Ordinary Hero

by Ellis Michaels

  “Entertainment. Education. Information. It could be any or all of these things,” Steven answered. “From what I've gathered, the professor is part of an interdepartmental team that is working on an immersive role-playing game – or what at least seems to be a game. Professor Amundsen is just one of several professors working on the project. There are professors from the engineering, computer science, medical, psychology, business, and marketing departments that are involved. And, of course, our professor from the philosophy department. It's a big project.

  “Like I said, I think this is some sort of new game that they're testing, a game unlike anything that exists. It takes your memories, feelings, fears, and desires and crafts them into a unique story made just for you. The only way to get out of the game, as far as I can tell, is to play it through. Right now, it seems like it can only have four people involved at once. But I think the endgame is to create a massive multiplayer online game (MMO). Right now, it appears to still be in an early, beta testing phase. A lot of details seem to be missing.”

  “So it takes all four of our memories, fears, feelings, and desires and turns them into a story?” Krystal asked.

  “I think so, yeah. It takes everyone's and crafts them into a narrative. Each player's unique story line is interwoven with the other players. Everyone has their own quests to complete and goals to reach. Speaking of which, have either of you noticed a HUD yet?”

  “A HUD?” Krystal asked.

  “Head's up display,” Steven replied.

  “Nope.”

  “No.”

  “Hmmm,” Steven said. “Once you figure out that you're inside of a game, or at least in some kind of virtual world, a HUD should appear. If it hasn't happened yet, it should soon.”

  “Whoa!” Krystal yelled, leaning back on the couch, her eyes darting around wildly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The HUD thing that Steven was just talking about – I see it. It just kinda popped up.”

  “Really? What does it look...”

  Before I could finish my sentence, right before my eyes appeared a few lines of text in blue lettering. It looked like it was written in the air a couple feet in front of my face but, when I tried to reach out and touch it, my hand went right through. Right in front of me, I saw:

  Quest Complete: Life's A Game

  Exp: +100

  And when I looked slightly up and to the left, I saw:

  Level 3

  150/150 HP

  “Ohhh,” I said. “I see it now. Whoa, this is wild!”

  Wild was an understatement. I couldn't even begin to explain how strange yet awesome it was to see words in front of my face. I'd been an avid gamer my entire life and often fantasized about being one of the characters in the games that I played. Seeing my level and hit points was a trip. They were my hit points – not my character's. I was the character.

  A wave of emotions crashed through me. Part of me was a little disappointed that everything that'd been happening probably wasn't real. All the attention from women, all the ass kicking I'd done never really happened. But, to me, it did happen. It all seemed so real. Amber's naked body rubbing against mine felt totally real, sending me into a spiral of unmitigated bliss. The flames coming out of Melissa's car really felt hot. And getting hit in the fights I was in definitely felt real – really painful.

  But only a small part of me was feeling disappointed. Mostly, I was excited. Like, really excited. Now that I at least had some idea of what was happening to me, I wasn't so freaked out about everything. The past two days had been the most thrilling and fulfilling days of my life and I wanted more.

  “Is that it?” I asked Steven. “Just my level and hit points? That's all the HUD displays?”

  “Oh no, there's a lot more,” Krystal answered before Steven had a chance to. “Just give it a minute.”

  A few seconds later, a paragraph appeared right in front of me in red lettering. It was so bizarre seeing words that weren't really there. They looked like they were floating in air a few feet away. The paragraph read:

  To see your stats, simply think, “Stats.” To view your quests, just think, “Quests.” You can also access your skills by thinking, “Skills.” For help, think, “Help,” and then what you need help with. To close this message, think, “Close.”

  I muttered the word “close” inside my head and the paragraph instantly disappeared. I looked over at Krystal and could see her eyes moving left to right over and over again, slowly working their way downward. It was obvious that she was reading something. I said the word “stats” inside my mind and the following popped up right before my eyes:

  Character Type: Hero

  Level: 3

  Hit Points: 150/150

  Exp: 700

  To Next Level: 300 exp.

  Strength: 9

  Speed: 7

  Intelligence: 7

  Stamina: 8

  Defense: 8

  Charm: 8

  A smile stretched across my face as I looked over my stats. I wasn't sure what the numbers meant, like if a strength score of nine was good or not, but I didn't care. I just thought it was so cool that I had my own stats. And seeing that my character type was “hero” felt great. It made me wonder what the others' were.

  “What's your character type, Krystal?” I asked.

  “It says 'Hero's Sidekick,'” she replied.

  “Interesting,” I replied, then turned toward Steven. “And what's yours?”

  “Mine says 'Chronicler,'” he replied. “Like I told you, I don't think I'm supposed to take an active role in the professor's experiment. He told me that I'd know when the research project was active and that he wanted me to observe and report everything that happened. As soon as I went to class and found the scroll a couple mornings ago, I knew that the experiment had begun. I'm sure you guys were probably a bit confused about finding it, though.”

  “Very.”

  “Yup.”

  “Well, now you know,” Steven continued. “Do you guys have any more questions for me? I've probably told you too much as it is. Don't tell the professor about anything I told you.”

  “Have you talked to Carter Livingston at all over the past couple days?” I asked.

  “No, I haven't. And neither has anyone else.”

  “What do you mean?” Krystal asked.

  “Even though I knew I was part of the professor's experiment as soon as I saw the scroll, I've just been going about my daily business as usual. Normally, I run into Carter a few times over the course of the week. The past couple days, I haven't seen him at all. I asked a couple people that know him if they'd seen him and they all said no.”

  “Any idea where he is?” I asked.

  “None. If I had to guess, I'd say he figured out what was going on pretty quickly and started 'playing the game,' so to speak, right away.”

  “You said it takes all our memories, fears, and desires and crafts them into a narrative,” Krystal said. “Any idea what Carter's fears and desires are? Or what his character type is?”

  “No, I don't. But if you're the hero,” Steven said, looking at me and then looking at Krystal, “and you're the hero's sidekick, I don't think it's hard to figure out what Carter is, since he's the only other person involved.”

  Krystal and I both looked at Steven, confused, unsure of what he was suggesting.

  “You really can't figure it out? He's the villain. The bad guy. If you're the good guys, it only makes sense that he's the bad guy.”

  “Ohhhhhh,” Krystal and I both said at the same time.

  That made sense. Although I didn't say anything to Steven, I knew that Carter was going around robbing banks and killing anyone who got in his way. If that wasn't typical villainous behavior, I didn't know what was. And both Amber and Kasie had been trying to get me to go find Carter and put a stop to him. All this time I thought they were just trying to get me to stick my nose where it didn't belo
ng. Now, I realize that what they were really doing was encouraging the hero to go find and defeat the villain.

  The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of being the hero in some sort of game. I would often fantasize about being a hero but getting to experience it was much different. When I fantasized about it, I would only get to think about it. But when I saved Melissa from the burning car wreck, for example, I also got to feel what it was like to be a hero. It might not have been in the real world but it certainly felt real, which was good enough for me.

  “So, hero,” Krystal said, squeezing my thigh and looking me in the eyes, “you should probably get out there and try to find Carter, huh?”

  “That would be the heroic thing to do,” I replied with a wink. That may have actually been the first time I'd ever winked at anyone before – certainly a female. “And every hero needs a sidekick. You coming with me?”

  “That would be the sidekick-ish thing to do!” Krystal answered. “Let get to it!”

  “You want to come with us?” I asked Steven.

  “No, but thanks. I'm not supposed to take an active role in any of this. If I come with you, I might be forced to participate in whatever happens. I don't think the professor would be happy with that.”

  “Understood,” I replied. “Well, thank you for all the information you gave us. I still have a lot of questions, but I think you answered everything you could. At least we now have some idea of what's happening to us.”

  “Yeah, thank you, Steven,” Krystal added.

  “You're welcome,” he replied and got up, showing us to the door. “Again, please don't tell the professor that I told you what I did.”

  “We won't.”

  “Good,” Steven said, opening the door for us. “Take care, enjoy yourselves, have fun, and good luck!”

  “Bye!”

  “Later!”

  Krystal and I left Steven's dorm room, talking as we walked down the hallway. She lived in the same dorm and wanted to stop by her room for something. My eyes, once again, were drawn to her incredibly-sexy legs. With every step, they'd disappear and reappear as the slit down her dress moved as she walked. Her black heels echoed down the nearly-empty hallway like a metronome. Between the sound and the sight, it was almost hypnotizing.

  “So, how are we going to find Carter?” Krystal asked.

  “Well, what do we know about him besides the fact that he's in our philosophy class? Do we know where he lives? Does he live in a dorm like you or off campus like me?”

  “I have no idea. But I just remembered something: I know someone who can probably tell us where he lives. A good friend of mine dated him for a short period of time. She said he was a real jerk.”

  “What a shock,” I said, sarcastically. “I don't know him that well but he certainly seems like a jerk. Can you call or message your friend and find out where he lives?”

  “Way ahead of you, hero,” Krystal said, taking her phone out of her pocketbook.

  “Try to find out where he lives and anything else you can about him: if he has a job, if so where it is, where he hangs out, and anything else that might help us find him.”

  We got to Krystal's room and both had a seat on the edge of her bed. Krystal had one roommate, but she wasn't there at the time – it was just the two of us. It was one of a few times I'd ever been inside a girl's dorm room. As soon as we walked in, the lingering aftermath of their morning routines filled my nose. I could smell the faint hint of perfume and hair products in the air, but it was different than the scent Krystal was wearing – it must've been her roommate's.

  A pair of red panties and a matching bra were lying on the floor next to Krystal's bed and I couldn't help but picture her in them – or, you know, out of them. Krystal sat right next to me so our legs were touching. Her flawless leg was poking out from the slit in her skirt and it was touching mine. I did everything I could to think about anything other than sex but it was of no use. I couldn't take my mind off Krystal, her beautiful face, and her insanely-sexy body. But, as it turned out, I wasn't the only one who couldn't stop thinking about sex.

  Krystal took her cell phone and tossed it under the bed. She turned to me and put her hand on my leg, just as she'd done when we were in Steven's room. This time, though, she slowly ran her hand up my thigh and leaned in close to me.

  “I'll call my friend to find out what she knows about Carter in a little while,” Krystal said, her beautiful brown eyes peering into mine. “Right now, we have some sexual tension that needs to be taken care of.”

  “Sexual tension?” I asked and swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on! You know exactly what I'm talking about. I've seen you checking me out all morning: looking at my legs, my breasts, eyeing me up and down.”

  “I wasn't... I didn't mean to...” I started but got cut off.

  Krystal put her finger on my lips, gently pressing them and said, “It's okay. I'm not mad that you've been checking me out. But you've probably been too busy checking me out to have noticed that I've been checking you out.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  I hadn't noticed. Krystal was obviously better at stealthily checking someone out than I was.

  “Really. Which is why I think we need to address it now. If we're going to go after Carter together and bring him down, we need to be focused. We can't focus on our mission if we're both too busy thinking about having sex with each other.”

  “So, what are you suggesting?” I asked, eager to hear what she had in mind.

  “That we screw each other's brains out to cut through the wall of sexual tension that exists between us. Then, I'll call my friend and we can get on with our quest. What do you think?”

  I was really liking the professor's game – whatever it was. Krystal was unspeakably sexy. Most guys would kill to even get flashed by such a hottie. But there I was, about to get nasty with the hottest girl in my philosophy class. Hell, she was probably the hottest girl in any of my classes. I looked Krystal right in the eyes and answered in a slow, deep tone.

  “I think that I like the way you think.”

  10.

  I put my hand on Krystal's knee and ran it up her leg. After staring at those sexy legs all morning, actually touching them gave me goosebumps. That's not all it gave me, though. Before long, I was as hard as a rock. Krystal's skin was as smooth as it was sexy. My fingers tickled the inside of her thigh and she let out an extremely-feminine, high-pitched giggle. It was both cute and sexy.

  “You have no idea how badly I want you,” I whispered, my lips right next to her ear, the sides of our faces pressed together.

  “Oh, but I do,” she whispered back. “You want me almost as badly as I want you.”

  I playfully kissed Krystal's neck as my hands explored her body. She moaned softly as I squeezed her perfect breasts and ran my fingers down her sides. Again, my fingers danced their way up the inside of her leg and, after sliding her panties to the side, began pleasuring her. This time Krystal unleashed a long, loud moan.

  “Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Here, let me make this easier for you.”

  She kicked off her heels and stood up, dropping her dress to the floor. Krystal took off all her clothes and laid down on the bed. Her body was as flawless as I'd pictured it in my mind. Head to toe, she was smokin' hot. Krystal's skin was the most radiant shade of gold I'd ever seen. Everything about her turned me on. She spread her legs and gave me the “come here” motion with her finger.

  Much like I'd done with my fingers, I ran my tongue up the insides of both of Krystal's legs. Each time, she giggled when I got to the top of her inner thigh. I explored her entire body with my tongue, giving special attention to her breasts and between her legs. Even the way she tasted was sexy. Everything about her drove me wild and I couldn't wait to be inside her. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long for it to happen.

  I pleasured Krystal with my fingers and tongue until her body erupted. Sh
e unleashed a deafening moan and her entire body felt like it was vibrating. Her hands were clenched and her toes curled. As soon as it was over, she sat up and grabbed my face, kissing me wildly.

  “You really know what you're doing,” she said, still breathing heavily. “I've never had an orgasm that intense before.”

  I realized that Krystal was right. I did know what I was doing. Everything I'd done to her happened almost automatically as if I'd had lots of practice. In reality, my experience with women was quite limited. Aside from the past couple days, I'd only ever had sex with one woman. Then, something popped up in front of me:

  Skill Increase

  [Sexual] Pleasuring Women: 6/10 (+1)

  I wasn't sure how I could've had six out of ten possible points in that particular skill but, at the time, I didn't care – I was too focused on the sexy naked woman next to me. It made me wonder what my other skills were and how many points I had in them. Now wasn't the time to check, though. It would have to wait until after I was done having sex with the enchanting woman in my arms.

  “These need to be on the floor,” Krystal said, tugging on my shorts, then grabbed my cock. “And this needs to be inside me.”

  “Good, because that's exactly where it wants to be,” I said, so smoothly that I surprised myself.

  I kicked off my Adidas Superstars and hopped up. Krystal, as eager as I was for me to be naked, undid my belt and pulled down my shorts as I lifted my tee shirt over my head. My outfit ended up on top of Krystal's and, a moment later, I ended up on top of her. Our lips met and she wrapped her soft fingers around me, pulling it right up to her wet and ready entrance.

  “Push,” she whispered in my ear.

  I thrust my hips forward slowly and entered Krystal as her hand guided me inside her. We both let out a long, loud moan and it was on. Not only did we do it on her bed: Krystal and I did it on top of her roommate's bed, both chairs, the desk, and on the floor.

  The first time when I was with Amber, I was incredibly nervous. Even with Melissa at my job I was a bit anxious. With Krystal, I felt as cool as a cucumber. There wasn't a single worry floating through my mind. Maybe it was because I knew that it was all part of some virtual game. But Krystal wasn't part of the simulation, as far as I could tell. She was in the game, too, and would remember everything that'd happened. But I didn't question it at the time – I just went with it.