Jay chuckled at his little sister’s claims that demons had eaten an NPC. He’d been playing Tumultua Online for several days, and his experiences of the game weren’t anything like that. He saw no reason to take her seriously.

Three sets of horrified eyes turned on Jay, including Sarah’s. She was actually being serious. Awkwardly clearing his throat, Jay’s voice shook slightly.

“Jericho was actually eaten by demons?”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed at him. “You think I would seriously joke about demons eating people? This might be a game, Jay, but messed up is messed up.”

“No, I just—that must have been freaky. Are you okay?” Jay said, stumbling over his words. The guilt was already creeping into his chest. Even though Jericho was just an NPC, watching that had to be horrifying for Sarah. He felt a rising need to find words to comfort his sister. But he came up empty.

“Just kidding,” Sarah said jovially, her dark persona evaporating completely. “Jericho was just an elderly Paladin. He was friends with Bertha and Maggie. He told me about his arthritis, but I bet he’d take that over being eaten by demons.”

Jay’s face went through a mix of emotions: confusion, then rage, and eventually settled on exasperation. Jenny and Ken thought it was hilarious. Taylor Lynn was holding back her own laughter, which Jay at least appreciated. Even Nora was chuckling lightly in the corner.

Comforting himself with thoughts of the goofy five-year-old sister who had just wanted to color, Jay stood up from his pastel tea chair. The chair was making it very hard to be serious. Despite knowing Sarah didn’t mean any harm, he’d still had his fill for the day of jokes at his expense.

The idea of his next conversation was already filling him with dread.

“Come on,” Jay said, making eye contact with Taylor Lynn. “Let’s take a walk.”

She stood up to join him, no longer holding back laughter. Jay didn’t know if it was the coming conversation, some sense of pity, or just what she saw on his face at that moment. But he didn’t particularly mind at that moment, either. Maybe, she was simply as nervous as he was.

Before they could make it to the door, Sarah interrupted her conversation with the twins. “Wait, where are you going? I just got here.”

Jay and Taylor Lynn gave her the same answer.

“Guild business.”

“Guild business.”

They made eye contact, sharing a moment of connection. Even if their friendship was sometimes a struggle, for various reasons, Taylor Lynn knew him better than anyone outside his family. That was a blessing and a curse, but Jay appreciated small moments like this much more than keeping secrets.

“Hey! I wanna join the guild,” Sarah said. Jay closed the door on her, preventing her from saying anything more. She didn’t chase after them, but neither Jay nor Taylor Lynn wanted to be the first to speak. When Lester had left a few minutes previously, he hadn’t seemed in the mood to do Jay any favors, anyway.

As they started to walk side-by-side, the hustle and bustle of the trade city surrounded them. Players were coming and going from shops all over the busy street. Some players were even huddled in small groups, being the annoying sort who were blocking the street. Finding a proper place to walk was complicated in all the insanity. There was no way they could hear each other over all the noise, either.

Taylor Lynn and Jay walked together through the city, looking for a place that might be a little quieter. They passed a coffee shop, which was not remotely quieter—it was packed. There was a small potions shop Jay hadn’t seen before, but he didn’t want to make awkward small talk with an NPC shopkeeper. Besides, the other potion shop, Marlow’s Magical Liquids, had seemed better.

Finally, Taylor Lynn gently grabbed his hand to pull him into a small alleyway. In the alleyway, the sound was muted. It didn’t smell bad because there was a lack of any smell at all. There were no biological functions since it was a game world. The game also lacked any natural generation of trash outside of the ambiance intentionally created by the developers.

The scene ruined Jay’s immersion in the game, but in a way, he was much happier with the ruination.

Pulling on his hand, Taylor Lynn drew him into the middle of the alleyway. Jay had a dream every once in a while where she pulled him into alleys just like that. In the dream, the frustration on her face was of a different kind. Also, they weren’t inside a video game.

Before she spoke, Taylor Lynn pulled something from her inventory. The shower of sparks coalesced into a small scroll, which she unfurled. Jay assumed she was activating it since the scroll burned into bits, disappearing entirely. He saw nothing happen after she triggered the scroll, but she nodded at the outcome.

“What gives, man?” Taylor Lynn finally asked, whirling to make eye contact. “You say you want a guild this time. We get a guild. The very next thing you do is antagonize the leader of our guild, who also happens to be our tank. And you’re willing to go against him, even though it involves risking your character being deleted to the tune of three million dollars?”

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

Not a great way to start, but Jay had expected worse than outright confusion. She didn’t seem to be angry anymore. Still, the scroll tugged at his curiosity, so he started there.

“What was that scroll you used?”

“Dispel invisibility,” Taylor Lynn said immediately, already prepared for the question. “I was hoping you might be willing to speak with me honestly if we were alone.”

“That’s fair,” Jay said, searching for a satisfactory explanation. He knew Tumult Corp. was watching. Even explaining that they were being watched could cause issues for him. That would clearly suggest he had something to hide right before he reported in for the first time.

He remembered Ken’s point of view and found a path he could latch on. Jay had a historical record of high-risk gameplay. It was the best thing he could find.

“I feel like Ken was right. The island will have risks, but we can bring ten people. That’s a typical small raiding party. We’ll also have unlimited time to prepare, so we can find healers and collect a bunch of extra supplies. Before we go, we can study all our skill books and strategize how to use them to support our expedition. But ultimately, the level of risk implies the level of reward.”

Taylor Lynn leaned back against the wall and considered him. Whatever she found, it caused her to avert her eyes.

“This is just like you, and I know I have to accept that about you. Even if it aggravates me. I just don’t get why. I mean, in all the previous games, I got it. There was nothing for you to risk. Build a new character, play a different game, sure, whatever. But now, you’re risking three million dollars. Not only that—what if they pull your sister out of treatment? Why, Jay?”

As he considered her question, Jay turned to look toward the street. He was half expecting to see Ichibad or some flash of fur. This is precisely the sort of thing he would be listening in on. Taylor Lynn was right, though. Ultimately, it all came down to the “Sarah” of it all.

Jay felt a pang of guilt as he considered what he was putting at risk for his curiosity. He knew something was going on with the game, something strange enough for him to go off the grid. He was curious to find more places where Tumult Corp. couldn’t find him.

“Why the scroll?” Jay asked. “Were you expecting to be followed?”

Taylor Lynn shook her head, tossing her red hair through the air. “No, not specifically. There are some stealth players in the guild, though. I like Lester but I wouldn’t put it past him to have someone tail us. You don’t want to be followed, but for all he knows, we’re coordinating with the other major Elvish guild to take him out.”

Her point about Lester was a fair one. Jay hadn’t considered what other opportunities the island might allow for. A top guild might be willing to pay quite a pretty penny to eliminate the leader of their only competitor. Still, Lester had been there when Nora presented the item. It was ludicrous for him to think an NPC would help him put on a show to aid an assassination plot.

Taylor Lynn waited patiently for him to answer her why question. The question bounced around his skull: Why, Jay? It was a fair question. There wasn’t an apparent reason for him to risk his character when slow and steady could win the race. If he avoided scenarios like Mercura Island, he would have unlimited time to level up and meet his contract.

Jay found himself at a crossroad moment. He could lie to Taylor Lynn, but she wouldn’t take it well if she found out the truth later. She would consider it a betrayal of trust, even if he had reasons to mistrust Tumult and their spying. The other option was to tell her he would explain later, but that would tip his hand.

Even speaking that aloud might cause Tumult to find a trail to follow. He wouldn’t put it past them to follow him into real life, either. If he were to tell her the whole truth at some coffee shop, he still wouldn’t be able to relax. Fear that their conversation was still being monitored would hover over him like a specter.

So, Jay lied.

He bowed his head, summoned alligator tears, and pretended to be choked up. He was surprised he could call tears in the game but rolled with it. “My life is–it’s already changed. I–I’m about to see more money than I’ve ever seen, but I can’t. I… I feel like the sword of Damocles is hanging over me. I need to collect more monsters and more money. What if the company changes its mind? They could cancel the contract. What if something happens to Sarah before they can finish helping her? What if she needs some sort of expensive surgery? Medication?”

Now, the sort of fraud who would lie to his friends, Jay looked up into Taylor Lynn’s eyes. Some of it was true. Some were real fears, but he was exaggerating them to manipulate her.

She had a look of deep concern in her eyes. Jay could still pull back. He could log out of the game, explain everything to her, and then pretend to Tumult that he had a power outage. He could even turn off his own power to fake it. Lying to Tumult would hurt much less than lying to Taylor Lynn.

“Please,” Jay begged, his voice cracking. “We need to do this. I need to do this. Let’s prepare ourselves and do this right. Find as much information as we can. Bring the right supplies. Gain the right skills and bring the right people.”

Alligator tears still streaming from his eyes, Jay waited for Taylor Lynn’s response. For a heartbeat, he waited for her to call him out. He saw the word “liar” forming on her lips for the next heartbeat. During the next, he snapped back to reality—her face held compassion.

“Okay,” she said gently, holding her hand out to him. “I’ll talk to Lester. I’ll tell him that you have to do this, so he just needs to treat it like an adventure. If we’re going to do this, we’ll need the support of the guild. I don’t know how, but I’ll convince him. Somehow.”

“R–really?” Jay stuttered. He suppressed the shock, calling on whatever acting ability he might possess. There had been no thought in his mind that Taylor Lynn might offer to help him convince Lester. His expectation had been that she would simply agree to go.

He felt a twinge of guilt, realizing she might care more than he thought.

Jay didn’t see any reason to be concerned about his own character. The island was under Tumult’s control on their servers. He knew they would step in to protect his Monster Hunter for their own ends. The contract was worth three million to the company, which meant the actual value of Jay’s goal was higher.

It was much worse; he was putting all of his friend’s characters at risk to discover the truth about his class. The truth about the strange areas Tumult Corp. couldn’t see. In comparison to Sarah, though, their characters were so small. So, so small.

He told himself he was only telling lies to expose the truth, whatever that truth might be. One thing was for sure: Jay Miller was a liar.