HC:Pacifist | Ch. 12 - Reverse Rampage

Walter, Will, and Wesley worked together for an insurance company. Their supervisor had been trying to convince them to try AstroTerra out and had even offered them a day off if they were willing to give it a go. At first, the three friends were hesitant. In the MMORPG they had been playing for years, they were all top-leveled, and it was hard to let go of all those hours of progress. But after getting a taste of AstroTerra, they were hooked. They sold all their stuff in the other game for real money and, since then, had been spending their sleeping hours happily hunting away in the mouse fields.

They were all level 3 and had moved up from hunting black mice to hunting brown mice. These were tougher mobs, but the experience and drops were much better. It did require them to hunt with more coordination, though. Seasoned players as they were, this was a piece of cake for them. Walter had always enjoyed playing warriors. Will always played as a healer or buffer character. Wesley always played as an archer but, so far, hadn't found anything in the game with bows and arrows, so he had just learned the [Throw Rocks] beginner skill.

Throw Rocks (Common)

Skill description: Your mind's potential is slowly awakening, and you can move some small objects with it.

Skill effects: Active skill. Channel for 2 seconds and then throw 1-3 rocks toward a target as far as 5 meters away. Each rock deals 5+(Wis+Int) damage.

Class Restrictions: Can be learned by all classes

Wesley concentrated and started to channel his skills. He felt the pebbles on the ground being picked up by his mind. They had been attacking this brown mouse for two minutes, and his hit points bar was already on the red. A few more attacks and it would be done. Just before he commanded the rocks to fly toward the brown mouse, he felt a giant shadow approaching him from behind.

"What on Earth…?"

"Stop it!" roared the giant. "Stop hurting that little mouse." He held onto Wesley from behind. He hadn’t attacked him or tried to deal him any damage. Wesley hadn't received any system notification saying that a player was attacking him. The giant man was just trying to keep him still and stop him from hurting the animal.

"Dude, are you insane? What are you doing?" he tried to protest.

"Animals have rights too, you monsters! He is just a defenseless little mouse!"

"What on Earth are you talking about, man? This is just a game. We’re just hunting in peace; leave us alone."

"Squeak?" Even the mouse was surprised, looking at his giant savior.

"Stop! Stop hurting that cute mouse."

"This dude is crazy. How is this disgusting mouse cute?"

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" screamed Wesley.

The new arrival held on furiously to Wesley. "Never! Go away. Just leave these poor animals alone. They are defenseless. They have feelings, just like you and I."

For a moment, everyone was unsure of what to do. Not even the mouse was sure of what was going on. None of them had ever seen anything like this. A giant man crying out for animal rights inside a game that was all about hunting monsters.

"Whatever, let’s just get rid of him," called Walter.

Wesley sent the mental command for the pebbles to fly toward Roth. The others turned on him, slashing him with a sword and hitting him with a mace.

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"What in the world? Why are my attacks dealing so little damage? This guy is not even wearing any plate armor! How is he so tough?"

"Aaaaargh! Ouch!" screamed the man, as if he were feeling the pain of these attacks. That only made him hang on more furiously to Wesley. "So this is what you were feeling, wasn't it, little mouse? You poor soul. Maybe they'd understand if they could feel the pain just like you and me. Run away! Run for your life! I will hold them!"

"Dude, what's wrong with you? What did we ever do to you?"

"Get him off me! Get him off me!

After a few more hits, the crazy man's HP flatlined.

"What was wrong with that guy? He acted as if he were feeling the pain."

"I know. Shoot. We lost the aggro of the mouse, and it has already recovered that much health. Quick. Attack it again before it fully heals!"

*

Roth's figure materialized in the central square of Creekhill Village.

You have died.

You lost a level. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You lose three dexterity. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You saved a brown mouse. He is grateful and tells his companions about your rescue. +14 Reputation with Ratans.

He didn't even register the notifications. As soon as Roth respawned, he was already running back to where he'd been killed. The same players were targeting a brown mouse again.

*

"That guy was crazy. Does anyone know why he didn't leave any drops behind?" asked Walter while attacking another brown mouse.

"You wanted any of that horrible-looking gear?" countered Wesley.

"Guys, I just noticed that I got a weird notification after killing him. I have gained a title. [Martyr’s Killer]. Did anyone get that?"

"I wasn’t paying attention to my notifications; wait a minute."

You have received a new title, [Martyr's Killer].

"What does this do?"

"Stoooooop!" The distant scream stopped everyone in their tracks. The brown mouse also was drawn by the voice. Everyone turned toward the figure running toward them.

"Darn! It’s that crazy guy again. Don’t tell me he’s going to do that again?"

"Stop killing that mouse!" kept screaming Roth.

"Shoot him down!"

"Man. We’re gonna get a penalty for killing a player."

"Forget about it. We have to show him we're serious."

Before Roth had reached them, Wesley had already hit him with a few pebbles.

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"I don't get it! I get over 20 damage for each pebble I throw at a mouse. Why is he so tough?"

As soon as Roth was within arm’s reach, he latched on to Walter this time, not letting go. "Stop hurting this adorable little mouse! You foul beasts."

"This dude is crazy!"

"Quick! Wesley. Shoot him down!" I will keep attacking the brown mouse, so we don't lose its aggro. I can hold it off for a while on my own."

*

Wesley kept shooting pebbles at Roth while he tried to hinder Walter's movements. Just before Roth died, he saw Will finish off the brown mouse in front of him.

"Noooooo!"

You have died.

You lost a level. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You lose two strength. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr];

You tried to save a brown mouse and even died with him. His companions saw it and spread the news of your heroic feat. +8 Reputation with Ratans.

You will be returned to the nearest saving point.

This time, as soon as Roth woke up, he went first to the different houses inside the village. He had read in the forum that he could learn some basic skills from a trainer here. He ran toward the city center, where a few people surrounded a valiant-looking man in armor who held a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left hand.

"Oh? A Martyr? What an honorable man! How can I help?"

"I want to learn a skill."

"By all means. Take your pick."

Roth started to scroll through the skills. [Shield Bash]. No. [Backstab]. No. [Wildcat Stance]. No. He went over all the different skills that newbies could learn. He could learn as many as he wanted, but they cost money. Finally, he chose two skills.

Healing Ray (Common)

Skill description: You feel others' pain and thanks to the power of your mutation, you can slightly alleviate it.

Skill effects: Active skill. Heal your target by 5+(Wis+Int)

Class Restrictions: Can be learned by all classes

Shepherd’s Shout (Common)

Skill description: Your vocal cords have grown resilient and robust. All can hear you better, and your voice can herd weaker creatures.

Skill effects: Active. Scares away monsters. The skill's effectiveness increases when a monster is low-leveled or has low health.

Each of them cost one silver. He spent at once almost all of the hard-earned money he had acquired after two days of questing. He immediately ran toward the place where he had met the group.

*

"Man, I have never seen anything like that crazy man."

"Forget it. This time it seems like he’s not coming back."

"Do you think he was just fooling around with us?"

"Probably it’s one of those guys that makes funny videos and then posts them online."

"Look! An elite!"

Not far from where they were, an elite rat spawned. Unlike the others in the vicinity who walked on all fours, this one walked on two legs, like a human. The rat also had a small helmet and a stick.

Guerilla Rat (Elite)

Lvl. 3

400 hp

"Lucky! Quick! Let's get him before anyone else gets to hear about it."

Elite monsters were rare in AstroTerra. They spawned in random places every other hour. Their drops were better than the regular monsters, and the experience they granted was very generous. Many quests required one to hunt these elites too. As a result, whenever one appeared anywhere in the game, everyone converged toward it and fought over the kill.

The group rushed toward the elite and started attacking it. With the added rewards came the added risks. Elites were much stronger than regular monsters. Patiently, they started to surround it and attack it methodically. As its HP bar hit the red, they heard the familiar voice.

"Stoooop."

"No! You've gotta be kidding."

"Stooooooooooooop!"

"I hate this guy."

"Quickly finish the rat up." Just as one of them was about to deal the finishing blow, a ray of light fell on the rat, and the health bar of the elite rat recovered.

Healing Ray!

"Squeal?" The rat looked strangely at the source of the healing ray.

"Dude! You've gotta be kidding me."

Shepherd’s Shout!

"Run away, little rat! Run away!"

This skill was used when one didn’t want to get involved in fighting. It was supposed to drive away monsters and mobs. The less health they had, the more effective the skill was. No one wanted a almost-dead mob to run away, though!

The rat turned tail and ran toward the woods.

"You idiot!"

"It took us 15 minutes to get that mob so low! It was an elite on top of that."

A healing ray fell on one of the players.

Healing Ray!

"What? Why in the world are you healing me?"

"Because I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Here goes another heal," said Roth.

Healing Ray!

"Aaaargh. I hate you!"

You have died.

You lost a level. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr].

You lose two strength. Penalty canceled because of your title [Martyr].

You helped and saved an Elite Rat. He spreads the news of your heroic feat. +33 Reputation with Ratans.

You were willing to help even those who were harming you. +10 Righteousness.

You will be returned to the nearest saving point.

After respawning, Roth materialized in town again. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. As soon as he saw the animals being hurt, he just snapped. Thoughts of the little chick he had raised and the days of excruciating torture just overtook him, and after that, it was as if he saw himself through someone else's eyes. He couldn’t help but jump into the fray.

It seemed that what he’d been through a few days ago had scarred him more deeply than he wanted to admit. He remembered that when he struggled more with rage, his vision went red, his mind was blank, and he went on a rampage. Now, it seemed like he was facing a similar phenomenon, which made him do the opposite of what he used to do. Those guys must have thought him crazy.

He decided to go apologize to them. As soon as he spotted them, he waved and ran toward them. They all saw him and ran in the opposite direction. He chased after them for a while. Since he had many speed bonuses, he quickly gained ground. Before he could speak to them, though, they all logged out. Strange. What was so scary about him? He had been careful not to hurt them.

He shook his head and decided to go back to his quest. He had to find Bartholomew's dog in the woods. Not even one minute after walking through the hunting fields toward the woods, he heard another commotion ahead. A squeal of pain. His eyes went red, and his mind went blank.

"Stoooop! Don’t hurt it!"

He started running toward another group that was hunting mice.

Ch. 11 - Marathonist

INDEX

Ch. 13 - Friend of the Ratans