MotivatedSloth

"Hello, sir. Are you cashing out or leveling up?"

Dungeons Online was the first game that cracked the system. Let nerds earn by nerding, and they will nerd forever. And Dungeons Online did just that. 

Noobs turned into middle-class workers. Pro-players turned into celebrities and multi-millionaires. 

And there was Tom. Likely, the only top ranker that lived off the scraps and cat-food. A courtesy of his father that went and disappeared, leaving Tom with just enough money to survive until his graduation. Until the day where the option of cashing out would appear.

Dungeons Online. A game where developers never shared a single bit of information. A game where the death of one's avatar is permanent. A game that can turn a beggar into a lord just as quickly as turning a celebrity into nobody. 

But where does all this money comes from? How is it connected to the unnatural disaster that all governments across the world buried any information off? And how is this all connected to Tom's missing father?

Dungeons Online

"In that case... What?" Claudia asked, snuggling a bit closer towards Tom. Her face looked strange as if there was something important on her mind. "Or rather, what wasn't enough?" she added another question, gently placing her hands on Tom's shoulders.

It was a simple act of holding her hands beside Tom's neck. She didn't hold her fingers down nor resisted any notion of moving away. She just stood there, halfway between hugging Tom and clasping her hands on his throat.

"This isn't something I'm sure about," Tom shook his head. "It's something I only guessed, so I didn't want to bother you with it before proving I was right," he added. Tom then placed his own hands on top of Claudia's. "But since you insist, allow me to explain."

Tom clasped his fingers over Claudia's hands, removing them from his shoulders. He then let go of the girl's flesh, stepping away.

Reason for restraint