The town came into view beyond the stone bridge.
Buildings crowded the narrow streets, their timber frames and tiled roofs glowing beneath the afternoon sun. Merchants occupied the ground floors, displaying weapons, armor, potions, and other goods beneath colorful awnings. Adventurers filled the streets, some returning from expeditions, others preparing to leave.
For a place where nobody could leave the world, the town was surprisingly alive.
Glent crossed the bridge beside Markis, his greatsword secured across his back.
Markis glanced toward the marketplace.
“Think the shop has them yet?”
“The sickles?”
“Unless another boss was carrying a pair of chained blades.”
Glent shrugged. “We’ll find out.”
They passed a group of adventurers gathered around a noticeboard. Several were arguing over a dungeon expedition, while another group negotiated payment for a raid.
Nobody looked particularly concerned about the world ending.
Perhaps that was what bothered Glent most.
They reached the weapons shop, where a merchant stood behind a counter lined with swords, axes, and daggers. Behind him, two curved sickles hung from a wooden display, their dark chains coiled neatly beneath the blades.
Markis stopped.
“There they are.”
The merchant smiled.
“Interested in the Chainbound Reaper’s weapons? You’re not the first to ask.”
Markis approached the display.
“How much?”
The merchant quoted a price.
Markis’s expression fell.
“That’s robbery.”
“Then you’re welcome to rob a dungeon instead,” the merchant replied.
Glent laughed under his breath.
Markis shot him a look. “You could offer to help.”
“I could.”
“And?”
“I won’t.”
Markis turned back to the merchant, studying the sickles.
“So the moment we defeat a boss, its weapons show up here?”
“Not every weapon,” the merchant explained. “But the weapons registered to the community’s equipment pool become available for purchase after the corresponding boss is defeated. The Chainbound Reaper’s sickles are now part of that inventory.”
Glent leaned against the counter.
“Meaning anyone can buy them?”
“Anyone who can afford them.”
Markis exhaled through his nose.
There it was. Defeating the boss had unlocked the weapons for everyone, but it hadn’t made them free. They had earned the victory. The rest of the town could benefit from it, provided they had enough currency.
Glent had never decided whether that system was generous or cruel.
Probably both.
“So how are people supposed to afford equipment like this without fighting bosses?” Markis asked.
The merchant gestured toward the town beyond his shop.
“Farming. Fishing. Gathering materials. Crafting. Trading. Completing quests. Selling crops, ores, monster parts, and anything else people need. Adventurers can earn currency through combat, dungeon expeditions, and raids, but fighting isn’t the only way to make a living.”
“Assuming you can find someone willing to buy your turnips,” Markis muttered.
“Vegetables are an essential part of the economy.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
Glent pushed away from the counter.
The system had been designed to accommodate different kinds of players. Some wanted to hunt monsters and collect rare equipment. Others preferred crafting, trading, or building a quiet life in town.
Before the game had become a prison, that variety had been part of its appeal.
Now, it was also a means of survival.
“There’s something else,” Glent said as they stepped back into the street. “How many bosses are there supposed to be?”
“Over a hundred, last I heard.”
“And we only need to kill four.”
Markis nodded.
“Four demigods. That’s the objective. Defeat them, and we might finally get out of here.”
Might.
Neither of them said the word aloud.
The four demigods were the reason they were trapped. Whatever they had been before entering the game, they had somehow manifested inside its world, changing the rules and sealing every player within it.
The game had become real enough to bleed.
Real enough to hurt.
And real enough to kill.
There was no logout button anymore. No return to the main menu. No waking up in a bedroom after a bad session.
They had tried.
Everyone had tried.
But every attempt to leave ended with the same result: nothing. Their bodies remained in the world, and their lives continued under a sky that wasn’t theirs.
Worse, death here meant death outside it.
There was no second chance waiting beyond the screen.
Glent had seen people die. He had watched their bodies disappear, leaving behind equipment and an awful silence. Nobody knew exactly what happened to them afterward. They only knew those people never came back.
Markis lowered his voice.
“The other bosses are optional. Experience, side quests, extra content. Some have unique weapons or equipment you can only get from that encounter. Sometimes you can buy a weapon after the boss goes down. Sometimes the reward is exclusive to the fight.”
“Which means we could spend months hunting every boss in the world.”
“Or we could focus on the four that matter.”
Glent looked down the street.
Beyond the town’s outer gate, roads stretched into forests, mountains, ruined fortresses, and lands neither of them had explored. Somewhere out there were dungeons filled with treasure, monsters guarding forgotten weapons, and enemies powerful enough to wipe out an entire party.
Over a hundred bosses.
Four demigods.
One way home.
At least, that was what everyone hoped.
Markis clapped a hand against Glent’s shoulder.
“Come on. If I’m going to spend that much money on those sickles, I need to earn it first.”
“You could fish.”
“I’d rather fight another Reaper.”
“You just complained about the price.”
“I can complain and still make terrible decisions.”
They disappeared into the crowd, passing merchants and adventurers beneath the afternoon sun.
For a moment, the town almost felt normal.
Then a notification appeared in Glent’s field of vision.
COMMUNITY NOTICE: NEW BOSS REWARD INVENTORY AVAILABLE.
Below it, a second line began to form.
WARNING: ANOMALOUS ACTIVITY DETECTED BEYOND THE—
The message vanished.
Glent stopped walking.
Markis took another step before noticing.
“What?”
Glent stared at the empty space where the notification had appeared.
“Nothing.”
He started walking again.
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