DRENCHED IN WATER BUT TOO DAMNED SORE AND TIRED TO CARE, I PUSHED THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR.

“Al!” Mom shouted as she jumped to her feet. “Where have you—”

She glanced at the phone in her hand. Then placed it back to her ear she said, “Yeah, Chloe, he’s home. I’ll call you back.”

Snapping her gaze back to me, and making no attempt to suppress her anger, she demanded, “Where the hell have you been, Allen? I was worried sick about you! Your phone—give me your phone, where is it?”

I shrugged.

It was probably still on my bed, but I didn’t have the energy to say so.

Instead, I mumbled, “I just want to go to bed, mom. Please, let me go to sleep. We can talk about it later, okay.”

“No, Allen, we will not talk about it later!”

I pulled the door shut, locked it, then turned and trudged down the hall doing my best to ignore her as she followed behind me screaming.

I opened the door to my room and she shoved her way inside.

She didn't stop until she stood over my bed.

Picking up the Holoset, she waved it in the air, screaming, “Is this what you plan to do? You leave me worried sick all day then you want to come in and play more video games?” She threw the headset across the room, adding, “No, fuck that Allen. No more games. No more bullshit!”

My Holoset smashed against the wall, and the sound sent a painful jolt through my heart.

She didn't stop. She wasn't going to stop. I didn’t care. I had nothing left to lose. Her words all faded into the background as I curled into a wet ball.

Eventually, there was silence. The sound of my door closing told me she’d left.

I wiped my face unsure if it was water from my wet hair, or tears that clouded my vision.

Too tired and sore to move, I lay on the floor for a while. I felt empty, devoid of life and purpose.

What would I do from now on? Even if the Holoset still worked, I’d have to start over from scratch. It would take months just to reach the thirtieth floor and progress after that would be even slower. The only chance of earning real cash was being a top player and I wouldn’t even be able to compete. The death of Owl was a true death with far reaching consequences for me.

Still, I couldn’t live like this. Something had to change.

After a few hours of rest, I found the strength to drag myself to the computer. It was 4:00am, but maybe Seya was still up. Maybe she’d have some idea what I should do.

Seya: OMG, Owl! Are you okay? Where did you go?

Seya: I’m sorry about your character. You were still streaming when it happened, so you might want to stay offline for a while…

Owl: What?

Owl: Wait, what do you mean streaming?

Seya: I mean you had almost 50,000 people watching the Darksoul fight. They all saw you lose your character, so they know what happened. There’s memes already circulating and someone recorded the final moments…the clip is going viral.

Owl: What? How many views does it have?

Seya: Almost 4 million, and counting.

Owl: No way…

I was tempted to search for it, but Seya was right. It was probably better if I didn’t see what people were saying.

Taking a deep breath, I tapped out,

Owl: What am I going to do Seya? I just lost everything.

Seya: Hey, you can always start over, right?

Owl: Start over, I can't start over. That was my character! I'd have to wait months just to get that strong again.

Seya: Relax, it was a joke. Starting over now would be pointless, but have you heard of this?

She sent a link to something called DreamLIFE.

Seya: It's a new VRMMORPG. It launches tomorrow. It's supposed to be the biggest and most realistic game ever created.

Owl: What the hell! How did I miss that?

I clicked the link without waiting for her reply.

It opened in a new tab to a video panning over the breathtaking landscape of a city in the clouds.

As the camera panned around, the view zoomed into a grand palace at the center of the city.

A voiceover began, as the image changed to an elfine princess, praying by a window.

“This is DreamLIFE, a virtual reality game that promises an opportunity to truly live your dream life…”

Rolling hills with miles of farmland appeared, then a monster infested cavern as the voice continued.

“…buy land and live peacefully in the countryside, or take up the sword and adventure through dungeons and across the seas of this vast and wondrous world. Anything you can imagine is possible.”

Then, the camera panned over a vast expanse of ruins.

In the distance, a lone figure stood atop a pillar. The man drew a blade that shined like a star and held it in the air as he faced the setting sun.

I felt a spark of excitement. Then a jolt of gloom as I realized there was no way I could afford a copy.

Seya: Because you practically lived in The Cursed Tower until now.

Seya: What happened anyway?

Seya: Owl…?

Owl: Sorry, was checking out the link. Anyway, it’s cool, but I’m broke… and mom might’ve also broken my Holoset.

Seya: Wait, your Holoset is broken?

I frowned as I typed.

Owl: Probably.

Owl: I can see the circuit board and there’s some wires hanging out on the side.

Owl: Guess I have to find a “real” job after all.

Owl: Oh well, it was nice playing together while it lasted.

Seya: Nah, check this!

It was another link referencing DreamLIFE, but this one didn’t go to the games website. It was some kind of government job listing.

I scanned through the text, my heart racing faster with each line.

In need of expert gamers—check—with VR experience. Check.

Minimum pay, 60k per year, and a free copy of DreamLIFE.

Hell yeah, sign me up.

I couldn't believe my luck.

There was a whole page of program specifics, but none of that shit mattered. I’d be getting paid just to play the world's greatest video game and I’d get my own free copy? What else mattered?

I scrolled down to the bottom and clicked the button to apply. It opened a link to a skills test, which required a file download and compatible VR device.

I twisted in my chair hoping, praying, that my Holoset wasn’t totally destroyed.

I scrambled across the room, picking it up and shoving as much of its components back inside the shell as I could. Then I put it on.

The digital world around me glitched to life. A diagonal crack split my vision on the right side, and everything above the line was just black. The usual list of menus didn’t populate, but the PC link button was still there.

Thank you God!

Once the device connected and the application completed loading, the screen went black and the text,

Do you wish to take the skill test?

Yes/No

Appeared.

I selected yes and the words crumbled into dust. The sound of water dripping, somewhere in the distance, echoed endlessly. Maybe thirty meters ahead there was fire, but it was fizzling.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I ran towards the flames, but only embers remained by the time I reached it.

Then a message appeared.

Survive.

Something shifted in the shadows.

A hungry growl rumbled down my spine, then claws scraped against stone as the darkness shifted again.

I took a step back, then dropped to the ground.

A burst of air above me confirmed I’d made the right choice. Whatever this beast was, it was powerful and quick. I didn’t stand a chance fighting it directly.

The ground shook as it roared, and landed beside me.

I couldn’t tell what kind of creature it was, but the beast seemed to have lost track of me since it began walking away.

I was safe for the moment.

When I was sure the creature had traveled a fair distance, I slowly got to my feet. Without the fire, everything was tar black except the small pile of kindling, still glowing red.

I considered trying to restart the fire, but figured the light might just attract the dark beast and make my situation worse. Instead I moved towards the sound of dripping water. If there was a drip then, maybe there was also a way out.

Moving with care, and checking every so often to see if the creature had noticed me, I eventually found a small pond.

A dim light hung over the pond, illuminating the area.

I looked up to see a small hole above me.

I smiled, thinking of how I might climb out.

As I moved around the pond, something burst up from the water. It was the creature, a dragon-like thing, but instead of wings it had a pair of large fins that seemed to double as legs.

The beast stared down at me, its eyes gleaming red as it reared back and dropped open its jaw. Water bubbled at the back of its throat, the pressure building and growing with a steaming hiss.

It wasn’t hard to guess what would come next. This was another foe I was ill equipped to handle; rather than try, I rushed past it. Heading back towards the dark beast. Foolish or not, my best hope was that the two creatures would fight each other so that I could escape while they were distracted.

I ran, hearing a blast of water that carved a line in the floor behind me. Sediment broke apart into pebbles and chunks that pelted my ankles as the jet stream neared.

The hiss came to a halt as the spray fizzled just before striking me. The water wyvern had incredible range, but I’d apparently just reached the edge of it. Unfortunately, rather than follow me, a splash said the beast jumped back into the water.

Great. I’ll have to see if I can lead the shadow beast to the pool then.

The creature roared as I approached the smoldering kindling. It must’ve been lurking the darkness somewhere nearby.

Throwing caution to the wind, I rushed up beside the pile and began tossing red hot planks toward the pool. When I heard the sound of the beast’s claws on the stone floor, I grabbed three glowing sticks and ran with them, back towards the pool.

A heavy thud, and the ground trembled behind me. The creature’s lunge missed.

“Come on beasty!” I shouted while dragging one of the sticks along the ground and dropping another.

Another roar, closer this time, vibrated through my bones.

It worked! The blind beast was following me.

I tossed a stick behind me, hoping to hit the creature and keep it engaged. Then I remembered there might be hard limits on how far it would chase. I was close enough to see the light of the pool, but there was still a distance to cover.

I raised the remaining log and hurled it as far as I could.

It landed with a snap and a hollow echo, as it splintered on contact with the ground.

Aside from bits of wood that peppered the pond, the water’s surface remained undisturbed.

“Fuck!” I cried, “I’m gonna die if you don’t—”

A stream of water shot towards me from beneath the surface.

My eyes went wide, but I reacted on impulse, diving left, rolling back to my feet, and sprinting past the lunging shadow beast, back the way I’d come.

Whether my eyes adjusted or if I’d just brought it close enough to the light was uncertain, but I was sure the creature was akin to a giant mole. It had a round, black body with two front arms. Its massive claws dragged along the ground as it charged into the spray I’d just dodged.

The creature howled with pain, but didn’t slow down.

I didn’t waste time looking back to check on the fight, instead I powered forward, hoping there’d be another exit.

I made it roughly three meters before the whole scene changed. Deep shadows became opaque gray walls. The monsters’ roars faded into the booming crack of gunfire.

Barricades obstructed my view in every direction and a new message appeared.

Eliminate the enemy

I didn't have time to consider the change. Bullets pelted the barricade beside me and forced me to the ground.

The shots were coming from multiple directions. I still had no weapon, but a skill appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Quick reflexes. [doubles reaction speed for a short duration - 30 seconds. 5 second cool down]

For the duration of quick reflexes Dex, Str, and Agi stats will increase 20%. Frontal assassination possible.

I smiled. “This is at least straightforward and simple.”

HP set to 100

50 enemies remaining - you have 3:00 to eliminate them all.

“Better get moving then,” I told myself as I scanned around for anything I could use as a weapon.

There were none. A soldier in black and gray camo came around the barricade.

He shouted, raising his assault rifle, ready to pull the trigger.

I activated quick reflexes. Immediately another skill appeared

Assassination lvl 1 - 3 target(s) in range. [Instantly kill standard sized enemies with no or light armor. Maximum of 2 targets]

I only saw one soldier, but I activated the skill.

My body moved on its own, ducking under the burst of rounds and slamming into him with a shoulder charge. I grabbed his left arm as I spun around and swung him into the barricade.

As another soldier came round a barricade across from us, I elbowed soldier 1 in the balls, making him squeeze the trigger and shoot his ally in the head. I then pulled a pistol from his waist belt and shot him in the head, leaving both dead.

The skill deactivated, leaving me with a gun in hand and two bloody corpses at my feet.

The skill said there were three in range, so there must’ve been another soldier nearby.

I checked the pistol. It was a 9mm. Standard military issue, with an extended clip.

30 shots.

I still didn’t see the last soldier, but Assassination still registered 1 target. The skill was grayed out with a one minute cooldown timer, so I glanced around the barricade, coming face to face with the third soldier.

He started to raise his rifle, but quick reflexes was still active. I angled my pistol up and fired two shots In quick succession. His head exploded with the first as the bullet struck his chin. The second entered his chest as he fell over.

30 shots and 28 kills later, I had an automatic rifle and a full complement of clips.

19 enemies remaining - you have 1:12 seconds to eliminate them all.

A loud crash, like the sound of a car crashing through a fence, drew my attention to the right. A soldier stood inside a jeep that had rammed through several barricades. He pulled the pin from a grenade and tossed it toward me.

I dashed behind another set of walls and dove to the ground.

The explosion shook the ground, but the barricades shielded me.

While the dust settled, I moved along the wall staying low as I made my way around the jeep. The soldiers shouted to each other as they each emptied a full clip on my previous position. A heavily armored man stepped out of the driver's seat, grabbing a rocket launcher from inside the jeep and stabilizing it on his shoulder.

Four regular infantrymen stood between me and the commander. The rooftop gunner loaded an ammo belt into his turret and prepared to fire and another three soldiers on the passenger side took positions against barricades that would have protected them if I hadn’t snuck around behind them.

As one of the three finished reloading, he looked up and our eyes met for just a second before I pulled the trigger. He slumped over into his butt buddy, then I fired again.

My pistol empty, I tossed it aside, running forward and throwing a combat knife at the gunner on the turret before he could turn around.

The blade struck him in the back of his head.

He slumped forward without making a sound.

The four infantrymen rushed me, the commander took aim, but his shot went wide.

The one man, who was left alone on the passenger side of the vehicle, twisted behind his barricade for cover, then poked his rifle round the edge, firing randomly.

I activated quick reflexes.

Assassination registered, showing Assassination Lvl 1 - 5 target(s) in range. Lvl too low 1 target ineligible. [Instantly kill standard sized enemies with no or light armor. Maximum of 2 targets]

The commander fired his second rocket.

Using the enhanced reaction speed from quick reflexes, I raised my assault rifle and shot the rocket as it sped past the infantrymen.

The force of the explosion threw me backward, but it didn't damage me. The four infantry were blown to bits in the blast.

I rolled to my feet finding the commander had already thrown the rocket launcher aside and was charging forward.

In his left hand he carried a knife and held a pistol in the other.

He fired two shots before I could even think about raising my own weapon.

Quick Reflexes still active, I sidestepped the first and rolled forward, narrowly avoiding the second.

As I came up, the skills timer ran out.

The commander was on me, his knife slashing.

I raised my weapon, blocking the blow.

As he aimed with the hand gun, I kicked his arm. The shot ricocheted off a nearby barricade, ultimately passing through the jeep's back window.

I twisted my rifle up, striking him in the chin with the barrel and then held down the trigger.

The commander leaned left, letting several bullets graze against his bullet proof mask.

I let the rifle drop, then grabbed the pistol out of his hand, shooting him directly in the face.

He fell backwards and hit the ground.

10 enemies remaining - you have 0:30 seconds to eliminate them all.

Just as I finished reading the message, two attack helicopters swooped past. Gunners on both sides opened fire forcing me to duck behind cover, but their turrets would rip through the barricades long before they ran out of shots.

:27 seconds.

Fuck!

I had to move or I was dead.

The gunners continued to fire as the choppers flew a short distance away, then turned and began to hover.

The rocket launcher was still there, but it was empty and I’d be torn apart before I’d be able to reload it, assuming there were even rockets to load.

I dared not glance around the barricade, but I tried to envision the scene in my mind.

The jeep’s turret was freshly loaded. Maybe I could shoot through the rotors, or take out the pilots. But I’d need to be fast.

I activated Quick Reflexes again.

Dashing around the barricade, I made for the jeep. Wasting no time, I jumped onto the back and pulled myself up, then slid the dead gunner off the turret. It was already sort of pointing the right direction. I adjusted the angle as I pulled the trigger.

I wasn’t sure if I got the helicopter's rotors or the pilot, but as soon as chopper 1 veered towards chopper 2, I rolled off the roof and ran. The jeep exploded behind me as one of the helicopters’ gunners lit it up.

Chopper 1 spun into chopper 2, then both fell with an earth shaking explosion.

0 enemies remaining.

Test passed.

Congratulations!

The scene blinked away, as the Holoset switched off. I removed the device, returned to my swivel chair and checked the computer for any update to the application page.

There were a gazillion notifications of new messages from Seya, but nothing new on the application screen. I closed the file download, then clicked back again. The screen flashed several times, then the Holoset reactivated.

“Hello Alle—did you link to the right device?”