"Mwehehe! Bow down before me, peasant!" Her fingers danced along her keyboard, the blue light of the screen illuminating her pale face in the dark.
On screen, her in-game character danced around a raid boss. The HP bar drained faster and faster as she performed each combo.
"And this. Is. Jackpot!" Her smug grin grew wider as she activated her final spell. As the boss's death animation played and loot notifications pinged, she struck a pose. One hand over her eye, the other stretched out, grabbing some non-existent weapon. She stood there for a moment before collapsing back into her chair.
"Nothing… nothing… It's all shit!" She muttered under her breath as she scrolled through the loot table.
As she prepared to start another raid, the phone next to her began to ring.
*Brrr! Brrr!*
"…Hello?" A man's voice came from the other end.
"Hey dad… uh, what's up?" She spoke into her phone, the arrogance and pride that lingered in her voice earlier now replaced with a meek whisper.
"Alice. Me and your mother have been talking recently, and... We have decided to stop supporting you financially." The man on the other end said with restrained fury.
"B-but!"
"No buts! I don't care about your damned excuses! This month's payment will be the last amount of support we will ever give you! Not until you can grow up at least!" He spat.
"Thats…" She attempted to speak, but her voice grew weak.
"Its been two whole years! Get over it already and make yourself useful for once. And GET. A. JOB!"
"Good. Bye." With a beep, the voice from the other end disappears.
"… Asshole."
———————————————————
"What am I going to do…" she muttered to herself as she shifted through the trash that littered the floor of her room towards her bed.
Flopping down on the plushie-covered bed, she opened her phone and began scrolling through it.
"I'm done for... In a month... they'll just let me go homeless?" She let out a deep sigh.
And then her fingers stopped.
A video had caught her attention. It's thumbnail flashy and exaggerated, just like any other. But what had her so fixated on said video was the title.
-I made 5 thousand dollars in a month playing Eclipse Now!-
"Five thousand..!" Her once dark expression grew ever so slightly brighter. Five thousand was more than enough for her to not only keep the apartment but also have tones of extra spending money! Once again, her fingers began tapping away at her phone screen. This time navigating to a search engine.
"Eclipse Now… Shit, it's a full dive game…" Her face grew grim once again before an idea sprouted.
Her father would send her two thousand five hundred dollars a month, two thousand of that is for rent and the rest for necessities. If she got one for second hand, she might just have enough with this final payment to get a full dive helmet.
"Come on…" she scrolled through a local online marketplace, attempting to find a full dive helmet that fit within her price range.
"2000 for the helmet, 100 for the game and the rest for food… damn it, everything is over 3k!" After nearly an hour of searching, she stumbled across a posting.
-Damaged FDH. 1500$ serious offers only.-
"I'm sure this will be fine… right?" The images that the seller had attached to the post were extremely blurry. But even through the low-quality pictures, it was easy to make out exposed wires, missing pieces and even the visor at the front was cracked.
"What did this guy do to the poor thing..?" Ignoring the obvious state of disrepair, she placed her order. The description said that it still worked, so it should… hopefully… most likely work when it gets to her.
"Well, I got about an hour before the delivery drone gets here. I guess I should look into this game." Finally getting up from the bed, she made her way back to her chair and pressed the power button on her computer.
In a few moments, the official forums for Eclipse Now were open. Though there were many pinned forums such as beginner's guides, material farming places, etc, she was searching for one thing: how to make money.
Apparently, all in-game items are made by NPCs or players. Meaning that getting a new sword isn't as simple as purchasing one from an infinite store. Supply and demand were very much in effect. Which brings us to the main way to make money; Cash trading.
Instead of putting in an order and waiting weeks for it to be forged or beating up mobs for hours on end, many players are willing to pay up real cash for these items. Even the game itself encourages these cash trades with in-game mechanics to ensure that both sides get what they want.After about an hour of scrolling through the forums, she was notified of her delivery through a ping on her phone. She stood up only to pause halfway to the door.
"W-when was the last time I went outside again..?" Receiving her package would require her to go down to the lobby of her apartment building. The only time she had opened this door in the past 2 years has been to use the bathroom or receive food deliveries, and even then, they were always no-contact orders.
With an audible gulp, she made her way to the door... Only to turn right around again.
"Nope, nope! Not happening!" She sat back down in her chair, spinning around to her monitor. Another ping came from her phone. This time, notifying her that if the package was not received from the delivery drone within 10 minutes, it would be left at the meeting spot.
"But if I don't, I'll go homeless..." With a sob, she hastily put on her baggiest hoodie, the darkest pair of sunglasses she could find, as well as a face mask.
She made her way to the front door of her apartment, and with Shaky breaths, turned the doorknob and stepped out into the hall...