Imperial Arcade Grand Opening and Team PVP Mayhem
Extraction Shooter: Escape from Sanctuary (END)
Can't make single-player games forever, after all.
Nothing beats PVP for letting all sorts of people compete freely under any conditions—it's that intuitive.
But slap PVP in blindly, and you've got major problems.
This is a class-based society, after all.
What if some elite soldier playing Escape from Sanctuary offs their superior or senior and loots them? That's straight-up insubordination.
Or a commoner ambushing a noble. Same deal.
So instead of building characters from personal info and biometrics like before, we created unique models with minimal customization options.
Now no one knows who's who.
Accidentally kill your boss? Or a commoner takes out a noble? No real-world repercussions.
Naturally creates a low-pressure environment for pure competition.
"Let's sketch out the storyline too. Since it's set two years after the main events, how about escaping the city via airship?"
With Dante back from the expedition and wrapping up his main gig, we could finally craft proper quests and storylines.
And so, on the official launch day—which doubled as the arcade opening.
"His Imperial Majesty the Iron Blood Emperor has personally commended your achievements. Valiant heroes of the Empire! Rejoice!!"
With the Prime Minister's speech wrapping up on behalf of the Emperor, the doors to the Imperial Arcade swung open.
"I'm Hugh Freddy, manager of the Imperial Arcade. We boast a whopping 1,200 Gaming Cubes, plus food service for weary patrons."
"Life's been fun lately, huh? How'd we even survive without games before?"
"I grabbed our tickets earlier! Let's head in!"
The massive mana stone powering the main server on the library's second floor began glowing nonstop.
"Alright, is everyone ready?"
Official launch: success. Imperial Arcade: open.
Expedition: done. Server upgrades: complete.
Master declared a self-imposed strike from overwork.
Yujin, don't bother me for a while. Second floor's off-limits too.
No way a disciple could disturb their sky-high, stunning master's winter hibernation.
So, what's next?
"Everyone's here except Mikrel?"
"Too bad. The old man's been dying for some PVP."
Time to play, obviously.
This world's idea of dopamine was chess or basic cards—until we brought real entertainment.
Even we can't dev forever.
Perfect timing: library's regular closing day.
Time to reward the team with a Eugene Paltrow Head Librarian PVP Battle Royale.
"First-place team gets one platinum coin. Split it or winner-takes-all, your call."
Twelve players—minus one no-show—split into three teams of four.
Party leaders: me, Eaton, Jacob.
Three rounds of raids. Total shop value of extracted loot decides the winner.
As official raids, plenty of online players—including expedition vets.
The Raiders probably have the highest game knowledge among adventurer parties.
Slacking off means losing your gear to the pros.
No super dev accounts here—we play fair and hard.
"Which maps?"
"Round one: Ruins. Two: Legion HQ. Three: Commercial District."
"Sounds good!"
"Ugh, fighting friends is the worst..."
"Miss, even the family head's been playing lately. You'll do great."
"Hanna, you love this stuff!"
"Let's all give it our best!"
Teams formed, cubes entered.
My squad: Yukia Rel, Kairon, Dante.
First up: old ruins—tight spaces, close-quarters combat heaven, factory-inspired.
"Yukia, Dante—shotguns."
"Eugene-nim, I'll forward with arming sword as primary."
"Yeah, forward's clutch here."
"Balrog run?"
"Nah, post-expedition, everyone's rushing them. Let's avoid contacts."
True to its insane density rep, gunfire echoed almost immediately.
Tat-tat-tat! Bang!
Gunfire as BGM, we pushed underground, looting prison cells.
Bad luck: ran into a duo on the same route. Wiped 'em clean.
The vault in the underground jail guardroom—confiscated goods storage—spawns high-value loot fixed. Four-man haul: 22 gold equivalent.
Snagged over 30 rip rounds too—shrapnel grenades on steroids, shred on impact. Nice bonus.
Yukia's right arm nearly got blasted off mid-run, but meds from the torture chamber saved it.
Next: Legion HQ.
Stationary boss: Centurion Robinson. Roamer: Death Knight.
Goal: bag Robinson.
His four decurion minions spawn with solid gear—good trade value.
Plus his special double-barrel golden edition? Way better than ruins payout.
But boss runs draw heat...
[Dante Otter du Bua - ELIMINATED]
Flanking player sniped Dante while we tangled with adds; Yukia took heavy damage.
Scraped by with Robinson—and his prized double-barrel—but Dante's death zeroed us out.
"Sorry..."
"No worries. We'll make it up next round."
Final: Commercial District.
Iconic map since closed alpha. Heavily strategized.
Boss run for extract. Or goblin colony loot 'n' scoot. Or safe-hunting marathon.
"No clue on other teams, so max out this round. Safes first, boss try at 10-min mark?"
"Dante's right. Hesitate even a finger's width, and you lose."
No slacking against Eaton and Jacob.
1 hour 10 in, most safes cracked, heading for boss—
Tat-tat-tat!
"Ambush! Damn it!"
"These psychos camping here? Insane."
"Boss aggro too! Chest hit—!!!"
Rushed boss, got pinched by hiders. Team wiped.
[Eugene Paltrow (KIA, Multiple Organ Penetration, Exsanguination)] ▶▶ [Melkiia Raiders - LV.12]
Sent home one by one. Log showed familiar names.
"Raiders?"
"No wonder the shotgun work was pro-level."
Roadkill.
Raiders in Commercial? Abandon hope, they say. Skill gap's real.
Rules are rules—no whining changes scores.
"Winners: Jacob's team. Congrats!"
Jacob, Riana, Richmond, Hinkel: crushing 184 gold haul.
Celebs got sincere cheers; divvied up pre-ordered grub from Riana Merchant Guild.
"Riana, thought you'd zero kills—surprise!"
"Hah! Obviously. What do you take me for? Golden Daughter scoring zilch? Family disgrace."
"Still just one kill. Bet it was ricochet or NPC snipe timing."
"Shut it! Opponent was way higher level! Don't remember the nick, but log number... 009 maybe?"
"...009?"
I froze.
ID 009: early bird. Sequential from signup.
000: me. 001-007: Raiders.
008 and 009...?
"..."
Dangerous thought choked me—till Wiki whispered.
"009's nickname is 'Golden Duke', Eugene-nim."
Log flashed in my mind.
[Golden Duke (KIA, Headshot, Instant Death)] ▶▶ [Riana Goldmaster - LV.4]
"Shh! Zip it!"
Had to gag Wiki tight.
Can't paint Riana as the patricide who one-tapped Daddy's skull.