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

As soon as Tom uttered his words, the entire place turned silent. The people surrounding him froze in place as if his invasion suddenly made sense. Even the people that didn't pay the situation any mind, too busy with their work to bother, stopped working the metal and turned their attention towards the commotion.

"You came here to challenge us, huh?" One of the smiths said, stepping ahead of the rest. Even if it was just a random guess, Tom decided to treat him as the temporary leader of the group.

"That's right," the young man said with a confident smile. "One on one, arm-wrestle match. I found this solution to my wishes more... acceptable than just killing you all," he said before spreading his arms. "I don't like waste," Tom added.

"So a challenge you will have," the man said before clasping his hands together.

Arm-wrestle match