Evening Game

Ethan stood alone on the top of a hill, looking at the empty dirt road below him, leading to the town in the distance that surrounded a white tower. The soft breeze blew through his hair, his cloak fluttering in the wind. His eyes followed a merchant as their horse-towed carriage made its way to the town. The town of Adastra, and the tower that sat in the center of it. A tower that rose into the heavens, high above the sprawling, lively town that surrounded it. The town, modeled after medieval European architecture, pales in terms of height. The highest building was the Adastra Central Church, around five stories high.

Adastra Tower, on the other hand, rose a few kilometers into the sky, its end extending beyond the clouds. Some said that some sort of secret lay on the top level of the building, but no one had ever successfully reached it yet. Some say it was a secret to riches, others say that it houses this game’s most powerful weapon, some going as far as stating that whoever reaches the top would have their wish granted. Even if that wish-granting part was true, there were still some limitations. In the end, this was all but a game. Sure, it paid so well that some players made it their full-time job, but that unfortunately didn’t mean this game was the real world.

It towered over the land, making itself known to everyone. Players all over the real world would flock to this one place, looking in awe at just how magnificent this heaven’s pillar was as if real-life architecture didn’t exist.

Ethan pulled out a virtual window. His index finger scrolled through his virtual screen, swiping and opening a window that contained all of his requests. His clock showed the real-life time, it was already nine fifteen at night, and a smaller clock below it showed the game’s time, two fifteen in the afternoon. It had quite a big time difference, but ultimately it didn’t matter much for Ethan as unlike some who would use the in-game time, a testament to just how much time they spent here in the virtual world, Ethan used his real-life time instead.

While outside the game, the skies may be dark, the same couldn’t be said for the lands of this world, since depending on their location, they would be engulfed in either constant daylight or constant nights. Some would even have the sun of dawn continuously staring at them, others had the warm afternoon sun shining down on them. This difference did make it feel weird sometimes, as he would occasionally forget the time.

Ethan got up, knowing that it would soon be time for him to rest. He went back into the forest, keen on hunting the last boar he needed to complete his quest. He trekked through the wilderness, through the same forest where he spent most of his last few weeks in. Trees, branches, and rocks covered the ground, making it hard to go through, but his familiarity with this forest allowed him to easily navigate through it all.

Ever since he got into high school, he found himself holed up inside this game. He didn’t even need his map anymore, the forest’s layout stuck in his mind like it was his own backyard. Heck, he probably knew the entire town more than his real-life city.

He then spotted a boar, its black fur peeking behind one of the bushes that decorated this environment. Ethan had worn an agility build for this quest, which increased his movement speed. He ran toward it, causing the boar to panic and ran away. It didn’t matter, however, as he caught up to it and stabbed into it with his double-edged spear. The boar let out a scream as it was struck down to the dirt. It tried to retaliate but failed to produce any result and turned into shards of white that floated into the cloudless, blue sky. A screen showed him everything he got, including the experience points and boar meat he obtained.

Satisfied with his hunt, he made his way back to town. The walk between Adastra’s walls and the dirt roads outside this forest took him around fifteen minutes, added with another fifteen as he navigated through the dense forest back to the dirt road. His faster movements helped him reduce his travel time. He ignored the various mobs that surrounded him. He did kill two yellow tigers that attacked, but it didn’t take Ethan much effort.

Between Adastra and the Southern Forest, where he had just been, nothing but empty plains extended to the horizon, going as far as the eye can see. Some smaller villages dotted the landscape every now and then, but for most of it was a long stretch of high, uncontrolled weeds. Eventually, as he got himself closer to the walls that guarded Adastra, those weeds were replaced with more crops and farmland.

As he passed Adastra’s south gate, he pulled his dark red cloak over his head, covering some of his features. The town featured buildings with shapes similar to houses from a medieval European town. They were made from wood and stone, most colored in cream, light brown, and occasionally white. Colors like brown and black were mixed into their accent, and their rooftops were colored red or dark brown.

The cobblestone roads were filled with NPCs and players alike, although without interacting with them, it would be impossible to differentiate. AI had reached a point where it could converse naturally with humans, after all, so until he added someone as a friend or spoke with someone, he wouldn’t know. He could also see stalls selling various items like food and accessories occupying the roadside.

He stopped at a stop point and not long after he waited, a virtual carriage arrived to pick him up. This wooden, rectangular vehicle acted as buses, stopping every five hundred meters. Two horses towed it from one side of Adastra to the other, traveling a distance of around five kilometers from wall to wall. The tower itself was located at the exact center of Adastra, with the entire city built surrounding it. Adastra tower alone had a diameter of one kilometer that housed a complicated and scary-looking dungeon, or at least that was what the rumors said.

He hopped on from the rear and took a seat on the right, rear side. The carriage shook as it made its way through the uneven roads, rattling as it went. When it arrived in front of the tower, the carriage circled it, using a roundabout that was built right next to it. A group of players stood in front of its east gate, preparing to go inside. The carriage made its way past the tower, continuing its journey north. The next stop was his destination, Adastra’s Player Guild. His carriage fee was automatically deducted from his account as he got off. Ethan walked from that stop and entered the large, three-story building. Above the guild’s double doors was the guild’s crest, placed proudly at the building’s highest point. It had the mark of a tiger holding a flag, a green mountain, and blue seas as its background.

Ethan pushed the doors open and walked straight to the receptionist. The interior of the guild had been painted a bright brown color, with torches glittering on its walls. Unlike many other games and shows where a tavern occupied most of the adventurer’s guild space, with the guild itself being a second priority in terms of space, the player’s guild in this game was strictly business. Taverns and restaurants that supposedly supported the guild, were placed in an entirely different building, sometimes right next to the guild but also occasionally across the street. A row of receptionist tables filled the insides, separated by thin wooden walls with stairs on each side of the building allowing access to the second floor. The second floor hosted a variety of other services. Ethan rarely needed those services, though.

He entered one of the lines, a girl slightly shorter than him standing in front of him. From behind, she looked quite similar, like a classmate in his school. The person in front of the girl moved away, their business done, and she went up to the receptionist.

“Done.”

She uttered. The game didn’t allow players to look into each other’s menu screen unless they were given permission by the owner, thus Ethan couldn’t see what she was clicking, not that her business mattered to him anyway.

“Thank you for completing the quest. We look forward to your next visit.”

The receptionist politely replied. They were all NPCs, but every receptionist had randomly generated models, their clothes the only thing shared between them. Even their speech was different, albeit only slightly. The girl turned around, and for the first time, he could see her face. The sight of her caused Ethan to freeze up. He questioned whether he had mistaken her for someone else or not, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was indeed her. She didn’t notice his shock, probably thanks to the cloak he wore, and walked away. Ethan regained his consciousness and moved up to the receptionist. He submitted his hunt and the receptionist received it with a smile. A screen showed the things that had been deducted from his inventory along with the rewards that had been given.

“Thank you for completing the quest. Would you like to take another?”

“No-”

Ethan remembered something. The previous reply, the one this receptionist gave to the girl, was exclusive to new players completing their first mission. The message would change after that first quest. If he remembered correctly, back when he finished his first quest, he too immediately went back out to explore the world. He didn’t go take another quest, granted he wasn’t offered another, unlike now.

But the time was getting late, so he rejected the offer.

“Thank you for your visit. We hope to see you again.”

The receptionist said with a bow and a smile. With that, Ethan left the guild. He made his way back to his ‘apartment’ located not far from the guild. It was not an apartment in the modern sense, of course, those didn’t exist in this town. What it referred to was a large building with several rooms inside, more like an inn but as a permanent residence. Players could only exit the game by entering sleep mode, and sleep mode left their in-game bodies exposed, so most players preferred not to sleep out on the streets, especially not in hunting places like the southern forest.

Ethan got into his room and sat down on his modest bed. The game allowed the conversion of in-game currency into real-world money, thus many players prefer this kind of simple housing compared to the more expensive, more extravagant houses available.

The bed squeaked as he put his weight down on it. He closed his virtual eyelids, telling the game to stop giving visual inputs to his brain. After around ten seconds, a window appeared, asking if he wanted to enter sleep mode. Using his mind to move his cursor, he clicked on yes, and he could feel himself getting light. He left his body in the game world, entering the ‘middle world’, where he was neither in the game nor in reality. He navigated the menu and logged out, and within a few seconds, he found himself back under the gray ceilings of his real-world home.

He took his headpiece off and set it aside. He then checked his phone for notifications. Normally, people would link their smartphones with the headpiece, allowing them to still receive notifications and open some apps from inside the game, but Ethan preferred not to, not wanting to be bothered by it. He did set it so that calls can go through, in case of an emergency, but he had yet to receive a phone call when he played.

The phone’s screen lit up, and as he expected, he received several messages, but none of them were specifically just for him. His classmates were having a discussion about snails for some reason. It had gone on for more than an hour, and he had zero intention of checking out what they were talking about.

Still, why snails?

There were times when he just couldn’t understand how his classmates’ brains worked, but they probably couldn’t get him as well. Despite both sides being humans, neither of them understood each other.

He decided that he would just immediately go to sleep. He put his phone above the wireless charger and left it there. He then turned his bedside lamp on and the room’s light off before returning to his bed, one covered in a pink sheet, his favorite color. Lying down on it, he looked up at the ceiling, now devoid of any light. The moon’s shine pierced through his room’s curtains, painting a thin, light-bluish glow on his bed.

He closed his eyes, not so keen for tomorrow.