There is a sudden flurry of adventurers re-atomizing at spawn. Seven men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five pile up relative to their death order. As each stands to brush himself off, all eyes snap to the former musketeer. He recoils a bit, tripping over the loadstone before falling to the ground.
“Nice going, Brave. You fucked everything up… as usual,” an annoyed mercenary's voice sounds.
“Yeah, real nice shot. Who the hell even uses the Gunner skill anyway?” another complains, “we should’ve known the second we met you that you weren’t serious.”
“You know, if you didn’t lose all your items upon death, we would’ve PK’d you and taken them. But because we
also
lost our items, we’ll just have to bill you; that will be two thousand gold,” a beefy one snarls menacingly, slapping his fist into his open hand.
The scapegoat, a player named Brave, slowly stands to stretch, then makes a break for it. A Ranged class skill kicks in, accelerating him by reducing muscular resistance. He catches the band of mercenaries off guard, granting him a five-second headstart.
As he reaches the outskirts of town, Brave deviates right, heading towards the bank. Upon entering, he slams his arms on the counter, demanding that the teller withdraw one silver. After receiving the coin, Brave peers out the door, looking both ways to ensure that he was clear to advance.
He was not in the clear. The band of men charges toward him from around the building corner, waving their fists and throwing death threats. Brave continues his escape into the town square, contemplating his next actions.
His eyes pan the familiar streets and faces as he races past the Adventurer’s Guild, where he had accepted the quest that had gotten him into this mess. There had not been a connection there that he could rely on, so he continues on. His running eventually leads him to the residential district.
Brave enters the lobby of a high-class, high-security inn, only to be thrown out seconds later due to his lack of formal dress. In this time, the angry horde had caught up, and the guard handling Brave practically handed him over. Brave breaks out of this hold and begins to run again.
His stamina was depleting at a heavy rate, but wouldn’t the same have applied even more so to the others?
From the corner of his eye, he sees a member chanting stamina buffs. Brave, eyes widen as he also notices the lead of the pack: the scavenger. The player should have been able to catch Brave by now, given the buffs, but it seems as if he was holding back.
Brave manages to reach a rundown motel. With only a small lead, he slams the coin on the receptionist’s bar table, paying double the nightly fee. Brave receives a key without question or an odd glance
—
just a nod
,
as if this situation often occurred
—
then rushes up the stairs and slams the door behind him.