It had already been an hour of Zak and I scouting through the foothills of the first floor when we finally decided to take a break. The huge sun in the sky was beating down on us without a single cloud to give us cover. We finally found a tree where we could rest under and take a break to cool down.

“Damn, it sure is hot out today,” said Zak, exhausted. “I really wish this randomly generated weather could at least give us a breeze. Carrying around this huge axe doesn’t make it any easier.” Zak threw down his weapon and exhaled deeply.

“You think that’s bad? Try luggin’ around this mace and shield! I’m sure your axe can’t be as heavy as these two combined.”

“Keep dreamin’, Kath! There’s a reason this thing does so much damage!”

Zak and I both laughed. Our sense of humour worked really well together and we were having a pretty good time considering we just met barely an hour ago. We sat down under the tree and I pulled out some bread from my inventory that I had bought earlier that day.

“Here, have some.” I said to Zak as I handed him a bun.

“Gee, thanks! I haven’t eaten since I left my inn this morning, I’m starving!” Zak quickly began to fill his face with the bun; it looked more like inhaling than eating.

“So what compelled you to buy AoA?” I asked.

“Well, the real question is what wouldn’t compel me? Every kid dreams of being a knight, a hero, and a warrior, so of course when he sees the chance he’s gonna seize it! How about you, Kath? Same thing?”

“I completely agree with you, the idea of being a knight fighting monsters was just completely overwhelming. Once I heard about the game’s initial announcement 4 years ago I had been dreaming of the day I’d get to enter this world.”

“I bet that dream turned into a nightmare real quick, just like for the rest of us,” Zak said gloomily. I’d only known the man for an hour, but I found it odd to see him without a smile on his face.

“Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean ‘not necessarily’?”

“Well, it’s only a nightmare if we let it be one. Even though we’re trapped here, we’re the ones still in control. We still decide our fate and our future. Sure we could die here, but we could just as easily get hit by a car any day in the real world. All I know is I intend to do my best to beat this game and this world.”

Zak’s grim face slowly began to fade away and sure enough his usual cheerful self came back around. “You know what Kath, I have a feeling we’re going to be really great friends.” He looked at me with a smile and sure enough it made me grin. That’s when I heard a faint noise in the background.

“Do you hear that?” I asked Zak as I tried to focus in on the noise.

“Hear what?” After a brief pause Zak jumped up from his spot in the shade. “I do hear that, that’s running water! You know what that means, right!?”

“That’s probably the stream from the story. We should go and check it out.”

Zak and I quickly picked up our weapons and followed the sound of running water. After running down the trail we’d been following for the past hour we stumbled across a small stream.

“Hey Kath, this means that the village is nearby right?” Zak asked me with excitement.

“There’s a good chance of it. The only problem is figuring out which direction we should go in.”

“We could split up if you think it’s a good idea? I could go downstream and you could go up.”

“How will we know if the other finds the village?”

“Because we’ll message the other! Here, let me send you a friend request.”

A friend request? I thought to myself. The idea of friends in this world was a whole new concept to me. Sure I’ve gotten along with a few other players and even partied with some, but never to the point where I could call them my friends. Before I could say anything Zak pulled his hand up and in an instant a screen appeared in front of me.

Friend Request

Username: Zak

Accept | Decline

I began to raise my hand, but upon bringing my hand closer to the screen I froze.

What if he’s not the person I think he is? What if he’s plotting against me? Can I really trust this man?

This series of negative thoughts continued to poor into my head, but then I remembered how close we’ve gotten in the short amount of time I’ve known him.

What if he’s exactly what I think he is? What if he’s the nicest person in this death game? He could become the best friend I’ve ever had.

I raised my head and looked at Zak. He was smiling at me as usual. Looking at his innocent, boyish face made me realize what I wanted to do. I snapped out of my state of hesitation and clicked on the Accept button.

“Awesome, glad to be friends with you Kath!” Zak said enthusiastically.

“Right back at ya, Zak.” I said with a smile on my face. “Let’s go with your plan. I’ll follow the river upstream and you follow it downstream. Whoever finds the village will message the other.”

“Sounds good! I’ll see ya in a bit, buddy!” Before I could even respond he was already running off in search of this village.

“Well, I guess it’s time for me to start looking,” I said out loud. I turned around and began walking up the stream. It was really quite a beautiful area. The life riddled hills the crystal clear stream make quite the scenery. It was nice summer days like this that make me realize Aincrad is also a world of its own, whether or not it’s virtual. One thing stayed on my mind though. That thing was Zak.

No matter how many times I tried thinking about something else Zak kept popping into my head. Is this what it’s like to have a friend? I never really had any real friends back in the real world. Sure, I got along with people and played with people on my sports teams, but I never really considered any of them to be my friends. No matter how close anyone got to me they never passed the border that separated acquaintance and friend, but for some reason things felt different with Zak. He was always cheerful, insanely optimistic, and he actually encourages me. Things like that aren’t easy to come by.

BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP.

A screen popped up in front of me. It was a message from Zak!

Hey Kath, it’s Zak! I found the village, but there are guards everywhere. You won’t believe what these things look like when you see them. Oh shit, one spotted me! Hurry up and get over here as fast as you can!

My eyes shot open and my heart started racing. I tried to move, but I couldn’t will my body enough to do so. Is this fear? My body began to tremble; the thought of losing the only friend I’ve made in this game was overwhelming. I tried and tried to push myself to go, but I just couldn’t move. Everything began going dark and I almost felt lost, but then I thought about what I told Zak earlier. I told him that this place is only a nightmare if you let it be one. I couldn’t let this dream of me finally connecting with someone turn into a nightmare. Somehow I snapped out of my state of paralysis and I immediately started running down the stream.

Hold on Zak, I’m coming to save you. I’m coming to save my friend.