The Queen Who Quit the Game

How it begins

Rosa Voss quit the game after winning her forty-third kingdom. The victory screen was beautiful. That was part of the problem.

Gold fell across the restored town. Roofs rebuilt themselves. The market fountain rose from its own rubble and began sparkling as though the siege had been a disagreeable rehearsal. Above the gates, Rosa's name advanced to first place.

A man stood beside the fountain holding a burned wooden spoon. When the reset reached him, his clothes became clean. The spoon remained black. So did his expression.

Rosa rode down to ask his name.

'Ben Calder.'

'Your town has been restored.'

'I noticed.'

'Your losses should have reset.'

He turned the spoon in his hands. 'Which losses?'

Behind him, children ran between the new stalls. They avoided the place where a wall had fallen, though the wall stood whole again. A baker flinched when the restored oven door slammed. The victory music continued, bright enough to make Rosa feel ill.

She opened her command panel. Abdicate ranked territory? The system offered warnings, penalties and a helpful projection of how quickly her rivals would overtake her. It did not mention the people in the square.

She confirmed.

Her crown disappeared. Her inventory locked. The horse beneath her became a rented animal with an overdue fee.

Ben caught its bridle before it bolted.

'What have you done?'

'Quit.'

'Can you do that?'

A new panel appeared. UNRANKED STATUS. PROTECTION WITHDRAWN.

At the town gate, Rosa's former soldiers turned. Their names changed from green to hostile red. She reached automatically for an ability that no longer answered. Ben pulled her toward a narrow service lane the restored map had omitted.

'If you're staying,' he said, 'we need a better plan than feeling sorry.'

Rosa followed him into the first street she had ever entered without owning it.