Into the Game

I woke up in a field.

I patted myself down. Instead of the bodysuit, I was wearing a skimpy leather bra and short skirt. There was a short sword and a brown sack lying next to me. I got up and dusted myself off. It made me feel even more uncomfortable than the body suit had. I clicked my heels together; despite the lack of clothing I was wearing very sturdy leather boots. I picked up the sword and threw the sack over my shoulder. There wasn’t anyone around. Not even a house or people I could talk to.

The information on the game hadn’t been very thorough. The map had shown some villages and a large castle, but the game was designed so that the landscape could change based on how the players interacted with it. A village could be burned to the ground; a new one could be built. If the players as a whole made bad decisions, then it was possible that the Ogres or Elves could even be running one of the larger towns.

I just stood in the field for a moment and took in how real it felt. I knew I needed to find the closest town, but I was in awe of how real it was. The sun was warm on my cheeks; the grass was soft and barely wet as I ran my fingers through it. Even my stomach was rumbling. It was like I was really here, physically inside the game.

I headed towards the sun. If the game followed the same timeline as the real world, then it should be setting soon. I remembered a creek that flowed along the western side of the starting zone. There was a village to the north of that. I hoped I could make it there before it got too dark.

Walking through the woods I began to hate my outfit. It seemed every low branch and sticker bush was only too eager to scratch my almost bare legs and midriff. After the first dozen scratches I realized that my legs were actually getting scratched. Thin red lines were being left behind by the bushes and they weren’t fading. I hoped it was just cosmetic and wasn’t hurting my health points, it would be embarrassing to do damage to myself while walking around.

I slowed down to avoid scratching myself up much worse. Somewhere along the way I stepped in something that I must have been allergic to, because once I reached the creek my arm started itching. I wasn’t aware that I had any allergies in the real world; it was strange to have my right arm itching.

I splashed water over my arm which made it feel a little better. I sat down on the bank and stared at my reflection. It looked exactly the same as when I had looked in the mirror this morning. The realistic concepts in the game were impressive. I could understand why Billy would’ve wanted to check it out.

I bent down at the creek and drank from the cool water. The walking had made me very thirsty. It surprised me that they had thought to add a thirst element to the game. I would’ve thought that the developers would’ve just wanted to have a regular shoot-em up game.

My stomach rumbled again, reminding me that it wasn’t just thirst I could feel. I looked around for something that I could eat. On the other bank was a bush filled with purple berries. I walked through ankle deep water to the other side. I wondered if the berries might be poisoned, but I was hungry. I pulled one off and popped it in my mouth. It was sweet and juicy. Better than any blackberry I had ever tried before. I grabbed a handful and stuffed them in my mouth. I started filling my sack with them. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be walking, but it would be a good idea to take food with me.

There was a rustle in the bushes to my left. I pulled them back to see a baby bear hiding under the blackberries. It was so cute, I just wanted to grab it and squeeze it. It started crying when I moved towards it.

I held out a handful of berries. "It’s okay.”