Trying To Get XP

When I wake, instead of a canopy of leaves I see a screen.

It reads: All Players are free to adventure within sector 1229B.

4 hours 53 minutes  ago

It's surprising to me that I can blink and move around. Unlike before, the screen doesn't have the side effect of freezing me in place.

I okay the screen, then check a more familiar screen.

The time on my phone reads 7:14AM. I have two notifications that bring up feelings of joy and nervousness. 

The first says that I have 20 unread messages. The second says that I have 7 miscalls.

I call my mom.

The phone rings and my mom picks up, then asks. "Finnian! Where are you!?"

"I'm fine. I'll be home soon."

"Tell me where you are, Finn!"

"I'm in the woods. I'll be home, mom. Don't worry."

"We'll come get you. Stay on the line."

I meet my parents at the side of a hiking trail. They hug me and ask hundreds of questions on the ride home.

At home I eat a small meal, then fall asleep in my room. 

My mom wakes me up. "Your friends are hers. They were worried about you."

I head downstairs and see Kenny and Michael.

Michael reaches out for our usual secret handshake, but I don't reciprocate. Michael doesn't seem to notice. "Bro! Isn't this cool? It's like a video game!"

Kenny retorts."Yeah so? We can't level up or anything or whatever that screen said."

This jolts me. "You had a screen too!?"

Kenny nods. "It was crazy. I was at school. I grabbed my breakfast when that screen popped up."

Michael carries on. "It was crazy, man! My dad was driving when everything stopped. The car rolled right into somebody's house! We sat there with nothing to do but read that screen!"

I hesitantly say. "I don't remember… what did it say?"

"It said somethin' about 'us being chosen to be Players.' Ha! I've always been a player, though!" He nudges Kenny and me. 

Kenny grins. "You've only had one girlfriend, and she wasn't much to look at."

I tune them out, as I think of my experience and of what Admin told me.

"Finn!" Michael calls.

"Hugh?"

"Why were you in the woods?"

"I… don't remember."

Kenny shrugs. "What, you skipping school?"

I shake my head.

My mom comes downstairs. "Boys, remember the curfew!"

I look at Michael and Kenny questioningly.

They stand, and Kenny explains. "There's a city curfew because of all this dungeon, player, adventuring thing. Only good thing is that school is closed."

Michael opens the door for Kenny, then remarks. "We gotta find a way to level, and get those cool abilities that the screen talked about."

I wave bye to them, and shut the door.

My life goes on this way. Since school is closed. Even my dad's job is closed.

Kenny and Michael come to visit, but after a while only Kenny visits. 

More and more people around town have been gaining amazing abilities. One guy can summon daggers of shadow. A lady can heal people's wounds and even cure some illnesses.

Kenny and I have an ability too, but we can't use them. Anytime we try, a screen pops up saying that we have to be level 1 to access the ability. It also says we need experience points to level up.

Kenny plays a lot of video games, so he does video games things. Like, running areas for people, collecting anything shiny or valuable, reading heaps of books and even learning how to box from his uncle.

Nothing seems to earn him XP. I haven't tried to gain XP. Since I'm the Dungeon Master, who knows what could happen. Though, I can always ask Admin, but I really don't want anything more to do with this whole situation.

Regardless, I still help Kenny to level up, whenever he asks.

Like today, he wants to wrestle to see if winning a fight will give him XP. We face each other in my front yard.

Kenny charges at me. He tackles me, and we roll out of the yard and into the street. A car that's driving, stops.

A man sticks his head out of the vehicle. "You lids gotta watch out!"

I recognize him. He's the guy that was washing his car, when all of this started.

I get up and go up to him. "Hey, do you have a tattoo?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it an angel holding a sword!"

"Uh…"

Kenny walks over. "Sorry Mister, we were rough housing."

The man nods. "I don't think so, you guys were trying to get experience points, am I right?"

Kenny sheepishly smiles. I roll my eyes.

The man scratches his head. "Well… look, if you're trying to get XP, you gotta kill something."

This statement causes an odd silence to hang in the air.

Kenny stammers. "You killed someone!"

"No! I go hunting in the woods."

"So, we have to kill animals?" Kenny's face pales.

The man revs his engine. "I'll see you boys around. Don't go in the woods alone. People have been telling stories about weird things happening there, lately."

He drives away, kicking dust in the air.