We were on the outskirts of town when the two men stopped us.

Killian was ready to draw steel but I, without any armor or weapons, was more eager to test out my new charisma abilities on the two who walked towards us. Besides, they weren’t bandits or highwaymen; they wore the sigil of Verham but with the colours altered. We climbed down off of Asta and I turned to Killian saying, “Let me try my hand at this,” I said and Killian rolled his eyes as the two men stopped before us,

“What business do you ‘ave in Verham?” said the short fat one in a thick English accent,

“We’re here to shop and offer help to any of the local residents who may need it.” I said simply and watched as the two turned towards each other.

“The town is currently closed.” said the taller one. His voice was nasally and he had spurts of orange sticking out from either side of his helm.

“Why?” I asked sincerely surprised.

“Because, the mayor said so.”

I turned to Killian with a perplexed look and Killian grinned nodding to his axe as if to say can we fight them yet? I shook my head no and turned back to them and said,

“I wasn’t aware that Verham had a mayor,” the shorter one shot back,

“It’s a new position and the mayor has decreed the town is closed, thank you. Good day.”

They began to turn away and I took a half step forward.

“Wait, we’d like to speak with your Mayor.” I said half expecting it to fail and as they turned back to us their faces were doubtful.

“Okay.” They said despite their faces. Surprised I looked to Killian.

“Oh, okay. Great, well. Lead us there?” I said with an upturned sound at the end which sounded more like a question than a statement. They turned to Killian and said.

“We’ll need to take your weapons,” Killian turned to me with a childlike sense of fear as if a parent asking for their child’s favourite toy.

“No I think it’s okay if he keeps his weapon,” I said and after a moment they both said,

“Yep, okay that’s fine.”

I smirked and in a moment of extreme power I said, “Actually, it could be dangerous on the short walk towards Verham, do you mind if I borrow your stuff?” I said to the tall thin one who was about my height and weight. He looked nervously towards his partner who just shrugged and after a moment said,

“Yes, I think that would be for the best.”

After a quick change and a few minutes spent in the bushes Killian and I were escorted by the two guards towards Verham; one wearing his armor and weapons, the others wearing my starting character’s plain clothes. I turned to Killian with a smile, presenting my bow, quiver and clothes which, after having ditched the guard colours, was a presentable set of light leather armor. He smirked and said, “Well done laddie, especially if we’re walking into a fight.” He smiled, excited for the prospect but I shook my head.

“When we get to the Mayor, I’ll just convince him to do whatever we want. Maybe we can be in charge of the town,” I said with high eyebrows and a smile that said not a bad idea, eh?

Killian scoffed and said, “I’d prefer the fight.”

We entered into the small town of Verham through the east gate to see that it was functioning mostly like normal. The two taverns in town seemed quiet as we passed and I tied Asta out front of the one owned by Gundar as we moved towards the market square. Here there were vendors of all shapes and sizes, eager to push their goods on us. I equally was eager to buy some new gear and start some quests but the towns guard led us through to the other side where a large building lay. It was that of the General Store, owned by Yaro but the painted sign out front said Mayor, written in neat scrawl. I arched an eyebrow at Killian as the guards stopped on either side of the doors and gestured for us to enter.

We entered Yaro’s General Store to see the tables removed and the front counter all but gone. It was a two story building and on this floor, by the crackling hearth of the fireplace was a large ornate couch clearly taken from outside Verham. The guards who followed us in gestured for us to take a seat as I heard voices upstairs. I turned my head as if to listen better but could only make out the muffled voice of a woman. After a few moments a powerful blast shook the floor above us and rattled the iron that sat next to the fireplace as bits of frost fell from beneath the floor boards above. With wide eyes I turned to Killian.

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“It’s a mage,” I said through a cautious grimace. Killian shrugged and I leaned in to whisper, “they have high wisdom, tougher to charm and very, very…” I was about to say powerful when another thunderous crack sounded out above us and more snow fell through the floor boards above. Suddenly a number of footfalls sounded as the floor above creaked with movement.

Five guards descended the stairs, each looking more nervous than the last, each covered in fine bits of snow and as they left through the front door silently, the fat guards ascended the stairs. I turned my head again to listen and I could make out the two distinct tones of their voices. The woman sounded calm as the guard spoke a few words and then I heard her shout,

“Why did you bring them here?!”

There were more muffled words and I turned to Killian, “This was a bad idea, we need to leave.” I stood and half way towards the guard who stayed with us I was stopped by the voice of the first guard, who was leaning down from the second floor,

“She’ll see you now,”

I looked towards the door and back to the stairs as Killian hopped up and began to ascend. I shook my head no quickly but he was already half up, excitedly hopping up each step, unaware of the danger that waited above. I swallowed hard and followed him up.

The second story was filled with books. The walls were covered in a sea of texts, manual and scrolls all of which were filled with spells and incantations that would make any wizard a masterfully powerful foe. My hands grew clammy as I reached the top to see a witch-like woman sitting behind a large black ornate desk with her head in her hands. She had golden hair and was draped in aqua colours and despite her pointed features was oddly familiar. I searched my mind for when I had created her but before I could think she spoke, “I don’t know how you talked your way into town or why you think talking to me would help, but you caught me on a bad…” was all she managed to say before she lifted her head and saw me. Immediately he face dropped into a look of surprise and she nearly shouted, “LESTER?!”

In a flash she ran out from behind the desk and picked me up. She was considerably tall and as she spun me around she laughed maniacally. Killian looked at us with a confused expression and after a beat she put me back down and stood back studying my face, “God it’s good to see you!” She said earnestly as I tried to understand. She saw my confusion and shook her head,

“Doesn’t look familiar?” she said as she turned her head and presented her look towards me. I shrugged and after a minute she let out an exasperated sigh, “It’s me; Drew! Mr. Derrigar!”

My eyes grew wide and for the first time I was in on the excitement. I hugged her back and began laughing as well. Somehow in all of this I had completely forgotten that we had created a character for Mr. Derrigar; a witchy looking sorcerer woman he named Drewhilda. As it started to come back to me, how I had saved his state on my USB and how he must’ve been brought along into Dunn with us, I grew more and more excited, “I am speechless,” I said shaking my head in disbelief as Killian stood next to me confused. For the first time I looked around the room with innocent eyes and saw the amazing work she had done, “You studied so much; you must know most of the spells by now!” I said looking through the tomes. Drewhilda turned to the guards dismissing them and joined me at the bookshelf.

“Yes, I admit after first arriving here I didn’t know what to do or what to make of it all. It took longer than I care to admit to understand what the hell was happening.” I nodded completely understanding where he was coming from, “but once a carriage driver mentioned the name Dunn, I started to piece together at the very least where I was.” Despite being Drewhilda, Drew insisted I call him Drew for now and refer to him as a male and so I happily did, I had enough experience with feeling out of sorts in my skin myself. As he and I continued to look through the books he recanted to me how he had arrived here and what he had been up to.

Drew had landed in Dunn the same time that we all did but had a surprisingly easier time. After waking from a nap in the forest near the main road; he managed to wave down a carriage and ask for directions. His memory spiked when the driver mentioned the name Dunn and from there it was only luck that Drew recalled the town of Verham. He arrived in town and began working towards securing his future, “When I levelled up I dumped most of my points into Wisdom and was able to learn all of these,” he gestured to the books on the walls and as we sat at his table he sighed in comfort, “needless to say there are a number of boosts to charisma within these pages and I was able to set myself up as mayor. That way I could use the guards to go scout and find more tomes and such.” He said as he popped a grape into his mouth.

“But why lock down the town?” I asked as I too ate a grape. Killian began loading his plate with fruit from the bowl in the center of the table and topped it with a large wedge of cheese.

“Well I started to realize the AI didn’t function like a normal game, that for whatever reason they all seemed to be learning?” He said as if doubting his own words but noticed me nodding along and was assured, “Yes, so I didn’t want any bandits or miscreants entering town looking to loot and since I figured I was the only real person in the game…”

“It wasn’t worth the risk?” I finished.

“Exactly, besides what was there to do for them in town anyway? The guards I mean, they’re all lawful good here there’s not much commotion.” He breathed a sigh of relief clearly happy to get to share these thoughts with another real person and then after a beat said, “Now, I’m dying to know, how the hell did all of this happen?!”

I told him everything; the code, Kappa, the trees back home and the stuff about Jessica this time and how she split the party because of it. Drew listened intently and cautiously nodding along as I revealed more and more. By this time Killian had left the table and was napping in a cot on the far wall of the room and over the crackling fire Drew took it all in. At the end he took a short breath and said, “Well that’s a theory,” I furrowed my brow,

“What is?”

“Sorry,” he said, his mind clearly working faster than his mouth, “I mean finishing the game. It’s one theory to think that finishing it would bring back the real world.” I shrugged in agreement,

“Yes but I don’t know what else to do,” I said disheartened and Drew looked around as if being watched and leaned forward.

“There is something I need to show you,” he whispered and we left the room with Killian napping in the corner.