-POV change-

When he logged in for the first time, he had to take a moment to just gape in absolute awe. It really felt as though he had been transported into some medieval dungeon! He marveled just a second longer at the power of his innocuous black console, then sucked in a shaky breath and proceeded through the hall.

He breezed through the character creation, browsing the cells of inmates until he found one with a race that would fit his playstyle and only altered his appearance slightly. He had to think for a long time about his name, but eventually settled for his first instinct and named himself Drac. The tutorial took him a bit by surprise with its pace, but he kept up well enough. After the shipwreck and one final cutscene, he acquired his twin daggers and made his way up the beach, cursing softly at the realistic weather.

Finally, he beat the bandit boss and made it into Lioneye’s Watch. The boss wasn’t anything special, just a normal bandit with a name and a slightly higher level, which made his attacks hurt more. It was definitely troublesome how he kept calling in new minions, but he just counted them as extra EXP.

It took him awhile to clear the first boss thanks to his EXP farming. Shortly after he entered the camp, though, an announcement was made that an area boss had spawned! He thought it might be too high of a hurdle for newbies fresh out of the tutorial, but it wasn’t his problem. He turned in the quests and had just bought leather gear for himself when a loud noise broke the muffled stillness.

“RrraaAAAGH! FUCK YOU, YOU GIANT BITCH!” and then a few minutes later, “YEEEAAAAHHHH!!! HOW DO YOU FUCKING LIKE ME NOW?!” Everyone froze when the unexpected cry echoed over the walls, then started to awkwardly laugh at each other’s surprise. Another announcement proclaimed that the area boss had just been defeated, which brought about another round of excited chatter. It hadn’t been an hour since the thing spawned, and it was already killed! Moreover, on the newbie side of the camp! A new face, a small girl with short white hair and icy blue eyes, tiredly came through the gate, and he approached to share the news in case she hadn’t heard it.

When asked, though, her eyes widened and she began to blush. It was her?! “But you’re so small!” he couldn’t help but laugh, making her pout a bit. Soon, the conversation turned to her gear, which was to say the least, crappy. Her quiver was nearly empty, her bow was just a stick with some string tied to it, and even her dress was torn! Drac had never seen any other female newbie player with a skirt shorter than mid-thigh, and granted, the beginner gear was tattered to start with, but hers came dangerously close to immodesty. He thought about asking the reason, but noticed the off-white bandage wrapped around her arm, and didn’t bring it up. Instead, he discovered that she taught herself archery in-game, mid-battle! This girl was kind of a badass. In the end, she called him “Vamp” and turned away from his terrible pun, so he just shook his head in amusement and went his own way, looking for early-game quests.

-

Drac had just finished asking all the NPCs in camp about tasks to do, and was wandering around aimlessly when he noticed a crowd forming. Curious, he joined them, and discovered the object of their attention - it was his new acquaintance, Artymia! She was pacing around looking haggard and worried, yet the other players were intimidated by her cold aura and ragged - well, more ragged, appearance. With a quiet sigh, he decided that if nobody else was going to approach, he might as well. What kind of man would he be if he let a new friend worry all alone?

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“You’re making a scene again, huh?” he greeted her jokingly, only to be snapped at but then quickly apologized to. He was told that she had encountered a serious bug and was waiting for a response from the GMs. He couldn’t help but make a joke about her situation being similar to the plot of an old anime he used to watch, but she went scarily silent. His face stiffened as the silence lengthened, not wanting to accept the implication. He hurriedly tried to cheer her up, which had minimal effect, but both of their faces fell when the response finally did come:

“GM cannot be reached at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

This had to be serious. If it were truly just a normal bug, the GM should respond promptly, especially so soon after release. On top of that, Artymia looked brokenhearted, like her final hope had been shattered. Drac wasn’t a heartless enough person to leave her wallowing in despair, so he quickly offered to send an email to the GMs from his home computer. She seemed startled, but accepted, and he pulled up his menu to log out.

For one frightening moment, he couldn’t help but make doubly sure that the log out button was truly there, but it was right where it should be and he was able to log out with no issue. Rather than causing him doubt, it only reaffirmed his concern that Artymia’s problem was very real. Logging out was such an essential function of a game, it had never been heard of to be bugged, so it was too improbable to lie about with such a serious expression. Though he had only just met her, he was fairly convinced that she was the type who showed her true thoughts on her face, the type who couldn’t lie even if she wanted to. And who in their right mind would lie about being unable to log out?

He sent the email as quickly as he could type, but immediately got an “unable to send” message followed by the same reply they got in-game. Disheartened, he logged back in to tell her the news, and felt his sympathy rise for her as she seemed to struggle with her logic and emotions. He offered to get her some better gear, since she had none, but she had a far more surprising request.

“Do you know where Broadview Gardens is?”

“Yeah, I’m actually near there in the capitol. Why?”

“When I logged in, I was alone in my apartment with my cat. I don’t have anyone that can check on her. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to add you as a Friend and private message you my address.”

“WHAT?!” Drac immediately tried to refuse, doubting her sanity, but she wore an extremely resolute face and bombarded him with reasons he should go along with her crazy “favor.” For a split second, he thought she might actually be scamming him, or trying to kidnap him or something like that, but then she said, “Drac, I need help from the real world. I need help for real, and you’re the only person I can trust right now.” She looked so helpless at that moment, he lost all will to argue. If it was a trap, fine, whatever! He had to go, just in case. She sent him a friend request, which he accepted, then a private message containing an address and a phone number, which she said was her family’s.

“Freaking hell, why not send me your PIN number while you’re at it,” Drac jokingly grumbled, “And for the record, that was a joke. If you try to give me your PIN I’m going to pick a game out of your library and keep it.”

“Uh-huh,” she giggled dryly, watching him log out with tired eyes. He maintained eye contact while the light engulfed him, and saw as her face fell into uncertainty and slight reluctance. Again, her honest face reassured him that he wasn’t wrong about her. She had been putting up a strong front, giving him such sensitive information, but considered it her only option. She was worried that he couldn’t be trusted as much as she thought, and somehow that knowledge filled him with determination to meet her expectations. He was still going to call the phone number first, and only go to the address if it was actually her family that picked up. No sense in being foolhardy.

And in the case that her problem was real...what then?