Lucas jerked his arm free of hers and took a step back so that there was a small bit of room between them. “Besides what? The fact that you’re going to tell me that the only reason you’ve been hanging around me is because you knew my character fit the parameters you needed?”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Xun Guan contended. She stepped forward and grabbed him by both of his forearms, and it was then that he noticed that there was a bit of moisture forming in her eyes. “I need you. Not just because you have the perfect stats . . . but because you also have no life at all.”

“What?” Lucas was dumbfounded by the statement. He had no idea what kind of person tried to ask someone for a favor by insulting them in such a manner.

“Oh, come on! I get paid full time to monitor this game, so I’m at the office every day, overtime included, and I’ve never once logged in and not seen you already on. It’s like you don’t have a job, a family, friends, a pet, or anything else. You have no life. You might as well already be an NPC in this game, so why not just act like one, for me. Okay?”

Lucas thought about it for a minute. He was ready to turn around and walk out of the room, leaving this crazy office lady and her NPC-hijacking act alone, but something made him hesitate. Some part of him, some long-forgotten or newly reborn part of him, refused to let him turn and leave.

Seconds ticked into minutes, and yet he remained indecisive. “Fine,” he agreed, finally capitulating. “I’ll do it, but even if I’m helping you out, I’m not going to be your pawn. If I don’t like a part of your plan, count me out. I don’t want you thinking that I’ll always say “yes” to your requests just because I said it here.”

“Excellent. It’s a deal then!” she agreed, smiling at him. “In that case, let’s make it official.”

“Make it official?” Lucas asked, curious as to what she could possibly mean.

“With a quest,” she explained, and her words were joined by text appearing in front of him.

Quest: The Teachers of Old - Alternate Route: Dog of the Imperium.

The Chieftain of the Were-Rat Tribe, Kulako, believed that you would be the one to overthrow the Imperium and free the people of Hesse. He had trusted you, trusted your potential, and trusted your nature as he sent you on a quest that would inevitably lead to the betterment of the lives of all non-Human residents of Hesse.