When I arrive at the cavern, it's still a few minutes before dark. The guards at the entrance see me coming, but they don't have time to block my way. I slip past them and run down the corridor to the main gallery, where I discover by the pond that someone has beaten me to it: Hara has company.

“Isaac! I knew you'd come!” Marcel says to me in a squeaky voice, as he throws himself into my arms and hugs me around the waist. His hair smells like pine.

“Marcel, what are you doing here?”

“Same as you, idiot. Helping Hara. I came as soon as I read the message this afternoon.”

Marcel had outsmarted me. If I had read the message earlier, I could have stopped assigning missions to players much earlier, and we wouldn't be in this situation. Nothing I can do about it, it's not worth regretting. What's done is done.

“It must have been Gabriel,” I tell them. “The medallion reward has increased. Today fifteen players between level 20 and level 40 have requested the mission.”

“Fifteen is a lot,” Marcel says. Hara sharpens the sabers, sitting on the edge of the pond.

“It's about ten minutes before nightfall and the mission activates,” I say. “After that, I estimate we'll have them on us in no more than twenty minutes. Let's hope they don't all get together so we can get rid of them.”

“The bandits at the entrance won't last a heartbeat,” Marcel says. “We are on our own. We must make a plan.”

“I think our best defense is in the corridor,” I say looking at the gallery through which I entered the cavern.

“If few come at once, I can keep the warriors at bay,” Hara says, standing up and sheathing her sabers. “The problem will be the wizards.”

“I think I can make the sorcerers not a problem,” I say, picking up a pebble from the shore and weighing it in my hand. “But we're depending on your energy level, Hara. It's going to be a lot of non-stop fighting. If you wear yourself out, you'll become easy prey.”

Marcel rubs his mustache and walks in his red boots towards the hallway.

“The narrowest part of the corridor is no more than three meters wide,” Marcel says. “I can create fire walls at that point that will temporarily isolate us and allow us to recover.”

“How many firewall scrolls do you have?” I ask him.

“I have three with firewall and one with fireball.”

“The problem with fireballs is that they don't distinguish between friend and foe,” I say. “I know that from experience.”

“It's your fault for standing in front of one, you idiot,” Marcel says with a grin.

I pick up a few stones from the shore of the pond and stuff them in my pockets.

“You know Gabriel's not going to let us get away with it,” I tell Hara.

“Would you rather give up?” she asks me.

“I'd rather die than endure the feeling of him controlling my head again.” I still have nightmares about that moment a week ago when he proved to me that not only am I not a person, but that I am totally under his control. I try to avoid thinking about it now without much success.

“Then we'll have to make enough noise to get the developers' attention,” she says. “Needless to say, we both know what's going to happen, regardless of whether we survive or not. Gabriel's already made that very clear to us.” I press my lips together and nod my head.

“And why don't you try to break free?” says Marcel, breaking into the conversation. “After all, Gabriel has control over you because you're NPCs, right? If you could change that and become players, he wouldn't be able to do anything anymore.”

Hara and I looked at each other.

“And how do you expect us to become players?” asks Hara.

“With the mission on the ice dragon mountain. Isaac, you remember me telling you about it? The internet forums say it clearly. If you complete it, you can upgrade any feature of the avatar. Any feature. The avatar type is just another feature, and what better way to update it than converting it from NPC to PC: player character.”

“I don't know. I don't want to get my hopes up,” I say. The possibility of getting out of it without ceasing to exist is very appealing, but right now it seems like a pipe dream.

“If it's the mission I'm thinking about, it's crazy,” Hara says. “No one has ever managed to get through it.”

“Well, no one who's tried had the ability to have instantaneous reflexes,” Marcel says with a wink.

“Now let's worry about trying to survive,” I say. “Tomorrow we'll worry about how to stop being an NPC.”

“Then, if everything is clear, we have no choice but to prepare and wait,” Hara says, wielding her sabers and practicing mid-air lunges and acrobatic moves. In the meantime, I walk around the pond, pick up more pebbles and stuff them into my pockets.

After half an hour, shouts of fighting sound at the entrance of the cave. From how long it takes for them to quiet down, I'd say the bandits at the cave entrance have barely been a bother to the players. We are ready, Hara in the narrowest part of the corridor, and me right behind. Marcel is a few meters behind me, ready to launch a firewall the moment we run out of energy. Hara draws the twin sabers and I pull one of the pebbles from my pocket.

Footsteps echo off the walls of the passageway. It seems the players are eager to accomplish their mission and won't think twice about it. At the end of the corridor, the attackers begin to come into view. Seven warriors appear and, seeing us, run towards us. Two of them are around level 25 and the other five are around level 20. They charge and scream with their weapons above their heads. Hara is on the move. She swings her sabers at breakneck speed, preventing the warriors from overtaking her. Her two white braids move in the air, following the movements of her body.

There can be no more than two attackers in parallel, so the other five have to wait behind. In the background I see seven other players appear, and among them I see several in the characteristic mage robes. I count at least three mages hovering around level 20.

Hara has no trouble keeping the warriors at bay, and has taken down one of them, who is replaced by one of the attackers waiting behind.

One player down, thirteen players remain.

One of the wizards, the one in the blue robe, begins to gesticulate, preparing a spell. I don't hesitate and throw a pebble with all my strength. I calculate the trajectory and angle, and the stone hits the magician in the forehead. It only takes two life points from him, but it's enough for him to lose his concentration and have to start the spell all over again.

Hara receives a blow to the side that takes a quarter of her life, but she takes out her attackers with a sweep of her sabers that cuts of their legs.

Two more down. Eleven are left, counting one pissed off wizard.

The three mages look at each other. They nod and start preparing their spells at the same time. I pull out three stones and hurl them at their heads. All three hit their targets and interrupt the spell preparations.

Hara begins to feel exhausted. Out of the corner of my eye I see behind me how Marcel's orange bar is almost full. When it fills, the dwarf raises his palms forward, and a wall of fire appears in the middle of the second line of attackers. Two of the warriors take fire damage and fall back, leaving the two warriors in the front row alone. Hara takes advantage of the surprise factor and with a twist cuts off the head of one and stabs the saber into the other.

Two down and the mages countered. Nine attackers remain.

Hara takes the opportunity to stop, sheathe her sabers and replenish her energy. I check my pockets for enough stones.

“Well, not bad,” says Marcel.

Hara doesn't say anything, just looks at him and nods with a straight face.

The effect of the firewall is wearing off, but luckily Hara has already regained her energy bar. She draws and prepares herself.

When the barrier disappears, we see how two of the warriors have drawn their crossbows. In front are four level 25 warriors charging at Hara, while the other two attackers fire bolts at us from further back. I dodge the arrow from one of the crossbows, and I hear Marcel behind me let out a groan. The other arrow has hit him in the leg, just above his red boot, and has taken most of his life. If he gets hit again, he won't survive.

The three mages begin to prepare a spell. I throw three stones that only take two points of life from each one, but they interrupt their casting.

Hara finishes off one of the warriors. Five warriors and three mages remain. The two crossbowmen in the background reload. I don't think it twice and start throwing stones at them non-stop. They all make the perfect trajectory and bang their heads. They take a few hit points off, but slow down the crossbow loading process.

The three sorcerers return to the attack. Without stopping I keep throwing stones that interrupt the preparation of their magic attacks. The crossbowmen finish charging despite my stones.

Hara cuts off the arm of another warrior. The arrows fly through the air. I calculate the trajectory. Both are aimed at Marcel. I throw two stones, one with each hand, which hit the shafts of the bolts in mid-flight, deflecting their trajectories.

Hara eliminates another warrior and Marcel manages to finish reading the scroll. The second firewall of the battle appears, this time directly between Hara and her attacker, and again the fighting stops.

“If I haven't miscounted, there are three warriors and three mages left,” I say.

“And I only have one firewall left,” Marcel says.

“Once the three warriors go down, I should have no trouble taking down the mages in close combat quickly,” Hara says. “Let's hope you don't have to use that third scroll.”

My pockets are running low on stones. I take advantage of the break to pick up the ones I find nearby. I hope they're enough.

Just as the effects of the firewall wears off, I watch as the mages cast their spells, while the three remaining warriors go on the attack. This time the wizards started to prepare their attacks before the flames die out, which has caught me off guard. Three magical projectiles shoot down the corridor towards Marcel. If they hit him, we're doomed. Hara tries to parry the warriors' attacks and can do nothing. Without thinking, I dive backwards and get in the way of the magic projectiles, counting on my level and health bar to be enough to resist the damage. I feel them hit my chest and I'm thrown off. I roll down in front of Marcel, who looks at me in fear. I have survived, but my health bar is at the minimum. In front, Hara has more trouble facing the two warriors. They are the highest level, the three level 35, and she contains their attacks to the limit.

I stand up. The three mages are about to launch their magic projectiles again. I take out three pebbles and throw them together. I have calculated each of the trajectories considering the weight and dimensions of the stones. They hit their heads with precision.

Hara swings both sabers and, although she takes damage to one leg, she manages to take out one of the warriors. I keep throwing stones to disrupt the spells, but my pockets are starting to run empty. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

I feel heat behind me, and a fireball passes over me. It goes through the entire corridor through the ceiling and explodes next to the three wizards, who disintegrate in an instant.

I turn around and see Marcel smiling. He has three level-up notifications. The dwarf with the red boots is already level 15. At this rate, he's going to surpass my level 20 soon.

There are only two warriors left, and they are both fighting the dark elf. I take the last stones out of my pocket and throw them at them. They don't hurt them much, but they throw them off enough for Hara to take care of them.

Silence falls in the stone corridor. Hara snorts, surrounded by the corpses of the players. The first ones are already starting to turn translucent. I count them: fourteen corpses. One of the fifteen players who requested the mission is missing. I walk among them, looking for the barbarian with the oversized helmet, but I can't find him, and I fear the worst.

“Guys, we have a problem,” I say.

War cries are heard at the cave entrance. Twenty barbarians come running, with the guy in the oversized helmet in the lead. It seems he has decided to include his clanmates to carry out the mission.

“We won't be able to take them,” says Marcel worriedly. “I'm left with only a firewall scroll.”

“We'll hold them off until you finish preparing the spell, and then we'll fight to the end,” I say.

This time there are no mages, only barbarians with axes and maces. They charge in a disorderly way, pushing each other, not caring whether their comrades in front of them die or not. Hara is facing them, but gradually losing ground. The corridor in which she is fighting is now somewhat wider, allowing three to be placed in parallel, at the risk of flanking her. The orange bar above Marcel's head is still halfway up. I pull the hammer from my belt and move to Hara's side to try to restrain the attackers.

My blows are not very effective, but they serve to keep them from advancing. I dodge the attacks without problems, adapting to Hara's movements at my side. I barely have any life left after taking damage from magic missiles, so I can't let them reach me. I don't risk it, I simply dodge their moves and let Hara take care of the attack. We back up slightly, but not enough for them to get to where Marcel is.

My energy bar is starting to get very low. I'm running out of it.

I turn to dodge one of the blows and I see out of the corner of my eye as Marcel finishes reading the scroll and casts the spell. I feel the heat of a firewall in front of my face, and the scorching smell of my beard.

“That's the last firewall, guys,” Marcel says. “I don't have any more scrolls.”

I sigh. The wall doesn't quite reach both sides of the corridor. There's half a meter left on each side to cover. I see a barbarian try to sneak in on my side. I recognize him. He's the guy with the oversized helmet, the one who attacked me in front of the forge more than a week ago. I rush to cut him off. Hara has the same problem on the other side of the firewall.

Unable to regain my energy, I watch as our hopes of getting out of this alive fade further and further away.

Suddenly the barbarians stop fighting and back away. Fighting noises and shouts are heard from the other size of the corridor. Something or someone is attacking them from the other side. I try to lean against the wall, but I can't see anything. The screams and the sounds of clashing intensify by the moment.

After a minute they begin to diminish. I estimate the firewall has thirty seconds left at most. From the screams, whatever is attacking the barbarians is killing them.

The noise of combat ceases and the wall fades away. A few meters inside the cavern are three armored warriors surrounded by the corpses of the twenty barbarians, including the one with the oversized helmet.

The three warriors advance towards us. I can't help but feel a moment of hope as I recognize the one in the middle: it's Lance.

“Sorry I'm late,” Lance says, sheathing his greatsword.