Chapter 3

Soon the bright colors stopped, and Charlie felt the touch of something solid. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a white room shaking and puffing breathlessly.

This was like the first time he visited this virtual reality world, the white cube-like room serving as the lobby. It might have been clichéd but it was a homage to classic VR stories. If he was not mistaken, there was a neon sign above that greeted guests with the word "WELCOME!", and somewhere in front of him was a table with a pretty receptionist wearing stockings, skirt, and glossy black blazers.

"Greetings, dear sir!" the girl said with a bow and a smile.

"I remember you," replied Charlie. "You remember me, miss? You were the one who welcomed me back then three years ago."

"Sadly… no, but it's good to know people still remember me. Why, I never would have thought I'm that famous."

"Hey, ain't nobody gonna forget your cute little face."

Charlie stood up from his chair, and as the girl giggled and blushed, he finally saw the white cross on her head. She was no guest like him, she was an artificial intelligence – an AI – whose job was to welcome visitors here. This relieved Charlie at least, since so far everything went like it used to. He hoped such luck would continue from the time he stepped forth, until the time he got home.

"Well, let us not waste any more time," the girl continued. "Once again, welcome to the Escapist Dream! The place where your dreams of becoming a true comic book, anime, video game, and other fictional characters can be possible! Are you ready?!"

"Let's fuckin' do this!" Charlie replied with zeal. Though he was nervous moments ago, now he was like a little kid who just couldn't wait.

"Alright! Now first, your costume. To create your costume, please stretch your arms to the side, hold your head high, keep your legs apart at least a couple of feet wide, and close your eyes. Imagine the costume you want to wear, and the Escapist Dream will make it for you. Everything from capes and armor, changing your sex or race, or making yourself an alien or a werebeast. Anything goes! Just make sure your appearance is decent. You can choose to be sexy but any controversial unsafe costumes will be erased. Choose wisely, sir, for you can only costumize yourself again when you level up."

With that, Charlie did as he was told. For his costume, he drew again from his memories, combining the two things he loved – superhero comics and Star Wars; the media which defined American geek culture.

A mirror floated in front of him, and he felt empowered the moment he saw his shiny blue Superman shirt, dark brown Jedi robes, new blue jeans and red sneakers. It was the look that made him a superhero, the costume which made him awesome, and the life that made him a badass.

"Thank you…" Charlie remarked while wiping his tears.

"Please remember that costumes are for appearance only. You cannot add any special abilities to your costumes," the girl interrupted. "That part falls under the superpower mechanic, which I will be explaining to you."

"Finally! Let's have it then!"

"Right now you are at level 1, and new players are allowed to pick one active power, one weapon, one set of costume, and one passive ability for free, but the moment you are inside, you need to level up to gain new weapons, powers, costumes or abilities. Each of these are categorized. The highest level one can attain here is level 50. Between levels 1 to 17, you can unlock basic moves like flight, energy manipulation, adamantium armor, or ballistics weapons. By levels 18 to 34, you can unlock more powerful moves like limited time manipulation, mind control, and reality-warping. Once you reach levels 35 to 50, you can unlock godlike abilities like omnipotence, omnipresence, and moves that can one-shot enemies. Of course, no one has yet reached this third and final level of category, because leveling up takes time and effort, and the higher your level goes, the harder it becomes to keep leveling up. And the system is very stringent on this. You cannot cheat by creating powers that can grant wishes or imitate higher-level powers unless you are at the third level category. The best way to level up is–"

Charlie's mind turned blank from the heavy exposition, like a spilling glass bowl balancing on top of a balloon stick. Even back then, he was never fond of these things being explained to him. Nobody would understand and remember this stuff. In an actual video game, one could re-check how complicated mechanics work – in-game or online – but a staff explaining all of this personally was hard and unfeasible. The Escapist Dream was a marvel but it was never perfect. There were a few lazy misses from the developers themselves.

"Sir, are you still there?"

"Fuckin' hell, I can only take a drop of what you said. I'm sorry but I've always been more of a comic book geek than a gamer."

"It's understandable."

Thankfully, many of what the girl said was familiar to Charlie, but even back then he was never that attentive. Charlie learned everything in the Escapist Dream from experience rather than from instructions or orientations. He remembered getting his ass kicked multiple times as he tried to get the gist of the game. Eventually though, he managed to build himself up and become a force to be reckoned with. However, there was something she said which he didn't remember being present back then.

"Wait a minute? Nowadays you can practically become a god once you reach beyond level 35? Back then powers like time manipulation were very very limited. And stuff like omnipotence and even mind control were illegal. How do you regulate these OPed powers to prevent anyone makin' Mary Sues here?"

"Let me be honest with you. Something went wrong with the system that's been happening for over a year now. Since then everything is a free-for-all, and if you want to use avada kedavra to kill the person you hate, or use hypnosis to rape someone, you can."

The FBI agents didn't warn him of such things. Did they know there had been changes since what happened last year? They did say they lost contact with the agents they sent to check up on what was happening. This was a blunder that could prove fatal for Charlie. Then again, he should have known they wouldn't know everything.

"Would you like to continue, sir?" the girl asked, interrupting Charlie from his thoughts.

"Go ahead," replied Charlie, deciding to continue on his current quest. He could still back out now, but for some reason, that option felt weaker than his need to save those people. He didn't understand why, but he was like Dekku, he just couldn't stop himself from helping out.

The girl instructed him to click on a small area on his forearm, summoning the holographic menu, and showing an orange health bar with 100% on it. There was also small rectangular board that stated "Level 1", which she asked Charlie to press in order to tell the Escapist Dream he will be choosing his powers.

Thinking deeply once again, Charlie puts in his chosen superpower, weapon, and ability. He needed to choose wisely because after this, he could only unlock one after every level. Charlie also noticed the inventory on the menu panel, stating he was carrying one item. Knowing what it was, he decided not to touch it.

Once it was all over, Charlie gave a disappointing sigh, having no zeal in him anymore, his favorite world mutilated and downgraded. Who knows what new stupidity was implemented in this virtual reality world. Capitalistic microtransactions perhaps? Stupid DLCs and bloody platform exclusives? Imagine buying a VRM and finding out you couldn't visit your favorite virtual reality world because Steam – not Epic Games – was installed.

Changes sucked but it was a big part of life, and no person in the world had been in conflict with it more than the geeks. Everyone had to learn to adapt, and sometimes it's all for the best, from having your favorite series rebooted, to old friends saying goodbye.

"Anyways, thank you so much," Charlie said. "Was there anything else that was changed? How about the different areas? Are they still there?"

"The areas are still the same. There's Stan City, the place for comic book geeks and fans of American media. There's Otaku Academy, the area designated for fans of Japanese manga and anime. There's also Gamer's Den, a place made for gamers. And finally, the Library, the place built for fans of literature."

"I see. That's good news at least. Thank you!"

Even though she was an AI, she had been very helpful, and for Charlie, she deserved a thank you just like any real person. With an appreciative smile, the girl finally opened a tunnel on a wall.

"Before you go," the girl interrupted. "I want to make sure. Do you really want to go there? The lobby is the last safe place you will be in. Once you enter the tunnel, you'll never get out. Think about this really seriously. You can still go back."

"I can't, lady," Charlie answered with a smile. "I've already made my costume, and it would be a big waste if I turned back now, wouldn't it?"

Charlie finally walked into the tunnel, thinking to himself if this was still the Escapist Dream he knew. He might regret not taking the girl's offer, not knowing anymore how much of it was changed. It's like walking straight to a new Battlefield game, not knowing the new features, and getting humiliatingly aced seconds after spawning.

Inside the Escapist Dream, the young Japanese girl strolled mindlessly over the red wasteland, her arms heavy and her eyes almost dead. Without a care for her safety, she just dragged her body over this heath, hoping to meet someone who could snip the thread of her life.

However, even suicidal intentions could be tiring, even sadness could be draining. Soon even killing oneself would end in defeat, another failure to be added to her her trophy case of screw-ups. Exhausted and frustrated, she just let herself fall to the ground, having been stuck in a dead-end, wishing something would happen either it be good or bad.

Below in the acequia, something bright caught her eye. Turning to the side, she could not believe what she was seeing. It was a blue portal; the tunnel connected to the lobby. She quickly but carefully crawled to where the portal was, her mouth gaping in surprise.

Someone just entered the Escapist Dream for the first time in over a year.

Charlie's face had a look of surprise once he stepped out. He spun around and took it all in, noticing the red mare imbrium of an otherwise gibbous moon.

"What the fuck happened to this world?" he remarked. "Jesus Christ, this… no… it looked more like shit now. This ain't the Escapist Dream… it's the Zone of the Macabre."

The young girl observed this newbie who needed to get out of there quickly. Before she could warn him however, someone had beaten her to him.

"Hey! You!" a gruff voice yelled. Such was the girl's bad luck that when she wanted to die, no one came, but when fate saw someone new, it granted them death.

A gang of orcs ran towards Charlie, their fangs chomping and their yellow eyes glowing, armed with a variety of melee weapons like blades, spears and axes. They were leaner and more muscular than the stereotypical fat orc, with dark skin as tough as tanned leather, inspired more by the Lord of the Rings films than World of Warcraft. All of them have similar white crosses on their heads.

Nonetheless, they were aggressive, grabbing Charlie by the neck, hoisting him up like a dead chicken.

"Did you come from that portal?! Who are you?!"

"Uhmm… I… shit…"

The orc then mercilessly slammed Charlie to the ground, his chest and lips kissing the dust. "Don't answer! You are another one whom they sent to save these imbeciles? Huh!" the orc continued.

"Fool, they just brought another meat to the grinder!" added another orc.

"Look, man. Let's talk about this," parlayed Charlie, slowly crawling away. "I'm just new here! Can I at least like, maybe level up or somethin'? I think you guys are gonna be too much for me. Maybe I can fight a few rats first before I can fight you guys?"

"This isn't a game and we're not some dumb A.I. made for your enjoyment. So better tighten your arsehole, little man. You're gonna die horribly."

They then laughed as the young geek laid helplessly, before unsheathing their melee weapons simultaneously.

"Dinner is back on the menu, boys! It's been a while since I've tasted roasted human thigh on a spit."

"You don't wanna eat me! Trust me, I'm a nerdy virgin so I taste disgustin'. It's the reason why no girls would want to–"

"Oh don't worry about it. We'll make sure to season you."

Having other ideas, Charlie grabbed something from his pocket – the first weapon he decided to unlock. A blue light appeared, surprising the orcs, and as Charlie stood up, he tried cutting the closest one crosswise. With his magical metal shield, the orc easily blocked the strike, and as they all stared at him unimpressed, Charlie quickly stepped away, his lightsaber in front of him. Posing a Jedi stance, Charlie prepared himself to take them on.

With a loud roar, they charged at Charlie. The American geek tried to slash, but the metal shields did their jobs. An orc then kicked him away, making him crash down painfully on the ground.

Ouch! Okay okay. You got this! Remember, this ain't your first time fightin' here!

Charlie desperately tried to keep the orcs at bay but his swings kept missing, the orcs effortlessly sidestepping each attack like they were fiddling with a one-legged toddler. One orc with a flanged mace swung with an uppercut motion, hitting Charlie on the chin, making him fly again backwards this time.

As Charlie tried to get up, an orc thrusted his spear, but the geek managed to slice it in half with his lightsaber. Before Charlie could follow up, another orc crossed him in the jaw, knocking him down.

In a frenzy, the orcs surrounded Charlie, trying out every weapon they had, like lions ripping apart a gazelle. Charlie's back took stabs from swords and spears, his head was bashed by maces and warhammers, his limbs took push cuts from axes. The orcs were right – this was no game to enjoy, this was a game to regret.

Charlie, in pain, could sense his health bar dwindling. Trying to fight back, every strike he did was useless, every movement was amateurish. The Japanese otaku watched the guy get shredded. Those orcs were not high-leveled monsters but they were stacks above this noob in terms of strength, speed, stamina, and durability. Poor guy was one unfortunate bastard, arriving just in time to get dismembered right away.

As she stood up to help him, Charlie managed to find a gap and bolt out of there quickly. He had dropped his lightsaber but it didn't matter, he only focused on running for his life. The orcs and the girl followed.

Charlie was in a mangled state, barely conscious, his legs miraculously still able to carry him. Soon the orcs caught Charlie and hoisted him up again. "You die now!" the orc yelled, aiming his sword to plunge into his stomach.

Before the orc could do so, something hot seared right through him. The other orcs felt it too, and looking down, they were surprised to discover their guts spilling out. Charlie grinned as he dropped to the ground, having intentionally thrown his lightsaber away, using the Force to make it fly, and disemboweling them when they had their backs turned. The Jedi's most iconic move – telekinesis – was the first active power Charlie unlocked, saving him.

Charlie might have been rusty when it came to fighting, but he still knew tips and strategies. Catching opponents off guard, with their defenses down, was a good way to deal massive damage. With practice and leveling, Charlie could regain his previous skills and badass reputation.

As Charlie gathered himself, he did not notice one of the orcs had survived. Even with its lower half gone, the orc still made it his remaining life's mission to crawl towards Charlie, and take the geek with him to his grave. He prepared his dagger to shank his rear in a gory fashion.

"Helena! Killjoy Fist!" the girl yelled, summoning her Stand which then splattered the orc with a powerful punch. The American geek turned around in shock, laying eyes for the first time on the girl who's been stalking him.

"You wanna be next? Well, let's get this over with! Come on!" Charlie yelled, his adrenaline still flowing.

The young girl said nothing, only giving him an expressionless look. "It's suck… not eat…"

"W-What?"

She then turned around and disappeared. Charlie waited to make sure she was not going to ambush him, but after concluding she wouldn't, Charlie slightly let his guard down to think on what he should do next.

"Sumimasen!"

"Jesus, fuck!" yelled Charlie as he waved his lightsaber around in reflex. It was the girl again, panting and sweating, having gone back after forgetting something.

"G-Get out of here, please. Go in that direction! You'll find the others there!"

The Japanese otaku then ran away, leaving Charlie alone scratching his head. She was one awkward girl.