The Hunt Begins

ABYSS OFFICIAL DISCORD: (Accessible only to humans who have signed the reaper's pact)

"Hey, all, question… anyone got tips on hunting giants?" user LilHyz wrote.

"What's this for?" user May1st asked.

"It's Friday… The Decapitator event will begin at 7 PM, GMT," user LilHyz replied. "I'm looking to pay the bastard back for killing me and my friends the other night…"

User LylHyz shared the meme [Angry Birds in rage mode meme].

"Heard everyone died… must have been pretty intense," user Grimthorn wrote. "But, since Decapitator is a cyclops and not a giant, you might want to look into that instead."

User Grimthorn pasted a short paragraph from the URL: https://www.islaygiantsandtheircousins.com/c/cyclops.

[A known weakness of the cyclopes is their temper and stupidity because it slows them down when fighting. The cyclops' single eye is its one vulnerable spot as the rest of its body is said to be as hard as a rock.]

"Although its true that the eye is its weakness, I don't think the Decapitator is stupid or slow," user Ath3na wrote. "The bastard's strong moves fast, and fights like a gladiator…"

"True that," user LylHyz agreed. "Do you have any advice to give, goddess?"

"Well, getting close up to attack it isn't recommended… it's quick on its feet and can stomp on you if you get too close," user Ath3na replied. "Jumping up to attack its eye is also a challenge because its hands are fast enough to grab you midair…"

"Sounds like you're talking from experience," user Grimthorn noted.

"It's how my teammates died," user Ath3na admitted.

"Then how are we supposed to attack it?" user May1st asked. "Are ranged attacks the only way?"

"It's not full-proof," user LilHyz cut in. "I was one of the ranged fighters in the last battle. As soon as we attacked him, the Decapitator leaped into the air and knocked most of us out when he landed and pounded the ground."

"Our best bet would be to not stand in one place when fighting him… Move around and try to attack him in the flank," user Ath3na explained. "He moves quickly but debuffs like Disorient or Confound might work to slow him down. A weapon strong enough to penetrate that thick skin would be ideal, believe me…"

User Reaperz_Ally just logged in.

"You might want to try coating your weapons in giantsbane… it's poison to giants and cyclopses are technically related to them," user Reaperz_Ally contributed. "It only costs two low-grade soul stones per ounce at the Apothecary's shop."

"Interesting idea… I've been looking for items that could help," user Ath3na wrote. "Any other suggestions, @Reaperz_Ally?"

"Freezing him might work better if you want to slow him down," user Reaperz_Ally wrote. "The Ice Mine or Cone of Frost spells works best but for non-spellcasters, Cold Grenades."

User SilentMild added the meme [Do you want to build a snowman meme].

---

Leo swiped his monitor close while feeling satisfied that he'd given enough advice to ensure the upcoming battle wouldn't be as pathetic as the last one.

Next, he pulled up a report from Dani the Ghoulie stating that his repeated advertising of Giantsbane and Cold Grenades in the forums, Discord, and A.B.B. has resulted in an uptick in sales for both products within the last thirty-six hours.

"That was quick," Leo noted.

There was another report from Lagertha about an increase of complaints regarding the realism of player death and how overpowering an opponent the Decapitator was.

"Whiners be whiners," Leo typed into his reply. "You can deal with them but no maiming or killing."

There was one final report from McCloud stating that team registration for the Decapitator event was now currently in the hundreds. It seemed the death of well-known players like Ath3na and Black Howler along with dozens of others caused a spike in interest for the Abyss' first big event.

"I can't believe you were right," Morgana said as she read McCloud's email from over Leo's shoulder. "They're even more inclined to battle the Decapitator now."

"Revenge is a pretty decent motivator," Leo agreed. "Plus, the honor of slaying a seemingly unbeatable boss is catnip to players seeking glory."

"Imagine if they'd applied themselves just as dedicatedly outside of gaming, perhaps then they wouldn't have been duped into selling their souls to me," Morgana noted.

Leo chuckled at her joke. Well, at least he hoped she was joking.

"Let's go," he said as he got up from his throne-like chair in the Game Master's hall. "It's nearly time to announce the start of the event."

He glanced sideways at her.

"You approved the budget for the special effects this time, right?" Leo asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes… we earned quite a large sum of soul stones during the failed quest." A shadow of a smile played on Morgana's lips before she walked down the steps ahead of Leo. At the bottom step of the dais, she glanced over her shoulder to ask one more thing of Leo, "Why did you send that notification to the players announcing that the patrons of Dante's Drip had died when we gave them the cure ourselves?"

"To give players the idea that their every action has consequences for Adventour," Leo explained as he joined her at the bottom step.

"But won't they figure out it's a lie when they see the patrons up and about?" Morgana countered.

"We've banished them from Dante's Drip, given them new identities, and assigned them new roles in different sectors of town," Leo replied. "Plus, our BETA players haven't played enough to differentiate one troll or satyr from the next."

"That's a fair point," Morgana conceded. "Very well, shall we finally open the curtains to your big event? I'm dying to see which party actually slays my old foe."

Leo grinned back at Morgana when he replied with, "Let's get this show on the road."

---

"This would be so much easier if the website was up and running by now," Leo commented.

Leo, dressed in his Game Master robes, gazed out at the large gathering surrounding the platform and wondered if they would eventually need to make Town Square bigger in the near future, at least to accommodate all the new players that would soon be duped into signing the Reaper's Pact.

"Apologies, Game Master," McCloud replied from his place behind Leo. "We hired a human web developer who has proven remarkably slow with his deliverables… I have half a mind to storm his mother's basement where he lives and threaten to eat his family members one by one until he completes the project we paid him for."

"Alright, I'm vetoing anything related to harming family members… just threaten him with legal action to incentivize him," Leo said to McCloud right before he turned to Morgana and mouthed the word, "This wolf be crazy," to her.

A minute to 7 PM, two large screens appeared above Leo. Their appearance was accompanied by the sound of snapping fingers but everyone was used to it by now. Most just thought it was a really unique notification ping.

Leo looked up with bright eyes as he marveled at the screens. They were the first sign that the game's special effects had finally moved past Morgana's bland smoke sculptures.

A countdown had begun on both screens that players began to chant out loud.

"Twelve! Eleven! Ten!" they yelled. "Three! Two! One!"

Hidden behind Leo, Morgana snapped her fingers one more time, and as a result, the gloomy sky was suddenly lit up by a shower of fireworks that wouldn't be uncommon in a New Year's eve celebration.

And, although Leo thought that they seemed out of place when considering the event they'd put together, he couldn't help but enjoy the show along with the crowd. Finally, they had a decent budget for special effects.

After the last of the fireworks winked out, Leo pointed to the two screens which had begun to play snippets from the debacle that was the multiple-party wipeout of the other night. Needless to say, there were a lot of jokes made at the expense of the players who'd failed their quest.

A close-up shot of Ath3na standing alone against the Decapitator, however, earned a great deal of applause from the gathered crowd. And to Leo, it seemed like the goddess of gaming wisdom could do no wrong.

After all the applause and taunts had died down, Leo prompted McCloud to activate the quest prompt. A notification window popped up in front of each registered player.

[THE SERVER WIDE EVENT 'THE HUNT FOR THE RED-EYED DECAPITATOR' IS OFFICIALLY LIVE!]

Details on the event appeared under this announcement.

[[QUEST: SLAY THE FOE OF ADVENTOUR] [RANK: C+] the monstrous lesser denizen, the Decapitator, prowls the Abyssal Plains hunting the heads of newly instated substitute reapers. This act of terror must stop! The Lord, Morgana, demands that registered reaper parties hunt down this wicked foe and slay it in the name of Adventour. For those who will take up this challenge, seek out MAESTRO, trainer of heroes, that he might teach you the means of hunting such an elusive foe through the plains. [QUEST REWARDS FOR WINNERS: Unique spoils from the Decapitator's corps including 1x Epic Quality Relic, 1x Resurrection Ticket per active party member, 200x low-grade soul stones]]

The event's unique mechanics appeared after the quest details.

[The Decapitator is a unique field boss. He will only be available to defeat during the event.]

[The Decapitator does not have a fixed location or discernable movement patterns. Players must learn to hunt him down themselves. Recommended hunting grounds: The west riverbank of the River Styx, The Weeping Meadows, The Abyssal Plains Central Region, The Dark Forest.]

[The Decapitator will accumulate damage. Multiple parties may attack it at the same time but only the party that slays it will be allowed to loot its corpse. Other participating parties may also receive rewards from the Game Master depending on their contribution.]

[The event will remain active until Sunday at 7 PM, GMT. Parties will have three days to accomplish the quest.]

Once all the information had been cascaded down to the players, Leo spread his arms wide, and in his best Game Master voice, he roared, "Let the hunt begin!"