Relaxing Shower Thoughts

Hot water washed over his skin, as he stood in the shower. It had been a long day, and his muscles were tense. As he closed his eyes, he could feel the steam rising around him.

Back in Liegthaven, Raven and the two other players had been taken to an underground lair hidden away in the wilderness. After, they had been briefly inducted into the Shadow Guild, and agreed to make more in depth plans soon.

Then, the players had left the game to rest.

His mind began to drift, as he mindlessly rubbed shampoo into his hair.

'Everything seems to be working out, so far...'

Raven had not challenged 'Ace' to a fight to measure his strength, but to attempt to form a 'bond'. He already figured logically that he would be strong, but he wanted to feel it deep in his soul. To respect and value the character's strength.

His Bondbreaker ability required a 'sacrifice', which meant Raven had to find value in their relationship. So, he would attempt to cultivate it. It was too early to tell for certain, but Raven believed it would work. Ace was an interesting figure; strong and experienced, he would surely be useful in helping Raven.

If Raven decided to not betray Ace, and keep him around, he would probably enjoy it.

Which meant that he had something to sacrifice.

The water washed over him, the shampoo dripping down his body. Meanwhile, his mind went far away. He went over all that had happened in the game, and all he had researched, as he developed plans for the future.

He chuckled. 'I guess this is what it feels like to have an obsession.'

Raven thought back to that one moment. After killing that old man, it felt as if his whole being started to coalesce. He had suddenly felt a jittery energy emerge, as it washed away the lethargy he had known his whole life.

He remembered the rush he felt, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. As he snuck from house to house, he had slowly pieced together what he truly wanted.

Then, as he confronted Rainheart, it seemed all the puzzle pieces finally connected. For the first time in his life, he truly found a purpose.

Raven leaned back against the wall of his shower, staring up at the ceiling as hot water rushed over him. He closed his eyes, focusing on the hot water as it dripped down his body.

'I wonder what is wrong with me. It was so easy for me to trample over Rainheart, to take from him what he cared for just to satisfy myself...'

Raven remembered the pain in Rainheart's eyes, as he slowly realized what had happened. The misery he pushed through after seeing Adam's corpse, as he tried so desperately to save the mother's life.

'Sure, I could correctly argue that it is all a game. It isn't real, so what does it matter? But no, that would be a cowardly argument. I would be running away from the fact that I hurt someone, took from them. It would be refusing to accept responsibility.'

It was mankind's greatest strength: the ability to justify anything. Anything they wanted, any action they took; they could twist reality and logic to justify it.

'The truth of the matter is that I enjoyed every second of that night.'

For the first time in his life, he finally felt like he was the one in control.

Raven stepped out of the shower and began to dry off. He hummed to himself, as he resumed planning out his future.

'It is strange, having your own goal. For as long as I can remember, I was merely drifting along, getting pulled into other people's lives.'

***

Raven sat at his computer, devouring tons of information about Leigthaven Online. He poured over forum discussions, and simultaneously watched through gameplay videos and discussions at 3x speed.

At first, he planned on relaxing for a bit before hopping back in, but it turned out he just couldn't resist. All his mind could focus on was the game.

Raven had already discussed with Ace how he would go about forming his Aura Core. Now, he was researching what players had come up with. He had also learned some other interesting bits of information.

Before the game released, there had apparently been around a hundred beta testers. They had mostly kept quiet until very recently, and even now only a handful of them were saying anything. They could be identified on the game's official forums by their "Beta Tester" badge.

Right now, Raven was reading one beta player's rather disheartening opinion on the meta. In his opinion, only players who chose the 'Game Launch Event' as their starting continent had any chance of being one of the most powerful and influential players.

This information was, of course, only revealed because he wanted to win an argument online.

"What don't you fucking get, retard. LMAO, you have NO SHOT at ever beating me LOL. The only hope was to join the Game Launch challenge dungeon and farm Perk Gems and Equipment. Once we beat it, I will PERSONALLY hunt you down LOL."

Raven smiled as he read the heated exchange. 'Nothing motivates someone to reveal their deepest held secrets quite like seething rage and the desire to win at all costs...'

Raven didn't remember much history from school, but there was one lesson he remembered clearly; how the long-gone United States lost World War 3 because someone leaked classified documents just to win an argument online.

'Well, anyways...'

Equipment and Perk Gems were two things Raven had yet to gain. Equipment were magically enhanced tools, weapons, and armors. They all had slots, and the amount was determined by their rank.

Equipment and Perk Gems followed the same ranking as Perks: Plain, Basic, Common, Rare, Supreme, Legendary, and Mythical.

Equipment could be found in the game world, mostly in Dungeons, while Perk Gems were created by sacrificing a Perk.

According to the beta player, the meta was to join the Game Launch dungeon. Then, a player should play relentlessly, picking up as many perks as possible. As soon as you got a perk, you turned it into a Perk Gem, and saved them up.

This was because the more Perks you had, the harder it was to get more Perks.

Raven leaned back in his chair, scratching his cheek. 'I wonder... since this information is out, I bet a lot of the new players are going to join the Game Launch event. Not only that, but most of the beta players are probably going to be there as well...'

'... how can I use this to my advantage?'