Dungeon Raider System

Sam started his game adventure like any other player, going through the basics. He held the same confident smile a cocky teenager would have after being challenged to play a game, though Sam's confidence did not come from the many hours he spent playing or how much experience he had in similar games, but from the advantage being not just a hunter but a holy rank gave him.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Asked Medusa after she noticed Sam's character bumped into a wall.

"Yeah, I'm just getting accustomed to the controls. Let's see, it's w,a,s,d, which is nice, ctrl for action, space for tumbling and climbing. This is nice, I just wish I had a mouse."

"We could ask Amy to catch a few for you." Said Emma, who watched Sam's playthrough while scrolling on her cellphone looking for more potential points of interest within the city.

"It's not that kind of mouse, silly. It's a device people used in the old times, before haptics and VR were a thing. I mean, we had them, but they were wonky and were not massively distributed." Medusa explained.

"You played too?" Sam asked.

"A little, just not that kind of game." Medusa replied blushing while thinking she would never tell a soul the kind of games she used to play were dating simulations.

"I think I got it." Sam said, his character moving across the plains and three enemies popped up. His game character wielded the sword at an angle and the first enemy was taken down, then the other two closed in only to receive a similar treatment.

"You're pretty good at that." Said Emma.

"Of course I am," Sam defeated a bunch of enemies that showed up and they were defeated in a similar fashion. "I still got it." He celebrated with short lived pride as a popup screen appeared displaying the words 'tutorial completed'.

"Good job, you just graduated kindergarten!" Laughed Medusa as she patted Sam on the back like in the old times. It made him feel exactly how he expected, which was nostalgia with a hint of emptiness.

Another screen popped up with a disclaimer and a single question of yes or no that read: 'Do you wish to continue?'. Sam hesitated before typing the answer and they all noticed it, prompting him to explain.

"This kind of messages appearing on the screen are pretty common and most players usually just skip them without reading. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but the problem is that without a mouse I can't read it." He said.

"I could probably build one from scratch, but I would need some scrap and time. Scrap is not really a problem, but we're pretty short on time." Medusa said with a wry smile.

"It's probably fine, the streamer must have been through this part which means he accepted the disclaimer." Said Emma.

"The missing streamer you say?" Sam rebuked and Ika butted in with a scoff.

"Why don't you relax a little? It's not like it can kill you, right?"

"That's right but... I don't know, I'm not so sure I can finish the game now." Sam scratched the back of his head.

"Look at you, so proud and mighty when playing the tutorial, then backing down the moment the game begins. I would say I am disappointed, but it is exactly what I expected from the likes of you." Luna said.

"Luna, he's trying his best." Medusa scolded.

"Why should I care about him trying his best? Didn't he cause us a lot of trouble in the past? Wasn't he responsible for the deaths of thousands? And now he comes back with the tail between his legs asking for redemption only after he lost most of his company, yet refuses to risk his life one time when we're out there risking ours on a daily basis. If that sounds insane is because it is." Luna replied and although they didn't say a word, Sam carried on playing.

This time though, his heart was heavy as Luna spelled out loud exactly the words he feared. It wasn't just his friends who were affected by his actions, but everyone in the city and the rest of the world.

Sam's character carried on his adventure from the plains where he could spot enemies at a distance to a forest where he was frequently ambushed by creatures. And Luna commented more than once on how they started differing from creatures of the myths she considered real and more into the realms of what she called fantasy. With several victories on his belt, Sam felt ready to face the enemy and he went to the location of the challenge where the boss would appear, but the trip was long and perilous.

"I'm losing way too much health and these are not even special enemies." Sam clicked his tongue after getting shot by a poisoned arrow.

"Was the streamer who played this game first better than you even though you're a hunter?" Emma scoffed.

"If I could use my skills and power in this game I would beat the shit out of those weaklings, but controlling a character is hard."

"Interesting, that might be similar to what gods experience when they find a human avatar." Luna pointed out.

"That's why that Arausio fell so quickly." Medusa concurred.

"Shh, he's getting to the best part." Emma said, now completely invested in the game as Sam approached a foggy terrain that led to the village he was supposed to save. Thanks to Sam's eidetic memory he knew exactly how to reach the place and he took a shortcut by wading across a shallow river and entered yet another forest, only now his visibility was nigh zero.

"Why don't you light up your torch?" Asked Medusa to Sam when she noticed he squinted his eyes when looking at the screen.

"I guess I forgot those even existed," Sam chuckled as his character lit up the torch allowing him to see further inside the forest. He was ambushed once more, though with the help of celerity he tapped on the keys so fast the poor creature died on the spot. Instead of celebrating his win, though, Sam became shocked when he noticed it looked similar to a game character. "I didn't realize this game was PvP."

"It's not, it's not even connected to the internet." Medusa informed.

"Then... how?" Sam mouthed.

"It's probably just coded in. See how it was already injured before you killed him? It must be an NPC you needed to save, which sucks because you might be stuck in the story." Emma said, completely forgetting the goal was to defeat the boss, not the game.

"What was that!?" Sam turned his head to look behind him.

"What was what?" Was heard in unison as everyone turned around too in fear of some unknown threat.

"I don't know, I just heard a twig breaking behind me."

"That's impossible, you're not even wearing headphones." Medusa shook her head.

"Yeah, I think I'm being too paranoid. I'll just defeat the boss and... fuck! Something's following me." Sam complained as he commanded his character to escape. He knew he could defeat anything that showed up, but he was saving up his health to face the boss and could not afford to get hurt in any way.

The mist started moving in an uncanny way as though small gusts of wind breached through it, or perhaps maybe an invisible enemy not even Sam's trait could perceive. Any time Sam attempted to use his trait caused him to see the pixels, which instead of an advantage actually felt like handicap.

Sam's character then started acting weird and moved randomly about the forest as if a cat walked on top of the laptop keyboard and before anyone could point it out a sound was heard behind him, only now everyone could hear it.

"Did I walk in on a meeting or something?" Amy asked, then followed when she saw the screen. "you guys are playing!"

"No, it's just Sam." Medusa said.

"Sure, if he's the one playing, then where is he?" Amy crossed her arms, offended that while she risked her life in the abandoned pool everybody else was having fun.

"Where is he indeed?" Asked Luna, preparing herself to be betrayed once more by Sam.

"Look! The character is still moving!" Medusa gasped as she saw Sam's character take laps making a circle, then walk back by the river and crouch behind a rock.

"I think this solves the mystery." Luna announced.

"Are you implying that Sam is now trapped inside the game?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"Well, keyboard is not responding, so that's evident." Medusa sighed knowing that all they could do now was wait for Sam to complete the challenge.

On his side of things, Sam was panicking like never before. His movements in real life briefly connected with those of his character which was confusing to say the least, which is why the character moved randomly. Yet the worst shock came when his perspective shifted into that of his character as he understood at the same time the others did, that he was now trapped inside a game.

"Why!? Why me!? Why this fucking game!? There's thousands of other games I would love to live in, why this unpopulated sick world filled with ugly creatures!" He cried as he kept his eyes closed to avoid looking at the distance. Not knowing what lied ahead was terrifying for most, but to Sam the opposite was true.