New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

***In Constantine’s office, outside the game***

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New orders were coming in as a constant stream for gaming pods, as proof of the attraction of the game. People from all over the world were seeing the current cream of the crop and hoping to reach that level.

And for that to happen, they needed to play. Business was booming, and popularity was on the rise.

While she was focused on the statistics defiling on her screen, Constantine heard familiar footsteps in the hallway to her office.

Not long after, her assistant opened the glass door and entered. She was holding a file in her hand that had little body to it.

Constantine was slightly disappointed.

“Ma’am. This was all we could find on the player named Khalor.” The assistant said, handing her the file.

Constantine opened it and flash read through the documents. They were very basic things.

His name, date of birth, the schools he went to, and his last known address. But something was off.

“Are these dates accurate?” Constantine asked her assistant.

“Yes, Ma’am.” She replied.

“He dropped off the face of the Earth one week before the release of the game. This cannot be a coincidence.” Constantine mumbled.

She then looked at another paper in the file. It contained the bank accounts and physical actives of David Magnus before he disappeared.

“It says here he sold everything he had and wired all of his money to a different account. An offshore one.”

“This cannot be a coincidence.” Constantine said, frowning.

‘This man knows something.’ She thought.

All the trails went cold after that. No money trail, no houses, cars, or even a cell phone, for that matter.

“This man knew what he was doing, Ma’am.” The assistant said.

“Yes. This is no coincidence. I want you to hire the best hackers in the world. Find out from where he’s playing the game. I need to talk to him.” Constantine said.

She then closed the file and pushed it through a paper shredder. The shredded paper then fell down a shaft that led to an incinerator.

The assistant bowed before taking her leave. She would not come back until her task was complete.

‘Where are you, David Magnus? And why go silent all of a sudden?’ Constantine asked herself, crossing her hands.

She was looking intensely at the image on her screen that showed David, aka Khalor, appearing in the arena. It was now his turn to fight his first round.

Constantine did not doubt that the man would cakewalk this bout, as he had an advantage no one had. His Legacy.

***Back in the game***

Astaroth’s attention was now fully on the arena down below. In it, the man he so wanted to fight was standing.

And on his opposite side was a woman well known from the time of ‘ToB’, Mily Lightfoot.

Mily Lightfoot was a woman with a charming appearance and childish physical traits. She was what some would call a loli.

She liked to play classes and races that doubled down on her cuteness, and her choice here had been obvious. She was playing the Fey race, and her class was an offshoot of the Psychic class, the Siren.

The woman had gone all-in on the Fey appearance and was sporting the typical translucent wings, paired with silver chromatic hair.

Her childish features were accentuated by the Fey’s normal appearances and made her look like a young teenager. She was smiling delicately as she looked at Khalor.

The undead, on the other hand, was sporting his habitual cool, nonchalant, icy stare. Mily had a small umbrella in her hands, which was resting on her shoulder, shading her from the sun.

She twirled the umbrella, batting her eyelashes at her opponent.

“My my, mister number one. Even though your appearance is not the best, you sure look like a reliable man. Why don’t you let me win and come work under my umbrella?” Mily said, each word coming out as a tease.

“I’m sure together, we could become the very best there is.” She added, flashing a wink.

“Can it, deceiver. I’m immune to your childish charms. Plus, I’m already the very best. Why would I join you to attain what I already have?” Khalor said coldly.

The woman frowned.

“Your goal is to make me the strongest.” She pouted cutely.

“Wrong. My goal is to kill you and win this tournament.” Khalor replied, looking at the timer before the gong rang.

There were only a few seconds left.

“Fine, then!” Mily said, stomping her foot angrily.

“I’ll make you bow by force, since you insist on it!” She added, her smile turning from innocent to vicious.

*Gong!*

With the sound of the gong, Khalor threw his bident at Mily with unnatural strength. The weapon flew true and grabbed the Fey by the throat as it flew into the wall behind her.

The prongs on the bident lodged themselves deep into the wall, constricting her throat strongly. The woman was having much trouble breathing, and could not talk.

“As if I would let you speak a single word.” Khalor said, as he opened up his portal to the underworld.

Out of it ran a legion of undead, all running at Mily. The woman’s eyes became wide as saucers with terror.

They soon drowned her in a wave of hungry ghouls and zombies. The whole fight lasted less than ten seconds, as her health bar plummeted from the rapid assault of the undead.

Mily exploded into pixels, with her eyes staring at Khalor, red with rage and murderous intent.

“One down, four to go.” Khalor said, as he was teleported out of the arena again.

Everyone was staring at him in horror. What he had done was ruthless, like any player should do, but it went a step further, as he showed no mercy whatsoever.

‘What kind of man treats a woman like this!?’ They all thought.