]“The ogre… killed him.”[/color] He turned to look at Enos and then at Luci. People didn’t die in Pariah. They got back up and you’d heal them, but it was as if Atlas had been crushed in a car accident. He was gone. What the hell was happening? “It’s my fault.” Enos said, cutting the silence, “I shoul—I should’ve done something else. We knew these glitches were messing with us. We knew… and I killed him.” [color=C4407A]“You didn’t kill him, Enos.”[/color] Enos looked down at the ground as he fell to his knees, dejected. [color=C4407A]“Enos, you—”[/color] The pink-haired spellcaster held up her arm as a bright flash of light materialized in front of them, [color=C4407A]“—wait, what the hell is that?”[/color] They were about to get their answer. [color=2E2C2C]- -[/color] [color=gray][sub][right][color=white][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Dungeon, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color] [hr] It didn’t take long for the group to move out of the room as the ceiling came downward, eventually reaching the floor with a loud click. For those just at the doorway if they looked back there would be nothing but a stone wall. As they regrouped at a clearing Rael hunched against a near wall before observing everyone’s conditions closely. The fatigue, the pain, the confusion. It was likely that she was trying to piece things together but she couldn’t imagine what. “Glitches are getting worse.” She remarked before asking if Graves was okay. It was out of character for the snarky rogue to care but this wasn’t a time to play pretend bully or edgy asshole. She had played since her father brought back the periphal for Pariah Online a few days before its official release. Her father was on the Board of Directors for the Mizushima Gaming Corporation. It was why she got access early when the kinks were being polished pre-release. The glitches she had seen in her year of playing had never been this weird and potentially dangerous. The neurological technology was fascinating and she had been going to school for computer programming and data management. The ramifications of you being harmed in your dreams were never something one had to worry about, but what if someone messed with that, too? What if some elaborate hacker was trying to punish them out of some sick desire to put gamers in their place? It wasn’t the best hypothesis but it was the best one she could make. [color=#A84B5E]“I can’t access my console menu. We’re vulnerable. This—”[/color] As Rael was about to explain her hypothesis a bright light materialized before them. A hologram. A game attendant. She hadn’t seen one of them in months since they talked about some tweaks to the framework and that their console controls would be unavailable. Finally. Some answers. [center][youtube]https://youtu.be/Gc0Yd3-4bzU[/youtube][/center] [color=gray]“Greetings, wayfarers from all walks of life! We entities from beyond the veil require your immediate attention no matter what you are doing! It appears that—”[/color] The projected image’s wide smile dropped into an immediate frown. Rael raised a brow as she looked on to what was basically a game moderator break character. Suffice to say her curiosity was piqued. [color=gray]“—who am I kidding, I can’t do this like some idiot cosplayer.”[/color] [color=gray]“There’s been a priority one issue with all servers to the game and we ask you to retreat to somewhere safe [i]immediately.[/i] This is [b]not[/b] a prank or a joke. This is serious. The connection to your devices has been corrupted so much to the point we cannot log you out or adjust the issue and we have been trying for several hours. It is best noted for your personal safety that you immediately vacate your current quests until the issue is resolved.”[/color] Rael nodded, this much she had figured out. This was a hack, not a glitch. This was intentional. It was good that she was right, but admittedly she didn’t feel too great being right for the first time in her life. [color=gray]“If your life energy is depleted to zero you will… you will [i]die.[/i] Not your character. Not your avatar. [i]You[/i] will [i]die.[/i] Whoever is endangering the system has caused it that if you die you will go braindead. We are unsure why this error is even possible, but due to several reports it is very much the case. We will attempt to keep you updated. We are trying our hardest to keep you alive but something is very wrong. You need to bunker down. Please stay alive. We will keep you updated and we will punish whoever is doing this.”[/color] Rael blinked as the manifestation of the attendant faded from ‘existence’. Leaving her group… and likely Aagnim’s to ponder what they were going to do when they were stuck in the middle of a dungeon. They couldn’t go back. There was no going back, only forward. She looked to her companions and immediately saw their armor crack. [/indent] [/indent][/indent]