2. Charm The Devil

After tossing and turning all night long Reina had no plan with any real substance. But one thing kept eating away at her. As sick and stupid as the thought was, maybe the idiots at the bar were onto something. Aufhocker was chronically online. His life was in the game, everyone knew that. He was always playing and that made Reina think about one distinct possibility. Maybe he was lonely? If he played all the time he obviously had no one waiting for him at home. He also wasn’t known to have any associates. No one was ever seen playing with him, no one else claimed bounties with him and no one had ever claimed to be his friend.

As much as the sexist commentary had pissed Reina off, using her status as a woman online could be of use. Men were stupid, afterall. Reina smirked to herself at the thought and Layla poked her helmet. “Hey, Hey, Hey!”

“Uh, what?”

“You were zoning out, I thought we were looking for equipment?” Layla asked, bringing Reina back to her senses.

Reina looked up at the wall of weapons and remembered what she had come for. When she first started playing it was because she needed a way to relieve stress and Layla recommended the game. But when she learned she could make some side income with it, it became her second job. Shooting things was almost cathartic and while Reina wasn’t skilled enough or equipped well enough to go after big targets she had found a small market for herself in information brokering. Reina along with Layla and their friend Amir, would scour the streets, online forums, and do some investigative work to look for weaknesses, locations, and other important information to sell to hunters. She did some bounty work herself from time to time, but never on anyone significant, just small disputes and the like. Typically she did those jobs when she needed money for ammo or equipment. Until now the information work had earned her a bit, it was enough to afford food, and pay the electric bill each month. But she was always looking for better ways to make money. She had her job in real life as well but that was far more stressful.

“We need infrared sensors,” Reina said to the man at the counter.

“What grade, and is there a particular brand or Hephaestus you’re looking for?”

Reina grimaced. “What’s the best one you got?”

The man went into the back and returned a moment later with a small visor replacement. “It’s made by Brother’s Grimm,” the man said, referring to the twin brother Hephaestus players that mainly developed accessory tech. That meant it would be expensive.

“How much?”

“6.5 million,” The man replied.

“6.5!” Reina nearly choked. She did ask for the best but nothing less than that could have a chance of catching Aufhocker. “Give…me a sec, let me think.”

The man shrugged and put it under the counter for now. Reina walked off with Layla and her stress levels seemed to be growing.

“Reiichi!” Layla tilted her head. It was almost strange seeing Layla in her Symbiote, it was a soft pink, with little horns on the helmet. She named it the Snuggle Demon. Which was embarrassing but there was no stopping Layla’s personality.

“What?”

“That’s pretty expensive.”

“You’re telling me. Maybe I really did bite off more than I could chew?”

Layla nodded. “Hm, maybe we should just get some basic sensors and try and catch him before he gets to the location.”

“We don’t even know where he’s going to be…”

Reina began to rub her temples thoroughly. She tossed around ideas inside of her head but nothing sounded right. She needed money. But she had no money. She had to hunt Aufhocker to get money, but needed money to hunt Aufhocker. In all instances the conclusion was the same. Maybe it was impossible.

While Reina began succumbing to her internal crisis Layla’s mouth dropped. She stared incredulously at the door and then began to elbow Reina when she realized Reina was spiraling. “Hey, come home to earth for a second and look!”

At first, Reina didn’t feel like it. In her defeated state she just wanted to tuck her head under covers and sleep for a few days. However Layla was persistent so she willed her eyes forward and couldn’t believe what she saw.

Aufhocker was there. He still had his helmet on and though nearly no photos of him existed, occasionally he was spotted buying and selling. This must have been one of those times. The real clue that it was him, naturally, was that when you’re in towns or safe zones all players could see each other's names. Reina must have read his name three or four times before it truly dawned on her. There he was in the flesh. But even without seeing his name his symbiote was quite distinct. It was a deep and dark navy blue, but it was said that he had several colors depending on where he was hunting. His sniper attached to his back was shrunk down, it’s barrel detached from the base and even then it nearly touched the floor.

Aufhocker paid them no mind. He strode forward with absolute confidence and something in his gait appealed to Reina in a way she couldn’t describe. But more than anything she couldn’t stop the thoughts that popped forward consuming her mind. Her father’s face was there, omnipresent and absolute. She needed to use this opportunity no matter what.

Aufhocker was browsing ammunition. He must have needed to restock. “Layla, this is our chance,” Reina commented.

“Right, right, what are we going to do, follow him?”

“That would be a bit too obvious.”

“Well…” Layla tilted her head in adorable fashion. “What do we do?”

“Operation succubus!” Reina decided.

Layla laughed lightly. “I see, finally allowing yourself to fall into your feminine wiles, huh?”

“Shush, it’s just…as much as I hate it. We can’t afford the equipment to kill him, which means we do plan B.”

“I got this!” Layla proudly exclaimed and then took off towards Aufhocker. Her overconfidence made Reina nervous but if anyone could do it, it would be Layla. Everyone loved her. She was cute, and her essence made you want to protect her. Even Aufhocker would succumb to her charm, no doubt about it.

Aufhocker was deciding between two ammo types when he heard the soft clanking sound of Layla approach him. Aufhocker was used to random people approaching him. Of them there were two common types. Enemies and admirers. The enemies were the easiest to deal with. He could completely ignore their banter, comments, and insults. There was nothing they could do to him in town and he would never accept their invitations to duel. It was simple.

But the admirers made him painfully uncomfortable.

“Excuse me?” Layla said timidly. Her helmet was off, naturally. And Aufhocker’s sideways glance took in her sparkling eyes. But he didn’t give an immediate reaction that Layla could be proud of. But it was a start.

“I know you’re busy. But I just wanted to say, I watched you during the last isolation tournament. I thought you were really cool…I never thought I’d get to see you in person,” Layla was pumping her charm up to the highest possible. Her voice was soft, her demeanor friendly, her timid smile in full effect. She was used to hamming it up for silly boys online but for some reason she was feeling the pressure coming from Aufhocker. He wasn’t biting in the same way. He was hardly looking at her.

Aufhocker finally turned and took note of her. He was incredibly thankful he had a helmet to mask his face from embarrassment. While everyone thought he was cold and hard, and had no sympathy for others, the truth was…Aufhocker was impossibly shy.

“Thank you.” With that minor utterance Aufhocker began walking to another table.

The shock that Layla felt in that moment hurt her pride more than anything in the world could have. Normally men would desperately try to cling to any hope of continuing the conversation with her. They would offer to help her with gear, with farming routes, anything they could. But when she had approached Aufhocker herself all she got was a ‘thank you’ and then he walked away. There was no way she could leave it at that.

“Uhm, if you don’t mind, do you think…if, if you’re free we could maybe grab some tea together?” Layla followed him and kept on her pursuit. She was going for a timid, soft-girl approach but now she was second guessing herself. Typically gamer boys loved “submissive” women, playing to their own overconfidence thinking themselves god’s gift. While it wasn’t always the case she thought for sure Aufhocker might be like that. But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe she should pivot.

“No, thank you. It’s dangerous to be around me,” Aufhocker explained and then began looking at guided missiles.

It was another short and simple answer. Something that Layla might have even considered a tad thoughtful. Considering he wasn’t wrong. He was a wanted man. Going anywhere with him would mean you potentially getting your head blown off. But she looked over to Reina for moral support and knew it was not something Reina could pull off. She had to do it for her.

Layla walked forward and placed a hand on his chest. “Your symbiote is so aesthetic. You give off a real sense of power. I guess I’m just drawn to you, I bet you’re really handsome under that helmet, I can tell!” It was more forceful than Layla wanted to be but she suddenly felt a bit panicked. The first approach wasn’t working, hopefully something more forward would.

Aufhocker gazed down at her. There was a noticeable size difference considering Layla kept herself as small as possible. Then, uncomfortably Aufhocker made some distance between the two of them. “I’m sorry. But I can’t return your feelings.” He bowed rather low and sincerely apologized. Then turned and walked off.

Layla’s defeat was immense. Unable to contain herself she fell to her knees and shame washed over her.

Reina approached her and leaned down, patting the disheveled girl’s back. “There, there, you did your best.”

“It’s not fair, he wasn’t even remotely interested. Remotely! Nothing, not even a nibble, I don’t understand!” Layla protested. Reina hugged her and patted her back softly.

Reina watched the ghost of a man pick up his items and approach the counter. When would they have an opportunity like this ever again? If Layla couldn’t do it there was no way Reina could with how awkward she was.

“If he leaves the store it's over,” Reina muttered mostly to herself. She felt it. She felt shame wash over her.

“More ammo, huh, don’t need any gear?” The shop keeper said.

“No, I have a hephaestus.” Aufhocker began to store what he had purchased. “He gets angry if I go to anyone else.”

“Ha, is that so?” The shopkeeper shook his head, and added, “Well, you’re probably the only one who can deal with Old Devourer.”

Aufhocker nodded and said no more. He began to leave.

“Should we follow him, Reina?”

But Reina watched him leave and it dawned on her. Coming there had earned her something useful. “Do you know Old Devourer?”

“No, who’s that?” Layla tilted her head cutely in confusion.

“The player that’s going to help us hunt Aufhocker, let’s go get Amir.”