Dusk

I felt something stuck in my throat as my heart skipped a beat. "What?" He was joking, right? We couldn't be stuck in this game, right? That only happened in movies and books. Not… not to us. Right?

With shaky hands, I summoned my interface and searched for it, or something contact anyone outside. Didn't games have something like customer support?

"It's true… I can't find it either." Samantha said with a catch in her voice. "Erik, when do you think they'll fix it?"

Erik shrugged. "I don't know. This never happened before." He hesitated. "Simple bugfixes usually are fairly quickly but I've got no idea how something like this even made it into the final product. This will screw up so many plans." He sighed. "Worst case scenario, it'll take a few hours for them to notice and then they'll forcefully log everyone out till the issue is fixed."

Samantha nodded. She didn't seem particularly alarmed or anything. "Ok, I guess we'll wait." She quietly said as she sat on one of the logs surrounding the campfire. Erik nodded, though he still seemed a bit pale. He glanced at her, then at me. I could see it in his eyes – he wasn't telling us everything.

I hesitantly walked to the edge of camp. I couldn't just sit there, trapped in this virtual world. "I'll go for a walk." Erik nodded as I walked off.

I passed through the trees and aimlessly walked around. I felt exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. It was hard to believe that my body was just laying on a bed in the real world right now. I ran my finger through the leaves hanging from the lower branches of the trees. It all felt so real – the drops of water clinging to my fingers, the strands of my hair blowing in the gentle wind, even the uneven dirt being crushed beneath my feet.

A gnarl pulled me away from my thoughts. I quickly turned to face the source of it, only to find a pair of red eyes closing in on me. I jumped back, then scrambled to open my inventory to take my staff. A pair of sharp claws passed right before my face as I fell on my back. As my staff finally materialised, the creature's fangs snapped in front of me. I felt the weight of its body press down on me as I desperately tried to keep it away from my face.

My staff was basically useless, it was too long to use in such a close combat situation. I let go of it as I grabbed the creature's ears. Its claws dug into my chest, but I didn't care. I thrust my fingers into its ears as it shrieked. Moments later, blood spurted out as I felt something crack. It whimpered and shivered before finally falling dead. I felt a coldness in my chest almost immediately.

I lay there for a moment. I felt sick. My hands were covered in blood and… something grey. The metallic smell of its blood filled my nostrils as I scrambled to get the corpse off me. I grabbed my staff and ran through the trees, without even so much as a glance behind.

I only stopped when I reached the small stream Samantha had shown me earlier. Throwing aside my staff, I submerged my hands into the water, allowing the blood and everything else to wash away. After only a moment's hesitation, I walked upstream. There had to be a lake of something at the source of it. I couldn't go back looking like this and just jumping into clean, cold water sounded too good.

After a while, I finally arrived at… somewhere. I stepped out of the woods to an alcove with a beautiful lake and a waterfall. The serene beauty of the place took my breath away. The grass was a lush green and colourful crystals decorated the cliffs surrounding the place. The lake's water was crystal clear; I could see the fish swimming in the depths of it. Even the air felt fresh and filled with… something. With every breath, I felt refreshed.

I approached the lake carefully. I wasn't going to let myself be caught off guard again. I touched the surface of the water, half expecting something to jump out and try to eat me. Nothing happened. Instead, I was greeted with a few scared fish scurrying away into the patches of seaweed.

After making sure no one was around, I removed my clothes and jumped into the crystal-clear water. I knew it was risky. I knew it was stupid. I was completely defenceless. But the cold water washed away all my worries as I felt my exhaustion slowly disappear.

Once I was done, I dried myself and quickly got dressed. Then, instead of returning to the campsite, I lay on the lush, green grass and watched the darkening sky. The clouds reflected the purple-crimson light of the setting sun. It was almost magical.

The moment was soon ruined by a notification. 'Beware the Night: Demonic Creatures are empowered by the darkness. Make sure you're prepared to face them if you intend to spend the night outside of areas protected by the crystals of the Makers.'

I stared at the pale blue words. Who were the Makers? It felt as if we'd been thrown into this with little to no explanation. I knew this wasn't exactly a finished product but still��

I summoned my stats panel. One more soul had been added to the ten I had gotten before. I felt a little sick as I remembered the last creature I killed. I quickly shook my head – it wasn't real, this was all a game. My thought process was soon interrupted as I saw a difference: Below the 'Fallen Grace', there was another skill now.

"'Explorer'?" I mumbled as I read the description. 'Explorers receive minimal experience points by discovering places of significance. Map enabled.'

I quickly glanced at the experience gauge. It was now at '15/150'

"They weren't joking when they said 'minimal'." I grumbled as I rose to my feet. It was getting dark – I had to hurry back. As I took my staff from my inventory, I noticed a previously unavailable panel. It was a topographic map of my surroundings.

My eyes widened – this was incredibly useful. My happiness didn't last long however as my eyes involuntarily searched for a logout button. I forced myself to forget about that for now. I rushed back to the campsite albeit a bit reluctantly – this place was truly beautiful.

I saw the glow of a fire shortly before I arrived. As I stepped into the light, I noticed a delicious smell – meat being cooked.

"Welcome back Kai." Erik said with a grin. Everyone was sitting by the fire, with rather tasty looking pieces of meat in hand. As I approached, Samantha handed me a piece of meat on a wooden slab. "There was quite a lot of food in the camp's supply chest." She explained with a smile. "We just helped ourselves a little."

I took a bite – it was delicious. "This is great!" Everyone else enthusiastically nodded. They didn't seem too worried. Did they not care about being stuck in this virtual world? We ate our meal in silence and once we were done, Erik spoke up. "Let's go to sleep. Chances are we'll wake up back at home. If not, dad will probably get us out tomorrow."

"Yeah." Alina mumbled. "I'm really tired anyways." She got up and headed to one of the tents. Samantha followed her almost immediately, but not before looking at us and saying, "If you guys even think of doing something, I'll put an arrow through your heads.".

The Kestler brothers nodded in fear while me and Erik both sighed. "Alright, let's go." Erik said as he dragged all three of us into the other tent. I was surprised by his strength – his grip even hurt a little.

I picked the closest spot to the entrance and bid everyone else a goodnight. With an uneasy feeling and a coldness in my chest, I fell asleep.