The moment I stepped iin-’s voice chimed in, “Wele home, Miss Charlie. I am sorry about what happened. You had a visi—”

  “Hello, Tin-,” I cut him off, waving dismissively at the camera perched on top of the TV. “Not now. No hard feelings, but I o py. Bye.” I tossed my shoes o the capsule, along with the rest of my things, including the bag Lucas gave me, and dove into the game.

  Logging ba, I found myself in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the f st of pine and the quiet hum of the forest. I took a deep breath, inhaling that earthy sweetness. Who ever said our reality was better than this? Jogging along the dirt path, I passed a few wolves burying themselves in the mud, barely sparing them a gnce. My mind was already rag ahead, focused oing to the Main Vilge Number Four.

  [Lucas] Where are you?[Princess] Meet me at the au house.[Lucas] Roger, ETA 20 minutes.Uhe wilderness, the vilge was brimming with clever design and charm. The elves had chosen their location well, led between a mountain and a winding river. Thanks to this, they could farm around the vilge, and as I approached, I passed many tiny farms scattered like dirty bottles in the m bar.

  It was a win-win situation, because they got a wood they needed for their houses by clearing the trees nearby and creating more farmnd at the same time. Their wooden houses didn’t have any order, like in the big cities down by the river; they cked the modern urban pnning. Some of them rotted away, some of them were on a verge of falling apart.

  Pyers were even trudging along the same path as me, pulling heavy storees, s of something. Ah yes, the early quests were preparing them for the life. I might have joihem in a different simution.

  Here?

  Sure, it was nid immersive, but pared to a fight with a werewolf? Not really my speed. So I couldn’t help but grin as the crowds of pyers passed, each absorbed in tasks that were little more than fantasy day bor.

  Navigating the vilge wasn’t hard, thanks to my trusty minimap that traced my path wherever I went. Not that I’d —my destination, the au house, towered above the rest, its pointed green roof reag skyward like an elf’s ears. Imaginative, devs. Very subtle.

  Although the au house was built to host hundreds, only a handful of pyers loitered here now, their purses as light as ay whiskey bottle.

  Why the Main Vilge Number Four, when there were dozens of other options? Simple: a few iing people were based here. Not everyone, of course, but at least two that mattered to me. And besides, at Vilge Number Seventeen was a juicy exploit and my favorite warrior streamer, Katherine.

  As I made my way inside, I searched for Ryan. Ba the day, before the game, he was a small-time entrepreneur, but he moved straight to the au house when the game unched.

  Months ter, when I ran into him at the bar, he’d gone on and on about how Irwen had killed him personally—it ainful to listen to. We’d talked more than once, mostly because he was somehow reted to Patrick, maybe a third cousin or something like that.

  inally, I’d po meet him only after leveling up a det character, but time wasly on my side. Thanks to my worn-out clothes, I blended right in; no one gave me a sed gnce as I walked in. Here, pyers could rent private booths and act as clerks if they wanted. Ryan had rented one, so I headed over. Faster, dammit!

  Out of all the booths, the one he choose, was the most “reasonably priced,” which meant it was the cheapest. Two wooden poles held together a rough ter, with a pieoldy old cloth draped between them as a makeshift roof—even though the booth was indoors.

  “Hello, Ryan!” I greeted him with a smile aended a hand. This younger version of Ryan could still get touchy about his bald head—one of his two big no-nos, along with haggling. But, fuy pushing fifty, he was i shape, and my heart felt steady. Lucas, Patrick, and Ryan were fine for casual chat, but Ian triggered my random panic attacks? What with that?

  “Wele, miss. Do we know each other?” he asked, shaking my hand while giving me a sharp, business-like once-over.

  I grinned aiohat Old Patrick had spoken highly of him, which brought me here to trade. His eyes lit up, and he leaned over the ter, his hands just grazing its edge. “Old Patrick, you say? Ha! Haven’t seen him iwo years! Did he show you that picture of us from our army days?”

  The game was so realistic, it even captured Ryan’s habit of spitting, and I instinctively took a step back, shaking my head. “No, he didn’t mention that—just pulled out an old photo of you with the president. You are someoh es, aren’t you? Now, let’s get to business. Please appraise this.” I handed him the mace.

  He eased bato his chair, examining the mad even giving it a few knocks. Just use appraisal, Ryan. Time is of the essence! I nearly let my frustration slip, but held back. After a thh iion, he pced it on the ter and houghtfully. “Hm, a very good item. Pyers are leveling up in the dungeht now, so this is prime time to sell. I think we get a high price—around five gold.”

  I bit my lip, sidering, a out a sigh. “But I need cash, and I fast,” I said.

  His eyebrows shot up, and he gave me an unfortable, direct stare. “Ah, I see. For a sed, I thought you were questioning my appraisal.” He paused thoughtfully. “Alright, we could get the money within the hour if we set the price at fold. Or, you could sell it to me directly for… twenty-seven silvers.”

  One gold was ten silvers, one silver a hundred coppers. Damn, Ryan—you smell my desperation, ’t you? I sighed again, giving in to his absurd offer. “Thanks, Ryan. And what’s the current exge rate fold to real money?”

  “The price of gold pieces has surged. inally, it was ten gold to one credit; now it’s two credits per gold. What were they thinking with that initial rate? Hardly anyone was selling gold back then! The whole point of this game was to build an ey, so of course the price shot up.”

  I shot Lucas a quick message to move his ass and grinned as Ryan and I shifted to our favorite topic: the game’s ey. “Oh, let me tell you about…”

  While waiting for Lucas, Ryan and I chatted about the ey and upiures that might be added. NPC clerks had three windows, but only one was ever staffed, so you either had to wait in line or ask Ryan. So that’s how he built his starting capital.

  After a while, my identification expert showed up. “Lucas! Over here!” I waved, giving him a weling grin. Lucas stumbled around a few crates, and as soon as he was within range, I shoved the staff and books I’d picked up in the dungeon into his hands.

  I waved goodbye to Ryan, grabbed my trusty mage by the hand, and dashed toward the carpenter’s shop. Lucas looked pletely bewildered, so I shot him a reassuring grin. Don’t worry—everything’s under trol.

  “Charlie, calm down. I know we need money, but there’s o get this worked up.”

  Thankfully, there was no li the carpenter’s, so we hurried in as I replied, “Yes, yes. I won’t rest until we’ve got ten thousand in our at.”

  A frail old elf was hunched over a half-finished bow when I interrupted him. “I o learn your craft, please. And I need a saw, a chisel, and a knife.”

  The elf looked up from his work, his eyes kling. “Yes, of course. I’m always happy to teach young cra—”

  I dropped six silvers and five coppers onto the table. “I fast, please! Lives depend on it!”

  He sighed, shaking his head. “Young folks these days, always in a rush. Craftsmanship takes time, young dy. But so be it. Twenty-five coppers for the skill, and four silvers for the tools.”

  “Deal! I’ll take it as a sedary job.” I accepted as quickly as I could.

  [You have learhe sedary job: Carpentry][You bought carpeools][You lost 245 coppers]I grabbed Lucas’s hand again—still very fused—and we rushed over to the alchemy and the enter’s shop. The owner had a like a cluttered warehouse, filled to the brim with ingredients, scrolls, potions, gssware, and more.

  A lingering smell of something burned hung in the air, reminding me of that time I’d raided Felix, the storm-breaker; his potions had been a real pain. I skimmed quickly through the scrolls, my eyes nding owo I’d been searg for.

  [Rune of Intelligence]Quality: 1-o:Adds intelligeo the equipmentIngredients:1x Enting powderPrice:20e of Fire Resistance]Quality: 1-o:Adds fire resistao the armredients:1x Enting powder, 1x Essence of FirePrice:1gThough the price was steep, I had no choice but to accept it—the runes were essential for my pns. The enting powder was cheap enough, only one silver for a bag of 100, but the Essence of Fire came in at a whopping two silvers apiece.

  The dy at the ter, with her long gray hair and a warm smile, looked over the scrolls I brought forward. “Pnning to ent, are we?”

  “Yes, that’s the idea,” I replied. “I’ll start with a basitelligentment, and once I’ve got the hang of it, I’ll move on to Fire Resistance.”

  She grinned, pg her hand on my items and giving them a quice-over. “Sounds like a solid pn. Wao teach you the basics of enting? If you’re buying these scrolls and ingredients, I’ll throw in a lesson for free.” I nodded eagerly and quickly added three more bags of powder and three Essence of Fire to the pile.

  [You have learhe primary job: Enting][You bought Enting p x6][You bought Essence of Fire x3][You lost 2220 coppers][You learned: Rune of little intelligence][You learned: Rune of Fire Resistahe shopping spree had drained my funds pletely, leavih almost no money—or time. I grabbed Lucas and practically dragged him out of the shop, heading toward the vilge outskirts. Faster! Or so I thought—until he yanked me back. Ouch.

  “Charlie, hold up! What the brick are you doing? Let’s talk about what’s going on here. Yesterday, today… Fet about the money for a sed. We o think this through.”

  “Lucas, my mage with one foot in the grave, let me do my thing! If any problems pop up, I’ll just drink them away!” I shot back, giving him a pyful pun the shoulder—my favorite motto in a.

  Cssic me: never solving problems, just running from them. Lucas sighed, clearly unimpressed with my problem-solving philosophy.

  I dragged Lucas past the farms, and as we ehe forest, the rustling leaves and chirping birds filled the air. The fresh st of wood hit me, but I ig, sing the area for a det branch.

  I spotted a low-hanging twig within read gripped it with both hands, pulling with all my might. It creaked, but my pitiful strength wasn’t enough. “e on!” I muttered, pnting my feet against the trunk for leverage and yanking with everything I had.

  Finally, it snapped, ing down with a loud crack that e six hit points—not that it mattered, as I healed it right away. Being a healer is perfect for a masochist.

  As I worked on ing up the piece of wood, Lucas sat on the ground, a sad look in his eyes as he watched me. Silly Lucas, I thought, everything I’m doing is for your sake.

  [You created Broken Spear][Broken Spear]Quality: 0-brokenATK:1-1Durability:1/1This spear is a disgrace to their brethren; it will break on first hitWhat a lovely item I created, right? As I opehe enting window, I noticed it looked almost identical to the magie, except it had only two runes. I selected the [Rune of Intelligence] and watched the video. Easy enough.

  I unevenly sprinkled sparkling powder around the spear and then fumbled with my improvised stick, trying to fail at drawing the rune. Well, I would have failed even if I wao succeed.

  [You failed to ent the Broken Spear][The item had lost 1 durability][The item Broken Spear is Broken][You failed to ent the item, you lost 1 enting XP][You lost 1 rank in a job. Operation termihe level of the job is zero]Reag into my iory, I grabbed a chisel and used it to “repair” the spear. With that done, I ‘tried’ the entment process again.

  [The item Broken Spear is now repaired]…[You lost 2 ranks in a job. Operation termihe level of the job is zero]Yes! As I attempted to ent the on again, the internal ter ticked up another rank. This was it—oep closer to greatness!

  Lucas watched Charlie for what felt like an hour, his gaze filled with sadness and despair.

  She was dusting a tree branch with powder.

  Theraced a rune in the air.

  The the bran fire.

  Theapped it with a chisel—and started the entire process ain.

  Hundreds of times.

  He shouldn’t have brought her into this. No, he shouldn’t have goo the loan sharks in the first pce! But that wasn’t who he was; he had to go, had to ask, had to py the stupid game. Charlie had told him to stop, but he hadn’t listened. And now? His best friend John was gone because of him. How was he supposed to live with that?

  This Charlie was even crazier than the old Charlie.

  She ran barefoot through the game like her life was on the line, not his. It was his fault she’d gone off the deep end, lighting branches on fire over and over. For him. His eyes grew heavy, and he couldn’t hold back the tears. Why was this happening? Strangely, the fmes Charlie jured had a calming effect, and he felt himself drifting off, lulled by the steady rhythm.