//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Ready Player One [Re-edited] // Story: High Score! // by DanishDash //------------------------------// Another day, another trip through hell... Every step on the stairs was an absolute chore when you were this exhausted. It made every little thing feel like it was the worst. Felix groaned as he finally got to his door and fumbled for his keys. He knew it wasn't really that bad, but it all comes down to how you feel. Right now? He wasn't feeling it. Ugh. So of course he got clumsy and spilled his wallet onto the floor trying to get the door open. Even stooping to pick it up hurt. God, a hot shower would be like an oasis in the desert, right now. As he pushed the door open, he stared at his ID card, proudly displayed on the inside of the open wallet dangling from his other hand. Name: Felix Fox Gender: Male Age: 20 Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Green Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian Distinguishing Features: None Blah blah blah, and more details, and that stupid picture. Days like this, he felt like that summed him up. It was really the Distinguish Features: None part that cinched it. Not even remarkably unremarkable, that was how he felt. Damn, he really was in a bad mood today. Not that today was special; he always felt somewhere on the spectrum of 'why did I bother waking up this morning' after getting home from work. He didn't hate his job, but he sure didn't like it, either. Same boring routine at the same boring garden section at the same boring store. Distinguishing features: None. He'd actually liked the garden section when he was a kid. Now he couldn't wait to be out of there whenever he had to go in. Irony. When he was a kid he hadn't had to spend all of his time cleaning, stacking, or hauling dirt around. Simple, dull, unfulfilling work. He got it done, but he slacked where he could, which he felt bad about – but then, most people did the same. There wasn't much to strive for or be proud of, so he had no real motivation. Heh, you could say that as an employee, he had no distinguishing features. He was starting to see a pattern, here. Actually, that wasn't true. His job description didn't say anything about customer service, but he went out of his way to be accommodating whenever customers approached him. Which happened a lot, given that he was a person in a uniform in a store. Just one of those things. He wasn't a sociable sort, by any means – if you were one of his few friends, you could count on it being a long time before he went out of his way to contact or invite you somewhere. Hell, he barely talked to his coworkers, ate alone, that sort of thing – just didn't have much to talk with them about. But he was a firm believer in the dying art of customer service – and, being more honest, just enjoyed helping people. Making someone's day helped the long hours pass just a little faster, made him feel less like a disposable robot and more like he had something to contribute. That was the lucky times, though. Most of the time he really just stood around waiting for something – anything – to do. Or really, just waiting to be allowed to go home. His biggest flaw – at least in terms of getting along in society – was his inability to turn his brain off and mindlessly do busywork. If something didn't interest him, he would lose track of it and it would go undone unless he put several times more effort than normal into getting it done. Funny, he'd been told growing up that having an active mind and a good education were the keys to success. Now the world was insisting he throw all of that out and turn into a vegetable. Irony. Did that rise to the level of a much-vaunted Distinguishing Feature? No, he was sure other people had the same problem, and just sucked it up better than he did. It just meant he was a slightly-substandard cog in the machine. But none of that mattered now. He was home, free from the grip of tedium. This is where being a vegetable stopped, and being Felix started. Home wasn't much – just the bathroom and the everything-else room – but he was still happy to be here. At least it was cheap! Fewer hours standing around staring at the clock to pay for the place. One shower later, and he was in considerably better spirits – loosening up sore muscles after a day of work, cooling down from the mid-summer heat, washing all of the dirt and sweat away, it all did wonders for his attitude. Getting out of work clothes and into some jogging shorts and a t-shirt did, too. There was still heat radiating from his work clothes when he got out of the shower – working out in the heat was a bitch like that. He cracked a few windows to set up a comfortable cross-draft and got to work removing his bedding and converting his bed back into a couch – he just never had the energy to do it in the morning, but always cursed his laziness when he got back. That done, he parked at his computer with a nice, cold soda. Finally, finally he was where he wanted to be, and he felt the tension slowly bleed out of him. Heh, a day spent dead on your feet so you could come alive at night sitting at home. More irony. He took a minute to just relax and enjoy the breeze kissing his skin, the freedom to do whatever he wanted, including nothing. Then he stretched out, booted up his computer and monitor, and got ready to delve into some gaming. He liked all sorts of games, but RPGs held first place for him – he could really immerse himself into them, and enjoy a taste of a life that didn't feel... Distinguishing Features: None, basically. Heh. He pulled the wooden desk a little closer on its wheels, and remembered it had been custom-made by his mother's boyfriend. Pretty cool gift; it made it very comfortable to play his games from the couch, use his keyboard, mouse, and so on without a bad posture. Although acknowledging that just made him feel lazy, again. He ran a hand over his stomach and felt how he was chubbier than he would like – not rising to the distinguishing feature of being massively fat or anything, but the unremarkable, disappointing level of common unfitness. All of the types of exercise he'd tried just felt like more braindead work, and he would forget about them even when he made the effort – he got enough of that sort of thing at his job, he couldn't manage it at home, too. He hated diets, too, as they generally took away some of the only things he enjoyed – plus, keeping them up was usually expensive. Which meant more hours staring at the clock. Part of him felt like something must be wrong with the world. After all, as he'd been so thoroughly exploring, he was average – no distinguishing features. So shouldn't it be easy to get along in society? Wouldn't he be the target audience, so to speak? Most of him just felt like a whiny, lazy brat for even thinking that. Other people sucked it up better, other people found ways to get along, other people could deal with their problems. Felix chose instead to escape. He shook off his darker thoughts and started going through his routine, checking forums, emails, Youtube notifications, and so on, and cracked a smile despite himself. Nothing interesting on that front – so, time to open up Steam and get into it. He'd gotten pretty far in Legends of Aetoria II, but there was still a lot more to do! Ninja-VS-Bear, the level 51 human knight, strode out onto the streets of a sprawling Roman-style city. He was just about to check his quest list when a notification caught his attention, and then gave him a little jolt of joy. Lelea is online! He only had to wait a moment before a second notification told him Lelea had sent him a private message, and he opened up the chat window with a smirk. Lelea: Greetings to you, Ninja-VS-Bear! 😃 Ninja-VS-Bear: Hey, Lulu. Didn't expect you to be online this early. Got off work early again? 😉 Lelea: Indeed, it is as you say. And what of you, friend? 😇 Felix grinned. Lelea's real name was Luna, and they'd met three months ago when he swept in and saved her from a boss she had challenged before she was ready. He let her keep the loot, wished her well, and that should have been the end of that – just a simple case of some in-game jolly cooperation. To his surprise, though, she messaged him right after, transferring half of the quest rewards. She was so insistent about it, too, which left him bemused and curious. She had such a strange, almost Shakespearian way of speaking, too – she was trying to curb the habit, but even now she tended to be very dramatic and formal. Once he'd realized it wasn't something she did intentionally, he actually started to find it pretty endearing. How often could you meet someone like that? Never, really. Now there was a distinguishing feature! Although it was just about the only one he knew of, for her. He knew her real name – pretty rare one, the only other Luna he knew of was from a TV show for kids – she was female, and that was it. No other details; not her age, where she was from, even what she did for a living. He did know how she felt about her job, though. Some of it was through reading between the lines, some of it was stated outright, but it seemed clear to him that she really, really hated her job. She seemed to feel like she didn't have much to contribute, and just sat around waiting, doing nothing, for hours. Pretty relateable, really. She was leaving early more and more often, lately, which was a little worrying, but according to her it was fine, so he let it go. But that was it. No other details. For all he knew, Luna could be a child, elderly, live in the same country or across the world – or might have been lying about her name and sex to begin with! Nah, he thought with a smirk, she didn't seem like she would lie. And it wasn't like it was any of his business even if she had, really – he was careful not to form mental images of people he met online or get too attached, because you never really knew who you were dealing with. Although it was hard to claim he hadn't gotten attached to Luna, really. The two of them had started off as a simple damsel-in-distress situation – something she didn't like him calling it, to his amusement – but, to his own surprise, he'd actually asked her if she wanted to go on a quest with him after she had contacted him to share the reward. He'd never done that before or since – still wasn't sure why he'd found her so interesting that he'd reached out like that, honestly. She had been a little hesitant at first, too, but they ended up having so much fun together that they kept at it. Three months later, they met up on a near-daily basis. It was the highlight of his days, what he looked forward to while he watched the clock run down. Ninja-VS-Bear: Today has been absolutely hell! I am exhausted... 😩 Lelea: Oh? Did you have troubles with your superior again? 😟 Ninja-VS-Bear: Guess you could say that. The guy is just so, well, I don't know, energetic in all the wrong ways. He wanted me to pick weeds outside, which I can get, but he wanted me to pick them with my hands. I don't understand why we don't use one of those weed burner things to get rid of them, it is a fucking frustrating task otherwise! 😤 Lelea: That does seem very tedious. 🤔 Ninja-VS-Bear: That's a polite way to put it... 😔 Ninja-VS-Bear: But let's not talk about that. What about you? Anything to report? 😋 Lelea: Nay, nothing has happened that is worth discussing. 😐 This was one of those reading-between-the-lines moments. He frowned; 'nothing worth discussing' meant another bad day at work. Sometimes she at least got to help people, although he had the impression it was separate from her usual job – but she was happier on days where she got to do it, at least. Seemed like the same sort of thing he did, helping customers despite it not being in his job description, really. Now, how to lighten the mood? He grinned; he knew exactly what would get her mind off of it. Ninja-VS-Bear: Seems like my fair lady is in need of a distraction~ 😉 Lelea: Yes, and it seems my knight in shining armor could use it too. 😜 Ninja-VS-Bear: Should we go to the tavern and rent a room then? 😏 Lelea: O///O Lelea: You will stop such vile talks, this instant you scoundrel! Lol. 🤣 Ninja-VS-Bear: Your loss. 😈 Lelea: I am sure it is. Now put your sword away, and let us proceed with your current quest. If you behave, I might reward you later. 😘 Ninja-VS-Bear: Yes ma'am! 😳 He chuckled and got on with the quest. He always enjoyed the playful banter and innocent flirting, though he had to remind himself not to let it become more than that. She was great company, a good friend; it would be all too easy to form a false mental image, even start to fall in love based on that image. He'd seen such stories end in heartbreak enough to know better, and he refused to have it happen to him. It would be too easy to fill in all of the blanks, all of the things he didn't know about her with his own imagination – hell, it was unavoidable to a degree when she mentioned something about her life and he caught himself trying to visualize it, though such anecdotes were very rare. There was a line he made sure not to cross; never ask for real pictures or anything like that, never prod her for personal details, keep his feelings purely friendly. She didn't want to talk about her personal life, and he respected that; it's not like he'd want to send her a picture of himself, either, for that matter. Keeping the boundaries up was difficult after so much contact, though. They had a blast together, almost every day! And it wasn't like she didn't play along with all of the banter and flirting – she played the part of a snobby noble dark elf lady who was above such vile jokes, but the reality was that Luna seemed to enjoy mischief, and gave back just as much banter as he had given. It was all in good fun, though, he thought. She didn't seem like the type to get a crush on him, or form some fantasy about how he looked. One thing that made it easier not to even entertain the idea of being more than friends was his own appearance; he wasn't ugly – heh, that would be a distinguishing feature – but he certainly didn't think of himself as attractive. He wasn't dirty or grungy, but he was chubbier than he was comfortable with, had a double chin, and messy brown hair he thought looked bad. No, he couldn't see someone being attracted to him. He did want to find someone. He'd had crushes on girls before, but it had never been mutual – he was a good friend, at best. He enjoyed goofing off with his friends, but he also wanted something deeper with someone – and he knew that made him prone to projecting romantic feelings onto people he shouldn't. Like Luna. Which was why whenever they flirted he felt a little bit of warmth, and had to go through all of this to remind himself not to go there. The best he could hope for if he did was that he would lose his best friend, so he kept his feelings guarded and got right back into it. Ninja-VS-Bear: Ready to find the crown of the sea? Don't worry, if you get into trouble I will save you, as always. 😝 Lelea: How noble of you. And when you are near death because you once again rushed into danger, I will be here to heal you with my magic. Ninja-VS-Bear: Thank you, nurse Luna. 😘