Chapter 2: Spirit

Dying in a game, even if it is one where you move and feel as in real life, is weird. I got to experience the whole adrenaline rush from the fall, the feeling of my stomach reaching for my mouth, and the need to scream but the air not coming out of my lungs. Yet, the moment of death itself was discouraging.

I mean, it’s not like I would like to have an agonizing death and feel it. But, just a stinging sensation on my forehead? I mean, come on! I had been falling for like half a minute. Surely it would hurt a bit more!

So... My body is on my left. My hand is semi-transparent. And the only logical conclusion is that I’ve gone mad. That, or when you die in this game, you turn into some kind of spirit. I am more inclined to believe that it’s the second one.

To top it all, I’ve had this message nagging me for a while now.

[Your connection with God Jonas has been severed]

I mean, what the fuck? If I ever needed his help, that would be right now! I genuinely have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Maybe I can heal myself? Heal! Maybe out loud?

“Heal! Resurrect! Fucking Jonas giving me this useless class…” I don’t even know if I have these spells or if I can cast them while dead, for that matter. Of course, if my previous experience has told me anything, it is that I can’t. I’m used to either reviving at the moment, at some checkpoint, or somehow interacting with my dead body. Let me touch it… Soft… and hot… but no luck.

With nothing better to do, and completely determined to not stare at my dead body anymore, I decide to go for a walk. Going back up is out of the question; I can’t climb that high. Where to? Either one way or the other is fine, I guess I’ll go towards the sun, for the sake of feeling its hot touch on my face.

I’ve walked for a few minutes already. Nothing out of the ordinary, a few rocks here and there, irregular terrain all over the place, gravel, and wind. Huh? How come I haven’t tripped a single time? Surely, me being me, I would have shot a pebble by this time, or had my foot stuck somewhere and somehow. Yet… nothing?

My mind working overtime, I opt to do the stupidest thing I can think of. Full force, no holding back at all, kick to the nearest rock. Of course, one would think of gently touching it first, but not me. And the result? No pain at all, not even any contact, for instance. My foot just went over the rock. Over the rock… FUUCK! Given all the force I put on the kick, and having missed my target, I helplessly follow the motion and spin to the floor.

So… I can’t go through the floor but I can phase through things? How arbitrary… maybe the walls of the ravine too? This time, with overly exaggerated caution, I try to reach for something beyond the walls. And just like that, like magic, my hand passes right through it.

The next thing is, of course, walking through it and seeing where it brings me. I mean, I’m dead, right? Worst case scenario, someone ‘unkills’ me. With my eyes closed, not exactly sure why, I take some steps into the wall.

Unsure of where I am, not daring to open my eyes but neither feeling any difference at all, I keep moving.

“What are you doing here, PrIeSt?” Those last words pronounced with disgust and mockery.

“You can see me? But I am-”

“Dead. But so am I.”

“A fellow player? Do you kn-” and I make the error to open my eyes. Error because my instincts had been correct up until now. Standing in front of me, not even a step apart, a spirit way too wretched to be from a human. Disfigured and torn apart, with bodily parts twisted where they aren’t supposed to. Its sight intently going through me, as if looking beyond what remains of my spirit.

“Oh, don’t be afraid, human. After all, you are already dead.”

“Point taken. So… I guess it’s worth a shot. Can you help me revive? I have somewhere to go.”

“HaHaHaHahahaha.” The maddened laughter of the apparition echoes through all the chambers. “I indeed can.”

[Would you like to become a Vengeful Spirit?]

“Your solution to my death is turning me into something not human? And by the looks of it, something consumed by anger and revenge? Hell no!”

“Alas. So be it. Pray for your fake God to come and save you, then.”

“What do you mean fa-” aaand it’s gone… whatever that was, and whatever opportunity it presented me, they are now both gone. Left alone once more, my mind inevitably goes back to the words the ghost just spoke. Fake God? Does it mean there are other Gods, maybe mine is an impostor? And I have to preach His word?

Truth be told, I’m taking the word of a stranger over that of an almighty being. Almighty being whose connection I apparently no longer have, and whose powers can’t bring me back to life. Suspicious indeed. I retake my stroll while I let my thoughts rearrange themselves.

*Riing* *Riing* Incoming call to your DreamZ 4 device *Riing* *Riing*

Huh? What is it? “Aaah… Answer!”

“Dude Mark! The hell are you at!?”

“Mike, is that you?”

“Of course it’s me, you dumbass! We have been waiting for you at Irisgarth for 30 minutes already! What is taking you so long?”

“Ah… Haha,” I let a nervous chuckle escape, “you see… I…”

“Get to the point already!”

“I am… kinda… dead?”

“You are what? How in the hell did you manage to die?”

“Haha… You see… There was this beautiful scenery, I was walking, and I, uh, I kind of fell in a ravine…”

“You moron… Come quickly; you can revive in the city.”

“Yeaah, about that... I might be a little lost? Once dead, you can go through things! It’s amazing! Just now, I went through the mountain and ended up in a cave-like system where I me-”

“Dude! Pull yourself together and come! We will spend the day in the city waiting for you, but we leave tomorrow, with or without you. Understood?”

“Yes yes, of course. Take car-”

*Call ended*

Ah, Mike… He is a good person, but he has always been a bit too easily triggered. The kind of person that doesn’t like to be questioned. He takes the role of the leader, but honestly, he sucks at it! I mean, he is the worst shot-caller I have ever witnessed. Whatever, let’s get out of here.

Or so I thought a few minutes ago. At that moment, I failed to realize that not only was I lost, but I was utterly adrift and disoriented. My point of reference, the sun, was long gone. And blindly moving with my eyes closed was a terrible idea in foresight. Lost in a new world, no clue on where to go nor what to do. With no better notion popping up, I decide to keep walking, hoping to end up somewhere.

*Biip* *Biip* It is 9AM. You have been playing for 10 hours. We at DreamZ Corp. encourage good mental and physical hygiene. We recommend you log off now. Automatic log off will happen in 2 hours if you keep playing.

Okay then, that’s it for today! “Log off!”