An unfamiliar beige ceiling fills my view. I keep trying to follow the patterns in the texture around the ceiling lights to try to keep my mind preoccupied. I’ve been so out of it, the st hour or so has felt like such a blur. Where exactly am I again?

  Let’s see. It started with me throwing up in the cafe bathroom. I stayed there for a while and eventually Boss had to come check up on me. Cire and Luna seemed a little shaken and worried when Boss walked me out. I think they wanted to take me to a doctor, but I refused. I tried to go home myself but started feeling worse on the way back. Next thing that comes to mind is Cire pulling me along somewhere.

  I start to sit up from the soft bed slowly. My eyes start to wander around the room, there is a rge TV, a dark wooden desk, a lone reclining chair in the corner, and another identical bed next to mine. This is a hotel room… A nice one at that. Did Cire pay for this? I need to make sure I apologize and pay her back. Wait a minute… Does that mean it’s going to be just her and me alone here? I don’t feel like I could deal with that anxiety right now! Suddenly I can hear the door to the room creak open. I grab the bnket and in one swift motion retreat under the covers and turn away at the same time. Then I sm my eyes shut to try to sell my illusion. There are 2 sets of footsteps. One moves over to the desk. The other moves to the bed behind me and gets on it. Wait, if there are 2 does that mean Luna is still with Cire?

  “I still don’t feel right about this.” That’s Cire’s voice. I think she is the one by the desk. “I think we really should have ignored him and taken him to a clinic.”

  “No, we shouldn’t force it.” I think… Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s Luna on the bed. I don’t know if having both of them here is making me more rexed or more anxious.

  “But still, he’s my cssmate first. I feel like I shouldn’t leave him here.”

  “It’s okay Cre, you can trust me. I’ll make sure he is starting to feel better then immediately leave myself. Besides…” Is Luna trying to push Cire to leave? Why? “... It’s nothing.”

  “Hmm… Alright fine, I trust you. You win this time." Cire says with a sigh. I can hear her make her way to the door. “Hey, Aiden is a pretty nice guy. But if he even thinks about trying anything, make sure he throws up twice as much next time!” Oi! I know better than to try pulling anything in a situation like that!

  “Hah, don’t worry, I’d make sure he is coughing up nothing but blood for weeks.” Understood. I swear on my life. Don’t hurt me! The girls both ugh at each other as Cire leaves and the room falls silent. One second passes, then a minute before long. It feels like an eternity before Luna says anything. “... Hey, you’re actually awake aren’t you?”

  “Ugh… you could tell.” I slowly turn back over dejected, like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  “I pretend to be asleep a lot at home. You’re not very good at it.” Looking up at her she is sitting on the edge of the other bed with her legs crossed. Her face stern.

  “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything.”

  “No, I don’t care about that. Are you feeling any better?” I fully sit up before responding.

  “Yeah, I think so at least.” Another moment of silence passes. As I sit there I get the feeling more and more I should come clean about everything. “Hey-”

  “Hey-” We both started talking at the same time, I cave and let her go first. “I want to know what exactly is going on with you and that sword.” I’m a bit surprised she figured out exactly what has been bothering me. Talk about hitting the nail on the head.

  “You realised?” I ask as I lower my head.

  “Back at the cafe, you were saying something as you got sick. The word sword was about the only thing I picked up. But even before then it felt like you were afraid of something, both in game and real life.” So basically, she could tell something wasn’t right from the start. Damn it, do I really make my emotions that obvious?

  “... The other day I told you that the sword appeared out of nowhere right? Well, that wasn’t really the whole truth. The day after we beat that hacker for the first time I tried to login to TROTL, but something was wrong. I spawned in a floating temple in the sky. Once I walked in I found Excalibur sitting at the base of a tree and picked it up. As soon as I did it was like everything came to a stop… And…”

  “Aiden, it’s okay.” Luna says calmly as she raises her hand to me. That alone brings me back to my senses. I move my own hand to stop her. Ah, I guess my hand was gripping my chest. I was starting to talk faster and faster as I went on too. “If it’s better you don’t have to say anything.” She adds.

  “No I, I think it would be better to tell you.” Luna is the only person I know who I would be able to talk about something like this. Anyone else would probably think I am overreacting or crazy, bme my gaming addiction and move on. I take a deep breath before I continue. “Once I picked up the sword someone, or something, came walking towards me. It was me, and not just my character or avatar. It was my real body, just like how you see me now. He slowly grabbed the bde and stabbed me in the chest… And when he did I could feel it… Next thing I know I woke up a couple hours ter. Later when I met you next, I had Excalibur myself. Even now, retelling the story is making my chest hurt again. Like my body won’t let me forget it. I think that somehow, Excalibur is making the pain inside of the game real… That hacker too, he acted like he got hurt during our fight.” There’s a long pause after I finish my story. Looking at Luna’s face, it looks like she is lost in her own thoughts.

  “That… That’s not possible. The NeuroDrive shouldn't be dangerous! How can that even happen?” She yells out as she sms her fist on the bed.

  “I… I don’t know for sure.” I have tried to wrap my head around that since we left the cafe. I’m really more into the software side of things so all the technology that goes into the NeuroDrive feels like wizard magic to me. Luna looks me in the eyes, then at my shoulder.

  “Sorry, I don’t think you are lying. For some reason that sword, The Realm Of Timeless Lands, and the NeuroDrive have physically hurt you.” She holds up a finger for all 3. “Do you think it’s not intentional? Could it have been the hacker?”

  “It's a possibility. I only received the sword after fighting him after all. But then there was his reaction to getting hurt too. Something here isn’t adding up.”

  “But nothing here is adding up.” Luna interjects. “We at least need something to start from.”

  “Start from… Wait, what do you mean by that? Are you seriously considering trying to dig deeper?” Crap, I raised my voice a bit. She seems a little surprised by my question at first, but shifts to a more gloomy expression. Luna lets out a sigh before trying to expin herself.

  “A long time ago, when I was little my dad would always take me out camping to watch the stars. I remember it all so clearly: the smell of the trees, the ughter we shared pointing up at the consteltions. It was one of the reasons my parents named me Luna actually. Those trips and the time I spent with him meant a lot to me as I grew up. Then about 4 years ago, my dad got into a car accident and passed away.” I don’t know what to say. Losing family, a parent, especially one you have a close bond with, it can’t be easy. Part of me wishes I could say I understand how she feels, but I just don’t. My mother is gone too, but I can barely remember her myself. I only really know who she was from the stories from my father.

  After a small pause Luna continues. “Since then I have been so busy trying to prove myself here in the city. It felt more like a cage or a prison. But then, on a whim I tried pying The Realm Of Timeless Lands. I met a boy who helped me see one of the most beautiful night skies I’ve ever seen. In that world I feel like I’m able to escape.” She clenches her fists once more. “Aiden, you have every right to quit pying because of this. But this game has become important to me. And if something is wrong with it, I want to fix it. I won’t let it become another prison.”

  It feels like it was so long ago I also started TROTL on a whim, but as I kept pying I enjoyed it more and more. It’s a space where I’m not just some spineless kid. I feel like my worries get swept away when I py. If you had to ask me, I prefer that world to our own any day. Luna is right. Do I really want to just abandon it all? Wouldn’t walking away be the most sensible choice? “No, I want to fix it too… I want to be able to solve this together.”

  “Yeah…” We both look into each other's eyes, then a small warm smile forms on her face. “... Thanks.” She slowly gets up from her bedside. “I should probably get going. I did tell Cire I wouldn’t stay long.”

  “Oh, right.” My head lowers to its natural resting pce. Luna starts walking to the hotel room door. The whole time I keep trying to think of what to say next. We agreed to work on this together right? How should we even do that in the first pce?

  “Aiden, when you get home, let’s meet up in the game okay?” She says as she reaches the door she turns her head back.

  “Huh? Oh, Yeah. I’ll be there!” Is what I manage to stammer out.

  “Ah, but me and Cire split the bill for the room, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt if you enjoyed it a bit longer.” And with That Luna lets the door close behind her. Alright so they both paid for it. Still, this pce is very nice and clean, even splitting it couldn’t have been cheap. While a bit more rest probably wouldn’t hurt, I’m feeling kind of motivated for a change. It doesn’t take me too long to get myself together and out the door. As I walk home my self doubts come crawling back.

  Is this really the right call? I mean what we are dealing with can easily be incredibly dangerous. And not just the sword hurting us, what if someone did make excalibur hurt on purpose? Am I leading the both of us straight to the pit of hell? I need to pause and take a deep breath. I seriously don’t want to throw up again on the side of the road.

  I don’t usually come home this way, maybe focusing on my surroundings would be a good idea. I happen to be outside of a bookstore. It’s certainly closed at this hour, but there are some posters pced on the windows to promote the newest releases. One a sports drama, the next a horror mystery. The one that catches my eye looks to be sci-fi with the anime style protagonist on the cover confidently wielding a fancy futuristic sword like a traditional hero. Hold on a minute. That’s right! I’m supposed to be the hero in this whole situation! So what would a hero do? A hero would save the day. They would make sure to stop all the bad guys. And maybe most of all, a hero would make sure to save everyone.

  So that is what I will do. I might not have the confidence a hero should have. I can’t promise I can save the day. I probably can’t stop any bad guys. But I can at least make myself a promise. No matter what, I need to make sure no one gets hurt. I’m the one that is going to be using Excalibur, the one in the driver seat. Even if we end up fighting more hackers and cheaters in the future, they don’t deserve torture because of it! I take a step towards the poster in the window. With how dark it is, my reflection is more clear than the image. I give my reflection a firm nod then press my fist to the gss. As long as I wield this sword, I won’t let it hurt anyone. I promise you, I will become the hero I need to be.

  Suddenly realizing I’m still in public brings me back to my senses. I should get out of here quickly. God I bet I got some weird looks there. I guess there is no hope for me gaining any of that heroic self confidence, right?

  It doesn’t take me much longer before I’m back home. First thing I do is head straight for my room and get ready to log in to TROTL. Once I’m fully online I see Luna is already on and at the Azure Coral Archipego. It’s separated from the mainnd and the other areas by the Still Siren’s Sea. The isnds have a tropical theme and feature abandoned architecture inspired by eastern cultures. I bet the developers were probably trying to tease some new region that was never finished. The archipego was one of the areas added post unch. Actually it was the st combat area that was added to the game before the devs stopped releasing content updates.

  It takes me a minute to get from spawn to where Luna is on the second isnd. On the way I spotted a few people every now and then on the beach, but I guess most people are starting to log off for the night. Finally I spot Luna, no it is Star here, by a waterfall that trails off into the ocean.

  “Hey! You're up and about!” She yells as she waves. “You feeling any better?”

  “Yeah, I’m doing a lot better, thank you.” I nod as I walk closer to her.

  “Great, let’s really get moving then. It’s time we start investigating.” As Star finishes her sentence she raises her fists towards me.

  “Huh? What did I do?” I already have my hands raised and ready to surrender. “Wait- hold on, investigate what?”

  “Excalibur. I want to know exactly how it works, and how it is hurting people. So, we are going to fight and find out.”

  “Hold on! Isn’t it safer for me to try hurting myself first!” Star responds with an annoyed groan.

  “Fine, just make sure you are careful.” I should be saying that to you! Why does it feel like she keeps wanting to fight me? I reach to my back and as I bring out my sword it transforms into Excalibur just like before. Star stops me before I can do more. “Actually that was the first thing I wanted to try out. Will any weapon transform into Excalibur or only swords?”

  “Good point, I might be able to change my weapon and never have to worry about this thing again. I think I might have an old bow in my inventory.” Back when I first started I tried being an archer knight instead but quickly switched off to thief knight, I’m not really built for FPS games. I quickly move through the menus and swap out to my starting bow, however it glows and transforms into Excalibur all the same. “I guess I’m going to be locked to melee for now.”

  Star nods, “Looks like it… Should we try… You know, using it?” She sounds hesitant. I wouldn’t be jumping from my seat to recommend someone purposely try to hurt themselves either, to be fair.

  “Alright, here we go.” I lift the bde and hold it horizontally. I’m not dumb enough to try and stab myself with the damn thing just yet. Instead I’m just going to run my fingers across the edge, that should be enough to only feel like a papercut. I move my hand across, then in surprise I look at my hand.

  “Well, did you feel that?” Star finally asked, breaking the silence.

  “No, not at all.” What the hell? Was I wrong? Was it really all a coincidence after all?

  “There must be something we’re missing.” Star brings her hand to her chin as she stares at Excalibur, deep in thought. Right, we are missing a key puzzle piece somewhere. What if we treat it like a bug? This is a video game, a computer program after all. When you can’t find a bug, you need to try and replicate it. If I recall correctly, before I fought Dead-F4 and got hurt I was testing the hero skills with Star. Wait a minute. Bugged skills?

  “Hold on!” I quickly open my skill menu, and a chill runs down my spine. One stands out among the rest. Aegis, the skill with the bugged description. That’s right I technically had it active the whole time during my fight with Dead-F4. Even the bugged description reminds me of how I found Excalibur in that location with the bugged name.

  I activate Aegis and move Excalibur back to the same position I had before. I then run my hand across it just the same way. It’s funny looking back. Aegis is meant to represent protection and defense, taking inspiration from the shield of the Greek god Zeus. Ironic that it is now what is causing me to feel this sharp sting across my palm.