Jane

Side-by-side, Jane and Quill stood under the arch of Stormstadt’s main gate, flanked by thick gray stone, with the spikes of the portcullis hanging over their heads like some wicked sword of Damocles. They stood in silence, filled with both trepidation and excitement.

Before them stretched the outside world. Fluffy white clouds idly drifted through a cerulean blue sky. Most of the land was comprised of gently rolling hills feathered in bright green grass. Stands of deciduous trees dotted the scene and a couple of thick forests could be seen on the horizon. From the height and thickness of the forest trees, many were likely ancient, and the places were no doubt home to many fantastic creatures.

They’d finally acquired clothes. Both were dressed in the simplest of white, cotton shirts and plain, light-brown pants. One set had been granted as a quest reward; the other had taken all their meagre funds to purchase. But at least they were clothed now and things had normalized in that fashion. Though Jane had mixed feelings about that.

It was much more practical to be dressed this way, but as they and everyone else had become more attired, that feeling of physical honesty and beach-like atmosphere had gone from the city. It kind of felt like people were back to wearing masks. Maybe Jane just didn’t trust people all that much. Or maybe she was just being pessimistic.

She carried their only weapon, a basic long sword with a fairly dull blade and some rust on it. It wasn’t much but it was all they had.

Quill’s head tracked a red-and-black bird as it flew by. “What’s this zone called?”

She wasn’t sure. As they had yet to step foot in it, her mini-map was still grayed out. She she walked forward a short ways. Pulling out her map, she read the name and chuckled. “Green Hills Zone.”

Quill’s head turned her way. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Seriously.”

“Ok, that’s kind of cool.”

They strode down the road, a bit of eagerness in their steps. While the road was paved with heavy stone for the first two-dozen meters after leaving the gate, it soon transitioned into packed dirt with a scattering of old gravel. Wagon and cart wheel tracks occasionally marred the surface.

Passing by a clump of thick bushes, Jane saw a small animal poke its head out from under the dark-green leaves and peer up at them with tiny, beady eyes. “A hedgehog!” she exclaimed. “So cute!”

Startled by her voice, it recoiled in fright, then curled up into a ball and rolled backwards into safety. They heard the sound of coins clinking as it moved.

The two looked at each other, both biting their lip or cheek to keep themselves from grinning.

Quill snorted. “I just… Oh my gosh.”

Jane bounced up and down with excitement. “I have the perfect name for him!”

“No! Let’s go.” Quill strode off, leaving her to catch up. After a moment he said, “Well, at least it wasn’t blue.”

They both laughed. Because easter eggs were fun.

Jane checked her map. “The quest is that way.” She pointed off the road to a place close to the city walls. “We’ll have to cross country to get there.”

It was their last city quest. Or the last for their level, anyway. They’d done the rest, including the dailies. That had surprised her. On waking up, she’d found three new quests marked on her mini-map. They were all boring, laborious fetch and delivery quests, and the rewards were pitiful, but they couldn’t afford to skip them. They needed every copper and XP they could get their hands on. And after those were done, they’d embarked on the last story quest in their queue, which would take them outside the gates for the first time.

Of course, the dailies weren’t the only event that had occurred this morning.

She threw a glance her new partner. Unable to resist, she teased him, as she had been all morning long. Because it was so hilarious. She used a mock-concerned tone of voice. “So, are you sure you’re ok?”

He gave her a flat, sideways look. “I’m fine.”

“Really? I mean, that was some fall. And right on your head.”

He frowned. “I’m fine!”

She giggled. “I don’t know… Maybe you should have your head checked. Do you have a concussion? How’s your vision? Oh, right, you can see just fine.”

This time he flushed under the frown. “I said I’m — bah!”

She couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing.

Quill grumbled and strode faster through the green grass.

After waking up that morning, Jane had started climbing down from her sleeping spot. Quill, already awake and sitting on his branch below her, had glanced up — and seen right up her sarong while her legs were spread. Completely on instinct, his eyes had widened and he’d leaned forward just slightly as if to get a better look. And then he’d slipped right off the branch. He’d scrambled to grab hold of it but been unable to. Then he’d tumbled upside down and landed on his head, snapping his neck with a crack that had been audible even up in the tree.

Jane had rushed to the Grove of Life, a circle of ancient, permanently flowering fruit trees in a park in the city. This was where people revived. One look at how utterly embarrassed he was as he gotten off of the stone altar and she couldn’t help but snicker.

As they’d gone about their dailies that morning, with Quill barely talking, they’d seen a number of stray cats about the city.

Jane had pointed each and every one out. “Oh Quill! See that pussy? How ‘bout that one? What a pretty pussy. What do you think, Quill? Do you like pussies?”

He’d gone silent and red and practically stomped through the streets.

It had been so much fun!

She dared do it again now as they walked through the Green Hills zone. “Hmm,” she pretended to wonder as they entered a lightly forested area, “I wonder if we’ll see a pussy out here too.”

He came to a stop. When she caught up to him, blinking at him with faux innocence, he was obviously fighting an embarrassed smile. Finally, it broke out, unable to be contained, and he turned to her. “I swear…” he lunged for her.

She screeched and jumped away, laughing.

He chased her around a bit but caught her all-too-easily. Because she had no stamina.

She stood under a tree, gasping for air. “Ok. First thing. No going up. Against any monsters. That we have to run away from.” Her lungs felt like they were full of daggers. She hadn’t felt like this in years. Since before she’d started working out. It was quite annoying. After years of blood and sweat and tears trying to improve her fitness, it was like she’d gone back to square one and all that effort had been wasted. It wasn’t fair!

“Actually,” he grinned, hands on his hips, “this is perfect!”

“What?” She looked up at him.

He looked quite satisfied with himself. “I’ll just be sure to stay ahead of you and let the monsters get you first. Then make my escape while they’re chewing on you.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

They arrived shortly thereafter at their destination. Thick trees were spaced out here and there, branches heavily full of leaves and casting wide shadows. In the grass grew the white-bell herbs that they needed. Unfortunately, there were also wolves here. They were common wolves, with reddish-brown fur. A number of them walked about the area, as if guarding the herbs. They padded along, looking agile and fast.

Quill rubbed his chin. “I really wish I had a weapon.”

Jane scanned the area. She pointed. “Maybe a branch would work?”

He shrugged and walked over to it, keeping a wary eye on the nearby wolves. Picking up the branch, he hefted it like a club. Then he checked his stat screen. “Yes, it’s equipped as a weapon. But it barely does any more damage than my fists would.”

She held up her rusty sword. “Not like this is going to be much better.”

“At least you don’t have a Strength of 1.” He sighed. “Whatever. Let’s try this.”

“Remember, we need six herbs and three wolf pelts.”

“Doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get to any of the herbs without taking the wolves out first.”

She agreed. “I’ll lead. We’ll make sure we only take one on at a time. After I’ve attacked, you come in from the side.”

“Got it.”

She glanced at him, trying to evaluate his true feelings. He seemed at ease, but Quill was very much a guy. He may not be the cruder, rowdy, stereotypical type, but he was very much male and she wasn’t entirely sure just how ok he really was with her taking the lead in combat. She knew his attributes were a sore spot, regardless of his determination to make the best of the situation. But this was the first time they were going into a fight.

Would he really back her up? Would he resent her for dealing more damage?

She was starting to like him. She wanted to be friends. Part of her was worried that the disparity between them would become a bone of contention and tear them apart.

He noticed her hesitation and raised his brows. “Well? Ladies first and all that.” He waved her forward.

Pushing her worries aside, she focused on the task at hand: fighting wolves.

She approached the nearest one. And as she grew closer, she couldn’t help but grow nervous. It was instinctual. She’d played full-dive games before, of course. She’d fought in plenty of battles. But this was still a wolf. Maybe not a huge one, but it was still a dangerous animal. And she was walking up to it, in flimsy clothes and carrying a pathetic weapon and she had hardly any stats. It felt real. And stupid.

They got close enough to trigger the animal’s awareness. It turned and snarled with a mouth full of sharp canines. The wolf charged. Teeth and claws hurtled towards her.

Jane almost panicked as her fight-or-flight reflexes kicked in. She had to forcefully override them to keep herself in place, feet planted.

The wolf’s jaws opened wide and it leaped at her.

She stepped sideways and bashed it with the sword.

The wolf barely seemed to notice. It landed and whipped back around to face her.

Except that Quill was actually standing right next to it. Because he’d been waiting behind her like he was supposed to and she’d let the wolf go right past her.

Oops.

The wolf saw Quill and lunged up at him, snarling and angry.

Quill brought the branch down and desperately tried to fight the animal off. But the aggressive wolf got its jaws around Quill’s free arm and bit down into flesh, causing Quill to howl in pain.

She’d completely screw up her role as a tank. Cursing herself for her stupid mistake, Jane raced forward, sword held high. She brought it down on the wolf with all her might.

And carved away a fraction of the animal’s HP.

She looked at it in surprise. Oh crap. She was weaker than she’d thought.

Quill, tears forming in his eyes, pulled the canine to the side and bashed it over and over in the head with the club. Or he tried to. With his pathetic Dexterity, he missed more often than not, even at point blank range. And while his own HP was falling rapidly, his efforts did next to nothing to the wolf. “Come on!” he growled. He swung again. And missed.

Jane snapped back to herself and chopped the wolf in the spine, right in the neck. This took down a much bigger chunk of HP. But nowhere near enough.

The wolf, fixated on Quill, growled at him and violently whipped its head back and forth, shredding the arm in its mouth. Its jaws slipped off the bloody bones and snapped shut.

Quill lost his balance and fell back with a cry.

The wolf dove back in, jaws closing around Quill’s neck and drawing a lot of blood.

Jane shouted at it in frustration, hacking away. But she did so little damage! She, too, missed often. And after only a few swings she grew tired. It became hard to wield the sword at all. Cursed low Stamina!

Quill died and went limp.

The wolf released the corpse and oriented on Jane.

She tried to fend it off but it was all claws and teeth in her face and then she, too, was torn apart, her flesh becoming bloody ribbons. She ran out of energy. Her arm dropped to her side. She watched in dismay as her HP fell to zero. Her ‘soul’ left her body and she came to stand in ghost form over her corpse.

Quill was already doing the same, visible to her now that they were both dead.

The wolf stopped savaging their bodies. It glared back and forth between the two. Then it went over to the male one and lifted a leg.

Quill’s eyes widened. “No! Don’t you dare. Don’t you—“

A stream of yellow urine splashed over the corpse’s chest.

Quill stomped in frustration, though his ghostly feet didn’t even leave an impression in the grass. “You didn’t! You bugger! Gah! I’m going to take your hide. Literally!”

Jane barked a soft laugh. It was hard to do more. She felt drained. Not so much physically, but emotionally. She couldn’t believe how much that experience had actually hurt. She looked down at her arms and chest. They were no longer torn, but ghostly pain haunted her. “It felt so real,” she muttered. No other full dive game had been like that.

Quill looked over at her. His gaze fell. “Yeah. They weren’t kidding about making the pain real, huh?”

She stared at their bodies, voice hollow. “This is going to be…challenging.” Ha. That was the understatement of the century. It was hard to imagine what the future would be like. They would have to kill thousands of creatures in order to clear the game, in thousands of fights, just like this. Who knew how many times they would die? Who knew—

Quill seemed to understand how her mind was spiralling into darkness. “Hey.”

She blinked and looked up at him. She realized she was shaking.

He smiled. “We can do this.”

She shook her head. “We—“

“—can do this,” he insisted.

She took a deep breath, then she nodded. “Right. You’re right.” They had to keep their spirits up.

“Respawn?” he asked, bringing up his menu.

“Yeah.”

They reappeared in the Grove of Life, back in corporeal form. A notice appeared in front of each of them, announcing a loss of XP and money as a consequence of dying.

Quill shrugged. “Good thing we spent all the money already.”

“Better not keep dying though. That’s a big XP loss.” She bit her lower lip. “This could seriously hamper our progress. Especially for…” She apologetically gestured at him.

He shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. Though there was a bit of tightness in his eyes and he wouldn’t look directly at her. “Then let’s find a way to do it without dying, shall we?” He set off.

She followed close behind. As they walked back towards the city gate, she watched Quill’s back. Despite their ordeal, he moved with sure purpose.

Jane was glad for him. She herself felt like she was walking through sand, her footsteps uncertain. The horrible trap set by the game developers, the attempted assault only minutes later, the creepiness of the city at night. And now, the horrible realness of the pain that they could experience here. If she’d been alone at this point, she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d be handling it all. Probably with a lot more tears. Maybe curling into a ball at night and crying herself to sleep, alone.

But he was strong. He cheered her up. He seemed to believe in her. He was a rock she could lean on.

Jane was grateful for that friendship. And she resolved to be strong, too. Because they were a team.

Back in Green Hills, they faced off against the wolf once more. Quill took the lead this time. He came in first, holding his branch horizontally with both hands. The wolf latched onto it and the pair wrestled. Quill fell to his knees. Jane then came up from the side and chopped away at the beast’s neck. Unfortunately, her stamina was low and after a few swings, she needed a break to recover her energy.

In that time, the wolf climbed up onto Quill and clawed him to death.

Jane, however, managed to ram her sword into its mouth and slayed it without dying herself. She felt a jolt of triumph at her first kill.

When Quill returned from the dead, it was with a grin on his face. “See? We did it!”

She couldn’t help but smile back; it was infectious. “Well, we halfway did it. Think you can try to stay alive next time?” she teased, feeling bold again.

“I’ll do my best.”

They gathered up two of the herbs they needed, and the pelt. Then it was onto the next wolf.

This time, Quill had a new plan. And from the daring way he executed it, it seemed like he was gaining confidence. He got the beast to bite down on the branch again. But this time, Quill held onto the branch with one hand and swung himself up onto the wolf’s back before re-grabbing the branch. His weight pushed the animal down low while he forced its head back like a horse with a bit in its mouth.

This left Jane ample opportunity to stab the wolf in the neck, and even to rest as she did it, for the creature couldn’t easily get out from under Quill. Together, they managed to kill it.

Then two more wolves that they hadn’t noticed walking around, drew close enough to aggro and jumped them from behind, wiping their party.

And yet, as they respawned, it was with good cheer. They high-fived. They’d killed two wolves. They were adapting. They were fighting and even if they were losing, they were also winning.

And then, standing around the beautiful, flower and fruit-filled grove, full of self congratulations, they realized that monsters actually respawned, too, in time.

Racing back to the quest zone before the wolves could reappear, they collected two more herbs and the second pelt. Using Quill’s new technique, they finally killed the third and last wolf they needed.

And it dropped an item: a plain dagger. It was cheap, made of dull metal and pine wood.

Quill picked it up and examined it. “Not terribly impressive, but the stats are a hair better than the club.”

A thought occurred to her. “Wait, we’re both in a party, but I technically killed it. So how come you can pick the dagger up? Shouldn’t the person who defeated the monster get first access to loot?”

“You want the dagger?” He held it out.

“No!” She hastily waved him off. Her mind was whirling. “It’s not that. It’s just… How does the system work? What if we kill something and it drops something really nice? Who gets it? Does it just lay there for anyone to take? I mean, if that’s how the game works, imagine how that would tear parties apart.”

He cocked his head, uncertain. “I was probably able to pick it up because we’re in a party together. And in the overworld. I’m sure it would be different in dungeons and boss fights.”

“Maybe,” she said doubtfully. She didn’t trust this game.

He frowned and toyed with the dagger. “If not, people are going to fight over stuff. If the gear is worth it, they’re going to backstab others in their own party. And people might even spectate until a fight ends, then jump in and try to steal dropped items before the party doing the fighting can get to them. Could get nasty.”

She growled. “Fuck this game. It’s just one heartbreaking thing after another.”

“Yeah.” He looked at her, calm and assured. “But we can’t let it get us down. That’s what they’re trying to do: take away our hope. Turn us against each other. They want us to fail. We have to be better than they are.”

“Agreed,” she replied, taking heart. She looked at the dagger, then the wolf carcass. “We should probably agree on a drop policy as well, for the future. Especially for when we end up working with others.”

Quill looked thoughtful for a long minute, then finally spoke. “I think, as long as we’re a party, that any items we get should be used communally, if possible, like material drops and such, stuff that doesn’t bind. Items that bind, the really good, magical gear, that should go to whomever will benefit the party as a whole the most. So if raising up the lowest member helps the most, we do that. If making the top player even stronger helps, we do that.”

Jane liked that. It was fair and it made the most sense if you thought as a group instead of an individual. And that seemed like best way to play, to her anyway. “Ok. But that obviously applies to us and anyone else we permanently hook up with, to make the whole team stronger. I totally agree that we should play as a team. If we’re just partnering up with some stranger for one fight or one dungeon, then we flip a coin and live with the results with no resentment. And hope they go along with it.”

“Fair enough.” He kneeled down and looted the wolf they’d just killed, taking the pelt.

Jane reluctantly felt her doubts rise up again and then experienced a shot of guilt for thinking poorly of Quill. It was just… She really hoped they never fought over anything. Maybe things would turn out to be fine. But you don’t really know someone until the choice comes up, whatever they say and however they seem beforehand. You can’t tell if a person is good until they prove it, until they choose you over themselves. Sometimes more than once.

How will he act if a super rare sword drops and he really wants it? Will he choose that over their relationship? She didn’t think he was that kind of guy. Then again, you don’t know until the choice is before you. And they were in a game where their lives were at risk.

But she made a promise to herself. Whoever she was with, she’d always be fair. No matter how good the gear drop, even with her life on the line, she wasn’t going to be selfish. She would play fair when it mattered. Because that’s the person she wanted to be, no matter what. Someone others could trust.

She just hoped she could stay true to that promise.

Quill - Level 1

Jane - Level 1