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

"With Major, Alchemy, and Merchant guilds out of the way, I still need to deal with the blacksmiths and that lord by the border, huh?" Tom muttered to himself when he suddenly felt a presence appear a few meters beside him.

"Come out," he said softly, recognizing the faint aura of the man.

"Boss, I have taken care of the girl. She is now in one of my secure locations in the city," the man in the black said even though he had chosen not to appear from the shadows. "I already assigned one of my subordinates to properly take care of her," he reported.

"Good," Tom replied, raising his head to the sky. For a moment, he remained fully silent, seemingly thinking about something. "Tell me," he suddenly broke through his temporary muteness, "why do you keep hiding even when there is no one around?" Tom asked.

Peculiarity of the Blacksmiths guild