Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

2:36 Despair

Alex sat at her desk, tensely watching Jacob aka JakTheMonarchBfly go up against the Golem Knight protecting the bridge to the castle. Jacob now wore the full set of Valley Knight armor, which afforded him great protection from physical and magick attacks. Despite that, Alex still wondered if he was truly ready to fight the aggressive knight. Jacob's avatar was once over six foot, but ever since the start of Phase 2, he was reduced to his real height of five foot seven inches. To say he had a reach disadvantage was putting it mildly. Alex took another look at his stats to assure herself of his victory. If there was one thing Jacob was good at, it was properly allotting his skill points. The HP and ATK heavy character build he'd chosen was a solid one, well suited for survival.

Jacob stood in the center of the of the bridge with his upgraded Valley Knight Shield held up in front of him and his upgraded Flanged Mace held closely at his side. The knight slowly approached him with sword and shield down to the side. Alex watched Jacob's anxiety spike, but that wasn't anything new. It was the same when Jacob fought Malen, but he eventually got through that.

"Come on!" she heard him yell as the knight inched closer.

Jacob stayed behind his shield as the knight rushed forward. The knight's sword glanced off of Jacob's shield and Jacob held his ground thanks to his thirty-five in strength. Jacob pushed the knight's sword away and struck it hard with his mace. His blow caved in the knight's helmet and the front of its stone head crumbled to pieces. Jacob went for another blow, but the knight pushed him away with its shield. Jacob was slow to recover as the knight kicked him down then struck the top of his head with a two-handed blow. Thankfully the helmet was fortified enough to protect his skull, but Alex knew another blow would split it in half.

Jacob got his shield up in front of him to block more sword blows as he did his best to crawl away. The knight just would not let up, so Jacob kicked its knee with a foot covered in thick plate. He kicked it repeatedly until it fell to the ground with him, then he scrambled to his feet. He charged a strike and blew away the knight's entire head with it. The knight didn't seem perturbed as it rose up with vicious uppercut and split open Jacob's armor along with the front of his neck and face. Jacob was stunned by the sudden blow and took another right through his chest after the knight charged him with his shoulder.

"No!" Alex yelled.

Jacob's helmet fell from his head, revealing his mummified skin. As he sunk to the ground face first and began to disappear, Alex buried her face in her hands and let her sorrow take control. No sound would come from her lips, but the tears fell. Jacob, she mouthed. She repeated his name over and over, asking why this had to happen to him, to anyone.

"I should have told him," she said rocking herself. "I should have fucking told him. I should have figured out a way, a code. He should've known about quintessence from the start of this damned phase."

Jacob's screen went black and his name was added to the long list of permanently deceased players. When she saw that, she lost all self-control. Her nearby coworkers took notice of her weeping and tried to console her.

"What's wrong?" she heard.

"It'll be okay."

"Alex?"

"We're here, Alex."

I failed him. I failed us all.

She didn't know if she was thinking it or saying it out loud, but she didn't care either way.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay." The voice had to be Sue's. She felt someone wrap their arms around her.

Stop. I don't deserve it. Please, just sit down.