Load Custom Character

by Tyler R Lee

  Lysander made it to the door and opened it before Peter said, without looking up, “And what if you die?”

  The wizard’s head and shoulders slumped as he took in the words. Then, in a much calmer but no less defiant voice, he answered, “Out there, in the real world, I’m a black man living in a reality where I could get shot for breathing wrong during a traffic stop. But, in here, I’m a dark elf wizard. I’d rather fight in either world than lay down and die, but at least in here, I have power.” He let out a small chuckle at the last part.

  A few heartbeats of silence passed between the two before Lysander turned his head and, with a look of sincerity of his face, said, “I hope you change your mind. With your experience, you could save a lot of lives.”

  “I told you, I haven’t been slaying dragons. I’ve been fighting goblins and kobalds for gold.”

  “Doesn’t matter, man. Whether in real life or in a video game, XP is XP.”

  ***

  After Lysander left, Peter had taken his sitting and pondering over to the desk by the window. The light was still illuminating the room enough that he could see everything clearly if he looked around. He didn’t, however. He stared at the table, thinking about what Lysander had said. His friend wasn’t going to sit around and wait. Lysander, and many others, were going to fight. Peter thought many times about getting up, finding Lysander, and telling him he was in. But everytime he thought this, he remembered that helpless feeling with the goblins. That feeling when he thought he could be of help, but then couldn’t even help himself.

  “Hey,” he heard a soft voice call from the doorway. He turned quickly, never even hearing the doorknob, and saw green eyes looking back at him, with long, raven black hair, and colorful chainmail under metal armor. “I knocked, but you didn't answer. The door was open. Mind if I come in?” Her voice was one of concern, and Peter nodded slowly as he turned in his chair to face towards her.

  Ariel didn’t immediately start up a conversation, and Peter was perfectly content to sit in silence. He preferred to be alone, but he couldn’t deny the fact that it was nice to see her.

  “We haven’t seen you in a while,” she finally said.

  “We?”

  “ShieldBro, Lysander, myself. I...I started helping them out, trying to recruit others to attempt to beat the game and get out.”

  “I heard.”

  “Yeah. Lysander said he came to talk to you. He said you...he said you didn’t want to help?” It was a question, not a retelling of what Lysander had told her.

  Peter didn’t respond. He just looked down and counted the virtual lines in the virtual wooden floor.

  “Why not?” Ariel asked when she was certain he wouldn’t respond. There was no annoyance, no disappointment or judgment in her question. Just an honest curiosity and concern.

  “What could I do? Honestly, what help would I be?”

  “Loads of help. We need all the--”

  “You remember what happened with the goblins. I almost got myself, you, and that guy killed.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I was so stupid.” The growing self-loathing in Peter’s voice was easily heard. “I thought I could save him. Be a hero. But, like everything else, I ended up helpless.” He looked up at Ariel, who looked back with confused eyes. “If you hadn’t been there, he and I would have both died.”

  “You have some impressive selective memory.” There was just a bit of an edge to Ariel’s concerned tone. This brought Peter’s eyes to hers. “Know what I remember? I remember a brave kid rushing into a group of goblins that outnumbered him because someone was in trouble. I remember him showing some impressive moves against some bad odds.”

  “And then what happened?” Peter had a bit of an edge to his voice, now.

  “Bad luck, life, I don’t know. You got hurt. And, yeah, I helped, because I have your back. Because I’m your friend.”

  Peter looked away again, but Ariel leaned forward to keep his attention. “And that is exactly what we...why I want you to be on our team. I...we need someone like you. Someone we can count on.”

  “You shouldn’t count on me. I’ve never been good at anything. I’ve certainly never had to watch anyone’s back. I’ll just let you...let everyone down. I just can’t do that. I can’t live with that.”

  “But you can live like this?” Ariel said as she motioned to the dimly lit virtual room.

  When Peter didn’t answer or even look up, she continued. “You think I don’t understand what you’re saying, what you’re feeling? Peter, I do, I swear. You don’t feel like you are worth anything because no one has ever made you feel like you were worth anything. In fact, they probably made you feel like less than nothing.”

  He didn’t look up, but Ariel certainly hit on what Peter was feeling.

  “So, you don’t feel like you have what it takes to help yourself, so the thought of being vital to someone else, let alone their survival, is unbearable. How could you possibly do that? Right?”

  He still didn’t look up, not until her next words. That got his attention.

  “I’ll bet your parents don’t give a damn about anything you do. I’ll bet they even put you down when you speak up if your opinion strays even the smallest bit from theirs. Am I right? Yeah, I know that feeling. My dad is the same way. My mom died a long time ago, and ever since, my dad hasn’t given a damn about me. He’s too concerned with his new girl of the week. He never says I did well on anything, never praises any accomplishments I have, but he’ll jump at the chance to tell me I’m wrong, put me down about what I do or how I dress, and let me know I’m still just a ‘dumb ass little girl.’”

  Ariel’s voice had broken ever so slightly halfway through her speech and tears had filled her eyes soon after. Peter saw because he couldn’t look away. She did understand. Peter was smart. He wasn’t naive enough to think he was the only person in the world to have the same issues he had. But, he had never been able to really talk about it with anyone. No one that understood, at least. She got it. But, then, how was she able to go out there and have people count on her? Peter still couldn’t grasp having the strength to do that.

  After she wiped her eyes and tried to laugh off the uncomfortable silence she felt she had brought about, Ariel turned for the door. She stopped before she got there and turned to face her friend. “Peter,” she said in a much softer, but still firm tone. “I get that you’re scared. I get that you are afraid to die, and that this, none of this is fair. But...you have to realize...it isn’t about just you. It’s about all of us.” After that, she turned, opened the door, and closed it behind her as she walked out.

  Peter sat in silence, staring at the door for a long time. He noticed tears were falling down his face, and he wondered how long that had been happening.

  ***

  Still isolated in his room aside from going out to gather more gold from killing low-level monsters, Peter didn’t receive any more visitors for a few days. When he finally did, it was ShieldBro, his oldest online friend. After knocking and hearing Peter’s voice grant him access, ShieldBro casually walked in, smile on his face, and sat at the desk, across from Peter. He didn’t immediately go into a speech about how they need Peter’s help. He didn’t start berating him for refusing both Lysander and Ariel. Instead, he looked around and simply said, “nice room.”

  A bit surprised, Peter responded in typical sarcastic fashion when he wasn’t sure what to say. “Couldn’t afford the Hilton, ya know. Kobalds don’t pay out that much.”

  “Nah. You don’t need it.” ShieldBro seemed to scrutinize the small, dark, nearly empty room for a moment. “You need a poster or a wall scroll though.”

  “Yeah, that’d really pull the room together.” Peter let out a small chuckle as ShieldBro did the same.

  After the brief respite from the imminent situation, the two sat in silence for a few heartbeats until ShieldBro broke it. “So, how long are you going to stay in here?” His tone had no sign of accusation
or sarcasm. He was honestly just asking.

  “As long as I can,” was all Peter could think to respond with.

  “I get it. It’s safe here.” Again, no judgement.

  Peter stared hard at his old friend. Finally, he asked, “so why...er...so, what’s up, Shield?”

  As if remembering that he had things to do, ShieldBro looked around and responded with, “oh, nothing much. I’m actually going to scout out a bit further today, north of the town, past Split Rock Canyon, see if I can find anything that hints about how to get off this island and to the mainland where Mount Apex is.”

  “I see.”

  “Yeah, I, uh, just wanted to come by and see if you wanted to join me. Everyone else is off doing other things to help out, so I could use a hand. Interested?”

  Peter sat there for a few seconds, then, calmly, looking down at the floor, answered, “no, Shield. Sorry.”

  “Hey, hey. No need to apologize. I can just wait until someone gets back and then head out with them.”

  After that, ShieldBro made for the door. As he walked across the room, he waved back at Peter and said, “I’ll see ya later, buddy.”

  “Shield,” Peter called before the door shut.

  “Yeah, Pete.”

  “Be...be careful, man.”

  ShieldBro chuckled. “Of course. I can’t die here. I gotta get back home. My wife and I only just got married a few weeks before all this. She’d kill me if I didn’t make it back.”

  As the door shut, Peter’s eyes went wide with shock. Then, anger swelled up inside him. Everything just kept piling up. This whole thing was so unfair. He was just a kid, just like so many other people in Our World. But, even so, everyone trapped here was just someone who had wanted to play a video game that day. They had families, people who loved them. They didn’t deserve to be here. And now, his friend had a new bride in the real world, but he had been trapped in here like some kind of prisoner forced to fight for his life. But, in the end, what could he do? What could any of them do?

  ***

  After another few days, Peter needed to go farm more gold to purchase his room for a few more nights. The talks he had with Lysander and Ariel still replayed in his mind. But, it was his brief, seemingly unrelated chat with ShieldBro that kept coming to the forefront.

  “My wife and I only just got married…”

  “I gotta get back home.”

  “...just got married…”

  “...if I don’t make it back...don’t make it back...make it back.”

  He was so focused on ShieldBro’s comments, that he was jerked back to the present when he heard someone else mention his friends online ID as he made his way to the edge of town. By the smithy shop, he heard three players discussing something when ShieldBro’s name was mentioned.

  “So you haven’t heard anything from ShieldBro?” one asked.

  “Nope. Not a single message. Haven’t seen or heard from him,” answered another.

  “How long has he been gone?” asked the third.

  “Been about a day now since he and a few others left to go on another scouting mission. I told him he should wait for more than just two other players, but he insisted that this needed to be done.”

  “Shouldn’t we go looking for him?” the first asked. “A day isn’t too long, but combined with him not answering or responding to messages…”

  However, Peter didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. His mind raced with possibilities, all of them grim. ShieldBro, his oldest friend, was missing. He had gone on his mission and had not come back yet. Even worse, it was the mission that he asked Peter for help on. It was as if irony had slapped Peter across the face. He had been so scared that if he got involved he would just be a detriment, that his inaction may have cost his friend his life.

  His mind made up, Peter, alone, made for the area that ShieldBro had told him about. Peter didn’t think himself brave, he didn’t believe he was particularly skilled at the game, and he didn’t even think he would be of any help whatsoever. But, the thought of his oldest friend being hurt because he failed to act was too much to bare. It was worse than the fear of the enemies in this virtual world, worse than the thought of failure, worse than his fear of death.

  Chapter 6

  On his way out of the village to the river that would lead him to Split Rock Canyon, Peter saw only a few players. He had noticed that, since the announcement, fewer ventured out of town. Like him, like everyone, they were afraid. Here, in the wilderness of virtual reality were dangers they never faced in the real world; dangers that would kill them if they dropped their guard. And death in the game now meant death in real life. How could anyone who had simply logged on that day to play a game not be terrified?

  Still, a few were found questing, gathering, leveling. However, Peter noticed that they didn’t have the happy, smiling faces of those from that first day, that same face that he had worn. Now, they wore a stern look of determination. They were no longer playing for fun. They were no longer “playing” at all. They were surviving. They were fighting for their lives.

  Outside of a few kobalds, which he had become adept at fighting, Peter encountered very little as he followed the river. Very soon, the land around him raised into cliff sides that climbed higher and higher until he was fully within the area of Split Rock Canyon. Still, outside of a few groups of kobalds, he saw nothing. No sign of Shield or anyone else. As he moved further into the canyon, his resolve started to waver and he began to question the intelligence of coming here alone. Wasn’t coming here with too few the exact mistake ShieldBro had made. What was he doing here?

  Before his confidence could erode completely, he heard it in the distance, deeper into the canyon, echoing off the stone walls: metal clanging against metal. Without giving a second thought to how bad of an idea this might have actually been, Peter took off sprinting toward the sound. The canyon walls were funneling it from quite a ways away. He felt like he had ran miles before he noticed the sound of grunting between the metal clashes. He was almost upon whatever was going on.

  He continued to run until he was forced to come to an abrupt stop at the edge of a short drop. However, it was what he saw in the hollow just below that caught his attention. Among the rocks and rubble below were goblins. Dozens of goblins, with more on the ridge on the other side of the hollow. They were crying and yelling, raising their weapons into the air in a frenzy. Scattered throughout were several corpses of their brethren. But, what drew Peter’s gaze was at the end opposite the ridge full of screaming goblins trying to make their way down to join the havoc. It was a person, knelt and leaning on his sword, breathing heavy, blood caked on his face and part of his white armor.

  “Shield!” Peter gasped as far too many goblins closed in on his friend.

  ***

  ShieldBro breathed in and out slowly. His health was low, only about one-third of his max. If it fell to zero, he was done. The goblins would finish him off in no time. “Fine mess I got myself into,” he said quietly as he lamented coming out with only two companions, now dead because of his impatience. He smiled as he realized he would soon atone for that oversight. One of the goblins came in with a spear, and ShieldBro resigned himself to just accept his fate. He closed his eyes and waited for the spear to make its painful contact. Instead, he heard a crash where the goblin was and felt a small rush of air from the impact that knocked him over. Disoriented, he looked up and couldn’t believe what he saw. However, instead of a look of astonishment or shock, he just smiled at the image of Peter atop the clearly dead goblin, his fist in its throat. “Took you long enough,” he grinned.

  “Self-loathing takes a lot of time,” Peter responded. “What the hell were you doing coming into this high-level area with just two other players?”

  “I had it handled,” ShieldBro joked.

  “What happened?” Peter asked as he jumped backward, landing beside his companion and taking a fighting stance.

  “We were ambushed pretty quickly,” ShieldBr
o responded as he groaned and pushed himself up with his sword. Peter handed him two healing potions, and he chugged them, fully restoring his HP. “We lost Trevor in the canyon, and the goblins blocked off the way back. RealRyu and I ran from them for a full day, never being out of their range long enough to get a message off. Then, we lost our footing and fell into this hollow. They surrounded and attacked. His body only recently faded away.”