Fred woke up; he felt well rested. He knew he had seen a fun dream, but he could not remember its contents. He dressed up, did his morning routine, and went to work. At work, Fred bragged all about his in game experience. His coworkers weren't amused; after all, they had been playing the game for quite a while.
Nevertheless, the coworkers asked Fred to join their party, and Fred happily agreed. They gave the city name and the real-world time slot: 20:00–21:00.
"Why don't you use in-game time?" Fred asked after writing both down.
"Cause acceleration makes it useless. Real time is far more useful for meeting people." One of the colleagues explained.
"We also never know if it is going to be day or night; I guess it makes it fun." The other colleague added. "Don't be late, though. If you're not there by this time, we're going to go on without you."
Fred nodded and added a calendar entry to his smartphone.
Over lunch, they had another conversation, this time surprisingly more basic.
"Soo, your first time, how did it feel?" His lunch neighbor asked.
"I did not expect it to be so damn realistic. And painful; I was bitten by rats, and it really hurt." Fred thought for a bit and quietly replied while looking into the bowl in front of him.
"Ah yes, screw rats, the second worst enemy in the game."
"Second?" Fred got suddenly curious.
"Yeah, slime is the worst. Not even kidding. Absolute worst. Comes in different sizes and numbers." The colleague twitched painfully.
Fred did not know what to say. Part of him wondered how the colleague knew it; the other part wanted to fight the slime and experience it for himself.
"Well, there's something I wanted to ask. You said you would play for an hour, but there was a lot of in-game time—almost a day. I was so sleepy after just a few hours."
"Well, sleep then. In game, I mean. Recovers tiredness." The male colleague continued the conversation.
"Wait, really?!" Fred was surprised.
"Inns exist for a reason. Don't tell me you haven't tried the food yet either."
Fred shook his head.
"Well, I warn you, after you eat there, this cafeteria food will always taste horrible." He smirked.
"It was never good to begin with." Fred protested and continued eating his soup.
—
Fred went home, took a shower, and finally laid in bed with his headset on. It was time to explore. He clicked some buttons, then saw a login menu. He could select the tutorial, and he could choose the map location to spawn at. Fred did not select either; he simply closed his eyes. and opened them up in the inn's backyard. It was late in the evening.
He was not tired anymore; his health points were full, and his head was clear. He noticed his clothes stank. He asked the innkeeper if he could wash his clothes. This was a service for inn guests, and Fred did have a one night free stay bonus.
The game did not allow Fred to remove clothes; being naked was not allowed. But the innkeeper already had a solution for this: he gave Fred a set of temporary pajamas to wear and told him to wait a half an hour.
The innkeeper likely expected Fred to stay in his room, but Fred did not feel like doing so. He survived the whole seven minutes before getting extremely bored. There was a whole world to explore. He sneaked out of the entrance and walked towards the guild building. It was cold, so he had to run. A man with a bloody kitchen knife in pajamas in the dark. One more reason to run and try not to be seen. The guild building was not too far. Once inside, he saw another man he had not seen before. The man had no delta value either.
"Where's Anna?" He asked, a bit confused.
"Away for a few days. But she left you something." He went under the desk and came back with a backpack. "Anna left a gift for you."
Fred inspected the backpack; it indeed had his sweater. He then remembered Anna's deal and placed the bloody kitchen knife on the counter.
"Sorry, I should have washed it." Fred blushed and uncomfortably scratched his head.
"No worries; our cook will wash it. I suppose you did your first quest. If so, feel free to pick up a weapon from the door, free of charge." The man smiled.
Fred turned around toward the door. There were three weapons on display: a flail, a short sword, and a long broadsword.
"Can I try them out before I choose?" Fred scratched the back of his head again.
"Sure, go ahead."
Flail was too barbaric for Fred's taste, so he went with the broadsword. It was much longer, so Fred thought it would go better with his 'Light Arc' skill. He picked it up and immediately sighed. It was heavy. He needed both hands to carry it.
Nevertheless, he took it outside and gave it a few swings. It was slow, clumsy, and just two swings made his hands tired. He then tried to activate the skill, but he simply could not. He had to use one hand to click through the menus, but once the skill was active, he was not able to swing the sword in time. It did not work, even after four tries. The man lost hope and simply returned the sword inside.
He picked up the short sword. It was heavy, but he could swing it with one hand, and he could use his bright and awesome skill with it. It also had a proper scabbard, so he could safely stuff it in his backpack.
And as he checked whether it fit the backpack, his ears picked up a strange chatter from the outside.
"Where are we going??!" A boy asked.
"To the adventuring guild, we need to register you as an adventurer. You will be able to enter dungeons afterwards." An older woman replied.
Then they opened the door and came inside. Fred saw a young adult and an older woman. He nearly chuckled, but managed to stop himself in time. It was absolutely undeniably clear that it was the mother and her child. Their faces were just too similar.
Fred came outside not to disturb the two. He first equipped the sweater, then tested whether the skill still worked. It did. The bright arc traveled further too, since the sword's blade was longer.
Once Fred was putting his sword back into the backpack, they met again.
"Hey pajama boy, something tells me you're new to this game, so come along; I will give you a ride." The mother offered.
Stolen story; please report.
Fred quickly checked her stats; she was a player. Her name was Rosalie. Her son was a player too, with a negative delta value too. It was strange, but Fred knew exactly what was happening here.
"Oh, thanks! I need to pick up my stuff from the inn, but I love to get out of this town. My name is Fred."
"I can see your name. And sure, I want to explain the basics to the guy here, so you have a bit of time." She smiled.
Fred quickly rushed to the inn. The receptionist gave him his old clothes, now washed and fixed. He equipped them through the menu. The fact he could do it without removing the sweater was strange, but not really game breaking.
Once he left the inn, he saw the woman driving a horse-drawn carriage. Her son was sleeping in the back, under the stars. She moved slightly to the side, and Fred sat next to her.
Fred looked at her with an unspoken question.
"Oh, I told him he could sleep in the game, so he went ahead and fell asleep. He knew he would finally get to play the game, so he did not get any sleep. He just came from the school, and here we are. Are you tired yourself?" She explained, and the carriage began moving.
"No, not at all. I am happy to keep you company."
Fred was silent for a bit, trying to fit the logic pieces in his head together. She was an experienced player, but her son was not. Fred wanted to know why.
"What's the time right now, in the real world?"
"About a few minutes past four. Why?" She curiously replied.
He kept thinking. He checked his time; it was an hour later. He then looked at her name again.
"You're in western Europe, are you? Maybe Great Britain?" Fred asked smugly.
"Hah, almost. No, we're not from Great Britain. I don't even speak English." She smiled and turned toward him to see his reaction.
Fred's eyes grew big. That did not make sense. Because he was.
"Wait, wait! What language am I speaking?!" he asked, all shocked.
"French." She paused. "But, well, the game features automated translation. So there is no language barrier; everything gets translated from and into the language you are most familiar with."
"Wow, really?!" He gasped, genuinely surprised once again.
"Yep. It's not perfect, but, well, good enough."
The puzzle in Fred's head became a bit more complete, yet there was one piece missing.
"So, wait, how come you played the game longer than your kid?"
"Oh, you don't know? You need to be a grownup to play it. Felix had his eighteenth birthday three weeks ago, so we got him a headset. It is strange; the game features no nudity, yet kids can't play it." She sighed.
"I heard the game can be very violent." Fred tried to guess.
"Sure, just like every other game on the market. I think it has to do with the headset. Experimental tech and all."
All the pieces of the puzzle are now together. Fred made a smug expression, but there was no one to see it. The darkness made the road hard to see and captivated the entirety of the driver's focus.
"What about you, your first time?" She broke the silence a minute later.
"Technically, it's my second, but I still don't know anything. I am trying to get to Adawood; I think I have about two days to get there." Fred suddenly remembered the colleague's offer to join them.
"Ah, that's quite far. Sorry to say this, but you're not going to get there in two days." She explained with a bit of pity in her voice.
Fred just turned to her. He did not say anything, but she understood the question.
"You can quick travel to a location you've been to. But if you haven't visited the place, the only way to travel is by foot or by horse. And horses are the quickest; there are no planes or cars. That's why I came here to pick up my son. Your place, Adawood, is very beautiful, but it is at least a few weeks away."
"Oh. I see." Fred sighed. He realized he would have to abandon his plans. "Where are we going, then?"
"Kafield. I guess this name means nothing to you. It's a regional capital. It is a big city, but it still takes a long time to reach. It has a bunch of ranked dungeons, lots of players, and is a good place to start. Honestly, I have no idea why developers did not make it a starting town for players."
"And, uhm, just how big is this world?"
"Same as the real world. There are seven continents, and their geography roughly matches ours. The city locations and names are different too. I really have no idea why. The game does not have enough players to fill the world, so it's very lonely."
Fred was quiet and just thought to himself. He did not know the reason either. Maybe it had to do with how the game servers worked. But for now, he was happy to listen.
"You're very quiet; are you tired? I can drive alone; you can go ahead and fall asleep."
"No, no, I am not sleepy. There is just so much to take in. Please continue; your explanations are very helpful." Fred quickly replied. He was alert and not sleepy.
"I see, well, so there's multiple continents. Each continent has its own capital and a starting point where players first connect. Unique culture, food—you name it. You can quick travel between them, but you can still only travel to a place you've been to. There are ships, but it takes weeks of boredom. If you have money, it's easier to travel in the real world and take the headset with you. Silly, but it works, and you only need to do it once."
"What about you? Have you ever been outside?" Fred inquired.
"Me? No. Maybe one day, but I am happy where I am. I am not the adventurous kind; I just love cooking and baking. I work at a bakery in Kafield. In real life too." She turned toward Fred and smiled. The moonlight was enough to see her smile.
"Both places? Why?" Fred was curious.
"I love this place. A day here only costs an hour in the real world, so it's like having two lives. It lets me try new recipes and ingredients, too. Wait, let me show you instead! Are you hungry?"
She stopped the horse even before Fred gave the answer. She stepped out of the driver's seat and went into the back.
"I actually am." Fred finally answered, but kept thinking. He was starving. He did not eat anything before putting on the headset, and the time that he spent inside the game did not make him any less hungry either. He recalled the dialog he had with his colleague, and that also did not make him any less hungry.
"Here you go." Rosalie gave him a French bread sandwich wrapped in sandwich paper and a paper napkin.
Fred took it and sniffed. It smelled amazing. It reminded him of sunflowers on a warm summer day, which was so pleasant since the air was so cold already. He drooled. He wanted it.
"Can I eat it?!" Fred asked, unable to accept this much needed present.
"Of course, silly; that's why I gave it." She sat down, and the carriage began moving.
Fred unwrapped the top part of the sandwich and slowly took a bite. The tears started rolling down his cheeks. It was so incredibly tasty. It was crispy, yet so soft. His tongue discovered tiny bits of sundried tomatoes, and the soft walls that touched those sundried tomatoes were slightly soaked in the sunflower oil that was used to store these sundried bits of concentrated sun. It also had flakes of hard aged cheese intertwined with very thinly cut dry-aged ham. It was just so fantastic.
"Enjoying~?" The mother asked, but Fred did not answer. It was so good.
After about ten minutes of bliss, Fred finally finished the sandwich. He used the napkin to wipe his face.
"Wow, this might have been the best sandwich in my life." Fred spoke with immense gratitude.
"Wait, might?" Rosalie smugly and proudly answered.
"No, ok, well, yes, it was the best sandwich." Fred admitted.
"Just kidding. This is menu item number 4." Rosalie gave a short, playful laugh.
Fred was shocked. He was not sure what to answer. It really tasted so delicious.
"I don't know why, but the food here just tastes amazing. It never goes bad; all the ingredients stay fresh if you store them properly. I love cooking in here."
"I love cooking in here too…" Fred nodded.
He understood everything: why Rosalie loved cooking so much and why she did not do any dungeons. Fred did some fighting, and that was painful, intense, and unpleasant. And the reward did not compare to this single sandwich.
Fred felt satisfied and satiated. It did make him wonder, however.
"I will be hungry when I log out, right?"
"Yep. I can give you a recipe so you can make one in real life too." Rosalie offered. "Just don't log off while the cart is moving. It won't be here when you return."
"I don't think our shops sell such tasty ingredients." Fred sighed. Maybe it was true, maybe not, but he did not want to think about logging off. The pleasant taste still lingered in his mouth; the stomach felt comfortably full, not empty, and he wanted to keep it that way.
Fred did not register where the wrapping paper and the napkin went. It seemed to simply disappear from his hands. Eventually he noticed it was missing, and Fred became a tiny bit worried.
"The napkin; I think I dropped it…" Fred asked and tried to look for it at his feet. It was dark, but he could use his touch. He felt his shoes and his backpack and found nothing unusual.
"Don't worry about it. Was it your intention to pollute the road?"
"No, I would never…" Fred sighed.
"Then it will simply disappear after a few hours. Don't worry about it." Rosalie laughed happily.
Fred quickly touched the backpack between his legs. It still had the sword inside. It gave him a slight relief.
"Can my other items disappear too?" Fred asked. He was curious about the mechanic.
"Only if you throw them out and forget where you threw them. If you put an item in the backpack, it will stay there. It is nice of you to worry. And, uhm, please use trash cans; I have one in the back too. Wanna know why?" Rosalie asked.
"No, tell me."
"Habits. Habits in the game easily transfer into the real world. In the real world, garbage does not automatically disappear."
"I understand. Thank you, Rosalie!" Fred thanked her and stared at the road.
They continued the road a bit more quietly. It was now deep into the night. The eyes adjusted to the darkness, and the moon's light was enough to see the road ahead.