Monster Hunter Challenge

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. But then, there weren't always trolls under the bridges, or goblins in the swamps, or zombies in the desert. There weren't always sorcerers or barbarians, monster hunters who would track them down, take their heads and then claim them for a fee.

They would hunt them mercilessly, using whatever tools were at their disposal. Of course, many washed out, assuming they were witches because they'd seen a few Tiktoks that told them they were, or had studied YouTube videos demonstrating how to wield a blade. Most were killed by the very monsters they sought out, but more than a few were caught in their own backfiring spells or hacked their own limbs off by accident. Amateurs. There were a lot of problems with them in the early days, when it first went viral and everyone rushed to become the new kind of influencer. Suddenly make up tutorials, unpacking videos and travel blogs weren't viable anymore and everyone wanted to be the new Jason, their followers referred to as Argonauts. It became endemic among the younger generation who just wanted their five minutes of fame, the older people shaking their heads, remembering the insane fads from their youth. But this was no tide pod eating challenge, no ice bucket challenge or cinnamon eating dare. Hundreds, thousands of young people died to gain a following, which in most cases they didn't even get. They’d pick their location, maybe do an intro video and an explanation, then go live and die on camera. There was one kid who lasted maybe two or three slays, doing a pretty funny Steve Irwin bit. It was, ironically, a basilisk that ended him. At least he did manage to go viral for about a week. Hopefully it was some comfort to his parents, but I doubt it. He was forgotten as soon as the next dance came on to the scene.

It took a while for the powers that be to catch on that this wasn't just a trend, that these creatures we'd feared as children, dreamed about as teenagers and scoffed at as adults were suddenly real and marauding around their countries. There were Golems on the rise in Israel, selkies in Ireland, snatching men to their deaths. No one knew where they had suddenly come from, but it became clear after enough young people died that something needed to be done. What better than to take the viral craze and make it real? There were plenty of Larpers out there, people who truly did know how to swing a sword so that it would catch at just the right way to sever a limb. It took a little longer for the magic to appear. It's still unknown whether this had always been there, or it had come into being at a similar time to the creatures and a certain type of person was able to harness it. Normal, every day men or women who’d never even thought about witches or warlocks beyond the stories they’d been read in their childhood. Suddenly they were accidentally setting their desks on fire just by muttering the wrong thing when they got frustrated with their jobs, or manifesting their dream holiday completely within their budget whilst browsing travel sites. Sometimes they’d chalk it up to coincidence, a massive streak of luck whether good or bad. It took a few incidents of a similar nature to make them stop and think, and then most times only after the first news story about the magic had broken.

I was just that kind of person, and this is my story.