Page 59 of Played By Design

I slip right in. I’ve run that circuit dozens of times. Chin dipping, I start typing.

My fingers find their old rhythm. One thread becomes another, another, until I’m fifteen again, logging in for the first time and watching my Sentinel declare, I speak for those without a voice.

Back then, I had none. Now my voice echoes in these forums, a community I helped build.

Kain helped turn my obsession into a career, but this is where it was born.

I almost scroll past a restored thread tagged Sentinel-class sourcing discussion, but a paragraph about bulk-buy routes through Ember District snags my attention.

user_dusk_warden_07 >> Meeting at the east gate for iron ingots.

My fingers stop.

East gate?

I scroll back and read it again.

user_dusk_warden_07 >> Meeting at the east gate for iron ingots.

There’s no east gate in Dusk Protocol.

North gate, yes. South gate, yes. I’ve run through both more times than I can count.

But east?

No.

The beanbag squeaks as I sit upright, leaning forward with my elbows braced on my knees. My glasses slide down my nose, and I shove them back.

I scroll to the top of the thread and start over, slower this time.

user_dusk_warden_07 >> Grey ore, 5,000 gold per stack. East gate pickup. No haggling.

Five thousand?

A full stack of grey ore isn’t worth fifty. Then the east gate reference appears again.

The next reply is logged within minutes of the original post.

user_sentinel_pathfinder_22 >> Payment sent. East gate cleared.

My scrolling stops.

Same gate reference, but a different user.

I scroll back up.

East gate pickup.

Back down.

East gate cleared.

Not a typo, then.

My breathing quickens, and I scroll faster, hunting up and down the thread.

Grey ore priced at a hundred times its value. Payment sent with no trade confirmation. An east gate that doesn’t exist.