Matt opened the door to his humble abode and waved mindlessly at the town guard who was beaming ear to ear, obviously pleased with how well he'd assisted the new town executioner. In front of him, Matt saw a room about twenty feet long and wide. A rectangular table stood in the center with two place settings of what appeared to be roasted lamb with a round loaf of bread nearby and an unopened bottle of wine.

The walls were plain, save for the singular painting of a landscape that Matt didn't recognize. A high-backed chair stood in the far corner of the room with a small round side table off to the right. The floors were made of a dark colored wood, and off to the left a staircase ascended to the next floor.

Matt walked to the back of the main room and found a small kitchen with a stone counter beside a large fireplace inside which hung a massive cauldron over a pile of fresh firewood. Cupboards filled with dishes and some dry food staples hung along the kitchen's left wall, and a door in the back opened into a small courtyard which he could see easily enough through a window above the stone counter.

The back yard had a small raised garden bed with tomato plants and an old well that had a metal grate covering the top. The area was fenced in with a two foot tall foundation of stonework upon which stood a six foot tall fence of wrought iron.

"So... this is home then, eh?" Matt muttered. He turned and made his way around to the stairs and went up. No sooner had he reached the top landing when he spied a dark form hunched over the chest at the end of his bed. "Are you the help?" Matt asked

The form stood up quickly... a bit too quickly. The person pulled his hood further over his face and then spun around, dagger flashing in his left hand.

Matt eyed the dagger and sighed. "Look, normally I'd be all for a bit of action first thing in a game, but it's been a bit of a rough day. How about you just put the blade away and we can--"

The thief lunged in and slashed at Matt, catching the back of his left forearm as Matt tried to raise his hands defensively.

Pain ripped through his arm and a health bar appeared in his field of vision, the green bar shrinking by about a quarter. Matt's mind ran in several directions at once. Did his character even own a weapon? How did he access his inventory? And why in the bloody hell did he feel actual pain?!

The thief grunted and started shifting his weight as he swayed the dagger menacingly. A moment later the thief attacked again, this time with a straight thrust. Matt could almost see the move in slow motion.

No, wait, he was seeing the move in slow motion! Figuring there was not going to be a better way to learn the combat rules in the game, Matt decided to take the day's frustrations out on the thief and seize his advantage. He easily grabbed the thief's wrist and then yanked the thief off balance as he spun to the side, dragging the thief straight into the wall and slamming his face into the stone. Matt then came in with a savage left punch to the back of the thief's head just as the thief pushed away from the wall.

His knuckles connected with a dull thump, launching the thief's face back at the stone wall. There was a sickly, wet cracking sound and the thief went limp. Matt let go and then roundhoused the thief in the side of the head, sending the poor creature tumbling down the stairs.

The thief's stamina and health bars appeared just over his head and quickly drained to zero just before the corpse sprawled across the floor at the base of the stairs.

"How's that for good PR?" Matt shouted whilst looking up at the ceiling as if his recruiter could hear or see him from some sort of heavenly position. He then stomped down the stairs and kicked the thief's corpse. "I hope you had just started playing!" Matt kicked the body again. "No, I hope you'd been playing for ten hours and stolen from lots of houses, just to die here at the hands of a fresh noob!" He kicked the body again and then stepped back to sit on the steps. He hadn't been sitting for longer than a second when strange words in yellow letters appeared in the upper left corner of his field of vision.

You have defeated Shadowfingers 9,000. Would you like to loot the corpse?

"Loot his corpse?" Matt repeated. "Sure, let's see what he had on him." The corpse dissolved in front of his eyes, vanishing without sound or smell.

You have gained 200 gold.

You have gained iron dagger.

You have gained thieves' robes

"Wonderful," Matt said. He stood and went back upstairs to inspect his room. He noticed the padlock on the footlocker was still closed. "Do I have a key in my inventory?" he asked.

Would you like to see your inventory?

Matt saw the words floating in front of him. "Yes," he said. His left hand pulled a book from the air and opened it. The two pages were mostly blank, but they listed the items he'd gotten from the thief as well as his current clothes, with an "E" next to them denoting they were equipped. He also saw a longsword and an executioner's axe. "The longsword would have come in handy," he commented as he continued to examine the book. At the top of the pages were tabs. To the left he saw one that said "Character Stats and Abilities" and to the right he saw one that said "Holdings." Matt figured he could look at his stats later. He flipped the pages to the right and opened up his holdings section. He saw his current quarters listed under a sub section for houses. There were other sub sections like ships, businesses, land, farms, castles, fortresses, armies, and servants. "All right, well at least it looks like I can progress in status," he commented to himself. "Assuming I can't find an exit, that is."

He flipped back toward his stats and glanced over the abilities section. He scowled when he reviewed his character. Luther Orsbin was a simple executioner. No magical abilities, and apparently limited fighting abilities. The one saving grace was he did indeed have an innate ability to slow time during fights against thieves and other criminals, though the notes indicated it was an ability that could only be used once per day.

"Should have taken that pre-screening quiz more seriously," he commented. "Close inventory."

The book went away.

He looked at the footlocker and noticed he hadn't seen a key in his inventory. "Where's the key?" he asked aloud.

Quest Added: Speak to the Queen.

"An NPC with quests?" Matt chuckled. "That's rich." An idea came to him then. If his inventory was voice-activated, then perhaps so too would the exit function be. "Exit game," Matt said.

Nothing happened.

"Save and exit."

Still nothing.

"Quit game," he said a bit louder.

It seems you are having difficulties with commands. Open the help screen?

Matt smiled. "Now we're talking. Open the help screen!"

A futuristic screen appeared in front of him with a list of help topics ranging from voice commands to ability definitions and everything in between. "How do I exit the game?" Matt asked when he didn't notice the topic listed.

Terms and Agreements

The words appeared in bright yellow, then there was a flash of several paragraphs until a highlighted section appeared in the center of the screen.

Matt scanned the words and felt his stomach sink as he saw for the first time the fine print that the bearded man had alluded to. There, in the last paragraph just above Matt's signature and date were the terms of his employment. He had signed on for a term of ten years, which was subsequently defined as his first shift in PR work. In return, his salary would be held in an interest bearing account. His parents were listed as beneficiaries in the event of his premature death, dismemberment, or disappearance. Worse than that, the next sentence defined the first shift as a continuous period within the game world, with no possibility of exiting early except in the case of a large-scale game malfunction.

He stood there, rereading the words over and over, looking for any loophole he could use, but the only thing his eyes kept landing on was the last sentence above his signature that guaranteed he had read and fully understood all terms and agreements, and was willingly signing up for the position.

"So, no exit for me then?" He closed the screen and flopped onto the bed. His mind drifted back to the contract. Death, dismemberment, and disappearance all sounded like horrible options. Suddenly fear gripped him as he looked to his forearm. What happened if he died in game?

"Help screen!"

The screen opened up above his bed, shining its soft blue light on his face.

"What happens if I die in game?" Two results populated the screen.

Character death

Physical death

"Physical death," he said slowly.

Physical death, defined as actual corporeal death of a player or employee, is an uncommon, yet not impossible occurrence while playing the game. All players and employees agree to hold the company and all subsidiaries, agents, and licensees harmless in the event of corporeal harm or death.

"Can I die in the game and have that result in my physical death?" Matt asked.

The same two results populated, and nothing new populated in the physcial death section when he went back to it. He then chose the Character death option.

Character death occurs when a player's or employee's avatar reaches zero hit points (or negative hit points). When this occurs, the player or employee will respawn at their last major save point. Some special respawn situations require specific triggers and actions.

"Special respawn situations?" Matt asked. Red letters appeared on the help screen.

Section restricted to employees with Omega Clearance only.

Matt frowned. "Um... normal respawn then?"

When a player or employee respawns, their avatar is returned to the last major save point in their file. They will respawn with starting clothes and equipment only, and will need to find their fallen avatar to recover lost items. Caution: Other players or employees can loot a corpse and steal the items, thereby preventing the respawned player or employee from recovering their items unless they steal, buy, or otherwise take them back. This applies in all instances except special respawn situations.

"And the special respawn situations are restricted?" Matt asked. The same red letters flashed in front of him. "Right. Loads of help."

Return to main help screen?

"No, just, close the stupid screen."

Matt closed his eyes. He had to think of a way out. Death and dismemberment were not options he cared to consider, but what did disappearance mean? Was there perhaps a way for him to escape the game's borders?

"I'm baaaaaack!" a voice called out from downstairs.

Matt sat up and equipped his executioner's axe.

You have equipped Executioner's Axe. +12 damage, +2 intimidation.

Matt grinned and walked to the top of the stairs. His grin faded when he saw seven cloaked figures at the base of the stairs.

"Yeah, this time I brought some friends with me," the leader said as he pulled back the hood to reveal a pale, sneering face. "I've come for the gold you looted off my corpse." The other thieves each pulled weapons and started up the stairs.