by Jason Cheek
Drinking together was a time-honored means of making new friends. By the time the platters of meats, potatoes, corn, and hot bread had been delivered, everyone was talking and joking together like they’d known each other forever. While the meal was excellent and I was hungry, I had to force myself to eat. Helgath’s handling of Gee Achronis’ was still too fresh in my mind for that, though none of the Devil Dogs seemed to have a problem with tucking in. As we ate, everyone started trading stories about my antics inside The World, giving me a hard time as appropriate.
I didn’t get upset. The antics weren’t meant to be mean. It was just a way for my friends to share stories and get to know each other. I took the hit since I was the only commonality between the various groups. I took the ribbing in stride and yukked it up, relieved to see everyone getting along so well. It was a role I’d gotten used to taking on when I brought different groups of friends together for the first time.
Although they didn’t understand the context of all the stories, my companions and Krishna’s happily joined in on the fun. Sarka, Yun, Tinyr, Unalia, Phoenix, and the Devil Dogs didn’t bat an eye as the people of the world in our group laughed and joked along with us. I could tell that stunned AJ, Jill, Krystal, Hefe, and even to a point, Bonnie Smash, but slowly you could see that they forgot the people of the world with us were digital people.
I think part of the problem had been the misconception about my companions, at least with my in real-life friends. No doubt my sexual escapades had been greatly exaggerated by the online trolls who were out to ruin my twitch channel and my reputation. After Neristhana “talk” with Jill, the misunderstanding had been cleared up. Once they realized I wasn’t taking advantage of the female members in my party, everything was right as rain.
Privately though, it hurt that they’d thought that of me. On one level, I could understand AJ, Hefe, Jill, and Krystal’s confusion to a point. In World of Warcraft and Chaos Online, the NPCs had been extremely realistic. Though, if you’d spent any time with them, it became obvious that they had some excellent scripts and rules of behavior that made them look and act realistic. You know, things like randomized movements, facial expressions that reflected what they were saying, and things like that. But, when it came down to it, their behavior was coded not adaptive like a real person’s. This had led to some ugly behavior by some of the player base.
The World, in comparison, was different as night and day. Spend any time around the people of The World and you became aware that they had their own thoughts and individual personalities very quickly. Even the denser players like Kenzie had started figuring that out. I was starting to think that her pissy attitude of late had something to do with Assault Leader Dell. While I wanted to know what was up, I’d spent enough time around Jill to know you didn’t ask questions like that if you didn’t want to have your head bitten off.
Stifling a yawn, I made my way over to the bartender and purchased rooms for all of my friends. I’d planned to camp outside the city and do a walkthrough of the garbage heap, but it was three in the morning and I was done in from the day’s events. I’d see where the resurrections were at tomorrow when I logged in. If Julie managed to destroy the city tonight while we were spread out and vulnerable, then so be it. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, so I wasn’t going to worry. Besides, I wanted to clean up and sleep in a comfortable bed.
Everyone ribbed me for calling it a night, saying I was a light weight. Whatever, let’s see how well they felt in the morning once it was time to log in and get back to work … well play. Sometimes, it was odd being a pro-gamer. Most people thought it wasn’t work because you were playing a game, but, if anything, it took even more dedication and focus to make good money as a gamer than it did at a regular job. Especially, when I wasn’t doing what I really wanted to be doing inside the game, like crafting, running quests, and expanding BrokenFang Hold.
Fylreh was less than happy when I gave her a key to her own room. Ignoring the hurtful look in her eyes, I continued on, passing out the rest of the keys. I didn’t want to hurt her any more than necessary, but there was no way around it in our current situation. I couldn’t lay down beside her in the same bed and not want to explore those luscious curves.
I know my attraction was somewhat odd. The species difference between us was not something I even knew how to deal with. An interspecies relationship problem would have been very different if I’d gotten with one of the Beastkin girls like Lara or Honey. We’d at least have had a more compatible physiology. It was Fylreh’s drunken state that had opened up this can of worms, so to speak.
Don’t give me that look. I’m not saying I didn’t go along with it, because I did. I’m just saying that I’m a guy and we didn’t always think with the right head at the best of times. Although, in my defense, I will say that Fylreh felt incredible in my arms. That, and I had a lot of respect for her the more I got to know her. Not to mention, there was just something extremely hot about a beautiful woman … err … filly saving your life on the battlefield. It really pushed my buttons.
It wasn’t only that causing my lingering thoughts. I’d learned a long time ago that once you got emotionally involved with someone, that connection always seemed to remain on one level or another. Even more so, I think, when it wasn’t something bad that either one of you had done, but outside circumstances that drove you apart. Situations like that just sucked and didn’t help the pent-up emotions left without any resolution.
Silently shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I called out goodnight to everyone and headed for the stairs. As Helgath silently joined me, Neysa jumped up from where she’d been gnawing on her bone and trotted after me. There were a couple odd looks from my in real-life friends, but no one said or acted like anything untoward was going on, since Helgath was my soulmate and wasn’t a looker like Fylreh. I guess that meant I couldn’t be into her.
Whatever, the Half-Orc had been a steadfast companion these last few days and I rather enjoyed her companionship. Besides, I was getting used to falling asleep with both of my girls in my arms and had no desire to crawl into bed alone any more. Thankfully, whenever I logged out to go to sleep in the real world, I was so exhausted that I didn’t miss their presence. Otherwise, I’d have been screwed on getting sleep once I was out of the game.
Stripping off our bloody gear and clothing, Helgath and I silently washed up. Although we didn’t speak, the mental connection we shared made up for our lack of words. The intensity of the Half-Orcs emotions were hard to take at times. I could only filter some of what she felt. Not surprising after coming from the life she’d led to what she had with me now. It was a life beyond anything she’d ever imagined before.
The nudity wasn’t an issue. Skin meant less than nothing to her from her previous existence. Maybe I should have tried to change that, but honestly, it never crossed my mind. While I wasn’t exactly a nudist, skin didn’t trouble me. Besides, what was the taboo of skin when she had access to my every thought? That might sound odd to anyone without our mental connection, but whatever, it worked well for us.
We worked together to get the worst of the dried viscera, droplets of black goo, and blood off our gear and then did the same for Neysa’s fur. After two days of fighting and traveling, we were more than ripe. The Silver Dire Wolf mentally complained the whole time we scrubbed her down, but at the same time, she loved the attention. Not that it helped all that much with the stench, but it was better than running around with unidentifiable chunks of rotting organs and the stench of dried blood. A bath would have been better, but I just didn’t have the energy to put towards something like that.
A half an hour later found us all in bed. No, not the stinky, straw-filled sack on the tiny wooden frame in the corner that came with the room. There wouldn’t have been enough room for Helgath and I on that bug infested lump. Instead, we just laid out the thick hides I normally used as a bed on the stone floor in the middle of the room. That was the only way Neysa could curl-u
p on my shoulder, since she was now the size of a small horse. Helgath took her normal place on my other shoulder and pulled the covers over the two of us. Patting them both on the shoulders, I wished them goodnight and trigged the log out sequence.
My darkened computer room took shape around me as the door to the egg opened. Stripping off my gear, I guzzled down my water as I headed to the bathroom to take care of my body. Five minutes later I was warming up a frozen chili bowl and drinking a beer as I scarfed down some ham and cheese while I waited for the microwave.
A quick glance at my phone showed that I had a package in my box out front of my apartment building. It listed a code and a box number for where my package had been dropped off. Seeing that there was still five minutes left on my dinner, I threw on my sweatpants and ran out barefooted to the postboxes at the far end of the parking lot. Entering the code into the keypad, I grabbed my box and jogged back to my apartment.
Ripping the box open, I saw that it was the catheter and hydration system I’d purchased Friday night. Hearing the microwave beep, I set everything aside for the morning and wolfed down my food. Tossing the plastic container away and finishing off my beer, I headed to my bedroom while letting out a righteous belch. Drinking down another glass of water, I stripped off my sweatpants and topped off my water glass, before climbing into bed.
Instead of falling right to sleep, I found my thoughts turning towards Julie, my ex, as I stared at the dark ceiling. I hadn’t thought of her for a long time. Well, at least not lying in bed before falling asleep. Not that I was remembering our more tender moments. There actually weren’t many of those. Our relationship had been one of constant competition, whether it was in bed or gaming.
The reason she was weighing heavy on my mind was due to the rumors I’d heard of how she was making her money on the pro-gaming circuit. We were both in the same gig and people always talked. From what I’d been hearing, she ran a Twitch channel like I did, but had a side business making extra money by working for a game’s competitors. Supposedly, a lot of companies paid good money to have players wreak havoc in their competitors’ games, kind of like corporate espionage or hacking. My ex’s exploits in this arena were somewhat legendary if the rumors were to be believed. It made me seriously question her presence in The World and what she was up to. Honestly, it sounded like she was up to her old tricks again.
She’d always thought of me as a fool for just wanting to have fun by making money by playing my own game. My goodie-goodie two-shoe ideology was something she loved to ridicule me about. By her way of thinking, good guys always came in last. That was rich. I didn’t think anyone else would’ve called my play style that. I guess in comparison to how she played, I was a good guy.
Whatever, she could go suck a bag full of dicks, which, interestingly enough, was one of the reasons we’d broke-up. I smirked at the thought. At least, I could joke about that shit now. Even if I had to get blood tests for a year straight after I left her, before I was confident that I hadn’t caught anything nasty from her in real-life escapades. She was such a user.
Even though we’d never played the same game on the same server since our break-up, it looked like we were going to have to fight it out now. There was no doubt in my mind that she was up to something. I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. To be honest, I wanted nothing to do with her, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t do what was needed to rescue my friends and keep the game from imploding.
Closing my eyes, I did my best to forcibly calm my thoughts. It was an old meditating technique I’d learned to deal with my abusive past. On those bad nights, just calming my thoughts and closing my eyes was enough to force my body to relax. Besides, if I wanted to be ready for tomorrow, I knew I had to get some rest. Thankfully, sleep found me quickly enough. Unfortunately though, my consciousness faded away into stress-induced dreams of battling my ex-girlfriend.
Chapter Three
(Tuesday, May 6th / Day sixteen of The World)
I woke up feeling rough as my smart phone’s alarm went off across the room. Sitting up, I downed the large glass of water next to my bed, before staggering over to my bureau and silencing the alarm. Pausing for a moment, I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead until the shooting pains went away. Grabbing my empty glass, I carefully made my way to the bathroom and downed four ibuprofen and another glass of water, before climbing into the shower. I leaned my forehead against the shower’s cold glass, while I closed my eyes and let the hot water beat on me for a few minutes.
Last night’s dreams were still fresh in my mind, and they were probably what gave me the migraine this morning. Honestly, it felt like I’d relived every battle and fight that Julie and I had ever had inside and outside of the game. I knew why I felt like crap. My subconscious mind had chewed over the problem with my ex all night long. The good news was that I knew what I had to do today. The bad news was that this was far from over. If I ruined her plans in Telrain, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d come after me with a vengeance.
“Whatever, she could bring it on whenever she wanted.” I thought, with a grim smile. “I’d take her out like I always did.”
That’s not to say Julie was a pushover, because she wasn’t. Besides the personal connection we shared, she was the only one in our group that had ever come close to beating me on a regular basis. Skill-wise, she’d been the second best player at our LAN parties, and was now one of the top players on the pro-gaming circuit. On top of that, she had looks that could kill which she regularly used to get men to do what she wanted. Gamers were so predictable in that way. While I’d been able to handle her at our LAN parties, in a game like The World where there were millions of players and professional guilds with members numbering in the thousands, that would be another story altogether.
What confused me most was the whole situation with Domenic? Julie never did anything without a reason. I had a feeling she knew exactly who Dom was in-game, and this siege he was under was all part of some elaborate plan. It was almost like she was using him as bait to get me over to this side of the map. If that was the case, then how the hell did she find him in the first place? The map was so large and he was at the extreme end of the Isolde Line. I frowned, shaking my head. I’d have to talk to everyone and see what they thought, but I had an ugly feeling about this.
My head had stopped throbbing, which left me feeling almost human once again. It wasn’t until after I cleaned up and finished up the rest of my morning rituals that I noticed my body. Looking at myself in the mirror, I swore I didn’t have an ounce of fat left on me. I now had a highly defined six-pack, my cheekbones were sharp as a knife, and the rest of my body was so ripped that it looked like I never left the gym. It wasn’t a powerlifter’s physique, but more of what you’d expect from a hardcore triathlete.
While that was cool and all, it was also worrying. I somehow had to keep up my caloric intake. Otherwise, I could really hurt myself if I lost any more body fat. I’d never had this problem before while gaming. Most players talk about how they played eight to nine hours a day during the week and nearly twenty on the weekends, but honestly, those players were just weekend warriors. Most pro-gamers put in eighteen to twenty hours a day, six days a week into mastering their games. It was a harsh schedule that led to many gamers burning out, but it was what was required if you wanted to play pro and make the serious bucks.
The one thing about non-FIVR games was that you could eat and drink as you played or squeeze in bathroom breaks in-between matches. However, this new system put an unusual strain on my body that was somewhat worrying, which was why I’d purchased the catheter and hydration system. Hopefully, I could hook those up for the coming PVP battle for Telrain. While those add-ons wouldn’t help with my food intake, I’d at least stay hydrated and it would hopefully stop any bladder infections or such from occurring. For the rest, I’d just have to focus on eating more when I was outside the game.
Making my way to the kitchen, I was thankful once again that I
lived alone. The refrigerator was starting looking empty again. It didn’t help that I’d missed my normal grocery run on Sunday, but I didn’t dare miss out on our Darom landing. At least, I still had plenty of frozen meals, eggs, cheese, and bread. I used up the last of the bacon and made an eight-egg cheesy omelet with four slices of heavily buttered bread slathered with strawberry jam. Sitting down at the breakfast bar, I alternated between Cuban coffee and a large glass of water as I munched away while perusing my laptop.
LittleAsianGirl, aka Aren Dargoth in The World, was talking about the struggles he and JellyDonutMan were having with Jelly’s Nightmare start. Well, the problem actually wasn’t so much with the Nightmare quest, but players in the area who were hunting down Beastkin for fun and to use as slaves. John Fay and a few of his friends weren’t too far away. They’d already chimed in about swinging by to give them a hand. Everyone was asking me if that was alright, since that would stop them from being able to help with Domenic. They were all in the eighteen to twenty-one level range, which wouldn’t be any help against players and monsters in the high thirties and forties. I said as much in the email, explaining it was best if they just focused on getting their levels up. They might miss out on the PVP battle, but we’d definitely need their help in the near future for the Hobgoblin army headed our way.
There was some chatter amongst my friends about the thousand NPC strong force I’d brought with me into Telrain. I guess telling them hadn’t been quite enough for them, but seeing was believing. Whatever, I didn’t bother explaining that those thousand troopers were just a small part of my actual in-game forces. To have some fun, I copied over the screen shot I’d taken of Hefe and AJ passed out together cheek-to-cheek. I marked the message as “My first in-gaming meet-up with the crew!” and hit send. I didn’t usually have good blackmail material to share and that was one of my firsts in months. Grinning like a fiend, I switched over to Kyarina and Orion’s email chain.