“You guys ready?” Dolly asked over voice chat as she triggered a ready-check, her tone crisp but not without its usual wry edge. She was the healer, after all, and healers were, by unspoken law, allowed a certain amount of sarcasm and superiority. “If you aren’t ready now, you’d better figure it out before we’re neck-deep in bad decisions.”

  Her party responded with an enthusiastic chorus of affirmations -mostly grunts, a couple of enthusiastic "Let's do this!" and at least one distracted "Hold on, my pizza’s here!"

  “Duncan, if you’re eating pizza mid-raid again, I swear I’m letting you die,” she shot back.

  “Won’t be the first time!” Duncan replied with a grin in his voice. He was the meat shield, a heavily armored warrior who had perfected the art of taunting enemies and soaking up damage like a sponge -though sometimes he enjoyed playing the party clown more than the party tank.

  Dolly rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself. Her team was scrappy but reliable, and while they weren’t a full mini-raid team -they were two shy of the ideal ten- they were solid enough to handle tonight’s cleanup run.

  Between her holy and shield-based heals, and Rachel’s druidic arsenal of HoTs (heal-over-times), group heals, and the ever-crucial battle resurrection, they had their recovery game locked down. “If anyone dies on my watch, it’s because I let it happen,” she quipped, her fingers already dancing across her keyboard.

  “Famous last words,” Rachel -her best friend and second healer- chimed in, her voice as smooth as honey with an undercurrent of mischief. Her in-game name was WillowWisp, but Dolly still called her Rachel, much to the druid’s annoyance. Rachel’s party role was as reliable as her personality: nurturing and quietly fierce, with a knack for cutting sarcasm when the mood struck.

  The rest of the team was equally eclectic. Their meat shield, Duncan, was joined by Rick running an Off Tank dark knight who oozed shadowy menace but was surprisingly soft-spoken in voice chat. Then came their DPS lineup: two damage-over-time (DoT) specialists -one focusing on affliction curses, the other on poisons and disease- a glass cannon archer, and, of course, the wild card mage who always seemed one fireball away from catastrophic overkill. All told, it wasn’t a bad spread.

  “Well-rounded enough,” Dolly muttered to herself as she scanned the player list one more time. Sure, they lacked a thief or marauder for positional damage and trap disarms, and they were missing a dedicated utility role to provide haste or buffs, but they were here to clear out the last few bosses of a dungeon -not storm the gates of an endgame raid.

  Still, that didn’t stop her from feeling a flicker of doubt. They only had one night before the server reset, meaning any incomplete dungeons would get wiped clean and have to be restarted from scratch. No pressure.

  “All right, team,” she said, her voice carrying the authority of a general preparing for battle. “Reminder, this is a cleanup job. Three bosses left. We know the mechanics. We know the traps. We know Duncan’s going to trip one of them anyway.”

  “I’ll have you know I only tripped two last time,” Duncan replied indignantly. “And one was on purpose!”

  “Oh, of course,” Rachel said dryly. “The ol’ ‘trip it on purpose so it doesn’t surprise us later’ strategy. Classic.”

  “Exactly,” Duncan agreed, missing the sarcasm entirely.

  “Focus,” Dolly snapped, though she was grinning. “First boss is Bonecaller Zarak. Heavy summons, lots of AoE. DPS, burn those adds down quick. Duncan, keep Zarak’s cleave pointed away from the group. Rachel and I will handle the party heals. Everyone ready?”

  “Locked and loaded,” the glass cannon archer chimed in. Her avatar -a sleek, elfin figure with an elaborate bow that glowed faintly- already had an arrow nocked and ready.

  “Let’s go,” Dolly said, stepping into the dungeon’s foreboding entrance.

  The air shifted immediately. The game’s ambient sounds -dripping water, faint echoes, and the occasional distant growl- wrapped around them, amplifying the tension. The dim light from flickering torches cast long, eerie shadows along the stone walls. This wasn’t just a game anymore; it was an experience.

  “Stay sharp, people,” Dolly said, her voice quieter now, as if the dungeon’s atmosphere demanded it. “Rachel, keep an eye on Duncan. I don’t trust him not to Leroy Jenkins this.”

  “Hey!” Duncan protested. “That was one time!”

  “One time is one time too many,” Dolly shot back.

  As they moved deeper, the dungeon opened into a wide, cavernous chamber. Bonecaller Zarak stood at the center, a hulking figure draped in tattered robes, his skeletal frame pulsating with unnatural energy. Around him, heaps of bones twitched and rattled, waiting to rise at his command.

  “Remember, burn the adds!” Dolly reminded them as she positioned herself at the back of the group, ready to drop shields and AoE heals as needed. “Rachel, HoTs on the tanks. DPS, don’t stand in the fire this time.”

  “I’ll have you know I was strategically standing in the fire to lure the boss-”

  “No one’s buying that, Duncan,” the archer interrupted.

  The fight began with an explosion of motion and sound. Zarak raised his bony hands, summoning skeletal warriors that surged toward the group in waves. Duncan let out a roar, activating his taunt ability and drawing the skeletons to him. The dark knight stepped in beside him, his shadowy aura flaring as he absorbed hits meant for the squishier party members.

  “Adds incoming!” Rachel called out as the skeletal warriors multiplied. Her voice was calm but firm, a sharp contrast to the chaos unfolding on-screen.

  “On it!” shouted one of the DoT specialists, his curses spreading like wildfire across the horde. The other DoT specialist, focusing on poisons, cackled gleefully as her attacks whittled away at the skeletons’ health bars.

  “Less cackling, more killing!” Dolly barked, her fingers flying over her keyboard as she kept the tanks’ health bars topped up.

  The mage unleashed a series of fireballs, each one detonating with satisfying booms that echoed through the cavern. “Boom, baby!” he crowed. “Who needs controlled burns when you’ve got me?”

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  “Please don’t wipe us,” Dolly muttered, casting a shield on the mage just in case.

  Despite the chaos, the fight was going smoothly -until Zarak let out an ear-splitting screech, and the ground beneath them began to glow.

  “Phase two!” Rachel warned. “Get out of the circles!”

  “Out, out, out!” Dolly echoed, her own avatar darting to safety as glowing fissures cracked across the floor. One of the DPS wasn’t fast enough and took a direct hit, his health bar plummeting.

  “Duncan, pick up the slack!” Dolly ordered. “Rachel, battle res if he goes down.”

  “I’m on it!” Duncan replied, his shield slamming into the nearest skeleton with a resounding crash.

  Zarak’s health bar dropped steadily, but the fight wasn’t over yet. As the boss entered his final phase, he moved to a large fractal pattern in the floor and began a ritual.

  Please, RNG gods, don’t let it be a dragon. Play nice and give us something easy, like a swarm of- but Dolly’s thoughts were interrupted as the summon finished.

  The damn boss had summoned a massive skeletal dragon that loomed above them, its eyes glowing with unholy light.

  “Of course it’s a dragon,” Dolly muttered. “Why wouldn’t it be a dragon?”

  “This is why we can’t have nice things,” Rachel added sourly.

  The dragon let out a deafening roar and dove toward the group. Duncan stepped forward, shield raised. “I got this!” he yelled.

  “No, you don’t!” Dolly snapped. “Rachel, HoTs on Duncan. DPS, take that thing down before it eats us for dinner!”

  The fight was frantic, chaotic, and exhilarating. The skeletal dragon’s attacks were relentless, forcing the group to stay on their toes. Spells flew, arrows pierced the air, and curses sapped the dragon’s strength bit by bit.

  Finally, with a final, collective push, the group brought the dragon down. As the boss’s health was tied to the summon, Zarak let out a wail of defeat before crumbling into a pile of bones, the glowing energy around him fading into nothingness.

  The group stood in stunned silence for a moment before the archer broke it. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Dolly said, her voice weary but triumphant. “Two more bosses to go. Let’s loot and move.”

  ∞

  A short time earlier-

  ∞

  Servers were due to reset soon, in a handful of hours actually.

  It might be cutting it close, but Dolly wasn’t worried. Her party was solid -a patchwork crew of ex-elite raiders who’d once run with the best clans in the game. Once upon a time, these players had dominated leaderboards and world-first races. Now they were in her semi-casual guild, a far cry from the high-stress, hyper-competitive environments they’d left behind. Dolly prided herself on running a guild where everyone could breathe, laugh, and still aim for greatness without suffocating under the weight of egos and endless demands.

  She brushed a few stray strands of her bright red hair out of her eyes. They’d slipped loose again, falling in front of her glasses, and she adjusted her headset to keep them in place. “Stay,” she muttered under her breath at the rogue strands like they were defiant minions.

  The camera perched on her monitor glinted in the low light of her gaming room. She flicked her gaze toward it and offered her viewers a quick smile. Streaming her raids wasn’t just a habit anymore; it was a lifeline. A solid revenue stream.

  “‘You’ll never make any money playing video games,’” Dolly mimicked her parents’ long-standing refrain with a mock-serious tone. Then she smirked, muttering to herself, “Guess I showed them.”

  She’d grown up in the era when pro gaming and streaming had barely scratched the surface of public recognition. Back then, her parents' skepticism was valid. But now? Now viewers paid good money just to watch her clear dungeons, tackle tough raids, and occasionally rage at the lag gods.

  “It’s funny, really,” she mused to the stream, her voice warm and casual. “Pay-to-play used to mean something totally different. These days, they pay me, and I play.” A chuckle bubbled up from her chest as she toggled the stream overlay to show her game stats.

  Her usual lineup of viewers flooded the chat with emotes, comments, and encouragements. Dolly loved engaging with them when she wasn’t in the heat of battle. She could see the chat lighting up as she prepped the party for tonight’s dungeon run. “Dolly’s crew always delivers” flashed across the top in neon green text. Below it, comments scrolled so fast she could barely keep up: ‘World’s Best Chill Raid Leader!’ ‘Ready for the DPS show!’ ‘Let’s GO!’

  In the game, her party waited at the dungeon entrance, their avatars clustered and ready for the final push. Tonight’s target? The last three bosses of Nexus Eternal Online: Genesis, one of the hottest MMOs on the market. A sleek, beautiful game that boasted next-gen graphics, hyper-intelligent AI, and mechanics designed to make even veteran players sweat.

  Dolly had been hooked from the start. She’d scored a coveted spot in the closed beta thanks to a well-placed connection and a dash of luck. When the full release hit, she and her friends had used their beta knowledge to race ahead of the competition. They’d landed multiple world-first achievements in the first week, gaining a meteoric rise in notoriety. But fame came with its own complications.

  Guild politics, infighting, and egos had gutted the group. Instead of riding the wave of their success, Dolly chose a quieter path. She formed her own guild, small and semi-casual, but loyal to the core.

  “I don’t miss the drama,” Dolly said quietly, addressing her stream as she queued up her next action. “Though I still see the old guild recruiting in the cities. Kinda sad, really.”

  “Dolly, you left your mic open,” Rachel’s voice crackled through the voice chat.

  “Oh, shit,” Dolly hissed, scrambling to hit the mute button. “Oops. Sorry, guys.”

  “You streaming again?” Rick asked, his deep voice tinged with amusement. The party’s off tank sounded as casual as if they were chatting over coffee instead of gearing up for an intense raid.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m streaming. You know, gotta pay the bills.”

  A chorus of chuckles erupted across the team comms.

  “Must be nice,” Rick replied, his tone good-natured. “Some of us still gotta work for a living.”

  “This is work!” Dolly shot back, feigning offense. “Hey, you sound just like my parents.”

  Rick snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m still in school. If I could drop everything and go full-time gaming, I would in a heartbeat.”

  “So why don’t you?” Dolly asked, genuinely curious.

  “Because, like I said, I still gotta work for a living. And my parents would freak out if I didn’t get my degree. You know, they’re kinda footing the bill here.”

  Rachel’s laugh cut through the chatter. “It’s okay, babe. You’ve got this. And I’ll be over after the raid to make you feel better.”

  “Oh my god, Rachel,” Dolly groaned. “Like you’re not already there.”

  “How did you know?” Rachel’s voice had a playful edge.

  “Because I can hear Rick’s voice echoing in the background. Dead giveaway, Rach. You’re terrible at hiding.”

  “Shit,” Rick muttered, and Rachel burst out laughing.

  “I told you she’d figure it out,” Rachel teased.

  “All right, lovebirds,” Dolly interrupted, her grin audible. “Let’s focus up. Spinoza, Tracy, Rocco, Pierson -you good?”

  A round of affirmatives came through, followed by the telltale chime of her ready-check indicator lighting up the screen. Dolly’s pulse quickened as her team’s readiness ticked up to full.

  “Good. Let’s do this.”

  Her streaming overlay automatically updated with the dungeon’s title: “Vespyr’s Descent - Final Leg.” Chat lit up again as viewers cheered the party on, throwing in predictions for loot drops and bets on who’d die first.

  The dungeon’s loading screen faded, revealing the dark and ominous halls of Vespyr’s Descent. Shadows flickered across crumbling stone walls, and faint whispers echoed in the distance -an audio effect so immersive it sent a shiver down Dolly’s spine even after dozens of runs.

  The camera panned to her character, clad in ornate cleric robes that shimmered with golden light. A radiant halo effect hovered just above her avatar’s head, marking her status as a top-tier healer.

  “Alright, everyone,” Dolly said, her tone firm as she steeled herself for what lay ahead. “We’ve cleared up to the checkpoints. Three bosses left. Rachel, keep Duncan alive. Spinoza, keep the debuffs flowing. Tracy, Rocco -go full burn when I call it. And for the love of all things holy, Duncan? Don’t stand in the fire.”

  “That was one time!” Duncan protested, but the laughter in his voice betrayed him.

  “Yeah, and it was one time too many,” Dolly countered, her lips curling into a smirk. “Alright, let’s move out.”

  As the group descended deeper into the dungeon, the tension thickened. The visuals were stunning -shifting shadows, glowing runes etched into the walls, and the faint glimmer of treasures yet to be won.

  But the whispers grew louder. A new sound joined them -the faint rattling of chains. Dolly’s grip on her mouse tightened.

  “Alright, team. Stay frosty. Boss room’s coming up.”