"She's only got ten thousand HP left! We're there, we're almost there!"
Yells of exhilaration spread like wildfire through the freezing battlefield. Thousands of players swarmed around the towering diamond dragon--with millions more waiting just beyond the bleak hills surrounding it all.
Jayden stood his ground, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash skill after skill. The timing had to be impeccable--otherwise, it was back to Haven Town for him.
Seraphine's claws swiped furiously across the air, frosty ice-breath following their arc. Jayden ducked, the late afternoon sun temporarily blocked out by the sheer size of the raging dragon.
"YO, CHAT!" someone shouted from his right. "It's the Jay119, god of Marelia, in action!! Can you believe this?!"
Jayden didn't turn his head. He couldn't afford to get distracted. But.. maybe he could afford one little reply.
"Bro, Nathan, the hell are you doing right now? Focus on Seraphine, not your goddamn livestream!" Jayden barked, but not angrily. "Your viewers see me all the time. Seriously, are you the co-lead of our guild or what?!"
One of the dragon's front legs flew toward them, at an impossible speed. For the normal players gathered all around, there was no time to react.
But to Jayden--it came like slow motion.
"Lightshield!" he hissed, throwing up his arms. A massive glowing shield, bright as the sun, materialized just a moment before claws as thick as tree trunks slammed down.
Jayden grunted, and the pressure desperately tried to force its way through the elemental construct. But nothing would shatter the shield of the game's second-ranked player.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Nathan giving him a thumbs up.
That's the signal, Jayden noted.
For a second, he'd doubted if Nathan would remember to actually do his job.
Seriously, how is that guy ranked behind me, and a popular streamer too? I swear, his brain is on distracted mode like half the time.
Jayden de-summoned his skill with a flourish, nodding back to his friend. The frizzy-haired boy swished his staff wildly, glowing runes flashing through his silver armor.
"Do it now!" Jayden roared above the glass shattering screech of Seraphine.
"YOU GOT IT, BOSS!" Nathan yelled. "STRENGTH OF A THOUSAND GIANTS, GO!!"
Cringing slightly at his friend's spell activation line, Jayden felt fire coursing through his body. Good. The buff spell worked its magic, filling him with renewed vigor.
Time to end this.
Using his newfound strength, he pushed off from the ground, defying gravity like its pull was under his absolute command.
Wow, I can see everyone from up here, even the people back at the hills.
The sight of endless players, all decked out in colors as varied as the rainbow, cheering together was truly one to beyond.
The ice-covered battlefield stretched for miles, beginning from the southern edges of the Dark Territory, where he and the players of Marelia were commanded to challenge Seraphine, the Diamond Dragon, Leo Van Haine's closest companion.
For years, many players had tried to fight her--and all failed. Seraphine was simply too strong.
Until just under a week ago, when the 50 top ranked players and their guilds all agreed--they had to fight together. There was no chance alone.
With the greatest collaboration the gaming world had ever seen, millions of others were inspired to join in. Together they had challenged her, together they had lured her far from her powerful ally.
Jayden had the honor of leading the fight, as the second-ranked player. Now, he faced the dragon from above. Just this one last hit--then everyone would share the sweet victory that only came after years of trying.
Heavenly Spear…!
Thunderous clouds came together from nothing, forming a massive spear of destructive lightning high above the dragon's head. Normally, the spear would only be enough to kill an unarmed player with one shot. But with Nathan's SSS-tier buff, it was multiplied beyond belief, enough to finish off a dragon.
With all of his might, Jayden focused sharply on his target, bringing the spear down. It had to hit. They only had one chance.
BOOM.
Shards of diamond and ice burst from the site of impact, with dust obscuring almost everything.
Jayden descended back down to ear-splitting cheers and screams.
"WE DID IT!"
"NO FUCKING SHOT! DID YOU RECORD EVERYTHING?!"
Seraphine's body vanished instantly, leaving no loot behind. Jayden supposed it wouldn't do for the forces to devolve into chaos for some ultra-rare items just after they had achieved something so monumental.
"Jayden!" Nathan panted, dashing up to him, and shaking him aggressively. "You killed it! The main quest can finally move on, after three damn years!"
Jayden shook his friend off. "Chill out. I just got the final blow. Everyone here did just as much as me. Maybe even more."
Nathan clicked his fingers, gesturing to the list of messages going so fast they were impossible for Jayden to read. "We love a humble king."
"Weirdo."
"Smile for the camera!" Nathan sang. "We're doing a live interview right here. For my viewers, as well as all of them." he pointed toward the crowds gathered at every angle.
Jayden glanced around. Though everyone was talking excitedly, countless eyes were definitely on him.
Suddenly, like someone had just put dirty glass in front of his face, they all seemed… blurry.
He blinked, rubbing his eyes. Was it mana exhaustion? But he had plenty left, he was sure of it.
His HP wasn't low, either. Nor was he cursed, or under any other status effects, other than the buff.
"You good, man?" Nathan interrupted, waving his arms. "Did you stay up all night again? I told you--"
Blinding pain flashed through Jayden, and he staggered back.
How am I feeling pain? The neural headsets aren't supposed to be able to do that to you--
Darkness enveloped his vision, the same kind when you logged out from the headset. He was falling, falling away, and then… he felt himself lying on his bed, back in his room in the real world.
He panicked. He could feel the mattress beneath him, yet he still couldn't see. The pain persisted, like a knife in the back of his neck.
Something's wrong! He tried standing up, but his muscles wouldn't respond to him. He was paralyzed, and had no way to see what was happening or escape.
Jayden tried to yell out. He heard it through his inactive neural headset, but they were sound blocking. That shouldn't be possible.
He felt something pulling at the edge of his consciousness. Like tiredness, but it seemed like if he fell asleep, he'd never wake up.
"What's going on?!" he said, heart racing. "Wait… no…!"
Jayden lived alone, far away from his family. There was nobody to come, no one to save him from this terrifying experience. Maybe Nathen would log out and come to his apartment… but would it be too late, then?
An entire minute after these strange sensations started, black still took over everything. But now, it wasn't the normal darkness of going from the virtual world to reality.--this was something different.
Quickly, his voice stopped, working too. The emptiness invaded all other parts of him that still had feeling--
And just as suddenly as it had started, it was gone--but taking Jayden along with it.