But then he saw the Arena again. xX_Silent_Xx was flying now—literally hovering over the collision map, dropping ice spikes that homed in on players like heat-seeking missiles. A level 400 archer, the server’s top player, died screaming in chat before they could even draw their bow.

He closed the browser. He didn't download the hack. Instead, he typed in global chat:

Kael’s guild leader, a druid named Lyra, sent a panicked whisper: "Don't fight him. It’s a Pwnhack script."

"HACKER!" "REPORT X!" "PVP GLITCH?!"

Beneath it, a chat log auto-scrolled: Just nuked the Minotaur Lord in 0.4 sec. Devs are asleep. @GhostInTheClient: New patch dropped. Bypass v4.7 ready. DM for keys. @xX_Silent_Xx: First blood in Arena. This server is mine now. Kael’s hand trembled over the mouse. He thought of the 3,000 hours he’d poured into his knight. The honest gold. The guild castle he’d helped defend. This cheat would erase all meaning from it.