The journey to the train station was an eventful one. Elizabeth was shocked by the forest that surrounded the cabin they had taken shelter in. It looked like one that you read about in fantasy novels as a child.
The trees had to be eight feet tall and entirely white with icicles dripping from their branches. The leaves were baby blue with their markings in contrast being ivory.
She was amazed, oohing and aahing as they walked through the trees on a man-made trail. The train was covered in minimal snow, with Jake explaining that the ground was created to be clear no matter the in-game weather. The developers wanted some parts of the world to not be as icy as others to create more variety for players to enjoy.
The in-game beach town was an example of this. He told her he had been there and that the players wore swimsuits & sandals as they walked. There wasn't a single snowflake or huge, violent creature in sight.
Jake's voice flowed like a never-ending stream of knowledge, detailing everything she wanted to know with the precision of a living encyclopedia. The giant spoke about how he had been following the development of Frozen Hearts for five years.
He had heard about the game through a minor gaming event where trailers were shown. The trailer for Frozen Hearts was last and was a far cry from what they were playing today.
The graphics were shoddy and virtual reality was still pretty new at the time. Still, he was interested in the game due to the advertised core gameplay and theme of a realistic winter wonderland.
It wasn't a muddy world obsessed with combat or highly sexualized bait like most VR games at the time. Instead, it was cute and cozy. Monsters made of crystals.
Log cabins with warm fires and beautifully designed villages were at his disposal. This was all he needed to become an early supporter of the game through small donations and social media posts.
He was a backer for the demo and received merch along with a thank you message in the after credits you'd see after finishing the story mode. This made Elizabeth feel impressed with his dedication to the game.
Like most of the guild, he had put his blind hope in Frozen Hearts becoming real. He had given the game a chance in its infancy and it had all worked out.
The teenager was a little jealous that she had found the game so late in comparison. They had all gone through things that she had only heard about in whispers on now-deleted forum posts.
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Jake must have noticed her glum mood as he quickly mentioned how happy he was to play with someone new. That it was getting old meeting people who had seen it all already.
“You remind me of my younger cousin. You even have similar names.” The knight confessed to her as they came across a bridge. It was large and sat above a huge lake that contained flowers, frozen water, and ice animals.
She looked at him with curiosity as they started to walk over the bridge. “Really?” The wooden planks cracked beneath them from their weight.
Jake nodded and smiled as he began to talk some more. “Yep. Her name is Lizzie and she's not much of a gamer. Still, you have a way of going about things that is eerily similar to her. You two are probably the same age.”
“I'm seventeen.” Elizabeth felt weird saying her real age out loud. She liked to keep her real life separate from her game life. It helped things stay fake.
The man couldn't help but laugh under his breath at her sour expression. “You're a little younger than her then. You don't have to feel awkward about your age, you know. There's plenty of children who've started to play now.”
The teenager knew he meant well by the comment but she couldn't help but feel saddened by it. The brunette wasn't going to be a child much longer. The night before after she had logged out and plugged up her headset to charge she'd been bombarded by emails.
Colleges and courses she'd signed up for sent her waitlist after waitlist. She knew it wasn't that big of a deal as she'd already received a handful of acceptance letters but she was rocked. Her stomach had turned and she'd gone in a downward spiral of anxiety over her future. The only way she figured she could distract herself was by logging back in when she had free time.
Although her mother’s voice was laced with sadness, the teenager assured her with a gentle smile that they would spend time together later. They had sat and watched a movie marathon together earlier so the older woman agreed hesitantly. But it was obvious her mother had been hurt by her choices. Jake's comment triggered all of this to come back into her mind and she felt nauseous.
“I guess you're right. It's just different when you're the only teenager in the group. Everyone is older than you and has an actual life going on.” She said with her cheeks turning pink from the unintended bluntness of it all.
Thankfully, the metal-wearing man didn't let it sting and ruffled her hair. The teenager jerked and he chuckled at her sudden embarrassment. “Hey!”
“There you go! Your frown is all gone now. We can't have you feeling glum in front of all these people at the train station.” Jake said with a tiny wink.
Elizabeth looked at him confused and asked. “All these people?” Only for her voice to trail off as she realized they were approaching a large crowd.
The teenager had been so stuck in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that they had made it to the station. They had been walking for a while so she shouldn't have felt so surprised. But to see so many people, NPCs, and real people, was overwhelming.
The station wasn't just a stand with a railway but an actual large mansion-like building that led out to various stops. She saw that the train was more of a subway actually as it didn't go on top of the mountain but within its gut. There were street lights with lanterns keeping the area lit as the sky darkened and the crowd became more compact.
The mansion reminded Elizabeth of old money estates you would see in incredibly wealthy neighborhoods. The teenager could feel the immense history that came off of the house and took in a deep breath. NPCs were manning the handful of ticketing stations.
The five women wore cozy replicas of the rental staff's outfits, with coats as tops and long gloves. She was impressed by the attention to detail in the station's design and its staff's presentation.
Jake grabbed her wrist and led her over to a ticket teller who was without a line. The NPC had long ginger ringlets and an oval, plump face that lit up like the night sky at the sight of the pair. “Hello!” She exclaimed happily.
She was startled by the sudden cheerfulness. “Hello, can we give you our tickets for uh…” Elizabeth abruptly looked at Jake for help. She realized she didn't know which train the ticket was for.
“We're trying to get on the train for CRYSTAL CAVERNS.” Jake swooped in and saved her as he handed the NPC his ticket.
The teenager quickly followed suit, the NPC taking it with a big smile and grabbing a metal stamper. The stamper marked the tickets with a red stain in the top corner of the laminated paper.
With a jolly tone and a twinkling in his eyes, the ginger handed them back. “Here you go! Have a great trip you two!”