Panicked discussion soon overtook the crowd at our house. And how could they not worry? A fifth of our population just vanished. I caught pieces of their conversations.
"Is this part of the challenge?" – "We should wait twenty more minutes." – "They were with us the night before…"
Finally, someone realized they had received a new announcement in their notebook. I checked mine as well, flipping to the 50th page.
CHALLENGE IN PROGRESS
YOUR TEAM'S SLOT: DAY 3
The other four in my team received the same announcement. As for Reens, her team was scheduled for day 2, which was likely tomorrow. Whatever that entailed.
We compared announcements with the other players. They had slots ranging from days 2 through 5, but none on day 1.
"That checks out," I told my team. "I think 20 players are scheduled for each day. So four teams per day." Though, there did end up being a team of only four people, if memory served. I wondered what would happen to their team.
Soon the crowd dispersed, although tension still hung palpable in the air. As though paralyzed by anticipation, no one did much throughout the day. Half-stacked log cabins sat out in the sun. A couple fields that were furrowed the day before began drying out.
Early into the afternoon, three shafts of light beamed down from the sky. And from them, three people arrived. All were badly wounded. I jogged up to them, waving Reens along as well.
I remembered one of them from among the injured that stayed inside our house. This time, he was battered but stable. Reens tended to the other arrivals first.
"What happened?" I asked the one I recognized. "Are these your teammates?"
"Give me a moment," he said.
I nodded, then backed off for the time being.
Before I had a chance to talk with him again, five more shafts of light shot down. Five new arrivals touched the ground, and they shouted, and two of them hugged. I recognized them as one of the teams. Among their midst was the representative that suggested we milk rabbits. She carried a crossbow identical to mine, and wore a dress shirt and pants without armor.
It turned out that they had completed the challenge, and their whole team had survived without severe injuries.
"We got sent to another arena," the rabbit-milk representative recounted. "Almost the same as this one, but with castles on both sides."
She continued on as a crowd gathered around to listen. For their challenge, the arena was symmetrical. Up against their team was a squad of five…robots? She wasn't sure but described them as moving puppets made of wood.
"Wooden robots, yeah," one of her teammates, a wand-carrying guy, said. "They had their own abilities. Think of them as AI players in a 5v5 game."
Wand-guy turned out to be a MOBA player, just like Saber.
"I faced off against an assassin robot in mid-lane," he explained. "I got a solo-kill, took their tower, and roamed down to bottom lane for another kill. Then we basically won."
"Huhhhhhhhh…" I mused, trying to process what he just said.
By dusk, another team returned with four survivors. I waited for the fourth and final team to return as well, but they never did. No one knew what happened to them. Some speculated all five of them died during the challenge.
To properly compile all the intel we had, we held an impromptu town hall. The survivors of Day 1 all agreed upon the following:
The enemies' castle is at the northeastern corner of the arena, as it had been before. The player's own castle is at the opposite, southwestern corner. Each castle has their own Base-Core, now guarded by a single tower. The challenge is won by destroying the opponent's Base-Core. According to the rules, all members of the losing team die when their Base-Core is broken. Lane-towers, golems, and undead jungle creatures are all there. Destroying any of them or an enemy "Robot" player granted XP and gold. If allies are nearby, the XP is shared. All gold is granted to whoever dealt the finishing blow. The stone giant had not been seen by anyone this time. There is a vending machine in each base that sells power-up potions, which can be purchased with gold. All players are reset to level 1 at the beginning of the challenge. You level up by gaining XP. Your level is restored to its original value after the challenge ends. Each player receives one Death Ward medallion, which restores 50 HP and transports you back to your castle when you fall to 0 HP. Once used or when the game ends, the Death Ward is destroyed. Destroying an enemy's Death Ward grants 300 gold. You receive one Ring of Recall. After channeling the ring's magic for 30 seconds while staying still, you can teleport back to your castle. Taking damage disrupts the channel.Saber's eyes lit up as the town hall progressed.
"I think we got this," she whispered to our team.
Saber encouraged everyone going on Day 2 to record footage of combat, but no one took her up on the offer. Most of their phones had run out of batteries, probably. Saber then tried bribing teams to gather specific pieces of information, such as the number of golem kills it took to reach level 2. I didn't know what she had offered in return, but two teams agreed, including Reens's.
The next morning, we noticed another 20 players missing, this time including Reens's team as expected. In the afternoon, the teams returned one by one. Four survivors, then five survivors, then two. Reens's team returned last, around 5 PM, with all five members intact. I ran up to her and gave her a hug in relief.
"Took you a while," I said. "That was scary. You…I thought you weren't gonna come back."
"We're OK," she assured. "That was kind of scary, though."
An uneasy silence fell over our settlement that evening. A few players divided the possessions of the deceased among themselves. By the forest outskirts, someone had erected two small altars of piled stones. Within the span of two days, our community had already lost so many people to the challenge, and surely there were more that would be taken away. I didn't know if there were some sort of game-masters organizing these games, and spectating, and playing with our lives. But if there were, I hoped we'd get to make them pay eventually.
Saber got busy compiling information from the survivors she bribed from earlier. By nighttime, she had a plan for tomorrow, for when we'd have to participate in the challenge ourselves. She gathered our team to the ground floor of our house.
"Yeah, the setup is pretty standard MOBA," she said to us – though twenty or so strangers also gathered around to listen in. She had compiled several factoids we had missed the previous day, and shared them with everyone:
At the start of the game, there is 1 robot in the top-lane, 1 mid, and 2 in the bottom-lane. 1 could not be found; it was likely the last Robot started in the jungle as the jungler. The robots follow identical rules as the players, and have their own Rings of Recall, vending machine, etc. At the start of the game, there is a single, free Potion of Austerity already dispensed inside the vending machine. When consumed, it grants a player 80% of gold earned by nearby allies, provided the player had not earned gold directly from golem kills within the last minute. After 1 hour, a Zombie Giant spawns in a riverside cove in the southeast corner of the arena. No one approached it today, and it didn't seem interested in leaving the cave either. It takes 6 golem kills to reach level 2. When two players are together and sharing XP, it takes 8 golem kills to reach level 2."Math doesn't check out," I commented about the last point. "Shouldn't it be 12?"
"Most games handle XP sharing at over 100% efficiency," Saber explained. "I think around 120-150%."
“So with two players splitting, it's…60%-75% per player. And then you also have the Potion of Austerity, which grants gold sharing as well."
"That's why there are two robots in the bottom-lane," Saber hypothesized. "One of them likely drank the Potion of Austerity. 1 top, 1 mid, 1 jungler. Two bottoms: one 'bottom-carry' that farms the golems for gold, then another ‘support’ that collects passive income. That's the meta formation in most MOBAs, designed to maximize XP and gold gained. Tomorrow, I think we should go for something similar. Sophia, do you trust Hei?"
“Of course."
"Good. Then you two should probably take bottom lane together. I'm the obvious jungler, I think. Mr. Atlas seems more like a top-laner to me, and Jack should be an effective mid. But the two of them can probably switch around."
Saber then explained the roles and expectations of each position. The top- and bottom-lanes were usually more volatile, due to the longer separation between the towers there – and thus less safety for both sides. The jungler farmed jungle monsters all across the map, making them the most mobile role who could ambush, or “gank,” any of the three lanes.
As the night progressed, Saber walked us through all the common strategies she had learned from playing MOBAs. Apparently her in-game rank had been "Platinum," which placed her in a very impressive top 5 percentile of all players. Hopefully, at least some of that competency would translate to our challenge tomorrow.
I couldn't completely follow all of Saber's logic, but then again I didn't play MOBAs. For now, I was relieved to be assigned as Hei's partner.
We talked about more advanced concepts, such as how to recall to base without missing out on farming (kill off one enemy golem wave as soon as it arrives, then recall immediately, then run back to lane before the next enemy wave dies to your golems or tower). Eventually, we called it a night. I checked around the cabin one last time before going to bed. Reens's team roamed about the first floor, unfurling bedrolls.
"Good luck tomorrow," Reens said.
"Thanks," I replied. "If we don't come back, your team can inherit this house."
"You better come back!" she scolded.
I shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe I'll win so hard, I'll get sent back to the real world."
I was about to head to bed when I saw Hei, alone, walking out the front door of our cottage. He had his spear in hand. After a moment's hesitation, I went downstairs and pursued him into the darkness.
Panicked discussion soon overtook the crowd at our house. And how could they not worry? A fifth of our population just vanished. I caught pieces of their conversations.
"Is this part of the challenge?" – "We should wait twenty more minutes." – "They were with us the night before…"
Finally, someone realized they had received a new announcement in their notebook. I checked mine as well, flipping to the 50th page.
CHALLENGE IN PROGRESS
YOUR TEAM'S SLOT: DAY 3
The other four in my team received the same announcement. As for Reens, her team was scheduled for day 2, which was likely tomorrow. Whatever that entailed.
We compared announcements with the other players. They had slots ranging from days 2 through 5, but none on day 1.
"That checks out," I told my team. "I think 20 players are scheduled for each day. So four teams per day." Though, there did end up being a team of only four people, if memory served. I wondered what would happen to their team.
Soon the crowd dispersed, although tension still hung palpable in the air. As though paralyzed by anticipation, no one did much throughout the day. Half-stacked log cabins sat out in the sun. A couple fields that were furrowed the day before began drying out.
Early into the afternoon, three shafts of light beamed down from the sky. And from them, three people arrived. All were badly wounded. I jogged up to them, waving Reens along as well.
I remembered one of them from among the injured that stayed inside our house. This time, he was battered but stable. Reens tended to the other arrivals first.
"What happened?" I asked the one I recognized. "Are these your teammates?"
"Give me a moment," he said.
I nodded, then backed off for the time being.
Before I had a chance to talk with him again, five more shafts of light shot down. Five new arrivals touched the ground, and they shouted, and two of them hugged. I recognized them as one of the teams. Among their midst was the representative that suggested we milk rabbits. She carried a crossbow identical to mine, and wore a dress shirt and pants without armor.
It turned out that they had completed the challenge, and their whole team had survived without severe injuries.
"We got sent to another arena," the rabbit-milk representative recounted. "Almost the same as this one, but with castles on both sides."
She continued on as a crowd gathered around to listen. For their challenge, the arena was symmetrical. Up against their team was a squad of five…robots? She wasn't sure but described them as moving puppets made of wood.
"Wooden robots, yeah," one of her teammates, a wand-carrying guy, said. "They had their own abilities. Think of them as AI players in a 5v5 game."
Wand-guy turned out to be a MOBA player, just like Saber.
"I faced off against an assassin robot in mid-lane," he explained. "I got a solo-kill, took their tower, and roamed down to bottom lane for another kill. Then we basically won."
"Huhhhhhhhh…" I mused, trying to process what he just said.
By dusk, another team returned with four survivors. I waited for the fourth and final team to return as well, but they never did. No one knew what happened to them. Some speculated all five of them died during the challenge.
To properly compile all the intel we had, we held an impromptu town hall. The survivors of Day 1 all agreed upon the following:
The enemies' castle is at the northeastern corner of the arena, as it had been before. The player's own castle is at the opposite, southwestern corner. Each castle has their own Base-Core, now guarded by a single tower. The challenge is won by destroying the opponent's Base-Core. According to the rules, all members of the losing team die when their Base-Core is broken. Lane-towers, golems, and undead jungle creatures are all there. Destroying any of them or an enemy "Robot" player granted XP and gold. If allies are nearby, the XP is shared. All gold is granted to whoever dealt the finishing blow. The stone giant had not been seen by anyone this time. There is a vending machine in each base that sells power-up potions, which can be purchased with gold. All players are reset to level 1 at the beginning of the challenge. You level up by gaining XP. Your level is restored to its original value after the challenge ends. Each player receives one Death Ward medallion, which restores 50 HP and transports you back to your castle when you fall to 0 HP. Once used or when the game ends, the Death Ward is destroyed. Destroying an enemy's Death Ward grants 300 gold. You receive one Ring of Recall. After channeling the ring's magic for 30 seconds while staying still, you can teleport back to your castle. Taking damage disrupts the channel.Saber's eyes lit up as the town hall progressed.
"I think we got this," she whispered to our team.
Saber encouraged everyone going on Day 2 to record footage of combat, but no one took her up on the offer. Most of their phones had run out of batteries, probably. Saber then tried bribing teams to gather specific pieces of information, such as the number of golem kills it took to reach level 2. I didn't know what she had offered in return, but two teams agreed, including Reens's.
The next morning, we noticed another 20 players missing, this time including Reens's team as expected. In the afternoon, the teams returned one by one. Four survivors, then five survivors, then two. Reens's team returned last, around 5 PM, with all five members intact. I ran up to her and gave her a hug in relief.
"Took you a while," I said. "That was scary. You…I thought you weren't gonna come back."
"We're OK," she assured. "That was kind of scary, though."
An uneasy silence fell over our settlement that evening. A few players divided the possessions of the deceased among themselves. By the forest outskirts, someone had erected two small altars of piled stones. Within the span of two days, our community had already lost so many people to the challenge, and surely there were more that would be taken away. I didn't know if there were some sort of game-masters organizing these games, and spectating, and playing with our lives. But if there were, I hoped we'd get to make them pay eventually.
Saber got busy compiling information from the survivors she bribed from earlier. By nighttime, she had a plan for tomorrow, for when we'd have to participate in the challenge ourselves. She gathered our team to the ground floor of our house.
"Yeah, the setup is pretty standard MOBA," she said to us – though twenty or so strangers also gathered around to listen in. She had compiled several factoids we had missed the previous day, and shared them with everyone:
At the start of the game, there is 1 robot in the top-lane, 1 mid, and 2 in the bottom-lane. 1 could not be found; it was likely the last Robot started in the jungle as the jungler. The robots follow identical rules as the players, and have their own Rings of Recall, vending machine, etc. At the start of the game, there is a single, free Potion of Austerity already dispensed inside the vending machine. When consumed, it grants a player 80% of gold earned by nearby allies, provided the player had not earned gold directly from golem kills within the last minute. After 1 hour, a Zombie Giant spawns in a riverside cove in the southeast corner of the arena. No one approached it today, and it didn't seem interested in leaving the cave either. It takes 6 golem kills to reach level 2. When two players are together and sharing XP, it takes 8 golem kills to reach level 2."Math doesn't check out," I commented about the last point. "Shouldn't it be 12?"
"Most games handle XP sharing at over 100% efficiency," Saber explained. "I think around 120-150%."
“So with two players splitting, it's…60%-75% per player. And then you also have the Potion of Austerity, which grants gold sharing as well."
"That's why there are two robots in the bottom-lane," Saber hypothesized. "One of them likely drank the Potion of Austerity. 1 top, 1 mid, 1 jungler. Two bottoms: one 'bottom-carry' that farms the golems for gold, then another ‘support’ that collects passive income. That's the meta formation in most MOBAs, designed to maximize XP and gold gained. Tomorrow, I think we should go for something similar. Sophia, do you trust Hei?"
“Of course."
"Good. Then you two should probably take bottom lane together. I'm the obvious jungler, I think. Mr. Atlas seems more like a top-laner to me, and Jack should be an effective mid. But the two of them can probably switch around."
Saber then explained the roles and expectations of each position. The top- and bottom-lanes were usually more volatile, due to the longer separation between the towers there – and thus less safety for both sides. The jungler farmed jungle monsters all across the map, making them the most mobile role who could ambush, or “gank,” any of the three lanes.
As the night progressed, Saber walked us through all the common strategies she had learned from playing MOBAs. Apparently her in-game rank had been "Platinum," which placed her in a very impressive top 5 percentile of all players. Hopefully, at least some of that competency would translate to our challenge tomorrow.
I couldn't completely follow all of Saber's logic, but then again I didn't play MOBAs. For now, I was relieved to be assigned as Hei's partner.
We talked about more advanced concepts, such as how to recall to base without missing out on farming (kill off one enemy golem wave as soon as it arrives, then recall immediately, then run back to lane before the next enemy wave dies to your golems or tower). Eventually, we called it a night. I checked around the cabin one last time before going to bed. Reens's team roamed about the first floor, unfurling bedrolls.
"Good luck tomorrow," Reens said.
"Thanks," I replied. "If we don't come back, your team can inherit this house."
"You better come back!" she scolded.
I shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe I'll win so hard, I'll get sent back to the real world."
I was about to head to bed when I saw Hei, alone, walking out the front door of our cottage. He had his spear in hand. After a moment's hesitation, I went downstairs and pursued him into the darkness.
