“Anika?” Matt said to the spot where she’d been standing. “What just happened?” She had even disappeared from his party interface.

Okay, Subconscious, Matt silently warned. This isn’t cool.

“Where’d she go?” Val said.

“It wasn’t just Anika,” Kurtis observed. “A whole bunch of people just...” The cat-man made an explosion gesture with his hands, tail flicking from side to side. “She’s gone from your interface, too?”

Matt nodded, then spun around. The field did look more sparsely populated. Or, had that just happened while he was speaking with Septimus? Then, he had an idea. He jogged back to the pink-clad man. “Septimus, I am a traveler!”

“You again?” Septimus said, background a blur. “I bet you want to know what I’m doing with that fish! Well, if you help me with some other ingredients, I’ll share. Get me ten parsley, twenty chips, and one lemon.”

As the scene unblurred, Matt turned back to face his group. No Anika. Just Kurtis, Fallyn, Valkyrie, and Cathleen.

Fuck. Matt put his hands to his temples, panic rising. He raked his fingers through his hair.

“I was just talking to her…” Cathleen was explaining.

Fallyn narrowed her eyes at Matt.

“I thought it might have been like the other night,” Matt said. “I hoped…”

The yellow text began to scroll: ‘ANNOUNCEMENT. Per EULA section 40.3, server owner reserves the right to determine activity threshold for maintenance of healthful population. Inactive accounts have been deleted.’

Matt read and re-read the message as it repeated. A sinking sensation traveled from his throat down to his chest.

“Holy crap!” Cathleen exclaimed. “I, I’m sorry guys, I need to go find my group.” She dashed off to the South end of the field, disappearing between white tents.

“What does this mean?” asked Val quietly, holding onto her tiara.

“I think Anika might be gone,” admitted Fallyn quietly. She tucked her hair behind her ears and sank to the grass. She sat there silently, with knees up, encircled by her arms. She stared forward blankly.

Matt stood above her awkwardly, not sure whether to sit too, while the murmur around the tents shifted. Pleasant conversation turned to upset, outrage, and confusion. The tone of it all set Matt on edge. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. Someone was crying; he didn’t know where. Kurtis started to pace, holding his tail.

“This isn’t real,” Val whispered, eyes looking damp. “This isn’t real,” she repeated.

“This...” Matt started, but he couldn’t find the words. He managed to gesture towards the tent and guide Fallyn to her feet.

Inside, he could finally breathe. As soon as he entered the sound was cut off: no more shouts, or anger, or crying. He sat on the edge of the gray mattress-couch. It felt so empty with only four of them. He brushed his hands across the flannel, laying back and taking in its softness. He stared up at the twinkle lights and tried to make his brain work.

Val hugged the orange tabby pillow beside him. In a small voice, she said, “Hey, do you think—”

“We need to move,” Fallyn interrupted. “We need to move!” she repeated more loudly—forcefully. She scooted off the mattress. “I’m not kidding. Come on, right now.”

The seriousness and worry in her voice shocked Matt to a seated position. “What’s going on?” he asked but felt in a daze. I’m dreaming. This can’t be real. What happened to Anika?

“They just cut everyone who didn’t meet a certain threshold. Anika was level three. We were all level four. We had just hit level four.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Kurtis and Val sat up too.

“We barely made it,” Fallyn continued. “What if they do that again? We can’t fall behind.”

She was right.

“I got the next quest,” Matt said, mouth dry. “It’s some ingredients. Did everyone get it?”

“Where?” Val asked, setting aside her cat pillow.

Fallyn shook her head.

“You talk to Septimus again,” Matt shared.

“I got it already,” said Kurtis, “but we’ll come with you so it’s faster.”

Once the girls were done with Septimus, Matt followed Fallyn to the quest location. She oozed serious urgency, and Matt felt it in his bones—along with a nagging tiredness. It started as a tiny kernel, a spot of dust in a corner of his mind, but then it grew into a thick haze that ate the world.

What happened to Anika? This can’t be real. How did I get to the forest?

Matt put one hand on a tree, steadying himself. It felt coarse, sturdy, solid. It helped. The bark was a shock of roughness, cutting through the smoothness of the fog.

Matt blinked and stretched his eye sockets, trying to force himself to focus. He concentrated on breathing in and out. He placed a second hand on the tree, running it up then down the bark, embracing the sensation. He puffed out his cheeks and blew, then pushed off from the tree.

The rest of the group wasn’t far. Matt bent down and picked up a fist-sized four-leaf clover. Its leaves were soft and smooth.

Yes, this is what I was gathering for the quest. But why is parsley a giant clover?

Matt tripped, foot catching on a root or something he didn’t see. He pushed on the bridge of his glasses, then he breathed out exaggeratedly.

“You okay?” someone called. He thought it was Val.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Matt mumbled, going for another spot of green up ahead.

Why four-leaf clovers and not three?

Matt stretched his eyes again, trying to improve his focus. He worked his jaw to force more awareness into his face, then lightly slapped at his cheeks.

Matt pushed ahead to another clover-parsley, shooting up from between two rocks. The moss on their surface was soft and spongy. Matt stroked it as he looted the plant. It made him think of a fluffy blanket comforting the rock, he wanted a fluffy blanket, a bed.

Why are there no blankets in the tent?

Matt puffed his cheeks and breathed out again. He pushed through the haze, from tree to tree, stealing alertness from the rough bark.

“Matt?”

“Matt?”

A squeeze to his left arm.

“Matt?” Fallyn said, inches from his face.

Matt stretched his eyes wide and blinked, struggling to focus.

“Matt, do you have twenty?” Fallyn asked. “The rest of us do.”

Matt realized he hadn’t been reading the notifications. He had no idea how many parsleys he’d retrieved.

Inventory, Matt thought, then squinted through the list. It was hard to focus. He read the items multiple times: 10 ‘Beer,’ 8 ‘Blade of Grass,’ 2 ‘Buttercup,’ 4 ‘Fur…’ 10 ‘Beer,’ 8 ‘Blade of Grass,’ 2 ‘Buttercup,’ 4 ‘Fur Pelt.’

“Why don’t you read your inventory out loud to me,” Fallyn offered, cluing in.

Had he been moving his lips?

“Ten ‘Beer,’” Matt mumbled. “Eight ‘Blade of Grass,’ two ‘Buttercup,’ four ‘Fur Pelt,’ three ‘Light Feather,’ one ‘Lucky Rabbit’s Foot,’ eighty-seven ‘Medium Stick,’ twenty-three ‘Parsley,’ three ‘Penny Bun Mushroom.’” Matt took a break for a deep breath.

“Good job,” Fallyn said. “You’ve completed this part. Come this way.”

Fallyn guided him to a narrow trickle of a stream. It meandered through tall, soft grasses. They tickled his palms and hissed quietly against his pants. The water glistened.

“Can you try splashing your face?” Fallyn suggested.

Matt wordlessly lowered himself to the stream. Fallyn steadied him with her arm. He cupped his hands and marveled at the coolness of the water. It rushed around and through his fingers, sparkling in the warm sunlight. He flexed his fingers, playing with the distortion and the magical light.

“Shoot, let me hold those for you,” Fallyn said. “Your glasses?” When Matt didn’t move, she bent and gently removed them from his face.

Matt’s world shrunk to the few feet in front of him, the rest a blur.

“But I’m not talking to Septimus,” Matt mumbled.

“Now, can you splash?” Fallyn encouraged. “Matt, can you splash your face?”

Matt drew the sparkling coolness to his eyes. Drips rolled down his cheeks, then along his chin and nose. He splashed his face again. More drips. And then came the gentle breeze; his face felt cold, a good cold. The cold brought alertness. Matt puffed his cheeks and blew out.

Fallyn handed back his glasses and Kurtis helped Matt up, chin still dripping. They crossed the tiny stream with one big step. The cold was already beginning to fade, and the haze was creeping back in. Matt pinched his arm, using the sensation to fight it off. Fallyn stayed at his side, cautiously.

“The map says the chips are up here,” called Val. “I don’t see any bags or, I dunno, potato plants, yet.”

The group kept walking. More light grasses and warm sunshine. Matt pinched his arm and stretched his eye sockets. I can do this, he told himself. Keep walking.

And then Matt realized there was a fight going on. Pale purple bolts were firing from his sides. He squinted. There was a short green-clad man—men. There were multiple of them. They wore all green and had little top hats and orangy-red beards. Matt tapped at his cheeks and then pulled out his mace. He stretched his eyes and then lurched forward to help.

“Woah,” Kurtis cautioned—at least he thought it was Kurtis.

Matt stumbled forward and was struck by some sort of golden magical… sparkle? Matt fell back on his butt and then shook his head, blinking. The short green figure dashed towards him. Matt had dropped his mace in the fall.