Free The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen by Brent Roth Page A

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.
    After that, it's a numbers game. Since it started two to one, most of the time the bystanders will join up with the larger group to maintain the status quo, and by the end of it all you're arguing four to one.
    You're supposed to sit there and ignore them, let them say and do whatever they want but keep quiet and let it go. The high road , some people laughably claim. Then go and give it your all to help them succeed, and reward their behavior so that they realize if they harass players, they'll get what they want.
    That's the way for forward progress.
    I didn't share in that particular belief.
    Though to be fair, not all bystanders were quite so bad.
    Every once in a while a person comes along that is truly neutral or attempts to play peacemaker, but it was sadly a tiny minority. The largest travesty was to not pull my own weight though, I disliked bullying and I didn't particularly care for the incessant disparaging remarks, but sometimes I was in a bad enough mood that I didn't care if people were arguing with themselves. At the end of the day, it was my obligation to straighten these players out as the only sensible person here.
    Sensible… well maybe not, more like angry.
    "So, we done talking now?" I said bluntly, letting my voice carry throughout the dungeon. "I've just about run out of patience here, so either put up or shut up boys."
    "What are you going to do about it pussy," instantly replied the healer.
    "Yeah you little bitch," followed up the archer, characteristically.
    The casters didn't say anything but they could tell that the situation was deteriorating, as both had taken a step slightly back. It didn't matter to me though, my health had capped out at eighty-two percent thanks to the deep wound in my chest and thigh and all the other minor wounds.
    I could work with that.
    Right before it started, I let one last smile creep up my face as it turned into a smirk, then it