Rimelion: The Exploiter

As the lights faded, I saw Lucas looking pale—as pale as an empty whiskey glass. Silly Lucas! I gave him a reassuring smile and waved. Besides the pointed ears, there wasn't much difference between his real-life body and his in-game avatar. But a military-hardened physique on a mage? Poor Lucas.

"Lucas! I'll do my best, so don't worry." My female voice startled me, but I brushed it off and approached him. "I'll carry you!"

He took a step back, his face flushing slightly. "Are you sure?" Everything felt so real. No wonder people were choosing to live in virtual worlds forever. Maybe that commie tax wasn't so bad after all. He stared at me for a moment, then added, "I mean... this whole thing's gotta be rough for you, right?"

"Nah, I was mad at first," I said with a smile, a bit of nostalgia slipping into my tone. "But, well, my heart kind of melted after my first kill. There's just something exhilarating about the rush of taking things down." I chuckled, then admitted, "But I have no idea how to play a Priest. Like, none."

"Hmm," Lucas said thoughtfully, raising his staff as if about to cast a spell. I watched him closely, hoping to see a master mage in action so we could duo-clear dungeons together. He noticed my stare and blushed. "Glad to hear that... John."

"Call me Princess."

"What? Why?!" He froze, his spell dissipating as the mana slipped away. Whoops.

"Isn't it obvious? That's my name now," I shrugged. "You're the one who said I'm stuck with it, so call me Princess or Charlie. Both sound strange, but I guess people will get used to it. Besides, titles are super important in this game. Princess is not my official title, for now, but I'll work towards it. Titles define NPCs and players."

Instead of replying, he went back to casting another spell, though his technique looked completely off. Watching him struggle, I jumped in with my hard-earned QA knowledge. "What are you doing, you dork? Haven't you read the guide? You need to draw the runes quickly, fill them with mana, and shout!" I'd watched plenty of mages while testing; at least I knew what it was supposed to look like, and Lucas definitely wasn't doing that.

He snorted, clearly annoyed, and challenged me. "Oh yeah? Think you know so much? Try it yourself, then! You should have at least one spell!"

I confidently opened my spell menu, selecting a healing spell with a simple rune design. "Easy. Watch closely!" Nathan had even left a little animated video under the rune, so I followed along, taking mental notes.

"This'll be a breeze." Clutching my staff, I tapped into my mana, or what I imagined as some kind of warm energy flowing within me. A pleasant warmth surprised me—it felt different from the warrior's mana I was used to. Ignoring the surprise, I focused, drawing the contours of the rune.

But halfway through, the mana fizzled out, and I stumbled back, cheeks burning.

"Haha! Told you so! You're only human," Lucas teased, his voice grating as he laughed. I shot him a glare, pouting. He laughed more. "Just like me, Charlie!"

"Hmpf! I took down the toughest bosses; if I had a sword, I'd crush it as a warrior. We don't depend on mana like this!"

There had to be a way. I thought back to Lucy, my old QA colleague, who'd been an incredible paladin. During breaks, she'd explained that imagining the symbols in her mind first helped her; once they were clear, the system would guide her hand. Lucas was staring at me like he'd never seen a girl before, then abruptly interrupted my thoughts with his I'm guilty voice, "Charlie, I need to tell you something."

"Can it wait?" I waved him off, too focused on my plan. "I think I remembered something that'll help! The game must have a guiding system."

He nodded and sighed, though I barely noticed. I was too busy picturing the rune, concentrating on it for what felt like an eternity. Lucy had said to hold it in your mind until it was practically engraved there. Come on, Lucy, help me out here!