A blood-red error message flashed in the corner of Riku's vision, a stark contrast to the darkness of his VR rig.
[CRITICAL ERROR: Entity_Asylum_Demon_07 - AI Script Corrupted.]
"Ah, crap. No no no no no!" Riku muttered, his breaths getting ragged. "Come on!"
Riku had been trying to test the boss monster of his new game and everything had gone smoothly until now.
He started to hear the crackle of sparks coming from the headset. The demon in us front of him let out a static screech instead of a roar as programmed. He tried taking the headset of. Stopping everything. But his hands didn't budge.
Riku's body started to shake uncontrollably inside the rig. What went wrong? He's been using this VR set for more than five years, with his own personal modifications. He had never come across something like this. Was it the game?
[Emergency Deactivation Failed!]
[Emergency Deactivation Failed!]
[Emergency Deactivation Failed!]
His back arched up as painful jolt of electricity went through his entire body. "Ackkk! Aaaarghhh!" He screamed, trying to get his hands to move. To at least take off the headset. But it was all futile.
The last thing he heard was the sound of his own brain frying.
Everything faded to black at the moment. Nothing again. This was it.
He was dead.
Not for long though.
The first thing that returned was his smell. His nose picked up the smell of dirt and rot. His eyes felt heavy as he tried to open them. Everything was blurry in his vision. After a few seconds, the images started to get clearer. He could see a wooden ceiling.
"Huh?" He groaned, feeling a dull ache behind his eyes. "Wait a minute… I'm alive?" He muttered, his eyes going wide. "I'm alive! I'm still freaking breathing, hahaha!" He yelled at the top of his voice.
"What in the blighted lands? You're alive." A raspy voice came from the side.
Riku blinked at the ceiling, slowly turning his head to find an old man in a worn-out brown robe, mixing something in a clay cup. "You're alive." The old man repeated. "The spirit got you and you lived?"
'Spirit? The hell is he talking about? Who's this old geezer and why's he dressed like he went for medieval cosplay?'
"Uhh… what do you mean? Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?" Riku asked
The place was a simple, one-room wooden shack.
"What matters is, you're alive. For a moment there, I thought you were gone." The old man said, ignoring Riku's questions and continuing to stir whatever concoction was in the clay cup. "I found you barely breathing while the others were long gone."
"Others?" Riku pushed himself up to sit straight on the straw pallet he was laying on. He looked down on him self and realized he was wearing a tunic. His hands looked… smoother? Like he'd aged back from 23 to 18. 'What the fuck?'
"Yes, others. Don't you remember anything after the spirit attacked?" The old man asked, puzzled by Riku's confusion.
Well, he did remember everything. He remembered testing the game. He remembered getting his brain toasted. He remembered dying. He didn't remember anything about a spirit.
Riku's mind gave him only one answer. He was in a game. He'd created lots of games, in different genres and he knew his work too well. But for some reason he couldn't remember if this was one he made or not. Some of his memories were either blatantly inaccurate or blurry. "Hold up," he muttered, shaking his head. "You're an NPC, aren't you?"
The old man blinked. "Enn-Pee-Cee… boy, the spirit didn't take your wits, did it?"
"Right, an NPC wouldn't know they're an NPC." Riku muttered to himself. But as much as he wanted to believe this was a game, everything felt too real. Way too real. "Where's my system? My logs? Hard drives? Six goddamn years of information gathering from unauthorized and hacked websites. All fucking gone?"
"What's a weeb-site?" The old man blinked, completely misunderstanding everything Riku just said. "Boy, the spirit really did take your wits after all. You speaking nonsense now. Your life force has got to be working fine for you to be alive. So, it was logs you went to collect when the spirit attacked? And wait a minute, how'd you know a hard drive? You been laid before? So you did it in the woods? No wonder the spirit attacked you. Youth of these days don't have control, do they?"
"What the fu… no. Absolutely not. That's not what I'm tal… you know what? Forget it."
The old man blinked, still not understanding Riku. "You're a strange one. Here," he handed Riku the cup. "Drink. You need energy. The Ascendancy's patrol will be by soon. And they'll want to know why you, boy, didn't end up like the others. Also, name's Borin."
"Riku," he replied, taking the cup. Whatever liquid was in it smelled like a mix of dirt and alcohol. 'Dude, are you sure this is a game?' He asked himself, staring at the cup. His heart started to thump faster in his chest.
The old man saw the look on Riku's face and misinterpreted it. "Aye, it's one thing to be alive, you know. Surviving that may even mean you're Spirit Hunter material."
Riku turned to Borin. "What do you mean?"
"The ability to consume the energy coming from 'em negative emotions. The fear, the sorrow, the rage, and all that. Called Nega energy. Let's humans get a chance to fight against the spirits. You'd make a good one if you get a nice classification. The patrol night check you." Borin explained.
"Ah, I see." Riku said, putting a hand on his chin. 'Nega energy. Hmm… I don't remember using such a concept in any of my games.' he thought. His mind wasn't ready accept the fact that this wasn't a game.
Suddenly, a loud sound snapped him out of his thoughts. The sound of a bell, coming from a bell tower in the town.
Borin stood up. "Well, the patrol's here, boy. They're going to need answers to why you're still alive. And hopefully, you'll be tested to see if you've got a reservoir for Nega energy. Better not have that look on your face when you come out, may be mistaken for weakness." With that, he left Riku in the small shack.
"Ugh," Riku dropped the cup, its contents untouched. He slumped back onto the straw pallet. How was all this even possible? If it were a game, shouldn't there be a UI that explains his quest or something? He willed it to appear as he would in any game, but nothing happened.
He sat back up. "It's a game. It's a game. It's a game." He repeated, trying to reassure himself of his belief. The sound of the bell did well to break his resolve. "Argh, fucking bell, tch." He grunted.
If it were a game, everything would be easy. All he had to do was understand NPC characterizations, find where the hack plugs were and max out his level.
But yeah, how does he plan to do that?
He palmed his face, his shoulder slumping. "This is not a game, Riku."
A game developer in a fantasy world? Yeah, he was pretty much useless.
For now.