There was a big difference between earning enough for a bike and paying all of your bills that way. The gulf between the two seemed almost insurmountable. Add in the expense of POD rental and a decent connection to the game, and it might as well have been a fantasy.
Fuck that!
Why was he spending all his time talking himself out of something he wanted to do? Instead, he should have been researching The Etheric Coast and NPC Corp to see if it was a feasible plan for his future.
“You should check it out.” Sierra flashed a flirty smile at him that implied she had some kind of insider knowledge. “I think you might change your mind.”
“I think you could change my mind about a lot of things.” Oh, man, he was laying it on thick now. Time to dial it back a notch.
Sierra reached out and played with the sleeve of Tim’s shirt just as Xander crashed into his knees, ruining the moment.
Xander used Tim as a ladder to pull himself up to his feet, then swayed from side to side, trying to focus on one of them. He ended up staring somewhere between them instead. “What are you two talking about?”
Tim reached out to steady his friend. “The Etheric Coast.”
“The game?” Xander tried to focus on his friend. “Dude, put down the controller and look at what’s right in front of you.” Xander leaned in, grabbed Tim’s face with both hands, and offered his friend the sage advice of a man who’s had one too many. “She totally wants to bone!”
Ah, so that’s what embarrassment feels like!
Glenn rushed in to place an arm around his wayward companion and tried to steer him away. “Sorry for the interruption, folks. I’d be more than delighted to take this guy off your hands.”
Sierra looked down into her beer, blushing furiously.
Xander pulled away from Glen. “Why do people think they can make it in a game when they can’t even hack it in the real world?” Xander looked at Glenn. “It’s fucking pathetic.”
Glenn mouthed the word “sorry,” as he hurriedly dragged Xander away.
Tim turned back toward Sierra, only to see her eyes misting. “Don’t take Xander too seriously. He’s still pissed because the last time we played the basketball sim, I beat him by fifty points.”
Sierra set her beer on a table and started walking toward the door. “I have to go.”
This was it. Did he let her walk out of the party and resign himself to a life of cubical purgatory, or did he take a leap and follow his heart? Maybe he wasn’t ready to dive into the game just yet, but he knew he didn’t want the night to end.
Was it too soon for another grand gesture? Maybe something slightly more subtle this time.
Tim scooted around to head Sierra off before she got to the door and held out his hands apologetically. “Hey, you don’t have to leave. Xander can be a total dick sometimes.” He met her eyes with a hopeful smile. “I don’t think anyone wanting to be part of the biggest game launch in history is a loser.”
Sierra’s eyes were wet and sad. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “I’m just going to call it a night. I’ve got some packing to do before I leave this weekend.”
Tim felt like he could see the grains of sand sliding through the hourglass as he tried to save the evening. The last grain fell into the bottom, and his time was up. “Can I get your number?” he mumbled, unsure of what else to say.
Sierra laughed. “Sure, but it’s going to be disconnected next month. I don’t need it where I’m going.”
Knowing his luck, Sierra was probably joining Doctors Without Borders and flying off to save people in God-knows-where. Admirable, sure, but it really put a damper on his plans to get to know her better.
But they were still talking. All he had to do was keep the conversation going by asking an insightful question.
When Tim opened his mouth to lay it all on the line, nothing came out. He tried again and managed to squawk out a single word. “Why?”
Why the fuck was it that when he needed to ramble like an idiot, he couldn’t talk?
Sierra shrugged. “I’m one of the ‘losers’ going into the game.” Her eyes hardened as they fell on the couch where Glen had deposited Xander.
That was a glare Tim never wanted to be on the wrong side of.
Although, following her gaze, Xander was already being served a giant helping of karmic justice.
Glenn was perched over him, drawing something on his face with a Sharpie.
Tim tried not to laugh. It wouldn’t be the first time Xander woke up with artwork on his face. A hundred dollars said it was a penis.
Sierra sighed and looked away. “I signed my contract yesterday.”
Tim took a step back to give her a little personal space. “But don’t they have a pain feedback system? I’m not sure I want to know what it feels like to die.”
“I’m sure they dial the pain way down, but you have to be able to feel it.” Sierra scoffed Tim’s shock away. “I mean, it can’t hurt that badly, or people wouldn’t keep playing.”
Tim took another sip of his beer. “If I ever get into the game, I’m going to put off dying as long as possible. In fact, I’d prefer to never die.”
Sierra’s eyes narrowed, then she punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t be such a baby.” She was grinning now, and Tim knew exactly how her brothers must have felt. “It’s just a game.”
Was it wrong to fall in love with someone after they’d insulted you?
Tim couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he reflexively stood up taller. At least he’d managed to stop himself from pushing out his chest before he made a complete fool of himself.
Sierra was watching him intently. Tim shrugged. “Hey, just because I don’t want to know what it feels like to be burned alive, it doesn’t mean I’m scared to die.”
Sierra patted him on the cheek. “I’m sure you’d be able to handle it, but first, you’d actually have to play.” She looked at Tim’s cup, obviously wishing she had a beer. “Plus, who’d want to die when you have to re-roll your character?”
Tim almost dropped his beer. What was Sierra talking about? When you died in most games, you didn’t have to reroll unless you were on a hardcore server. “Did you just say you have to start over every time you die?”
His mind was racing. Having to start over every time you died seemed like a monumental waste of time and energy. It wasn’t fun to start a new game again at level one, with no skills or gold. Part of the joy in videogames was taking risks and succeeding. Sure, there should be penalties for dying, but having to start over was extreme.
Sierra saw the look of panic on Tim’s face and tried to reassure him. “Once you become an adventurer, the rules change. You don’t have to re-roll when you die, but you also aren’t guaranteed a paycheck anymore.”
“And the POD fees don’t go away.” Tim knew there was a catch.
“They don’t, but a good adventurer can make more than enough. Or so I’m told.” Sierra touched Tim’s arm to make sure she had his full attention. “The Etheric Coast is the first new game NPC Corp has launched in twenty years. Do you know how many millionaires came out of their first game?”
Sierra grinned like she had just beat the devil and had a fiddle of gold to prove it. “Enough of them that I could easily end up being one this time around.” Her face flushed with excitement. “New servers, new economy, tons of opportunity.” She winked at him. “If you’re bold enough to take it.”
“What if you’re not?” Tim asked, his smile faltering.
What was he thinking? There were too many people counting on him. There was no way he’d risk his brother’s and sister’s futures just so he could play a game instead of sitting in an office.
Sierra grinned. “Then you can keep your head down and do whatever job you’ve been assigned by the corporation. In three years, you’ll wake up with a nice little nest egg.”
Tim frowned, it still sounded too good to be true. “I just don’t understand how they can pay you enough to come out
ahead.”
“Their last game had a trillion-dollar-a-month economy. I think there’s going to be enough money to go around.” Sierra smiled. “As for your paycheck, what a lot of people don’t know is that NPC Corp uses time-compression software. Your three real-world years are twenty-one years in the game.”
Tim stuck his finger in the air in a eureka gesture. “I knew there was a catch.”
“Think of how much you could learn in twenty years.” Sierra’s eyes danced with excitement. “Not to mention waking up debt-free.”
“And hairless,” Tim countered.
“I’d let you shave me from head to toe right now if you erased my student loans and gave me a hundred thousand dollars.” Sierra made a mock frowny face and pretended she was shocked Tim didn’t have the money. “No? Guess I’ll have to let NPC Corp do it instead.”
Try as he might, Tim couldn’t stop thinking about a hairless Sierra. It was like the time she’d had to get stitches after being nailed by a softball and they’d shaved half her head. He probably should have talked to her then, but he’d been wrapped up in another romance. That was the thing with them; it seemed that it was never the right time, but that was about to change.
Change was good, right?
Sierra bent close to Tim, playing with the sleeve of his shirt as she looked up into his eyes. “You should really consider it.”
“I might just have to do that.” Tim leaned in for a kiss.
They broke apart a few minutes later.
Sierra looked into his eyes hungrily. “Don’t forget to mention my name if you decide to check it out.” Without another word, she turned and walked out of the door.
Tim watched her leave, then stared at the door for a few minutes. What was the harm in looking into whether he could support his family with NPC Corp and The Etheric Coast? Could it really be worse than a life without the amenities?
Tim rushed back up the stairs and into his room. He slammed the door shut and slipped into his chair.
It was a moment’s work to fire up his computer and type NPC Corp into his URL. Before committing to anything, Tim had to be sure it was fiscally responsible. If he was going to follow the woman of his dreams, there was a lot of research to do.
Tim traded his beer for a cup of coffee and got to work devouring every scrap of information he could find about the new game and the company running it. If there was a way he could follow Sierra and still live up to his responsibilities, he had to take it.
What was it they said? When love was on the line, you had to be willing to risk everything.
Chapter Three
The shiny monolith that was the NPC Corp recruitment office on campus featured black steel and mirrored windows. NPC Corp was your friendly neighborhood gaming company, and this was a college campus.
They should have built a castle.
Tim shook his head. Someone had definitely gotten fired for green-lighting this monstrosity.
While the building wasn’t what he expected, NPC Corp was obviously doing something right.
A line extended from the front door and down the block. He’d walked past this building a million times, and had never seen a line as glorious as this. Maybe there was some kind of special event going on, with the launch being right around the corner.
Gamers were a greedy bunch. They tended to hoard nuggets of information about an unreleased game like prospectors from the 1850s. Being the first one to release a secret could net you millions of followers overnight, it was the kind of thing that made careers.
Then there was the subsection of gamers who would hoard any tiny scrap of information they found, hoping it would give them a leg up on their competition.
Sometimes it was individual players, and sometimes it was an entire guild, but whatever secret they held would never see the light of day.
Who needed friends when you were the best in the world?
There was nothing wrong with wanting to get world firsts. People loved seeing their names next to discoveries, on PVP leaderboards, and definitely for clearing dungeon and raid content. Tim had never believed in treating gaming as a job, but if the money was right, it might be his job soon enough, regardless of his personal philosophy.
Tim believed playing games should be fun.
The best part about these huge games was that there was something fun for everyone to do. It didn’t matter what you were into. The Etheric Coast boasted robust systems for crafting, housing, and combat. Apparently, you could even do the virtual snu-snu, if you were into that kind of thing.
In other games, Tim had always enjoyed the dungeons and the raids, but his secret passion was working the market. There was money to be made there. Sure, it took some effort watching the auction house for deals, but someone had to do it.
There were even people who logged in just to chat.
Tim planned on having some fun in the game, but fun would have to be placed on the back burner until he could make enough extra gold to send his parents money. Each day he would have to grind harder than everyone else. His singular focus had to be making enough money to send home.
He’d live in virtual squalor if he had to.
It didn’t take long for a frown to tug at the corners of his mouth. When had he crossed the line from wanting to check this place out to scheduling an interview? God help him, he could already see himself inside the game. It wasn’t just Sierra pushing him toward the job. Tim was slowly realizing it was something he desperately wanted.
But the numbers had to make sense.
People glared at Tim as he continued working his way closer to the door. He got it; no one liked a line jumper. Someone cutting in line was almost as bad as a double-dipper at a party. Everyone knew you were supposed to put the dip on a little plate instead of dipping in the big bowl with the same chip twice.
Today was different. He wasn’t the line jumping asshole people wanted to hate. Instead, he was going to see how much the devil would offer for his soul. Tim chuckled as he watched the people in line.
Everyone here today appeared to be an underclassman.
Maybe they were just pissed that he might get to play the game. NPC Corp had a strict no-interference policy with students before graduation. The last thing the college wanted was to have all their paying students defecting to a videogame.
A sense of being in the right place at the right time washed over him. This was where he was supposed to be; he knew it. How in the hell was he going to explain this to his parents? It was their dream for him to become a successful businessman. When he told them he was giving that up to play a game, their hearts would be broken.
“Just another variable to take into consideration,” Tim mumbled, lost in his thoughts.
Something smashed into his chest, sending him stumbling back a few steps. His eyes focused on the muscled arm he’d run into as the man it was attached to stepped out of the line. Fuck, the guy was huge. He might as well have been a grizzly bear.
Tim knew how well that’d worked out for Leonardo DiCaprio.
That didn’t mean Tim couldn’t take him. He just couldn’t do it fairly. Who got to decide what was fair, anyway? Was it fair that this guy was twice Tim’s size and trying to ruin his day?
Fuck, no!
But he also couldn’t get in a fight right outside the place he wanted to work. This wasn’t the neighborhood back home. This was a college campus, for God’s sake. Here, you solved problems with your words. Words could be just as deadly when used correctly, but this time, he was looking to use the softer side of the English language to get out of a jam.
“Back of the line, asshole,” Mr. I-Haven’t-Had-a-Carb-in-Years barked as he planted his feet shoulder-width apart.
The motherfucker might as well have been a wall.
Oh, man, Tim could see it now. A quick kick to the boys, followed by a knee to his nose. Fight over, but so were his prospect of getting hired and seeing Sierra again. As much as Tim liked watching bullies squirm, now wasn’t the time to make a
stand.
Or was it? His fingers curled into a fist.
If he catches me, I’m spending a week in the hospital.
Forcing his fingers to unclench took more effort than he would have thought, but he refused to be the first one to break eye contact. Somethings were just so ingrained in his personality, he couldn’t stop himself.
It also didn’t mean he had to give in to his baser instincts. Walking away didn’t make you a coward. There was a time to fight, and this wasn’t it. Not every asshole who gives you the stink-eye deserves to be hit in the face, no matter how gratifying it would be.
The people in line pulled out their phones, ready to record the fight. Sometimes college felt a lot like high school. Tim let out a weary sigh; he had to try. “I’m actually running late for a meeting inside.”
Tim motioned for Muscles to move to the side. “Do you mind?”
“The last loser I let past said he had an appointment. I had to force him out of line and send him on his way.” He flexed his gigantic arms and took a threatening step forward. “I’ve been here for three hours, bitch, and no one is cutting in front of me.”
The crowd cheered.
Fuck, if the rest of the people were on his side, there weren’t a lot of options. Maybe I should just kick him in the boys and run for home. I could reschedule my appointment for later this afternoon. Maybe they wouldn’t catch me on camera.
Or he could dodge around the goon and make a mad dash toward the door. The building had to have security guards; they wouldn’t let him get pummeled too badly.
Was there a third option?
Tim didn’t want to be immortalized on YouTube kicking some guy in the sack and running away. It was the kind of video future employers pulled up right before you got the call that they decided to go in another direction.
Tim imagined sitting in an HR meeting and trying to explain his actions.
He just couldn’t do it.
“Listen.” Tim tried to soothe him with his best “we’re really on the same side” voice. “I really do have an appointment inside.”
Rise of the Grandmaster Page 3