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

"Yes!" Marvin shouted, taking his hand away from Tom's spear. "Finally," he added, jumping a few steps to the back before extending his hand in the direction of the corridor's entrance.

"Icicle burst!" he then shouted.

A huge ice crystal appeared above his head... Or not. Rather than a massive attack that he clearly hoped for, the space around him swirled up. Once it stabilized again, it appeared as if every inch of space around him was filled with tiny mirrors, all distorting the image of his body.

And then, like a storm of sharp edges, the tiny icicles rushed in the very direction he was pointing at.

There were no monsters anywhere near for Marvin to test out his spell, making it for a pretty poor showcase of what his new, already fourth skill could do.

Solution to Cleo's trouble