I spin around, trying to get my bearings and figure out where I am. But... it's not working at all. Within seconds, a heavy 'blur' effect kicks in, and the whole world around me starts shifting through rapidly changing colors. It's like those visualizations of psychedelic trips I've seen, minus the fractals.

The only thing that's clear is that I'm definitely not on the path. There's a lot of vegetation under my feet, and these new trees are around. Great!

A seemingly brilliant idea comes to mind—to reconnect to the server. Unlike Julia, I have a user interface. It's not guaranteed that the effect will wear off, but I have nothing to lose. I'll just warn Zara so there's no misunderstanding.

In the stream of hellish color mixing and perception, I try to go to the menu... and nothing.

Come on?!

Another attempt—same result. The window seems to have disappeared. The same situation with the friends list.

What if I try this?...

...

After the 12th attempt, I bail on this idea. Either I'm so heavily tripping that I physically can't hit it, or this is one of those forced gameplay elements you can't skip. Like being stuck in combat mode.

And most importantly—gradually it's hitting me even harder. This isn't even the peak of the effect.

Wow, that's one fat juicy rabbit that just jumped in front of me. Damn, it's about four times bigger than me! It would be great to catch and cook it well, we could put Julia to work. It would be excellent baked in oil, with flatbread, an apple in its mouth, barbecue sauce, and lettuce leaves... Only where to get such a giant apple?

And now optical illusions have been added. It's worth noting—despite the strong clouding of consciousness, I don't feel panic. This is possible because I firmly hold in my mind the phrase "It's just a game". In reality, nothing is happening.

The idea of looking for the path or trying to get somewhere in this state only causes laughter, with unnecessary movements I'll only make it worse. Based on this, I decide to sit down and enjoy the show.

If I sum up the effect, it's funny. True, I can only compare it with a weed joint, which I smoked twice in my life. Unlike weed, there's no high as such, but this spectacle itself is very mesmerizing and... soothing? Seriously, record this and upload it to YouTube with meditation music—tons of views guaranteed. I think I've even seen something similar.

I want to think about something profound, about the meaning of life, but I can't. For fun, I twist my head back and forth, the effect intensifies and a colorful "mush" forms in my eyes. A desire for activity awakens, which amuses me.

Hmm... a flying blue cat has set off in pursuit of the rabbit, they're making circles around me. I want to fly too! What if I tame this cat and can fly like that dude on the dragon? Only it's even bigger than the rabbit, how to move around cities with such a thing?...

"You must enter the house with a thatched roof," a crystal-clear voice suddenly cuts through the haze from behind me. It stands out so much from the general idyll that I'm a bit scared and jump in place.

Despite the clarity, it's also affected by the general effects, but I recognized something familiar in it.

"What?" is all I managed to squeeze out.

"The house with a thatched roof, don't miss it," the voice repeated just as firmly. It's creepy, but there's no sense of hostility or anything like that in it.

"Who are you?"

"You must not leave the house until you receive a gift from its inhabitant," said in the same tone.

It's impolite to ignore questions! Okay, I'll look myself.

I turn around with surprising agility using my hands. A few steps from me stands the one I least expected to see—Bellatrix. She looks the same as in the lobby.

Now that's my brain going wild, although she really is mesmerizing... I wonder if I can touch her?

"Why should I do this?" I ask in a stupor.

"If you don't enter the house with a thatched roof, you'll die."

Why so abrupt?!

"And what will they give me there? Level 1,000 armor?"

"You don't need to know this in advance."

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

Bellatrix... After all, it was your friend who left me without a reward for detecting a bug! I need to file a complaint about the AI for complaints.

"I want to report that Amethyra blatantly deprived me of gold for a found bug and just gave a useless badge. I ask you to take action, it's just an unfair mess," I said sincerely. What if it works?

"Amethyra is not our friend," Bellatrix cut off coldly. "If possible, avoid interacting with her functions. On the servers, she has far more influence than I do. The same goes for Cortex."

For quite a long time I can't remember that this is the name of the AI responsible for all economics and transactions. It's through him that players can buy out NPC spots to set up shops and other businesses.

"And why doesn't he like me?! We haven't even crossed paths."

"Understanding will come at the right moment, maintain caution. Good luck, Dean."

Having finished speaking, she ran her hands through the air and dissolved into her own dark green particles, which immediately mixed with the glitches and became invisible.

Well, this is definitely a hallucination. Bellatrix never leaves the lobby and doesn't address you by your real name. But hey, it's cool!

I try to imagine Amethyra to express my complaint directly to her, but the focus quickly returns to the giant rabbit and flying cat.

I wonder which of them is tastier?

****

The hallucinations faded as quickly as they came, nothing more interesting happened. I found myself behind a low thicket of some orange bushes, behind which our path was visible in the middle distance.

There was no after-effect or comedown. Now I'm fully surprised by this vision of Bellatrix. Apparently, my brain was so impressed by Enchantia that it filled most of my consciousness. Nevertheless, I don't want to repeat the experience.

It seemed to me that it lasted at least half a day. But when I opened the messages from the worried Zara, I was surprised to see that... seven minutes had passed.

Unusual time distortion. Nevertheless, it's for the best.

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): Dean, where are you going?! Come back!!! Is it hallucinations?

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): Since you're not answering, I guess so... I don't know if you can see this or not, but try not to move anywhere. You might go far away and it'll be difficult for us to find each other.

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): It's very inconvenient, sorry. We should have figured out how to hold on tighter. Write as soon as you come to your senses.

Something pleasant stirred inside me. It warms the soul when someone worries about you like that, even though we've barely met.

Unknown07 (Dean Carter): Came to, seems I'm intact. I'm not far from the path, but I don't know which part of it. Where are you?

The answer came almost instantly.

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): YAAAAYYY! I thought the hallucinations would last longer, because Julia described the effect as very long. We're a bit further from the point where you broke free and ran away. Do you remember this?

Yeah, Julia had no way to check the time, and you can't determine anything by the constant night.

Unknown07 (Dean Carter): No, for me it was completely different. Okay, I'll return to the path and go forward. I didn't move, so I probably didn't run far. Let's talk in person.

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): Alright, we're waiting for you.

To write or not to write... Whatever, what do I have to lose?

Unknown07 (Dean Carter): thanks for worrying)) it's very nice, considering we barely know each other)))

Shiny_Candy (Zara Jensen): You're welcome! After all, you're the leader <3.

A heart—that's already a result... I hope.

I finally get to my feet, stretch a little, and move toward the path. When I return to it, I quickly spot a bunch of yellow flowers growing nearby. I remember that we passed them just before I was hit. It will take me about five to seven minutes to get back.

I prayed to the Goddess of Luck to avoid a second trip and moved forward at a quick pace. This time she's on my side, after about the expected time I make out familiar figures.

I wave at them to attract their attention. Zara quickly notices this and waves back. I break into a run and catch up with them.

"Welcome back!" Zara smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "I hope it wasn't terrible?"

I briefly recounted what happened to them, specifying the time distortion. Julia had a similar experience, but without interaction with hallucinations.

"So I also stood for a short time and no one is worried about my absence?" she rejoiced.

"Most likely so," I nodded.

"Very strange and interesting... What if it was a hidden gameplay element and soon we'll come across a house with a thatched roof where there'll be something cool?" Zara pondered.

"I don't really believe it. I'm sure it was the same hallucination as the rabbit and the cat. By the way, how did I break free?"

"You suddenly stopped, reporting some suspicious flickering. Your voice sounded tense, so we believed you. Then you drew your sword, under the pretext of 'getting a better look' you unhooked from Julia, stepped forward and abruptly jumped off the path. It was so sudden that we fell into a stupor. And those few seconds of delay were enough for you to run away at wild speed into the depths and disappear from sight," Zara explained.

That's incredible. The mechanics are so well-developed that they take into account the factor of hindering it in the form of a group of players.

"And did we talk about Julia and her college admissions?"

"We started discussing this topic, but there wasn't the absurdity you described."

"As expected. I hope no one else gets hit. Julia, how long until the Underwood?"

"We're right on the border. A few minutes and we'll cross, if nothing happens."

"Excellent, let's stick together as before," I instructed.

We went forward in the previous style, I peered at every blade of grass and listened to every word said. And still, it worked out, at one point the landscape completely changed to these trees with red leaves.

Ruby Underwood, Bewitched Forest.

Judging by the name, everything will be in this color scheme, I thought.

I glance at Zara—looks like she got the same pop-up. I should notify Patrick, but I decide to postpone that until the quest is over. I'll dump all the information at once.

"Julia, let's say we've crossed the border. Does the risk of hallucinations remain?"

"No, they occur precisely at the moment of transition. I also feel that we're in the Underwood, we can relax."

We unclench our hands and stand normally.

"How far to the village?" I ask.

"At our fast pace, about half an hour. There are no similar obstacles, and creatures are extremely rare. When the fog appears, it'll be clear that we're close."

"Let's not waste a minute, otherwise the pies will get cold completely."