Combat Boy and the Monster Token by Angela Purbaugh

Deep beneath the teeming mass of fans, cosplayers, and gamers visiting San Diego’s Comic Book Convention, a game is underway. The winner is crowned the Multidimensional Game Master, but what kind of game asks players to sign a contract in blood?

Twelve-year-old Tom Hock, professional gamer, is thrilled to get an invitation to play Monster Realm, alongside his brother Joey and a mysterious pro gamer named Dark Pixy. Tom doesn’t take the contract’s blood-stained signatures and strange wording seriously. He should have. The game is a trap, cutting the players’ souls off from their bodies. Only those who win break free.

Battling hordes of monsters, Tom heads toward a confrontation with Tarbarous, the game’s final boss, but the players aren’t alone as they try to escape. Something within the game wants out. If it makes its escape, San Diego won’t host next year’s convention, because San Diego won’t exist.

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