Horn woke up to a beep of the machine. He opened his eyes, lying in a comfortable bed. It surprised him, but then looking around, he realized he was out of the game. It startled him, being back in the real world, feeling an almost forgotten softness of the mattress. It was so familiar, yet so alien at the same time.

Slowly, he relaxed. The stress of the past few days felt so distant. There wasn’t an immediate crisis to solve or a timer to count against. That game was too real, or he made it too real for himself. But such complex thoughts quickly left his mind as his stomach urged for food.

He forced himself to get up and looked around a room. It looked like any hotel room he ever stayed in. A single king-sized bed, a door probably leading into a bathroom, a desk, a tv, and a micro kitchen which meant an electric kettle, a minifridge, and a microwave. He opened the fridge and took a soda out. Drinking the bubbly was another almost forgotten feeling. Usually, he drank at least a can a day, but there was none of that for the past week. Surprisingly, before reaching for one just now, he didn’t miss it. He finished his drink and decided to head out. Before that, he just took a long shower. The warm water felt as amazing as the rest of the comforts he almost forgot about. He changed into new clothes and opened the door.

The moment he exited the room, his com implant pinged. Picking up, he heard, “Mister Kowalsky, glad to see you awake. Please report to the lobby at ten hundred. Your technician Charles will be waiting there for you for a post-game session.”

“Uhm, sure. Thanks, I guess? How do I find the lobby? And is there any place I can eat breakfast before that?”

“Of course! The cafeteria is on the bottom floor, just take an elevator. If you download the Gaia Deep Immersion app, it’ll show you the map of the complex. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. Enjoy your stay! Bye-bye”

He quickly downloaded the app and finally found where he was. It was an accommodation complex next to the immersion center, and they were even connected by an airwalk. He followed the map and reached the cafeteria, it wasn’t packed full, but there were quite a few people out there talking excitedly. Most were of similar age to Peter, probably the fellow players. He was interested in what they had to say and what they experienced, but first, he was hungry. Really hungry, like he didn’t eat for a week, which was somewhat true.

Eggs, bacon, toasts, tomato slices, and a large glass of OJ, that was the breakfast of kings! Horn began devouring it like there was no tomorrow. Filling the first hunger, he added some muffins, a fruit mix, and a large portion of ice cream on top of that. He was enjoying the sweets as a girl approached his table. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place her anywhere.

“Horn, isn’t it?” She asked,

“Yea,” he nodded,

The confusion had to be clear in his eyes as she said, “Oh, you didn’t recognize me. I’m Ellaine. Is this seat free?”

“Yea, sure. Ellaine?” Then he remembered, “The cat lady! Hi, how are you doing?”

“Never been called the cat lady before, still much better than a crazy cat lady.” She chuckled, “But fine, just enjoying the civilization.”

“Same here. It’s crazy how fast you can forget about the comforts of a warm, soft bed,” He said, then realized how it could sound. He blushed, “I mean, you know.”

An easy laugh was the answer.

“So, how did your tutorial go?” He changed the subject,

“Quite well, thanks for the tip. Managed to get into the challenge.” She replied,

“Same here. That was a slaughter. We almost didn’t make it in the end.”

“Oh? It was a challenge but wasn’t so bad. The twist with the villagers turning into werewolves almost got me. Thankfully my tracker smelled their strange scent soon enough.”

“Villagers? Werewolves? I got dumped into a castle defense against a horde of undead, with my champions pissing off even before I got there.”

“Wow, we had personalized challenges? Wait, was your dungeon a forest full of mantis?”

“Nope, a cavern full of spider moles, or Rockeaters as the game calls them.”

“So we had different tutorials and different challenges. That’s some dedication for a tutorial. Are you ready for the main game?”

“I thought I was, but after the challenge? I have no idea. It cost a lot.” Horn replied, only realizing the truth behind these words. He had no idea how many of his own remained, where were his champions or if they even lived through the challenge. Last he saw Goran was dead or dying, Ingrid rode off with some unknown riders, and Sigrid was who knows where. Just fucking peachy.

Ellaine had to notice his grimace changing as she quickly added, “Well, we’ll know soon enough. If you fail, I’ll always welcome a good healer adventurer!”

“In your dreams!” He replied, “I’ll reply in kind, hell, I’ll even install a litter box for you!”

They chuckled for a while, then just kept talking. Horn was surprised at how easy the conversation went. Well, they were just through hell. With death, pain, and discomfort as everyday companions, they were like two vets sharing war stories. He didn’t learn a lot about the game, but it was refreshing to just chit-chat. He didn’t notice as the time flew by until his implant rang.

“Hi Peter, where are you? I’m waiting in the lobby.” An unknown caller said.

Connecting dots, Horn replied, “Charles, the tech?”

“Yes, where are you? We’re already late.”

“Sorry, man, I’ve just lost track of time. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Hurry up,” Charles added, hanging up.

Horn looked at Ellaine, who seemed to have a similar conversation, as they both said simultaneously, “I gotta –“, “I’m late to-“ they paused and exchanged looks. “So we’re heading down together?”

“Yea,”

“Sorry, man, I really lost track of time,” Horn said as he walked up to Charles.

“I can see that,” The tech replied, throwing a knowing look at Ellaine, “Let’s go, we have tests to do, then a debrief with our QA department head.”

Blushing slightly, Horn replied, “It’s not like th- you know, I don’t care. Debrief? I don’t understand. Can’t they pull up my footage?”

“That’s more complicated. We don’t see and hear everything, the game’s too complicated and too fast. So they’ll just ask you a few questions. That’s pretty standard, and they’ll be doing it the whole day.”

“Sure, whatever makes them happy. So when will I be going back?”

“The schedule says that you’ll be in tomorrow at 10 am. Then you’ll have an option to log out at any time, with a maximum of seven days in-game at a time.”

“When will I be able to see my manager?”

“If we get back on track, you should be free at around 6 pm, then you can do whatever you want, well besides leaving the complex. For the pre-release, you’ll have to stay within. Security and NDA reasons, you know.”

Horn knew that, but he decided to mess with the tech a bit, “Well, I don’t. So am I a prisoner in here?”

“Y- Wait, No!”

“So I can leave whenever I want?’

“No, that doesn’t work like that.”

“I think I want to see my lawyer,”

“And why would that be? Are you already fed up with your dwarves, Horn?” A familiar feminine voice asked from behind. Horn saw Charles’s face draining of all blood.

Chuckling, Horn turned, saying, “Miss Tyche, a pleasure. I was just joking around. Charles and I are best buddies. You know we both enjoy plumbing?”

“Oh, is it so? What an interesting hobby. I’ll make a note of that. Good for your Charles, you have to have a hobby outside of the work.” Adrianna replied with a poker face, but a sparkle in her eyes betrayed her true mood.

The poor tech was turning paperwhite, and Horn could swear he shrank an inch or two. He was about to cut in another snarky comment, but Tyche continued, “I hope you enjoyed the challenge. It was just a taste of what was to come. You’ve done splendid, and I hope you’ll continue to entertain us.”

“Thank you. It was hard, but I loved every single moment of it. I cannot wait to get back,” Horn answered.

“I’m glad you say that. I hope we’ll meet again in the real world. Farewell, Chieftain.” She added, winking, before walking away.

“I hope so too!” Horn called after her, getting a wave of a hand.

“Young, dumb piece of shit,” Charles muttered almost soundlessly behind him, but Horn heard it. He just started laughing like crazy.

“That’s for doing the plumbing. I thought at least a nurse would do that!”

“She did! I was just joking. Do you think a company like ours can handle a lawsuit for malpractice like that? You almost cost me my job!” Charles shouted, thrashing his arms.

“Shit, dude, relax. Nothing happened. I’m sorry, I had no idea your boss was around, and I just wanted to pull your chain a bit. I’m just a jerk to people I like.” Horn apologies, he saw the tech’s nostrils flare, but then the man took a breath – calming down.

“Fine, let’s get going.”

Endless medical tests, Horn received a complete check-up, looking for anything out of order. It was annoying. Being poked and prodded the whole afternoon. When he finally finished, he was frustrated. That made the QA interview a nightmare. The man doing it was very meticulous, asking for every tiny detail, then backtracking and asking again. The level of annoyance just rose, but then the nightmare ended. Leaving the small office, Horn was finally free. Checking the clock, he saw it was already after six pm. He unmuted his com implant and saw a few dozen messages from his manager.

Horn knew he should call him and talk to the man, but he was just done with people for the time. Instead, he just wandered around the complex for a while. There were players everywhere, talking, laughing, and enjoying the comforts of civilization: Lazing around on the couches, watching some shows. It seemed so unproductive compared to what his dwarves did daily. However, he spotted a few people researching something. Some used their implants, others holo screens on the tables in front of them. Most watched streams from the game, some taking notes, some just focused on the action. He noticed Ellaine doing so. For a second, he thought of joining her but decided against it. There was still a lot to do.

A few minutes later, he was sitting in a booth with Dimitry, his manager, sipping a soda.

“… and then we released the second channel with mostly uncut footage. The fans were in a feeding frenzy! The figures are just incredible!” The man praised,

“That’s great. Glad we’re doing fine. What about other players?”

“The hype is so big everyone is doing crazy, the game dominated the streams. There is some crazy shit going out there. A guy from Asia has chosen an underwater race of crab people and is slaughtering his way through hordes of jellyfish. A Russian is acting as Genghis Khan, and a girl from France is building an airship. Each stream has something unique. We’re a few days behind the game, so tell me, is it getting even better?”

Horn skimmed through the memories of the final days in the tutorial before answering, “Yeah, it's getting better. I’ve just finished the tutorial and the challenge tower. You’ll get good material. But I had an idea to hire someone to monitor good streams if we're doing so well. Get me ideas and strategies they use.”

“Will do! Don’t you worry about a thing! We’re going to the moon!”

“Err, what?”

“Just a saying. We’re golden. You’ll get all you need. Hell, if you need a team, we’ll hire it when the game releases for the masses. A legion of adventurers? Not a problem!”

“Seriously? We’re doing so good?”

“Look at that,” Dimitry handed him a tablet with a large number on it.

“That’s a lot of zeros,” Horn replied, trying to gather his jaw from the floor.

“And that’s for only two days of streaming. I’m currently hiring every editor I can get my hands on. This game is a gold mine!”

They chatted for a while, but then Horn said his goodbyes and headed to his room. He called his parents. Hearing his mother’s voice brought tears, he didn’t think he would miss them so much, but a lot happened for him. Talking with his greatest supporters, he felt better. Laying down, he fell asleep almost immediately.

The following morning, Horn woke up well-rested. Eager to go back in. He wondered what new adventures awaited, what challenges would pop up. The whole wide world would be open in just a few hours. After a quick breakfast, he met back up with Charles. As he saw the tech, he realized he was an ass to him. The man didn’t deserve that. His advice was sound. Approaching, Horn said,

“Hey Charles, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I really didn’t want to get you in trouble. I’m – I’m just a jackass. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

The tech stopped, not sure what to do. Finally replying, “Sure, nothing bad happened. But you owe me one. That stunt could cost me my job.”

“I appreciate it. Hell, if or when you get in the game, find my clan and me. I’ll compensate you for me being a jerk.”

A smile appeared on Charles’s lips, and extending his hand, he said, “I’ll keep you to that.”

Adrianna Tyche sat down in her office. It was soundproofed and swept clean of any bugs daily. She joined the ongoing conference call. A dozen figures with their faces blurred appeared around a large desk in front of her. She was sitting at one head of the table, with a man taking the other side. He immediately stopped mid-word and addressed her,

“Tyche, glad to see you. How are we doing?”

“Father, we’re on schedule. The first wave is about the enter the world.”

“Good, good, Viki and Jolivar just finished the survey, and we should be in the clear. What’s more, they found her.”

“Impossible!” Adrianna exclaimed,

“We thought so, but she survived. I’m not sure how this will affect us. She was against the plan from the beginning. A lot had happened since, but she’s a wildcard.”

“I’ll investigate personally,”

“No! You will do no such thing. You have your task. That matter will be handled.”

“But father, she’ll listen to me. I can convince her.”

“You don’t know that. There’s too much at stake here. You will follow the plan. Too much depends on it. Focus on your tasks!”

She wanted to argue, but that was pointless. He never changed his mind. However, he only forbade her to investigate, never said anything about using someone else to do so, and she had just a person in mind for that.