JANE

But Quill was right there to help. Running full tilt, he hammered the crusader in the soft chest with his shoulder and sent her flying. Reaching down, he yanked Jane to her feet. “Ok, this one’s a kill-the-bad-guy encounter.”

With his help, she stood and glowered at the crusader, also trying to regain her feet. “Get her!”

They threw themselves at the crusader before the woman could properly ready herself. Quill took a nasty jab in the leg and a punch in the face before basically falling on top of her and pinning her to the ground. Or he would have if she wasn’t stronger.

But Jane piled on as well, sitting on the woman’s legs. Dropping her staff, which was useless in this situation, she pulled her knife out of her waistband and jabbed it into the crusader’s leg.

The woman cried out in pain and fought Quill, trying to get her sword at the right angle to stab upwards with it.

Quill held her off with one hand, raised his mace in the other — and hesitated. He stared down into her angry brown eyes and bared teeth. But he couldn’t strike.

Jane cried out, “Hit her!”

He knew what had to be done, but still, he hesitated. This wasn’t a wolf. The woman was so…human.

“Quill! I’m running out of stamina!”

This wasn’t a real person. This wasn’t a real person. This wasn’t— Gritting his teeth and clenching his gut to defend against the sick feeling inside, he dropped the head of the mace in the crusader’s face. Then he brought it up, paused only a heartbeat this time, and struck again.

The sentry was much weaker than the rogue they’d faced earlier. In fact, she was not much stronger than one of the wolves they’d taken down, so she died without much further trouble.

Quill felt her go limp and saw the enemy HP bar hit zero. Dropping his mace, he got up, stumbled a few paces, and vomited. It was embarrassing, and he felt weak and lame, but he couldn’t help it. And he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and face Jane. He twitched when he felt a feminine hand on his back.

She didn’t say anything at first, just held her hand there.

He took hold of himself and straightened. “Sorry. That felt a little too real.”

“I know. First full-dive, right?”

He sucked in a few deep breaths. “Monsters are one thing. Even animals. But fighting and killing people? It feels so — wrong.”

“Yeah. This game is way more realistic than any other I’ve ever played. To be honest, those felt more like video games. Colours were brighter, no blood, no pain, enemies felt dumber. When something was defeated, it vanished in sparkling pixels, which made it more game-like. You got used to it fairly quickly.” She gestured to the bloody corpse whose face was cut up, but thankfully not a pulpy mess like it would have been if he’d really nailed someone with a mace repeatedly. “This is going to be harder.”

Looking for an excuse to change the subject, he removed the gold bandana from the corpse and then pulled out his journal. “One of nine. We need eight more to get all the proof we need.”

“Wow. Uh, ok. I think we’re gonna need help.”

“Agreed. Especially in case we have to fight two at once.”

They looted a few copper from the body and then returned to the road.

Quill looked up at the moon and stars. “Might not be many people out here at this time of night.”

“Let’s go back down the road and see if anyone’s around.”

They walked in silence. Worry nagged at Jane regarding Quill’s reaction earlier. Not because she thought it might make him a weaker ally but because she, too, felt off after the encounter and knew he was feeling much worse. Unsure of what to say, she ended up saying nothing.

It was yet another perfect, beautiful night. Clear skies allowed endless stars to shine down, a sliver of crescent moon peeking over the horizon. It was quiet, but not unnaturally so, with a whisper of breeze every so often and the croaking of frogs or toads as they passed a small, reed-edged pond.

Now, there are times when such monumental coincidences happen that, even to the rational mind, it can seem like fate. Jane wasn’t the spiritual type, nor did she believe in things like destiny. But what happened next nearly changed her mind.

She and Quill were walking side-by-side, with Quill a half step ahead. Neither spoke.

Jane was lost in thought, with her head turned slightly to the side to view the grassy plains and hills by the road, her arms naturally swinging at her side. Just like his were. Her arm went back, then forwards, then back again and — somehow — her fingers were interlocked with his. Her heart seemed to stop.

Her head jerked back around to look at him and saw his whip halfway in her direction, seemingly just as surprised as she was. He hadn’t grabbed her hand; the two had naturally fallen into place together.

Now they were both walking along, backs stiff, too shocked to speak — hand in hand like a couple!

Jane started freaking out. What was going on? How could this have happened? And yet, she said nothing. Did nothing. She left her hand interlocked with his, willing her body to be casual, to not give away the pounding in her chest or this rush of feelings the moment was giving her. She eyed Quill out of the corner of her eye.

He didn’t look over. But he didn’t remove his hand either.

Her inner voice screamed at her. What did that mean? Why hadn’t he said anything? And, of course, her mind raced with questions like, is this what I want? Do I like him like that? We could both die for real in here, do I even want this in my life right now?

Perhaps too shocked or nervous to do anything at all, neither had dared actually grasp the other’s hand. Their fingers were still only loosely intertwined and remained that way until some difference in speed or arm swing finally broke the connection.

Her mind froze. Should she say something? Should she make a joke? Should… No. No, she couldn’t. He wasn’t saying anything. She definitely wasn’t going to be the first.

So neither said anything. They’d held hands for a good hundred meters, but neither acknowledged it in any way. They just continued on, pretending to look out for other players, as if they hadn’t been acting like lovers the past few minutes.

Quill was the first to spot someone, and the weird mood finally shattered, returning to normal. “Over there.” He pointed.

A fellow player battled a bear all on his own. Dressed in a brown robe, he also carried a staff, feebly using it to keep the bear away while he attempted to kite it, that is, running in circles around the bear, trying not to get attacked while dealing his own damage. It was a common strategy used by clerics, mages, and other classes that had low defence and health.

Unfortunately, the player was flagging hard. Stumbling as if on two left feet and panting hard, he was flailing with the staff while trying to keep the trunk of an oak tree between him and the beast swiping at him with large claws. But he was obviously on his last legs, and it was only a matter of seconds before the snarling bear got to him.

Jane leaped towards the other player. “Let’s help!” She heard Quill following and brought the point of her staff to bear on the bear. Using it like a lance, she drove it right into the side of the bear.

The hit was hard enough to knock a small chunk of HP off the animal and aggro it. The beast forgot about the man in the brown robe and turned on Jane instead.

Quill used that moment to come in from the side and smash his mace into the bear’s head.

When the bear turned its dark eyes on the latest attacker, Jane quickly jabbed her spear at the animal’s mouth. “Don’t look at him. Face me!” She jabbed again.

The bear gave her all of its attention, just like she nervously wanted. But it was far heavier than a wolf, and Jane wasn’t able to hold it off with her staff like she had the wolves before. The lumbering beast stepped forward and rose on its hind legs. The toothy maw opened, and it blasted Jane with a roar before coming down with a long swipe of its claws.

She was unable to avoid it, and the paw smashed into the side of her face, sending her head over heels, her mind spinning. Dazed, she knew she had to get to her feet, but her feet just didn’t seem to want to do what she wanted, slipping on the grass when she tried to plant them. Dimly, she was aware of cartoonish stars spinning around her head and the blurry bear coming at her again. She tried to raise her hands to defend herself, and it took a second to realize she wasn’t holding her staff anymore.

The other player cried out, “[Cleanse]!”

The dazed status vanished. Jane’s vision cleared and she felt herself back in full control of her body. Throwing herself to the side, she dodged the bear’s attack.

“[Heal]!”

Jane’s HP rose back up. She spotted her staff in the grass, which wasn’t easy given how dark it was in the shade of this tree at night time. But arming herself again, she faced the animal.

This time, though, Quill was the one kiting the creature. He swiped with his ace, hitting the bear in the face, then jumped back. Copying the other player earlier, he put the tree between them, making it harder to strike, the bear forced to circle. But as it did, Quill reached forward for another strike, then jumped back out of reach.

Jane ran forward and once more lanced the bear in the side.

It whined and then snarled, the chunk of damage she dealt getting it to turn on her again. Before entering Golden Impact, Jane had had no intention of becoming a tank. Yet here she was, doing just that. Funny how life sometimes doesn’t give a damn about your plans and forces you to adapt or die.

Quill hammered the bear’s rear end.

Jane drove her staff into the bear’s face, managing to hit an eye.

The bear flinched and roared. Blindly moving forward and lashing out, another paw hit Jane; a punishing blow.

The other player, sounding worried, voice strained from breathing too hard, shouted at her from the side. “Heal is still on cooldown! Don’t get hit!”

She rammed her staff down the bear’s throat.

Quill came around and crushed the animal’s skull with his mace.

The bear finally perished. Closing its eyes, it slumped to the ground.

Light flashed around Jane. She’d levelled up.

Quill sank to his knees in the grass. “Wow. We barely survived that.”

Jane felt the last of her stamina go. She collapsed into a pile, chest heaving from exertion. “Ugh. I’m too beat for puns.”

“Gratz, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

The other player fumbled his way over and sat next to them. “Hey. Thank you both.” He panted. “Now sleep is coming.” He chuckled and fell back onto the grass.

They all spent a couple of minutes waiting for stamina to recharge.

The new player sat up and raised a hand. “Nice to meet you. I am Aarush Chatterjee from Delhi.”

“Jane Eula.”

“Quill.”

Aarush laughed. “I guess I got arrogant. I may have a class now but clerics are not good versus bear alone.”

Quill sounded both encouraging and envious. “You have your class already? Nice.”

“Not you?”

Quill shook his head. “Not for a while. I have low intelligence.” He snorted. “There’s something I didn’t think I’d say in real life.”

Jane replied, “I’m at level four.”

“Ah. Soon then!” He beamed at her. Aarush was probably in his thirties, a little chubby but not quite fat. He exuded a happy innocence and cheery personality.

She liked how friendly he seemed. “Yeah. I would be at five or more already, but there was some dying earlier.”

He nodded in sympathy. “Ah. I have not died yet. I am too coward.” He laughed. “I had help from high-level person on first day. They bought max level and then went out to try new equipment. I was at the gate, so he let me be in his party and share XP. It was fun. I did nothing. He went on killer rampage.” He chortled.

Quil smiled. “Lucky. Hey, you want to help us with a quest?”

He looked immediately interested. “What quest?”

“Collecting Gold Crusade bandanas. We need eight more.”

Jane added, “We got one ourselves, but barely. Could use help. And if you can heal?”

“And cleanse!” He rapidly nodded. “Yes, I join you, thank you very much. But please remember I am only level five. So cooldown on spells is long. Ninety seconds.”

Quill’s brows rose. “Definitely not spamming that, then. Ninety seconds is forever in a fight for your life.”

Jane agreed. “Save it for once per fight when things get really bad?”

Aarush nodded. “I think that’s good. Also, I do no damage. So sorry. Strength is one.”

Quill threw back his head and laughed. “Me too! Don’t worry; she’s six. And lots of HP. She can be the DPS tank. We’ll just watch. You heal, and I’ll cheer you guys on.” He threw her a teasing look.

“Hmph. If I’m tanking, then maybe I’ll use you as my meat shield.”

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Shove your hand up my ass like a puppet to wield me?”

“Hell no! You’d probably enjoy that too much.”

Aarush puzzledly looked back and forth between them. “You are…a couple?”

Quill exclaimed, “What?”

“No!”

“Just new friends.”

“Right. We only met in the game.” Her face was heating up fast, and she could suddenly feel Quill’s fingers on hers again.

Aarush slowly nodded, a hint of a knowing smile on his lips. “Ah, I see.” He put a hand on his knee and pushed himself to his feet. “We go now?”

She rose as well. “You sure you want to join us? It’s late.”

He hurriedly waved her concern away. “No, no. It’s fine. No time to waste.” He took a step forward and paused, frowning and shaking his head before continuing.

She felt a stab of concern. “You ok?”

“Yes. No problem. Thank you.” He seemed to recover himself and strode toward the road. When he neared Quill, he raised a hand to high-five and grinned. “One strength club!”

Quill chuckled and high-fived. “One strength. And girl power for the win.”

She rolled her eyes and walked past.

They added Aarush to their party, sharing the quest with him, and returned to the area where they’d fought the crusader. Sure enough, that one had respawned in the same place. Working as a team, they were much more successful the second time around. Jane snuck up from behind like a rogue and lanced the surprised crusader in the back, doing good damage and holding aggro while Quill dealt damage from behind the target. The woman’s sword was scary and regularly got past Jane’s defences, but Aarush was there with a heal when she needed it.

When the woman fell, Aarush jumped, pumping his fist in the air. “Victory!”

She had to fight a laugh. He was probably ten years older than her, at least, yet he had the exuberance of a child. It was cute.

They picked up a second bandana and a silver coin.

Aarush softly spoke as they quietly picked their way through the woods, following the trail toward the Crusader training camp. “It is too bad. Video games are becoming very popular in India recently despite how expensive they are. The console for this game is very, very too much. To buy it, I sold my car and saved everything I got when my wife cheated on me and tried to murder me with cheese, and her family paid mine compensation. It is really sad because I like this game very much. I wish I wasn’t going to die in here. That Is irony, I think, yes?”

Jane and Quill both halted in their tracks and gave him dumbfounded looks.

Jane had to take a moment to process his words. “Your wife tried to murder you?”

“Hmm? Oh yes. With cheese. It was very unpleasant. And sad. I loved her very much.”

Quill seemed bewildered. “But why?”

Aarush made a sad smile. “She was having an affair with my coworker for several years before our arranged marriage. He got promoted and a big raise. So they made a plan together to get rid of spouses and marry each other instead.”

“You’re kidding. That’s terrible. So, he killed his wife?”

“Oh no. He tried to. He took her to America. They went to many concerts and festivals and racism places so they could be in a mass shooting, and he could blame Americans for her death. But when it happened, the shooter got him instead. He is lucky. Easy, clean death. Not like cheese.” He turned a very serious expression on them and wagged his finger. “I do not eat cheese anymore. Never again.”

Jane felt her mouth moving but couldn’t think of words to say. Cheese? How did…?

Quill though, looked very understanding. He put a sympathetic hand on Aarush’s shoulder and tapped his own temple. “Americans and guns. Crazy.”

Aarush was solemn. “Yes. Very crazy. Also, they have entire state dedicated to cheese. I am too scared to go there especially. Ugh. Wisconsin.” He shuddered and continued walking.

Jane, her mind reeling with everything Aarush had so casually shared, wanted — needed — answers. But before she could question him, she noticed him weaving and almost crash into a tree. She reached out and caught him at the last second. “Are you ok?”

He blinked at her a few times; then, his eyes focused on her. “Hmm? Yes, ok. Thank you.” He smiled and pushed on.

Jane shared a glance with Quill, who just shrugged. But her worry remained. Also? She hissed under her breath at Quill, “Uh, we really need to revisit the whole murder thing later.”

He leaned close and whispered, “And if we go for dinner together, never order anything with cheese in it.”

They soon came across the training camp. An old logging operation, now run down with the buildings falling apart, had been taken over. In a completely illogical and unnatural way, Gold Crusaders were spread out across the deforested area, each one alone and just far enough away from others that you could fight one and others likely wouldn’t join in to overwhelm you. Safe one-on-one fights for newbies, or it would be easy enough for a small party to gang up on individual baddies to take them down without getting hurt.

That’s when two Gold Crusader rogues leapt from the bushes on either side of the trio of adventurers and attacked.