1: Beginning of the End

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The street was festive and everywhere, there were posters and stalls filled with merchandise advertising the 5th year Anniversary of PSEUDO Inc's game; Cursed Earth Online.

And as with most sensations of the world, dark rumors also surrounded it.

"The Ragtimer", a supposed entity that caused the recent deaths of the numerous missing players during its "Patch Periods".

Supposedly, these players would disappear right after receiving a free update chip for the game known as "The Invitation".

The chip, unlike most of the games updates, would come unmarked and often the only clue to it would be the piece of paper that came with it; the dead give away would be that instead of it coming from "PSEUDO Inc", it would say that it would come from "The Ragtimer".

As of now, there are currently no confirmed reports of these supposed chips and also no confirmed reports of players going missing or receiving any of these free chips.

The dirty blond boy waited in the cafe as he enjoyed a strawberry parfait, wearing the holographic costume that his in-game avatar used along with his username (Slitheen3) floating right above his head as he finished reading the article.

A pair of night-vision goggles adorned his face as well as two Chinese hook swords hung from his waist with a circular blade serving as his belt buckle and bandages around both his arms; a Denizen-aligned avatar that a lot of players would easily spot.

Though only holograms, the circular blade and the hook swords felt real to the touch, well at least to Slith's hands. Anyone else that touched the weapons would cause their hands to go through the projected image.

Across his table were a pair of brothers, both brown-skinned and had almost identical features; one of them was tall and wore a grey winter coat that was probably also holographic while the younger one wore a simple white dress-shirt and looked to be around ten or eleven years old.

"Here you go Jamie, a strawberry parfait", the older brother said as he gave the glass to his little brother.

Moments like these, Slith was jealous; he was the youngest in his family and always wanted his own little brother.

"Looks like I'm the first one to arrive, Slith", came the gruff familiar voice of one of the people he came to meet up with as the boy turned around and found a man wearing military attire with a purple beret and handkerchief covering his face along with the username (Joseph0014) above his head.

"It's just you, Joe?", Slith asked as the other nodded, causing the dirty blond boy to sigh.

"Sorry we're late!" two voices said in unison just a few moments after the soldier's arrival; one wearing a black hoodie with the hood covering her face and another wearing black leather and a hockey mask over her face.

"Vetalyni and yours truly, ThatClassicLady have arrived!" the girl in the hockey mask said proudly as the red usernames above their heads made people passing by look at them and with good reason; they were red players; people who targeted other players in-game and also were quite notorious in-game.

Here, however, they were Slith and Joe's old friends. Well, friends might be going a little too far.

They were more like casual acquaintances in the game that have more than once, assisted with his quests and fights.

"Vee, Lady; we've missed you guys", the guy in the military attire told his friends as they also took their seats in the same table and started rifling through the shopping bags they had.

"It might be a bit early, but Merry Christmas guys!" Vetalyni said as she handed Joe his gift and Lady handed Slith one as well.

"You guys do know it's only September right?" Joe began to say while he nonchalantly opened the small box in front of him.

"Whoa..... Aren't these expensive?!" Slith began to exclaim as he looked at the small chip in the box he was given; it was a small, unmarked, blue chip, as big as an SD-Card.

"We actually got these for free", Lady beamed proudly as she took out the piece of paper that came with the box just as all four of them inserted their respective chips into their bracers.

It looked like the usual free content pamphlet that was given when you purchased the game but there was something else, in the fine print it mentioned that it was not from PSEUDO Inc but from...

"The Ragtimer?" Joe began to read as Slith felt a chill run down his spine, it was the same thing as the article.

It was already half-past noon as she sat in the plaza, her holographic leather armor feathered hood attracting attention as she continued to wait impatiently on the steps.

"GOD DANG IT NERDY!" she began to yell as she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late, Ashe!", the ninja simply said as her eyes smiled through that full body suit.

The ninja didn't even explain as she handed her friend a crepe, instantly calming her down.

"By the way, did you also get the event gift?" Nerdy began to ask while her friend enjoyed the treat.

"The blue chip? Yeah, I already inserted it into the bracer", Ashe simply said as the two of them slowly walked inside the mall, passing by a man that looked to be a butler and a girl with blonde, braided hair wearing expensive looking clothes.

"Milady, why must you attend a peasant's event?" the butler asked her as she turned on her holographic costume and entered the mall, shocking her servant into disbelief as the fox mask and the single sleeved, tanned deer hide replaced her lady-like attire.

"Because I have important business here, Alfred. Now stay in the car like a good lapdog while I enjoy myself", she said as she walked away into the mall with a bit of sass and a grandiose air, quickly causing heads to turn as she did.

As one of the Top Players in the game, she was known for her career in facing off against other players and being a successful solo player.

"Well, well, if ain't InvaderCynder, the Queen of the Hunt herself!" said a voice from her left as a blonde ninja looked at her from a bench with her username (Shadow7708) floating above her head.

"Shadey! How goes the solo career?" she asked the blonde ninja with a bit of sarcasm; they used to be an inseparable team but only until the ninja finally decided to go solo for some unexplained reason yet the two of them did still talk on friendly terms.

"Still the same, Cynder... Still the same. I take it you're here to find that G.I. Joe you mentioned?" Shadow began to say as the girl in the fox mask began to visible blush and nodded.

"Well, I knew love was blind but I didn't realize it was also sado-masochistic", the ninja commented with a bit of snark while she looked to the side and waved at someone wearing a penguin suit.

"Shinny still hasn't grown taller, I see", Cynder commented, nonchalantly trying to change topic.

"Excuse me ladies, here are your event prizes", said a man wearing a gasmask and hoodie as he gave the girls small boxes.

The girls noticed that there were men like him everywhere, they were all wearing the "survivor" mascot costumes that the game had in its promotional trailers.

"I never realized that there were prizes for attending this event", the ninja began to comment as the man that handed her the box scratched his head.

"Well, today is the game's fifth anniversary. We were told to distribute these to costumed players by the organizers", the man said as he then walked away and started handing out more boxes.

"Cynder! Shade! Over here!" said the penguin as she called her friends over.

"WHOA! Th-th-these are CHIPS! UPDATE CHIPS! THESE ARE DANG EXPENSIVE!" Shadow began to exclaim as she hurriedly put the blue chip into her bracer without a second thought, as did Cynder.

The chip instantly updated their bracers and then, they heard what seemed to be a collective gasp.

And there, right before their very eyes, the world around them started to change as the transparent roof of the mall showed the sun slowly turning black and the sky turning red as blood.

He looked at the sky as he donned his holographic costume, retaining his features but having a scarf cover the lower half of his face.

"It looks like we're already too late", Renoe said to himself as a large, imposing figure began to appear in the blood red sky.

"God help us all", the pale young man said as the ominous figure continued to stay there, silently heralding what he knew as the start of the apocalypse.

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