Into the Game

The village was asleep.

I wouldn’t call it a village. There were three little log cabins and one house made out of bricks. A notice board was in the middle of the four buildings, but there weren’t any notices. The whole village was surrounded by crude log fence that was only three rungs high. I didn’t even have to strain to step over it.

I sat in the square and thought about what to do next. I could try to wake people up, but if this was supposed to be as real as possible, then the townsfolk wouldn’t enjoy getting woken up.

I walked up to each building. There log buildings were marked supplies, information, and inn. The brick house had a big sign that read “Chief”.

I tried the door on inn, but it was locked. I sat down net to the door. I was tired. I had been up since early that morning and had walked all day. Plus there was the bear attack. I leaned against the logs and closed my eyes. I would just sleep for a little bit.

I woke up when the door opened. The sun was back up, so I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light.

I looked up at a stocky, black haired, dark skinned man. He was clothed in leather, with a rather large backpack. There was a dagger on his belt and an unstrung bow sticking out of the back pack. His kind, blue eyes looked me over as I scrambled to my feet.

“Did you sleep out here last night?” He jerked his thumb at the door. "You do know they are open twenty-four seven.”

I brushed the dirt off of me. I couldn’t look him in the face, it was too embarrassing. “No.”

He grabbed my shoulder and turned me so he could look at my cuts better. His grip was firm, but his touch was gentle as he ran his fingers over the wounds.

“What happened to you?”

“Bear.” I risked a glance at his face. The look he was wearing was one of genuine concern.

“You messed with a bear?” He poked the sack over my shoulder. "Without any supplies?”

“I didn’t know it was there.” I admitted

“You didn’t...” His voice trailed off. "You’re new.”

I nodded.

“Wonders never cease.” He shook his head. "Did you break in like that group from a couple weeks ago?”

“Break in?” I looked him in the eyes as I registered the rest of what he said. "A group came in a couple weeks ago? Do you know anything about a boy coming in yesterday?”

“It was a small group.” He looked up at the clouds. "Four or five I think. I heard about it from some hunters a couple days ago. Nothing about a lone boy though.”

I sighed. "The boy I’m looking for would’ve got here two days ago.”

He smiled. "So you are looking for Billy.”

“Yes. Wait, how do you know my brother?”

He laughed. "They must not have told you. Time flows faster in here than out in the real world. Almost twenty times as fast.” He opened the door to the inn. "Let’s get you cleaned up and I can tell you what I know.”

I nodded numbly as I stepped towards the door. Billy had been here for almost three weeks. There were eighty five different zones. He could be anywhere by now. That wasn’t the worst part. I had thought that I was only going to have to survive for a month. With the faster time flow, we were going to have to survive for almost two years.