Civilization

I look at Sabrina's stone-cold expression. Her eyes carefully look at my expression as she places her head on her hands propping them up.

"It felt weirdly disturbing. Like...Like I truly died."

"Are you ok?"

"Well, if you consider the fact that I woke up in cold sweat, spent 3 or 4 hours thinking back to the moment and then came here. Yea, I'm okay."

"So you are not ok, don't worry that's why you are eating at a cafe with a cute girl."

"Where is the cute girl? I don't-ARGH!"

A sharp pain shot up from my shin when I felt Sabrina kick me.

"Hrmp, whatever. What happened prior to your death?"

"It...Uhh...I...I was going around my area following an item and I came across some other players. Since I was in a disadvantaged position I retreated to a previously destroyed encampment. There I encountered a group of new monsters, stone humans with devil wings and creepy smiles. Imagine a gargoyle but the face and is more human-like. These monsters were extremely strong but after running away there was one stray monster and thinking I could defeat it with my team I challenged it only to get completely and utterly dominated. The gargoyle killed everyone around before killing me last."

"How strong were they? Compared to the events that happened previously."

"Insanely strong and this was just one monster. If the whole I don't know pack found me or where my people lived we would be wiped out in a second."

"Okay, how about after you died? How or what were you feeling?"

"That was worse. I felt like I was alive but I knew that my head was separated from my body. I couldn't move and I was in a dark space floating but not really floating. Then after a bit, I woke up in my room."

After, recounting the story the waiter brought our food and drinks to the table. Telling Sabrina about what happened felt like something was lifted off my chest.

"Eat up first Ian, we can talk more after."

......…..

"I...I almost died in the game."

We had finished eating and I was just sipping on my water when Sabrina broke the silence. The unexpected comment made me almost choke on the water.

"What happened?"

"The event with the invasion happened. One of the slimes was a bomb slime variant. When one of my people killed it with a sword it exploded and I happened to be nearby. The blast propelled the blade of the sword in my direction and it ended up stabbing me in the chest. I thought I was going to die. The pain of being stabbed was unreal. I couldn't believe what I was feeling but I guess with the devil's luck I wasn't immediately killed and one of the other NPCs was able to take the blade out and apply a slave from herbs found in the river nearby."

"You, you never told this before. Does Evan even know?"

"No, of course, that idiot doesn't know. What is he going to do about it?"

"But still…"

"Don't worry it's been a while. Ultimately, the feeling that I was going to die was something different. I never thought I could feel so much pain, sadness and anger at the same time. Like it's a game but it felt real."

"I know what you mean...It felt very real to me."

We sit in silence for a bit drinking from our cups and listening to the sounds around us. People chatting, doors opening, milk foaming, utensils clicking and feet shuffling. I look at Sabrina and notice a soft smile on her lips as she looks at her drink.

"What are you thinking about when you look at your drink?"

"Oh, I was smiling? Sorry, I didn't realize. Evan introduced me to this drink one time when I was feeling down and since then whenever I or whoever I am meeting feels a little sad I would get this drink."

"Really? That's pretty sweet of Evan to do that for you."

"Maybe, who knows...Now, want to go down and see what is all the fuss over at the Bones building?"

"Sure why not."

With a small shrug, I agree with the idea and follow Sabrina out of the cafe. The line at the Bones front gate still looked as long as before we had our food. With Sabrina confidently leading the way towards the Bones building, I walked closely behind her. Walking closer to the building I could feel how impressive it was with its many bodyguards watching the line as well as the many different security features at the front gate.

"Wow, they really went all out."

"What do you mean, Sabrina?"

"This isn't the first time Bones have done mass recruitment and nor are they the only company. The major three gaming companies Bones, Lotus and Aqua always create guilds in the big new games and employ players to help them dominate the game. Even if one of these companies make the game their guild firms are separate from the main company in order to provide a more fair way to compete."

"Have you or Evan joined any of them before?"

"We have in a couple of games but since Settlement is a vast sandbox-like game we were deciding to not join one of the companies and make a small guild together with just us two and well most likely you too."

"Having help in the game would be nice and it would make exploring the world feel safer."

"Exactly and that's what these companies are doing. They are taking the insecurity of players in this different world and trying to make a profit out of them. Evan showed me a post on the forum about a player explaining the benefits they received once they got hired. In exchange for daily reports on location, game events, NPCs, flora, fauna, environment etc they receive information on nearby other players employed by the company and are required to team up and help each other. That's it. Information on other players nearby. It's a scam and players are buying it because they don't know what is beyond their scope of exploration."

"Surely, they have approached other players on the top 10 right?"

"Yep and the most likely provide or offer more than the general public. Ian, what do you want to do? If you want to join a guild then go ahead we won't hate you for it since they are still a safe option and with the fact that you are in the top 10 they would most likely provide you with a lot in order to keep you. "

"Sabrina, I think for now I am content with what I have. Playing the game for fun and talking to you and Evan about it. The only thing I want is to eventually meet up in the game."

As we were chatting near the front of the Bones building both of our phones vibrated. Evan had messaged the group chat and his message was slightly worrying.

"Ian, you said that your base was in a canyon right? I think some players have found it and are preparing to make a show out of it. Look at the latest forum post." - Evan