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

"Took you long enough," Cleo said through her avatar's form as soon as the two emerged from the gate. "Gosh, just what happened to your clothes?" she then shouted when she noticed the state of Tom and Claudia.

Her avatar was nothing like what Tom remembered from the few times he played with the girl. Or rather, it was nothing like any human at all.

'So that's how it works,' Tom thought, observing yet another small detail of how the Online Hub worked. 'So our outfits and other visuals are just that, an illusion created by the system.' Tom rubbed his chin before shaking his head.

"Well, a lot has happened," he finally responded, marching towards the genderless shape that only vaguely looked human. The general shape was there, but nothing beyond that.

Whisps