Chapter 1

Kaitlynn stared at the glowing monitor, her eyes burning from the lack of blinking.

Her fingers hammered against the mechanical keyboard, the plastic keys digging into her skin.

On the screen, the massive Shadow Treant reared back, its bark-like skin splitting open to release a wave of toxic green sludge.

Kaitlynn slammed the movement keys, trying to force her mage, Aetheria, out of the blast zone.

The edge of the venom splashed across her character's robes.

Her health bar plummeted, the green line turning a flashing, critical red.

Kaitlynn sucked in a sharp breath.

The cold air hit the back of her throat.

"Oh my god, I'm dead," she gasped into her headset microphone, her voice trembling.

"Roll left. Now."

The voice in her ears was low, calm, and slightly distorted by the Discord server.

It was Hex.

Kaitlynn's body reacted before her brain could process the command.

She slammed the dodge key.

Aetheria threw herself to the left, the pixels of her robe barely scraping past a massive, deadly root that smashed into the ground where she had just stood.

The Treant froze for a fraction of a second, stuck in the animation of its missed attack.

A black blur shot out from the blind spot on the right side of Kaitlynn's screen.

It was Hex's assassin.

His daggers flashed in a blinding sequence of silver light, the skill effects illuminating Kaitlynn's dark bedroom.

The boss's health bar melted, dropping so fast it triggered the final enrage mechanic.

The ground on the screen turned completely red.

Spikes began to erupt from the floor in a chaotic, unavoidable pattern.

Kaitlynn's eyes darted across the monitor, searching for a safe zone.

There was none.

Her stomach dropped, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable death sound.

It never came.

Hex abandoned his attack combo.

He used his ultimate mobility skill, teleporting directly in front of Aetheria.

A golden, translucent shield erupted around his character, an extremely rare absolute defense skill.

The ground spikes slammed into the shield, shattering it into digital dust.

In the exact millisecond the shield broke, Hex used the invincibility frame of his recovery animation to throw a single, poison-tipped dagger.

The blade struck the Treant right between its glowing red eyes.

The monster let out a deafening roar and collapsed into a pile of rotting wood.

A massive, golden banner flashed across the center of the screen.

The bright light washed over Kaitlynn's face.

She ripped the headset off her ears.

She jumped up from her ergonomic chair, her knees knocking against the desk.

Her half-empty can of Coke wobbled dangerously, almost spilling over her mousepad.

At the top of the game interface, a server-wide announcement began to scroll.

It declared that Hex and Aetheria had claimed the world-first kill of the Whispering Forest.

The guild chat box in the bottom left corner exploded.

Hundreds of messages scrolled by in a blur of exclamation points and worship emojis.

Kaitlynn's hands were shaking as she pulled the headset back over her ears.

"Thank you," she stammered, her chest heaving. "I... I can't believe we did that."

A low chuckle vibrated through the headset speakers.

The sound went straight to Kaitlynn's chest, making her heart skip a beat.

On the screen, Hex's assassin walked over to the boss's corpse and clicked the loot chest.

A blinding purple light shot out of the box.

It was a Mythic-tier staff crafting material, the only one of its kind on the entire server.

Kaitlynn stopped breathing.

She stared at the glowing icon, her mouth hanging open.

A system prompt popped up, waiting for the party leader to distribute the loot.

Kaitlynn gripped her mouse, fully expecting Hex to take the item he had earned.

Instead, Hex dragged the purple material directly into Kaitlynn's inventory.

Kaitlynn's eyes widened so much they hurt.

"Wait, no," she blurted out, her voice cracking. "That's too expensive. I can't take that."

"Take it," Hex interrupted.

His tone left no room for argument.

"It's a reward for my student."

Kaitlynn stared at the glowing purple crystal in her bag.

A strange heat spread across her chest, a physical ache of being completely spoiled.

Hex's character turned to face hers and triggered a waving animation.

"I need to sleep," he said.

Before Kaitlynn could even form the word goodnight, his avatar vanished.

His name in the party list turned gray.

Kaitlynn sat alone in the quiet room, staring at the empty space on her monitor.