“Yes!” Holly exclaimed, throwing her fist up in triumph as the rewards from Amari and Jack’s quest flashed on the screen. It felt like she’d earned those rewards herself.

  Amari appeared at the end of the video, his signature grin lighting up the screen.

  “Hi, folks! What did you think of this video? Did you have fun?”

  Holly nodded as if he could see her. “That was a good one. Well done, Amari.”

  “What about Jack? Did you enjoy meeting him?”

  In her mind, she responded. Watching Amari’s crew was always a blast—they were a well-oiled machine, seamless and efficient. But Jack was a nice addition, a wildcard. His inexperience brought unpredictability, keeping her on edge. She kept waiting for the mistake that would ruin everything. But somehow, against all odds, he’d pulled through, completing the quest alongside Amari.

  “I guess I did enjoy meeting him,” she thought.

  “Shortly after we completed this quest together, Jack unlocked a hidden class! One that’s completely unprecedented in the game’s history: the handyman class.”

  Holly sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing. “What?! A hidden class? How?”

  Either he’d stumbled into it by sheer luck, or maybe there was more to him than she’d given him credit for.

  Hidden classes were her obsession. She loved how they broke the mold, offering something new and exciting. She followed every streamer who shared details about theirs.

  “I’m excited to announce that Jack has officially joined my crew,” Amari continued. “To celebrate, I’m releasing the first adventure the four of us went on together. Plus, we’re starting a new series about Jack’s unique gameplay and the cool traits of his class. If you’re into crafting, you’re going to love this. The first episode comes out later this week. Stay tuned for The Rise of the Handyman! And if you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s the time.”

  Holly’s curiosity burned. “Handyman. I wonder what that does.” Did it tie into his pottery and bushcrafting? Or was it based on some obscure mechanic no one had figured out yet?

  At the end of the video, a link appeared for Jack’s first adventure with Amari’s crew. Holly glanced at the clock, hesitating as a pile of notes on her desk caught her eye.

  But then she shrugged. “Just one video,” she told herself. “I’ve earned a break.”

  She clicked the link, watching as Amari’s team took on a quest collecting bugs.

  *

  Beware! Wave 12 comes.

  It had been two hours, and despite Jack’s best efforts, he still hadn’t found anything in this forsaken peak. The notifications that kept coming, which should be boosting his morale, were actually discouraging him.

  Marie had unlocked a hidden package, granting them all 50 more HP, and Amari had discovered a necklace that doubled all of his attributes for one minute but could only be used once—and only inside the Breach.

  Amari had sent the link to the first videos featuring him, and even though he wanted to watch them, he just couldn’t right now, not with having to explore this frozen wasteland.

  Jack’s only consolation was that Horace had also come up empty-handed in his search near the fortress.

  How am I supposed to find anything in these conditions? Jack thought bitterly. At this rate, I’ll waste hours and come up with nothing. Maybe I should just move on to a different pin.

  He glanced at his map. Two hours remained before he had to return to the fortress. Maybe it was time to call it a day. Just as he was about to give up, a faint sound carried on the breeze.

  It was subtle at first, almost lost beneath the howling wind. But as Jack stopped and tilted his head, it grew clearer—sharp, grating, and rhythmic. It reminded him of a car horn, discordant and out of place in the wilderness.

  Curiosity prickled his spine as he followed the sound. The wind whipped around him, flinging loose snow into his face as he climbed a small rise. Against the black rock ahead, he spotted a flash of red and white.

  Jack’s heart quickened as he approached. The shape became clearer: a goat, sleek and furry, lay half-buried in the snow. Its back was pressed against a jagged rock. There was blood staining the snow before it. Its wide eyes turned to Jack as he approached.

  Maybe that’s the hidden package! Jack reasoned. A goat for milk between waves would be genius.

  He stepped closer, his movements deliberate to avoid startling it. But something nagged at him. The goat was strangely calm, its eyes unblinking as they tracked him. “Shouldn’t it be scared since it’s hurt?” he murmured.

  As he moved closer, his gaze fell to the snow around it. A splash of red stained the ground near its hooves, stark against the white. The blood wasn’t a trail, just a single, vivid splash, as though something had been struck or cut nearby.

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  The goat’s fur, however, was clean and pristine. No sign of a wound. This doesn’t make sense. Jack frowned, unease curling in his stomach. Where’s the source of the blood?

  As Jack stepped closer, the ground beneath him shifted with a low, ominous groan.

  Oh no.

  The snow gave way with a deafening crack, the crust collapsing into a hidden crevasse. Jack’s balance vanished as the world tilted beneath him.

  “Aaahh!” he screamed, tumbling through the cascading snow, the wind roaring in his ears. The world spun in a blur of white until he hit the bottom with a bone-jarring thud.

  You’ve fallen!

  -32

  The impact rattled his body, knocking the air from his lungs. Snow seeped through his clothes, the cold stinging his skin as he lay dazed. His head swam, thoughts sluggish and unfocused.

  Groaning, Jack tried to sit up, but something held him back. He blinked slowly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. A coarse, knotted material was hindering his movements. Jack twisted his neck and froze.

  He was caught in a net.

  “What in the world?” Panic edged his voice as he thrashed against the ropes. The more he struggled, the tighter they seemed to pull. His breathing quickened as the realization dawned:

  This wasn’t an accident. Someone had set this trap.

  His breathing quickened as questions swirled in his mind. Who would even come this far into the mountains? Why set a trap here?

  A sound from above snapped him out of his thoughts. Jack craned his neck to look upward.

  Someone—or something—was climbing down into the hole. The soft flicker of a torchlight cast long, dancing shadows on the icy walls, growing brighter as it descended.

  He squinted against the glare, straining to make out the figure. When it finally came into view, his heart stopped.

  This wasn’t a person.

  Jack’s breath hitched as he got his first clear look at the creature. It was small, no taller than his waist, its bright yellow fur fluffed into tufts as if styled by chaos itself. Irregular green spots peppered its body, adding to its wild, unnatural appearance.

  But its face—if it could be called that—was what held Jack’s attention. The creature had a single, massive cat-like eye dominating the center of its head. The iris glinted like polished glass, and the pupil swiveled unnervingly as it scanned Jack, taking him in.

  Jack blinked rapidly, half-expecting it to disappear like a glitch in the game. But it didn’t. It was very real, and it was staring right at him.

  His fingers twitched against the net’s rough fibers, his breath forming short puffs in the freezing air. The closer the creature got, the harder it became to keep his panic from spiraling. His thoughts scrambled for context, for something familiar. Then it hit him. He’d seen something like this before—or at least drawings of it. Back in one of Piri’s mazes, there had been crude hieroglyphs on the walls showing strange, fluffy creatures with a single eye. At the time, he’d laughed and dismissed them as Piri’s wild imagination.

  But now, hanging helplessly in a net, Jack felt no urge to laugh.

  “What—what even are you?” Jack stammered, his voice cracking as he fought to keep his fear in check.

  The creature called out to its colleagues at the top of the well, chittering. The sound was high-pitched and rapid, like a cross between a bird’s chirp and the scrape of ice on glass. The others responded with an eerie chorus of clicks that made Jack’s skin crawl.

  “Please help me!” Jack pleaded.

  The creature paused, its massive single eye swiveling to focus on him. For a brief moment, Jack dared to hope it might listen. But instead of assisting him, it kept chittering to the others above in its strange, high-pitched language.

  Finally, the one-eye adjusted the net, tightening the rope around him.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” Jack protested, wriggling in the net. The creature worked quickly, its one two-thumbed small hand darting around him as it secured his bindings. Within moments, Jack found himself completely immobilized.

  The creature climbed him and chittered urgently to its companions at the top.

  “Wait! Let me go!” Jack’s protests fell on deaf ears as they hoisted him up.

  Once out of the pit, Jack found that there were at least 20 of the creatures eyeing him from all sides. Their one-eyed stares were unnerving.

  As the net tightened and Jack’s struggles proved futile, panic gave way to exasperation. Now what? Is this even supposed to be a Hidden Package? Stupid Piri. I knew that with her in charge of the map, things wouldn’t go well. The fact she put these creatures here is a reference to when I called her cute. I knew it! She’s still holding a grudge against me.

  But as the creatures chittered and their single eyes gleamed, Jack realized he had bigger problems than her grudge.

  The one-eyes huddled a few meters away, glancing furtively at him and gesturing wildly with their stubby hands. Though Jack couldn’t understand their high-pitched, scratchy language, he imagined the conversation went something like this:

  “Should we roast him or boil him?”

  “Boil! Less cleanup.”

  “I still think we should deep-fry him. Crunchier!”

  Jack swallowed hard. This was not how he’d pictured his day going. He tried opening his inventory, but a sharp system notification popped up:

  You’ve been trapped! Inventory is locked!

  He stared at the message, dread pooling in his stomach. He’d been banking on using his bushcraft knife to cut himself free, but that plan was officially out the window.

  There’s only one thing left to do. Call in the cavalry.

  With a flick of his wrist, Jack opened his comms and made a video call to Amari.

  “Sup, Jack!” Amari greeted, grinning—until his expression shifted to confusion. “Woah! Why are you covered in a net?”

  “Amari!” Jack hissed, glancing at the chittering one-eyes. “I came to the peak, and I’ve been captured. The one-eyes have taken me hostage!”

  Amari blinked. “Say what, Jack?”

  “Listen to me! I think they’re going to eat me. You’re a quick ninja, right? Run here! Come save me!”

  Before Amari could respond, a sudden, eerie howling sound rose over the wind, cutting through the creatures’ chatter like a knife. Every one-eye froze mid-gesture, their giant pupils swiveling toward the direction of the noise.

  “What was that?” Amari asked.

  “I—I don’t know. Something’s happening! COME QUICK!” Jack yelped.

  “Okay, okay! I’m coming. I’ll be there in 20—no, 15 minutes!” Amari said, and the screen blinked off.

  The creatures, apparently deciding they didn’t want to stick around to meet whatever made the noise, exploded into action. It was pure chaos. A few of them darted around, covering the blood in the snow with frantic swipes of their hands. Another one tied Jack’s net to the goat, which, judging by its complete lack of reaction, was clearly in on this bizarre operation.

  “Wait—what are you doing?” Jack protested as they began to drag him across the snow.

  Turning to the goat, he spat. “And to think I wanted to help you! You traitor!”

  He struggled against the bindings, but the creatures were surprisingly strong for their size. The goat bleated lazily as though to mock him.

  “I don’t taste good! I don’t taste good!” Jack shouted, twisting in the net as he was hauled along.

  The one-eyes didn’t so much as glance at him, too busy dragging him toward whatever terrible fate awaited.

  As the creatures dragged him, Jack found himself latching onto one odd thought: Just how many fermentation bombs would it take to explode a pyramid?

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