Five Man Beatdown

When Roman turned the corner into the dark alley, the voice with the sword snickered. He felt the sword slightly dig into his back.

Roman tensed up just a bit but that was it. When the game came to the real world, he had been stabbed by other people already. This was nothing.

"I saw you talking to that old man, he even gave you those things for free. Hahaha! These NPC are so generous."

Roman couldn't see who was behind him but he heard a few people laugh after what the man said.

'If I have to put a number on it, there is at least 5 voices. I believe with my stats, if all of them are still Unranked then I should be able to win against them.'

"I'm sure you didn't just dragged me into a dark alley to compliment the old man."

A different voice this time, answered Roman.

"Of course not you commoner. Just slowly turn around and give us everything he gave you!"

'Commoner? Either this guy is an NPC or he is really living up to the "RPG" part of the game.'

Roman does as he was told and slowly turns around. He takes the time to look at the five people with his Vision skill.

He doesn't make an effort to remember their names but he does glance at their levels. All of them were still Unranked and under level 5. Since he had a one level advantage and most likely had higher character attributes, he had nothing to worry about.

Among those five though, one stood out to Roman. The one in the back who seemed to be the leader. The person was an NPC! That wasn't the only thing, all five of them had the words (TEAM NED) next to their names and levels.

'These guys… teamed with an NPC? Was that possible?'

To team with someone, you would have to do it through the 'Friends & Guilds' tab. This tab is split into three more tabs when you open it up. The 'Friends List' tab is just as it implies. The 'Guilds' tab is used to see who was in your guild, who was currently online and it even had it's own chat to communicate with one another. Lastly, there was the 'Teams' tab. This tab was used to invite other players into a party. The max you could have on a team is 10. Most players in the past used this to run dungeons together, pvp together and many other things. But how did an NPC join a real player?

The NPC named Ned began shouting orders.

"What are you idiots waiting for?! Take those items from him!"

The four players looked at one another and then back at Roman. The one with the sword called out to him in an arrogant tone.

"Just give it to us man. If you don't give it to us then we have to kill you. I don't know if you've experience the in-game death but it feels horrible."

The others laughed. They believed that they could just kill Ned after and resell the items that Roman had on him. It was just a matter of time before Roman gave up and handed over the items to them.

Roman however, had no plans on handing over his stuff. Roman inhales and exhales one time. The four players laughed again.

"Look at him! No need to take it so serious man! It's just a game. Just give us ev-."

Before the swordman could finish, Roman had already swiftly moved to take him down. Roman appeared in front of the swordsman and grabbed onto both of his arms. He then performed a leg sweep, causing the swordsman to fall and drop his sword in the process.

"Argh! You bitch!"

As the swordsman fell, Roman caught the sword and brought it down onto the man with both hands. Roman made sure to pierce him in the chest. For good measure, he twisted the sword into the chest. The swordsman didn't move after that. The three friends were shocked.

They have never seen another player move that fast. In the end, they decided to ditch the NPC and run.

"RUN!! I'm not going to loose my items again!!"

The three instantly ran deeper into the alley, hoping to loose Roman. Roman quickly loots the dead swordsman, throwing everything into his inventory. Ned the NPC also ran, but he tried running towards the festival, in hopes that Roman wouldn't attack him in front of many people.

Roman ignores him, he was only interested in the players since they dropped everything after they died. He stands up after looting the dead swordsman and watches the body slowly vanish.

After a player is killed, the body stays visible. It does this so that the revived player had time to run back to his body and try to retrieve his items. Sometimes the body disappears before the player returns. The only way this happens is if another player loots the body before the revived player could.

Once the body was gone, Roman took the sword and chased after the other three players.

-

*One of the Three Players running*

"Damn it! Leo said it would be an easy quest!"

"Shut up! Just run! I don't want to feel that pain again!"

I yell at him as we kept running. I could feel my body shaking from the fear I felt. That guy... that player... He was fast... Too damn fast! I couldn't even follow him when he killed Leo. I thought most players would have the same level and attributes since it hasn't even been a full day since the game came out. Who knew that there would be some crazy ass speedrunner already?!

"ARHH!!"

"ARGGH!!"

I stop as I hear two horrible cries from behind. I turn to see that player killing both of my friends in one move. They both fell down holding onto their throats. I subconsciously hold onto my throat as well.

"No... I don't want to feel that again... no..."

I took a step back as that player came up to me. I could see the blood dripping from the sword. His eyes seemed lifeless. I couldn't get a read on his emotions since his face also seemed lifeless. He didn't waver at all. He killed the others without a second thought.

"Wait... Please! I will just give you my things! I don't want to- ARGHHH!!"

I couldn't even beg before he stabbed the sword into my leg. I fell down while holding onto my leg. I look back up at the player. Only his lifeless cold eyes were staring back at me. I felt a chill down my spine.

"Why... Why do you look like that?! It's just a game man!! We- ARGGHHH!!"

The player grabbed the sword and began digging it into my leg. I couldn't do anything, all I could do was scream and trying to wiggle away from him. But the mad man stepped on my other leg and held me in place. I couldn't take it anymore, the pain was getting to me.

I needed to know who this guy was. I don't ever want to run into him again! I used my Vision skill to look at his name. When I saw his name, I couldn't help but shiver even more and regret everything. His name was Romeo!!! The mysterious player that was posted all over Golddit. Many players were trying to track him down and figure out what a 'Forgotten' quest was.

While I was losing my mind, I suddenly heard a voice right in front of me.

"Tell me... how did you guys team up with that NPC?"

I couldn't look at him out of fear so I just answered him while looking at the ground.

"Ugh... we were trying to rob the nobles when we were caught... the NPC was a son of one of those nobles... he came to speak to us when we were thrown in jail. He offered us the option to work for him, that was when all of us saw a team invite from the NPC!"

Romeo stood there, hands on his hip. He was thinking about something after I finished. I take the chance to try to escape.

"It seems like that was all you wanted to know. I'm going to leave now alright?"

As I try to crawl away, Romeo grabbed onto the sword and pulled it out. I couldn't help but let out a scream.

"Shut up. Stop screaming."

Romeo then kicks me across the face. I ended up on my back. I tried my hardest to stay awake as I lay flat on my back. I manage to open one of my eyes. The last thing I saw was Romeo standing over me, preparing to plunge the sword into my chest.

'Note to self: Don't mess with this guy. Never mess with Romeo again.'

-

I log out as soon as I could. I didn't want to play anymore after Romeo took us all out. I let out a defeated sigh.

"I guess I will get back on tomorrow."

I reach over and check my phone, it was a text from Leo to our group chat.

'That fucken bastard! Who was it?! I will track him down in real life and kick his ass!'

'He killed me so quick! I didn't even have time to react.'

I couldn't help but sigh. Leo has always been like this. Ever since he joined that gang, he's been even more hot headed and his short temper has gotten worse. I reply to the group chat.

'Let's meet up. You're not going to believe who that guy was!'

-

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter guys. My brother made a surprise visit so I've been hanging out with him all week. I will try to get another chapter out tonight. If not then expect one tomorrow.