The addiction
Chapter 2: The addiction
It had been a week since Airum had been playing the addictive game Dungeon's Line. Every day after school, he would go straight to his room, getting ready to put the Ultra VR X on his face and begin his journey.
[Welcome to Dungeon's Line!]
[Entering the world...]
[Success!]
Airum: "AAAaahh!! Good afternoon world of Dungeon's Line." He said excited for another day in his new way of life. "Let's see..."
[Character Status:
Name: Airum Skol
Level: 72
Strength: 60/60
Resistance: 59/60
Speed: 65/65
Magic: 50/50
Intellect: 50/50
Lucky: 30/30
agility: 80/80
Vitality: 60/60]
Airum: "OK, let's start more dungeons for the day."
In the center of LyndFall, everyone looked at him, his name, Airum Skol, right on the left side, there was an icon of a wolf, everyone realized that a newbie had the mark of Grim. Everyone was surprised, then a dark-haired boy, wearing a green cloak and carrying a grimoire at his waist, begins to whisper with another strong boy with red hair, wearing a green cloak and carrying a sword at his waist.
Airum was in a store where he could start several things, he was eating chicken with rice and beans, it was delicious, he ate quickly to start the day's missions. Suddenly the two boys who were whispering, went towards Airum.
"Hey white-haired boy! Come here."
Airum looks at the boys and walks towards them.
Airum: "HI, do you guys want to be friends? I'm already getting sad doing things here alone, everyone does it with friends, I wish I could do it with partners too."
They get closer to Airum and he soon realizes that the boy in the green cloak has a poisonous dagger in his hands.
Airum: "What the fuck.."
Airum quickly realizes that they wanted to kill him, he didn't know why, but Airum carried Grim's mark, when a player who has a mark and dies, there is a chance that it will appear along with the items of the player who had died. Airum quickly uses his dagger to defend the attack of the man in the green cloak and dodges the attack of the man in the black cloak.
"How did a wretch like you get Grim's mark? We've been in this shitty game for a long time, we haven't gotten shit, you're going to die, and I'm going to get that mark, you bastard!"
The boy in the green cloak advances on Airum with the poisonous dagger, but Airum dodges the attacks, after which he uses his super burst ability to push the man in the green cloak away. The other man in the black cloak arrives unprepared from behind, holding Airum, he could not move, both of them were of higher levels than Arium.
Arium: 'Shit, these guys are stronger than me, that's it, I'm going to die for good!'
"Lethal Weapon, Slash 5: Lethal Slash!!"
A large, huge, strong man with silver armor with golden details and holding a huge sword, jumped towards Arium and the two players, using this ability to separate Arium from the two players. Arium protected himself with his protection ability, only seeing a strong wind and dust everywhere and the two players flying to the other side, falling to the ground like shit.
"Are you okay?" The knight man asked Arium. Right above his character was his player name, Alchemi.
Arium: "Alchemi... I'm fine, thank you."
Alchemi: "Okay, you must have seen my name, so I don't even need to introduce myself. I was looking for you, I finally found you."
Arium: "Huh...?"
Monday, February 17, 2026, São Paulo, at Arium school, two friends were playing an online fighting game on their cell phones. The characters were strong and each had different abilities.
Arium: "Aeeee, I won, suck your shit."
The friend: "Ha ha, good. Congratulations!" He said laughing. "Hey Airum, there's a game called Dungeon's Line, everyone is saying it's really good. Let's play together, man, it's going to be awesome, the two of us together killing everything and everyone."
Airum: "You know I don't like MMORPGs."
The friend: "Come on, give it a chance, I know you won't regret it."
Airum: "I'll think about your case." He said sarcastically.
The friend: "I'll wait for you at the game, if you see someone named Alchemi, be sure it's me."
Other: "Hah, we bomb."
****
"Is... Is that you?" Airum said, amazed at Alchemi's strength.
Alchemi: "Hey, you didn't even notice that you were playing, right? Wobbly."
Airum: "Sorry, I got so addicted that I forgot. But how did you manage to find me?"
Alchemi: "The world is small, hehe."
After that, Alchemi takes Airum to where Alchemi lived, it was a simple place, it was only used to store things in the chests that were in his room.
Airum: "You're quite strong, you know." He looked at the level next to Alchemi's name, level 150. Right to the left of his name, there was an icon of a golden lion.
Airum: "Do you have a brand too?"
Alchemi: "Arram, it is the mark of Leontys, Grim's brother."
Airum: "What? Is this serious?"
Alchemi: "Yes, it's in the game's lore, haven't you seen it?"
Airum: "I haven't seen anything about the game yet, hehe."
Alchemi: "Wow, for a guy who knows nothing about the game, not bad."
Airum: "Of course, you're talking to a try-harder."
[A quest from Grim is pending]
Arius: "Oh, what?"
Alchemi: "In this game, there are alternative monsters for specific dungeon monsters. The person who is recognized for having determination and not being afraid to face it, or defeat it, which is extremely difficult, can become an ally, you create a bond with the alternative monster. Then he will do missions related to it, as if it were a parallel story."
Airum: "Aaah, I get it, thanks."
Alchemi: "It's better to do some research later, to find out more about the game, you need it."
Airum: "Really."
Alchemi: "Do you want help with the mission, they are usually very difficult and you are low level, you will have a hard time."
Airum: "Don't underestimate me! But it could be."
Alchemi: "Haha, ok."
[Directing the mission...]
[Completed!]
******
They were directed to a small stadium, where people usually fought player vs player, right in front of them, there was a fence, like a kind of door. The sky was purple and dark, there was nothing else around.
[The mission is starting, get ready]
The door began to open, going upwards, and in the darkness a huge creature was coming, a dark green creature, with red eyes, wearing a cloth on its lower parts and holding a huge sword. He was a super goblin.
Alchemi: "Okay, this will be easy. Next, I'll attack him, leaving him with low health, and you finish him off, okay?"
Airum: "But that's not funny."
Alchemi: "Trust me, it will be fun."
Alchemi advances to combat the super goblin using his large machine sword, it was a futuristic sword with several flame details, very beautiful and strong.
"Mortal Weapon, Cut 15: Extreme Cut!"
A large one appeared on the super goblin, pixelated blood came out of its body, the goblin screamed in pain, then went on the attack. The battle was difficult, not even a level 150 player was able to handle it, but Alchemi managed to take a good part of the super goblin's blood.
Alchemi: "Come on Airum Skol, it's up to you!"
Airum: "Of course!"
He advanced using his dagger and struck him with several attacks, the goblin received some attacks but managed to defend the last blows. The super goblin went towards Airum, to cut off his arm, but Airum dodged and attacked with his dagger, cutting off one of the super goblin's arms.
Alchemi: "Good, you can do it!"
The goblin attacks with the intention of cutting off Airum's arm, but he manages to dodge, thus leaving his guard open. Airum plunges his dagger into the super goblin's eye, thus defeating the goblin.
[Congratulations, you defeated the Super Goblin]
[Congratulations, you've reached level 80!]
Alchemi: "Good Airum, you play great."
Airum: "Sure, it's me playing."
[You have won the common goblin sword]
Airum: "What the hell, I'll sell this later."
[A new threat approaches, prepare yourself]
Alchemi: "What? It's not over yet?"
A large light in the sky was forming, it was getting clearer by the second, the light begins to fall to the ground, making a large explosion, causing strong winds and a large amount of dust towards them. Among all the dust, a large silhouette was standing still, after the dust disappeared, they see a large creature equipped with armor.
[You have been paralyzed by your opponent's intimidating gaze]
Both had been paralyzed, both Airum and Alchemi, the creature quickly advances in the blink of an eye, suddenly appearing in front of them, thus finishing them both in one blow.
"Fuck."
They wake up in Alchemi's house, they spawned in his house, and luckily, their items were in his quarters.
Alchemi: "Phew, my things are here, I was afraid of losing them."
Airum: "That guy just slapped us, and we died. That guy is no joke."
Alchemi: "I realized, even I'm a high level, I was killed by a half-assed blow like that."
Airum: "His level must be beyond our imaginations, I believe."
Alchemi: "Maybe, I'll take a look on the internet later."
Airum: "It's nighttime, do you want to sleep in the game or outside?"
Alchemi: "I'm going to sleep outside. I need to eat, fuel my body."
Airum: "Beauty."
Both of them leave the game. After Airum leaves the game, he turns on his computer to research, find out more about the game, he read about the alternative monsters, the X dungeons, the gods, etc. (I'll explain more about this later, in an extra chapter). Airum was fascinated by the information about the gods that was in the game, it consisted of you defeating the 20 gods that were in the game, and if you defeated them all, you would become the supreme god of the game, so you would practically have finished the game, earning several rewards, etc.
So Airum had already decided, he would give his life to the game, defeating everything that came his way, evolving in level and now being the supreme god of the entire game.
**********
It was another day, Airum had woken up sleepy, after sleeping only 4 hours, but he still got up for another day of gaming. He took a shower, had breakfast, brushed his teeth, put on his clothes, equipped himself with the immersive equipment of the Ultra VR X and entered the game.
[Welcome to Dungeon's Line]
[Entering the world...]
[Completed!]
Airum woke up getting out of bed at Alchemi's house, he went outside, and when he saw, Alchemi was without his armor, he was just wearing a t-shirt and basic pants, he was training his movements and exercising with gym weights.
[Congratulations, you leveled up!]
Alchemi: "Good, I earned more points to distribute to my status."
Alchemi had short blond hair, was a strong and tall man, everyone was afraid of him because he had a history of brutal fighting, challenging and defeating some bosses considered difficult. He had seen Airum leaving his house for another day of play, and greeted him.
Alchemi: "Hey Airum, is it active yet?"
Airum: "Of course, I can't stop, and now I have my new goal, to defeat all the bosses and become the supreme god of this game."
Alchemi: "... HAHAHAHAHH!! You're so funny."
Airum: "What's so funny?
Alchemi: "It's practically impossible to be the supreme god of this game, but if you say so, I believe you can do it, I don't doubt you."
After a chat, they prepare to face a new quest in a dungeon in the kingdom of LyndFall. They walk to the city, and thus, going to the pending quest that they were going to do. They arrive and they see other players prepared for the quest.
[The dungeon is opening, prepare yourselves]
Alchemi: "Ready?"
Airum: "Absolutely."
************
"I saw it, he's a weak guy, ma'am, you can easily defeat him and get Grim's mark." A man in a green cloak, with dark hair and carrying a grimoire at his waist, was talking to a person.
"Do you remember the player's name?" Said a girl with long red hair, with silver armor with red details, carrying a sword at her waist, and at the bottom, the armor part and a cape with a guild icon, the icon was an elk.
"Airum Skol was queen."
"Alright, let's begin the hunt." She said with a psychopathic smile.