Pixel Dust

Existing within a virtual world shared across millions of users while they sleep, the online game Carpe Noctem offers a life of magic and adventure. For a scruffy gunslinger like Max, and a snarky fairy like Kira, it’s home. Unfortunately, Noctem’s creator and unhinged genius has been fired. On his way out, he slapped a doomsday button to bring the system crashing down and send the global economy into ruin. To save their second home, Max and Kira will need to assemble a party of misfits to conquer a quest of nightmares and discover the secrets that lurk within the game.

For lifelong friends Max and Kira, Carpe Noctem has become a second home. Max spends his time as a gunslinging Fury, able to deal massive damage in a short amount of time, while his teammate Kira the Breath Mage watches his back and keeps his health topped off. Together, they form a formidable combo. A literal dream team, because before the game hit the market, the average person lost a third of their life sleeping. Now sleep is only seen as the doorway into the game.

A year has passed since the events that nearly brought the game Carpe Noctem crashing down. Now, just as things are beginning to get back to normal, a new threat emerges. When an unkillable player attempts to take over the virtual world, Max and Kira are called in to take him down. To win, the party will have to form their own house, infiltrate a tropical palace, pull off an elaborate heist, and maybe do a little dancing.

Max and his party start down a dark path with only an echo to remind them why they’re fighting. Finding their target in the game isn’t enough, they need to find them in real life. Perhaps for this very reason, they’re no longer harmless misfits: They’re the most infamous players in the game. They get invited to an auction that offers contract items to the highest bidder, a golden opportunity to prepare for the battles that loom in their future. Weapons aren’t the only thing they need. Down a party member, they need a new ally to fill the void in the team.