Kegan woke up in his cabin in the dream world. Even though his emotions were often muted in this place, he could still feel the emotions he died with lingering in his mind. Jotun was dead, many of the warriors he had trained with would be dead. The village of Woodhaven and its people would either be on the run and fighting for their survival in goblin infested wilderness, or the empire would catch up and they’d be dead too. It all seemed so pointless, as if everything he had done in the last three months was thrown into a fire and burned to ashes.

Kegan got up. In this strange dream world even his feelings of hopelessness were muted and somewhat distant. All he felt was a slight compulsion to go outside and choose some new perks again. He opened the door and the blue spirit was there to greet him.

“Hello adventurer Kegan! Congratulations on a very successful playthrough! You defeated the goblin menace, you learned new crafting recipes and you learned new fighting techniques. Most importantly of all though, you bravely participated in a full scale battle where your side was hopelessly outnumbered! Are you excited to hear of the experience points you’ve gained?!”

“My friends are either dead or running for their lives, and all you want to talk about are points. Show me what I have earned and then send me back to help the others.”

“Ah, sorry, once you have died in an instanced world you will be unable to return to that world. Now for your poi---”

“What the hell do you mean! I always return to the same world, just send me back, this is a waste of time!”

“No, each instance of the game world is unique. State of the art algorithms and computers are used to generate generate generate generaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--”

There was a familiar screeching noise, and a hole appeared in the air next to the blue spirit. The golden spirit emerged from it once again.

Kegan quickly greeted it.

“Golden spirit! I am glad you are here. This blue spirit is refusing to send me back to the world. I need you to hurry and send me back.”

“Kegan, I’m afraid what the blue spirit said is accurate. The worlds you reincarnate into are all very similar, but they are not exactly the same. The valley you start in is the same, but it is usually the only part of the world that is the same through each reincarnation. Right now there is no way to send you back to a world where you have died. This ‘dream world’, as you think of it, is timeless, so there would be no need to ever rush your decisions here.”

Kegan felt a knot in his stomach as if he was going to be sick. The dream world muted the feeling, as if it was somehow someone else’s stomach. Kegan felt frustration at not even being able to properly feel for the loss of his friends, but the frustration was muted as well. He hated this place. But there was a kernel of hope in what the golden spirit had said.

“What do you mean when you said ‘right now’?”

“The immortality perk system is very powerful. I don’t know the full capabilities of the system, and it is possible that there are meta perks that can be unlocked for travelling to already visited worlds. However, if such a perk exists, it probably has very difficult unlock conditions and a very high price. I don’t want to give you false hope.”

The mish mash of muted emotions Kegan was experiencing was beginning to get annoying, and he wanted a distraction.

“Can you show me the points I earned and the perks available?”

“Yes, to start with you carried over 11,230 experience points. Here is the breakdown of the points you earned”

An image appeared next to the spirit:

Activity

Times completed

Points per activity

Total Points earned

Survive a day

107

1

107

Kill 5 baby goblins

9

1

9

Kill 1 adult goblin

314

1

314

Kill 1 elite goblin

4

5

20

Kill goblin broodmother

1

25

25

Establish new house

1

20

20

Meet five new people

16

1

16

Kill an adult Human

15

25

375

Participate in small scale battle (10-100 combatants, minimum of 5 on each side)

1

between 10 and 100 points depending on level of contribution, and survival

87

Participate in medium scale battle (100-1000 combatants, minimum of 50 on each side)

1

between 100 and 1000 points depending on level of contribution, and survival

490

1,463

“You now have a total of 12,693 points, and this would normally be a good time for you to select perks, but we aren’t going to do that.”

Kegan tilted his head, confused at this change of pace, “Why?”

“You aren’t ready. I have limited abilities to read your surface thoughts and emotions, and even with the dream world trying to mute your emotions you are in turmoil. We don’t need to rush this. You are immortal Kegan.”

“Were the villagers right? Am I a god?”

“I don’t know. You are definitely different from the normal humans you meet. But like I said last time, they are as real as you are. Don’t treat them badly.”

“I don’t want to treat them badly, I liked them. But losing them hurts, even in this strange realm I can still feel the pain.”

“I know, and that is why you aren’t going to choose your perks right now. I can use 500 of your experience points and craft a different kind of world for you. A world without other humans. You can take as much time as you need, and when you are ready to try again with humans you can speak with the blue spirit, or just end your life with the suicide perk.”

“Will I still have to deal with the goblins?”

“Yes, they are part of the valley that you reincarnate into. It is possible to change that, but it requires experience points, and I think you should save them as much as you can.”

Kegan felt a sense of relief pushing through the emotional barrier.

“Thank you, I will do this. Can I see you again when I come back here?”

“Maybe, but probably not. The more challenges you overcome, and the more experience you gain the easier it is for me to break into this realm. Eventually it can become permanent.”

“You are much better than the blue spirit.”

“Thank you, but that is a very low threshold.”

“What happens now?”

“You go back. The first month will be very familiar to you if you choose to stay in the valley. Or you can leave and simply wander the world. Take your time.”

Kegan’s vision shifted and he was once again in the real world, on top of the mountain, and facing the blue spirit.

“Hacker! Please halt and activate your suicide perk to end the game session.”

The blue spirit had started talking at Kegan as soon as he appeared in the world.

“What are you talking about evil spirit?”

“I am missing memories from two of your visits now. Once could have been a glitch, but twice is a hack. I’ll be reporting you to the game masters. You can expect a visit from our lawyers any day now. Until then would you please activate your suicide perk and remain in the server lobby.”

“I look forward to the day when I no longer have to deal with you.”

Kegan began walking down the mountain into the valley with his cabin. He could hear the blue spirit shouting and screaming threats at him until it was out of his hearing range.