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

"This time, I will be going ahead," Tom announced, not caring about the opinion of his friends.

They already wasted more time than they could afford. As the stronger group out of all the participating ones, they had to be the first to reach the sixtieth floor, and at their current rate, it would be no wonder if they were to be the last group to do so.

"I guess we don't really have much choice," Marvin muttered, likely thinking about the same problems. "Tom, go," he said, nodding his head as he pointed his hand at the doors leading to the teleportation stairway.

"I'm not going to wait for you this time," Tom informed, grabbing a better hold over his spear as he moved forward. "As soon as I will extract the stones, I will be moving ahead. I will only stop upon reaching the floor we decided to meet with others at," he added before pressing forward.

Tom's fatal mistake