2 Easter Egg

MAGIC AND MYTH II OFFICIAL DISCORD:

"I heard this strange rumor about the Father of modern VR… They say that before his mysterious death a month ago, Leonardo Dante was building a new MMORPG and the people at Gargantuan Games, in honor of their fallen founder, decided to secretly release its BETA somewhere inside MnMII as an Easter egg!" user Reaperz_Ally wrote.

"(Õ_O)," user Grimthorn replied. "Sounds like a big fat lie if you ask me…"

"No, it's real… Ath3na herself confirmed it on her channel…" user May1st commented.

User LilHyz added the meme [Surprised and yet still adorable Pikachu face].

"Ya~~as~~s! Secret Easter egg hunt!" user SilentMild wrote.

User SilentMild added the meme [Super cute toddler with his fists pumped in the air].

"@May1st is right… Just logged into https://www.twitcher.com/channel/goddess_of_gaming_wisdom/video1135... She's playing MnM II now. Updating fans about her progress in the egg hunt," user LilHyz confirmed.

User May1st added the meme [Leonardo Dicaprio celebrating with a martini glass toast].

"Is there a clue for this Easter egg?" user Grimthorn asked.

"Yeah, there is," user Reaperz_Ally wrote. "It's a riddle: To all who yearn to earn great fame, seek out the master's secret game. Sacrifice the Hand of the First to quench the fabled Cow King's Thirst. Drop all bodies in succession and truth shall come into your possession. For the Reaper's Pact can be found if one can live through Death's Playground…"

User Grimthorn added the meme [Chris Evans as Captain America saluting you].

---

While the forums and discord were abuzz with the rumors of the secret Easter egg within MnMII, at this moment in time, the Twitcher known as Ath3na was running for her life down a dark corridor.

Now, this may sound like a similar situation to what had happened to Leo Dante a month ago, but rest assured, these two instances were entirely different.

For one, the dark corridor Ath3na found herself in wasn't a dead end. In fact, she'd just made a sharp right turn into another darkly lit corridor that was a mirror copy of the previous one, down to the last irregularity in the wall, a group of stone bricks glitching in and out of existence.

Yes, the wall had a glitch which meant Ath3na wasn't anywhere near the alleyway where Leo was murdered by Morgana. Technically, one could say she was in an entirely different world—a virtual one.

The sound of her leather boots stepping lightly on the flagstone floors was all she could hear, and this eerie silence unnerved her.

Ath3na looked over her shoulder, and discovering that the thing which had been chasing her since she entered this place was nowhere in sight, she slowed to a stop. Just in time too as her stamina bar was almost depleted.

She waited another fifteen seconds for the floating hooded figure to appear before her once more, ready to flee against the monster she couldn't damage no matter how hard she tried. But it hadn't come.

"I must be out of its range…" Ath3na breathed a sigh of relief. "Guess I'm safe enough to record now…"

Ath3na tapped on the air in front of her and a floating, half-transparent window screen appeared out of thin air.

From the main menu's list of options, she clicked on [SOCIAL]. The first window reformed into another one with two options: [RECORD] and [STREAM].

Ath3na tapped on [RECORD]. As she did so, the half-transparent window disappeared and was replaced by a floating camera lens that followed and kept track of her face.

"Hello, Ath3nians! Goddess of gaming wisdom here, providing you with an in-depth guide to the MnMII Easter egg hunt," she said, smiling at the camera. "Now, for those of you who haven't heard it or remember, here's the clue the devs left us which I figured out easily enough…"

Ath3na swiped at the air and a textbox appeared before her. Its content was the same clue found in the forums. She pointed at several words in the floating textbox.

"These capital words signify that they're actually proper nouns," Ath3na revealed. "Let's focus on the first two, Hand of the First and Cow King's Thirst."

As she continued to speak into the camera, Ath3na swiped open the [ITEM] menu and tapped on the item she'd painstakingly stolen from the creature that had chased after her inside this damnable place, the [HAND OF THE ZOMBIE LORD].

Instantly, a severed, pale, emaciated hand appeared out of thin air to fall into Ath3na's open palm.

"This is the Hand of the Zombie Lord, the first unique item a new player can win from the first dungeon boss in the very first instance we can enter in MnMII, Dante's Keep… It's also a shout out to Leonardo Dante's first shooter, Zombie Deathmatch," Ath3na revealed. "That's a lot of firsts, which leaves no doubt in my mind that this is the first item we need."

While she explained this to the camera, Ath3na recalled her battle with the unkillable hooded figure that had replaced the actual Zombie Lord in the cemetery stage of the keep. The memory of the thing whose face she could not see behind the black depths of its deep hood flitted across the surface of Ath3na's mind, sending a chill up her spine that was so real she was certain she'd felt it in her body back in reality.

But ever the professional, Ath3na brushed away the dark thoughts, and instead opened the [ITEM] menu once more. This time, she picked out two items, both of which appeared on the ground in front of her.

She reached down to pick up the first item. It was the severed head of a cow that had been reshaped into a backpack.

"Here's our second key item… The Thirsty Cow King's Sack, which most of you veterans know wields a unique ability as well as a unique backstory in MnMII," Ath3na began. "When he was younger, Leonardo Dante was obsessed with the ultra-retro game, Diablo II, so of course he found the secret cow level Easter egg that Blizzard made in that game… Dante loved that fun side quest so much he created an item inside MnMII in honor of it."

Ath3na opened the flap of the bag and threw the Hand of the Zombie Lord into the Thirsty Cow King's Sack. Then she picked up the second item she'd taken from her item box and showed it to the camera. It was a yellow scroll all players knew was a [TELEPORTATION SCROLL].

"Here's the trick you won't find in the clue that you'll only get if you know about the secret cow level Dante was obsessed with… Essentially, this is our sacrifice," Ath3na smiled knowingly at the camera right before she tossed the scroll into the bag. "Just like an item in Dante's favorite childhood game, the Thirsty Cow King's Sack possesses the ability to combine items to create special ones for special purposes… in our case, a portal to another proper noun in the clue, Death's Playground… I assume it's a secret level Dante built into MnMII's update right before his death."

As she explained her deductions to the camera, the bag in her hand began to glow a bright red hue that disappeared quickly so it could be replaced by the sound of a cow's mooing.

"Let's see what we've cooked up, shall we?" Ath3na opened the bag's flap and pulled out the new item from inside it. It was a glowing blue scroll. "Perfect."

A new window appeared before Ath3na.

[YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE SECRET QUEST. KEY ITEM (REAPER'S GATE SCROLL) RECEIVED.]

This window was quickly replaced by a second one.

[USE SCROLL TO ENTER DEATH'S PLAYGROUND?]

A smaller window appeared on top of the first.

[YES/NO]

However, the [NO] option was grayed out, leading Ath3na to believe she had no choice but to accept the quest.

Seeing nothing but opportunity before her, Ath3na didn't hesitate to tap on the [YES] button, and inside her head she wondered how many millions of new viewers she was about to get after this big reveal.

She disappeared from the dark corridor only to reappear seconds later in a wide, unremarkable room designed to look like a typical dungeon with torch sconces hanging on the stone walls.

A window screen popped up in front of her face.

[RECORDING IS PROHIBITED IN THIS INSTANCE.]

"That sucks…" Ath3na glanced around the room. "Huh, this place is giving off some serious Dungeons and Dragons vibes…"

Not knowing what to do next, Ath3na walked forward. The instant she did this, the sound of whirring motors began to play.

A hole appeared on the ground at the center of the room. Then a rotting hand jumped out of the hole and clung to its edge. The hand pulled the rest of its emaciated body out of the hole, crawling over the white floor tiles until it had fully escaped into the room.

Ath3na took a step back. "It's a zombie… I hate zombies…"

She was right. The new arrival was, in fact, a zombie. However, that was just a half-truth. This creature was more than a simple undead as Ath3na would soon find out.

The zombie crawled to its feet and then rose up through a series of limb jerks and spasms that made every movement seem creepy. After it had finally managed to stand, it stared back at Ath3na and sent a devilish grin her way.

"OMG, it's wearing a military uniform," she breathed.

While Ath3na wondered at the modern outfit of the zombie before her, more rotting hands appeared at the edge of the hole, each one pulling an undead soldier out of the abyss.

A nametag appeared above the first zombie, [ZOMBIE 1 OF 300]. Beside it was another symbol, [LV ?].

"Holy sh**… Leonardo Dante added a Zombie Deathmatch level in MnMII…" Ath3na's eyes were wide with momentary awe for the genius developer. Her mouth transformed into a grin. "Crap, I really wish I could record all of this!"

Ath3na pulled out the silver spear strapped to her back, and although her virtual hands didn't shake, she could feel her real hands shaking with anticipation back in the real world.

In response to her increased threat, the first zombie stepped forward. However, it was very slow to move, something Ath3na was quick to notice, and even quicker to take advantage of.

She charged, spear forward. At the same time, she activated her most powerful attack skill.

"Divine Smite!" she yelled.

A blinding, golden glow wrapped around the tip of her spear, turning it into a weapon with the power to pierce through walls.

Ath3na increased her speed, dashing forward with the intent of skewering this vile undead in the chest.

The zombie moved to counter, but once again, it proved to be too slow in its attempt. It was much too late, of course, for as the undead raised its emaciated fist, Ath3na was already in range.

In the next second, she pierced the first zombie's chest with her spear, prompting an animation of golden flames to appear over the creature's entire form. Even more surprising, that single strike Ath3na launched was enough to destroy the zombie.

It exploded into a thousand tiny pixelated pieces right in front of her.

"Huh… I expected a much harder secret monster level fight," she said, disappointedly.

Ath3na didn't have much time to feel disappointed, however, as zombies two to twelve began to lug toward her. At the same time, more and more zombies began climbing out of the hole, promising an overwhelming force was about to turn her disappointment into one of respect for a challenge of herculean proportions.

One, two, three, four, down the zombies went as Ath3na launched attack after attack at the rotting bodies that threatened to overwhelm her.

She dodged a zombie's swipe only to duck as another zombie made a grab for her from behind.

"Earthshattering Blow!" Ath3na yelled right before she slammed the butt of her spear down on the flagstone floor.

An explosion of pure force erupted out of the point of impact, pushing all the zombies surrounding her away.

"Now that I've got room to breathe…" Ath3na dived headfirst into the cluster of zombies and sent her spear snaking forward. "Spear of Pain!"

Ath3na didn't know how long she fought them, only that there were many close calls where her health bar fell to dangerously low levels and her mana was constantly running out on her. But the self-styled goddess of gaming wisdom persevered, and finally, [ZOMBIE 300 OF 300] fell to her spear.

Shortly after she slew the final zombie, Ath3na felt a painful pinch in her chest akin to when she'd just done something horrible. She couldn't explain it, but a tear fell down her face nonetheless, her real face, not this virtual one.

In the next instant, bells chimed and a window appeared before her.

[CONGRATULATIONS ON DEFEATING THE ZOMBIE ARMY. YOU ROCK!]

After three seconds, this window was replaced by another.

[YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED TO JOIN THE CLOSED BETA FOR (THE ABYSS). WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY?]

"Holy fu**ing Sh**!" Ath3na's eyes went wide with surprise. "The secret game rumor really was real?!"

A smaller window appeared on top of the first.

[YES/NO]

After Ath3na tapped on [YES], the window disappeared. In its place appeared a puff of white smoke that left a floating scroll behind after it dissipated.

The scroll unfurled itself, revealing what looked like your typical Beta Disclaimer form.

While Ath3na browsed its contents, once in a while one of her eyebrows would rise after something she'd read. Eventually, Ath3na reached the bottom of the scroll and read it aloud, "I, Zatanna Ziegler, of sound body and mind…"

This time, she couldn't help but furrow her brow.

"They've already added my name… so much for privacy laws," she frowned.

Ath3na could feel that familiar strange chill creeping up her back in the real world. But she shook her head and ignored the feeling. There was no use getting spooked now as this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

Ath3na continued reading, "Of sound body and mind, do hereby consign my existence to the Abyss in exchange for becoming a BETA player… This is some seriously crazy flavor text…" she said while feeling hesitation wash over her.

Another puff of white smoke appeared, and after it cleared, a floating quill pen was left in its wake.

As if in a trance, Ath3na picked up the pen. Her hand hovered over the scroll.

"This is a really big opportunity… just one episode of this secret game could net me enough Twitcher ads to pay for dad's hospital bills," she reasoned.

Ath3na took a deep breath, and after exhaling her worries away, she signed on the dotted line.

Quill and scroll vanished in another puff of white smoke, and in their place, the sound of tinkling laughter rang out.

"Congratulations! You're on your way," said the voice of a familiar sounding teenage girl. "Now, please, step through the portal into the Abyss."

Immediately after the voice said this, a circular opening that was as black as the deepest darkest pit appeared on the wall at the far end of the dungeon. Then cold, the kind of biting chill Ath3na had never experienced inside a game before, seeped into the dungeon. No doubt it had come from the ominous black hole before her.

Ath3na took another deep breath to psych herself up. "You're the goddess of gaming wisdom… Stay calm and carry on."

The temperature dropped more the closer she got to it, forcing Ath3na to wrap her arms around herself as her sensory settings couldn't keep her from shivering.

"Wh-when did MnM have this much se-sensory im-mmersion?" she wondered aloud through chattering teeth.

As she stood before the black hole, seeing nothing beyond its dark depth, a final flicker of hesitation flitted across the surface of Ath3na's mind.

"Too late to hesitate, silly," the teenage girl's voice whispered into her ear. "You already signed."

Ath3na was shoved forward and then pulled into the inky blackness of the hole beyond.

Back in the real world, the LED lights on Ath3na's Portal II console and visor had transformed from a bright green into a pale blue. Electric currents surged out of the machines, almost as if they were on the verge of overloading.

As an effect to this, Ath3na's real body convulsed violently like she was having a seizure. These spasms did not end until she took one final gasping breath. And in the most tragic way, her body went limp at the same time as the Portal II quieted down.