"You should have told me the full extent of your plan," Ersabet said. "This is far beyond my expectations. You're going to get us both killed."

  The sun would rise in a few hours, and I desperately needed a few hours of rest before tomorrow, but it could wait for now. Ersabet wanted to talk, and I owed her some answers after what I had just gotten her into.

  "My plan is to end the game, either by winning it or by breaking it," I said. "You've known this from the beginning."

  She crossed her arms. I had thought you planned to recruit allies and harass the Kurskins, not start a war," she said. "It is dangerous to draw so much attention to yourself."

  She sounded just like Val.

  "I have to do something," I said. "You saw how quickly Minna and Harl joined us, how it only took a shred of the truth to turn all of the Hunters against the Kurskins. Deep in their soul, they want to fight back. They've always wanted to. Now they can. We all can."

  Ersabet shook her head. "If you follow through with this, the Kurskins will retaliate. NPCs have fought back before, even without knowing the truth. It never ends well."

  "You'd be surprised how strong humans can be when their will is their own," I said.

  "It will not be enough."

  'I told you.' Val echoed.

  I closed my eyes in frustration. How did they not understand? The Triarchy had stolen our free will, and I was the only one who could give it back. I knew that people would die because of me, but they would die for something greater. If we could pull this off, it would send a shockwave through the game. The people of Danver would pave the way for other cities to join in the revolution.

  Tomorrow night, the Hunters and I would assassinate every Kurskin in the city, which, by Val's estimation, was in the hundreds.

  We couldn't kill them all. I knew this, but we could kill enough of the bastards so that the others would have no choice but to flee.

  Even with all the Hunters at my side, it wouldn't be enough people to put up a proper fight. But many had friends or family they could trust. The suppressed hatred for the Kurskins was widely shared, and it wouldn't take much to spur the NPCs into revolt.

  And once the fighting spilled out from the shadows and into the street, other, random humans would likely join in.

  "This will disrupt the game, and eventually, the humans in all the other cities will hear about what happened in Danver," I said. "The Kurskins and Dalari are busy fighting a war amongst themselves. If they have to send forces across Vedra to quell an uprising, then their little wargames would be ruined."

  "You aim too high, John," Ersabet said. "The Kurskins will send just enough Players to end your little rebellion here. They will kill you if Prajio doesn't."

  The pit in my stomach grew. "Humanity is already destroyed. Those that are left deserve a shot at revenge, even if it's hopeless."

  She raised an eyebrow. "If you understand it to be futile, why do it?"

  "Because it doesn't always have to be hopeless. If word spreads that humans fought back here, it could inspire hope in others. All the humans on whatever's left of Earth are as good as dead. Sure, some of their deaths will be premature because of my decisions, but I have to do something. I'm the only human that can."

  I took a deep breath. "This is going to cause all those alien bastards a whole lotta trouble, and I'm going to spread this trouble across the world, and in my travels, I will continue to accept quests and grow stronger. After that, the Voxals will have no choice but to get involved."

  'Stop talking!' Val shouted in my mind.

  I shut up.

  Ersabet looked at me with a mix of horror and curiosity. "Why would you want the Voxals involved? That's a death sentence, you know. There are things about them you aren't aware of. Trust me, even I wouldn't attempt to fight a Voxal. It would be a fruitless exercise. So please, tell me, why are you even remotely interested in drawing the attention of the Voxals?"

  Val popped into existence next to Ersabet. Her cheeks were nearly as red as her hair. 'Do not under any circumstances reveal your knowledge of the Voxal Controller,' she said.

  I blushed. I was about to do just that. But Val was right. Ersabet knew I was a Player, and my lost memories had been restored. She knew I was aware of the Triarchy and the races among it, but that was the extent of what I'd revealed to Ersabet regarding the depth of my knowledge.

  This was complicated. I couldn't find a way to explain why I wanted to attract the attention of the Voxals. It was best just to let her think I was an idiot. Honestly, it would be easy for her to believe.

  "I'm going to find a way to kill them," I said confidently.

  "You cannot kill them. Even the highest-level Player would stand little chance of defeating a Voxal. They aren't Players. They are more like referees and rule-keepers. Their primary purpose is to monitor the wargames to ensure the fights are unfolding fairly. Other than that, they mostly just monitor the system for errors or anomalies. But if they get wind of what you are, they will abandon the wargames and hunt you down. Or not, since your grand plan appears to involve summoning them to you."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Telling Ersabet about Val was out of the question, so I just said, "I'll figure something out. And if I don't, then I die. But at least I'll have ruined their fun."

  Ersabet shook her head and sighed. "I wish I had known of your death wish before agreeing to aid you. Unfortunately, you've left me little choice but to remain your ally. But I will say 'I told you so' the first chance I get."

  I met her eyes and studied them as I said, "There's still time for you to back out."

  She put her hands on her hips. "Djadja will speak of me. Once that happens, I will be marked by the Kurskins for death. There is no point in turning back now."

  I huffed out a laugh. "Thank you for standing by me. Glad you're heart's in it. I have to ask, what happens to you if I die? What if I die and your people find out you were helping me?"

  She took a step forward. "I do not think of such things. I think only of what it will be like when you survive until the end or even win, but that's likely beyond your reach." She took another step toward me. "Did you know that all who survive until the end of the game are forgiven of all crimes committed within the sphere? Players can never be prosecuted for the actions they committed here. If I survive, I may become an outcast, but I'll become the wealthiest outcast in our history. Everyone will want to hear my story. If you survive…," she shrugged, "if you survive, the story will be worth even more."

  I shook my head. "There has to be more to you than this. I saw the hate in your eyes when we fought those Kurskins."

  "I hate murderous creatures. It's as simple as that. Goodnight, John."

  I said goodbye and collapsed backward into my semi-soft bed. Tomorrow, this building would remain locked down, and not a soul would be allowed outside lest some rat flees the nest and alerts the Kurskins to our plan. During the day, we would prepare. I would instruct all the Hunters to hone their blades, and Ersabet would teach them the easiest and best ways to kill a Kurskin.

  When night fell, those who had seemed the most enthusiastic about joining me would leave the Hunter's Lodge to find friends or family that they had assured me held no love for the Kurskins.

  Then we would wait, and at midnight, we would kill every Kurskin we could find. I didn't know how the city guard would react, but I needed them on my side. That was where Harl would come in. He told me he has a cousin in the guard. Harl's mission was to find him and convince him that the Kurskins were rising against the humans, not the other way around. Hopefully, that would get some of them to pitch in. It was unlikely that the captain of the city guard would support his men attacking the players. Val told me he was a Special NPC and a Quest Giver, which meant there was a horrible chance that he would throw his support behind the Players. He couldn't be involved.

  We planned to kill as many Kurskins in their sleep as we could, as that was by far the safest way to do it. Any Kurskin out walking the streets at night would be stalked and taken by surprise. It's not like they had any reason to fear us, but after our initial attack, they would be on alert, and that's when the real fighting would begin. The Kurskins had powers, and all we had were numbers. Currently, not enough numbers, but if the majority of the Hunters were any indication, then there was a good chance other humans would join our battle, even if they weren't sure what they were fighting for. There was still an innate humanity in each of them. They valued human lives more than any Kurskin.

  This would work. It had to.

  Sleep was knocking at the doors of my mind, but I had a couple of things left to do before I could rest.

  First, I initiated my level-up. Killing those Kurskins earlier this night had netted me a ton of XP.

  CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER. YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP. YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL SIX.

  I couldn't help but bask in that warm glow of newfound power coursing smoothly through my body. It didn't last long, but I still felt better than I had moments earlier. I was stronger now. Faster. I could feel it. It was only a minor change, but it was noticeable to me.

  YOU MAY SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SKILLS AND ABILITIES, OR YOU MAY ENHANCE ONE OF YOUR PREVIOUSLY CHOSEN SKILLS OR ABILITIES.

  I took some time to consider. Devastating Strike was working well enough for my needs. I was almost scared to enhance it further.

  Magic Begone might be worth an upgrade. It had saved me from being blasted backward into a stone wall earlier. Silent But Deadly was useful, even though I hadn't used it too much success yet. I could hold off on that one.

  Close Combat Specialist's unpredictability nearly got me killed. If I were going to upgrade anything, it would be that.

  I decided to check out what the AI was offering before making a decision.

  CULT LEADER: Your followers are practically worshipping you after that speech you gave. Have you ever considered a career in radio? You do have the face for it. Ha! I jest. Anyhoo, this passive ability makes it easier for you to influence people. And before you ask, yes, it only works on weak-minded humans, and by that, I mean all humans. It will not work on Players.

  Fuck off

  ENSHROUDED: You seem to have a strange fixation with dark places. You're not secretly a vampire, are you? Ha! Now, you may ask yourself, 'Didn't my friendly personal sub-mind already use that joke before?' The answer is yes, and you'll just have to deal with it. Okay. Glad that's settled. This skill makes you one with the shadow. You can wrap yourself in shadow and become nearly undetectable in the dark. I wouldn't recommend using this ability on a sunny day. Some bumpkin will surely think you're a demon or a ghost. It's quite helpful for those who like to sneak around in the dark. This skill can be cast thrice daily and lasts thirty seconds. It has no cooldown.

  THROATED: You seem to have a strange fixation with cutting throats. It's like you can't even go a full twenty-four hours without slicing someone's throat these days. To each their own, I guess. The ability works as such: Whenever you slice someone's throat with a bladed weapon, your weapon will consume their life energy, allowing you to cut another's throat from a distance. All you have to do is swing your blade and activate this ability. You must be within ten yards of the intended target. Oh, and it only works once. You'll have to slice another throat for real again to recharge it.

  Wow, that last one was pretty incredible, but a little too morbid for me. Not to mention, it would be a nasty chore to recharge it. It didn't matter as my heart was already set on Enshrouded.

  I selected it, knowing it would serve me very well in the days to come.

  Lastly, I opened my achievement notification.

  NEW ACHIEVEMENT: PLAYER HUNTER

  You killed multiple Players outside the bounds of the wargames. Good job! Hopefully, they were assholes and deserved it. Eh, who am I kidding? You seem like a nice guy to me. Stupid but nice. Those Players had it coming. The PLAYER HUNTER achievement unlocks access to the System Hosted PVP Trials. You can fight solo or as a team and prove yourself in the arena.

  That was a big no from me. I would have enough fighting tomorrow, and I sure as hell have had enough fighting for this night.

  I closed my eyes and let slumber take me.