Someone was jostling me.

“Ugh, Jess, is that you? Why’re you in here?”

“I ain’t Jess, lass,” a weary voice stated. “Your friend is sitting outside next to one of the breakfast tables. He already paid both of yours’ bills.

I looked up. In front of me stood an elderly looking NPC, a wizened man with a gray beard and bald head.

“Though I can’t say that I remember ever meeting you before,” he murmured. “Maybe I did? Sorry, but most of the last few weeks have been kind of blurry. It’s like a fog was lifted from my mind.”

A fog? What in the world was this guy talking about?

I sat straight up. Judging by the way this guy was talking, I figured he was the NPC innkeeper.

AI had improved a lot with the last few years, nearly as much as VR technology had. They could remember things, infer things, and hold up a conversation pretty well. But there was a limit to everything, and artificial intelligence wasn’t much of an exception.

Talk to an AI for too long and they'll invariably start acting unnatural. They’d repeat things or just not react due to the small scope of their ability to reason.

“Are you alright?” I asked the innkeep.

“Yes, yes,” he murmured, “I’m just fine. It is strange though. It’s like my head’s been empty for months, and all of a sudden everything’s become more real. Can’t remember much from the last twelve hours, neither."

I wondered what was up with him. The last twelve hours sounded like the period where all NPC activity was halted, but the part about his “empty head” didn’t make much sense. Maybe this was part of a quest line?

Oh well. I figured I should meet up with Jess before I did anything.

I sat straight up, about to get out of bed, and as soon as I did, the old man’s eyes widened as he took one look at my scaled arm.

Oh crap.

I’d forgotten about my arm entirely, since the scales hadn’t felt nearly as odd as they would’ve seemed. It was as though I’d been wearing a tight fitting glove.

I tried to play it off. “This? It’s just a gift I got from Jess. It’s quite pretty, isn’t it? I love wearing this glove so much that sometimes I forget to take it off when I sleep.”

It did look like a piece of clothing, as long as you didn’t realize that the end of it merged into my skin. Luckily, the blanket I had over me covered the end of my arm.

All of this didn’t actually matter that much, though. I figured the game might lower my reputation in the town if he did realize what he saw, but the worst that could happen is that I’d get chucked in temp jail.

The innkeeper eyed me suspiciously for a moment, then sighed and shrugged. “Odd looking garment you got there, but I won’t judge. Anyways, it’s time for you to leave. Not unless you mind shelling out for another night?”

He said that last part with a raised eyebrow, but I just shook my head.

“Sorry, sir, but we’re probably leaving today. Me and my friend are on our way to Ralcor.”

“Ralcor?” asked the old man, raised eyebrow going even higher, “That’s quite a trip. And what is a young couple doing traveling all the way there? It’s hardly the city for a honeymoon.”

“Ah, no,” I stammered. “We’re just friends visiting, erm, relatives. Our relatives. I mean, my relatives. Just mine, not hers.

The old man laughed raucously. “I’m just pulling your chain, girl. Couples don’t tend to sleep apart.”

I sighed, annoyed. The AI is making jokes now?

The AI in the new Altera system was supposed to be as advanced as anything else the game had to offer, but cracking jokes was certainly new. Though what was especially weird was how the innkeeper spoke so naturally. I half expected the man to actually just be some dude role playing.

I stood up and followed him out of the room and down the stairs, where a bored looking Jess was sat in an empty and plain room. She was using a fork to dig into a sorry-looking plate of eggs.

She looked up and gestured for me to come to her.

The innkeeper nodded at me and gestured me forward. “I’ll be out with some more food once you sit down.”

Taking a seat, I turned towards Jess, who I suddenly realized had a serious and disconcerting look on her face.

“Hey, you alright?” I asked. “Sorry, I said that I would handle the innkeep. Let me pay you back.”

“No, it’s not that,” she replied, shrugging. “I’ve been thinking about how we’re stuck here. Who did it, and how?”

“Didn’t you say it’d be best not to think about how we were stuck here?” I inquired. “That it was best to not think about it, since we can’t know who did all this?”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” replied Jess. “I was thinking more about what would happen if we really were stuck here. You said some stuff about this being over in a matter of days, but what if it isn’t? What if we’re forced to stay stuck in here for weeks, maybe even months? For all intents and purposes, our bodies are essentially in a coma. How long until we start wasting away?”

“Oh come on,” I groaned. “It’s not gonna come to that. We’ll be out of here before you know it. Besides, when have I ever been wrong before?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dude, I’ve known you for a day.”

“And have I been wrong yet?” I said, grinning.

“You haven’t had a chance to be wrong,” she murmured.

“Details, details. Look, let’s forget about all of that. All the NPCs are back anyways. Let’s go dump all the stuff we looted in the bank and then we can get started on grinding a little bit.”

“I haven’t finished my breakfast yet,” Jess protested.

I frowned. “You know we don’t need to eat, right? Our real bodies probably have IVs stuck in them right now. And need I remind you the food ain’t real?”

She dismissed me. “Eh, I like eating in VR. Helps me to choke down the kale salads and protein shakes I usually have in real life.”

“Well, you do you,” I responded. “I usually just eat whatever’s cheap.”

“What does that usually end up being?” questioned Jess.

“Ramen.”

“Figures.”

I ended up joining her on eating breakfast, and, after checking the town on our maps, we were both well on our way to the bank. Before leaving, we made sure to put our armor sets back on. The gloves luckily covered my scales up. With any luck, there wouldn’t be any more hassle about them.

Strangely, all of the NPCs we met seemed about as dazed as the innkeeper. The store owners barely even seemed to care that a good portion of their stock was gone. Nearly everyone was more concerned with the “fog” that had been lifted from their mind.

“This is pretty weird,” commented Jess, as we stepped into the gilded doors of the town’s bank.

“Probably just a quest line thing,” I said, though it definitely seemed off color. “Not much we can do about it. If it’s affecting the whole town, it’s most like to be some event that’ll require more players than just the two of us. “

The bank clerk, a red-haired woman, greeted us with a smile. “Hello players, what can I do for you today?”

The bank was one of the few places where you didn’t have to role play with the NPCs. Typically, whenever anyone spoke to an NPC in Delsana, they had to act in-character, or else the AI would ignore them. The bank was one of the few places without any such restrictions.

Unlike the rest of the world’s NPCs, bank clerks didn’t actually affect the world in any capacity beside managing the bank for players. Some NPCs would occasionally enter the bank and make a transaction or two, to really set out a convincing atmosphere. But, for the most part, the bank was like its own separate entity within the game.

Me and Jess both proceeded to select our inventories and dumped out nearly everything, apart from some goods we’d be needing as well as a small amount of cash, just in case.

Time to get started on quests.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Hey Jess,” I started to say, as we walked away from the bank, ”wanna go ahead and help me complete the legendary quest that I got yesterday?”

Jess looked at me funny. “I thought that was just your quest, not mine too.”

“The Draken Ring quest is special,” I answered. “It looks like a single-player quest at first, but it leads to a dungeon that can hold another player. We can split the XP and loot. ‘Course, I still get the special armor since the ring attached itself to me.”

She still looked noncommittal. “I was thinking we might do some other quests around town to level up first. The ring was recommended for people around level 20, right? Wouldn’t it be a bit too high level for us?”

I shook my head. “The dungeon is meant for players that are about level ten. Obviously neither of us are anywhere near that, but I figured that we could wing it with all the equipment we looted. I mean, the daggers I got are for people about level 25, not to mention all the great armor you got. It’s not that far from here anyways, so the worst that’ll happen if we die is that we lose some XP and get set back maybe a half an hour or so.

“Still seems like too much of a gap,” noted Jess. “Don’t you think it’d be a good idea to get some levels first by doing some more minor quests?”

“I’ll be frank: I just really want the special armor as soon as possible,” I admitted. “It might be kinda hard, but having such a high level quest early on really is a good way to level up.”

She snickered. “So you really just want your special lizard armor as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I kinda do.”

“Then let’s go get it,” Jess said, smirking. “But if we find anything rare in there, I’ll be keeping it.”

I thought that was more than a fair deal. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

The walk to the cave where the Draken Ring quest would begin was really short, much shorter than I thought it’d be. Once we stepped onto the outskirts of town, the cave containing the quest was nothing more than a short five minute walk away.

It was rather well-hidden. Tucked away in a small forest was a hole that was covered up by an enormous and innocuous log. If it weren’t for the waypoint on my map that showed me exactly where the cave would be, I’d have never found it.

Inside the hole was a ladder leading to a small tunnel underground, lit with small torches.

“Ladies first,” I said, staring at the rusty handles on the ladder.

“Well, I’m a dude right now, aren’t I?” she asked, giving me a mischievous grin. “You scared?”

“Pfft, no,” I said, stepping forward and heading down first. (Yes, I was a little scared.)

Scaling the rickety-looking construct, Jess and I found a small path forward with a ceiling that stood at just above my height and that was slightly below Jess.’

“Jeez, I really hope this cave opens up to somewhere more spacious,” she complained, walking forward alongside me.

“I’m sure it does,” I reassured her. I absolutely was not sure that it did. The guys in the promo video for the quest didn’t exactly break out the measuring tapes for everyone’s height.

“Say, Crystal,” began Jess, as we trudged along, “what’s the point in developing quests that can only be completed by a single person? Why would the devs put any time into developing a quest just to have it be done by only one person?”

I figured she’d ask that. “Oh, it’s mainly an incentive for players to keep playing. The idea that they could be one of the few to get a super exclusive item keeps the hype going.”

“Still,” she went on, “it seems like a lot of work to make a dungeon specifically for one player, even if they do have a good reason for it.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s not it. The dungeons that are used for legendary quests are usually just slightly altered versions of regular ones. I’m guessing that this whole area is just a slightly altered version of a main quest dungeon.”

“What’s different about them?” asked Jess.

“It depends. They usually break off from the standard dungeon design at some point,” I answered. “This one breaks off into a special room with a unique boss.”

“And this boss, we can handle it, right? We’re not gonna end up flung across the room and dead in one shot?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “The gear they had on in the dev video was just basic gear, but they also had about ten levels on us. Besides, even if we do die, we’re not losing much. We don’t even have any XP.”

“Even still, the gear we stole can only do so much if we don’t have the levels for it,” she noted.

Couldn’t argue with that.

I didn’t really have a good answer. “I mean, you could also argue that being in such a high level area so early on is gonna be a huge boon to our experience gains. Plus I know the enemies here like the back of my hand, so we don’t even have to worry about dying here. At least, not to the regular mobs.”

I could tell she was still doubting our chances, but by this point we were more or less already committed. So, with a small shrug and a bit of uncertainty, we trudged on.

After a bit of walking across the cramped and dirt-filled tunnel, we found what looked to be a metal door with a small cavity inside of it.

“Heck do we do now?” asked Jess. “Maybe we need the ring?”

“Nah,” I told her. “Ring wouldn’t fit. Besides, the thing vanished into my arm.”

“Then maybe you stick your newly scaled arm in?” she guessed.

I turned to look at her. “Seriously?”

“Take another look,” she said. “It’s the only thing that’ll fit into the hole.”

The hole itself looked disgusting. What looked like mud or dung (hopefully mud) was caked to the sides. The cavity itself looked more like the home of a snake or other wild animal than anything else. But it would fit my arm.

“Come on,” she encouraged. “Not like it’s real, right?

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one sticking your arm into some random underground hole.”

But I went ahead anyway and stuck my limb into the small and disgusting little hollow. As soon as I did, the side of the wall immediately collapsed, revealing a set of worn wooden doors.

Jess looked rather impressed with herself. “See? What’d I tell you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, shaking off the filth that had attached itself to me. “Anyways, just follow my lead. I’ve watched the devs play through this mission a dozen times by now.

“Aye, aye, sir,” Jess responded, holding up her hand in a mock salute. She looked ridiculous.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped through the double doors, which opened up to a somewhat large and spacious room with another set of wooden doors, which I recognized right away. This room was where the devs had begun their playthrough.

Jess finally didn’t have to bend forward just to stand up anymore. “Thank goodness that’s over with. What now, chief?”

I opened up my inventory and took out two silver-colored potions we’d looted earlier.

“What’s this?” she questioned.

“Damage resistance potions,” I answered, taking a drink. “Let’s do this by the book. We’re gonna do exactly what the devs did in the promo video. Only difference between our comp and theirs was that they had a paladin instead of a knight like you. You’re both good tanks though, so we should be able to copy them pretty well.”

She quickly chugged the concoction and frowned. “Tastes like bad wine. Anything else we need to do before heading out?”

“Got your health potions and weapons lined up?”

“Yup.”

“Then let’s head out,” I said, opening the doors.

Behind the entrance was a narrow hallway, barely big enough for the two of us to stand side by side. In the middle of the hallway lay an amorphous pink blob. The first enemy.

“Jess, in front of me!” I shouted. “Use your taunt ability!”

Right away, the knight stepped in front of me,raising her shield and suddenly being enveloped in a warm yellow light. My UI let me know that she’d just activated her special knight taunt by showing the words Eternal Bulwark above her head.

I rushed forward and immediately activated my own special skill, Blade Flurry, swiping around the blob with several quick strikes.

I was rewarded with the monster's green health bar appearing in my vision, before it cut down to about a fifth of its remaining health.

That was certainly quick. Guess using level 25 blades on a level 10 monster worked out pretty well, even if I was only level 1.

“Alright, Jess, finish it with your sword!”

The knight wasted no time in responding, immediately carving into the blob with the skill of someone that spends a good portion of their free time playing VRMMO games.

As soon as she was done, the blob began to melt away, forming little more than a pool of jelly-like substance on the floor.

“Gross,” murmured Jess. “You mind handling the looting?”

I nodded and opened up my inventory screen, which showed the monster’s loot in a small window next to it. I pressed the loot button, and the items went straight into the party inventory. The system would dole out the goods evenly afterward.

“Alright, onto the rest of the hallway,” I said, gesturing for Jess to lead the way.

The next few fights went just as they did in the dev video. Nothing more than slimes. Even in spite of our low level, by the time that we managed to slay the last of them, we’d only gotten minor injuries not even worth using healing potions over.

“This is awesome!” Jess chirped cheerily, as we sat down in an empty room to get our bearings. “We’ve barely gotten scratched and we’re both already level 3. Hey, Crystal, when do we get to learn new abilities? Taunting is cool and all, but I really want some new skills to try out.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited,” I told her. “The devs intentionally made the game more skill-based, so abilities are pretty limited. You only get one every tenth level. All other level ups just boost your stats slightly.”

Jess’ smile quickly soured. “Seriously? Sounds boring AF.”

I stuck out my tongue. “Heh. You call it boring. I call it part of the fun. “

She shook off my comment and stood up. “What’s next? More slimes?”

“Afraid not,” I said, “Next up is the boss.”

Jess’ eyes widened. “Boss? We’ve barely even begun and we’re fighting the boss next?”

“Yup,” I affirmed. “If we were following the actual dungeon, we’d probably end up fighting other monsters for just a bit longer, but like I said before, the Draken Ring quest branches out from the main path. We’re doing things a little differently.”

She groaned. “Please tell me the boss is just a slightly bigger slime.”

“Weeeelll… not exactly? Good news is, the thing we’re fighting is just supposed to be a baby of its species.”

“A baby of what species?” asked Jess.

“Erm, dragons.”

The cringe she must’ve been feeling was palpable. “We talking Smaug level or we talking dog-sized cuties?”

“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry, just imagine horse-sized Drogon.”

“How is that supposed to make me not worry?”

“We’ve been doing even better than the guys in the dev video so far. All we need to do is hit the dude maybe half a dozen times with my Blade Flurry before it does die.”

The knight raised an eyebrow. “Only half a dozen? And what’ll you do if it hits you? Unlike me, you don’t have any extra armor protecting you. What’ll happen then?”

I waved her off. “It won’t hit me, I know the thing’s moves like the back of my hand. I’ll be able to dodge all of them. So long as you just keep taunting it.”

Jess still wasn’t finished. “Okay, but let’s say you mess up? What’ll happen if it hits you then?”

“I’ll die,” I said, grimacing. “I’m only level 3 with basic armor. My daggers don’t do jack for my defense. If the thing hits me once, I’ll die and respawn back at the inn.”

“I guess I can just get back there myself if you do die. But can I finish the dungeon if you’re out of commission?” she inquired, her face scrunched up in a frown.

I scratched my head. “Maybe? It’ll be hard, but if I can get three or four of my Blade Flurries in, it’s certainly doable for you.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just head back?” Jess asked. “We can come back and level a bit more before we face the dragon. If only so that you’ll have a chance to heal instead of just getting one-shotted. “

“I’ll leave and level with you if you want to,” I replied, sighing. “But I really do want to get it as soon as possible. Sorry, that sounds kinda selfish.”

She looked at me, face full of concern, before giving me a warm smile. “Well, if you really want to, I guess we can go ahead. Hopefully, I won’t have to pick up your slack.”

I couldn’t help it. My mouth broke into a big toothy grin as soon as she agreed. “Thanks, I promise you won’t regret it!”

“Better not,” she said, keeping up her happy expression. “This dude better drop some mad EXP.”

“You bet,” I promised. “Dude should give up enough to get us to level five, maybe even level six.

Jess stood up, picking up her sword and shield and gesturing for me to ready myself as well.

She turned her head towards the boss door. “By the way, Crystal, how’re you gonna get this special reward? What does it even do?”

“You’ll find out soon,” I told her, picking up my daggers. “I should get the armor set automatically, once we beat the boss.”

“Alright, you ready?” she said, ready to open the door with shield in hand.

I took my place behind the tall knight. “Ready? Heck yeah.”

“Let’s go then!” Jess yelled, running through the door and straight in front of the dragon. “Eternal Bulwark!”

The beast was just as terrifying in-game as it was in the video. The thing had the elongated body of a lizard, but scaled up to the size of a horse. Pitch black scales lined its slender body while red eyes darted between the two of us, before finally settling on Jess. As soon as it settled, a bloodcurdling scream emanated from the dragon’s mouth, a cavern filled with sharp teeth.

“Keep it focused on you!” I shouted over the din. Rushing forward, I ran straight around to the side of the beast’s back. It whipped around immediately, careful to not leave its back exposed.

Just as well. The opening paved the way for Jess to plunge her sword straight into the monster’s back. It let out a gut-wrenching scream, and immediately forgot all about me. That left it open up for at least two Blade Flurries. A third one would’ve been fantastic, but my mana only allowed for two back-to-back strikes.

Not that it mattered. The dragon was still focused entirely on Jess. Her Eternal Bulwark ability was already out, but she was still doing an excellent job of keeping the monster on her.

It had gotten past her shield a few times, as the health potions that lay on the ground attested to, but she still had plenty more. Every time the monster attacked, Jess would close in quickly for a small jab with her sword.

Every now and then, I’d go in for a quick few swipes of my own, or a Blade Flurry, but just as soon as the monster switched its attention did the knight give it another sharp thrust with her blade.

I could see its health just about to hit zero and I moved in for the kill. But it wasn’t enough.

It turned around with no more than a tiny sliver of health remaining and focused entirely on me. Panicking, I slashed at it again, its health so low as to no longer be visible. If I could just kill it now, then I wouldn’t have to worry about being one-shot.

The monster, bloody and bruised, made one last ditch attempt at killing me, reaching ahead for a bite that just barely made contact with my shoulder.

Praying that it wasn’t enough to kill me, I made one final thrust with my blades and watched in relief as the monster finally keeled over, dead.

Just in time for me to stare in horror as my own health bar dropped to zero.