He woke up in a single room on the second floor of [Baldor’s Loft]. A scratchy woolen blanket had kept him up half the night. As good of an excuse as any for sobbing into his pillow, like a coward. He couldn’t sleep, not a wink. His mind kept going back to the real world, to the bullies at school, to his mom, to his loneliness, to his failings . . . and now, even Levia had failed him. It wasn’t an escape from reality. The VR-01 was a prison. He thought about dying. Would it hurt less here, than in the real world?

The room was furnished with a nightstand, and a hooded candle holder, and that was about it. He hadn’t known what he was expecting, but a part of him was simply relieved when he found the loft’s bathroom had a flush toilet. He sent a somber thank you to the developers of this death game. He didn’t need any more problems.

A banging against the door made him pull his single flat pillow over his ears. “Why didn’t I wake up in my own bed, where I belong,” he grumbled. And then he realized, ‘I don’t belong there.’ He never really had.

“Edge, are you alright in there? The door is locked,” said a muffled Daphne.

Was Edge all right? Eugene wasn’t, not at all, but Edge was . . . yeah.

He opened the door. Daphne checked him out, lingering on his almost naked body. He was wearing black boxer shorts, the only piece of clothing he’d left rogue.

“Breakfast-is-ready,” she blurted in one word, before rushing down the hall.

At least he wasn’t the only one with issues.

Killing six geckos had been enough to turn in the quest with Baldor, but Daphne demanded that they do the quest again, after seeing only a single bed. As it turned out, the quest wasn’t a repeatable, but Daphne hadn’t completed it yet, so she was able to add it to her codex. The second outing went more smoothly. Now that Daphne had gotten used to her role, she let him pull one mob at a time and they hammered away at it until it was dead. It took a surprisingly long time to defeat the six mobs they needed for the quest. It felt good to be doing something, accomplishing something, aiming for something.

Afterward, they ate a vegetable stew Baldor gifted as part of the quest, and turned in for the night. It was awkward saying goodnight, since neither Daphne nor he knew whether or not they would see each other again . . .

Daphne seemed rather chipper this morning though, considering they weren’t able to log out. It was a bit annoying. Shouldn’t she be devastated, like he was? Edge finished getting dressed and made his way downstairs. A breakfast of carrots and gecko eggs sat on a metal plate on the bar next to a Daphne, who’d started on her own breakfast without him. Baldor stood in the same spot he stood in yesterday, cleaning the same glass.

“Baldor,” said Edge, taking a seat in front of his breakfast.

“Howdy Edge, what can I do for you today?”

“What can you tell me about these green crystals, and this item?” Yesterday’s loot flags had yielded him a few more crystals and a small tooth.

“Those aren’t crystals, they’re emeralds. I will give you one ruby and three emeralds for that [Tiny Fang].”

“Those crystals must be money,” said an awed Daphne.

“Yep.”

“And we got so many yesterday. We’re rich,” smiled Daphne from ear to ear.

“I doubt it. Baldor, how much for a room?”

“That’ll be five rubies partner.” [A room for the night: 5R] [Yes] [Cancel]

“Maybe later, Baldor. Now, how many emeralds for a ruby?”

“I will give you one ruby for one hundred five emeralds.”

“One, oh, five, that’s a weird number, isn’t it?” asked Daphne.

“Well, I think the real exchange rate is one to one hundred, but as a broker Baldor keeps some for the exchange. Or at least I hope so. If not, money is going to be a pain to figure out.”

“But if you're right, won’t we need to kill like . . . lots of geckos to get enough money just for a room?”

“Depends on the drop rates. If we get a [Tiny Fang] every ten or so geckos, then we’d be able to make enough money farming to get rooms again tonight.”

Awkward silence.

“We aren’t getting out of here are we?”

‘I don’t know,’ he thought. Instead he said, “for all we know the developers are working on a fix right now.”

“You think so?”

Of course not. Eugene didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. These sorts of mistakes don’t just happen. There had to be some kind of plan. This was all part of someone’s twisted and deranged scheme. And until they knew for sure what was going on, they couldn’t afford to take chances with their lives.

“Baldor, where’s the nearest town?” asked Daphne. Edge was surprised by the question, not only because it was a good one, but because it meant that Daphne had found her own resolve. She was amazing in a way. Eugene wasn’t entirely sure he even wanted to keep trying.

“Follow the road and it’ll take you to straight to Cobbletown. But be careful, the rumour is that bandits have been seen near the Cobbletown crossroads.”

An [E] popped up above Baldor’s head. They could both see it. Apparently, once two people were friends, they’d automatically be put into a party when in proximity of one another.

“Ooo, a quest. This one’s mine,” she said cheerfully.

“Wait,” said Edge, holding down Daphne before she could hop over the bar.

“You got the quest first last time,” she complained.

“I’m not sure if we’re ready for this yet.” What was the point?

“You said we need to be higher level to get home. And quests give tons of E, X, P. That’s what you said.”

He didn’t remember saying that, but he would have said anything yesterday to make her stop crying. She did that a lot. Not that she didn’t have a good reason, but Daphne was a bit of a cry baby. She was probably a middle schooler in real life, which made her like a little sister, or a lost child compared with him. Especially in this world, where gaming knowledge was so important, and she was so ignorant. Somehow, her vulnerability became a reason for him to keep moving forward. It was one thing to throw away his own life, it was entirely different to leave another person behind. Especially such a pathetic person.

“We should grind geckos for today, and maybe tomorrow. We’ll pump our skills up, and at the same time we’ll have a place to rest. We might be able to save up some crystals to get better equipment too. And if the developers are trying to get us out of here, I think we should give them a few days to try. Don’t you?” And if they weren’t, at least they wouldn’t be wasting their time sitting at the inn. At least he wouldn’t be left alone.

Daphne slouched over her breakfast, obviously deep in thought. After a moment she spoke, “Edge.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah.”