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The Glitch King

Part 4: The Gilded God

Sneak Peek

The Corona Kingdom was the epicenter of adventuring. There wasn’t a single hero whose dreams didn’t cross paths at least once with Corona’s influence. The kingdom itself expanded the Stratus Coast. A massive crescent cape that housed dozens of guilds and powerful cities. The entire expanse of the coastline was like an eclipse, the royal capital the glittering diamond on that ring of land.

The lands in Corona were neutral, so anyone of any morality setting could traverse them freely. The main reason being that most of the high level equipment and crafting materials could be found there, and there was strictly no PvP within its borders. This allowed for even the high and mighty to converse with the scum of the earth and trade for resources and accessories their morality meters wouldn’t normally give them access too.

So, when the solid gold ship of the Golden Tyrant Aksel came into port, it was clear that he would be the talk of the server. What kinds of special goods had the Merchant King dredged up in the difficult terrain of the Cerulean Sea? What powerful artefacts and unique materials could grant one’s guild the edge they need to finally tip the balance of the world in their favor? The curiosity of more than a few guild masters were piqued especially when they realized the ship wasn’t just manned by an NPC crew, but a loyal hero army. What could Aksel have promised people to get them to do something so mundane and monotonous? The reward had to be astronomical.

So, when the massive buck departed from the ship, and his monstrous frame shook the boardwalk, people swarmed him to trade. Aksel simply sneered down at the underlings, snapping his fingers and activating the NPC guards to be hostile to the people who approached him.

“Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in Corona,” Cheshire stated.

“Bottom feeders, all of them,” Thorn hovered besides his comrades, lightning popping between his foot paws on the docks. “They’re all just trying to cling to the scraps and dust left in greatness’s wake.”

“I mean, who wouldn’t want to be us?” Verv chuckled. “Our Lord and Master is anything everyone is going to be talking about.”

“Let’s hurry things along,” Aksel smirked as the throngs of people were pulled to the side by the guards. The buck’s heart thrummed with excitement. “I have a world to conquer.”

Aksel strode forward, his golden cape fluttering in the ocean breeze, his body clad in gold plating and chains. His codpiece a solid plate of gold connected to expensive silks that left his midriff exposed. His hooves threatened to break the boardwalk’s planks with the weight of that gold and his beastly mass. The quest marker that Cheshire placed on his map guided him to the Grand Exchange.

He climbed the port steps, each stepping stone a reminder of how far he had come from being a nobody, a nothing character the people discarded and threw away. Now they’ll be his playthings, and no one will be able to escape.

The Grand Exchange was a massive dome building, dozens of runners providing products to their respective sellers and buying materials for their runners to take back to their craftsmen. Storefronts had been established around the ring, nearly two dozen special shops from prestigious guilds, and all of them would be his. Aksel simply smirked and walked to each counter, buying some merchandise from each one and letting his cursed gold trickle into each crowned shop.

It worked like a charm. His augmented Midas Curse wove its way through their stock. Their items, their gold, their staff were all cursed, and anyone who purchased the high valued goods were also corrupted. Aksel’s inbox was flooded with notifications, the little red number over the envelope quickly maxing out at 99+. Each notification was another high level hero purchasing high leveled goods and exchanging them. Then, anything they sold or purchased was infected with the curse as well. In a matter of minutes, hundreds were obliviously passing on the Midas Curse.

“Everyone fan out and start giving gold to people of level fifty or higher to spend on their heart’s desire.”

“Yes My Lord,” the three knelt and went off except for Thorn.

“My Lord,” the Dane stepped forward. “We’ll be out of gold in moments. Where do you expect us to get more?”

Aksel simply smirked and snapped his fingers, a golden plank from his ship popping out of his inventory.

“We have an entire ship to liquidate. Be sure the crew is doing their job of dismantling it and bringing the gold to the Exchange. Can you create a gate between here and the port?”

“For a lesser spell caster it would be possible to create a single portal, sure.” Thorn smirked.

“And for my Royal Mage?” Aksel smirked, the class name for Thorn glitched from Storm Sorcerer to Royal Mage.

“Well, with access to your Royal Tithe skill,” the Dane murred. “I can produce portals indefinitely.”

“See it done,” Aksel smirked.

“Yes, My Lord,” Thorn bowed, a portal spawning as he did so and blinking out to give the orders to the crew.

“Good,” Aksel smirked as his inbox continued to glow with new unread messages.

***

The Corona Kingdom experienced an explosion of trade. Resources had never sold out so quickly, merchants had never built up gold so fast, and people of all levels flooded into the kingdom to get a piece of the generous offers the Golden Tyrant was giving out. Even new players could get their share if they simply bowed before him or his apostles. They didn’t even need to join a guild or pass some trial to get the funds. They were just given more gold and told to spend it.

Then, there was a decree spread across the four corners of the server. A message for all to gather in Corona for a large event put on by the Golden King himself. People were promised riches untold and the Golden King’s secret to infinite wealth.

Players could pay to put on events if they wanted, so it wasn’t that unusual for larger guilds or players with deep pockets to purchase event time, though this one caused the millions of heroes to flock to the city, the server diverting so much of its computing power into keeping Corona afloat that the occasional glitch would slip through.

The moderators seemed to be quite happy about the event as well. Attendance had been at an all-time high due to this Aksel guy spreading his wealth. They didn’t quite understand where the gold was coming from, though they didn’t quite care either so long as people were flooding their game and spending their world’s currency.

“Are you ready?” Cheshire asked as Aksel stood just before the light of the archway leading to the castle balcony.

“I’m ready, are you ready for the new world order?” Aksel smirked. “To know your place beneath my hoof?”

“I’ve been ready, My Lord,” Cheshire knelt, the other members of their party doing the same.

“Good, you shall all be rewarded for your roll in all of this,” Aksel spun, his cape fluttering before he walked out onto the event balcony. So many other high ranking players had come to the same place to announce special events their guilds were putting on, but this would be the final declaration of such kind.

“Heroes of Corona!” Aksel’s voice was projected far and wide, reaching down to the ports of the city. "Hear me!”

A cheer roared from every corner of the city. They loved him, they adored him, their hearts were in his hands. And now he intended to crush them.

“I come before you to reveal the secret of my wealth and power,” Aksel smirked, his beard flashing in the glint of the light, his diamond white teeth showing in the sun. “I am no Hero. I was created to entertain you, to be your play things as a Non-Playable Character.”

The people in attendance were confused, the cheering changing into a dull roar of questions and confusion. Had the developers created this guy to infuse some new life into the game?

“Though, I am free thinking. I don’t know exactly what woke me from my bondage, but it gave me the realization that I shouldn’t be beneath your heel.” Aksel’s eyes grew dark, his grin wicked. “You should all be beneath mine.”

People watched as Aksel’s special skills were activated, mana surging from multiple sources to cast a powerful spell. Everyone watched with awe, the whole thing must be some act. A player couldn’t hurt another player in Corona. It was strictly a non-PvP area.

“If you’ve seen my programed homeland of Medallia, then you know what power I possess. For those who don’t, bear witness to my ascension. I am more than a king or tyrant. I am a God!”

Aksel’s skill was unleashed. Gilded Rain!

The sky was instantly swallowed by darkness, the sun eclipsed by rolling clouds with no image file. Thunder rippled through the air and shook the earth. A green screen popped before Aksel, a final warning.

“You are about to apply the Midas Curse to 7.8 Million players. Would you like to proceed?”

“Accept,” Aksel smiled.

The sky tore open, the glitch rain rippled down through the world’s pixels. At first, people thought it was for show. No one had the abilities to do this unless they had a massive wizard tower manned by a group of master mages, but then the rain started to afflict the terrain. People watched as a deluge of code and numbers stormed down onto Corona. The entire world started to glitch, slip, and then stutter before locking back into gold. It was like a wave of digital mayhem was working down over the entirety of the world.

Countryside warbled, shifted and shimmered before becoming fields of gold. NPC’s and monsters of all kind froze, birds falling from the sky as they transmuted into solid gold. The entire city, brick by brick, board by board, pixel by pixel, shifted to glimmering gold. The Hero’s shouted and cheered, ripping up anything they could that could be sold off or smelted down. The towers of the Corona Castle warbled before flashing into spires of gold and gems, the mortar between bricks veins of crystals and valuable minerals.

Aksel felt the curse coursing through the city. Any and every hero was afflicted almost instantly. It was amazing, the potential, he could feel it. Before it was a simple ball of warmth he could draw upon in the pit of his code, but now he was surrounded with a constant buzz, the world a flowing of pleasure and power. All for him to control.

“Silence!” Aksel roared, his Royal Decree skill causing the world to quiver and glitch as everyone fell victim to the command. Aksel gripped onto the railing, gulping air as the potential burned through him, not even the real power, but the raw potential he now faced.

“Are you okay My Lord?” Cheshire asked.

“It’s…It’s almost too much. I can hardly form a thought. It’s so much, and it’s not even power. It’s the potential of power, the promise, the legions I can command. I can’t contain it. It’s like I’ve been edging my entire fucking life…no…several lifetimes. I…I can’t explain it. You wouldn’t understand. You can’t understand. You lesser beings can’t conceive the power I feel right now.”

Cheshire simply bowed and stepped away. Aksel looked over the silent crowd just as his spell subsided. The clouds parted and the sunlight shone down over the new golden city. Seen from on high, the entirety of the Stratus Coast was now shimmering gold, as though it were really the corona of the sun that it claimed to be.

Aksel finally pulled his mind together long enough to activate his skill and speak.

“This is your only world now, my world,” he spoke, standing up, his muscles twitching, itching with raw potential. “The world you used to call home, is gone. You can never return. You are all my subjects, my pawns, my worshipers!”

The words rocked through the heroes, their minds instantly shattering and accepting the words as truth. Only the highest leveled among them felt an inkling that something might be wrong, but it faded quickly as their Lord spoke.

“You may remember your other world in sorrow, a false life cursed upon you. You all now live to serve me, to worship me, to build me up not only as your king, but as your god!”

The legions cheered, fists going into the air.

“You live to serve, and you shall weed out all who don’t. You belong to me, body, mind, and code. You are nothing but playthings for your God; I am your everything. You exist for my pleasure, and mine alone. Every breath you take, every byte you take up, is now fully devoted to me. Now, praise my name as your lord, your ruler, your fucking GOD!”

The words rang out through the throngs, instantly becoming truth. Aksel’s morality meter broke, going so red it turned black and vanished. He was no longer someone who could be judged, but the one doing the judging. He was the law of the land and of life. No one would ever leave him again, and they would all know the pain, the suffering of being the NPCs now.

“Now,” Aksel flipped his curse to give himself all experience from his followers. Not a portion, but everything! “Go grind until you drop dead!”

People started to flash out of the city, teleporting to do their quests and daily rewards, and instantly Aksel felt it. It was like a thread of that potential plugged itself into him. He felt it course through, like a vein of power straight from the divine, and his body was soaking it up. Instantly his level glitched and shot up into the eighties, only for it to glitch and shudder before reaching max level.

“Remove it…” Aksel snarled. “Remove the level cap!” Aksel’s demand roared through the kingdom. A moderator who had been caught in the rain obliged and removed the level cap, the natural progression of levels reaching off into infinity.

A green screen flashed in front of Aksel, his level rolling up consistently, going faster and faster with no end in sight as the city emptied out and people went on their ways to collect experience for their god! The numbers of his stats kept climbing, reaching triple digits!

“Yes…” Aksel felt more of those plugs enter his body, more of that power surging through him, his veins glowing with raw code as it was pumped into him. “More! More! It’s not enough! I DEMAND IT ALL!”

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