
by Aetheo
Four years ago, Alex was one of the first players of an experimental VR game called Rune, where death came suddenly and all the players had were a pitifully small health pool and a few runes nobody knew how to use. Today, the situation is better: Crafters manage item creation in the cities, while Fighters take those items into the world’s portals, slowly expanding the reach of civilization in spite of the randomly appearing monsters. With civilization comes systems of power, and in the meantime, Alex lost her position, if not the prestige. Then, a routine job leads to the unexpected, and Alex is left to rebuild herself into a new image. This time, with other powers already established… and nipping at her heels. (Harem is tagged but it's honestly polyamory. I hate the word harem but given that some people would interpret it as such, in it goes.)
| # | Title | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introductions 1: The Guild and the Mercenary | — |
| 2 | Introductions 2: Endings as Beginnings | — |
| 3 | Introductions 3: The DMQ; Department of Magical Questing | — |
| 4 | Introductions 4: An Ear to the Ground | — |
| 5 | Introductions 5: Select | — |
| 6 | Pileup 1: Broke | — |
| 7 | Pileup 2: The Crowd | — |
| 8 | Pileup 3: Options Open, Goals Close | — |
| 9 | Pileup 4: A Story and a Plot | — |
| 10 | Pileup 5: The Quest Begins | — |
| 11 | Pileup 6: Testing and Creation | — |
| 12 | Pileup 7: Tools for the Job | — |
| 13 | Pileup 8: A Quick Test | — |
| 14 | Pileup 9: No Plan Survives Contact with the Allies | — |
| 15 | Pileup 10: Tension | — |
| 16 | Pileup 11: Realistic Methods | — |
| 17 | Pileup 12: Contextually Effective Policy | — |
| 18 | Pileup 13: Imperfect Setup | — |
| 19 | Pileup 14: Good Chances | — |
| 20 | Pileup 15: Process | — |
| 21 | Pileup 16: Moving Forward | — |
| 22 | Pileup 17: Findings | — |
| 23 | Pileup A: Ell Interlude | — |
| 24 | Pileup 18: Rebuild | — |
| 25 | Pileup 19: Shift | — |
| 26 | Webs 1: Meeting | — |
| 27 | Pileup 20: Gathering | — |
| 28 | Pileup 21: Alternates | — |
| 29 | Pileup 22: Composition | — |
| 30 | Pileup 23: Changed | — |
| 31 | Pileup 24: Tides | — |
| 32 | Pileup 25: Personal Iteration | — |
| 33 | Webs 2/Pileup 25.5: Correction | — |
| 34 | Pileup 26: Agreement | — |
| 35 | Webs 3: Favors | — |
| 36 | Pileup 27: Forward | — |
| 37 | Pileup 28: Dealings | — |
| 38 | Pileup 29: Perceptions | — |
| 39 | Pileup 30: Once More | — |
| 40 | Pileup 31: Decisions Unmade but Determined | — |
| 41 | Webs 4: Draw Back the String | — |
| 42 | Pileup 32: Watched | — |
| 43 | Pileup 33: Teleport | — |
| 44 | Pileup 34: Routing | — |