Al watched Eric scuttle away and lost him in a crowd of several other players. The characters here were all unique. He was used to seeing different builds of characters in games, but the races were usually similar with tweaks to clothing and armor. Here though, everyone seemed so special. For instance, there were no other squashes. “Lucky me.” he thought. “I’m special.”

In the small group that Eric had disappeared behind, Al saw a human looking man wearing a white priest’s cloak, with an ornate chain wrapped around his torso like a bandolier. On the front of the chain was a large metal ball with holes cut into it and smoke falling out onto the ground around him. The smoke was so thick at the ground that his feet were completely hidden. Al also noticed that the priest was wearing a set of brass knuckles on each hand, one silver and one gold, and they had obviously seen some recent use.

Next to the priest was a young boy in his teens with a red and white baseball cap. He had a blue vest and denim jean shorts. He looked surprisingly normal.

The final person (if they could be called that) in their group was a small golden creature. It looked like someone had placed a huge metal bowl onto their head upside down. The rim of the metal bowl stopped at the player’s bent elbows. In their hand was a medium sized staff made of the same material as the bowl, with a large metal ball on the end of it. Al wasn’t sure how this player was able to hear, or be heard, or even see where they were going. But nonetheless they seemed as normal as normal would get compared to some of the other players here.

Al walked over to them. When he was about fifteen feet away the little player with the bowl on his head stiffened and grabbed his staff with both hands. The other two turned to look at him. It was the priest who spoke first.

“Amen…I mean Ahem. Can we help you little…squash? Are you a squash? Who the hell -OW!” The priest shuttered a bit and rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry. Who picks a squash as a character?”

The normal looking kid in the baseball cap eyed him also. “Be nice Deacon. We don’t all get to pick what we get. Sometimes it’s just what the system wants us to have for…” He let his statement hang for a moment before continuing, “reasons, I guess?”

“Yeah yeah. I know. Sorry. Can we help you Mr. Squash?” asked Deacon.

Al wasn’t sure what to really say. He hadn’t thought of anything on his way over here. He didn’t even know why he came here other than this group had two out of three players that looked like people. So he just said the first thing that came out of his mouth.

“Hi I’m Al. I’m a squash monster and I’ve been tasked by a large anthropomorphic mushroom man to find the items on this list somewhere amidst this giant hedge maze, and I’ve never been more lost or confused in my whole life. You look fairly normal by comparison to the other players here and I’m basing all of my decision making on that judgment alone in hopes that you might be able to point me in the right direction for finding these items.” He ended his statement with a nervous grin on his face and if his flesh wasn’t made of gourd, he was certain he’d be sweating profusely.

The three players stood for a moment in silence before the kid in the baseball cap said, “Riiiiight.”

The small creature with the bowl on its head giggled. “He’s adorable. And surprisingly upfront.” When it spoke Al could tell it was a feminine voice which resonated with a tinny echo after every word.

“Thank you, I try.” Said Al. His eyes were darting back and forth between each of the players. His vine arms still outstretched holding the list.

“Well Mickey?” The little bowl headed girl asked. “Are you going to help the little squash or not? The poor guy is glistening in the moonlight, he’s sweating so much.”

Al felt his gut drop but only for half a moment and then it was gone. “Oh god.” He thought. “Squash do sweat!” He opened his mouth to say anything but was saved the trouble when the kid in the baseball cap stepped forward and took hold of his list.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Yeah okay.” He said. “Let me see what it is. It’s just a Morel quest so you should be fine.” He read through the list. “Mhmmm. Yep. Right. Okay.” Commenting to himself after each item. Until for dramatic purposes only, he reached the last item.

“Uhhh. Okay I don’t know if you’re gonna get this one bud. Morel wants a Raycorn. The heck does he need that for?” He turned to Al after this question as if expecting an answer.

“Oh! He just said he wanted this stuff to improve the security of his shop from some gang.” Al realized he still had his vines stretched outward and placed them by his sides. He wasn’t sure why he just didn’t realize his actions, or lack of them sometimes.

The player named Deacon stepped forward. Actually it wasn’t so much a step as he glided smoothly over to Mickey. Al still couldn’t see his feet through the localized cloud of smoke that hung around the priest’s feet. “He wants two Raycorns.” He corrected while pointing to the line item.

Al couldn’t help but raise a vine arm into the air as if he was in class and ask. “Is a Raycorn something rare or expensive? Day one guy here still.”

Deacon and Mickey were still looking at the list. Al was pretty sure they were trying to figure out how someone would use all of the items on it for a security system. The little bowl headed girl walked up to Al.

“You can put your arm down. They’re lost in thought now.” She said this while simultaneously reaching up and putting Al’s arm down for him. “They’re Hedge Hunters.”

Al’s arm began to raise again but the still unintroduced player caught it with her staff. “I know you have no idea what that means. Let me exposit for you.” Al rested his arm back down to his side.

The bowl headed girl started. “I’m assuming you’re like the majority of people here who have no idea how they got here or why they are here. How you respond is usually broken up into a few categories. One option is that you are super freaked the eff out and spend the first couple days or more feeling like you should be waking up from a dream, or screaming, or blindly holding onto the hand of someone who was kind enough to help you out.”

Al nodded and thought only briefly about Eric.

“Option two.” She continued. “You freaking love anime and video games and manga and know exactly what’s happening to you. You’re not only cool with it, you prefer this because normal life is boring and now you get to live in a game. You take to this world like a duck to water and get to enjoying yourself promptly. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell by the way.” She said this and stuck her thumb to point at herself.

“Option three is what I call someone with a hero complex. These are the people who either think they’re going to beat the game on their own or figure out how the game works from a meta standpoint and find a way out of it.” She gestured at Mickey and Deacon. “That’s what those two are. We call the hedge hunters in here because they pick and prod through everything in the hedge, hunting for clues on how to beat or break it.”

She took a moment to look at the two other players. They had stopped looking at the items and were just lost talking about how to get Raycorns and something about the system updating. She sighed.

“My name is Belle by the way. Hence the… well.” And she gestured to her head piece. Which Al finally put together was a brass bell.

“Wow. I seriously thought this was a bowl. But a bell makes way more sense. And the staff is for ringing…yourself?” He asked in that way where your voice goes up an octave and you realize you aren’t sure if you should’ve asked that question but it’s too late now.

“Yes. For ringing myself. It is silly. It is a pun on my name. Hell, even the class itself is a pun. I’m a bell boy. Hardy har har system.” The player’s body shifted upwards a bit and if she had a head Al assumed she was looking up into the sky right now.

“Not to be disrespectful but your class is a bellboy but your name is Belle and your voice sounds like a girl. So… I mean I hate to ask but.” He was pretty sure he was glistening again.

“I am a girl, Al.” She said without hesitation. “Gosh why are people so weird about that. The class is Bellboy. It isn’t a pun if I was called a bellgirl now is it?”

“Can you take the bell off?” Al asked. “It seems heavy and cumbersome. And how can you even see where you’re going?”

Belle sighed. “It doesn’t come off unless I’m completely alone, don’t ask me to explain why. And I can’t see where I’m going visually. It’s more like echolocation but more advanced. It’s all based on sounds but I can still interpret specifics like colors and stuff. Don’t ask me to explain that either.”

She turned to the other two members of her party. “Hey are you two done cracking the Da Vinci code yet or what? I’m itching for some XP so can we point Al here in the right direction and get on with our heist?”

"Oh. What are you guys stealing?" Asked Al without realizing that it was a dumb question. Who tells you what they're going to steal after just meeting you five minutes ago?

"Nothing." Said Deacon.

"Just some slime." Said Mickey.

"A soul." Said Belle.