A Log Horizon AU Role-Play

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Life was going pretty good for Fred. College was great, his friends were outgoing and fun, and his girlfriend, Emma, was amazing. He was keeping busy by casually playing intramural sports and joining in on clubs and organizations around campus. But then he found out that his old favorite game was getting an upgrade and update with the introduction of the new expansion pack, Novasphere Pioneers, and he was going to be totally up for that.
"You can't be serious," Emma sighed, attitude and all. "You're canceling our date for a game?" Her hands dropped to her hips as she shook her head in great disappointment. "I even put on the red dress you like!"

Fred turned to his girlfriend with a innocent lip bite, checking out what he was going to be missing out on if he ditched her to play his game. He ran his fingers through his hair, contemplating on what to do. She was glaring at him with her pouty face and doggy-like eyes. Either he could score with Elder Tales or his girlfriend, and that was something that he probably should have answered faster than what he was doing now.

"Fine, we can go to dinner." Fred said, giving in to the temptation of his significant other. He dropped the game, with it still in the freshly, off-the-counter box and got ready for the date night, in hopes of getting lucky. The date was to a fancy Italian steakhouse that was out-of-this-world expensive for a 7oz steak and a glass of their cheapest wine. He had spent almost double the amount of money on the dinner that he had just used for the expansion pack of Elder Tales that day, making both him and his bank account tear on the inside just thinking about it.

After the dinner, the date went on with Fred taking Emma to her favorite ice cream joint for a scoop of mint chocolate ice cream. He himself ended up not getting anything with what he wanted later on for desert instead. Another hour passed by as the love birds continued on with their date, until Fred found himself back at Emma's dorm room. "You know you can spend the night here, Becky is over at Tim's so I'll be here all alone."

That's the thing Fred wanted to hear all night. Ever since recovering from his accident he wanted to live life as normal as possible. He wanted to forget everything bad that had happened to him and start fresh. Having a new, wiped, and clean plate would make his life easier, and Emma made it so much more fun and exciting. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Are you sure? I know how much you wanted to play your game..." She muttered, teasing his face. "You can always sleep over next weekend."

Emma was just teasing him senseless now. This time he didn't really have to think about the choices between her or Elder Tales, he was already there and they both were already willing. The no brainer here was for the comforts and love Emma, rather than the virtual grinding and accomplishment of Elder Tales. "There's always next weekend."
Waking up from his fun night of play, Fred tasted an odd taste in the air. His back was sore, feeling like he slept on a log and not the comforting mattress that was Emma's dorm room futon. Rubbing his eyes for clarity he sat up, drowsy and exhausted, still tasting the odd taste of the air. He noticed a lot of green around him, and paid closer attention to the background noise that wasn't Emma's quiet snoring or the rummaging of people in the dorm halls, it was the sound of birds chirping loudly and bugs buzzing around.

Patting himself on his chest he felt a shirt, having known for sure that he was sleeping in the nude during the night, puzzled him. "What the hell..." He muttered, coming out of his sleepy, drowsed state. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was outside, with clothes, and a pair of metal gloves of some kind. He panicked, and stood up, looking around him. Tress, vines, shrubs, everything around him was either that or ruined and old building. "Where the hell am I?" Fred said out loud. "Emma!?"

There was no response as he shouted for Emma for a few minutes, only hearing the echoing of his own voice. Bringing up his hands he checked out the metal gloves. They were made of what looked like silver steel, but were only as light as a box of new shoes. After his examination of his gloves and new clothing he began shouting again, this time calling for anyone.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" There was still no signs of others or responses, until he heard a growl from behind one of the bushes. "Whoever or whatever's there, come out... I'm pretty friendly.

The growl became much more loud and receptive, and also sounded pretty angry. Fred biting his lips, nervously waited for whatever was behind the bush to jump out. "I promise I am friendly."

A second after a wolf lunged at the red haired man, it's mouth dripping with saliva as it was ready to take a bite out of him. The first reaction of Fred was to swing a right hook, and he did, catching the wolf at the side of the face, sending it flying to the right, back into a bush. "Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" Fred said, apologizing, but it seemed as if the damage was already done way before he even tossed a punch as the wolf lunged again, growling and snarling even louder and blood-thirstier than before. It charged Fred, this time coming in to swipe at the man with it's claws. Fred backpedaled, dodging swipe after swipe before hammering down both of his fists together at the wolf's head. It let out a yelp as Fred roared: "Dragonfire Claws!" Throwing down three punches engulfed in flames at the wolf.

That's when Fred took notice of something on top of the wolf's head. It looked like a menu or status screen that you would see in a game. Putting the pieces together he finally noticed what the hell was going on. The menu bar showcased a health and mana bar, and with him shouting out the Dragonfire Claws, it all made sense where he was, but not why or how he was there, in Elder Tales.

"I really did want to play the game," Fred said as the wolf's body began dissolving into yellow, angelic orbs. The orbs began surrounding Fred and flew into him, giving his body a tiny surge of adrenaline.

Smoke arose from a half-finished cigar, a bottle of fine port empty and discarded on the floor. Two stacks of paper were being slowly shuffled around, the shuffler here and there pausing to take another sip of fortified wine before diving in once more. Four down, thirty-nine more to go. It had been a long day. Two sets of assignments due for marking, one exam paper written up for invigilation... He was getting a bit sick of it all really. He leaned back, fighting back a weary sigh. This was supposed to be his day off, dammit... ES was calling for him, the new expansion beckoning him over to the computer like some kind of succubus of procrastination. Maybe he could spare an hour for a change of pace... but no. Ten more, then I'll play. For a man with as little self-discipline as Ryan, this was deadly concentration. He dragged over another sheaf of papers, already groaning at the number of grammatical errors in the first damn line... It was gonna be a long night.

---

He rolled over in his sleep, uncomfortable on the hard work desk surface. It wasn't the first time the work of his students had lulled him to sleep and he'd be damned if it would be the last. A small, irritating part of him suggested that it might be time to wake up, get to doing his job for once but in that fuzzy moment between wakefulness and sleep, Ryan just didn't give a damn. He fidgeted some more. The desk was especially uncomfortable today... Bit cold too. And with a certain hint of... grass. He slowly woke up, casting a groggy eye around the room; maybe he fell asleep on a plant pot or- What the shit?

Ryan came around with a start as he realised he most definitely was not in his study. Pushing himself up onto his elbows (and finding it oddly easy to do so), he was shocked to find himself randomly in a field. A rather pleasant breeze flowed overhead and the sound of arguing songbirds would have been soothing if he knew what the fuck was going on. Granted, he had woken up in fields before, hungover and unsure of how he got there, but this was different. No headache for a start. Birds, check. Trees, check. People... nope. Had he gotten that drunk that he had somehow wandered off and slept so long the hangover had worn off..? Must have been a hell of a night.

So far this seemed the most logical explanation. Luckily he had experience of these sort of situations and knew precisely how to deal with it. 'Save me, Google Maps...' His voice also sounded off, but that fit the drunken wandering scenario too. He staggered to his feet and started rummaging around for his smartphone; it was then he noticed something particularly unusual. He wasn't wearing his usual shirt for starters. He also appeared to have gained a lot of weight on the chest... He squeezed experimentally. Yep, definitely mine. He squeezed again. Pretty big. And soft. Ryan hazarded a look down. Before his eyes stood two magnificent mounds, the type that probably required a bit of plastic surgery. At this point his mind flat-lined and for a long minute he just stood there, prodding and poking at his new-found breasts. 'Well that's a thing.' Thinking about it logically, he came to a workable explanation; he was asleep. Somehow that made the whole situation a bit sad. How sexually frustrated must Ryan have been to dream about growing his own tits to enjoy? That depressing thought aside, it was quite a nice dream so far. Very, uh... lucid.

He also inspected his hands as they roved across the jubbly hills, finding that they too were a little unfamiliar. Rather slim and soft, although that might just have been the silk gloves he appeared to be wearing. Further inspection revealed a jacket, blue, gold trim. Familiar... Somehow he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what, or rather who he currently was and a quick grab at the hat he turned out to be wearing confirmed it.

He sat back down thoughtfully. 'So... let's take stock. I'm having a dream about my own PC. Will it be a good dream or..?' He looked down again. 'Or a wet one..?' Not that it much mattered either way, he likely wouldn't remember anything in the morning. Chalk it up to the crazy shit a brain can think up when pickled alive in alcohol. He tried standing back up, took a few steps. It didn't feel natural somehow; his legs were too thin and never went were he wanted them to go. Also having those weights on his chest made turning a bit of a balancing act... He could easily see himself being thrown off balance by his own assets.

Now then. Dreams contained interesting happenings, yes? That's kinda the point, that's what dreams did. Luckily one soon presented itself. As Ryan kept experimenting with walking without falling over, he heard a voice calling from a ways away. Didn't sound happy, whoever it was. He decided to wander over, trying to practice his balance as he went. By the time he spied the red-haired young man, he had gotten fairly proficient at it. 'Um... Hi.' He stalled for a long moment, suddenly unsure of what to say. Weren't dreams meant to do the whole conversation thing for you? No effort on your part, you're supposed to be a passenger, not the driver. 'Are you...' And just what did you ask dream people? Freudian questions about your own subconscious? '... new... here..?' Come to think of it, he recognised the guy's armour. Definitely an Elder Tale-inspired dream then. In that case, he might as well get into character. 'I'm Ry- Brandenburg. I... think. Also you're... kinda glowing.'

Sean stumbled into his apartment well after midnight, trying not to wake his roommate. Braiden had a midterm the next day, and he could get pissy when his sleep was disrupted. Sean managed to navigate his way down the hall to his own room, and brought his gaming PC out of sleep mode. The Elder Tale patches usually went live around 5 in the morning, so he still had a few hours to take care of things. He started with his DPS characters, turning in quests, depositing cash and items in his account bank, and generally tidying up. His healer was next and probably most important; started up a few crafting projects for items people always needed after expansions, pulled all his sales off the market, then the same housekeeping stuff he’d done on his DPS. Sean logged onto his tank, but he was too tired to finish up. He downed some tylenol and a lot of water, then flopped into bed and was in a deep sleep in no time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



When he woke up, Sean immediately knew something was wrong. He didn’t feel even a hint of a hangover, which was highly unlikely given how many beer he’d knocked back the night before. He was also lying in a field, not his bed, and as soon as he moved an arm he noticed he was wearing heavy plate armor instead of just his underwear.

“Alright, I guess this is a dream. I always have weird dreams after drinking.” he mused out loud. Plate armour though...it seemed familiar. He put a hand on top of his head, and pulled off a very distinctive baseball cap. “OK, I’m dreaming that I’m Jarvoff. Makes sense, I was playing him before I went to bed.” Sean stood up, and immediately felt something poke him in the back of the head. “Oh don’t tell me…” he reached back, and sure enough, Balance of Judgement was strapped to his back. The oversized greatsword had always clipped a bit with player models, something Sean had written many an angry forum post about. Apparently in a dream that equated to the hilt poking him in the back of the head a lot.

Sean drew the sword and waved it around. It felt very natural, like he’d used a sword all his life. The armor was surprisingly comfortable as well. Sean deftly swung at a nearby stump, slicing it in half. The stump promptly disappeared, and was replaced by a single plank of wood. “Miserable Quality Wood: Level 1 crafting item.” a tooltip popped up as Sean went to retrieve the piece of wood. “Ok, that’s a little hyper-detailed.”

He returned his sword to its sheathe, then somehow accidentally opened the player menu. A little experimentation showed that moving his hands a certain way opened and closed the menu. “Huh. Neat.” Sean was beginning to feel awfully suspicious about this dream. He ran a few steps. It was easy, not at all sluggish like in most dreams. He noticed a man and a woman talking, not far away. He set off towards them at a full sprint, easily running through the field. “Hey Ginger kid, mind if I punch you? K thanks!” he yelled out, and clocked the red haired man across the jaw. Again, so easy, not like punching underwater or anything. This wasn’t a dream.

“Well shit.”

Red

For a second Fred could hear another voice as his body was shining the shimmery, golden aura from the wolf. That's when he heard it again, and looked up, seeing the face of a woman with silvery, white hair and crimson eyes. What threw him off was the wolf ears though, after he had just got done killing one. He took notice of her status bar this time, checking out her health and mana bar, along with her name. She introduced herself as Brandenburg, obvious to what her menu bar had stated. "You can call me R-"

Before he could finish his statement a heavily armored man sprinted towards them, punching Fred square in the jaw. He had shouted for Fred's permission if he could punch him but did it without waiting for an answer from the him. Taking the punch, painfully so, as the guy cursed at his action, Fred returned the favor with a left hook to his face, followed by a right, and a third to his chest, which was obviously armored. "What the hell was that for?" Fred spat back, also creating a distance between the man. He then turned to the woman and rose up his hands, this time prepared to fight her too. "Like I was saying, before, I'm... Red."

He gave the two strangers beside him another look over, once again checking out their status bars and seeing who and what he was up against. They were a level 90 Guardian and a 73 Swashbuckler. "You're not going to swing at me too, are you?" He said to the female Wolf Fang.

It was a bit of an adjustment, but Ryan was used to roleplaying Brandenburg in-game; it was just a matter of switching mental pronouns and asking what his psychotic ex would do. She took note of the guy's distinctive hair, endgame gear and, to her fascination, the status bar floating near his head. As expected of an Elder Tale themed dream; even the font was the same used in the game. Red. Suitable, if dry. He started to introduce himself, only to be interrupted by a surprise fist to the face. She stared blankly as the two boxed briefly, utterly bewildered by the sudden violence. Once the dust had settled, Brandenburg turned to the attacker, her hands drifting instinctively to the blades on her belt. '... A right charmer, you, aren't you?', she said incredulously, taking note of the face and cap. Her heart sank; he looked a lot like those ten year old internet hardboys who thought they were gangsters. The John fucking Cena reference was enough to turn an already bad first impression to thinly veiled contempt. She took a few steps back, already regretting getting involved.

Red had also backed off and Brandenburg raised a hand placatingly. 'Wasn't planning on it.' He was clearly ready for a fight though, his fists up in a ready position; Red was a Monk too, not someone she particularly wanted to get into fisticuffs with. 'How's this; if baseball-cap here gives any more trouble, I'm on your side.' Her hands gripping the hilts of her kukris, Brandenburg's mind began to race. Ryan had never had a dream this real before, especially not one about John Cena being a twat. He felt a creeping fear sink in as the possibility occurred to him that maybe, just maybe this wasn't a dream after all.

Jarv gasped as Red knocked the wind out of him. Definitely not a dream. He suddenly realized he’d made a bit of an ass of himself, and spread his hands placatingly. “Hey bud, sorry about that, Red was it? I was just testing something. You know how you can never throw a punch in a dream? It always feels like your arm’s moving through water. Or when you’re running, like you’re running through quicksand. I’m about 80% sure this isn’t a dream.”

Secretly Jarv was thinking it was a virtual reality experience of some kind, and the two he were talking to were probably simulated. He’d probably been involved in some kind of VR experiment, somehow, and something had gone wrong. It was likely just him though; it seemed pretty unlikely that a bunch of other people had also been involved in the incident.

He turned to the woman, “I didn’t catch your name. I’m Jarv, and no more trouble, I promise,” he said as he extended a greeting hand.

Red

No real thinking had to be done by Fred in what Brandenburg had offered when she said that she would be on his side if their new found capped friend would start another fight, so the red-haired monk nodded and lowered his fists. Jarv quickly apologized soon after, making tensions a lot less between the three of them. Fred was still confused on how he got into Elder Tales as he hadn't even played it yet, and secondly how the hell he was in the world, actually inside of it. The box and information he read on the expansion pack never said anything about virtual reality and the implementation of himself into it, so he was still a little bugged on the whole notion that he was in the Elder Tales world, even after witnessing him use his own skills and being punched by Jarv.

"You guys by chance haven't seen a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes around here have you?" Fred said, trying and hoping to see if Emma had been thrown into wherever he was too. He did just get done throwing punches at Jarv and just freshly introduced himself to Brandenburg, but right now they weren't as important as finding Emma, if she was even there with him. "Or honestly anyone else for that matter?"

Sure he was happy to see the faces of other people, whether or not they were real, but he wanted to make sure that there were no other surprises because he wasn't ready for another punch coming his way out of no where.

John Cena's placation did little to ease her concerns. Anyone who started a dream sequence by decking the first person he came across had issues. At least he seemed to regret it. Brandenburg relaxed a little, surprised that the sudden violence had had such an effect on her; it wasn't like Ryan walked around with knives strapped to his hip, so why did her hands fall so naturally toward them? If the dream theory was correct then that explained it, but the more she thought about it, the less likely that became. 'Brandenburg, I guess. Feels a bit odd to use my in-game name, but I suppose it's appropriate.' She took his hand warily, giving a firm handshake. Probably didn't feel all that feminine, but at this point who cared about staying completely in character?

'I ain't seen shit, bar the two of you. Hell, last thing I remember I was at home, dozing off.' She waved a hand vaguely back the way she came. 'Woke up over there somewhere, in a field.' Red might have been after someone specifically but to be honest in these circumstances, they were lucky to find anyone. Turning this way and that, Brandenburg tried to orientate herself. The wind brought a faint tang of sea air and looking through the trees to the east, she could see structures in the distance. '... Last time I was on ET, I logged just outside of New Apple. I suppose that's here.' They weren't going to figure much out standing in the woods and while she didn't know either Red nor Jarv, there was always safety in numbers. 'What say we head into town? Maybe there's a GM there or something.'

THUD!
THUD!
THUD!

From underneath a mound of pillows and blankets, something stirred. It tossed back and forth restlessly, obviously irritated at the obnoxious knocking. It seemed to debate checking on the sound, but soon all movement stopped once more.

THUD!
THUD!

BZZT!

A slender pink hand shot out from underneath the covers and grasped the buzzing cellphone off the night stand. It pulled the device back into it’s dark hiding spot. All was silent for a few moments...then a single voice moaned.

“Oh dear God, no…”

The covers were kicked off, revealing a rather disheveled looking girl in her pajamas. Her eyes were open wide in panic as she clambered to get out of bed. But she wasn’t the most graceful of girls, it would seem, as she managed to get tangled up in her covers and rather than find her feet, the girl slid and fell, tumbling off the bed just to faceplant her cold, hard floor. Her face was stinging, but there was no time to lose. This was life or death. She scrambled up to her feet and bolted out of her bedroom.

She shot down the hall as quick as she could, entering the living room and turning towards the front door just in time to see…

Gabbie. Standing in the doorway. Smirking.

Zoe stood gaping at her for a moment, her mouth flapping but forming no words. She was completely flabbergasted. Unable to find the words, the girl began gesturing towards the door, causing Kaitlyn’s grin to grow even wider.

“Calm yer tits, girl. I didn’t REALLY break the lock...yer folks leave a key under the mat. Bad place for it, really. You never know what kind of slimeball could get in.”

The tall brunette winked at Zoe as she slinked past her towards the kitchen. The girl let out a burp that lasted several seconds. “Damn...that was a good one, eh? Say, got any grub?” she asked, but as usual, proceeded to rummage through the cupboards without awaiting a response.

Zoe stared at the girl, then back to the door, then back to the girl, still speechless. It wasn’t the first time that Gabbie pulled something like this. She was constantly showing up but...but never this late. Zoe glanced at the clock on the wall. What was she doing here? She frowned. There was school in the morning, right? So…

A muffled voice cut into the girl’s inner monologue. “Yoo waist inna barn?”

Slightly startled, the girl gave a jump. She blinked twice as she glanced back at Gabbie who was now enjoying a sandwich. The guest nodded towards Zoe. It took a moment, but she finally got it, turning around and heading over to close the door.

“Wha...what are you doing here?” she asked as she double-(then triple)-checked the door was securely locked, deadbolt and all. She turned to see a wiiiide grin on Gabbie’s face.

The girl put down her sandwich and pulled her bookbag off her shoulders and placed it on the counter. She unzipped it and pulled out a laptop and a brown paper bag. “Elder Tale. New expansion. LAN party and liquor.”

For the second time that night, Zoe just stood gaping at Gabbie, but she did manage to find a response this time around. “LAN party an- are you crazy? We can’t do that! We’ve got class in the morning and…” the girl paused briefly and glanced at the brown paper bag before continuing, “...we’re not old enough to drink. My folks would kill us if they found out...”

And to that, Kaitlyn simply laughed a deep belly laugh before she slid the laptop to rest further on the counter and crossed the room with the bag in hand. Once in front of Zoe, the towering girl bent down and stared into the girl’s eyes from an uncomfortably close distance. Zoe felt the urge to run away, but she knew it wouldn’t do her any good. Gabbie could outrun her any day of the week. Easily. Instead she just gazed back into her delinquent friend’s big brown eyes.

The taller girl reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle filled with gold with an image of a turkey on the front. She twisted the cap and tilted up the bottle, taking a quick swig of the shit before pulling it away. Her face twisted up for a moment, but she exhaled and everything was good. Zoe’s mouth was flapping again, a useless tongue searching desperately for protest.

Katie pushed the bottle into Zoe, who instinctively reached around it to stop it from dropping.

“They ain’t gonna find out. C’mon, it’ll be fun. Just you and me, kicking back and kicking ass. You’ve got to live a little, Zo. Trust me.”

Zoe debated for a moment, but one look at the taller girl’s usual grin and she knew that she really didn’t have a choice in the matter. She couldn’t tell Gabbie no and the girl knew it. Her hands tightened around the bottle. She had never tasted alcohol before...but...well if Gabbie liked it, it couldn’t be ALL bad. Right? RIGHT?

She decided to throw caution to the wind and tilted the bottle back herself. But the girl was not expecting the liquid to pour out like it did. The taste didn’t sit well on her tongue, but she forced it down. One gulp. Then two. Then…

Zoe pushed the bottle into Gabbie’s hands and took on sprinting down the hall towards the bathroom. Katie stood in the living room holding the bottle mildly intrigued…

“Uh...Zoe? You okay?”

Then the vomiting echoed out.

And Katie laughed.

It was going to be a fun night.

---

It was cold. That’s the first thing to hit Katie as she stirred from her slumber. Slumber…? She didn’t even recall going to sleep. When did that-

The girl started to turn over, but something was off. Why was Zoe’s bed so hard? And...was there dirt in it? She opened her eyes to see…

Well…

Not Zoe’s room.

It was outside, somewhere…

So DEFINITELY not Zoe’s room...damn shut-in.

The girl got to her feet, but stumbled slightly. She looked down to see that she was wearing completely different shoes than what she had remembered having earlier. These were...well, a lot more open. She immediately disliked them. Katie shook her head disapprovingly but suddenly stopped. Her...head felt different. Something was off...her hair! It wasn’t in her face. The actual fuck happened…? Did she cut off her hair for some reas-

The girl had been feeling her head, but she stopped when she touched the back side. It was up in a ponytail but…

But her hair hadn’t been THIS long before. She was positive.

It was cold.

Why was it so cold?

The girl looked down again and noticed her rather insane outfit. She looked like a damn ninja. The hell kind of night did she just have? Did Zoe have a ton of costumes hidden away somewhere that she didn’t know about? ...maybe...but...but how did she get outside. And Zoe…

Wait! Where was Zoe?

Katie looked around her surroundings (some sort of field she didn’t recognize) and saw a shape curled up not to far away.

“Zoe?” she called out. For a moment, nothing happened, then the shape began to move. It rose up and threw out its arms. Stretching? It was a person, yeah, but not Zoe. It was MUCH too large to be the scrawnly little girl…

As if on que, the person got to their feet and stretched again before looking around. It turned around and saw Katie looking at it. Silence hung in the hair for a few, before the person spoke.

“...Gabbie…?”

It was Katie’s turn to gape now, as she stared at the towering...thingy that just called her by the pet name only her best friend used. It was a good two or three inches taller than her, ginger hair, odd pointy ears, creepy robes, and a spooky looking bow on its bac-

…

…

…

Wait the fucking moment.

This...thing...it looked pretty similar to Zoe’s avatar in Elder Tale. REALLY SIMILAR. Like…

…

Oh son of a bitch, it was identical. Katie covered her mouth with her hand. What even was this?

“Gabbie…? Is that you? You look...smaller…?”

Katie’s eyes grew wide. The voice was different but the cadence, the hesitation...that was Zoe alright. “Zo...why do you look like ZeeThree?”

Zoe/ZeeThree didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took a moment to give herself a once over. Katie could see the growing horror mounting on the girl’s face as she took everything in. She look like she was about to burst into tears. Katie took a couple steps towards her, hands held up, gesturing in a calming motion. “Whoa, whoa, hey, Zo! Don’t panic! Jus-just calm yer tits, alright? I’m sure there’s a good reason for this...just uh...just gimme a sec to think alright?”

The nearly weeping Zoe nodded, but her eyes still seemed to well up. The waterworks were about to begin. Katie swore under her breath and looked around. So Zoe now looked like ZeeThree. And she was wearing what she could only guess to be a similar outfit to Uno Uno...and they were outside...and…

Dream? Could it be a dream?
Possibly, but Katie didn’t dream often...and they were never so vivid. Nor so detailed. They were usually cheap horror movie knock-offs. If a creep in a mask showed up, she knew what was up though.

…

She was drawing a blank. Nothing seemed to really make much sense but…

…

Oh hello. Something was floating by Zoe’s head. It was a...almost like a panel. A WAAAY too familiar panel. It had a portrait of ZeeThree, her name, and...bars. Two bars. HP and MP. And a level. And holy fuck she was dreaming she was in a video game.

Katie started to laugh, but when she saw Zoe, she stopped. The poor girl was silently crying. She reached out and gave Zoe a pat on the shoulder, startling the girl in doing so. “Hey...don’t worry. I’m here. I got this. Let’s uh...let’s just go, yeah? Maybe see what else is going on? Maybe we’ll find something.” she muttered, trying to calm down her now giant dream companion. It seemed to work. The two began to walk. To where, Katie had no clue. But hey, dreams tended to sort themselves out.

…

But Katie couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t a dream. There was just too much detail. And she was questioning it. Normally in dreams she just went with the flow, no matter how crazy it was. If...and the girl knew that she was crazy for even entertaining the notion, but IF this wasn’t a dream...then why did it look so much like Elder Tale?

Zoe was the first to hear the commotion up ahead. When Katie finally caught it, the two girls exchanged glances. Katie mouthed the words “Follow me” and Zoe nodded. They stuck to tree cover and bush cover but eventually found the source of the noise. Three people. Two seemed to be shaking hands, a woman in a fancy getup and a...a…

...Jesus jumping Christ on a pogo stick, was that John Cena?

Katie laughed. It was a loud, deep laugh. She just couldn’t take it anymore. What the hell even was all this bullshit? First everything looked like Elder Tale, and now knightly John Cena was shaking hands with discount Anne Bonney. What’s next? Billy the Kid riding a doom whale into tower made of Macho Man Randy Savage?

A hand flew over the girl’s mouth, muffling her. Zoe was staring at her with eyes wide with terror, shaking her head. But Katie couldn’t help it. Even Zoe’s fear was funny to her now. Didn’t she get it? It was all a dream! She wasn’t even real! She was just a damn dream! Hell, if she wanted to, she could stab Zoe right now and everything would be just fine!

Despite that fact that she was 99% convinced she was dreaming...she couldn’t bring herself to take the gamble.

The girl sobered up...but then she realized what she had just done. If her little fit had caught the attention of that little trio...then they surely knew where the girls were. And if they knew where they were...and they weren’t friendly...and this wasn’t just a dream then…

…

Well, somebody royally fucked up.

Big time.

Red

"Sounds like a plan to me," Fred said, agreeing with going into town. They hadn't seen his girlfriend, so the next best thing was to look for her in town, maybe she had ended up there while he ended up in the fields. He didn't know why exactly he was there since again he hadn't played the game in so long, but his girlfriend had never even seen how the game looked like so there was a slight chance that she wouldn't have been sucked into the world with him. Nothing made sense though, she was lying next to him and if he got sucked into some kind of virtual vortex she also would have been sucked into it since again, she was right next to him, that's what he was hoping for at least.

As he was about to head into the direction that seemed most like town, it was a gut feeling of some kind, a burst of laughter caught his ears. "Brandenburg," Fred muttered, "sounds like more friends." He threw up his fists and scanned the area, hoping for another wolf to jump out rather than another flying knight who a strong right hook.

"Somehow I don't think a GM's gonna be able to help us with this, but going to town's a good idea," Jarv agreed. He'd just had a sudden rather unpleasant thought; what happened if they died here? In the game, dying sent you back to the Cathedral in town, but now, they had no idea what might happen, and Jarv wasn't particularly keen to find out. The mobs around New Apple weren't particularly challenging, at least pre-expansion, but the idea of facing them in the flesh wasn't particularly appealing, even at level 90. Whatever 'level 90' actually meant now.

There was another danger outside towns that Jarv had just thought of; PVP. Just because he and his two companions had only just woken up here, it didn't mean others hadn't been here for longer, and knowing some of the assholes who played ET, they wouldn't hesitate to kill a group of careless players, consequences be damned. Best to get into the protection of town as soon as possible.

Too late. Two players had spotted them from across the field. Jarv drew his greatsword and placed it point down on the ground in front of him, his hands clasped over the pommel. Not a threatening pose, but one that said he wouldn't tolerate any shenanigans by the unfamiliar players.

It was good that they both agreed, although Jarv's pessimism didn't help calm her nerves. Brandenburg paused mid-thought at the realisation that she had been thinking in feminine pronouns the whole time. Roleplaying was all well and good, but was it appropriate right now..? Then again, last thing Ryan wanted to do was look like a crossdresser by revealing his true gender. Alienating the only people he knew probably wasn't the best survival strategy. Anyway if they hadn't worked it out by now, they would eventually. She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as she thought it over and thus completely missed the laugh that set the others on edge. 'Wait, what?' She cast about in obliviousness, unsure of what Red meant by 'friends'. Monsters? People? Other (strange though it was to use the term) players/Adventurers? Nothing happened for a long moment, so she decided to take the initiative. '... Whoever they are, I doubt they'll run up and punch us out of nowhere, eh Mr Jarv?' And so she walked a few metres away from the two of them and raised her voice to their mystery guests. 'If you're friendly, come out. More the merrier, right? If you're not then... well. Please don't kill me.' The last part was delivered at a flat whisper.

---

---

DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN!

Katie really screwed the pooch this time. The small sliver of hope that she was holding onto died abruptly as one of the trio pulled up his dukes and began searching around. He seemed way too eager to fight...not a good sign. But maybe her laughing just spooked him? Hell, she wouldn’t feel right if she suddenly heard creepy laughter. And judging by the way he was looking about, he wasn’t quite sure where she was. That good. Perhaps she could play it off as a...as a…

John Cena’s medieval twin was staring right at her. And with that, her hopes which had just started to crawl back from the icy grip of death were swiftly and brutally crushed beneath the Superstar’s greaves. He drew out a rather nasty looking sword and shoved it into the ground. It uh...looked much less terrifying in the game. And she had a suspicion that maybe, JUST MAYBE, it wasn’t just used for shaving…

The final member of the trio, the busty pirate chick, seemed utterly lost at first, but after muttering something to the others, she stepped away from the group and called out, “If you’re friendly, come out. More the merrier, right? If you’re not then…” Katie could have swore that she said something else, but the woman’s voice seemingly cut out.

This was uh...less than ideal. That much was certain.

Think, Katie, think.

Alright...so the situation was...iffy. She was close enough to at least inspect the three. She was looking at a level 90 Monk, a level 90 Guardian, and a level 73 Swashbuckler. At least according to the...screen-like thingies that appeared when she focused on them. If this was a dream, it was hella detailed...but something deep inside the girl was screaming at her that it was TOO detailed. She was TOO aware of what was going on.

...alright then, new plan.

Assuming this WASN’T a dream and that she was...what, IN Elder Tales...assuming that was all true, what would be her next move?

…

Attacking wouldn’t be a smart move. At least not upfront. Three-on-two certainly was possible but...that comp would be just too sturdy. Especially the Guardian. A quick look at his...stats...showed that he had just an insane amount of health. An HP-build then. Not particularly dangerous, but annoying as all get out. Then there was the Monk. Usually pretty beefy themselves, with a little extra umph behind their hits. The Swashbuckler should be the easiest target, but the girls would need to put her out of commission REAL quick if they were going to have a shot...and even then where would they be? Two squishies against two tanks? That rarely turned out well. If they still had the element of surprise, then this might be a different story but...

Wait…

The girl barely resisted the urge to look over at Zoe. Gears were starting to turn in her head. They obviously had heard Katie laughing but...she was the only one that had made a sound. And the big lug might be looking in her direction but...but she doubted if he could really make out both of them in the foliage they were hiding in. If she was right then…

“Stay silent and be ready to cover me…” she whispered. She didn’t dare glance at Zoe. She could feel her heart starting to pound wildly in her chest. This was...different than in the game. It felt so real...but…

But the concept was the same, no?

She just had to give her performance. No biggie.

The girl gulped then stood up straight, revealing herself. She began to walk forward towards the trio, forcing herself to laugh softly, trying to appear every bit a deer caught in the headlights. She just had to don her mask. It was just like any other time…

“Whoa, whoa heeey...easy now! Just chill out, guys!”

---

---

no
no no
No No NO
NO NO NO NONON ONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

Zoe’s hand shot out like lightning and covered her friend’s mouth, muffling her sudden outburst. This was not good. This was bad news bears. BAD BAD BAD.

Katie suddenly stopped laughing, the reality of the situation having finally hit her. Once she did, Zoe dropped from her crouching position and slowly crawled away. She had to quietly distance herself. If they were spotted then...then…

Well, Zoe wasn’t sure WHAT would happen, but it probably wouldn’t be good. Nobody that carries a sword THAT large is good. Like, what does he even fight with that thing? The hopes and dreams of innocent, scared little girls?

As she gained some distance, she looked over at Katie who was staring into the clearing, her mouth hanging slightly open. It was a face she was all too familiar with. A face that caused WAAAY too much trouble…

She was thinking.

“If you’re friendly, come out. More the merrier, right? If you’re not then…”

Zoe felt goosebumps sprouting up everywhere. She had never been this frightened. Oh, why did Katie have to choose NOW of all times to lose her mind?

It felt like an eternity (actually just a moment or two, but fear can fuck with one’s perception, man), but Zoe finally heard something out of Katie.

Her heart sank.

Stay silent?

Be ready to cover her?

SURE! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!!

What the actual hell was she planning?!

As if hearing her thought, Katie stood up and...walked out laughing? Zoe’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She was going to just straight up get herself killed here. And Zoe too, probably.

Cursing under her breath, Zoe crawled towards the nearest tree and pulled herself up into a crouch. She instinctively reached for her bow, and despite having never actually touched one of the damn things in her life, it felt comfortable and familiar. That was even more odd than the fact that it was an exact copy of ZeeThree’s bow from Elder Tale. That part made sense at least. The scenery looked like a much more crisp version of her favorite game. Katie looked identical to Uno Uno. She had thought that maybe it was just a strangely vivid dream at first but...no. That didn’t seem to fit. Whatever was going on, she would question it later. For now, the only thing she COULD do was...well...be ready to cover Katie.

Zoe waited a moment.

“Whoa, whoa heeey...easy now! Just chill out, guys!”

Zoe cringed. Katie was using her ‘sweet voice’. She had to hand it to the girl, if she hadn’t known any better, she might have even fell for it. She sounded somewhat meek and gentle, and then you learn that she’s a cold-hearted bitch that revels in the torment of others…

Why was she her best friend again?

Zoe shook her head then carefully peeked out from around the tree. Just enough to get a glimpse of what was going on.

Katie had been approaching the pirate woman, but she stopped a decent distance away. The girl had both of her arms in the air.

“Look, I didn’t mean to startle y’all. I just happened to be passing by and I heard some voices. To tell the truth, I’m a little bit uh...lost.”

Zoe scanned the trio. As from early, they all had plates by them. A Guardian, a Monk, and a Swashbuckler. If that didn’t scream Elder Tale, she didn’t know what did. They were well leveled as well. Not that it would matter. If Katie tried to pull something as stupid as picking a fight here, she’d put an arrow in the jackass herself.

The girl continued. “Sorry, I’m a little fuzzy. Must have been something I drank...would any of you happen to know where this is? I don’t really remember how I got here. I guess I can be a bit of a ditz sometimes haha...” She finished her sentence by placing both hands behind her head and shifting her weight onto one foot. Zoe couldn’t see, but she would bet that the girl was smiling her happy little ass off too. She played the part of helpless damsel a bit too well at times.

Hopefully the trio really was friendly. The Swashbuckler had given Zoe some hope but...well, the Guardian still had her on edge. Also...didn’t he look a bit familiar?

...hmm…

Nope. She couldn’t place it.

In anycase, the girl remained in the shadows, awaiting her friend’s next order and silently praying that she wouldn’t have to dig a grave today.

Red

"Elder Tales," Fred answered straightly. "At least that's what we're all thinking here." He let his fists go as he scanned the girl. She was an Assassin level 90, and even if she wanted to fight it was a 1 versus 3. Even with her being level 90 she was still up against two players the same level along with a Swashbuckler who could probably hold her own. "None of us really know how we got here either."

He turned to the others and nodded, hoping that they could agree that she might have been a friendly player. [color=DC143C]"Sorry for throwing my hands up like that," Fred said apologetically. "You never know when someone is going to jump out of nowhere and pop you right in the face." He turned to Jarv and chuckled a bit. He was never going to let that go.

"We're going to be heading into town," the red haired monk said, "Like Brandenburg said, the more the merrier. So if you want to join us in heading there, you can."

After a long pause, someone finally emerged from the brush. A girl this time, huh. At least she wasn't openly aggressive like the last one... She shrugged mentally as the tension drained away. 'Yeah, Elder Tale. How the fuck, who the fuck, what the fuck... Who knows.' The girl seemed a little too cheerful, but Brandenburg was willing to chalk that up to nerves; most gamers weren't the sort of people to keep calm in a real emergency and if anything counted, this did. Hell, she herself wasn't in the best of states, having passed through the shock and confusion to arrive at good old fashioned apathy. Even real vivid dreams ended eventually, right?

'New Apple it is then. I think it's that way..?' She waved vaguely east. 'Probably. Haven't worked out if we get menus or something. Not like we have a minimap...', she grumbled. As the others milled around for a bit, she decided to get the group moving. Answers hopefully awaited, or failing that, some grub. 'Come on then, sorry what's your name? I'm Brandenburg by the way. I swash buckles. You're an... assassin, I think?' It was a guess, but judging by the girl's equipment, there wasn't a whole lot else she could be. Maybe a zerging bard.