For two decades, one RPG reigned supreme as the global king of MMOs. Then years of scandals and lawsuits drove the developers to the edge of financial ruin. Now NOVisionWizard is back to lead the gaming world again with their new, full-dive MMO:
Wo...
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Jane sat in place, staggered by the opening speech. In a daze, she looked around at the coliseum crowd, many of who were now standing, fearfully shouting at each other, many frantically going through the game menu, trying to log out, but to no avail.
Her mind whirled. No no no no! How could this be happening? She opened her menu and searched for the logout again and again. Nothing. Chest growing tight, her breathing sped up. She tried again. Dammit, where was the logout? They couldn't seriously be doing this? Those fucking bastards.
Had she made a huge, terrible, stupid mistake in buying this game? Was this her karma for ridiculously wanting revenge on them for not wanting to work with her? Had they rejected her for her sexy photos, or had that only been in her own, self-absorbed imagination? Maybe they'd only been going after those they felt had hurt them years ago. Maybe Jane had really, really fucked up getting herself in here.
The panic attack got worse and tears brimmed in her eyes. She forced her hands to still, letting the menu close. Then she took deep breaths, forcefully calming herself. She wasn't going to fall apart. She refused. She was tougher than that.
A couple of minutes later, she was somewhat restored. She felt stronger, though still shaken.
Belatedly, she covered her breasts with one arm. Many girls were trying to do the same. And most guys had both hands over their groin, though there were members of both genders who just didn't seem to give a damn about their nudity, or were too in shock to really realize.
No one here had any answers; Jane was sure of that. They all looked just as confused and angry as she was. So she stood and pushed her way down the aisle, elbowing her way through the crowd to get to the stairs and then descended, finding her way outside of the stadium.
In the streets, people were already milling about. Some were bodily pushing down nearby NPCs and tearing clothes off of them. Others were ripping down curtains from stores and homes or using whatever they could find to cover up.
She wondered if maybe she should do the same, but it appeared that everything in easy reach was already being sought after.
Disbelief seemed to be the most dominant emotion in the other players. Being locked in a video game and left to die was just too surreal for most to accept. It could be the plot of a manga or anime or something. Anger was growing. More than a few people huddled together or collapsed in corners with their backs to buildings, weeping.
A feminine hand grasped Jane's arm and pulled her around.
Jane found herself facing a young woman with dirty-blonde hair. She was still nude, as were the three young men with her. Only the girl seemed bothered by it though, and by the situation. The three guys surveying the chaos around them seemed largely unconcerned by events or clothing.
"Hey. What do you think? Is this real?" the woman asked, worry on her face. "Do you know anything? Are they actually doing this to us?"
Jane shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's all a horrible hoax in super-bad taste. Maybe in an hour or two, the logout will be restored. Or maybe we need to finish some group quest to unlock it." She felt an immediate sense of solidarity with these people, despite them being total strangers. It must have been the situation, but they were the first people she's spoken to in the game, and they were all going through this together. If they were all in trouble, they were going to need allies.
