The Field Wraith advanced on the fallen swordsman. Lukas was still on the ground in shock at the sight of his own blood. He never bled in this game before. He rarely bled in real life. Any damage was only supposed to be reflected on the HP bar and nothing more.

What the fuck is happening?!

Looking up, he saw a ghostly claw coming at him.

Shit.

His sword blocked the strike with inhuman speed. The monster attacked once more and again Lukas blocked it with ease but this time he managed a counter with a slash of his own, sending his opponent’s HP bar below half. The Field Wraith retreated several meters. Lukas noticed in the corner of his HUD that his Parry Stance was in cooldown.

Did I use it? He couldn’t remember triggering the skill. It was pure instinct.

Something collided with his chest and he felt his entire body go cold. His HP bar only dropped a few points but there was something different.

Fuck this hurts!

The monster advanced again and Lukas tried to run in his panic but found himself moving very slow. He instead swung his sword downward with all his might at his charging foe. The blow connected and Field Wraith exploded into a green mist, leaving its loot behind. He noticed Wild Strike going on cooldown.

I need to get to the safe zone. Now!

Lukas turned to the direction of Caldium town only to see three freshly spawned Field Wraiths blocking his path. He froze. He’s never felt fear in this game before. Well, he did at first, but after realizing everything was just codes and programs the irrational fear went away. This time, however, it felt real.

A pillar of light engulfed one of the Field Wraiths and it immediately became green mist. Lukas looked around him in confusion.

“What are you waiting for? Run!” screamed a girl’s voice from behind him.

A figure ran past him and a gloved hand took his own and dragged him forward. He started to run. Running felt strange as well. The sensation was new yet oddly very familiar.

The town gates were in sight, just a little more to go. Another pillar of light flashed followed by an explosion of green mist.

“Keep running!” the girl shouted back. “We’re almost there.”

With a last burst of speed, Lukas dove through the town gates and expected his character to do a front roll automatically but instead, he landed hard on his face. Pain shot through his entire body.

“What the fuck was that?!” he grunted through his bleeding lips.

“Are you okay?” asked a girl’s voice.

“NO!!... Can’t you see I’m fuc. . .” Lukas cut-off midsentence upon seeing who he was talking to.

The girl wore a white robe accented by reds. She was about as tall as he was. She clutched a long staff that ended with a blue gem the size of an egg with both hands. By her looks alone, Lukas could tell she was an Acolyte class. Everything about her was typical of a GFO character. Everything except her face. Her hazel almond-shaped eyes weren’t perfectly symmetrical. Her pretty face was too detailed for the game character customization to make. Her short auburn hair didn’t look like any of the presets. Lukas should know, he had made many female characters in GFO... For research purposes, of course.

“I...I’m fine.” he stuttered.

“But you’re bleeding,” she said. “Here. Stay still.”

The girl placed her staff in front of her and said ‘Heal’.

Lukas was engulfed in a pillar of green light and in an instant, the pain on his face and body faded and his HP bar went back to being full.

“Thanks.” He muttered shyly.

“No problem… I’m Kaya by the way.” said the Acolyte, holding out a hand to help him up.

“I’m Lukas,” he said as he took the hand and pulled himself back to his feet.

Lukas stared at the girl’s face again and touched his own. He turned around quickly and jogged to a small fountain in the middle of the town. Looking down into the waters, he saw that the reflection looking back was not the preset character he chose. It was his own face. His real-life face.

“This is weird,” he muttered.

“What’s weird?” asked Kaya. Her reflection popped into view in the fountain waters as well.

“Woah…” she said on seeing her reflection. “That is weird,”

Lukas swiped through the air and navigated through his menu. His hand furiously slashing the air.

“What are you doing?” asked Kaya.

“I’m trying to log-out.”

Kaya sighed. “Don’t bother… I tried that an hour ago.”

Lukas’ blood went cold. He saw that the log-out and change character select menus were gone. All that remained were the character, skill and quest menu. He tried to contact the admin and saw that the option was missing as well.

Is this a bug?

“I tried contacting my friends too, but they all went offline,” said Kaya. “Have you tried messaging someone?”

“This is a new character,” replied Lukas. “My friends list is empty.”

At that moment, Lukas’ chatbox blinked. He felt a moment’s relief at the sight of the small pulsing icon. It was probably a message blast from the admin notifying everyone experiencing whatever issue this was. He opened it.

Hello Lukas Crow,

Welcome to your new reality. Consider it a gift. Find me in Babel if you want to talk. Good luck.

-D

Lukas tried to reply but there was no such option.

Who the hell is D?...

“Ehem… Excuse me, young adventurers,” said a voice beside them.

Lukas turned to see it was one of the NPCs. It was Gerald Wick; Caldium’s town elder. No text box appeared. He just spoke.

“Yes?” Lukas replied tentatively.

“My town has been terrorized by those ghostly creatures outside for years now. They were once our own dead but they keep coming back, part of the Dark Lord’s curse on these lands I suppose… Only the church prevents them from entering the gates.” Gerald pointed to a tall building in the center of town. “I fear travelers won’t be able to come and go as they please with those abominations outside…”

No skip option? Really? Lukas thought as the old man kept rambling.

“.... anyway, would you be so kind enough to clear them out? So our dead may rest at last? I’d pay handsomely if you were to accept. What do you say, son?” The old man smiled and held out his hand. There were no options to agree or decline.

“Is… is he giving you quest?” asked Kaya.

“Yeah, I think so,” replied Lukas. He knew this quest. It was called ‘Rest in peace.’ He always took it when he was making a Mage or a Conjurer class. If he remembered it correctly, the quest reward was a chunk of exp and a wand suitable for leveling.

“So… are you going to accept?” asked Kaya.

“No,... I have bigger things to worry about. My mom is probably…”

His heart skipped a beat.

Mom!

Lukas checked the clock at the corner of his vision and realized he had been playing for nearly three hours. His mother should’ve woken him for his breakfast and medicine by now. She had done it several times before when he lost track of time playing GFO. A sudden sense of dread settled in his stomach.

‘Find me in Babel if you want to talk.’ the message from the mysterious D had said.

Without a second thought, Lukas shook old man Gerald’s hand and a notification immediately flashed at the left side of his HUD.

Rest in peace.

Slay 15 Field Wraiths (0/15)

“Ow,... I guess you’re taking it then,” said Kaya.

“We need to get to Babel,” said Lukas urgently.

“We? Babel? Why?”

“You didn’t get a message from someone named D?”

Kaya paused.

“I did… It was weird… Something about a new reality or some nonsense… I thought it was just one of my friends trolling me.”

“I got one too,” said Lukas as he retrieved the message and displayed it in front of her.

Kaya’s expression became confused as she read through the message then it became serious. Lukas knew she got the exact same one.

“What’s the plan?” she asked.

“Well, my plan is to level up… you need to be at least level 30 to enter Babel… I’m ten levels short.”

“Well I’m only level 23,” said Kaya. “Want to party up? I can help.”

Lukas thought for a moment. Partying would split the exp gain per monster kill between members. He was capable enough of reaching level 30 on his own but things would go a lot faster with an Acolyte on his side. Besides, before getting his subclass at level 25, his build was useless without any sort of help.

Lukas nodded and navigated to the party menu to invite Kaya.

Party invitation Accepted...

Name: Kaya Artis

Class: Acolyte Subclass: N/A

Level: 23

Seconds later, Lukas’ Friends icon blinked.

Kaya Artis has sent a friend request.

He tried hard not to blush and pressed accept.

“You should take the quest from the town elder too. It’ll give a bit of experience.” he said.

“Ow, okay… should I just talk to him or…” Kaya asked unsurely.

Lukas shrugged. But as soon as Kaya turned to Gerald, the old man started talking about the town’s problem with the Field Wraiths and then held out a hand.

“All set? Let’s go,” Lukas said heading for the town gate.

“Uhm… Lukas?” Kaya said hesitantly from behind.

“Yes?”

“You’re a Swordsman, right?”

“Yeah… and?”

“Well, I’m kind of new to this game,.. but can I ask why is your Int so high?”

Lukas looked back and saw her inspecting his stats. It was a privilege among friends to see each other’s equipment and attributes. Lukas only sighed and flashed an embarrassed smile.

“I’m trying something.”

***

Name: Lukas Corvo

Class: Swordsman Subclass: N/A

Level: 20

Basic Attributes:

Str: 31 Int: 99

Agi: 11 Vit: 25 Luk: 5