Gamers

by Cambry Varner

  Tom lifted the club and weighed it and gave it a few experimental swings. “Yes, this shall do until we find something with a steel edge.”

  “We haven’t introduced ourselves,” Naomi said, looking as if she were about to clap her hands in delight. “My name is Naomi Burnes. And she’s Sally…I don’t know her last name. Sally, what’s your last name?”

  Sally was hesitant to give out her full name, but then it was not like Tom could look her up on Facebook. Actually, she didn’t even have a Facebook or a Twitter account, never seeing the need to report her every action to the internet.

  “Sally Davis,” she said, trying to sound pleasant and not as sullen as she was feeling.

  Then, cheerfully, as if she were describing a school field trip, Naomi proceeded to tell him about the Cut Throats having kidnapped Darcy and Mina and how Sally and her had found the hideout.

  Sally couldn’t help but take some pleasure in his shocked expression when Naomi described their battles. “You took on armed men with just your bare hands?”

  “Well, Sally helped me a few times.”

  “You weren’t hurt?” Tom asked with a touch of concern in his voice. “Or afraid?”

  Naomi shook her head so hard the pigtails swished like loose ribbons. “No way! It was fun!”

  “I must say,” Tom said, “it is refreshing to meet a young lady that has other interests than finding a husband.”

  Why were they treating this man like they’d met him at a picnic or a party? Sally thought as she followed them into the hall. What we’re doing is dangerous. We could get killed.

  At the thought, a chill went down her spine and she grasped Naomi by the shoulder, “What happens when you die?”

  Naomi turned around, stunned. “What?”

  Tom looked at Sally with raised brows. “That’s a bit of an odd question to ask right now.”

  Shit. Tom wouldn’t understand what they’re talking about as he was only an NPC. Ignoring him, she focused on Naomi, trying to get her meaning across with eyes and words, “What happens to you when you die…here?”

  Naomi’s eyes widen. “Oh! Well, you…”

  Sally raised a hand to stop her. “Wait, come over here and speak with me. Tom, can you keep watch outside in the hall? This won’t take long.”

  “Should you be having a theological discussion right now?” Tom asked, completely taken aback.

  “It won’t take long,” Sally repeated without giving him a second glance.

  They strode several yards away, almost to the opposite end of the hall. Bending close to Naomi, she whispered, “Quietly. What happens in the game when you die?”

  “You start over in the nearest graveyard,” Naomi whispered, looking thoughtful. “Your stuff gets left behind for anyone to grab, though.”

  “Do you think we’ll resurrect in a graveyard?” Sally asked, feeling a cold weight on her stomach.

  Naomi visibly swallowed, as Sally’s fear finally seemed to have spread to her. “I don’t know. We could ask Tom.”

  Sally sharply shook her head. “Don’t ask him anything. He’s an NPC that thinks this world is real. You can’t tell him that it isn’t or he’ll think you’re crazy.”

  Naomi pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. “I don’t think I can do that. I took the Vow of Truth.”

  “What the hell is the Vow of Truth?” Sally hissed. “Are you Catholic?”

  “No, we’re Presbyterian. The Vow of Truth is a Monk thing. I get extra ki points as long as I tell the truth.”

  Sally blinked and said, “Why? What happens when you lie?”

  “I lose all my ki points. I won’t get them back until a Cleric casts an Atonement spell on me, and I don’t tell another lie for a whole month.”

  “That’s pretty strict for an online game.” Sally didn’t want to think about how they would have fared without Naomi’s ki giving her an edge in battle. “It’s not a lie if you don’t tell him.”

  “Yeah, but isn’t a lie of omission is still a lie?” Naomi tugged one of her pigtails in uncertainty.

  Sally thought fast, and the words sprang to her lips, rolling off her tongue like unfurling silk, perhaps thanks to her high Charisma score. “The last time I stepped on a scale, it was over two hundred and fifty.”

  “Really? Okay, I’m sorry?” Naomi said, bemused. “What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”

  “Exactly!” Sally pointed out. “You didn’t need to know that, so I didn’t bother telling you. Just like Tom doesn’t need to know he’s an NPC in a game world. If he outright asks you about it, fine, you can tell him, but until that topic is brought up, he doesn’t need to know, and you don’t have to tell him.”

  Naomi wrinkled her nose in thought, then she brightened. “Okay, I guess that makes sense.”

  Feeling as if she had dodged a bullet, Sally wasn’t willing to let anymore of Naomi’s morals cause her any more grief. “Are there anymore vows you’ve taken that are going to cause me problems later?”

  “Just the Vow of Poverty.”

  “What does that entail?” What other stupid rules did Naomi have to follow? And where were these Vows coming from?

  “The total value of all my possessions cannot cost more than ten gold pieces. That’s why I left my shoes behind at the inn.”

  “And the game lets you have these vows?”

  “Not before, not when you sat in front of the computer. When I woke up in the inn, though, my character screen offered me the vows on the second page.”

  Sally raised an eyebrow. “What second page?”

  “The second page on the character screen,” Naomi said. She noticed Sally’s confusion and became puzzled herself. “You’ve only been looking at the first page this whole time?”

  It took Sally a moment of thought before she smacked her forehead. How could she have been so stupid? RPGs tended to have more than one menu for character info such as equipment, special abilities, and skills. “How…How do you get to the second page?”

  “You swipe it. Like this.” Naomi raised a single finger and passed it before her as if she was using a tablet.

  And she and Darcy considered themselves techies. Of course, when they were kids, the concept of tablets and advanced handheld devices were in science fiction movies. The most sophisticated devices you could own in your home were old computers and 32-bit consoles. Yet, Naomi grew up with tablets and touchscreens so it made sense she would quickly catch onto something as simple as swiping a screen to see more content.

  Sally brought up her character screen and raised a finger towards it. Then in a sudden moment of intuition, she held her finger over the word Charisma in the list of abilities. A heartbeat later, the word highlighted in blue and a small box filled with gold lettering formed above it.

  This score reflects a character’s ability to influence others; physical attractiveness; etiquette; and wordplay. Charisma is used for the skills: Charm, Deceit, Entertain, and Intimidate.

  Sucking in a quick breath, Sally brought her finger to the next word above it: Wisdom. Again, the skill highlighted in a soft blue outline and another box appeared.

  This score reflects how characters perceive the world around them, from finding items to sensing danger, or having insight into the emotions of others. Wisdom is used for the skills: Perception, Animal Friendship, and Healing.

  Well, that was informative and helpful. It functioned just like a tutorial or aid in games. Giving her wrist a flick, Sally swiped to the second screen. It was a continuation of the first page that included a panel for additional equipment that couldn’t fit on the first page. Spells/Abilities was printed in bold gold letters at the top and beneath it were the words Sneak Attack and beneath that, Two-Weapon Fighting. Sally highlighted the first, and again the words glowed blue, and another box appeared.

  The Rogue Special Ability: On a successful attack on an unaware opponent or an opponent that cannot defend itself, you automatically deal critical damage. You can use this abilit
y with either a melee or ranged attack.

  That explained how she was able to instantly kill those guys in the woods and that man on the pier, but what about the guard in the hall? He seemed pretty surprised when she attacked him. Why didn’t she succeed?

  Two-Weapon Fighting: You can fight with a weapon in each hand without penalty as long as the weapon in the offhand is light.

  So that was where her talent for fighting with rapier and dagger came from.

  Swiping to a third page, Sally was taken aback to see a single list with small compact lettering. At the top were the words Skill Check Log. The letters were too small to read, but now understanding the character screen functioned like a touchscreen, she raised a hand and spread her thumb and forefinger apart. The screen zoomed in, and she could read the text clearly.

  Sneak Check: 15, Success!

  Sneak Check: 17, Success!

  Sneak Check: 14, Success!

  She tried to highlight a line, but there was no glow or no informative boxes. Then she scrolled to the top and read the top line.

  Grapple Check: 13, Success!

  Grapple Check: 8, Failure!

  Sally rubbed her chin, thinking. Grapple? Wasn’t that when you grabbed someone?

  Wait! She hadn’t attacked the guard but tried to grab him. He nearly broke free when she failed the check, but since she succeeded in the second check, she was able to catch him again.

  She began scrolling down, and sure enough, there were the results of her encounter with the man in the cavern.

  Attack Check (rapier): 17, Success! CRITICAL HIT!

  Sneak Check: 18, Success!

  Climb Check: 15, Success!

  Sneak Check: 16, Success!

  Climb Check: 13, Success!

  Swim Check: 13 Success!

  Survival Check: 14 Success!

  Encounter Won! 37 XP Awarded!

  The mystery behind this log became clearer as she read. It was a log of all their skill checks and experience points gained with the latest ones at the top. She scrolled to the very bottom, even zooming out so it would scroll faster. At the bottom, two words in bold font stated: Game Start.

  This log must have begun the moment they appeared in this world. Scrolling lower only caused the log to bounce on the bottom, no matter how much she flicked her finger up. Then she read each skill check and thought back to fighting the rats, checking and dismantling the trap, the skeletons, and sneaking behind the kobolds and performing a critical hit on their leader. There was one that stood out.

  Sneak Check: 7, Failure!

  That was the only Sneak check that was marked as failed. When was that?

  Her mind’s eye brought up the image of the twig she had stepped on that brought the Cut Throats down on her. Had it been there before the check was made, or did it appear because she failed it?

  This log will blow Darcy’s mind when she sees it…oh shit, I forgot about Darcy!

  She dismissed the character screen, and when it disappeared, she was peering into blue eyes inches from her own. She yelped and swung at the figure, but her hand was caught in both of Tom’s.

  “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you, but I was curious about what you were looking at with those beautiful eyes.”

  Sally was in no mood to be placated with compliments. Snatching her hand back, she gave him a scathing look. “Where’s Naomi?”

  “Right here!” Naomi was shutting the door and pushed on it to make sure it was locked. “We locked the guards up in the cell while you were busy. Tom said there’s a second level above us where Darcy and Mina might be.”

  Sally fixed Tom with a searching look. Was he telling the truth, or was he trying to lead them into a trap?

  As if reading her mind, he held up both hands, showing his palms. “I want away from this place as soon as possible, but I know I’ll never make it out on my own. Allow me to return the favor of rescuing me, even if I am not the one you intended to save.”

  His eyes weren’t looking away from hers, instead they were focused on her face and eyes. The game, via her Perception check (+2), told her he was telling the truth, but was her roll high enough to be sure of this, or low enough that she’d failed and in fact he was fooling her? Unfortunately, as a quick look confirmed, her log never listed Perception checks.

  There was no other way around it. Sally sighed, “Alright, lead the way.”

  Chapter 9

  Wolfe

  “God, I’m so sorry, Darcy,” Mina whimpered for the hundredth time during their long trek down the hall.

  “Stop apologizing and keep quiet,” Darcy hissed crouching against the wall. “Our Sneak skills are low enough without you apologizing every ten seconds.”

  “I can’t help it,” Mina said as she stepped over the prone figure of the man she clocked over the head with a fist. “I swear I didn’t mean to cough! I was holding my breath so I wouldn’t make any noise at all!”

  With a sharp motion, Darcy cut her off and peered around the corner. It was clear for now, but they had to move fast. Someone was bound to notice the trail of unconscious and bloody men they were leaving in their wake. It wasn’t Mina’s fault; Barbarian was not a Dex based class, and Sneak was not one of their class skills. It was fortunate that she was strong enough to render the bandits harmless before any of them had raised the alarm.

  If Sally was here, she could scout ahead to make sure the way was clear. Thinking about her reminded Darcy of how deeply worried she was: Sally was by herself in this crazy game world and had no idea of how it functioned. And worst of all, elves and half-elves were a hated minority in this area. She needed to find Sally and make sure she was safe.

  The first time they had come across a guard, Darcy had acted instantly, smacking him across the jaw with the club. When he spun and hit the wall, stunned by the blow, Mina pinned him to the stone with one hand like a needle through an insect specimen.

  Darcy thrust the end of the club beneath his jaw until he was staring at the ceiling. “How do we get out of here?”

  “You’ll never make it out of here alive,” he grunted. “McRando is going to make boots out of your skins!”

  Mina grimaced. “Ew!”

  “Shut up!” Darcy snapped and thrust the club into his gut. “You better tell us what we want to know, or I’ll shove this sideways up your ass!”

  The Cut Throat spat at her. “Such a nasty mouth for a cleric. The rugs McRando wipes his boots are cleaner than your tongue.”

  I’m failing my Intimidation check; my Charisma and Strength aren’t high enough.

  The man was glaring at her and his mouth was working as if preparing another wad of spit.

  Maybe I need to try Charm instead? I have a +2 in that.

  “Hey, we’ll let you go if you tell us how to get out of here?” she said sweetly and had to stop herself from batting her eyes.

  The man was unimpressed. “McRando will use my tongue to polish his boots if I help you!”

  “This McRando guy must like his boots,” Mina commented.

  Darcy shook her head, giving up. “Knock him out, Mina.”

  “How?” The barbarian woman looked between the Cut Throat and Darcy.

  “Just smack his head against the wall until he passes out.”

  The man’s eyes widened as he looked at Mina: a mountain of untapped strength.

  Shaking her head, Mina looked from the man to Darcy, “I don’t want to hurt him.”

  “You beat the hell out of those guys that attacked you in the cell!” Darcy groaned. It was a struggle not to smack her forehead.

  “They were hitting me with clubs!”

  “Never mind, I’ll do it.” Then Darcy bopped the bandit over the head with her mace, and he went slack, held up only by Mina’s hand.

  The next guard they came across heard them when Darcy, who spotted him around a corner, backpedaled into Mina. Her heel came down onto the larger woman’s foot, and she yelped. When the man came around to investigate, Mina and Darcy grabbed him
. This one put up more of a fight, but between the two of them, they managed to disarm and pin him to the floor.

  “Is this roughhousing?” Mina asked as she easily pinned the man’s arms to his side. “I have never done it before. It’s almost fun.” She was trying to lighten to mood, like someone who had wronged another and who hoped that if you could get the other person to smile or laugh, then it was no big deal.

  “No, this is not roughhousing, and it’s not fun!” Darcy was struggling to get the man’s legs under control as he tried to kick her. In frustration, looked up at Mina, “Make him tell me if there’s a key to the caverns.”

  “O-okay. Uh, sir, is there a key to ahh—a cavern?”

  “Blow it out yer arse, bitch!”

  Mina’s mouth dropped open in hurt shock. “Hey…”

  Darcy grunted as their prisoner managed to land a solid kick at her midsection. “Dammit, Mina, scare him! You should have a decent Intimidate skill.”

  “Oh, uh, a-alright,” Mina said in uncertainty and looked down at the Cut Throat as if he was a vicious cat refusing to get into a pet carrier to go to the vet.

  Then a change came over her as Mina’s eyes became sharp flints, and her mouth tightened into a toothsome glare. Her body seemed to be expanding, looming over the Cut Throat like a landslide. Her voice, several octaves deeper, said in a gravelly tone. “If you don’t tell me where that key is, I’m going to grab you by the ankles and spin you around until you throw up.”

  It wasn’t the wording so much as her fearsome demeanor that loosened his tongue. “There are only two keys to down below. The Boss has one, and Wolfe has the other.”

  “Dammit!” Darcy muttered. “Knock him out, Mina. We gotta talk.”

  Mina gave the man an apologetic look before she grasped his skull and smacked it on the floor. Once he was out cold, they both rose together. Darcy rubbed her bruised stomach and checked her health points which were still full, so she hadn’t lost any from being kicked. “We have to head down.”