Letting out a guttural sound, Jye groaned in extreme pain.
“So, we have to stay in this gym?”
The place in question wasn’t so sad. All the exercise machines within were relatively new, though the decoration was sparse. Nowadays I expected at least one pot plant to clash against the commercial beige of the walls, but there was no such thing. Just the machines, and bland dark grey carpet. Who knew how many litres of sweat were stored within their fibres? At the very least, Jye had kicked the remaining clients out, and now it was just the three of us.
“This place is perfect for us to figure stuff out.”
“I hate to agree with Axel, but generally we all know our roles before trying to fight a boss. I’m an all-rounder, so my start is gonna be pretty weak before I can start looking at specialising into something.” I hoped, at least. “Do you have any idea what your class is?”
Jye folded their arms, irritation clear in their stance. “I told you, I can’t read it. That I was able to use my ability was me grasping at straws. But you saw what it did. Pinned him right to the floor. Maybe I’m a support class?”
“No, I think that skill is more suited to backline damage,” Axel said, rubbing his chin.
What a stupid idea. I said, “That’s a stupid idea. It’s clearly some sort of immobilisation skill. How’re they meant to do damage with that?”
He pointed aggressively at the scrapes on his face. “The scars-to-be marring my face say it's possible.”
I scoffed. “All right, please share with the rest of the class how they’re meant to do damage from the back.”
Out of all the things I was expecting Axel to say next, it wasn’t: “You ball, right?”
“At this height, if you don’t, people make fun of you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You any good?”
They shrugged modestly. “I can dunk.”
“Your aim must be decent too then.”
“It’s okay.”
“Then you can do backline damage.”
“Uh, can I interrupt here for a second?” I was lost as to where this conversation was going. What did basketball have to do with backline damage? Was he implying that Jye could apply a real life skill to the new game ones? It made sense to an extent. At least in regards to Axel. He’d always been a fast sprinter. Had the trait [Swift Footed] stemmed from that?
“No interruptions,” Axel said.
Oh, okay then. It had been a long time since I thought about how much I fucking hated Axel. But it was good of him to remind me.
“Don’t be rude to your partner, man.”
Axel scowled. “Not my partner. We’re just friends. Purely platonic. Just because two dudes are close doesn’t mean they’re dating. That’s very close-minded of you.”
Jye seemed genuinely berated. Their big green eyes widened and they said, “My bad. You guys just have that married-bordering-on-divorce vibe about you.”
Appeased by the apology, Axel began to continue his thoughts, but Jye then said, “Still though, that’s a shit way to treat a friend.”
Though barely able to do so, I repressed my sigh. A sinking feeling in my stomach began to form. Since it wasn’t clear when new Gates would appear, anxiety was building. The pressure of an unknown deadline made it feel like we were running out of time. Not to mention that Axel was acting like we had all the time in the world. When there wasn’t even a world in the way we knew.
“He doesn’t care. Besides, it’s for his own good.”
I couldn’t stop myself from reacting and my eyebrows shot up. My own good? Axel being a dick was for my own good? Had he always thought that? Maybe that was why he had stopped talking to me for so long in primary school. And how was him being awful something for my own good? Unable to properly process his words, I let them pass. I’d store them away and look at them again later. Though that box of thoughts was rapidly being filled. It was only a matter of time before I couldn’t stuff anything further into it.
“That’s messed up,” Jye commented. That was definitely one way of putting it.
Flat out ignoring them, Axel clapped his hands together, a smile on his face. “Having lived through your ability, I can assure you that it’s better for backline damage. Combine that with your hand-eye coordination and it’s the perfect match. In fact, we can test it out right now.”
“You wanna eat dirt again that bad?”
The enthusiasm in Axel markedly dropped and he gave Jye an empty stare. “If you ever use that ability on me again, I can’t promise what will happen.”
“Fair enough. So, what do you want me to do then?”
“Just a sec.”
First, whinging all the way, Axel dragged the scale at the back of the gym to a spot about two metres in front of Jye. Then he grabbed one of the 2kg dumbbells by the wall, and placed it onto the scale. The arrow on the scale jumped up to the 2kg mark. Axel then flourished at the scale.
What the fuck.
The giant watched him wordlessly. There was nothing to say. Because nothing Axel had done made any sense. Again, Axel flourished at the dumbbell on the scale this time with increased frustration, his fingers locked in claws.
“You can use your words, you know,” I said.
Jye mused, “You want… me to use my ability on the weight?”
Axel gave them two thumbs up and an excessively toothy grin. Again, I stored away this lunatic behaviour into the “think about later” box. The memories were beginning to bulge at the top lid when I tried to shut it again. Words of my childhood therapist ran through my mind. “Compartmentalising these thoughts isn’t healthy, Lee. If you don’t deal with them, bad stuff can happen.” Well, shows how much that therapist knew. Nothing bad had happened so far. And I’d been doing it for twenty-eight years.
Jye bent down and touched the weight. The sound of static buzzed in my ears. Yep, the coincidence was too big. I could hear when someone activated an ability. Could others? Should I ask Axel and Jye if they could too? Before I could voice my thoughts, the arrow on the scale shot up, flickered for a moment, and then settled just above 4kg. Jye’s eyes widened.
Still smiling in a way most people would describe as deranged, while walking backwards, Axel pulled the scale down towards the other side of the gym. All three pairs of our eyes remained on the arrow, as it grew further and further away. Soon, Axel had almost entirely crossed the gym, and I could only just make out the weight marked.
He took one step. Two steps. On his third step, he reached the back wall of the gym.
Axel was at least thirty metres away. He could go no further.
“Your ability has no range after it’s been applied.”
Jye took this in quietly. Being able to stay more than 30 metres away from their target was definitely something that supported Axel’s backline theory. But nothing about damage.
“This really still feels like a support skill,” I said. “I don’t see what you’re trying to–”
Jye pelted a new 2kg dumbbell into the air. Their muscles rippled as it left their hand, raising up through the air, clearing at least 15 metres as it reached the climax of its arc. Then I heard static bursts multiply in loudness. Like someone overlaying the same sound again and again.
I blinked and missed the weight’s descent.
CRACK.
Directly at Axel’s feet, the carpet had exploded apart from the force of the falling dumbbell, and it had punctured through to pierce the wooden floorboard beneath. The weight had disappeared into the foundation of the building. Smoke steamed off the edges of the singed floor hole. The words were still frozen in my mouth.
Axel coughed and waved away the fumes. Stepping carefully around the damage, he made his way back to us.
“Backline damage,” Jye said.
“Backline damage,” Axel confirmed.
With a sigh, I conceded, “Backline damage.”
I had taken some instant noodles from home, and using the gym’s kettle, we unpacked them in silence. Axel complained that they were tasteless as the flavour packets were missing. Last week, I had bought them on special, but I didn’t think about it. Eating noodles in hot water was probably about as enjoyable as eating raw dough.
“So, what can you do?” Jye asked, sipping at the noodle water like it was hot cocoa.
The small kettle in the breakroom hadn’t been large enough to fill three instant noodle cups, so I was waiting for it to click finish. As a cheap electrical device, it was taking ages to boil. It probably didn’t help that I was watching it. I could hear the saying from my mum in the back of my head.
Frowning, I realised I hadn’t actually read the description of my ability. “Well, I can [Channel]. Uh…” I thought about the menu screen and it opened in front of me. Focusing on the abilities, the [Channel] ability expanded to show more detail. Not having interacted with the menu screen since it first appeared, it unnerved me that it reacted as if reading my thoughts.
[Channel] Use a consenting party member’s skills.
“I can use someone else’s abilities?” I said.
Stolen novel; please report.
Jye whistled. “That actually sounds pretty good. How does it work?”
The kettle clicked to announce the completion of its cycle. I poured the boiling water into my noodles and pressed the plastic lip back down to keep the heat in.
Jye wasn’t wrong. It seemed like a decent skill that suited my class. Depending on whoever’s ability I used, it could even be overpowered. Though I guess it would have to be someone who consented to it. In the corner of my eye, Axel mindlessly chewed on his instant noodles. I picked up my own and peeled the lid back to check if it was ready to eat.
“Can I use some of your abilities?” I asked.
“If I say no?” he smirked.
It was like the straw that broke the camel’s back. My patience had finally reached its limit. That was it. I slammed my cup noodles down onto the table so hard the liquid shot back up. It splashed over the edge onto my hand. Snatching my hand back from the instant sting of the boiling water, I hissed and wiped the water away on the edge of my shirt. The skin had already begun to redden. Shit. First degree burns were exactly what I needed right now. From the open menu screen, I heard a short pip.
Eyes wide, Jye blew at their cup noodle and then carefully sipped it.
“Your hand okay?” Axel asked, more as a courtesy than genuine concern.
My menu screen which had remained open showed I had taken 1 HP damage. I had 19 remaining. Holy shit. That’s all it took? If spilling boiling water on my hand resulted in a whole health point in damage… Didn’t that mean I was ridiculously weak? Did I have any health regen? How did you restore health? I thought I had a decent chance of being useful in our party, but if my health was this bad…
“How much damage did you take from Jye’s abilities?” I asked Axel.
“Only 1, but I had [Thick Hide] activated. It reduces damage taken.”
I grumpily ate the bland too-hot noodles, shoving the now too soggy carbs into my mouth, ignoring the minor pain. Of course he’d get an ability that’s so useful in combat. He was a combatant class after all. And of course he wouldn’t let me use them. This fucking guy. God. Before I knew it, the noodles were gone. Jye was staring at me in abject horror.
“You got a problem?” I asked, my lips stinging.
“I don’t,” they said, and then slurped up the last of their warm noodle water.
Axel cleared his throat. “It was just a joke. You can use [Channel] on me.”
I scowled. “Don’t wanna anymore.”
“Then use it on me,” Jye said.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Axel frown, but focused on Jye. “But I don’t know what your abilities are? Don’t you think I’d need to know what the names of them are?”
They shrugged. “You might as well try, especially since you don’t have any other abilities.”
Jye wasn’t wrong. If I couldn’t use [Channel], I was merely deadweight. Thinking about the ability, there was a rush of heat in my core. It built, and built, and the warmth spread over my body, flowing down my limbs and tingling in my fingertips. It was a completely unique experience. Strength was within me, but it had nowhere to go.
Turning my attention to Jye, my menu window popped up.
Bzzt.
The buzzer sound of the wrong answer in a game show. Accompanying this was a red written error: Player not in party.
Oh, there was an official party mechanic in this system. With my focus lost, the warmth dissipated, and I felt lightheaded. Only vaguely aware of it, I could sense, like a phantom limb, I must’ve used some mana. It was different from physical exhaustion. The closest I could come to comparing it with was pulling an all-nighter studying for an exam the next day. My brain felt tight in my skull. So when I failed to use a skill, there was a cost associated with even trying. At least that was good to know.
“It only works on party members.”
“Then I’ll join your party. Just send an invite.”
“Uh, invite Jye to party?” My confidence downgraded the request into a question.
Jye swore loudly, their hands snapping up to clamp around their ears. Groaning, they said, “What the fuck, dude. A little warning next time. This speaker feedback is earsplitting.” From under the hood of their eyelids, they looked up at what I assumed was their screen. “I got two unreadable options. Left or right?”
Unprompted, Axel sighed for an extended amount of time.
“That’s really a UX question. I’m more backend. But to answer you, it actually depends on the intent of the designer.”
Both Jye and I were silent. It seemed like the type of thing that someone would elaborate on regardless of further inquiry. Plus, it was Axel. Given the chance, he loved showing off his knowledge. I’d listened to his rants about how inefficient the workflow was at his company as well as his proposed solutions which he never submitted. Get him going and it was like witnessing a group conversation with only one speaker.
“If we assume that parties are the preferred playing status, we’d have reason to believe ‘Accept’ would be first as we read, so on the left.”
Jye nodded. “Left, got it, just a—”
“But,” Axel continued, “if we assumed that the system would rather have us players solo, then ‘Reject’ would be read first.”
The redhead’s brows furrowed. “Okay, so…The one on the right then?”
Hit with a sudden idea, I interrupted, “But what if the system takes into account the preferences of the player? Like, people in any number of those other countries with Gates surely don’t speak English. Which means their notifications must be written and spoken in their own languages. The system has to consider a player’s mental preference in some way.”
“So, you’re saying that depending on the player ‘Accept’ might be on the right or the left?” Axel asked.
Both our eyes swung over to Jye. “Would you say you’re an extrovert or an introvert?”
“Uh, neither?” Jye said.
“Well, that doesn’t help. Oh, what about… Axel you invite me, and then Jye you invite Axel.”
“Like some sort of party invitation orgy?” Jye asked.
I blinked. “I wouldn’t have phrased it like that, but sure.”
There was a brief exchange of invites and then a little screen pinged up in my peripheral vision. It reminded me of the friend invite notifications you got on Steam. Or God forbid, Epic. For a second I thought about all the friends I couldn’t contact online. I hoped they were doing okay. Well, half of them had moved outback, so they’d probably be fine.
The notification read: Party invite received from Axel.
Underneath the invite were the two options of Accept | Decline
I pointed to my screen. “Accept’s on the left for me.”
Axel said, “I think mine’s on the left?”
“You think?” I said.
“It’s— Uhhh… Really hard to make out. Probably something with Jye’s issues.”
Jye made a face. “My bad.”
Letting out a painful groan, I said, “Invite Axel to party.”
“For yours it’s on the left too.”
Unimpressed, Jye said, “Okay, so on the left. I’m glad we spent the last ten minutes figuring this out.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s better to find out this stuff before we go into a Gate. ‘Cause now you know with a yes and no prompt the affirmative response will be on the left. So, there’s that.”
“Do I accept your invite now then?”
Pondering for a moment, I replied, “No, actually can you invite me, Jye? I want to see what your notifications look like.”
They sent the invite, and this time the notification ping was the screech of metal scratching metal combined with nails on a chalkboard. I involuntarily shuddered and checked the written notification. Oh, Axel hadn’t been joking. This was near impossible to make out.
þ̶͈̟̼̥̀̆̽͌̿ͅ4̷̱͕̻͓̰͑̂̑͐̈́ŗ̴̤͓̜̞̋́̋̐̇7̵̢͈̳̞̟̈́͆̌̈̚¥̸̺̮͉͇̙̈́̓̈́͆́ ̸̧͖͖̱̝̒͋̀̎͝1̸̢̠̳̼̐̿̋͆̓ͅñ̷̡͈̦͕͎͂̉̈́́͒v̶̠̯͇̬͖̑͂̅̐̄1̴̢͓̩̥̝͆̄͗̽̚7̸̳̮͍͙̠͋̌̋͛͘3̵̡͚͓̯͓̾͋̏̌̚ ̸̞̲̖̦̮̐͛̊̏͠r̶̟͓̘͆͂́̈́͘͜͜3̸̼̥͉̹̝̀̀͛̄̀¢̴̢̭̞̳̱́͊̔̉͛3̸̗̩͔̯̎͗̔̒͌ͅ1̵̥̥̹͍͎̽̉̒͊͋v̸̭̟͇̞͕̉̎̇̾̓3̷͚͍͍̮̹̉̌̓̽͠Ð̶͓͈͎̼̤͆̂̀̊̚ ̷̠̘͉̮̣̀̊̅̀͘£̷̡̳̻͎̼͂͗̒̈̇r̵̛͚͖̱̠̽̃͌͠ͅ0̷͖̫͇̱̣̎͂̇̃͠m̵̖̙͙͓͒̇̓̓̎ͅ ̴̛̮̼̦͚̜͒͒̂͘4̸̠̺̦̫̜̿̔͌́̑l̸̲͚̻͙̞̑̐̀̏̈́3̴̹̹͍̙͑̏͐̓͝ͅẋ̶͙̲͖̠̱͌͒͆͋.̴̠̯̣̖̍̍̌͗͘͜
Followed by: 4̶̡̢̦̗̯̄̉̑̐͠¢̷̥̭̜̤̓̅̀̍̕ͅ¢̷̣̺͈͎̫́̽͆̎͂3̷̛͓̙̫̣̬͑̎̏͘þ̴̨̛͖̭̬̯̔̅̈́̕7̶̟̖̤̦̅̊̍̀͜͝ ̷̧̲̜̼͚̈́̋̊̚͝|̴̗̗̩̖̱̀͊͊̆̔ ̶̧̪͔̣͛̓͛̅̚͜Ð̵̡̧̨̻̖̀̈́̀̋́3̵͇̰̲̙̥̑̿͌͒͌¢̵̩̖̞̙̣̌̈́͝͝l̶̹̭̲̜̓͂̅͗̕͜1̴̦̟̪͔͚͊͐̒̑͂ñ̶̤̤̪̝̭͑͗͆͑̾3̴̨͇̝̜̹̌̓̇͂͐
If I squinted hard, I could barely read what appeared to be leetspeak, but glitched over. However, it was still legible to me and had been to Axel as well. Damn, I didn’t want to know what Jye’s actual notification writing looked like if they couldn’t read it at all.
“Now can I accept the damn invite? And also can I have another cup noodle?”
“Yes.”
Jye’s eyes sparkled. “Yes to…?”
“Yes to both.”
Another teeth gritting sound, courtesy of Jye’s fantastic error-ridden status, and I received the following confirmation notification: J̵̡̢̠͙͉̠͐̄̎̇͛͠4̵̱̳͎̦̳̖͂̀̐͛̑͗1̷͍̮͓͍̹̹̃̓̊̊͐͝ has joined your party. Register party name?
A party name? How quaint. A million options ran through my mind, ranging from absolutely cringe to the name of friend chat groups that only a select few would understand the inside jokes. Ah, well, I’m sure we could change it in the future anyway, like most game systems. I’d just go with whatever. As I looked over the rest of my future party, an idea formed in my head.
Party name registered.
“Axel, accept my invite too.”
A high-pitched ping alerted me to his acceptance. The confirmation read: Axel has joined your party. The thrill of pissing Axel off was building and I eagerly awaited his response to the party name. He was silent for a long time, and then he was right in front of me. His fucking [Swift Footed] trait. I didn’t have time to react as he grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt.
“Are you kidding me?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, eyes innocently wide.
“You registered our party as Just Friends?”
Jye, in the midst of making their next cup noodle, commented, “Jesus Christ, you guys have problems. I’m okay with the name, FYI.”
Laughing, even though I was choking a little, I pulled at Axel’s hands. “Come on, let go.” I echoed his previous words. “It’s just a joke.”
I’d been expecting him to get annoyed about the name, especially since it was digging at a long-term joke, but nothing like this. His grip on the collar of my shirt tightened, knuckles whitening. I added this to the list of weirdness about Axel, which was growing longer and longer by the minute. My feet began to lift from the ground, and I glanced down in concern. He was literally raising me off the floor.
“Damn, I’ll change it if you hate it that much.”
Like a switch had been flicked, he dropped his hands. My feet made full contact with the floor again. Through clenched teeth, he said, “You’re so predictable,” and then stepped back. Which was good because I hadn’t even realised how close he had been.
“Look, I’m changing it now.”
I focused on the party and a new screen appeared.
Just Friends Party | LVL 3
* Lee | LVL 1 | All-Rounder (Party Leader)
* Axel | LVL 1 | Combatant
* J̵̡̢̠͙͉̠͐̄̎̇͛͠4̵̱̳͎̦̳̖͂̀̐͛̑͗1̷͍̮͓͍̹̹̃̓̊̊͐͝ | LVL 1 | |̵̮̲̪͒̽͝|̷̡̩͚̏̊͑\̶̹̙̖̈́̀̊\̵͈̺͋̒͗͜\̶̡̡̘̌̇̍|̵̤̜̟̽̏̂|̶̛̝̝̻͗̕4̷͍̗̭͛͘̕4̶̺̰̟͗͐͒|̵̺̘̀̒͗͜|̷͔̣̠͆̑̌2̵̹͇̜̇͒̔/̶̧͓͎͑́́|̴̢͍̭̊́͒\̴̙̮̜͋͊̂(̷̧͍̺̂̍͝\̸̨̬̥̀̊̄5̵̟͓̮͐̀͛|̵̛̬͇̼͊̀
It was nice to see that the party function worked correctly and even more useful that it tracked our classes and levels. Probably to make sure that we were aware of our separate levels. The level next to the party name was a little weird though. I’d never really seen that in a game before. Was that the sum of our levels? Not to mention that Jye’s class was completely unreadable. Putting those thoughts into the “think about later” box, whose lid wouldn’t shut now, I thought about changing the name of the party.
Bzzt.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Axel said, glaring at me.
“I— Uh…” I closed my eyes to concentrate, desperately pleading for the party name to change.
Bzzt. This time it was followed by a notification: Party names registered by party leader are permanent.
Smiling in what I hoped was an apologetic manner, I said, “I can’t change it.”
Jye finished their second instant noodle packet. “I’m good with the name, by the way. Just thought I’d reiterate that for clarification. Actually, I like the name. It’s cute. Like a sign outside a treehouse saying ‘Friends Only.’”
“So we’re stuck as ‘Just Friends’?” Axel asked, simmering.
“It could be worse. I nearly called us JALbait. You’re lucky you dodged that bullet.”
Both Jye and Axel groaned. A new sound beeped, similar to a vital signs monitor, from my menu window. Oh. My missing health point had regenerated. Curious, I glanced at my scalded hand and found the flesh unmarred though it tingled weirdly.
Well, at least that answered that.