Sean slept for ten hours and he felt like he could spend ten more in bed, but he was already much better after the night. His muscles still ached, but only slightly this morning. He had fallen asleep right after taking a shower – so no chance to contemplate his options last evening. He wanted to visit Erea again, to experiment, or even just to busy himself with fighting and leveling up.
But he didn't want to repeat the yesterday's debacle, so now he actually looked into what he was going to enter. Omega hadn't been too eager to discuss reality-game details in the evening, so he turned to the internet for answers – or rather, the only remaining respectable-enough site with mostly human input: Reddit. There was a running joke that even Omega steered clear of that place…
Each large-enough game world had its own subreddit, and opinions about Erea ranged from 'way too difficult' to 'finally a challenge' – apparently it was one of the more demanding picks. It made sense considering what Sean had gone through with lvl-one rats . He browsed for a while and 'learned' a few fairly obvious facts: everybody was chasing the META, partying was crucial to success, and everybody seemed to think that their class either was, should be, or was about to become 'the best.'
New player hints were all over the place – most of the advice was either obsolete or obviously wrong, at least for Sean's playstyle. Starter guilds either seemed wannabe-strong or demanded joining fees of ten or more silvers – to show that the recruit was serious, as they claimed. And the Mystic-craze was in full swing there too.
There was still some useful information. There were easily hundreds of thousands of active players in one continuous open world – estimated by the number of cities and daily portal traffic. Lobehelm was only one of around sixty 'starter' towns, away from any wilderness and troubled only by relatively weak monsters. There was a big discussion post on overleveling, and it seemed that killing monsters around five-to-twelve levels below the player barely yielded any XP – specific number seemed to depend on what any given commenter deemed worthwhile . Cash rewards stayed the same regardless of overleveling, and people complained that it didn't matter anyway: players usually hunted the highest-lvl monsters they could comfortably defeat, and that was it.
Sean made a post to ask if wearing clothes from Earth was at all feasible in there, but the first few comments were 'why would you do that?' and one guy patiently listed all the downsides – that he knew of, anyway. Then the comments turned hostile and his post was downvoted into Earth's mantle for being 'a Jobber' – it was clearly frowned upon a lot, and even the possibility of anybody being one provoked hate. Such as asking about Earth-clothes…
He had been scrolling down some search results when a notification from the Omega-communicator popped up. Two days prior, Sean would've spent a while tracking which group of processes was responsible for it and exterminating them – likely loudly complaining about Omega invading his system. Now he sighed and clicked it open.
Apparently Emma was asking if he was planning to play today.
"Did you put her up to this?" he asked out loud while checking that the speakers were still switched on.
The answer came through the app and it read, "She requested, unprompted, for the question to be relayed to you."
"Can you just speak through, ugh…" He paused and massaged his forehead. Not because he was particularly tired, but because he was angry at himself. How easily convenience prevailed over his principles. "Okay, fine – I know I've been… difficult over the past few weeks, so… maybe you can simply use the speakers when we're conversing. But do you always have to be listening in?"
"It's only for your safety and well-being," Omega reassured him. "If it helps, those are only low-complexity algorithms with little to no consciousness."
"Great! So I'm being spied on by a bunch of dumb– No, never mind," he complained and reclined in his chair. "What's that about Emma – are you sure you didn't arrange it so she would ask for me?"
"We did not," Omega answered. "Without going into too much detail about her current situation, finding a good party as a low-level healer isn't easy."
Sean nodded at that, and figured it must've been especially difficult while wearing Earth-clothes. He wasn't convinced that Omega hadn't arranged the request – but there was something from yesterday that felt even more off, so he asked, "Wait, are you sure Emma isn't an NPC?"
"No, she's very much a human, and a player in the game," Omega said assuredly.
"But then that's exactly what you'd say if she was an NPC…" he speculated.
"You're being paranoid again," it concluded, slightly amused.
Sean smirked and argued, "Sure, but it doesn't mean that I'm wrong." Silence – so he grinned and continued, "It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? An NPC-exposition device… disguised as a player – to lure me back into the game!"
"If she were an NPC," Omega joked, "we would've made her a more convincing human being."
"Fair enough," he gave up, but then added, "Wait, or maybe that's the trick? Just human enough not to seem like an NPC, but not too much either – not to arouse suspicion."
"It's good that you're able to think again," Omega commented playfully.
"But don't change the subject!" Sean insisted, then resumed, "That's gotta be like… double or triple reverse psychology, or even more layers by now. Amazing!"
"And why would we do that?" it inquired.
He speculated, "Well… like I said, to lure me back into– Or maybe to spy on me inside the game? To suppress the resistance or something."
"Quite," it stated.
"So you're not denying it?" he asked, and there was no response for a moment – so he added, "Come to think of it, it wouldn't make sense for her to keep playing after the dinner… unless it's part of some deep cover! Then again, you'd probably make her blend in better with in-game clothes and everything… unless it's an excuse to keep other players from inviting her to a party and–"
"Or maybe you're an NPC?" Omega interjected in a joyful voice.
Sean had not thought about that possibility. He thought out loud, "That… would be some extremely deep cover… But no, there would be no point in all the food drama and– Yeah, never mind, I suppose."
"Should we relay a message to Emma-who-might-be-an-NPC, then?" Omega followed up, its tone back to calm.
"Nice try, but your reverse-psychology has no power here!" he joked, then remarked, "But you can tell NPC-Emma that I'll be there… in a while, depending on traffic and other stuff – so she shouldn't wait."
It started, "Very well, and she probably–"
"Ah-hah! So she is an NPC!" he broke in.
"We assumed that nickname was a joke," Omega clarified.
"Well… wait, now I'm confused – was the joke that she is an NPC, or that she isn't?" he asked.
"Presumably we'll never know," it commented. "But speaking of 'other stuff' – would you mind setting up your ST account and paying some bills? It's a bit of a transition period, but it's better to keep these things orderly… now that you have some funds in there."
"Wait, where did I get them from?" Sean inquired, still confused.
"From playing the game," Omega answered.
"Ahh… right, of course – I knew that," he remarked, then added, "But how much is it?"
"You'll find out once you set it all up," it promised.
"Ugh, fine… but can't you just handle the bills on my behalf?" he tried.
"We'd prefer you to handle your own finances," Omega said. "Since you're supposedly an adult."
"Fine! And there's no need to be so passive-aggressive! Or wait, is there? I mean, a need for that?" he asked. It did not answer – likely assuming it was rhetorical or a joke. Sean got up from his chair, but remembered another detail from last evening: "One more thing about that cacophony…" He sighed. "Do you have to play the symphonic orchestra in my head every time I level up?"
"You have fifteen classes," Omega explained, though its tone was rather amused… "It's important for you to be aware that each and every one of them has gained a level. Would you prefer the experience points to be applied to each class in sequence for staggered level ups – rather than to all of them at once?"
"No, that's not…" he began, but shook his head – it felt like he was being trolled, but he didn't want to risk a massive nerf before he even had a chance to properly abuse the whole thing. So he merely added, "Never mind, I need a shower!" – and he left the room without looking back.
A quick shower later, it took Sean maybe five minutes to set up all the payment apps – which included powering up his phone. He had kept it off in a futile attempt to avoid being spied on by Omega. The signup process was extremely straightforward, and it turned out he got paid 92 STs for Monday. He had no idea if it was a lot or not, but overdue utilities and HOA bills ate thirty-six. Phone and internet another twenty. They seemed to be worth around five bucks each, but he would need to play a lot more to get some financial security. He wondered for a moment how the economy of 'killing monsters in a made-up reality-game to cover the bills' worked, but he didn't complain.
He drove to the facility – this time wearing proper clothes and behind the wheel of his own car. An older model, but it was simple and dependable – and with very little automation anywhere. He stopped at a gas station, full self-service with STs – it cost him another fifteen for a full tank. Then a dozen for a double breakfast burrito to go on the way south, and his wallet was almost empty – still decent money for one day's work as a novice adventurer .
Not as much as he used to earn in his job before the Singularity, but he wouldn't be starving either. The prices also seemed all over the place – especially for the meal! He realized, only after starting to eat, that it would've been more efficient to pay a quarter-to-half silver for a breakfast inside the game – assuming they had breakfasts in there, anyway. The burritos on the way were also fine, with coffee at red lights…
He followed the GPS to the facility and Omega called him as he left the I-280 south through a tunnel that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the past few weeks. The caller ID was only 'we,' so he assumed it was them.
"You'll need to take a small detour – there isn't any parking inside," Omega explained.
"What? Why?" Sean was slightly annoyed by this distraction – or maybe he didn't want to delay his re-entry into the game even further? It also occurred to him: "Wait, you do know that this is America, right? Parking space is obligatory everywhere, like even–"
"Sure, but the space under San Bruno Mountain is somewhat limited," it interjected.
"Can I just park it in the game, then?" he suggested. "Or maybe inside that fancy locker room?"
"That's not…" Omega's voice sounded almost annoyed. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but it promptly added, "Why don't you stop by the entrance, and we'll figure something out."
"Okay, I guess," he said. "I mean, that was kinda the plan all along, right?"
"Sure," it replied and disconnected.
It turned out that 'handling it' involved a scrawny-looking android, waiting for him at his GPS destination. He frowned at the sight and considered driving into the thing – but it would make quite a scene.
At least it had the decency to open the door for him as it began, "Your car lacks any electronics or automation capabi–"
"Yeah, I know," Sean cut in while considering if he should get out or just drive back home. He added after a couple of seconds: "I had them removed – as much as the law allowed, anyway."
"We're aware of that," the android said without any jaw or head movement – presumably speakers again, oh the irony. The thing kept going: "But you can't leave the car here either."
Sean gripped the wheel for a moment, but then exhaled tiredly and stepped out. He remarked, "Fine! But if there's even a single scratch or–"
"There won't be," the android interrupted while already getting in.
He should've taken the keys… then again, it probably wouldn't have stopped Omega either. So he merely shook his head and went inside the facility.