QUILL

Quill reached forward, grabbed Aarush by the collar, and physically yanked him back, out of reach of the rogue’s slicing dirk.

Aarush went flailing backward behind Quill, who now stood in the killer’s way.

A cry and the sound of steel thunking on wood came from Quill’s other side as the second attacker tried to force his way past Jane’s startled defences. “I’m gonna stab your eyes out, wench!”

Aarush shouted, dragging Quill’s attention back to his own battle, “Quill! Lookout!”

Quill tried to dodge but felt the dagger slice along his left side. It was brutally painful, as every wound was entirely realistic, but since coming here, he understood; you either keep fighting or die. You can’t give in to the pain. Probably a good metaphor for life. He swung his mace and managed to slam it into the rogue’s head. Unfortunately, as always, it was a weak blow. He wanted to back away from the attacker and give himself room or run but knew he had to stand his ground over Aarush, who was slow to get up.

Jane grunted, and it sounded like her own fight was a flurry of blows.

The other rogue cackled. Guess her fight was going about as well as Quill’s.

The rogue in front of him leapt into the air and came down swinging, a gleam in his eyes, the rest of his face covered by his gold bandana.

Frantic, Quill tried to block the dirk and dagger stabbing at him, the haft of his weapon catching about two out of three blows, the rest causing red blooms to appear on his arms and chest. Sensing an opportunity, he kicked hard between the rogue’s legs.

The attacks abruptly stopped. Luckily, you didn’t need much strength to cause pain in that particular area.

“Argh!” Jane stumbled into Quill from behind, and they fell to the ground.

Before either could rise to defend themselves, the two rogues were on them. Stabby stab stab murder death kill, and it was soon over.

Quill became a ghost and stood over his body. He sighed. More XP lost.

Jane appeared next to him. She cast an apologetic look his way. “Sorry. That was my fault.”

He smiled, honestly not upset at her or blaming her in the slightest. “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t stand a chance anyway.” It was the damn game developers that were the ones to blame.

Aarush tried to run while his comrades were succumbing to cold steel. He didn’t make it very far. “Ow ow ow ow!” He appeared as a ghost as well. Still panting and eyes wild, he looked down at himself and check himself for holes. He looked up. “That was a most not-excellent experience.”

Quill shuddered, still haunted by his own, thankfully temporary wounds. “Yeah. It doesn’t seem to get any better over time. Getting stabbed to death always hurts.”

To his and Jane’s surprise, Aarush heartily laughed. “First death. It was to happen eventually.” He noticed the floating window in front of him that only he could see. “Resurrect? This is reincarnation, yes? Ha-ha. I wonder if I will come back as myself or not. [Yes].” His ghost vanished.

He and Jane shared a smile.

Quill spoke first. “You know, I like him.”

“Yeah! He’s so upbeat. Even though we’re trapped in here, even though he just died, he’s still laughing.”

“You want to stop for the night or come back and try this again.”

“Umm. Honestly, I want to keep going. I don’t want to end the night on a loss; you know what I mean?”

“Agreed. In fact, we should make that a party rule: end the day on a win whenever we can.”

She grinned. “Nice! I’m down with that.”

They resurrected, appearing back in Stormstadt’s Grove of Life, lying on large, rectangular blocks of stone resting amidst a circle of various leafy trees, some with fruit, others with flowers. It was night, and the place was dark but in a comforting, beautiful way. Glowing, white and blue moths fluttered about overhead amidst the gentle moonlight. The path out of the grove was lined with luminescent pink flowers.

Aarush was already up and admiring the sight. When he noticed them getting off their stones, he came up to them full of smiles and patted them on the shoulders. “Good fight! Good battle! I am very glad we are not actually dead. And that I did not reincarnate as a monster or insect because of my poor performance.”

Jane winced. “Sorry, Aarush. If I hadn’t—“

He anxiously waved her words away. “No, no! It is ok. I did not heal when I should have. Or try to distract those villains. Quill, nice job. One strength club fighting spirit.” He fist-bumped Quill. “Jane, you are so good.” He high-fived her. “If we had not been surprised, we would win, I think. Now we can try again. But better this time.” He nodded, assured of this fact.

Quill couldn’t help but smile at the man’s positive attitude and saw that even Jane couldn’t stop herself from the same, despite feeling responsible for the party’s wipe.

Aarush looked around. “I am so much thirsty. Can we have water?”

They departed the grove and wandered through Stormstadt until they found the nearest well. At this time of night, the streets were nearly dead. They nodded to one passing party of determined players also out grinding levels but other than that, everyone else was apparently either indoors or in bed.

Except for whoever lurked in the shadows every time they passed an alley or a crack between buildings. While they caught a hint of movement or flash of light off steel, none of them were inclined to investigate.

Quill shook his head. “I’m surprised. Usually, cities are total safe zones. Are there really thieves and assassins all around us?”

Jane walked a little closer to him, which he didn’t mind at all, distrustfully eyeing the dark spaces. “It might be just for show. But let’s not find out, hmm?”

At the well, Aarush drank twice as much out of the bucket as either he or Jane did. He also ate an entire loaf of bread.

Quill raised his brows at the other man’s appetite. “Hungry?”

Aarush stared at the last of the bread in his hand. “It is very strange. I have eaten and drunken before. But now it does not fill me up as much. Or, I am full but not satisfied.”

Jane suggested, “Maybe a bug in the system?”

Aarush crunched on the last of the bread and shrugged, unbothered. He seemed to be a pretty happy-go-lucky fellow.

They returned to the quest, all three agreeing that they wanted to make up for the XP they’d just lost.

This time, prepared for the rogue duo in hiding and not wanting to risk a three-vs-two battle, they circled around that location and warily made their way to a single crusader standing in the logged area amidst the tree stumps. With Quill and Jane both attacking from different angles, the warrior couldn’t fend both off at the same time. A timely heal from Aarush allowed Quill to recover from a near-mortal blow. Then the warrior was down, and the three celebrated.

Aarush pumped his fist in the air. “Victory is ours!”

Jane did a happy dance. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

Quill felt elated as well and found himself rather distracted by Jane’s movements.

Aarush exclaimed, “This is very exciting! Next one, let’s go!”

Together, enthusiasm high, the trio tackled their next target and the next. One after another, they took down four more crusaders and collected gold bandanas. They collected coins, two swords that none of them chose to use, a new shirt, and an apple, which Aarush devoured.

Jane bloomed with light. “Level five!” She bounced up and down with joy. “I can get my class now.”

Quill gave her a congratulatory squeeze on the shoulders. “You want to go back to town and do it now?”

“Mm, no. How many bandanas do we have?”

“Six.”

“We only need three more. Let’s keep going.”

Quill gave her a challenging look. “Well, Miss Level Five, want to try taking on two at a time again?”

“Oooh. Um, ok. Let’s try. Aarush?”

“I am excited. We can win if they do not surprise us.” His head swivelled, and he surveyed the area. “Let’s try those two: warrior and mage. I want to avoid rogues, yes? I have been stabbed enough for today.”

Quill spoke hopefully, “Mages should be squishy, too, right?”

They surrounded the pair of targets and then closed in. The plan was to have Jane, with her HP, tank the warrior and keep him busy while Quill and Aarush ganged up on the mage. They had only one strength each, but the mage should have low defence and be fairly inept at close range.

Jane attacked first, drawing the warrior to her and the mage’s attention as well.

“Intruder! Kill her in the name of the Gold Crusade!”

“Fool! I shall burn you for daring to trespass here!”

Quill rushed the mage from behind. He swung as hard as he could, connecting with the woman’s head before she could send any magic to help her ally.

Jane tried not to do much, just block the warrior’s heavy strikes, using as little of her stamina as possible so she could last longer.

Aarush grabbed his wooden staff with both hands and clubbed her from the other side. He was obviously not a typically athletic person, his strike awkward and clumsy, barely glancing off the female mage.

Quill wasn’t one to judge, though. With his pathetic accuracy, his next to attempts to hit the mage entirely missed, throwing him off balance. A jet of fire hit him on the side of the face, stinging and dropping some of his HP.

Jane called out, growing worried. “Guys…! Don’t take too long over there!”

Quill took another blast of fire to the face, sending him backward, temporarily blind. He opened his eyes just in time to see three glowing white, magical missiles flying at him, and all of them hammered him in the chest. He gasped in pain and fell to one knee. His HP was nearly gone. “Heal!” When he got no response, and no healing aid came his way, he looked up.

Aarush stood there, moving in slow motion, a vacant and confused look in his eyes.

The mage turned her magic on the cleric, a flame jet washing over his chest.

Yet the man appeared to feel little, only wincing in more confusion. He blinked and tried to raise his staff, opening his mouth to speak, then froze.

She shot him with three magic missiles, then turned another jet of flame on Quill, killing him.

Quill became a ghost just in time to see Aarush fall. Jane died only a few seconds later.

Aarush silently stood in ghost form, his head down.

Quill figured maybe he needed a moment alone, so he resurrected alone. He woke up in the Grove, and Jane followed shortly after. To their consternation, Aarush didn’t appear for some time.

When he did, he sat up on the resurrection stone and looked shamed. “I am so very sorry. This was all my fault.”

Quill and Jane moved closer to comfort him.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s fine. We knew it was a risk.”

“No, no,” he insisted. “I was very bad. You must be angry. I’m very sorry.”

Quill lightly punched him in the arm. “Hey, now. There’s no need to be sorry. We all freeze up sometimes. And this isn’t a normal computer. It’s incredibly realistic. Don’t feel bad if it gets to you.”

Aarush frowned. “I am not sure what went wrong. I…I could not think very well. Even now, my mind is, how do you say, misty?”

“Foggy?”

“Ah.”

Jane suggested, “Maybe it was panic? Or you’re really tired? I’m feeling it, too. It’s pretty late, and we’ve had a really long day.”

Aarush looked unconvinced. He shrugged. It was the first time he hadn’t seemed chipper.

Quill patted him on the back. “Come on. One last trip. Three more to go. We’ll grab Jane’s class and then head back out, solo three more crusaders, and then hit the sack.”

Jane shook her head. “I’m back to level four. Besides, I don’t want to rush it. I’m not sure what class to pick yet. I need to think about it.”

Aarush looked miserable, his shoulders slumped. “Maybe it is best if you two go alone. You two are good people. I do not want to make you die again. I am very sorry.”

“Aarush.” Jane came up and hugged him, causing him to look surprised. “Stop. It’s fine. Just part of the experience. We like you. We want to continue adventuring with you.”

“She’s right.”

“I…thank you. You are both very kind.”

They left the grove together, smiling once again.

“Ah.” Aarush paused in the street outside. “May we get more water? I am still very thirsty.”

“Sure.” Jane looked around. “In fact, maybe we should buy a waterskin or canteen? The adventurers guild is open all night, right?”

They headed there and found a lot of players hanging out in the tavern inside, some sleeping on the floor. It was fairly quiet, with a single clerk behind the desk and another NPC in the shop. They bought two canteens and filled them outside at the nearest well.

Both Jane and Quill were starting to yawn as they headed out of the city. But Aarush did so three times as often as the others. When they suggested stopping for the night after all, he waved them off.

“No, no. Please, I want to finish. I will do good this time.”

On the road, the night quiet all around them, they chatted.

Aarush, though bleary-eyed, seemed quite happy to talk. “This is very exciting for me. Being here. I have always wanted to visit another country. But it is much expensive. This is not a real country, but it is still very exciting.”

Jane asked, “What county do you want to go to?”

“Oh, anything! Maybe Japan or Canada or Germany. Some place exotic.”

Quill half-suppressed a smile. To him, the idea of anyone finding Canada exotic was hilarious. And yet, it was all a matter of perspective. Different was exotic, no matter where you were from.

Aarush continued, “This place is very interesting. I am enjoying seeing it. But I wish I could see new places in the real world. It would be nice to get the chance and not die in here.” He spoke matter-of-factly, not with disappointment or bitterness.

Jane chided him, “Come on, don’t say that. We’re all going to find a way out of here and get back home. I believe it.”

He bowed and gave her a rueful smile. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

Quill sighed. “I’m sorry, too.”

Jane looked at him with brows raised. “Why? You didn’t say anything.”

“But I thought it. More than once. I’ve been…negative in my head a lot. I need to stop.”

Jane touched him on the shoulder. “We all have. We have to fight it, though. Together.”

Aarush changed the subject. “Have you been shopping? Or seen the players with much money? I have talked to some. You can buy level ups and other things.”

Quill felt a stab of resentment. “Yeah, we saw.”

“They told me that the final boss for Green Hills is tough. Everyone must be level ten. And a big party is better. Need at least three, but more is better.”

Quill felt at a loss. He was only level two. How was he ever going to get to ten? He probably wouldn’t even have his class by the time Jane maxed her levels out.

They walked in silence for a while, thinking about the future.

Aarush broke the silence. “Did you know you can buy levels for money?”

Quill chuckled. “Uh, didn’t we just talk about that?”

Jane looked at Aarush with concern.

Aarush frowned. “We did?” He put a hand on his head, then yawned hugely. “I am sorry. Maybe I am very tired after all.” Also thirsty, apparently. He had drunk an entire canteen of water on the walk. He clapped his hands on his cheeks. “Must wake. Only three more. Then bedtime.” He laughed. “Yes, we can!”

Jane pointed out, “We will definitely solo each time. No more challenging two at once.”

Aarush agreed. “Jane is an excellent tank. And Quill is very good attacker. I am very happy to work with both of you. I will try my best, too.”

They had to stop so that, unsurprisingly, Aarush had to visit the bushes after all that water.

Quill stood next to Jane on the dark road and lowered his voice to a whisper. “What do you think? He seems like a good guy. Maybe we should permanently add him to the party?”

Jane only gave it a moment’s thought. “Yeah, I think we should. I have a good feeling about him. I mean, I don’t know what happened last time, but he’s pretty positive. I think we could use all the encouragement we can get.”

“Yeah. We all could.” Quill resolved to try to be more like Aarush instead of getting down on himself so much.

When Aarush returned, and they resumed the trek to the crusader camp, Jane hesitantly broached the subject they’d discussed earlier. “Aarush, we were thinking. This quest has been a lot of fun together. Do you want to join our party permanently? If you don’t have others you’re already adventuring with, of course.”

Aarush seemed overwhelmed. “Really? Even though I am so weak?”

Quill raised a single finger. “No weaker than us. One strength club, man.”

Aarush looked flustered but stopped, put his staff down, and grabbed each of their hands with both of his, profusely shaking them. “Oh, thank you! Thank you! I will not regret it! I am so happy to meet you.”

Jane laughed. “We’re happy, too.”

Together, the three of them returned to the quest area and downed the last three gold crusaders they needed and acquired the full nine bandanas. They stood together in the logged area and celebrated the win.

Jane looked content, though tired. “Now we just have to turn it in.”

Quill, exhausted, yawned. “Tomorrow. I need sleep.”

“Mm.” Aarush yawned doubly hard, something he’d been doing all through the fights.

Torchlight flickered on in the nearby lumber mills windows, grabbing their attention. Then the building’s double doors swung open, and a giant of a man stepped out. He had to be seven feet tall and was clad in black and gold armour from head to toe. He carried a double-bladed two-handed axe.

Quill stepped back, even though they were well out of aggro range. “Whoa. I do not want to face that guy.”

Jane excitedly spoke, “Look at the name. It’s in gold!”

Quill’s brows rose. Normally, names were in white.

Aarush had the answer. “Ah! This I know. I think it is rare spawn.”

Quill felt his own excitement rise, swiftly followed by disappointment. “I’ll bet it gives great drops. Maybe unique stuff. But there’s no way we can fight that. Level’s red double question marks to me.”

Jane pouted. “Me, too.”

Quill reluctantly turned away. “Let’s head back to the city. We can tell people about it tomorrow. Maybe someone else will be high enough to take it on.”

Jane wistfully looked over her shoulder as they departed. “Aw. Rare spawn; want to kill…”

“It is very strange.” Aarush watched the huge knight as they walked. I think it is looking at me.”

“Huh?” Quill looked back.

The helmeted head of the knight was turning, moving in time with their pace.

Jane’s tone turned worried. “Uh…yeah. It’s definitely watching us. That’s creepy.”

As they neared the edge of the logged area, only paces from the forest edge, the knight turned its whole body to face them.

Now Quill grew worried. “Guys, let’s pick up the pace.”

They all walked faster.

The knight dropped into a crouch.

Jane panicked. “Run. Run run run!”

The knight exploded into motion, racing towards them far faster than any of them could move.

“Holy—!” Quill instinctively raised his mace in defence. “Look out!”

It was on them in heartbeats. The massive axe swung in a blur and caught Aarush square in the stomach. The blow launched him into the air, instantly killing him. His corpse sailed off into the forest, lost in the trees.

Jane exclaimed, “No way!”

Taking only a moment to re-adjust, the knight turned its head toward Jane. It leapt forward, axe raised overhead with both hands, and brought it down.

The half-moon blade smashed through the staff Jane held up before her and crushed her as well. Her corpse plowed into the ground. Another instant death.

Quill wasn’t sure what came over him then. But at the sight of his friends dying, he launched himself at the gold-plated knight. His mace struck the knight in the chest, then the arm. It seemed to have no effect at all.

The knight pushed him backward. That alone took half of Quill’s health away.

But Quill didn’t care. Furious, he managed to duck a horizontal swing of the axe and, as he rose, hit the tall knight under the arm. It was just enough to put the knight a fraction off balance. Quill raised his mace to hit the monster again.

The next thing he knew, he was a ghost. And he was standing over his corpse — on top of a tree — thirty paces away. He was flat-out shocked. “Wow. That’s a serious home-run swing.” Shaking his head, he resurrected.

He reappeared in the Grove, saw his stats, and muttered to himself. “Great. Just lost all the HP we got from those last few kills. Rare spawns suck.”

“Quill?” Jane’s voice came from his right, and it sounded worried. “Something’s wrong with Aarush.”

Quill looked over as he got off the resurrection slab and went to join her.

Aarush sat up, but his eyes were vacant. Drool dribbled out of the side of his mouth.

Jane shook him and then looked at Quill in desperation. “He won’t respond!”

Quill joined her. He, too, shook their new comrade and tried to wake him out of this odd stupor. “Is there a bug in the resurrection sequence or something?”

Jane looked like her chest had constricted. “I don’t know!”

They stood on either side of him, speaking to him, giving the occasional shake. Nothing seemed to help.

But very, very slowly, Aarush came back to himself. It took several minutes in which the man yawned deeply, his body sagged, and he continued to drool, which Jane tried to wipe away with the spare shirt they’d collected in her bag.

At last, blinking like a stoner, Aarush’s eyes focused on her. “Hello. What is…wrong?”

She bent down to look straight into his eyes. “Aarush? How do you feel?”

“‘m ok.” He yawned wide again. “Tired. Thirsty. Is there water?” He held out a shaky hand, one he didn’t seem to have full control over.

They gave him all the water they had, and still he asked for more. He stared at the empty canteen in his hand. “Water water neverywhere. Nor any drop to drink.⁠1” He chuckled. Then he looked up questioningly. “More?”

Quill shared a look with Jane. “Something’s wrong. Nobody should be that thirsty.”

“Is he poisoned or debuffed or something?”

“Wouldn’t we see the debuff on him?” Status effects usually appeared next to a person’s name, which was visible when you concentrated on them. Some were even physically visible, like the stars appearing around someone’s head when stunned. But there was no sign of anything wrong with Aarush.

Aarush licked his lips. “Can’t…think. Need to sit down.”

Jane hesitated before replying. “You are sitting.”

“Mm.” The fact didn’t seem to register.

Quill put Aarush’s arm around his shoulder. “Take the other arm. Let’s get to an inn. Maybe he just needs a good sleep.”

Outside, they heard sobbing from somewhere. Quill didn’t think much of it. After all, it had been a common enough sound ever since they’d arrived.

Jane had noticed, too. “Can’t fault anyone for breaking down in the game after being trapped. I’ve wanted to more than once.”

It was difficult, given their limitations, but they got Aarush into the nearest inn, renting a single room because they didn’t want to leave the man alone.

Quill said, “We’ll take turns keeping watch. See if his status changes. I don’t like the look of this. It doesn’t feel like a normal part of the game.”

Jane seemed too worried to reply. She helped get Aarush into bed in the small, plain room. There was a tiny, round table with a single chair. She pulled the chair over next to the bed and sat in it.

Quill stood, looking down at their new friend. He was deep in thought.

Aarush’s eyes flickered. While he appeared sleepy, he spoke slowly but coherently for the first time since dying. “What a strange…experience. Being…in a game. I wonder what…people outside…are thinking.” His eyes closed before he could hear any response.

Jane reached out and took one of his hands. At Aarush’s words, her voice became sour. “My parents are probably in my apartment, looking down on me, talking about how poor my life choices are. And how this just confirms their worse ideas of me.”

Quill was sympathetic. “At least they can look in on you. I’m in a different country. No family there.”

Jane watched Aarush’s face, but there was no sign he could hear them. “Maybe they don’t even know what happened to me. I posted about it on social media, but I never told them directly I was going into the game. They’d cut ties with me before that. Stopped speaking to me.”

“Why?”

She pointed to her enhanced tits. “And the sexy photos I did.”

He scoffed. “Jerks.” Then he looked unsure of himself. “Sorry. I shouldn’t judge your family.”

“Go ahead. I called a lot worse. In my head.” She seemed glad of his instant support.

“No one’s going to check on me.” He grew even more worried, then repeated himself. “No one’s going to check on me.”

“Hmm?”

Understanding dawned. “We’re supposed to be hooked up to life support, right? The…jerks…the CEOs or whatever. They said the game systems were designed for that. And they announced the bug to the world. So people would have taken us to hospitals or something or brought machines to our homes.”

She began to catch on to his train of thought. “But only if they knew we were in the game.”

His expression turned uncertain. “They might have been kind enough to contact family or publish a list.”

Jane snorted. “Or not.” They didn’t seem that kind.

“And, if not…” Panic came over him.

Jane stood in alarm and looked at Aarush. “He’s living alone, he said. Nobody knows he’s in the game.”

Quill’s eyes widened. “Or me.”

She sat down again, hard.

Quill wandered away from the bed, fretting. “Who’s going to check up on me? I don’t live with anyone either.”

Aarush chuckled, jolting both. “Nobody knows I’m hooked up. I live all alone. Work from home, too. I have no social life. Only gaming.”

Jane clutched his hand tight. “Aarush, how are you feeling?”

He looked around, though his head barely moved. There was no strength in his grasp. “Water? Is there water?”

Quill ran a hand through his hair, tense. “Dehydration.” He looked at Jane. ”He’s thirsty, but water doesn’t solve it because he’s actually thirsty in the real world. He’s dying of dehydration!”