A Green Hat

In a ruined forest where broken trees and upheaved earth devastated the landscape, a group of 8 men and 3 women encircles the figure of a 2m tall man on his knees inside a crater 10ft deep due to the impact of his falling.

The breathing of the man is leveled even though his appearance looks anything but.

His left arm is chopped off, left to the side somewhere some time ago. A deep gash on his head caused blood to flow down his face, making him look like a crazed man. A leg is bent at an irregular angle, broken for sure.

The armor he was wearing was ruined beyond repair. His skin burnt to a crisp as the air permeated the metallic scent of blood and cooked flesh. White frost-like flecks pepper his head.

All in all, this man should be dead. How exactly is he still alive? Only his indomitable will.

"How could you all betray me like this? I've put blood, sweat, and tears into this guild. We've all even worked side by side for 8 years. I worked like a slave for 22 years and this is the payment I receive? A betrayal?" Connor says, shouting at the group of 11 people surrounding him.

Upon looking at the group of people, Connor gives each of them a loathing look. One person, however, gives a look of heartbreak and duplicity. That person was a woman adorned in golden armor with a cerulean blue glowing here and there.

About 5 years ago, Connor was with his raid team on their way back from failing to clear Suna Creek's Level 325 Hell-Mode dungeon, Scarlet Moon Witch which had resulted in a team-wipe due to the information given being wrong, when he met her.

She had been about to be player-killed by an assassin who was sent to collect the items she'd recently been rewarded from a quest when Connor and his team had arrived coincidentally.

Not thinking much of it, Connor saved her. They parted ways after she thanked him. They also added each other as friends.

A week later a system-wide announcement was made congratulating her on completing a Legendary Chain Quest.

It had her name.

Had she acquired the Hidden Info skill, the system would have announced her as anonymous. However, unfortunately, those skills are hoarded by the top guilds and individual players would have difficulty acquiring them.

The entire server went insane at that time because of the results of the quest being a system update.

Her rewards for completing the quest were unknown. However, the entire player base was out to get her and the loot because she was just an individual player with no Guild or backing.

Remembering a guy whom she met a week prior was from the mighty Lightheart Guild, she was desperate for protection.

When speaking, she found out Connor was a field team leader and asked if she could join the guild. He agreed simply because he knew that she was desperate.

After joining the team, Connor never asked what rewards she'd gotten. And for that, she was grateful.

The woman spent the next month trying to get information about the red orb from her quest reward with no luck. She had eventually given up on it and handed it to Connor.

Connor, being the kind-hearted person he is, decided to use his connections and sources to figure out what the orb was. Months later that too turned into a dead-end.

The woman insisted he keep it, and Connor agreed to keep the useless orb. In the following 3 years, Connor and the team went on more missions, 60% being failures.

However, despite this, the woman still insisted on staying on his team.

At some point, they began to develop a synergy. They would finish each other's sentences, and know what each other was thinking and wanted without saying anything. Even going as far as solo-duoing bosses that would normally take 4-5 players to defeat.

This new development with her was something Connor enjoyed because it took his mind off of the reality he us facing, his brother's $100M contract.

The woman offered him an escape and he took it without hesitation. Eventually, they met in real life to go on a date.

To say she was beautiful is an understatement.

Her online avatar is 60% different than her actual self. She'd purposefully made her avatar the opposite of herself. Her avatar's looks can be said to be average but not unpleasant to look at.

In comparison, her real self is leagues above the Shattered Realms avatar. One that would make a lesser person cry themselves to sleep at the thought of letting such a beauty go.

Laughing at Connor's awestruck face, the woman doesn't mind one bit. You see, she is surprised at his looks.

Not being too handsome himself, but coupled with the kind expression and the aura he exudes, Connor looks like a Prince Charming to most women.

Three months later, they go on to meet each other's families which consisted of just his mother, and her brothers and sisters. Connor learned that her parents died due to some freak accident.

When meeting her little brothers and sisters, Connor immediately bonded with them. As an only child, he lacked that sibling bond that is an essential part of children at a young age.

Time passes and Connor eventually gets to know her true side.

The brothers and sisters she said she had weren't even blood-related. She had gotten them from the foster care system to help with her money problem.

Connor later found out that she had been sleeping around with a team leader who had been his rival since day one of his joining Lightheart.

To make matters even worse, his teammates started distancing themselves from him. They would call out on certain missions that they needed to be on. Or not even going with him to grab a bite at their favorite in-game restaurant.

Sometimes, they'd even make fun of the times his avatar would die. Not that it was a strange behavior.

However, those times marked it differently as they had a hint of ridicule and mockery in their eyes as they did it.

Connor later found out that they went dungeon crawling with his rival. That was the final nail in the coffin.

In the following three years, Connor spent every hour of his free time to get clues on what the orb that his ex-gf, if that's what you'd even call it, had given to him truly was.

About a week ago, he finally had gotten the info he wanted. It turns out that the orb was a legacy item.

The rank of this legacy was game-breaking and Connor could not let this opportunity go.

Connor doesn't know what old monster in the game left behind this legacy, but it's a very powerful one for sure. This was his chance to finally rise to the top.

He would have the chance to obtain enough money to release himself from the contract he signed and be able to get rid of all of his family's competitors.

Despite that, Connor is a bit helpless at this moment. He had fulfilled every requirement for this legacy except one.

You have to be at Level 1 to activate the legacy!

Connor would have to start a new account or reset his character back to level 1.

Now that he's currently in-game, and giving it more thought, he decided to reset his account. That's the best course of action.

Even if it takes him a couple of more years to get back to his current Rank and strength, he'll do it without question.

Connor's location is the beginner's village. He's in this village to hide the legacy because when the reset is complete, he could simply come to this exact spot and activate the legacy.

Just when Connor is going to take out the legacy, a voice speaks from behind him.

"Hand it over if you know what's good for you!"

Turning around, Connor sees that it's his long-time rival, Calibre.

A seething rage fills Connor's mind as he remembers the most treacherous thing his rival had done.

Imagine being rivals with someone for over 15 years all for them to give you the ultimate gift any man can receive…

A green hat.

To think that the heir to the once prestigious Lin family would be given a green hat is the most egregious thing one could think of.

Through gritted teeth, Connor says to Calibre, "What the hell are you talking about? You have some guts to show yourself in front of me after what you've done."

In an arrogant and gloating tone, Calibre responds, "Don't play coy with me. Hand over the damn orb she had given you."

"This is the only way you will come out of this situation somewhat in one piece," Calibre says disdainfully. "Or do I have to take your moth—"

"That's enough from you. Stand down," a man with broad shoulders says to Calibre. "You've done your job."

'It's the Vice Guild Leader!' Connor exclaims to himself.