A group of bloodied and battered people with fair skin and long-pointed ears were standing atop a hill of ancient corpses, they were surrounded by a sea of reanimated skeletons wearing ominous black armor and brandishing terrifying weapons. It had been raining for the last hour, resulting in a terrible storm that further harried at the group of survivors.
They were at their wits end, as some of them had finally run out of magic power, slumping to their knees as they sobbed, helpless. The horde was too great; it was only a matter of time before they would be consumed by this black sea of death.
One out of the group, a woman with long, blonde hair, and wearing a dazzling suit of white armor, was the last one to hold out as she kept her blade at the ready; desperately swinging and cleaving away at the skeletons with the last of her might.
But even she saw there was no hope left, that death would surely come for her as well.
One of the skeletal horrors, a hulking eight-foot monstrosity made of multiple skeletal bodies with pure evil in its red eyes lunged at her with its sharpened gauntlets aimed for her exposed throat.
It was too little, too late-- the woman in white armor wasn't able to block its attack.
She closed her eyes as she gave a silent prayer in the blink of her final moment. She prayed not for herself, but for those behind her, for the people she cared for and had made a sword duty to protect.
She tried to make her peace... but a fury engulfed her.
Why wasn't I stronger? Why hadn't I tried harder? She thought.
But even this fury extinguished itself, as she knew it was hopeless.
Soon, it will all be over...
But her death didn't come, instead, she opened her eyes.
There was a hooded being dressed in all white, he stood before her as he held the gauntlet of the skeletal monstrosity at bay. It was an impossible feat, as he effortlessly held the tip of the monster's gauntlet with a pinch of his fingers.
The most striking detail about him, was the intricate golden circlet that hovered above his head, it slowly rotating as it emitted a soft, glowing light that seemed to vitalize her the longer she stared at it. And no matter how hard the rain fell upon him, not a single drop managed to touch or drench him.
"Are you alright?" He asked without looking at her. His voice was perfectly clear in the wind and rain, it emanated a regal bearing, like that of a true-born ruler, or even a deity.
Yet even with his overpowering aura, his voice had an instilling kindness that seemed to put her at ease.
But she wasn't able to answer him, as she was still too shocked to regain composure. All she could was stare at him dumbfounded, reflexively holding her blade up at him as a near-death reflex. She knew this was foolish, but she couldn't stop herself from trying to protect the group behind her, even at the expense of this man whom she had no animosity toward.
"I see... I guess you've been through a lot, I know how it is with heroic-types like you." He said with a chuckle.
"I''ll try to use something simple; nothing too flashy."
---
Ben Renley is a twenty-eight-year-old man working as a full-time middle-management manager at the Whelman Company, a company that specializes in making door hinges. He has a thin-framed, scruffy look to him that resulted in him being given a nickname behind his back by his coworkers-- Manager Squirrel.
Mild-mannered, unobtrusive, and timid, there wasn't much known about him beyond the fact that he has a sweet tooth with how often he'd bring cake to the company refrigerator. This has left him as a sort of enigma for his co-workers at Whelman, as the others were more socially adept compared to his more wallflower nature. But this is not because he willingly wants to be unknown, but more so because he as a natural affinity of being 'forgettable'. If he was in an adventure novel, he'd be a nameless NPC that the hero would never meet-- or so he'd think, anyway.
This time, instead of his usual unassuming company uniform of a dark-grey suit, he was instead wearing a knitted disaster of a sweater, it was the color of boiled lobster and had the poorly sewn words of 'Merry Christmas' on it in bold green at the center. He was wearing this because he had made it, as an effort to show he had hobbies beyond being a recluse.
"N-Nice sweater, Renley." One of his coworkers, a youthful junior, said with a smirk as he drank his beer. He was wearing a Santa hat, but it was the sort that one would buy at a store, it was quality made and not the least odd looking for the Christmas party.
"Thanks, I made it myself and--"
"A-Ahaha, my drink is empty, I should get another!" His junior said, quickly walking away as he made a beeline to the serving table.
It's obvious you haven't even gotten through half of your beer, asshole! Ben thought, cursing at his junior internally as he managed to maintain his ever-understanding poker face, the kind he always kept on at work no matter how bad things got. It's why his boss has been able to get away with giving him more assignments without increasing his pay, or why even his juniors can get away with slights against him, it was his tempered patience that made him an easy target for others to take advantage of.
He looked at his sweater and felt bitter. I worked really hard on it, but... it looks like shit.
Needing to escape the atmosphere of other's looking at his ugly Christmas sweater, he decided it was time to get some fresh air and enjoy a smoke.
Leaving the room, he entered the balcony that overlooked the city. It was currently late into the evening; the city's lights were out in full display illuminating everything in a bright glow.
Nghh, when I retire, I'll leave for somewhere more easy-going, like the countryside.
"Hey, I was looking for you." A voice called out to him from the balcony's doorway, Ben had begun lighting his cigarette as he looked behind him.
A tall, athletic man with jet-black hair dressed in a cool leather jacket had entered the balcony. He was the sort that could be mistaken for a celebrity with how handsome he was. A fair share of the girls in the company had even formed a secret group chat in concerns of forming an alliance because of him, to ensure that no one would ask him out as it'd ruin the careful harmony of the women working there.
His name was Zack Whelman, the son of the company's founder. The only festive thing he was wearing was a small gold pin on his jacket that read 'Merry Christmas' in cursive letters; even his taste in something like Christmas was cool.
"Hey." Ben casually said as he took a drag of his cigarette, not giving his usual polite nod or attention to him.
"Thanks for sharing." Zack said as he took the cigarette from Ben's lips and took a drag of it himself, giving a greedy puff out into the air.
"I wasn't done with that!" Ben said, taking it back from him in a huff.
"Hah! I guess it's good to see you can still be crotchety, you're too much of a robot with the others., y'know" Zack said, nudging Ben on the shoulder with a playful punch.
For the outside viewer, seeing the shining star of the Whelman company interacting so familiarly with the nobody background character of a middle-management NPC such as Manager Squirrel would seem like fantasy. But for these two, they shared a secret that no one else in the company knew about.
"So..." Zack said as he leaned against the railing, gazing off at the city.
"Yeah?" Ben mumbled, taking another drag.
"How was it? Did you get anything good?" He asked, playing around the subject.
"Heh..." Ben gave an ominous smirk, it made him look villainous, almost weasel-like with how wiry he was.
"You look like a dead fish when you smile like that." Zack said as he gave a chuckle.
"I-It's not my fault I was born this way! Ugh, but to answer your question... I managed to get 'it'."
Zack looked at him with awe as he clenched the railing in surprise.
"N-No way! You got the legendary raiment!?" He exclaimed; he had a sparkle in his eye as he got very close to Ben's face.
"9th owner in the server, it dropped, and I got a perfect roll for it." Ben said as he pointed to the sky like a hero aiming for the top.
"Luckyyy... please, teach me your ways, o' master!" Zack said as he began to bow vigorously toward him.
"K-Knock it off, would you!? If anyone else saw you like this, I'd think I'd be given death threats!" Ben said, taking a step away from him.
For this legendary raiment that Zack had mentioned, it was context to the popular VRMMORPG that he and Ben played in secret whenever they had free time, Magisaga Online. Set in a fantasy world of magic knights, over 1 million players worldwide played the game concurrently. And as for the legendary raiment itself, it was a unique item that had an extraordinary 0.001% drop rate chance from a rare world boss.
Both Ben and Zack had been playing this game together for the last three years now, and their friendship spanning over fifteen years overall, since middle school. This friendship of theirs, however, has been a solely online sort of one, with all of their time spent together playing MMORPGs. No one else knew about this, as it was kept quite under wraps as a secret friendship between comrades wanting to unwind in a video game.
"B-But..." Zack looked at him tearfully but managed to regain his composure as he cleared his throat.
"You're right, that was a little unbecoming of me, especially as a Blood Samurai, heh." Zack said as he pretended to sheath a katana at his hip.
C-Cringe! Ben thought, grimacing at the handsome man's geeky display. If he wasn't so handsome, he'd be crucified for being such a dork, but Zack was the living embodiment of pretty privilege in this cruel, cruel world.
Ben sighed as he returned to leaning against the railing, crossing his arms.
"So, when're you going to log back in, anyway? If you do, I can maaaybe help you get one too." Ben said as he tried to be nonchalant.
"We can camp the spawn-zone and grief some groups if they get too close. With your Blood Honor Skill you can set up a duel zone and cheese some noobs while I keep your heals up, that way we can tag the boss when it spawns even if another group tags it first..."
Ben continued on a long rant of potential strategies for getting Zack the legendary raiment, proposing late-night setups and weekend-long encampments to get him to become the 10th owner. He didn't realize that Zack's face had gotten sullen, only finally stopping as Zack gave a weak chuckle.
"What's the matter? You ain't got it in you? You have the server's best support in your pocket for crying out loud, we can definitely duo it no problem."
"It's not that..." Zack looked away, but Ben could tell he had a pained expression.
"I'm... being sent off overseas to open up a new branch." He said, not looking at Ben in the eye.
"So? It's not like you can't bring your computer with you, what's the problem?" He said, not seeing the issue.
"It's serious, Dad... I mean, the boss is really adamant about me inheriting the company, so he's also having me get my master's in business."
"But, you can at least give up an hour a day, right... a true gamer can always find time to play"
"He also wants me to start seriously looking for a wife. He wants grandchildren, he wants me to be ready to become a full-fledged heir."
A silence fell the both of them as they stared off at different directions as a cool breeze blanketed the balcony.
"I see... you're going to be hopelessly busy, is that it." Ben said, his previously grouchy demeanor shedding to reveal a calm and collected one.
"Are you going to be alright?" Zack asked.
"Don't worry about me, everything should be fine." Ben said, not looking at him in the eye.
"We're just online friends, stuff like this is bound to never last, it's normal for it to eventually end." He continued in a calm tone.
"You're right, this is normal." Zack agreed.
"Okay, well, if you're okay with it, then I'm happy." Zack said as he regained some pep to himself.
"Maybe once my old man's off my back, we can play again! It'll be a few years from now, though. But until then, this is the last time we'll see each other-- my flight leaves for tomorrow morning."
"Thanks for all the fun we've had, let's play again together someday!" Zack cheerily said as he made his exit, returning to the party as he immediately intermingled into the greater group inside.
Ben said nothing as he gave him a silent wave, he took another drag of his dwindling cigarette as he watched him become a social butterfly inside.
For people like Zack, they can live lives meant for greatness, for fulfillment.
But for people like Ben, their fulfillment lies in the things they work hard for, for the niche joy that they eek out for themselves when there is none anywhere else.
He had no other friends, he had no family, no fortune awaiting him, and no lover back home.
All he had was this job as a middle-management lackey and his passion to play MMORPGs of all kinds. This passion has led to him becoming an expert player, a diehard gamer who strives to become the best of his class.
Ben Renley is a nobody in the real world, but in the virtual world, he is somebody.
Ah... it's late.
I should head home.
Ben thought as he let the cigarette die out between his fingers.
---