Ashes of the Fallen

"He seriously sucks, he's lucky we even invited him," followed up the priest.

The only one who had yet to say anything was the other caster, but he was nodding his head silently in the back. Either way, the situation was now one versus four.

"Hmm, so after running your mouths, you now expect me to tank for you?" I asked seriously. "And, let's just clear the air here while I'm at it. I'm the trashy shitty noob, pathetic dumbass asshole selfish douchebag tank, who is supposed to care about your wasted time? I mean, gee, how could I ever not want to tank for you!"

"You're seriously bad," said the priest. "You take so much damage, learn how to play kid. You can't even position properly. I've never seen someone so bad in my life."

"Ah yeah, that damage," I laughed out. "Those five arrows that struck me and those two fireballs that hit me… you know, I wonder where those came from."

"Learn to play scrub before you talk back to me," replied the priest, visibly angry.

"Yeah, you got in my way so you got hit, retard," said the archer.

I started laughing again at how ridiculous the conversation was. They were using all of the basic insults that every immature person used on the internet. The best part was that they were clearly five to ten years younger than me, and were calling me a kid.

I loved it, I really did.

The only problem… the main problem, and the reason I avoided players in the past was because I thrived in these types of situations. I loved PvP, and I absolutely loved beating sense into trash talkers. I couldn't really stand them personally, and hated being around them… but once I got going, it was a bad habit of mine.

Yeah, I was regressing already.

The whole time the conversation had been going on, I was patiently biding my time as my health and mana gradually returned… my bad habit was about to show.

It wouldn't be long, now.

As I started to circle around the party, I continued the conversation while my health slowly recovered. "You guys are just the best, really," I said sarcastically as I continued to pace around them. "Between all of those great heals I was receiving, I mean, I was just basking in that holy light you know, fucking radiating from all those heals, and the accuracy of our damage dealers, with a dozen or more arrows stuck in the wall over there and those loose fireballs… I really do need to step my game up. I'm just not up to par compared to you guys."

I was starting to have a little too much fun, and in the back of my mind I knew it was wrong but I couldn't help it. I strived to be an honest, kind person… but everyone has buttons that shouldn't be pushed. My biggest issue, was my lack of patience when it came to trash talkers, and now… I had completely regressed.

Ah, they were all going to die.

My anger had woken from its slumber and reared its head.

"Man, no wonder this kid was looking for a group, he's so toxic," said the priest.

"He's just mad because he sucks at life," chimed in the archer. "Heh-"

"Uninstall noob, get the fuck out of here," the archer continued after a slight pause.

"Self-righteous douchebag, can't handle the truth so he lashes out at us," followed up the selfish caster as he folded his arms across his chest. "Waste of space, should just kill himself."

Yeah, I didn't bother to laugh anymore. My health was nearing seventy percent and my mana had already reached max capacity, so I was itching to go at any moment. The healer would die first, then the caster. After that, the archer or the other caster would get it, if he decides to join in the fight.

"What about you, you're nodding your head back there but, where's your voice?" I asked the last member of the party, the caster who was being chased by the goblin.

"Even if they started it, you're worse than them," he replied seriously with his head held high, looking down on me as if he were some superior being.

Eh, it was a typical response.

If I was surprised by this turn of events, I wouldn't be able to call myself a gamer.

It was an unfortunate truth in the realm of online gaming.

Victim bashing was alive and well when it came to group situations where numbers ruled the day. There was little to no consequence for player actions online, so people often tend to be quite a bit braver than in normal situations. Add in a friend with them, and all of a sudden their confidence is bolstered to new heights as they are reassured by their numerical superiority, free to do or say whatever they please with little impunity.

They'll pick a scapegoat, gang up on him or her two to one to absolve themselves of any guilt they may or may not be feeling, and continue with their harassment until they're satisfied. Then the bystanders, too cowardly the majority of the time, sit quietly and pretend nothing is happening until they're negatively affected in some way. Most of the time, the bystanders are thinking to themselves, as long as it's not me.

As the victim, if you stand up for yourself, you're now evil personified.

Now, you're the bad guy.