Magic, Aliens, and Insanity: A Short Story Collection

Senica Online: Gary's Hair-ifying Tale

Gary smashed the skull of a moldy skeleton, spraying bits of bone and fetid swamp water everywhere even as more skeletons surged toward him, boiling out of the dark water that came up to his waist.

"You were a fool to challenge me here!" cackled the old hag. Her eyes glowed red in the darkness.

She was the culmination of a six-week quest chain and after all that effort, to finally come face to face with her filled Gary with a sense of elation. He activated his whirlwind skill and spun like the world's deadliest ballet dancer, ripping nearby skeletons apart and sending their body parts flying in every direction like macabre confetti.

The old hag screeched. Her voice like nails on a chalkboard. "No! My children!" she shrieked.

Gary smiled ruthlessly and activated charge. He zipped toward the hag, spraying up fetid water all around him as he closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye.

He slashed down with his enormous sword and cleaved through the hag's hastily raised staff then kicked her square in the stomach. It was supposed to knock her back far enough for a second charge, but it felt like kicking a brick wall. Pain flared up his leg. Barely more than a tingle with the settings he had on his VR pod, but it still felt incredibly uncomfortable to have the force of his kick stopped so abruptly.

The hag grabbed his head in bony fingers. Her red eyes bored into his own as the hag's peeling lips split into a vicious, murderous smile that sent shivers of fear down Gary's back.

"I curse thee, foul murderer! You who destroyed my children and foiled my plans! Now you shall feel the wrath of the darkest of magic! Your hair shall grow and grow without end and no mortal magic shall ever dispel it!"

You have been afflicted with the Rapunzel curse. Cannot be dispelled by normal means.

Gary laughed at the ridiculous curse and activated his whirlwind skill again. At point-blank range, with the old hag grappling him, the move dealt incredible damage. Chunks of hag and swamp water sprayed in every direction.

Gary let out a satisfied sigh. The questline had taken a while, but finally he was done. He looked at the time at the edge of his vision and his satisfaction turned to dread. He'd lost track and now his wife would surely kill him.

Hastily, he brought up the menu to log out from the virtual experience.

The logout button was greyed out. When he focused his attention on it, mentally trying to 'click' it, a notification box appeared.

You are unable to log out in combat.

In combat? Gary thought. Did it mean with the hag? But she was dead.

He waited a few minutes and tried again but the result was the same. He looked around for more enemies, but he'd destroyed them all.

Then, his attention drifted to the icon of hair signaling a curse...

Rapunzel's curse. Cannot be dispelled by normal means. Duration: infinite.

"You've got to be joking," Gary muttered aloud. A spark of fear flared through him, but he pushed it aside. Surely there was an easy way to deal with this.

He brought up the in-game guide and searched for the details of the quest. He quickly found a forum full of people that had the exact issue he had.

"WTF I CAN'T LOGOUT?"

"FIRST!"

"ME TOO!"

Gary sighed and scrolled through a multitude of useless entries that made him question humanity's right to exist before finding one that renewed that hope.