Lianna’s gaze bore into me, her hackles obviously having been raised. She must have seen me staring at her and got the wrong idea.

“Shouldn’t you be staring at your lovely date instead?” she said, each letter of each word annunciated clearly.

“Sorry,” I said, “it’s just that...you’re a Player.”

Her expression softened, but only a little. “Ah,” she said, ”you’re one of those.”

“Those?”

“Who can see Statuses.”

“You’re a Player?” Morgan said. “I'm curious, what’re you doing here?”

"I got summoned here, just like the rest of you."

"No," Morgan said. "I mean..."

“You mean why am I a waitress? My aunt owns a restaurant back home so I’ve got experience. I’m not on any team, and as your boyfriend here can tell you I’m not exactly a combat powerhouse so most of the individual quests I can’t even do. A girl’s gotta make a living somehow.”

“I’m not her—” I said.

“He’s not my—” Morgan said at the same time.

“Ah,” Lianna said, her wariness replaced by amusement. “First date, huh?”

“This isn’t a date,” I said.

“It isn’t?” Morgan said.

“Uh oh,” Lianna said, smirking at me as she placed some menus on the table in front of us. “I’m just gonna leave these here while you dig yourself out of that one, Player.”

Morgan stared at me from across the table, then after Lianna glided away she burst out laughing. "Burn."

I looked around at the other patrons. There were a few NPCs, but most were Players. Interestingly, many of the staff were also Players like Lianna.

“Did you know people were getting real jobs here?” I said.

“It’s news to me,” Morgan said. “But I don’t get out that much. I had heard about some who opened side hustles and took on odd jobs for NPCs, like doing hair and stuff, so I guess it makes sense. If you really can’t compete in the quests, like she said you’ve gotta earn a living somehow."

"That does make sense."

"As a bartender myself I respect the customer service profession, so kudos to her.”

I watched Lianna bring drinks to another table. “It’s true she doesn’t have any combat abilities, and it’s hard to tell how useful her abilities are, but her gifts are intriguing and she does have two affinities, and one of them is the rarest.”

“Which is that? Or should you not be telling me someone else's abilities?”

“I shouldn't. But hers is Life.”

Morgan nodded knowingly. She’d been in more than enough battles here to know that having Nina and her healing, protection, and buff powers on hand made all the difference in the world. Otherwise you had to rely on potions or minor medical skills, or put yourself at the mercy of the extorionate pricks at the Cathedral. One of the first things that excited me about the new power Morgan had been so instrumental in me getting was the ability to mimic Nina's powers. I had started with Life affinity too, but like Lianna, I hadn't been given any of the valuable Life-related support powers along with it.

Then Morgan quirked an eyebrow at me. “You’ve got an odd look right now. What’re you thinking?”

“I was just wondering if there’s a way to give her healing powers.”

She seemed disappointed. “Ah.”

When I’d wandered the city alone, it had given me the opportunity to see what other Players were up to. I found they could be divided into two groups. The first Player type were the adventurers. The ones who worked hard to get stronger, always looking for ways to gain experience, improve their abilities, and earn loot. I’d lump me and my friends into this group -- everyone on a team, really -- but there was also many unaffiliated who still played the game this way.

The other group were the ones who for whatever reason seemed to have given up. Maybe they hadn’t been chosen for teams. Maybe their powers and skills were too weak. Or their social skills weren’t good enough. Maybe they were homesick, or overwhelmed, or scared. Maybe they just didn’t know what to do. A lot of these ones ended up frequenting the pubs and getting drunk a lot.

It didn’t occur to me until meeting Lianna at the restaurant that there was a sub-group to the second one, you could probably call them a third group entirely: the ones who made the best of the situation. Players like Liana who for whatever reason weren’t able to play the game as adventurers, but didn’t give up. They found other ways to live. I had to respect that, but it still didn't seem right.

I kept coming back to wondering what this game was really about.

There was something about the way this was all set up that gnawed at me. It seemed flawed, encouraging just a few to become strong while the rest...what were the rest supposed to do? Beyond adventuring, career options for transplanted Players were limited.

Everything about it was set up as a competitive game, pitting individuals and small teams against each other, letting a few rise to the top. It was not cooperative, not designed to help everyone grow stronger.

But what if it was?

There were so many Players, what if there was a way to game the game so that everyone could get strong and play to win? Or at least have a way to be secure enough to choose how they wanted to play it.

What if...

“Hey,” Morgan said. She reached across the table to put her hand under my chin and turned my head, pulling my gaze from Lianna back to her. Only then did I realize I’d still been unconsciously tracking our waitress’ movements with my eyes. “I know she’s very pretty and all, but didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to check out other girls, Player?” There was a playful emphasis on the last word.

“Sorry,” I said. “It just...I think I have an idea.”

“About the healing?

“No. Something bigger.”

“Thinking of a master plan?”

“Sort of. I think I might have a better solution for people like her, but I need to run it by Chow Li to see if it can fly.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“You’re always up to something, aren’t you?”

I shrugged. “Not always.” I picked up my menu. “Right now, all I am up to is enjoying this dinner with you.”

Morgan picked up hers too. “Finally you said something right, Player.”

In the brief time I was deciding what to order, I missed seeing another couple enter the restaurant. I subconsciously registered Lianna showing people to the table behind me, but it wasn’t until I heard the woman speak that I realized who it was.

“Gosh, this is a nice place, eh?” Kiki said. Her unknown companion offered a deep noncommittal grunt in response.

“Oh no, not again,” I said.

Morgan glanced up from her menu. “Problem?”

“I hope not.”

I watched Morgan look around, and her eyes widened when she saw something over my shoulder. Her mouth curled in a mischievous smile, then she said in a much louder voice than necessary, “Hey, isn’t that your stalker, Daniel?”

Then from behind me, I heard Kiki say, “Huh? Daniel? Where?”

I groaned and buried my face in the menu.

Morgan reached across the table and tugged the top of the menu down. She leaned in, then said in a much quieter voice, one that only I could hear, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Hide.”

“I wasn’t—” She quirked her eyebrow again and I couldn’t finish the sentence. “Yeah, I totally was.”

“You totally were. But why?”

“You did hear the story of what happened the first night here, right?”

Morgan sighed. “Are you the same person you were back then?”

I chewed my lip.

Morgan grinned at me, then straightened up. “It is!” she said in her loud voice. “It’s Kiki, right?”

I mouthed the words ‘what are you doing?’ to Morgan but she ignored me, stood up, and sauntered behind me to their table, hips swaying under her tight dress. I looked over my shoulder.

Kiki was there with a guy. Not just any guy, either, it was Troy, the leader of Team Invictus. It’s great that Kiki was taking my advice and making friends, but why'd it have to be him?

Kiki was wearing a very snug-fitting bustier top that barely contained her assets and had her bleach-blonde hair in pigtails. Fake lashes. Bright lips.Total gyaru mode. Even I had to admit she was cute. But the look on her face was somewhere between horror and embarrassment as she sat looking up at Morgan, who stood next to their table in her clingy red dress smiling down at them like an empress.

The confidence she exuded was beyond my comprehension.

Morgan extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Morgan. We haven’t properly met yet, but I’ve heard all about you, Kiki.”

Kiki didn’t budge, but I recognized the flicker in her eyes as she used All Shall Be Revealed on Morgan. I couldn’t tell you what she thought about Morgan’s abilities, or her lack of any team affiliation, but Kiki’s look of horrified embarrassment didn’t change, not until her companion checked out Morgan too. Only he didn’t bother with All Shall Be Revealed, instead he did a long, slow, old-school gawk at Morgan, checking her out from ankles to ears, with a bit of a lingering gaze whenever his eyes hit some of her feminine curvy bits. Then Kiki’s expression moved a notch or two more toward the horror side.

Morgan completely ignored Troy, treating him like he wasn’t even there.

“Listen, I know you’ve got some issue with Daniel here,” Morgan said, then she gestured over at me and Kiki’s eyes followed. I waved at her awkwardly. She bit her lip and scowled at me. Morgan didn’t miss a beat. “But I was hoping maybe you could put it aside, at least for tonight.”

“I, uh...” Kiki stumbled.

Morgan leaned down conspiratorily toward Kiki, but her voice remained clear and loud enough for the nearby tables to hear. “I don’t know if you showing up here right now is a coincidence, Kiki, but this is my first date with Daniel and I’d really appreciate it if you’d save any drama you might be planning for another time. Kay?”

Not waiting for a response, Morgan stood up straight, ran her hands down her sides and over her hips to smooth out some non-existent wrinkles in her dress, earning a look from Troy that made me inexplicably angry, then sashayed back to our table and sat down across from me again. She picked up her menu and started humming as she peered at its contents.

Behind me, I heard Kiki and Troy muttering back and forth, and while I couldn’t make out what they were saying exactly, I could tell by their tones — hers frantic and his bored — that something was going on. Then I heard the grinding of chair legs on the floor and hurried footsteps moving away from me.

My back may have been to their table but I had a great view out the window, and a few moments later I watched as Kiki dragged Troy by the hand away from the restaurant. She glanced over once and her face blanched as our eyes met before she gave him a hard tug and led him swiftly away out of sight.

“Why’d you do that?” I said. “Now she’s really gonna want to kill me.”

Morgan snorted from behind her menu. “Trust me. That chick definitely wants to do things to you, but I think she'd much rather you be alive for it.”

“I don’t think she knew I was going to be here.”

“Oh she totally didn’t. It was a complete coincidence.”

“Then why did you say...”

Morgan glanced at me over the top of her menu, eyes twinkling. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head over it.”

“I have no idea what’s going on.”

She disappeared behind the menu again with a sigh. “They were right. So dense.”

A minute later, when Lianna came back to take our orders, she cocked her head behind me toward the table recently vacated by the other couple. “Ordinarily, I’d be a bit pissed that you guys cost me the tips from those guys, but it was pretty entertaining to watch. Ex-girlfriend?”

Morgan’s look was pure innocence. “Nah. She’s tried to kill my friend here a few times is all. Just wanted to nip a potentially bad situation in the bud.”

“She did actually succeed in killing me once, or her lackey did anyway,” I said.

Lianna laughed. “Now there’s something I never heard at my auntie’s restaurant back home. Sorry, it totally looked like something else.”

Morgan and Lianna locked eyes for a moment and I just knew they were having one of those silent conversations only women can have with one another, then Lianna looked down with the hint of a smile. “Got it.” She flipped from casual to professional in an instant. “Are you ready? Can I take your orders?”

Before I knew it, dinner was over. The conversation had been fluid and engaging, the food delicious, and the service impeccable. Sigrid had briefed me earlier that I was going to pay. She'd told me that Morgan would insist on splitting the bill because that's the kind of woman she was, but that I would insist that I wanted to do it, and that I should play the stolen sandwich card if she put up a fuss.

It had played out exactly as Sigrid has predicted. The tip I left for Lianna was generous, but Morgan added even more, informing me that in these situations it was common practice for one person to cover the bill and the other the tip. Who knew?

Dusk was just settling as we strolled back to the dojo together, delicate shades of pink and orange sprayed across the horizon and one waxing moon high in the sky.

“Daniel,” Morgan said. “Do you want to go home?”

“Isn’t that where we’re going?” I said.

“I mean back to Earth.”

“Oh. Do you?”

“Honestly?” Morgan thought for a moment, then sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know I’m supposed to, but...”

“But?”

“Have you ever felt like you don’t belong? Like the life you’re living is someone else’s and you’re just along for the ride?”

“I can’t say that I have,” she said.

“I can count on two hands how many times in my life I’ve been completely happy. When I’ve felt a hundred percent comfortable in my own skin. The rest of the time, it’s like there’s an itch I just can’t scratch.”

Morgan curled her finger in the lock of hair hanging down beside her face. “What about now?”

“That’s the thing. Lately I've finally started feeling like me.”

"That, at least, is great to hear."

"It's a new feeling. I'm still getting used to it."

"What about your family? Friends? Don't you miss them?”

I sighed. “To tell you the truth I’ve never been all that close with my family. Not seeing them for a few months is pretty normal. I love them and all, and I know they love me, but they don’t really get me. I wish I could at least send them a message to let them know I'm okay, but honestly I think they'd probably be happy I finally a found my footing, you know?"

"I think I do."

"As for friends,” I glanced sideways at her, “I really like the ones I’ve got here.”

“They like you too,” she said, nudging me in the arm with her shoulder.

“What about you? You’ve got people here and back on Earth.”

Morgan gave some thought to her answer. “I think I do want to go home eventually,” she said, glancing over at me, “but I’m not in any particular rush.“