Overhead, the looming blue cliffs glittered in the afternoon sun. Freya and K13 followed behind Heilong as she stomped through the cobblestone streets.

After her outburst, the marksman stormed out of the wizard’s mansion. Ragna didn’t say anything in response, or maybe they didn’t stick around long enough to hear it. Freya quickly apologized for the accusations, then grabbed K13 and ran to catch up with Heilong.

She was a little surprised Ragna hadn’t cursed them out, verbally or magically. But the more shocking thing to Freya was the words Heilong said in the first place. After all, Heilong always seemed distant to non-players. Freya didn’t think the marksman actually cared that the man who made her bow died. She assumed Heilong’s sympathy was only a part of her plan. But the emotion she showed didn’t seem staged.

As they moved out of the residential area, Heilong slowed down a bit. Freya came up alongside her. She debated for a moment before simply asking:

“Are you okay?”

Heilong stopped walking. She looked over at Freya. Her gaze looked different than before.

“You aren’t programmed to say that are you?”

“Huh?”

“I thought you were a part of some hidden quest or story dungeon. Do the right things, say the right dialog, and something will happen. But this whole thing, this whole game–I don’t know. I don’t think this is just a game.”

Freya bit her lip. There was a lot she wanted to say, to yell and scream. But instead, she took a deep breath and said, “Are there a lot of games like this? That look like this world, but somehow aren’t real?”

Heilong looked away, “There’s lots of VMMORPGs– virtual worlds created by programming. But none feel quite as real as this. I thought we advanced far enough to have better sensory inputs, more complex AI, and a bigger world. I thought that’s all this world was.”

“You can create worlds through magic ‘programming?’”

“It’s not magic,” Heilong said, shaking her head. “Or at least, not like this world’s magic. I suppose it’s similar to how runes work, but programming code can’t work on energy directly from humans.”

Freya tried to put all this information together inside her head. This other form of magic sounded odd.

As Freya continued to think, Heilong spotted a bench and sat down. K13 came up alongside Freya. He had been quietly listening to their discussion from behind.

“I think this is a different world,” K13 said. His quiet voice sounded resolute.

“Why do you think that?” Heilong asked.

“Because we can die in this world. I don’t think it’s a programmed thing. Maybe because our soul is here?”

Heilong leaned further back on the bench, “Maybe. I always agreed that it was someone’s idea of a joke. Die in VR, die in RL. But it’s sure been a well programmed joke. Nobodys been able to find the code that’s killing people after they run out of lives.”

Freya smirked a little at that, It seemed like their programming code is just as difficult to read as wizard runes.

“My dad would kill me if he knew I was playing this game,” Heilong said.

“Because of the danger?”

Heilong nodded, “He doesn’t like me playing these VR games to begin with. He thinks they’re a waste of time. If he knew I was ‘wasting my time’ on a headset that could kill me, he’d be even more furious.”

“Why are you guys playing this game then, considering the danger? Is it really for the weird ‘sonder’ reward?” Freya asked, looking at both of them.

“No, no,” Heilong said. “Sure, part of the appeal is gaining rewards and working towards a goal. But I think games like this have always been about escaping reality.”

K13 bobbed his head in agreement, “This world is more interesting. A different kind of challenge.”

Freya scratched her head at that. What kind of challenges does their world face that makes this world better?

“It may seem silly to you,” Heilong said, reading her expression. The marksman’s face reddened a bit as she explained, “Since I was little, my parents always pushed me to do well in school. I spent hours with tutors and did all these extracurricular activities just to get into a good college, which is, um, basically another higher level of school.

Last year I finally got into my dream school. My parents were thrilled, especially my dad. He’s been bragging about it to all of his friends and coworkers.”

Heilong shifted in her seat and straightened out her dress. She continued, “I’m happy they’re happy, but it’s also exhausting. I got into a good college, but next, it’s going to be getting into a good medical school, and then finding a residency, and then a practice. It just seems like it’s never going to end. I don’t want to be in school anymore. But I also don’t want to waste everything my parents have done for me, and I don’t want to ruin their image of me.

I guess that’s why Ragna’s actions rattled me. I thought she’d be a bit more like me. Her father always bragged about her. I thought she would try to live up to those expectations. But I guess she’s more cold-hearted. Ha, well, I guess she did turn out to be like me.”

A noisy horse cart almost drowned out her last sentence. Freya looked down at Heilong. The marksman’s bitter smile confirmed she had heard right.

Complicated feelings turned through Freya. So much so that she almost ignored the tickling sensation on her wrist. Someone was writing her a message. Glancing at her wrist seemed rude given the situation, but her sense of duty won out.

Why do I always get messages at inconvenient times now?

{Dear Shaman Evenkey,

My stomach is acting up again. Would it be possible to have some more of that medicine?

Thanks,

Jendu}

“Is it something urgent?” Heilong asked, noticing Freya reading the message.

Sighing, Freya answered, “No. But it is something I should take care of. Ugh, I don’t want to waste my free fast-travel card, but it would be terrible of me to wait until tomorrow.”

She knew this was a possibility when she agreed to use up her last fast-travel of the day to come here. But it had been rare for people to contact her, at least up until the last few days. Now her assistance always seemed to be needed at the worst times.

“I just need to hand him a potion I already made up. I wish this thing worked two-ways. Then I could just tell him without going there myself,” Freya grumbled.

“Wait, Infamous Biscuit has only fast-traveled once today. He could go there, and you can explain through DMs where the potion is,” Heilong suggested.

Freya bit her lip, “I suppose that would work. I feel a bit bad though.”

“It’s what friends do,” Heilong said. She brushed aside her bangs and lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry about what I said before. I wasn’t taking this world seriously. I wasn’t taking the people here seriously, including you. I’m really sorry.”

Another loud carriage passed by, but this time Heilong’s voice was strong and clear.

“I forgive you. I can’t say I understand everything you said, but I don’t think you had any ill intentions, just an odd perspective. I hope now you can think of this world like your own.”

“This is very different from my world, but yes, I’ll treat it with respect. I always wanted to live in a different world. I should take this more seriously as my second home.”

Freya smiled, “Thank you.”

“We should still ask Mecha about these runes,” Heilong said. Her new resolve echoed in her voice. “The native wizards here seem to be hiding something about them. We should figure out what.”

Hiding her growing grin, Freya nodded. Finally, someone else suspected the wizards!