The Isekai World GameCon was a new event, never held before and touted as the world’s biggest gaming convention. It happened concurrently on the same three days in cities all over the world. I, and all the people around me, had attended the one in Toronto. The event had drawn gamers of all types, dividing them into different areas, all devoted to different kinds of games. No matter what your gaming preference was — tabletop roleplaying game, boardgame, video game, collectible card game, even old classics like Chess, Mah-Jong, and Go — whatever kind of game it was that got you juiced up, there was a place for you and all the people like you. But you’d better be serious about it if you showed up to play, because this wasn’t just a place to play for the fun of it. The Isekai World Gamecon was a serious competition with some pretty big prizes for the best players in each game.
Not everyone who attended the convention was there to play, lots of people came for the vendors. A large area of the convention hall was filled with booths where people bought and sold games and merch. This is where I’d seen the blonde woman, working in the vendors' area at a booth promoting a new game. She was what you call a booth babe, an attractive woman hired to draw people in with her various charms.
Look, I know. The whole idea is pretty offensive. It’s surprising that this sort of objectification is tolerated in this day and age, but the sad truth is that it still works. It works for the same reason as why the covers of so many fantasy novels feature an idealized female in a submissive posture showing far more skin than would be comfortable, or why so many comic book superheroines wear skin tight costumes over bodies that defy gravity in several ways. I could deliver a long diatribe about the stereotypical target audience for this kind of thing, but what’s the point? I know it’s wrong. You know it’s wrong. Hell, the intended audience knows it’s wrong. But right or wrong, that doesn’t change the fact that they like seeing their fantasy women come to life in the soft, jiggly, three-dimensional flesh.
The game the attractive blonde had been shilling for was a big-name fantasy-themed RPG, and they’d dressed her up in a Valkyrie warrior costume with typical fantasy female armor: a breastplate molded around her boobs and a chainmail skirt. Bare arms, bare legs, thigh-high dominatrix boots...you can picture it clearly, I’m sure. The other woman working the booth was also dressed thematically in a sort of swashbuckling Three Musketeers outfit with a low-cut, laced-up, fitted tunic and skin-tight leather pants. The outfits revealed just enough to suggest a lot without being outright lewd.
Stratos and I had already spent hours cruising the convention. We’d observed dozens of tables and I must have singled out well over a hundred players by that time. I was thirsty and needed a break. I’d grabbed a Dr. Pepper for myself — the thinking man’s soda — but I figured Stratos should have an authentic gaming experience so I got them a Mountain Dew. The booth happened to be in direct line of sight from the empty bench we’d commandeered to rest and enjoy our drinks on.
“Oh dear,” I said.
“Is something wrong?” Stratos said.
I pointed to a middle-aged man lurking nearby and leering at the booth with serial killer eyes. “Watch that guy,” I said.
As we watched, the person the blonde woman had been talking to went into the booth to take one of the several seats inside where he could try out the game, and right on cue our guy began slinking toward her.
“Is he what you would call creepy?” said Stratos.
“Super creepy. I feel really bad for her.”
“Why is that?”
“In the real world, she’d be able to avoid talking to creeps like him, but here she’s trapped.”
The guy had closed to within a few steps of the Valkyrie woman when she turned suddenly and began chatting with a random couple who’d been wandering by in the other direction. The creep veered away, denied his prize.
I barked a short laugh. “Good for her.”
“Did she not see him?” Stratos said.
“Oh, she most certainly did.”
“Then why—”
“Keep watching,” I said.
The guy pretended to study a banner hanging on the front of the booth, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, while glancing constantly at the blonde Valkyrie and her Swashbuckler colleague. The other woman was striking, just as pretty as the Valkyrie, with long, wavy red hair that even under the stark convention floor lights that threw off enough lumens to conduct surgery under looked almost too good to be real. If it had been a photograph I’d swear it would have to have been photoshopped. Nobody looks that good. But she did. After snapping a few selfies with her, the three giddy boys she’d been talking to wandered off and the creep made his move again, this time homing in on the redheaded Swashbuckler.
Before he could reach her, the Valkyrie dragged the couple she’d enlisted into talking to her over to introduce them to the Swashbuckler, once again thwarting El Creepo’s efforts to ensnare a pretty girl into a toxic conversation.
“Oh, she’s good,” I said.
Stratos sipped their Mountain Dew, brow slightly furrowed. “How so?”
“Tell me what you think just happened,” I said.
“That creepy man wanted to talk to her.”
“Yup.”
“But she started talking to those other people before he could.”
“She did that on purpose, by the way,” I said.
“Then he went to talk to the other woman but she got in the way before he could.”
As we talked, the creepy guy seemed to get tired of lurking nearby waiting for his chance, so he wandered off and the two women exchanged looks of gratitude and acknowledgement.
“That’s what makes her special. She doesn’t just protect herself from having to talk to the creepy ones, she saves her friends too. It’s like she has some kind of danger sense.”
“I see,” said Stratos, and this time they sounded like they understood. “Well played.”
That conversation must have been why that blonde woman was scooped up with the rest of the geeks and made a Player. She wasn’t in her armor now, but wore a spandex sports top and leggings with her hair up in a ponytail. She must’ve been exercising when she was abducted.
Sigrid Sorrensen Affinity: Air - Novice
Well Sigrid Sorrensen, I bet when you signed up to work at a nerd convention you never imagined you’d end up like this. I hope you like games.
Tremors of excitement rippled throughout the crowd as people explored their Status. I kept scanning around, checking out the affinities of random people, when a pair of new notices popped up in my vision.
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System: Your mastery of All Shall Be Revealed has evolved
System: You are the first to evolve a Power - Reward Tokens: +1 (1)
Well look at that. I didn’t know what they were, but I liked the sound of Reward Tokens.
I took another look at my status to see if it had changed.
All Shall Be Revealed - Competent
Slowly but surely I was amassing information: Competent is one step up from Novice. I looked at the kid beside me again.
Philip Kincaid Affinity: Earth - Novice Gifts: What Big Ears You Have - Enhanced hearing What Sharp Eyes You Have - Enhanced vision Powers: Gosh You're Fast - Novice: Remarkable movement speed Skills: Archery - Novice Mathematics - Novice
His abilities looked decent, I guessed. We both had two Gifts and one Power, but at least he had a combat Skill. I wasn’t sure how much good trivia will do me in a fight. What about...
Sigrid Sorrensen Affinity: Air - Novice Gifts: Danger, Will Robinson - Detect potential threats Powers: Heavenly Body - Novice: Boosted strength, agility, and toughness Shield Maiden - Novice: Boost the defence of nearby allies Your Achilles Heel Is Showing - Novice: Detect weaknesses Skills: Fitness - Novice Sword - Novice Spear - Novice
Now that’s a good set of abilities. Heavenly Body was a no brainer for her, I mean, she definitely had one. But hang on: Danger, Will Robinson? That’s danger sense, just how I described her to Stratos the day before at the convention. It could not be a coincidence. The panic started creeping back.
I wanted to keep exploring the Status thing, but Stratos had started talking again. Everyone quieted down.
“You probably have many questions about your Status and what it all means. I could tell you, but where is the fun in that? I think we will all enjoy watching you discover it on your own.”
We? Who’s we?
“And on that note, before you are let loose to explore there is something you should know: this is not an individual game. And I mean that in several ways.” Stratos held up a fist, then raised its index finger. “First, the game you are playing is itself made up of many different games. Some will be presented to you as quests, others you will need to discover on your own. Life here will be what you make of it.”
They raised the middle finger too. “Second, you are not playing alone. There are currently three hundred Players here.” They glanced over to where the complaining man had been before he vanished. “Make that two hundred and ninety-nine. Soon, you will be divided into ten teams, but you need not worry about that just yet. Just know that sometimes you will need to work together. For now, the only thing you should concern yourselves with is your very first quest.”
A new notice popped up. It was similar to the Status screen.
Quest: Be A Team Player - Assemble a team of 10 Players before the end of the Tutorial
Restriction: [Hidden]
Assembled Players: 0/10
Quest time remaining: 47:59:59
Quest time remaining: 47:59:58
Quest time remaining: 47:59:57
“As you can see,” Stratos said, “the next two days are a Tutorial period. A safe time for you to explore and settle in. Use this time well. You will want to be ready for when the real game begins, because this is a game you will want to win. After all, winners get rewards.”
Sudden pin drop silence.
Stratos flashed their flawless white teeth in what was maybe supposed to be a winning smile, but there was a stiffness, a lack of authenticity that made think of the Joker looming over Robin with a crowbar.
“That got your attention. There are many possible rewards for winning. Wealth. Items. Power. Influence. Growth. But here, the most important prize for winners is control. Control over your own destiny.” Stratos held out one hand, palm up. “Play hard, become stronger, keep winning, be in control. Or...” They held up the other hand as though weighing the options on a scale. “Well...” They dropped their hands. “That is for the losers to discover.”
Stratos let those ominous final words hang in the air a bit before continuing.
“One more thing. A word of caution. While this is a game, it is also very dangerous, and very real. You will get hurt. You may even get killed. If this happens...well, it is a game. You may be given another chance. Death does not necessarily mean your game is over, but it is never without consequence.”
It was good to hear we could respawn. Still, there was no guarantee. Is that what they meant by losers not having control over their own destiny? Did that mean losers won’t respawn or that they always will? Does death equal losing? Does losing mean death?
“And with that, I shall let you get on with enjoying the Tutorial. Use the time well, and we shall meet again in two days. Remember: games are everything, and everything is a game.”
The light around Stratos flared and my eyes closed instinctively. When I opened them again the light was gone, and so was Stratos. My mind reeled in a dozen directions at once. I closed my eyes again and took a few deep breaths, trying to focus. I studied my quest screen again, hunting for clues or insights.
Quest: Be A Team Player - Assemble a team of 10 Players before the end of the Tutorial
Restriction: [Hidden]
Assembled Players: 0/10
Quest time remaining: 47:57:59
I took a moment to take stock of things. There were three hundred of us. Approximately. If there was going to be ten teams and all the teams have ten people, what’s going to happen to the other two hundred Players? But hang on, did everyone have the same quest as me? How will that work?
I took a deep breath and turned to Phil on my right.
He’s just a kid. It’s okay. You can talk to him. You can do this. Pretend he’s a student.
“Um, hey. What quest did you get? I was wondering if we all got the same one.”
“Oh,” croaked Phil, his voice shaky. “Well, mine just said to use the Tutorial period to gain experience.”
“Mine too,” piped in Shawn on my left. A few more people around us said the same thing.
“Cool,” I said, even though I was pretty sure it was the exact opposite of cool. I figured that only ten of us had the same quest as me. But why did I have a special quest? Was it because of the convention?
I decided to keep this to myself. If people knew that I was somehow different, that I got something they didn’t, it might not go well for me. Gamers are a jealous, selfish bunch.
“Looks like the quests are the same,” said Phil, rescuing me from having to say anything more or lie about what my own quest was. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Phil, by the way.”
“Daniel,” I said, shaking his hand. It was limp and clammy, like holding a sick fish.
Poor kid, he was acting cool but I could tell he was scared witless. Couldn’t honestly blame him.
I painted a smile on my face. “This should be fun,” I said, trying to sound convincing.
“Yeah,” muttered Phil, letting his hand slip out of mine. “Fun.” He did not sound convinced.