After equipping the Pacifist set, tears came to Roth’s eyes. This set was built on every adventure he’d been through in AstroTerra—so many memories.

His stats skyrocketed immensely. [United in Love], especially, was a fantastic skill. After siphoning 10% of the stats of Lua, the Leafies, and, more importantly, Lin, his stats had exploded.

In the middle of the flashing skills and Loki’s screams, Roth checked the rankings at the forums. Kraken and Ogre had left the rankings temporarily, as promised. His eyes lingered a little longer on the list. He frowned, seeing that Zin’s name wasn’t there anymore. Why was that, he wondered? It didn’t matter. It was enough. After equipping the armor, he was in tenth place in the rankings.

Roth opened the menu and found a button that hadn’t been there. Two little words that he’d seen so many times before on New Earth but had never looked so beautiful. Tears in his eyes, he reached toward it with a trembling hand and touched it.

Are you sure you want to log out?

He looked straight at Loki. This man had brought him so much pain. But Roth wasn’t his prisoner. Not anymore.

Loki could see the peace in his expression. He kept urging his troops to attack. “Stop him! Stop him!”

But it was no use. Roth, the pacifist, disappeared from the battlefield and finally left the world of AstroTerra.

*

Roth awoke to darkness, his body aching and his mind foggy. Then, a line of bright light made him squint. His surroundings came into focus. Buzzing lamps were overhead, and his body was sitting on some sort of gel-like sofa. Some people in white coats were pointing at him with shocked expressions.

He sniffed and, looking down, he found he was wearing the same blue jeans and white shirt he’d had on when he left prison—both were filthy. The white shirt had yellowed from sweat, and the jeans were caked in grime.

Realizing that he had logged out and the pod hadn’t exploded hit him like a wave. He screamed and stumbled away from the capsule, desperate to escape the confines of the machine that had trapped him for three long months. His joints creaked, and his muscles screamed in protest as he made his way to the corner of the room farthest from the pod, where he collapsed, hugging his knees and sobbing.

He’d made it. He’d made it. “I’m OK!” he cried in a hoarse, croaky voice. “I’m OK.”

Gradually, the voices around him became clearer. One voice, in particular, cut through the haze. “Roth! Can you hear me? Roth?!”

Roth looked up, finally recognizing the familiar face. A man in his 50s with only one arm. “Drake! It’s you!” Overwhelmed with relief, Roth clung to his friend, weeping on his shoulder.

“Come on. Let’s get you up and into the shower. You stink, man!” Drake said, trying to lighten the mood.

Roth allowed Drake to guide him away from the capsule. His body felt heavy, and every step was a monumental effort. Trying to summon his strength, he croaked out a raspy command, “Summon.” But nothing happened. Panic surged through him as he noticed Lua was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re not in the game,” Drake reminded him.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been in the game for so long... I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You’re OK. Your brain just needs time to adjust. After an hour or so, you’ll be back to normal.”

“Am I atrophied?” Roth’s voice cracked with worry.

Drake shook his head. “No, it’s just that your high stats in the game made you stronger and faster than in reality. Your brain needs time to adapt to your real strength.”

They walked in silence for a while. Walking was helping him clear his head. He felt a little better now. “Please, don’t let my mom see me like this. Or Mel. Or my brothers,” Roth pleaded, his voice barely a whisper.

Drake chuckled softly. “Why do you think I was the one who fetched you from the lab, silly?”

As Drake helped him through the halls, Roth glanced up and noticed a young man giving him a thumbs-up. He had brown hair and eyes and a familiar smirk. He was clean-shaven and, while short, was far taller than a dwarf. “Jack,” Roth managed.

“Get some rest, dude. We’ll talk later,” Jack said with a friendly wave.

As they continued, Roth saw more familiar faces. A tall, middle-aged man, a stoic figure, and a grinning woman stood at an intersection. Ogre, BlueFire, and Cyclops. Roth nodded in greeting. His eyes and BlueFire’s met, and the general smiled. “Rest up, Roth,” he said. Exhausted but relieved, Roth let Drake lead him to where he could get cleaned up.

Roth had gotten so used to running around at impossible speeds that he felt like he was standing still. “How are things at the coliseum?” he asked Drake, hoping the conversation would make time pass quicker.

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“Great. The Union is moving there in force. When I left, the first rats, sheep, and badgers had arrived. They wanted to open a consulate. Anyway, we'll have time to talk about that later. We're here.”

A sleek metal door with Roth's name engraved on a plaque stood before them. Drake helped Roth place his hand on the handprint scanner beside the door. Then it slid open with a soft whoosh to reveal the suite.

Inside, Roth was greeted by a spacious, modern design. The room was bathed in warm, ambient light from recessed ceiling fixtures and large windows. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Roth could see a lush landscape dotted with trees and, in the center, a shimmering swimming pool surrounded by neatly arranged lounge chairs.

Feeling that the view couldn't compare to what he'd seen in the Sky Islands, Roth let Drake guide him to his bedroom. In the center was a large, plush bed with a crisp white duvet and several fluffy pillows.

“Your sister-in-law picked the room design for you. Your mom told the management your size and all those clothes fit. You can change it all later if you want. Here. Let me show you the bathroom.”

The en-suite bathroom was as large as the room, with elegant marble tiles covering the floors and walls. A large, glass-enclosed shower with multiple showerheads stood against one side.

“There’s no trick to the shower. Get cleaned up. After that, get some sleep. You need it.”

“A-are you leaving?”

“Do you want me to stay?” Drake asked.

Roth gulped. “I don’t know.”

Drake smiled in a fatherly manner. He clasped Roth’s shoulders firmly. “Don’t you worry. I’ll be outside your room making a few calls. Mel and the 14th will want to know the good news. I also have to talk to Ogre and Nexus. If you need anything, just say the word, and I’ll be here. Don’t worry. You’re safe.”

Roth nodded. If he said so, he would trust him.

*

“No! No! No!”

Loki’s anger had fizzled into weary despair. He felt like collapsing into tears. Roth had escaped! Loki had had him in his grasp, only for him to slip away and steal the legendary quest right from under his nose.

Staring out the window at Lake Grassum, Loki considered giving up. Maybe the Slayer was right. It had been years, and killing him over and over wouldn’t bring back his lost legs. On top of that, his guild’s top troops had been wiped out twice. Twice! Weeks of gameplay had been lost, and now he would have to pay them a fortune in compensation.

If he continued down this path, he might destroy the empire he’d built with his own hands. With a heavy sigh, he wheeled himself over to his computer.

Ring. Ring.

The phone jolted him from his thoughts. It was his secretary. He hung up, not in the mood for conversation. Moments later, there was a knock on the door.

“Why do I pay these people? Can’t they take a hint?”

He dialed his secretary’s number quickly. “How many times have I told you—”

“Sir, it’s the police. I tried to warn you, but—”

Before he could respond, a group of uniformed men burst into his office. One of them, wearing a long coat and a bored expression, flashed a badge. “Mr. Barry Walkins, we have a warrant to search the premises.”

“On what grounds?” Loki’s heart raced.

“Disloyal competition, industrial espionage, sabotage, kidnapping, forced digital labor, and conspiracy to commit murder. Disable the security force field and step aside.”

Loki smirked, trying to stay composed. This wasn’t the first time he’d faced such accusations. There was no way they had the evidence to back this up.

As the officers began their search, one of them slid aside the wall panels to reveal a hidden vault. Loki’s heart skipped a beat. How did they know about his secret safe? The officer easily opened it, and Loki’s stomach churned. Who had given them the combination?

The officer rifled through the vault’s contents before walking over to the detective and whispering in his ear. The detective’s grin widened.

“Mr. Barry Walkins, you’re under arrest.”

“Wait, what? What evidence do you have?”

“After seizing the contents of that vault, we’ve got all the pieces of the puzzle. You should see the neat package I have waiting in my office.”

“Package?”

As the officers began to wheel Loki away, his face drained of color. Zin. It had to be Zin.

*

Roth let the hot water run down his body. He’d been in the shower for almost 20 minutes, but no matter how many times he scrubbed himself clean, he kept finding more spots he’d missed. He shuddered, thinking that some of this grime could date to the day he left prison. Maybe it was his impression, but he could swear he still had the smell of jail on him.

He’d shampooed his hair four times, but it still didn’t feel enough. When he ran out of soap and shampoo and his hands wrinkled until he looked like an old man, Roth decided it was time to call it a day.

He found some clothes his size in the room and put on a pair of pajamas. He didn’t feel sleepy. Hadn’t he, in theory, been sleeping away for three months? Supposedly, it was as good as sleeping, right?

In prison, he’d often had nightmares about hurting Loki or his father. He now had the torture he’d undergone at the hands of his old friends to add to his collection. What if he closed his eyes and saw his old friends killing him over and over again?

Regardless, he still felt that the softness of the bed was too inviting to pass up on, and he ended up lying down for just a moment. He looked up at the ceiling. What would happen now? What would it be like to see his family again? Would it feel different from when he met them in the game? What about Mel? Would she like his real self?

And what would happen with Loki? If his family and Drake were alright, logic would have it that the Ogres’ compound was safe enough. Would Loki come here looking for trouble?

And why did the real world feel so unreal? He felt stuck between sleep and awakeness. He felt slow and weak here. At the same time, it felt right. He thought about the Leafies, Lua, and Lin. What happened to them when he logged out? Hopefully, they would be OK. Maybe he should get a cat in the real world, too. He wondered if the Ogres had a no-pet policy.

That was the last thought he remembered having before falling into a deep sleep.

Roth had no nightmares that night, only gentle dreams. He dreamed of joke-telling mice and storytelling foxes. He heard the poetry and riddles of obnoxious badger poets and crows. He haggled with Soros and Matilda. He worked with Mario, shepherded sheep, and carried loads with the treeants.

He dreamed of riding his white mare across rocky landscapes, of playing with Lin, and of observing the Leafies working diligently. He dreamed of good moments with his friends from the Union, waging crafting battles against the 14th. He dreamed of the Table and the mighty King Zion. He dreamed of winning the Molympic Games, of knitting and carving with lasers.

He dreamed of meeting his family again, of his mother’s tears, his brothers’ hugs, and his niece's giggles. He also dreamt of Mel and their first kiss.

Roth dreamed as he had played and as he lived: in peace.