I awoke to the creaks and squeaks of the sofa bed as Joey rolled his way out. The guy snored like a bull with sleep apnoea, which guaranteed a night of tossing and turning whenever we were at Duri’s. Annette got the spare room, Duri slept in his own bed, and I drew the short straw.

A steady drizzle pattered on the roof and slid down the windows, blurring out the morning light and lulling me back to sleep. I dreamt of the AT-2000, and something to do with dancing. Who knows.

When the house came alive with the sounds of people, I folded back the covers and got to my feet. I’d slept with trackies on, so I just had to tug a T-shirt over my head and snake my way into the bathroom to find Duri’s deodorant. Several empty cans hid under the sink, but I finally found one with a bit of juice. It was only after spraying it that I read the label.

‘Fresh Bouquet’.

Seo-yun’s deodorant. Oh well, today I’d just have to embrace my feminine side.

For breakfast, we had the standard fare for Duri’s — leftovers from the Garlic Garters kitchen that couldn’t be served up the next day. I was tempted to snag a helping of ice cream, but after a lengthy internal battle, decided I’d better have some decorum. Stepping foot into Blade & Battle for the first time was the moment people considered you an adult, and despite my childhood plans, adults don’t have ice cream for breakfast.

“Does Major’s open at nine on Wednesdays?” Annette asked.

“I reckon, but I gotta shower and change before we head back. I don’t think they’ll let Joey or me in like this,” I replied.

Duri lifted his head from the News app on his Yurt.

“I’m glad you said it, cos yeah, shower would be a good choice for you two. And Ollie, I’m not gunna question why you smell like my sister.”

“Bro, you’ve gotta clear out the sink cupboard. There’s like, fifty empty cans under there. Seo-yun’s was legitimately my only option.”

Duri shrugged and went back to his Yurt. I’d never understood his obsession with the News app. Until we had access to the B&B news, the stuff on there was boring as bat shit. Give it two weeks though and the door would open to all the juicy gossip and drama between the most notable guilds and players.

If things didn’t work out in B&B, I’d also consider a career in game-reporting. Traditionally, reporters would put all their skill points into Agility and Endurance, then whiz around the world looking for trouble to report on. They played classes like [Thief] and built into any skills that assisted their job. They’d never win a fight, but they could catch wind of a potential scoop from miles away.

“Oh, also, do you reckon your parents could drop me and Annette back home? It’s really pissing down out there.”

There was a “Yerp!” from the adjacent room and I called back my thanks. Duri’s father was in there doing the ironing or one of the million other things he managed to do after just six hours sleep each night.

“Shoot, lemme pack!” Annette gasped.

She scampered back to the spare room to get ready. Somehow, she always crammed enough stuff in her handbag to survive about a week in Antarctica, which was immensely helpful when I’d forget things. She had a different colour lip balm for each of us.

The car ride back home was a non-event except for the torrential rain that made speeds above thirty almost unmanageable. Most people weren’t brave enough to drive in this weather, but Duri’s folks had a restaurant to run, and despite the terrible conditions, they’d still be as busy as a cyclone in a caravan park.

I waved to Annette and said thankyou to Duri’s dad for driving. The porch wasn’t far from the car, and I hurried across the front yard with an awkward jog.

The door was unlocked. I clapped the mud off my shoes before going inside, finding Mom and Dale with beers in their hands and butts implanted on the couch. Not a great sign.

“Hey.”

“Shmello!”

“Beers in the morning, huh?”

“Sign of the times, kiddo. Sign of the times.”

I’d said that same phrase to Joey at the diner. I could only hope I wasn’t going down the path of knocking off a six-pack before the clock struck twelve. Rampant alcoholism wasn’t exactly congruent with Blade & Battle success, unless you were a Top Ten-Thousand player already.

In that case, it was trendy.

I shook water off my hair and gave them the rundown on yesterday’s happenings.

“Found something cool after we left the diner yesterday. There’s an event on at Major Pods, a B&B thing where you fight against a horde of monsters or something, and the winner gets an open-air Pod from Todd & Podd. Joey had a crack yesterday, and I’m gunna go today if the rain lets up.”

Mom nodded and gazed out the window through glassy eyes.

“That’s good, Ollie. That’s good. Dale’s gunna look at the Pod later, see if he can fix it up a bit. I’m not sure I’ll hop back in for a while though. Hope that’s okay with you.”

I walked over and sat on the arm of her chair, then took the beer and placed it on the table. I glanced at the TV, sitting back up on its perch, somehow still working.

“It’s absolutely fine. I wouldn’t be too keen either. Are we going to be okay though? I could get a job at Garters, you know. B&B might be a bit of a long-shot so I’d understand if…”

Thankfully, she laughed.

“Boy, we are fine. We might not have enough to get you into the Fields, but you don’t have to worry, okay? I wouldn’t be vegetating like this if we were going to starve to death.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I nodded and moved off to my room. I couldn’t help but notice the unopened envelopes on the table, wondering if they were unpaid bills or something worse. For now, I’d let sleeping dogs lie.

The shower was heavenly. A generous helping of cool rain had finally broken yesterday’s humidity, so I blasted the hot water and rinsed off the sweaty, sticky feeling I’d accrued.

I hopped out with fresh hair, a fresh mind, and a desire to claim the AT-2000. Anyone or anything that got in my way would be eviscerated, or worse.

Unfortunately, I quickly found that I could not eviscerate or evaporate the rain, so I sat in my room, despondent. I was too energetic to read, and too befuddled to play video games or watch TV. In the end, I settled on life planning.

We’d never been given any exact figures regarding the EXP gain one might achieve in the Fields, relative to somewhere like The Pickle Caverns. I figured there was a chance, albeit small, that with enough determination and calculation and efficiency, I might be able to match the progression of those lucky enough to enter the Fields, regardless of where I ended up.

Slay enough pickles, and I might make something of myself.

Conveniently, I didn’t dwell on the issue of Pod access. If Dale couldn’t fix Mom’s Pod, for which I had my doubts, I would be stuck without access to Blade & Battle. Even if he did manage to stick it back together, we couldn’t fit both Mom and I into the one Pod. We’d have to arrange some kind of day-shift-night-shift situation, of which I knew Mom would insist on ruining her sleep schedule with the night-shift.

Winning the AT-2000 was almost a necessity. But as I said, I wouldn’t dwell on that.

I shot off a couple messages to the group chat.

[Soon as the rain lets up, I’m at Major Pods. Y’all still good for that?]

[Aye aye, cap’n!]

[Yerp]

[Forecast says clear skies by 2.]

The rain hadn’t let up in the slightest, but if Annette said 2:00, the clouds would listen.

I had about two hours to strategize before immersing for the first time. It wasn’t actual B&B immersion, or else Major Pods would have some very upset government representatives on their doorstep. Nonetheless, the butterflies still gathered in my stomach as if it were the real thing.

What if I sucked? What if Joey’s grand total of eight minions was more impressive than I thought? I might get taken down after two or three kills, and I’d have to watch the AT-2000 slip down the drain. Sayonara to my second-best chance at B&B success.

I poked around for a while longer, raiding the fridge and chewing on whatever I could muster, not out of hunger, but boredom. Truthfully, I wasn’t hungry at all — the nerves took care of that.

At around one-thirty, the skies closed and the downpour relented to a meagre spatter of broken grey clouds. I rejoiced and was ready to walk out the door in moments.

The trip to the diner the day before had taken about thirty minutes. Today, I set a brisk pace and made it in fifteen. When I crossed the road to Major Pods, Annette and Duri were already there. Joey was missing.

“Ready to put down the spawn of evil?” I called out.

“Bro, that’s like the nerdiest sentence I’ve ever heard exit your mouth,” Duri replied. He was pacing back and forth outside the store.

“Any word from Joey?”

“Nope. I messaged, but the group chat was the last I heard from him.”

We waited outside for another ten minutes, but curiosity quickly overtook us. We went inside, not stopping to browse. Our destination lay behind a dishevelled black curtain at the far side of the store.

There was a different employee from yesterday, this one not as gigantic and imposing. She caught us gathering outside the room and approached with a glittering smile.

“Welcome! Are you here to take Todd & Podd’s challenge?”

“We are, thank you.”

“Wonderful! There’s a group in there at the moment, but they shouldn’t be long — they’re rather green.”

She pulled aside the curtain and went through. I could hear laughter and a child whining about putting the nodes on their head. Why anyone would enter their children in this contest, I did not know. It seemed like a sure-fire way to traumatise them.

Before long, a frazzled father and two children came out. The youngest was crying, and the slightly older one had wide, scanning eyes, like they were unsure if this reality was the correct one. My guess is that neither were the prodigies their dad hoped for.

The employee came out, slightly bewildered but still putting her best foot forward, as retail workers do.

“Let’s see what you guys can do, yeah?”

Duri went first. The lady swiped her hand over the pad, initiated us with the requirements for entry, and spoke the same liability waiver as the man from yesterday. We each confirmed that yes, we would take full responsibility and no, we would not sue Major Pods or Todd & Podd if shit hit the fan.

She seemed satisfied, and we began.

Duri conked out, and he was under for three minutes, then four, then five. Time flew by, not because anything interesting happened, but because I knew that either Annette or I were next, and the anticipation was killing me.

Eventually, he came up with a gasp.

“Crazy motherfu— Oh!”

I couldn’t help laughing as he went red in the face. The employee smirked and chirped out his score.

“Very well done, Duri. You have conquered…twenty-two minions! Great effort for your first time.”

He shakily got to his feet and scrunched his eyes.

“Am I in the lead?”

“Uhh…” The employee considered us for a moment, then strode to the curtain. She poked her head through, then darted back in and spoke quietly. “Not quite. You didn’t hear it from me, but you’ll have to, oh, quadruple your score? Someone came in super early this morning while it was pouring down and crushed the record. Very sorry if that puts a dent in your day.”

Oh. For the second time this week, the rug was pulled out from under me.

Annette and I persevered. Any exposure to B&B, no matter how brief, could be instrumental in our progress once the floodgates opened and this year’s cohort burst into the gameworld.

Annette went next, shoving her handbag into my chest with more force than she intended. She muttered an apology and stepped over to the Pod. The nodes tangled in her hands, and she took a moment to work them out. A few deep breaths later she signalled to the employee and entered the challenge.

I didn’t keep time, but she wasn’t under for as long as Duri. For that reason, I was extremely surprised when the employee raised her eyebrows and announced:

“Thirty-four! You were a terror out there, girl! Have you done a challenge like this somewhere else?”

“No.” Annette was groggy, but she gathered herself up and retrieved her bag from my nervous grasp. “You’re up, Ollie. Word of advice — take the fight to them. I didn’t survive as long as Duri, but it gave me more space to run around, and I racked up points way quicker. I could’ve gone longer if I didn’t slip up at the end there.”

I nodded, but my throat was too dry to say anything in reply. Bottomless soda sounded pretty good just then.

“Aaaand last up is…Oliver? Is that right?”

Again, I nodded. I breathed out through pursed lips and sat down in the Pod. I found the nodes, then swung my legs in and arranged myself in a somewhat comfortable position. Comfort wouldn’t matter once I was immersed, but going down in a position that didn’t mess up your spine was advised.

“Ready there, Oliver?”

I moved around once more, gave a thumbs up to Annette and Duri, then turned to the lady about to send me to a new reality.

“Yep,” I croaked.

“Immersing in three, two, one. Buh-bye!”

I felt a pop, and the world went dark.