“Looks like we didn’t need to step in after all.”
Frost simply grinned knowingly as Stacy walked over to them with a great big grin on her face. The jovial Knight encouraged her, the beaming grin never once leaving his face.
“Hey, nicely done!”
“Thanks. Gosh, death may not be real in this game, but the pain is.” She rubbed her side tenderly where the spider had recently struck a fresh blow.
Dusk replied in a solemn voice that showed he meant business. “The death is real too. Even if you don’t believe that, we should avoid ever dying. I don’t want to find out.”
Stacy waved off this comment with a flick of the wrist but agreed.
“It’s fine, none of us will die on my watch. I’ll be the best healer ever!”
Frost chimed in, speaking excitedly,
“And I’ll protect everyone!”
Dusk covered his face with his hand. He was surrounded by idiots.
“All right, now that Stacy knows how to fight we can really start what we came out here to do, which is doing combat quests and gaining experience. I was originally going to just do this with Stacy, but...” Dusk glanced over at Frost. “Do you want to come with us, Frost?”
“Yeah, sure! You guys seem cool!”
Dusk smiled warmly and began walking towards their next objective.
“Good, then let’s get started.”
Frost scratched his head as he saw Dusk walking away. It would seem this know it all Phantom decided on a plan without letting his teammates in on the loop.
“Hey, Dusk, where are you going, man?”
Dusk stopped in his tracks and craned his head back towards Frost.
“Listen... in MMOs you typically gain more experience if you do combat quests, rather than just mindlessly killing mobs. If we want to level up as fast as possible this is the best way to go.”
Dusk pointed to the west where there was a faint trace of light amidst the critter-laden darkness.
“There is a camp in that direction, which most likely means combat quests for us to do, so we need to go to that camp and get some quests. Then we can fight mobs to our heart’s content.”
Frost’s mouth was slightly agape; he seemed to be impressed by the knowledge this Phantom possessed. It was as though he were a walking encyclopedia of videogame knowhow.
“Oh, I see. You certainly seem to know a lot about MMOs.”
A cocky smirk appeared on Dusk’s face; he couldn’t resist the chance to brag.
“Well I have played MMOs for nine years now and I’ve often been the best player.”
“So in other words, he’s a huge nerd,” Stacy chimed in sarcastically.
“More like MMO Superstar.” Dusk stuck out his chest proudly.
“Oh, Lord.”
“Anyways, stick with me, Frost, and you have a better chance of saving everyone. I have a plan to get us all to max level before anyone else.”
Frost leaned forward and placed his hand roughly on Dusk’s shoulder.
“Sounds good. Lead the way then...nerd.”
Dusk scowled while Stacy burst out laughing.
“I swear, I’m about to leave both of you behind and solo my way to level 50.” Dusk spoke with jest peppered into his voice.
Frost chuckled heartily. “Sorry, my bad man, I was kidding.”
“I know; so was I.”
They had made their way to the camp, the weak light growing increasingly pronounced with each step. As expected, within the camp resided several quest NPCs, each with a plethora of requests for them to fulfill. After an hour of fighting mobs Stacy and Dusk were becoming encumbered by the crushing weight of fatigue. They had been playing for eight hours straight now. Now level 6, the exhaustion was weighing down on them. Dusk finally spoke up, seeking an end to the endless grind.
“Hey, Frost, I think me and Stacy are gonna call it a night.”
Frost halted his advance and turned to face Dusk, the confusion plain on his face.
“What, you guys are tired? This is a game isn’t it? So how are you tired?”
“Ah yeah, about that... there’s one thing I forgot to mention to you earlier, Stacy. You should hear it too, Frost. Aside from the HP and MP bars on our UI we have a third bar called SP; you guys didn’t notice it by now?”
Stacy simply replied, “Nope.” Frost shook his head indicating he didn’t notice it either. Dusk nodded and continued speaking.
“Well, you can see the three bars, right? HP is red; MP is blue; SP is yellow. If you hover over the yellow bar, it’ll give you an explanation of what SP does.”
Stacy and Frost both did as Dusk asked. As their eyes studied the description, they understood the purpose of SP.
“So that’s why I’m tired,” Stacy huffed out through a yawn.
“Yeah. Right now we both have about 80 SP left, Stacy, and you’re supposed to sleep at 100 or less SP, so we really need to find someplace to sleep soon. What about you, Frost?”
“No problem, I still have 150 SP so I can go for a little more.”
Dusk folded his arms and nodded at the sociable Knight.
“All right, this is where we part ways then. But before that, Frost is it okay if we add you to our friends list and party up tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure thing. Let’s do this again tomorrow.”
After adding Dusk and Stacy to his friends list he started running off towards a group of mobs, ready to charge headlong into the fray. Nothing seemed to slow this man down. He turned around one last time to wave a friendly farewell.
“It was fun, guys. See ya around!”
Dusk and Stacy both reciprocated the gesture.
“How is he so energetic anyways?” Dusk wondered out loud.
Stacy’s yawn drowned out all attempts at inquiry. The fatigue was becoming contagious. “Who knows? I’m sleepy. Let’s find a place to sleep please.”
“Right.”
After a ten minute walk, they had made their way back into the capital city. It was almost eerily quiet now, though the silence was making Dusk want to doze off even more. After a tireless search he spotted a large sign which read Dusty Cliffs Inn. Relief spilled out from him as he found the salvation to their slumber crisis. He strolled up to the door and slowly rotated the wooden doorknob. The door responded with a whiny creak as he entered the lounge.
The lobby of the inn was lined with about twenty wooden tables, all adorned with white tablecloth and surrounded by chairs which seemed to be the same mahogany finish. The scent of freshly baked bread wafted into his nostrils, giving him a tiny spike of energy.
Dusk glanced to his left and spotted someone behind a desk of cherry wood. The surface sparkled with an unrivaled shine with no objects to cover over its beauty, save the exception of a single notepad and pen. The NPC who rested behind the desk was a stout man with black hair and black eyes who looked to be in his thirties. A scruffy looking mustache and beard covered the lower half of his face in a thick blanket. He was dressed in a sweater, crisscrossed with red and black squares. He was the spitting image of a lumberjack.
“How can I help you folks today?” the NPC inquired.
Dusk simply replied, “Room for two please.”
“Okay, that’ll be 120 crylla.”
“Right... one second.”
Crylla was the currency that was used in this world: currency, the crude system that humans use to provide services to one another. In the real world, you exchange currency for a service, and humanity considers that equivalent exchange. Currency has caused bloodshed and grabs for control, as well as countless divorces and arguments; an utterly primitive system that makes the world as we know it go around. Within this virtual world, crylla was that lifeblood. Dusk took a moment to reflect to himself.
I’ve never actually traded crylla to an NPC or a player before. If I think back to other MMOs, there was always a trade option. Maybe that will work here.
“Trade,” Dusk said.
Nothing happened. Dusk was n
onplussed; he expected that to work for sure. Hmm, well if trade won’t work then...
“Inventory.” Upon saying this, Dusk’s inventory screen opened up as usual. He could see in the lower right hand corner of his inventory there was a small coin symbol which said 643. So he had 643 crylla. He hovered his index finger and clicked the coin symbol. A box appeared which said,
How much crylla do you want to withdraw?
[ ]
Dusk entered the amount 120. After doing so, a small bag appeared in his hand. Judging from the weighty sensation of the bag, and the sound of metal clanking, it certainly had to be the 120 crylla that Dusk had requested to withdraw. Dusk handed it over to the NPC and asked politely, “Will this do?”
The NPC responded with words that he was probably programmed to say to every single player who paid him.
“Thank you for your business. Here’s your room keys, enjoy your stay.”
“Thanks.” Dusk replied flatly. He wasn’t sure why he was exchanging pleasantries with an NPC who probably didn’t care. He was so used to it from all the false pleasantries he had exchanged with other people in the real world who worked in the service industry. It was one of the unwritten rules of society that when interacting in a business or service capacity there were always things you say. Things such as, “Thank you, have a nice day.” This practice was etched so deep into his mind that he said these things out of reflex without even thinking about them or meaning them, and why wouldn’t he?
This was a ritual which was so often done without thought by a great many people in this day and age. These superficial meaningless words provided a shaky raft which kept their way of life afloat. Without these minor pleasantries, what would society become? Would the very face of the world be changed? Or would the fragile foundations upon which society is propped collapse like a house of cards?
Once he got the keys he made his way up the stairs with Stacy trudging slowly behind him. He unlocked the door to their room. Inside were two beds draped in burgundy, flanked by a cherry oak nightstand on each side.
As they made their way into their room, Dusk’s eyes wandered, noticing a bathroom to their left. The floor consisted of a mixture of white and turquoise ceramic tile, with matching tile walls. Jet black granite coated the countertop in its dark grip. There was a sink, toilet, bathtub, and shower just like a normal bathroom. Dusk wondered why there was a toilet here. In the eight hours he had been here, he never once felt like he had to use the toilet. Maybe it’s for decoration, he shrugged.
Dusk felt a warm and gentle touch as Stacy nudged him out of the way.
“I think I’m gonna go take a shower. Then I’ll go to sleep. A girl’s gotta be clean you know.”
Dusk, being exhausted himself, smirked weakly. Merely keeping his eyes open was a struggle.
“Okay, you do that. I’m just gonna go straight to sleep.”
“Okay, see you in the morning, Drake. Oh, and one more thing;” Stacy smiled at him. “I had a lot of fun today.”
“Yeah, me too; goodnight, Stacy.”
“Night, night.”
Stacy closed the bathroom door with a thud. Dusk sluggishly made his way to bed, nearly stumbling over himself. Once he reached his destination, he simply fell backwards, letting gravity take its course.
As soon as he hit the mattress, his entire body released itself from the shackles of stress that bound him. He closed his eyes and blew the air away, clearing his mind completely. All the worries of the day had melted away into the amazing bed upon which he lay. The fact that his entire world had been turned upside down, the fact that the icy cold hand of death could claim him if he made a single mistake, having to learn the game from scratch and what lay in store for them the next day; none of that mattered right now. The only thing on his mind was that after what he had been through earlier in the day, being in that room, on that comfortable bed right then... he felt like he was in Heaven’s embrace. He soon drifted off into a deep sleep...
September 16, 2018
Dusk was in total darkness. Far in the distance he heard a feminine voice. Her voice echoed through the abyss calling his name.
“Drake.” The voice seemed to be getting closer.
What is it? He tried to respond, but his voice had been snatched away from him.
“Drake, wake up!” Suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder. The darkness began to gradually subside with her warmth as his eyes slowly opened to the world around him. Where was he? In the few seconds of his awakening several thoughts raced through his mind briefly. He noticed this room wasn’t the one he usually woke up in. Where was this? He looked over to his side and noticed a woman who possessed blonde curls and a pale complexion. She was wearing a warm smile. What was she doing here?
Then all of the memories of yesterday came rushing back to him in a flash flood. The VRMMO called War of the Elements. A world that had everything you could ask for in an MMO. He remembered questing and exploring the city. He remembered meeting Frost and learning how to fight. Most of all he recalled the fact that this was a world where the shadow of death was waiting to swallow them up if any of them should die in this game—remembering that last fact made him feel like he had been kicked in the stomach.
He gave a once over to the blonde woman, who seemed to be looking at him with an expression of feigned anger.
“How long were you going to sleep, Drake? You’re such an old man I swear.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. How long was I asleep, Stacy?”
She planted her hands at her hips.
“You were asleep for nine hours! I was wondering if you were ever gonna get up.”
“C’mon, Stacy, nine hours isn’t that bad. I’ve slept for twelve hours straight before.”
Stacy gasped as though she had just had an earth shattering confession dropped on her.
“How do you even do that? I can’t sleep any longer than eight hours a day.”
“Yeah well, some people are different than others.”
Stacy stared at Dusk dumbfounded, as if she had just been struck by an unbelievable revelation. As much as this knowledge of her longtime friend amazed her, there was nothing more she could think of to add to this discussion. Accepting this fact, she altered the topic of conversation randomly, as she was prone to do.
“Well, we’ve got a lot of things to do today, Drake, so let’s go.”
Dusk thrust his arm out with an open palm in Stacy’s direction as if he was directing traffic.
“Hold on, Stacy! I still need to take a shower before we go. After that I’ll be ready, okay?”
“All right, but hurry up. I’ll be waiting outside the inn.”
“Okay, got it.”
Stacy walked out of their room, shutting the door behind her and leaving her Phantom friend with his thoughts. Dusk welcomed his moment of solitude. He had needed some peace and quiet for a bit. He needed to reflect on everything that had happened and decide what to do from there. But first he would go take a shower. He slowly walked to the hodgepodge of white and turquoise and stepped inside the tub. He turned the nozzle and waited for the relaxing rays of water to touch his skin. Much to his surprise, a shower here felt just like a shower in the real world.
If nothing else, he had to admire the people who made this game. They managed to somehow replicate the senses so accurately in a virtual reality environment: taste, touch, and now the soothing sensation of a shower. It all felt real. Unfortunately, the death was just as real as everything else. He thought back to how this game had been warped to someone’s deranged fantasy. This game was originally meant to be a fun journey where someone could immerse themselves in a new world. How could it have turned into this? He remembered the dreadful system message that he had read yesterday. Was this the goal of the game all along?
Is this what the creators had in mind, or did someone else do this? One question kept poking and prodding at his brain ceaselessly. Why would anyone do this? What could motivate someone to play this kind of sick game o
n millions of people? What kind of monster would derive enjoyment from this sadistic act?
There are plenty of scenarios he could come up with, but at this point he would have to push those thoughts aside, as they would get him nowhere. Rather than thinking about questions that couldn’t be answered, he needed to think about what to do to get out of this virtual penitentiary. Getting to max level was one of those things. There were also some things he needed to get along the way that would help him in that endeavor, such as better gear, and competent players that he could party with. A full party in War of the Elements consisted of five players. He had already added a person to their group when he met Frost, so he needed to find two more competent players if he hoped to really be at the top of this game, and eventually save everyone by clearing War of the Elements.
He also needed a mount. A mount was a mode of transportation that was faster than walking. A horse is a good example, though the selection of mounts could vary wildly from bears, elephants, zebras, even flying dragons. It wasn’t the most realistic thing, but the big draw of an MMO world was making fantasy seem real. Some MMOs allowed you to get a mount as early as level 10. Perhaps he could hit 10 today and then Stacy and he could get a mount. He also planned on buying new gear today too, as he didn’t much appreciate the poor handiwork which went into his starter outfit. Well-made MMOs were vast and complex worlds, with many facets to explore. This MMO in particular, being virtual reality, would operate differently from the rest. Dusk estimated that it would take a month or more to fully learn how to do everything in this world. If they survived, that is.
Enough of these thoughts; Dusk admonished himself. He always had a habit of over thinking everything. I need to calm myself for the day ahead. The stressed Phantom spent the next five minutes emptying his mind of all worries, relaxing himself to prepare for the strenuous day that was ahead of them.
He turned off the shower nozzle, dried himself off, and then re-equipped his gear.
The videogame veteran strolled to his room door and prepared himself for what lay ahead. It was time to get this day started.
As soon as Dusk opened the front door, the radiant sunlight blinded him. The sky was a breathtaking blue with not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful day; a stark contrast to the lightning blasts that had been booming in the skies last night. He imagined if he stayed in this world too long, he wouldn’t be able to tell reality from fantasy any longer. He looked straight ahead at Stacy, who was tapping her foot impatiently, as if she had been waiting on him for days.
The Virtual Realm Page 6