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Fearscape

Summary:

Fearscape is the latest hot MMORPG. It's survival horror based on fears that has taken the world by storm.

Richie Tozier is a 23-year-old Radio Show Host from LA who spends his time being funny on Twitter and doing open mic comedy nights. When he isn't being a comedian, he spends nights on Fearscape. It's his favorite part of the night. He's been obsessed for months and plays with his only friend.

Sometimes, he just wishes he wasn't so lonely.

Notes:

Hey! Welcome to my first IT fic, we in this now B)

A little bit of info about the MMORPG in the fic:
-It isn't real (Though I would love if it was)
-It is heavily based on a variety of games. DBD & Identity V are the most prominent with the language I use. It also has influences from games like Dead Island & Free Realms (just to name a couple)
-It has a suggested play order (In order of each section; The difficulty spikes the higher you go) but you can go in any order. Technically you could start playing and immediately go to the latest released section (it would just be difficult)
-When you die, you get sent to the border of the last section you entered. There is no fast travel (besides to your friends, you can travel to them to team up, but you're unable to fast travel to towns you discover)
-All the Loser's are between sectors 4-6 (They've all been playing the game for a while)
-I have a majority of the fears in the game currently mapped out, but I'm always open to suggestions of new ones (as long as they are tangible!)

You can always ask clarification questions in the comments! I can do my best to explain things further

Enjoy your read <3

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: The Brawler

Chapter Text

Richie liked to think that he had it made in life, and truly he did. Every morning to early afternoon, he drove 20 minutes into the city to host a show on the radio. People tuned in every morning to hear his voice. People even liked him enough to show up to open mic comedy nights he did whenever he could and follow him on Twitter. Richie knew he was pretty lucky in that category. Most people weren’t able to work a job they enjoyed like that. It never felt like work to him, just running his mouth for hours. His job wasn’t even the best part of his days. The best part came when he finally got to slip on his gaming headphones and log into his latest obsession. Of course, Richie had always been a gamer. He practically lived in arcades more than he did his own house growing up. He was well acquainted with button mashers, fps, strategy games, puzzle games. Nothing could compare to Fearscape, though. 

 

He couldn’t exactly remember when he had found the game. It was an ambitious piece; A horror MMORPG based on fears. The world-building was intense and he had gotten hooked almost immediately. Every section of the map was based on a different fear and changed the gameplay. It took a little bit of time to get used to the new rules, but that just made it even more interesting. The game updated frequently, adding new quests, areas, and enemies. It even had different areas that you could specialize your character in to make it easier to group up with others and survive. Besides, the only friend he had played the game too.

 

Stan and Richie had started playing at seemingly the same time. Stan was a Support player who typed in the regional chat like a 50-year-old man, though Richie was pretty certain they were close in age. They had never actually spoken outside of Fearscape’s messaging service, nevermind heard each other’s voices. They just clicked and worked together far better than Richie ever had with anyone at school. Richie saved Stan from a horde of enemies in the first section of the game and they had stuck together ever since. That was 6 months ago. Now they were a few sections further in the game, but nowhere close to the end.

 

Richie was elated when he sat down to log in for the day to find Stan already online. It was so rare to find him already in-game by the time Richie made it home from the station. They had just finished the 4th sector, Vampires, and were about to advance into the 5th, Spiders, the previous night. His knee bounced under his desk as he opened their chat. The game began to boot up in the background.

 

beeptrashmouthbeep: staaaniel 

beeptrashmouthbeep: wtf are you online so early for? :0 Is there an event

beeptrashmouthbeep: is it my birthday already

StanTheMan: I got off work extra early. I wanted to head back into Sector 4 and grab a few cosmetics.

beeptrashmouthbeep: lol ur gonna look like an edgelord

beeptrashmouthbeep: want me to fast travel to u or do u just wanna meet me at the border?

StanTheMan: Fast travel. Last time we tried to meet up, you got distracted and died. 

beeptrashmouthbeep: that was o n e time old man let me live 

StanTheMan: Seen @ 4:23pm

beeptrashmouthbeep: u don’t have to flex your timezone on me smh

beeptrashmouthbeep: get ur shit done I wanna get eaten by giant spiders already

 

Richie tapped his fingers against his desk as Fearscape finally loaded up. His little avatar looked around in fear on the opening screen as he confirmed that he wanted to load into that character. Richie had gotten extra lucky when he made his character. They happened to have enough cosmetics that it was practically a little version of himself, just significantly more bruised and battered. The clothing was ripped and dirty and there was always a look of panic on its face, but Richie loved the aesthetic of it all.

 

He already happened to be on the border of the two sectors when he got into the game. The borders were always Richie’s favorite part of the world to see. It was right where the different fears started to blend together. Both sectors were filled with heavy dark trees. Looking towards Sector 5 showed you spiderwebs and hidden red eyes staring at you from within the dark. Looking towards Sector 4 showed you dark winding paths to castle filled towns. Richie was so enamored by the world-building that he almost forgot to travel to Stan’s location. Stan’s avatar looked the same as it always did. His avatar had a slightly more timid stance, showing that he had more points in Support than anything else. Stan was also dressed like a tired stay-at-home dad, in a button-down, khakis, and a fucking sweater. He, of course, had the same disheveled appearance that Richie did. It only took seconds for Richie to start typing in the local chat. 

 

beeptrashmouthbeep: i am almost disappointed that you look the exact same

beeptrashmouthbeep: wat did u get

StanTheMan: I wanna get the hoarder achievement, so everything I could afford without risking not having any money to get healing items when we get fucked in the next sector.

beeptrashmouthbeep: we’re not gonna get totally fucked 

beeptrashmouthbeep: i grabbed a new rescue weapon last night so it’ll be easier to grab other players & those sexy sexy npcs from those creepy crawlies

StanTheMan: I hope you get eaten.

beeptrashmouthbeep: kinky

StanTheMan: Blocked.

 

Bringing it up reminded Richie that he actually had to equip the weapon. It was a grappling hook with what appeared to be a pretty decent range. He could grapple other players and drag them to him. Plus it probably did normally grappling hook stuff, like attaching to the environment. Richie was pretty sure he could damage enemies with it, but he had his close-range weapon if all the hook did was drag them closer. He hadn’t had the chance to do much research on it.

 

Unbeknownst to Stan, who usually liked learning about new Sectors as they encountered them, Richie had looked up a few coveted tips & tricks. Sector 5 wasn’t the first one to have chances for you to get killed in 1 hit, but it was significantly easier to get hit with them. Enemies could capture you in their webs and drag you towards them. If you didn’t manage to escape the attack, that was the end. Being attacked by other enemies would free you, and being rescued by other players. It wasn’t the most dangerous section in the game, but it did make plenty of Top 5 most annoying ones to get through. 

 

It took Richie running a few circles around Stan and capturing him once with the grappling hook to get them started on their extremely short journey to the border. Aeston was the town almost directly next to the border between sectors, which was fantastic given that the first town in Sector 5 was past the first layer of the forest. The local chat started to light up more as they got started into Sector 5. Fearscape offered a few different chat options. Local showed what people within a certain radius of your character were saying, as long as they were using that chat. Regional showed what people in your sector were saying, which was way more hectic. World was the most chaotic and, surprisingly, Richie didn’t really like clicking on the tab. That’s where most of the toxic players liked to make their home. Richie didn’t want to pause his movement to ask Stan any questions about what the plans were. It was too likely to get grabbed if they paused for too long, even though they hadn’t run into any enemies yet. There was some kid going off in the chat about spider bite effects IRL. It was almost endearing, even if it meant that the name was probably gonna show up as dead in a few minutes. As the duo continued closer into the forest, two usernames started to slowly show up in the distance. 

 

Almost as if on cue, Richie could see a few spiders descending from the heavens ahead of them. Another spider bite fact was half sent before the two figures started to move again. From what it looked like, they were basic offense/defense players. Though, one appeared to be a brawler type and the other looked to have a shield, maybe a knight. Richie knew a brawler would be hard to use in this Sector. He tapped a button on his keyboard to send a hotkey battle phrase. ‘I can see the killer!’ popped up above his mini-me’s head. It felt like a waste of exp to not run to try and help the other pair out. Richie couldn’t see Stan’s avatar behind him, but he knew he was back there. Support oriented characters tended to have lower health and were better for backlines and healing. Richie was pretty sure that Stan had points in offense as well. The man had absolutely destroyed a lot of Witches in Sector 3. Richie felt his breath hitch as he saw two of the Spiders raise into its animation for the capturing animation. 

 

Logically, He should have thought a little bit more before tabbing to his grappling hook and taking aim on the brawler. The one-hit KO would really suck at the beginning, so timing had to be key. It was in the moment that he clicked the fire button that the shielded player moved ahead to block one of the Spider’s attacks. Richie watched as his hook attached to the brawler and dragged them directly into the other Spider’s waiting jaws. The killing animation of the Spider was brutal, which was something Richie had actually been excited to see except not when it was because he accidentally murdered another player. Such was the life of a Rescue player. Sometimes you fuck up.

 

StanTheMan: Oh my fucking god.

 

“Nice job, dipshit.” Richie muttered under his breath as he watched the shield player, who he could now fully identify as a Defense player, down one of the enemies. 

 

It was almost as if another player had read his mind as the local chat started blowing up with message after message. It was almost a little hard to focus on not getting caught in the attacks with all the moving in the chat. Richie already had focusing issues, so the minor distraction really wasn’t doing him any favors. He waited until the three of them dispatched the remaining enemies to even begin to check them. The Defense player, CaptainBigBill, started to run back the direction that Richie and Stan had come from.

 

GazeboEffect: Nice job, dipshit!

GazeboEffect: do you even fucking know how to play this fucking game

GazeboEffect: what kind of shit rescue player gets someone else fucking killed

GazeboEffect: learn to play fucking rescue or switch to a different class!!

GazeboEffect: or maybe actually do some research on the areas so you know what you’re gonna be facing

StanTheMan: It was an accident.

GazeboEffect: still!! Holy shit this is decently far into the game, how did you get this far playing like that

CaptainBigBill: I’ll be back to you in a few :) We’ll get them next time!

beeptrashmouthbeep: i do know how to play rescue thank u very much

GazeboEffect: well obviously you don’t! You fucking suck

beeptrashmouthbeep: no u

GazeboEffect: real fucking mature, what outdated joke book did you get that one out of?

beeptrashmouthbeep: ur mom told me it last night B)

GazeboEffect: Thanks Bill, I think I can see you in the distance

GazeboEffect: you know what trashmouth

GazeboEffect: since you know so much about this game, 1v1 me 

 

Richie let out a laugh. This kid was furious. Granted, he actually did feel really bad about getting them killed. The reactions were perfect though. Angry kids. Can’t beat them. Richie ran a circle around Stan and then started heading back. He was pretty sure there was an achievement for dueling every class specialization, and he hadn’t gotten close enough to any Offense players to even begin with them. 

 

beeptrashmouthbeep: lol ur on kid, i’ll follow ur friend to the border

StanTheMan: Oh my fucking god. Seriously, dude?

GazeboEffect: I’m not a fucking kid 

GazeboEffect: you’re the one who acts like a child

beeptrashmouthbeep: i’m 23 lmaoooo

GazeboEffect: gross, we’re the same age and you act like that?

beeptrashmouthbeep: i mean u kinda act like u have a stick up ur ass so 

GazeboEffect: You’re going down dipshit

 

The closer that Richie actually got to the border, the more nervous he actually started to get. He didn’t think he had ever seen a brawler now that he thought about it. The first Sector was Zombies, so it made it pretty difficult to pick any subcharactization that led to close combat. They were a rare breed of player. This meant that Richie realized he didn’t have the slightest idea of how to go about a duel with them. GazeboEffect. There had to be some sort of story behind that username. His leg bounced in even more anticipation as Gazebo’s character started to come into frame. Richie couldn’t help but notice that their avatar was actually kinda cute. They had sneakers, knee-high tube socks, short gym shorts, a zip-up jacket, and a bloody bandage on their cheek. Their outfit had the effect of being bloody rather than beat up, and it looked awesome. Richie had always considered getting some more bandage accessories for his character. All he had was a bandaid over his nose, which he put because of how many times he’s broken his nose out of sheer stupidity.

 

beeptrashmouthbeep: so what ruleste

beeptrashmouthbeep: set

GazeboEffect: Standard

GazeboEffect: we’re the same level so we can use the normal ones without it being tipped in either favor

GazeboEffect: Whoever gets the other’s health all the way down first is the winner

GazeboEffect: It’ll automatically heal both parties back to full at the end of the dual

GazeboEffect: So get ready to get your ass handed to you

GazeboEffect has invited you to a 1v1 duel. Accept?

 

Richie made sure his melee weapon, a kickass metal bat, was equipped before tapping the Y key and beginning the duel.

 

It took no time for Richie to realize he had made a mistake. Gazebo was fast. Their character moved with what seemed like the speed of god. They had already gotten two hits in on Richie before he realized and moved his character in the opposite direction. He tried to keep himself a few steps back before spamming the attack button on his mouse. In all his years of gaming, attacking the enemy before they can attack you was always the best strategy. Unless, of course, the enemy was faster than you. He had barely gotten a hit in when Gazebo fucking dodged the second attack and moved to the side of Richie’s character. He didn’t even know the last time that he saw someone actually dodge attacks. Distance would be the thing that would help him secure the win here, but he couldn’t switch to his hook. Not having any sort of ranged attack kind of made Richie regret being a Rescue main. Not really, but a little bit. He could see Stan and Bill’s avatars a little bit out of the duel range. It looked like they were fucking trading items because of course, they were. Just his luck.

 

Gazebo got another attack on him and Richie’s health hit the halfway mark. He was fucked. Richie moved his character back again and repositioned his hand to be able to tap a few buttons as he attacked. He had every single melee attack combo memorized. As soon as Gazebo tried to dodge his next melee, Richie turned his character and slammed one of the combos. He managed to hit a knockback one, so Gazebo was thankfully knocked back a few meters from him. He rolled one of his shoulders and started to run towards them once again. The end of Richie’s tongue was sticking out of his mouth in focus. The combo had knocked their health down a bit, not nearly as much as Richie’s was already. Gazebo continued to move and try to dodge his attacks. Their attempts weren’t as successful now that Richie had their playstyle down. Even then, Richie ended up being just a few hits away from losing by the time he got their health down to half. He was ready to try and get a good combo hit in, when Gazebo got one on Richie instead . Being a Rescue main, Richie didn’t know much about other combos. His non-attack ones mostly revolved around changing spots with people and taking damage. So, he was extra surprised when Gazebo’s attack gave him a temporary stun. Just long enough for the finishing blow of their duel. Richie threw his head back and groaned as his avatar crouched over in defeat and his screen declared GazeboEffect the winner of the duel.

 

GazeboEffect: In your fucking face, man

beeptrashmouthbeep: a sore winner i see

beeptrashmouthbeep: offense players can stun? Wtf? That’s so cool

GazeboEffect: It’s an ability you can unlock for some of your combos as a brawler

GazeboEffect: maybe you would know that if you looked into the game more

 

Richie watched as his avatar returned to a standing position. Bill and Stan came back over to join them. They didn’t move from each other’s sides, though. Richie started to type a response to Gazebo when Stan started messaging.

 

StanTheMan: Since this sector is kind of tough, Bill and I think it might be a good idea for all four of us to team up.

StanTheMan: Especially since we all have different character types.

CaptainBigBill: Having a support AND a rescue who probably won’t get us killed again will make this whole section a whole lot easier :D

CaptainBigBill: we can always go our separate ways at the end

CaptainBigBill: I’m Bill; he/him

StanTheMan: My name’s Stan. I use he/him pronouns too.

 

Richie looked over everyone’s avatars. He hadn’t worked with Defense or Offense players before. He, very obvious to himself now, didn’t really know how either of them worked. It could be a learning experience.

 

beeptrashmouthbeep: you are a pretty damn good brawler

beeptrashmouthbeep: i’m willing to put our deep seeded rivalry aside to get through these fucking spiders

beeptrashmouthbeep: i’m richie B) he/him pronouns pwease

GazeboEffect: deep-seated rivalry?? You got me fucking killed and sent to the border and i told you to put your money where your mouth in

GazeboEffect: and then i rocked your shit

GazeboEffect:  fine having a support would be really awesome right now

 

Richie watched as a friend request from both Bill and Gazebo popped up on his screen. Finally, more than one friend in this game.


GazeboEffect: I’m Eddie, he/him