Rimelion: The Exploiter

28. Debugging session

Without a word, he reached into another drawer and pulled out a tin-colored sheet of paper. "A company will aid you in this heroic task," he said with a hint of amusement. "Only a true Elven princess would be reckless enough to challenge a Fire Tamer while Irwen looms on the horizon."

He scribbled something onto the paper, rolled it up, and sealed it with his ring. "Take this to the Guard Captain at the garrison in Village Number Seventeen. It's the nearest port to his lair. Without the floaters, the journey should only take a few hours."

Standing at the bow of the capital ship, I gazed into the distance, letting the wind tousle my hair as I lingered there, hidden from view. After an hour of sailing, the salty tang of the sea gave way to muggy humidity, making me sweat more than I wanted. My clothes clung to me in the oppressive air, and the sailors' leering glances didn't help. Why does that bother me so much? It shouldn't, right?

Without the constant threat of floaters, boredom settled in, and I sighed, knowing I was falling further behind the rankers. Leaning over the railing, I watched the water swish below. Level seven and still miles from level ten. Some Exploiter you are.

"I guess it's time to try my title. That'll cheer me up!" I said to the water with a forced grin.

System, please activate titular title: Princess.

[Congratulation! You are now Princess Princess]
[Error! Syntax check failed! Reverting changes...]
[Error! Reverting changes failed, name active, isolating transaction...]

The first message was expected. Every one after that? Injected raw panic straight into my veins. Hey, it's not even my exploit! Not my fault she wanted the name Princess!

Suddenly, the ship disappeared, replaced by a white void—a nothingness so absolute it felt like it was swallowing me whole. Reaching out, I felt only cool, damp mist against my skin.

[Isolated. Manual action required, contacting support...]

Not so fast! Don't wanna some random guy to ban me. System contact: Damon, password #enlo-57945#

[DEBUG ACTIVE: contacting #57945#]

The void flickered as the world adjusted, and within moments, Damon materialized in front of me. To my surprise, he wore his usual clothes, even in the virtual world. His sharp gaze scanned the situation, and his mouth fell open when he saw me. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, "Hi Damon. How are you?"

He stepped closer, his eyes trailing over my face, chest, legs, and back to my chest. "John... No, Cha-Charlie? Is that you?"

Shrugging, I said, "Yes, me!"

"CHARLIE!" His yell startled me. "You're SO dumb! You started a debug session?"

In a blink, a chair materialized beneath him, and his hands flailed over virtual keyboards as he worked.

"What?" I snapped back, irritation bubbling up. "It wasn't my fault the system crashed. It was your bad code!"

Damon froze, his fingers hovering over the keys. Slowly, he turned to glare at me. "No. It. Was. Not. Our fault." He ground the words out through clenched teeth. "The system logs everything, so I need to be careful," he muttered, clearly frustrated.

"How dumb were you to pick the name Princess?" he spat, jumping from the chair and stomping toward me. "You KNEW it would conflict with the title, didn't you? You weren't our number one exploiter for nothing! But are they blaming you? No, no, they're screaming at ME! They docked my salary because of YOU! And now you've got the audacity to call me to fix your mess?"

"I'm sorry," I said, forcing a small, genuine smile; I hadn't realized the trouble I'd caused him. "I didn't mean to—"

"Too late for that!" he barked, grabbing my forearm and pulling me forward. His strength far outmatched mine, and I stumbled. He pushed me back, his hand hitting my chest hard enough to scratch a few hit points away.

"NoobDamon, what the hell?" I snapped, using his old nickname in a desperate attempt to calm him. My voice turned icy, like Irwen's. "Stop it! It's me, John!"

But the Damon I knew was gone. His timid demeanor replaced with something dark, angry. "Shut up! It's all your fault!" he yelled, his eyes blazing with rage.

I froze, unable to process his transformation. Then he raised his hand and struck me across the face.

The pain was immediate and sharp, spreading through my skull like fire. The reality limiter set to 100% made it unbearable. At his GM level—over 300—the force sent me flying, crashing onto the cold, hard floor.

Blood dripped from my mouth as a deafening ringing filled my ears. I tried to say his name, but my jaw throbbed too much to form the words. My body refused to respond. Before I could move, darkness swallowed me whole.

[You died.]