Oscar

“Still, it’s gonna be a hard road. A lot of people are going to have differing opinions on how you should have handled it.” “I know. But it was my fight and my mess. I should be the one to decide how it all ends up.” “True. But you need to be ready to defend yourself. But who knows? Maybe Tyson will surprise us both. Maybe he grows into the role he made for himself.” “Maybe. But I don’t think he’s realized the full scope of it all. I don’t think he ever did. Holding back Laughing Coffin? They’re going to come for him.” “And us. Need to get him ready. For everyone’s sake.”

Oscar returned to himself, standing within that dark corridor. And when he did, he saw his Twin. But unlike the other interactions, the doppelganger was smiling. “Have fun?” Oscar returned his twin’s smile, shaking his head in the process. “I’m gonna be honest, I never held much stock in vision quests or hallucinations like this. But I have to admit, it was helpful.” “Good. So you know what you have to do?” “Of course,” Oscar replied, his tone a bit more chipper. A bit more himself. “Just need to avoid fucking it up again. Easy.” “Easy,” his twin agreed. “Most difficu

But his Twin had been right. If Oscar was going to do this and try to redeem someone with a history as bloody as Tyson, he would need to approach it with the same confidence that he approached everything else. It was difficult to admit to himself, but he’d failed the kid once. He should have been there. Maybe he could have shielded him. Or, failing that, they could have undertaken Tyson’s burden together. Or maybe this was the way everything was supposed to play out. Maybe he simply needed to fail in order to eventually succeed. Because despite everything, Tyson’s goal was almost noble. Grim a

It seemed that everything was tied up with a neat little bow. Oscar, and by extension, his friends and allies, were no longer threatened by a puppetmaster and his shadowy organization. But many sacrifices had been made on this road. Oscar wasn’t so delusional as to think that he left this ordeal the same as he’d gone into it. That his relationships had survived the process. If he were being honest, he couldn’t think of a single one that had survived. Not a single relationship remained as it was. He would need to try to fix that. Oscar had his own demons to battle and his own sins to atone for.

It was decided that Tyson would take charge of custodial work in the Orphanage. Many eyes would be upon him. He wouldn’t be allowed to move freely. Quite the opposite, in fact. He would be more or less left to languish in the Town of Beginnings, running errands for the caretakers and being relentlessly bullied by the children. Oscar loved kids, but they were a handful. He wondered how long Tyson would make it before he began to wish to be suddenly struck deaf. The craftsmen and the Players that frequented the town were instructed to notify Oscar immediately if Tyson tried to leave the walls. I

It was all a pretext for keeping an eye on the kid. Oscar dared to allow himself to be optimistic. Maybe he could do better by him with this second chance. There was no undoing what he did. They couldn’t turn back the clock. But he could begin to atone. Oscar couldn’t say that the kid was irredeemable. He wasn’t yet certain. That was the key difference between Tyson and all the men Oscar had killed. Tyson had a reason. He had a purpose. He wasn’t killing for the sake of killing. And while his methods could be construed as barbaric, Oscar couldn’t say that they weren’t effective. In this and in

It hadn’t been a popular decision, sparing Tyson. It had been even less popular when Oscar expressed his willingness to take the kid back under his wing and level him up. Lessa in particular had been outraged. He couldn’t blame her. Freyd had remained largely silent, but he could tell by the man’s expression that he thought Oscar was a fool. But the reality was Tyson had them all by the balls. Assuming he wasn’t lying, the only thing keeping a group of insane Player Killers from having their way with the Players was another, slightly less crazy group of Player Killers. And Tyson was at the ce

“Nope, can’t let you off yourself either. You said it yourself. Your Guild is holding back the other, worse guilds. The devil you know and all that. I’ll tell you what though. You get strong enough to kill me and if you still want me dead by then, go for it. But just know Freyd over here is going to put you down shortly thereafter.” Oscar felt bad volunteering Freyd like that. But at the same time, he imagined that he would be a natural progression of things. Oscar could trust that if he went down, Freyd would make certain that whoever got the better of him didn’t continue breathing for m

“Killing you would be too easy,” Oscar said. “And I’m not gonna let anyone say I’m running around killing low-level Players. That kinda goes against everything I’m about. You got two choices. We can drag you back to the Town of Beginnings and lock you up somewhere. You get to spend the rest of your time in this game looking at the same four walls. No food, no drink. Nothing. Or, you can put your boots on the ground and start running your Guild like a proper Guildmaster. You say you’re at odds with Laughing Coffin? What are you gonna do when they come knocking?” Tyson tried to opt for door

“You literally wanted me dead. You tried to kill me and my friends so many times. Can’t whine about sour grapes now that you’ve lost. It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic. It’s a disgrace to their memory.” Oscar wasn’t above kicking the kid while he was down. Literally. He drove his boot into Tyson’s gut, dropping his health into the red with a third telling blow. “You know how long I’ve been waiting for this Tyson? I’ve dreamed about what I would do when I finally caught up with you,” Oscar said as he drove his sword into the ground near Tyson’s head. He bent down low, getting his face a

It seemed that everything ended about as well as it could have. Though, Oscar was hesitant to go with the group to turn the Quest in. The System had a tendency to automatically start the next in the chain. And if his hunch was correct, Freyd had the right of it. They simply didn't have the numbers to raid a quest - no matter how low level. And Freyd was clearly not at his best, which further complicated things. Oscar was completely confident in his own abilities and Elora had put up an impressive showing as well. But the Whisper looked like he'd seen a ghost. Oscar was tempted to ask, but this

“You fucker,” Tyson spat, pulling out his sword and driving it back into Oscar’s chest. “Why can’t you just fuck off and die?” Oscar was torn. He knew how Tyson felt seeing people that he cared about die like that - and from his reaction it was apparent he did, in fact, care.. But he also knew that Tyson would have killed everyone Oscar cared about if left unchecked. It was hard for him to feel sorry for the kid. Impossible even. The more Tyson raged against him, the hotter Oscar’s temper flared. Eventually, after the fourth or fifth stab, Oscar had had about enough. He drove his fist int

Oscar returned the attack. A simple basic strike. His blade cut through Tyson’s arm, taking almost a quarter of his health in the process. Oscar blinked as the gears began to turn in his head. His eyes flicked from Tyson to Freyd to Tyson’s Health Bar. He blinked. Once, then twice. Then several times in rapid succession. “You’re still level one,” Oscar said slowly. “You did all of this at level one. Fucking how?” Of all the things he’d not expected, he hadn’t expected this the most. He fully assumed that Tyson was the baddest mother fucker in his own Guild. But he wasn’t. Tyson hadn’

“We done now?” Oscar asked breathlessly. He knew he wasn’t physically tired, but that didn’t mean that the fight wasn’t taxing on him. More stressful than it was anything else. But stress had a tendency to affect the physical. He had to wonder whether his heart rate spiked back in the real world. Certainly he was in a hospital, attached to machines and tubes. He could only imagine the looks of horror on those nurses faces as his heart rate spiked out of nowhere. “You finished?” Oscar was ready to get it over with. Surely Tyson was out of plays now. But as the youth rushed forward, po

Oscar and Freyd said nothing to one another. There would be time enough for conversation once the enemy was dealt with. And deal with him they did. They wasted no time, treating Rell to the same pain that he had inflicted upon Oscar. It didn’t seem quite so fun being on the other side of insurmountable odds. And they were certain insurmountable. Rell was skilled. That much was apparent. But there were few Players that would be able to deal with Freyd and Oscar moving in tandem as they were. Hell, there weren’t a whole lot of Players that could contend with any two Frontliners tag-teaming them.

It was almost as if thinking it had willed it into existence. Sure enough, Lenore had managed to land a stun on him. Rell wound up to capitalize on Oscar’s immobility. But Oscar was nothing if not lucky. That wasn’t quite right. He simply had the best companions. Once more pushed to the brink and once more his allies came to his aid. The Whisper had appeared silently. With a clash of steel, he blocked the attack, allowing Oscar a moment to breathe. He quickly activated Forgotten King’s Authority, purging himself of his stun. He’d kept it in his back pocket, hoping - or perhaps expecting - Frey

Of course, it didn’t remain a two-on-one for long. Lessa had been the first to arrive and the first to leave. But Oscar held out hope that miracles came in pairs. So he committed himself, focused himself, to dodging and blocking the incoming flurry of attacks. He was mostly successful. But the ones that landed almost seemed to ignore his damage reduction entirely. He had almost been thankful for the fact that Janus had been the one to get caught unawares. Paralysis, or even a stun, would be a death sentence. And as far as he knew right now, these Players didn’t have access to a means to paraly

Lessa and Owen had both opened their mouths to argue. “I do not have time to fight about it right now,” Oscar said as he whirled around and parried an incoming attack by Lenore. She struck harder than she had previously. Seeing her comrade die had clearly flipped a switch. Rell was similarly vicious, trying to sneak past Oscar’s guard once more only to take a boot to the face. “Go! They’ll keep coming after the kids so long as they’re here! I can’t fight and protect them at the same time so get the fuck out!” He came off a bit more harshly than he wanted to. But it was difficul

But Lessa wouldn’t be immortalized as a murderer today. Oscar lashed out, his blade cutting deep into his attackers. They could remain where they were and allow Oscar to put them down or they could retreat and find another avenue of attack. They were smart players, so they chose the latter. Removing their weapons from Oscar’s body allowed him to move as they leaped backward. Before their feet even touched the ground again, Oscar had seized the opportunity to remove a piece from the board. Janus’s head was removed from his shoulders, his body reduced to fragments, in the blink of an eye. He’d d

His fears soon became reality as the dagger-wielder - Janus - was able to blaze past him while Oscar was busy with Lenore. Like a missile, he surged toward the children. His dagger glinted in the cold moonlight. Oscar could do nothing else but watch out of the corner of his eye as the weapon took on an unearthly glow as Janus activated a Sword Art. One AOE and it was all over. He turned to try and intercept nonetheless, only to find himself skewered and held in place by spear and sword. But at the last moment, he saw it. The glint of steel and the flurry of golden hair. Dashing through the chi

It was all Oscar could do to keep the three seasoned Player Killers at bay. They would charge and Oscar could counter and force them back. But he would pushing himself to his absolute limit. He couldn’t go on the offensive while he was trying to keep the children safe. But they were free to chip away at his health. And while the children were able to keep him healed, they didn’t have an abundance of energy. They would run out before too long and every time he clashed with one of the trio, he was forced backwards bit by bit. He had to wonder what would happen. Would the children run out of ener

“Nuh uh!” Owen exclaimed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest with a pout. “We don’t know how to fight so good, but there’s three of those guys. What if you need more healing?” “Getting kids to fight your battles for you Oscar? For shame,” Tyson sneered. “I hope you don’t think I’m above killing them. When a kid’s holding a gun, they become a threat, right? Not quite a gun, but keeping you alive is definitely close enough. Rell, if you would.” Oscar was barely able to react in time. The man surged forward, brandishing a wicked curved sword. Oscar moved quickly, turning on his

“Come on Hot Dog Man! You gotta fight ‘em,” one said. A sandy-haired youth - Owen, Oscar remembered. “You shouldn’t have taught us how to sneak so good. We found out what the deal was when you were talking to the grown-ups. So we figured out how to help!” Oscar smiled. He knew that he would have been dead without these impetuous little brats. And, honestly, he still wasn’t out of the woods. But neither could he put on a piss-poor showing after these children had stuck their necks out for them. He could see it in their eyes. They were terrified. But they’d swallowed that and slipped away f

The flaw in his plan had been laid bare. He hadn’t expected the unexpected. The very thing he preached to those Player Killers before he ended them. How hypocritical he was. And he would pay for that blunder with his life, it seemed. It seemed. But Oscar hadn’t expected the unexpected. And the most unexpected thing of all was the sudden surge of blue light that enveloped him. The words flashed across his screen. Paralysis dispelled by <<Purify>> <<First Aid>> used on Oscar, Health Restored. <<First Aid>> used on Oscar, Health Restore

Oscar didn’t need Tyson to spell it out for him. He could tell just by the way they stood that these three were a cut above the rest. And things certainly weren’t looking good at this point. That simple attack had taken a healthy chunk off of his already-depleted health. It had been quite some time since someone was able to bypass all of his mitigation so handily. And there were three of them. Even if he had some way to clear the Paralysis, he’d be hard pressed to fight them off. For the first time, Oscar considered fleeing. He had a Teleport Crystal handy. He could get to safety. But what of