We'd been grinding together for eight hours straight and Emma was finally level 8.
"Oh my god, I leveled up again!" She jumped up and down, her character doing a little celebration animation. "Jake, you're amazing. I would've been stuck at level 3 without you."
Yeah, you would have.
I'd taken her through three different grinding spots that most players wouldn't discover for another week. Carried her through every fight. Let her get the last hits for maximum experience. She went from level 3 to level 8 in a single day while other players were struggling to hit level 5.
And the whole time she kept getting closer. Touching my arm when she thanked me. Standing next to me in a way that made our characters' shoulders touch. Laughing at everything I said even when it wasn't funny.
The same routine as last time.
Except this time I was playing along.
"You hungry?" I asked. "There's an inn in the next town. We could take a break, get some food."
"Food sounds amazing," she said. "I'm starving."
We walked to Riverside Town, a level 10 zone about twenty minutes north. The town was bigger than the starter area, with stone buildings and NPC vendors selling better gear.
The inn was called The Sleeping Dragon. Inside, it had wooden tables, a fireplace, and NPCs serving food that actually restored health and gave temporary buffs.
We sat at a corner table. I ordered some roasted meat and bread. Emma ordered the most expensive thing on the menu—dragon steak that cost 50 gold.
She smiled at me across the table. "Thanks for paying. I'm totally broke right now."
Of course she was. She spent all her starting gold on a cosmetic outfit that made her character's armor look better but gave zero stats. Priorities.
"No problem," I said.
Last timeline, this would've bothered me. I would've been calculating how much gold I was spending, wondering if I could afford it.
This time? I had 8,000 gold in my inventory from all the dungeon runs. 50 gold was nothing.
While we ate, Emma started with the personal questions again. "So what made you so good at this game? You play a lot of MMOs?"
"A few," I said. "Just picked up the mechanics fast."
"It's really impressive." She leaned forward, giving me a look that was definitely intentional. "I feel so safe with you. Like nothing can hurt me when you're around."
I knew what she was doing. Making me feel important. Needed. So I'd keep carrying her, keep spending gold on her, keep being useful.
And when someone better came along, she'd drop me.
But she didn't know I already knew her playbook.
"I've got something for you," I said, pulling up my inventory.
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
I pulled out a bow I'd looted from the Whispering Caves. Rare tier, level 10, with high damage stats. Worth about 3,000 gold on the player market.
[Hunter's Longbow]Rarity: RareLevel Requirement: 10+45 Attack Power+20 AgilitySpecial Effect: 15% chance to deal double damage
"Oh my god, Jake!" She took the bow, examining the stats. "This is incredible! You're giving this to me?"
"You'll hit level 10 soon," I said. "Might as well have good gear ready."
She stood up and walked around the table to hug me. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders tight.
That was the thing about EQO. The full dive VR wasn't like other games. You felt everything. The warmth of another player. The pressure of contact. The texture of fabric. It was as real as real life. That's why the game broke every record in history. That's why people called it revolutionary.
It felt completely real.
"You're so sweet," she whispered close to my ear. "Nobody's ever been this nice to me."
That was definitely a lie. But I played along.
"You deserve it," I said.
She pulled back just enough to look at my face. We were close. Really close. Her eyes locked on mine.
"Jake," she said softly. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you... like me?"
There it was. The move. Get me to admit feelings, lock me in emotionally, make it harder for me to say no when she needed something.
In my last timeline, I fell for it completely. Told her yes. Thought we had something real.
This time I knew better.
But I also knew what I needed to say to keep this going.
"Yeah," I said. "I do."
Her smile got bigger. "I like you too."
Then she kissed me.
Her lips pressed against mine and I could feel everything. The softness. The warmth. The way she moved closer, one hand sliding up to the back of my neck. This wasn't some approximation or simulation. EQO's neural interface made everything feel completely real.
The kiss deepened. She pressed against me, her other hand on my chest. I could feel her heartbeat through the game's interface. Or maybe it was my own heartbeat. Hard to tell when everything felt this real.
She pulled back slightly, breathing harder. "We should get a room here. At the inn. Just... be alone for a while?"
I knew what she meant.
In EQO, players could rent rooms at inns. Private spaces where other players couldn't enter. What happened there was up to the players. The game didn't censor anything. Couldn't. When your brain was fully connected to a virtual world that felt completely real, there were no limits.
Last timeline, Emma refused when I suggested it. Said she wanted to "take things slow" and that she "wasn't ready." Two weeks later she was doing the same thing with Ryan in his guild hall.
But now I was the strong one. The high level player with rare gear and knowledge.
Now she was ready.
"Yeah," I said. "Let's do that."
She took my hand and led me upstairs slowly. The innkeeper charged 100 gold for a private room. I paid without hesitating.