Uncle Tim was his dad’s friend from the military. The two had served together years ago, and they had gotten very close. When Ray was younger, he’d seen Uncle Tim around a lot. To his understanding, his dad and Uncle Tim had been involved in a successful business endeavor as partners.

“Ray? What are you doing here?” Uncle Tim was equally surprised. “Hold that thought, let me bring out a few chairs.”

Ray saw Uncle Tim swipe his hand around in the air a few times. As if on cue, a few yellow wooden chairs popped up in the room. Ray found himself examining the chairs in disbelief as if the night hadn’t been crazy enough already. If that hadn’t been enough, a small wooden table the same color as the chairs appeared in between them.

“Here, take a seat,” Uncle Tim offered, gesturing with his hand. “Neat, huh? Anything to drink?”

“Uhm, yeah,” Ray agreed hesitantly, his body moving into the seat. He was now thoroughly confused. Too much had just happened in the span of a few moments. “I mean. . .”

“Right, you’re wondering why I’m here!” Uncle Tim cut him off while reading his mind. He also dabbed at the air with his thick fingers, making two glasses filled to the brim with dark liquid appear on the table. “And you’re wondering how I did that. Let me explain.”

All Ray could do was grab the glass and lean back into his seat. He took a sip of the drink and confirmed his suspicions. Evidently, the man in front of him was the Uncle Tim he knew. The drink was his favorite, a Dr. Pepper. Ray relaxed as he listened to Uncle Tim’s story.

“And then, I thought, why don’t I just make a guild? I had the option right there in front of me,” Uncle Tim was ten minutes into explaining himself. The man had gotten a bit long-winded towards the last few minutes, and Ray was ready to interject. “Your dad would have done the same thing!”

Ray recapped the last ten minutes in his mind while Uncle Tim was winding down. Apparently, Uncle Tim had stumbled upon a relic of the immersion near his apartment in San Francisco. He had fought off a few goblins to earn the right to create a guild, which is how he became xDarkOverlordx.

There were a few holes in the story, as Ray had also fought goblins. Uncle Tim seemed unfazed as he recounted his experience with the goblins. It did explain the level discrepancy, but the large older man seemed almost excited when he told Ray of his near-death experience. The other alarming thing was, the battle happened the same night when the voice finally shut up in Ray’s head.

“Any questions?” Uncle Tim asked, expectantly. He grinned, as if expecting an onslaught of queries, give that Ray had been mostly silent the entire time.

“Yeah, I have a few,” Ray affirmed. He then asked, “Are you ‘xdarklord69x’?

Uncle Tim looked visibly shaken, his grin faltering. Ray saw him check the room, then turn back.

“Don’t say that out loud, it’s embarrassing,” Uncle Tim sheepishly admitted. “I am, though.”

Ray nodded. The story checked out. Uncle Tim, or xdarklord69x on the forums, had stumbled on slimes the moment the immersion began. One thing led to another, and he went from killing slimes to killing goblins and leveling up at an even faster rate than Ray.

“What do you think of this immersion? Ray asked. He wanted to get Uncle Tim’s honest opinion since he was a little further ahead of him at the moment. A five-level difference was nothing to scoff at. Uncle Tim must have fought with even tougher enemies, given his account of what happened to him.

“Yeah, so--” Uncle Tim started, but didn’t end up finishing his sentence as his mouth dropped open.

“Excuse me, is this where we meet for the. . . meeting?” An airy female voice rang out behind them.

Ray turned around and found himself in the presence of a goddess.

She was a young blonde bombshell, wearing cutesy short shorts and a tank top. But that was just her body. Ray felt entranced when he gazed at her face, his heart speeding up to what seemed like a million beats a minute. The light makeup accentuated her delicate feminine features, bringing an innocent look. Ray had previously thought girls found this look undesirable, but he could not understand it anymore.

This girl clearly knew what guys wanted. Ray kept goggling as the girl smiled at him.

“Lana!” Uncle Tim suddenly shouted, recovering. “I told you to turn it down a notch.”

“Sorry, guild master,” Lana apologized playfully, her seductive voice not missing a beat. Ray raised his eyebrows when he heard her say ‘master’. Her voice felt like sweet honey in his ears. Ray felt himself getting drawn into how she was talking, rather than what she was talking about.

“No, really,” Uncle Tim reiterated his point. “Stop hazing the new guy. He’s Steve’s kid.”

“Steve?” Lana looked surprised. “Isn’t Steve--”

“Right,” Uncle Tim nodded quickly, cutting her off. “It’s that Steve.”

Ray noticed that Uncle Tim didn’t really answer the question. He also noticed that Lana and Uncle Tim seemed eerily familiar with each other. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they had some kind of history, although Lana seemed a little too young for a man of Uncle Tim’s age.

“Whatever, you’re no fun,” Lana shrugged, giving up. Ray realized the girl had ended up towards the middle of the room, though he couldn’t remember when she’d traveled from behind him, past the table and two chairs, towards the middle. It was definitely a strange occurrence, one of many since last night. Moreover, there was now a small round table in the middle of the room, with five chairs surrounding it.

“Anyway, Ray,” Uncle Tim continued, ignoring Lana’s offhanded comment. “Take a seat, the meeting is about to begin. The other members will be here any moment now.”