An annoyed adult wakes up to an alarm to start your typical day. Jake rolls out of bed and gets ready for work. With his shirt half tucked in, his pants wrinkled, and his face unshaven, he walks downstairs. He goes to the kitchen to grab some food but is interrupted by the glare of his step-father.
"Son. You have to stop doing this." His father proclaims. "You aren't going to get anywhere in the world if you act like this. You used to have so much motivation as a kid. Like when you studied martial arts. You are only 23 years old. You could accomplish so much."
Jake ignores another plea of his step-father, grabs a breakfast pastry, and leaves.
At work he hears the same shtick about not having any motivation. He apologizes and gets back to work as usual.
"Like I don't know? I don't need a promotion or anything, so who cares?" He thinks.
After the end of a long day of work, Jake arrives back at home and immediately goes to his room. He turns on his computer and his usual drowsy face makes a smirk. The one thing that can still entertain him is video games. At least, at first. He gets on the newest popular MMO Fantasy Slayer Online X. After about an hour his smirk has faded.
"I swear no one has made anything unique in years. It's the same every time." He says in frustration.
He searches online for something new. He scrolls on his mouse repetitively. He lets out a yawn and his finger shifts over causing him to click onto a random link. He immediately goes to click the back button, but gets blocked by a popup survey.
"Definitely a scam site…" He thinks.
His mind instantly thought of all of the sketchy clickbait ads he would see on sites for reading manga. He tries to close the window, but it pops up again. His face grows disgruntled with each attempt to do so. Eventually, he gives up and force resets his computer. He sighs and taps his finger on his desk as he waits for the computer to load up. The instant his desktop appears on screen, the webpage from before does as well. This time with a notification box popped up in front of it asking. "Aren't you bored?" This makes him chuckle.
"Well, it's already infected my computer anyways. Can't get any worse." He jokes.
He clicks yes and continues through the survey. It asked things like: On a scale of 1 to 10 how much fun was your favorite game. He answered a 3. After many similar questions and answers what appeared to be a final prompt showed up.
"You have been invited to play THE GAME.
CONTINUE?"
Jake smirks and clicks yes. Just then, his computer crashes and displays a blue screen. He lets out a grunt and he reaches to reset his computer. A sudden shock of electricity comes from the outlet and his computer starts to smoke.
"Of course…" he mumbles.
He unplugs his computer with a look of disappointment.
"Now I'll have to earn enough for another computer." He says. "Oh well, I'll leave this for tomorrows me to handle."
He lingers over to his bed and lays down. His eyes shut as he falls asleep.
"I guess I'll just always be bored." He thinks.
The next morning he sits up, throws the blanket off of him, and rubs his eyes. A package was sitting in the middle of his room with a note on it. Jake leans over and reads the note. "This package showed up for you early in the morning. Dad"
Jake yawns and rips the tape off of the box. He opens it and lifts up what looks like a pair of gaming over the ear headphones. He looks them over in confusion. They are metallic, mostly black with blue accents, and had the words "THE GAME" at the top. There were no cords or adapters or microphone of any sorts. He put them on slowly until they fit nice and snug. The headphones began to make a noise similar to a PC starting up. A bright green light filled his dark room causing him to shield his eyes.
Jake reopens his eyes while squinting to see a completely different room than before. The room was basic, made up almost entirely of wood. The only décor was the bed he was on and candles for lighting. In front of his eyes appeared a transparent green window with white text. Seeing this, he rubs his eyes again trying to wipe away what he thought was an illusion.
"Welcome to 'The Game'."
He waves his hand through the transparent panel and it disappears.
"I've been reading too much fantasy manhua." He thinks.
He lays back in bed and covers his head with the blanket. The blanket felt like it was made of straw. The pillow and the mattress were harder than anything he had slept on as well. He's unable to sleep and questions the "dream" he was having. The transparent panel begun blinking in and out of his view every few seconds.
"WARNING!!!
INTEREST LEVELS DECREASING!
INITIATING EVENT!"
He again swipes away on the window and it disappears. Just then, a loud knock at the door sounds. He leans forward grunting.
"I guess I should play along with my dream. Let's get this over with." He says with a yawn.
He lingers to the door and opens it. Staring at him in the eyes is a very attractive woman with a scared face.
"Please help me, a man is destroying the inn, you are an adventurer right? You can handle this can't you?" The women asks.
She looks as she was about to break out in tears.
"Quest: Protect the inn.
Level: Tutorial"
Jake yawns and covers his mouth
.
"A tutorial… Uhg… I hate things like this." He says.
Just then the screen flashes and changes colors to blue.
"Please Adventurer, the man is rampaging around like something is controlling him." The woman says.
"Quest: Protect the inn.
Level: 1 star / 10 stars"
"The quest changed? Weird. Guess I'll take a look." He thinks.
Jake walks down the hallway to the main area of the inn. The building outside his room was the same. Nothing looks like the normal world. Loud crashes follows furniture flying around the room. He walks up without a care to the lobby and observes the giant of a man. Jake is over six feet tall and yet the man scales in comparison to Jake.
"Did someone forget to feed the baby his dinner?" Jake mocks the man.
As he laughs a bright red box appears.
"Skill: Taunt has been learned.
Effect: The enemy's rage is now focusing on you."
The man's giant fist phases through the window just as he finishes reading it. His eyes widen as he falls back in fear. He holds up his left arm in defense and closes his eyes. The man's fist collides with Jake's arm launching him into the wall behind him. Pain spreads throughout his body as he stumbles forward and two screens appear.
"Interest level increased to 6.
Exclusive Skill: 'Bored No More' Activated."
_______
Type: Player Name: Jake
Title: Alpha Tester Job: Adventurer
Status: Beginner Interest: 6/10
Level: 1
---------------------------------------------------------
Strength: 18(3)* Defense: 18(3)*
Agility: 18(3)* Health: 120/180(20/30)*
Intellect: 18(3) * Mana: 180(30)*
---------------------------------------------------------
Skills:
* Bored No More: boost stats based on how high
Interest levels are. (Current: x6)
Taunt: Enemy's rage focuses on you.
______________________________________
Jake stumbles but manages to stay on his feet. The man rushes head first attempting to tackle him. Jake still in shock, only had time to brace himself. They collided but instead of Jake being thrown backwards, the man was instead. The man collapsed to the ground and grunted.
"…What in the…?" He thinks.
The woman rushes up to him with glee. At the same time another window appears in front of Jake.
"Thank you for saving the inn adventurer. It would have been completely destroyed without you." She declares.
"Quest Completed:
Rewards:
Free stay for life,
Level Increased"
Jake's mind was a mess of jumbled up thoughts. He didn't know whether to be scared, impressed, or disappointed. He swiped away the screen and the woman from before started cleaning up the shop at incredible speeds. His vision went black all except for a few words in front of him.
"Alpha test completed.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Contact: xxx-xxx-xxxx."
"Is this dream over now?" He thinks.
The letters disappear and a light shines into his eyes. Jake blinks to shield his eyes but when he opens them, the light is gone and he is back in his room. He slowly takes the headset off of his ears and inspects it further. In small lettering at the underneath of the head strap was the same number he had seen earlier.
"Wait... was that really not a dream. If it wasn't, then was it actually a video game? A game like that would change the world. There's been talk of full dive games for years, but no one has even broadcasted that they are close. How could I not know about this?"
He jumps up and grabs his cell phone and calls the number. The ring was long. A recorded female voice began to talk on the other end. This woman was beautiful with long hair in a ponytail. She pretends to be a recorded message over the phone as ordered by the company.
"Hello, thank you for alpha testing 'The Game'. Please take a moment of your time to describe your thoughts on the game. Press 1 to continue. Press 2 to end the call." She says.
"Speak to a representative." Jake says.
"This punk…"She thinks.
She repeats the message again. Irritated, Jake tried hitting every other button to get around the system and talk to an 'actual person'. The message loops again. He tried waiting it out for several minutes and both of them getting more annoyed as this went on. Just as she is about to tell him about being a real person, he caves in and presses 1 on the phone. The woman talks like a recording again.
"Hello, thank you for taking the time to leave a review for us. I will be recording your review for you. You may begin speaking your review after the beep." She says.
"Huh… There's so much I could mention. Will the recording be able to go that long?" He thinks.
"This game has potential; however, the issues in the game were numerous. I'd go as far as to say the issues outweigh the benefits of the full dive tech. Yes you get to experience things inside as if they are really happening, but if the experience is terrible then what's the point?"
The woman's mouth drops in awe.
"Out of the 1000 Alpha testers, no one has ever given this harsh of feedback. Almost everyone thinks this is the new big thing. Why is he different?" She thinks.
"The graphics, feel, and overall gameplay seemed good. However, the quest presented was far too basic, the skills seemed way too strong, and the details in the scenery were miniscule. I understand that this is an alpha test, but with how short it was, that's the least you could do. In the end my main concern about this game, is that even in the virtual world, I was bored." Jake proclaims.
He presses the pound key as he catches his breath from the rant. He smirks and lays back in his bed awaiting a response. The woman twirls her hair with a pen and leans back in her chair. She crosses her legs and relaxes in her sleek suit-like dress.
"This guy might actually have some decent ideas for us…" She thinks.
"Good morning sir, Based on your review, we'd like you to come to our office in person for a more depth conversation." She says.
Her voice isn't robotic anymore. Jake immediately realizes that a real person is talking. Irritated, He sits up and clears his throat.
"Excuse me, but I feel like that's a little demanding considering your website completely wrecked my computer. It's going to cost me quite a bit and now you want me to spend my time coming to you for free?" He says.
"Actually, no. We will be paying you for your time if you are willing to come in. As far as your computer goes, we can talk about that when you get here. How does that sound?" She says.
"Honestly I don't like leaving my house unless I absolutely have to for work. But I guess this whole thing is interesting. Will I be meeting with you?" Jake
"Regrettably…" She thinks.
"Yes. I am Ashe in HR, if you would like to meet with me, I can arrange that." She says.
"I'll go… But. I have one condition." He says.
"Oh god, Is he trying to get personal with me? This creep. He's probably going to ask for a date with me. Or worse…" She thinks.
"If I get bored I am leaving." He states.
A terrible mental image pops in her head thinking what she might have to do to "entertain" this man. In her mind, she visualizes a rude, fat, and ugly shut in who does nothing but plays games.
"I understand…" She says. "If you are available to meet today, I will send you the information now."
"That's fine. I can come now. It's my day off and it's not like I can play any games right now anyways." He says.
She hangs up and leans over her keyboard. She starts typing a report to her boss in HR while thinking about Jake.
"That asshole. He's acting so weird. Why did I have to get stuck with him? This is why I hate working for a video game company. Only weirdos play these things. Hoping they can make their 'fantasies' come true." She thinks.
She sends the report to her boss and texts the information to Jake. Jake gets out of the shower and looks at the mirror.
"Since I've been getting pretty bored of games and going to the gym lately, I actually look a lot more in shape than before." He thinks.
With his naturally tall figure paired with the workouts he had been doing Jake had turned into a well-built man.
His phone vibrates on the counter displaying a message. "Arrive at (address) at 10am. Wear dress attire." He looks at the time. "9am." He shrugs and walks to his room and opens his closet.
"What's the big deal with 'dress attire'? It's not like I'm going to an interview. I'm just getting paid for a review. I'll just dress normally." He says.
He puts on a pair of jeans, a brown V-neck T-shirt, and tennis shoes. He grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone and went downstairs. His living room and kitchen were very basic. They were spotless and free of clutter. His step-father was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up with a shocked expression.
"Where are you going? You aren't dressed for the gym or work. You need food from the store or something? I was about to go, I could go with you." His step-father says.
"No, I am going out to meet some girl named Ashe. I'll be back later." Jake says.
Jake walks out and closes the door behind hind him. He gets into his small, affordable, car and drives off. His dad was mid bite of his food but seemed to be frozen in time.
"Is he actually going on a date…?" His step-father thinks.
Jake arrives and parks at the building. Both the building and the parking lot were massive. There are almost no windows. The only part of the building you could clearly see into was the entrance. He walks up and looks down at his phone. It was already 10:10. He shrugs it off and walks in through the sliding glass doors and up to woman at the front counter.
"Hello there, what are you here for sir?" She asked with a smile.
"I am here to meet a woman named Ashe." Jake said.
"I'll let her know you're here. One moment please." She responded.
The woman called a number on the phone and asked for Ashe to come down. Jake walked away and looked around the lobby. The place had décor all over. Paintings, furniture, art, details in the trim on the hallways and doors.
Ashe walks down the hallway picturing here creepy idea of Jake in her head. She walks up to the front counter and notices the 'man' in the lobby. She leans over on the desk and whispers into the woman's ear.
"Where's the reviewer? Did he go to the restroom? And who's that stud in the lobby? Your boyfriend come to visit you Linda?" Ashe jokes.
"Hahaha no silly, that is the reviewer. That "stud" is here to see you." Linda jokes back.
Ashe blinks at Linda and then looks at Jake. She points at him and looks back at the woman. Jake sees this and begins walking over. Now in earshot of the conversation.
"You must be joking. There's no way that's the reviewer. I even made sure he came in dress attire." Ashe declares.
"She isn't joking. I'm Jake. Sorry I didn't come in dress attire. I wouldn't have made it here on time if I got out my suit. You must be Ashe right?" Jake lies.
Ashe was left speechless as she thought about all of the terrible thoughts she had earlier. The thoughts of the nerdy gamer forcing her to do things for him, turned into the man in front of her doing the same.
"Fortunately…" Ashe mumbles.
"I..I..I MEAN." She said as she cleared her throat. "Yes, I am Ashe. Nice to meet you."
Jake extends his hand and Ashe does the same, shaking his hand. She blushes and turns toward the direction she came from.
"Please, follow me." She states.
They walk down the hall and get on an elevator. As the elevator opens Jake frowns. The hallway was entirely empty. She guides him past door after door until she stops at the very last office on the left. She opens the door and Jake smiles. Her room was filled with posters and figurines and her furniture was far different from the rest of the building.
"Please, have a seat." She says with a gesture.
Jake sits down on the couch as Ashe walks behind her desk. She sits forward in her recliner, and leans her elbows onto the desk. Jake couldn't help but to stare. Her figure was amazing and with the dress she was wearing, her chest was a lot to look at from his angle.
Ashe stares back still trying to get the images out of her head. She notices his stares but can't tell if she's just imagining it or not. She sits up and clears her throat, causing Jake to sit up and look at her in the eyes.
"I'm sorry for staring. I have to admit that over the phone I created a much different mental image of you than you look." Ashe declares. "Honestly, I expected a shut-in gamer popping out of his clothes. That's normally the type of people who end up giving reviews for us."
"Well, I'm really not too different from them." Jake chuckles as he pictures the same thing in his head. "I am definitely a shut-in gamer."
"Now, shall we get started?" She asks.
"What would you like to know? Do you want me to write down everything?" Jake responds.
"No that's fine. Just tell me all your thoughts out loud. I am a fast typer." She proclaims. "Just give me a moment to get ready."
She moves her laptop over and slowly moves her mouse with the mouse pad to open a word document. She signals for Jake to start as she focuses on the keyboard.
"Alright, So. First off, like I said on the phone, the graphics, feel, and overall gameplay seemed good. However, the quest presented was far too basic, the skill seemed way too strong, and the details…" Jake starts to say.
"Wait!!" Ashe proclaims.
Her fingers and eyes were scrambling across her keyboard. She was trying to keep up, but got left behind about halfway.
Jake laughs genuinely and wipes away a tear from his eye.
"You really don't use a keyboard very often do you? Do you play games at all?" He jokes.
"I… I played games when I was a kid. Though I've been getting better at typing since I started working here. I even got an award last month." She mumbles.
She points at the wall proudly, towards a plaque. Jake's eyes follow and he reads it.
"Most Improved Award"
Jake holds in his laughter, but was dying of laughter on the inside. He reaches over and turns her laptop towards himself.
"If you don't mind, I'm just going to type it out. It'll save us both some time." He says chuckling.
He starts typing and Ashe is amazed. His fingers move faster than she could imagine. She scoots around her desk, getting closer to Jake to see the screen. The document slowly filled with sentences and paragraphs.
"I can't decide whether to be upset with myself, amazed at him, or upset with him for showing off." She thinks.
He stopped to think a few times but continues typing for almost 30 minutes. Part way his smile from earlier fades away as he types. By the end the document is multiple pages long. He leans back and yawns, stretching out his hands and his arms.
"That's about everything I could think of." He says.
"Thankyou... Even though I feel kind of useless now." She pouts.
She begins reading his essay of a review and gets zoned in to all the details he wrote.
"Don't beat yourself up. I'm just a geek is all." He says. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way now. Do I just ask the front desk for my payment?"
"Yeah. Yeah. That's fine." She says, not paying attention.
Jake stands up and opens the door. He glances back at her staring into the computer and smirks. He closes the door behind him and heads to the elevator. Ashe finishes reading and immediately types an email to the head of the department. She briefly explains the situation and attaches his document.
"Oh.. Right. Jake, I want you to meet with the department head. There might be a permanent testing position for you." She says.
She hits send on the email and then looks around. Her jaw drops after she thinks back to what Jake had said.