Becky sat in front of her monitor in the middle of another boring day at her boring job which was just another part of her boring life. She was 25 years old and still felt fresh out of college in many ways though that ended years ago. She barely made more now than she did as a waitress.
She was in data processing but if she had to be totally honest with herself she was more of a glorified secretary. She went to college be a marine biologist but it just didn't work out for a number of reasons. Now she spent much of her day entering in reports, reviewing documents and trying to make professional looking advertisements.
Many of the people who worked there didn't respect what she did but were polite enough to not voice so out loud. A few intentionally weren't so subtle. She started thinking of her ex and maybe she should try to get back together with him. Yes he fucked around on her but it wasn't like a lot of guys were knocking down her door.
She wasn't horrible looking in anyway. Just a few pounds overweight, a little more flat than she'd like, her butt could be a bit firmer, her teeth a bit whiter, her face a little less round, her skin a little better, her... her everything just a little better. She hated how easy the really pretty girls had it. Maybe she should get some work done. She thought she would never say that but it has been on her mind. If she could afford it that is...
Suddenly she received an email which was rare cause it was her work account and that almost never got email. The description only said “For Becky”. She thought of deleting it, maybe it was a virus or something? It didn't have anything attached to it though so why not just read the text. It's not like she would download anything. She opened it.
*****
Dear Becky, after careful vetting we have concluded you are eligible to play THE GAME. If this is something you wish to take part of please dial the following number xxx-xxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx into any phone. When you dial we ask you be alone and available for a fairly lengthly period of time anywhere between 5 minutes to 1 hour. If you succeed in completing the game you will get various options for rewards. Details will be given once you decide you wish you play.
Choosing to sign up to play is completely voluntary and details about your game and potential prizes are to be given upon acceptance to play the game. No money or personal information required!
Sincerely, Game Master.
*****
Becky thought this had to be some sort of scam. Of course there would be some catch. They would try to make you give them a credit card number or something.
She was about to delete the email but something about it just was so... odd. She couldn't put her finger on it. Could it be some kind of game show? Probably not but what would it hurt to call? She certainly would not give any information about herself and if it seemed weird she would just hang out.
She took down the number in her cell phone and went back to work.
Later at home she decided to open a bottle of wine and make herself a nice diner but nothing too fancy. She couldn't bring herself to put something special together when alone. She watched some TV but that phone number was always in the back of her mind. She was hesitating to call for some reason though she couldn't really say why.
When it turned 7:00 she was done eating and cleaning up after herself. She figured it was about time. What is the worst that could happen?
She dialed the number and soon heard a voice message from a pleasant though slightly robotic sounding women “Hello and thank you for your time, your call is very important to us. Have you dialed this number to play the game or was it dialed in error? If dialed in error please hang up. If you were invited to play the game please press 1.
She pressed 1 and continued on.
Welcome new player. We are happy you have called. If you would be interested in playing the game please speak into the phone “play game” if you're not interested then simply hang up with no further obligation.
She really wanted to know more about the game and since hanging up would do nothing to help that....
“Play Game” she said.
“Thank you for choosing to play the game. We detect that you are alone and ready to play. For future games simple connect using status screen. No other phone calls will be required. Please enjoy your game!”
Before she could ask what the hell all that meant she suddenly blacked out. The next thing she knew someone was nudging her. A mans voice saying “wake up, are you okay”. She slowly came to and opened her eyes.
Instantly she pulled back “who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?”
The man said “I'm Patrick and we're not in your house. Do you remember how you got here?”
She looked around “where are we? Do you know what is going on?”
Patrick said “I have no idea. The last thing I remember I was on the phone and then I was here”
“We're in the game right now... God I hate newbies.”
She turned to the young man “Who are you and what do you mean game?”
He said “You made the phone called and asked to play the game right? Well welcome to it. You're in it right now. Just wait a moment and the announcement will pop up very soon”. She looked around and saw another unconscious women coming to maybe in her 30s and another man who was the oldest in the bunch. She guessed he was maybe 40.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She was about to asked another question but before she could a green screen popped up
*Congratulations on entering the game! We wish you the best of luck! For more instructions see the help menu and to see your status see the status scene*
She jumped and turned to the young man who spoke of the game.
“Did you just see that?” She pointing to the air in front of her.
“No one else can see your status screen unless you make a friend request. It's part of the rules. I don't plan to answer any more questions until everyone is awake. It will be the exact same ones so I'd like to do it all at once encase you 2 aren't the only newbies here”.
With that the young man sat in a corner and relaxed. The room only had one opening but it was currently closed off. She went to check the door but it was locked. The single overhead light was all there was. No windows existed.
Other other 2 people came to for a total of 5. One of them was a newbie and the other was a vet like the young boy. The boy got up in front of the others to speak.
“Well by now you all got the congratulations for entering the game. You will not feel so good about that soon. If you want to see the status screen then simple say 'status screen' and all of your data as far as name height, weight and stats are there. Also you should all have 5 points to start.
I would suggest you spend them ASAP once you figure out what we're are doing. You will want every edge you can get particularly the first few games. Soon we will start a game and there will be a time limit. The most important thing you need to know is this.
You must follow the rules or you die. You need to complete the game in time or you die. It is very possible there will be some danger during the game. I suggest you check your status screen now but wait till you know the kind of game it is to spend your points”. With this he sat back down.
Becky asked him “so you have played this before right? What kind of game is it?”
The boy said “Yes I have played before. I have been through 8 of these. This will be the 9th time. As for the game I have no idea. It changes every time you play. If you survive you will need to come back in 2 weeks or less. That is a prompt it gives all newbies who win the first time. It even has a count down in your details page.
Becky said “I don't know what is going on but someone has clearly kidnapped us! This is a crime and we need to call the police!”
The boy said “We can't call the police. We don't have our phones and even if you win there will be no evidence the game was ever played. You can find people who played if you want just to be sure you aren't crazy; but there is no way to prove the game exist. Also if you make too much of a stink about the game I hear you are 'removed from participation' as it calls it. So I wouldn't go doing that”.
Right before Becky was about to ask another question suddenly a screen popped up
*Thank you for playing. It is time to begin to the game. Please select difficultly of game by picking levels 1-10. Remember that the higher the difficulty the more points. This challenge is a physical game. If you have above 25 points in both strength or stamina you get double points for completion*
*At least one new member is in this group. Groups with new members cannot pick a difficulty higher than 5. Please select difficultly level and remember no member can pick the same difficulty level 2 times in a row*
The boy turned to the vet whose name was Tyrone. He asked “What did you pick last time?”
Tyrone said “I had to pick level 2. How about you?”
The Boy in a huff answered “I picked level one. I guess we need to go at least level 3...”
Tyrone said “level 3 with 3 new players? Jesus, I hope they don't get us killed.”
Tyrone went up to the difficulty and said to the newbies “the smart thing to do is pick the lowest level difficulty. The lowest we can pick righ now is level 3. Since this is physical I suggest you use your points right now to level up strength or stamina”.
*Level three selected. Points for game will be level squared multiplied by contested. Points available for this game are determined to be 45 which will be divided to all players who pass the game rounded to the nearest whole number. Difficulty for game set to level 3. Please enjoy your game!*
Becky after reading that said “status screen” and then out popped a green box in front of her.
NAME: Becky Sue Davis
AGE: 25
HT: 5'5
WT: 155
SKILLS: NONE
CLASS: N/A
HP: 16/16
MP: 0/0
LV: 1
STR: 10
INT: 15
DEX: 15
WIS: 15
STA: 5
CHA: 10
Points: 5
Would you like to spend any points at this time or see point option screen?
Becky asked “what is the point option screen?”
Tyrone said “it is a place where you can use points to buy skills or money or all kinds of things”.
The Boy said “worry about it on your own time. You need at least 10 points to buy any skills and most 10 point skills are not all that good anyway. Nothing else you can buy right now will help you with only 5 points”.
*Maze game will now begin. For selecting level 3 difficulty there will be only 1 bad entity to start
Bonus: for not selected levels 1 or 2 bonus points, skills and rare items will be placed in the maze!
Rules: Players who encounter a dead end may choose to attempt the task given or turn back. If task is completed the player may choose between a prize or short cut. If task failed a penalty will be given. Prizes and penalties posted at each dead end and may be read before acceptance of task. All players once the timer starts may go through the door and enter the maze. Players must find the exit to leave the maze. Time to completion no more than 1 hour; the countdown will start now!*
Suddenly a count down appeared in front of all of them. Tyrone turned to the other vet boy and said “what is your name by the way?”
He answered “Calvin. I hope we make it out of this alive.”
Calvin turned to them all “As you can see the countdown has started. When it hits 0 if you have not finished you are dead. Go in or don't go in is entirely up to you. I would suggest you use your points on stamina or strength. Strength also helps you run faster so keep that in mind”.
He looked at his clock again. “I am going to go into this maze alone to hunt for items and extra points. I suggest you newbies all stick together and just try to pass. Until you build up some points these kind of difficulties are probably too much for you. If you see that so called entity just run”.
He turned to Tyrone “sticking with them is up to you but I plan to go alone from here on out. I don't want newbies slowing me down or getting me killed”.
Tyrone said “I plan to go solo too and I will be sure to get to those bonuses first!” He turned to the others and said “sorry, I just can't be slowed down. I would like to help you but I don't want to die for you either”.
Calvin then opened the door and went into the maze followed quickly by Tyrone.
Becky, Patrick and the other women were left in the room alone. Patrick turned to the other woman and asked “what is your name dear? Sorry we were so rushed and just didn't feel I had time to ask. She said “Samantha.... Do we really need to go in there?”
Patrick turned to Becky to see if she could add anything to this that may help. Becky said “It looks like we do. I have no reason to not believe the things they told us and that timer is worrying me. I suggest we do as they said and put our points in stamina and strength then go together. Does anyone disagree?”
Everyone nodded their head. Becky looked at the time and saw it said 59:13. She turned to the other 2 and said “we really should get started; for all we know we may need every second to finish this”. They agreed and Becky turned to the open door. She took her first step out towards the maze.