Inside, the room had a bed, a window overlooking the town, and a door that locked behind us.
Emma turned to face me, stepping close again. "I really do like you, Jake. You're different from other guys. You're actually... good."
Good. Right. Good enough to use until someone better came along.
But I didn't say that. I just pulled her close and kissed her again.
This time it was more intense. Her hands in my hair. My hands on her waist. We moved toward the bed, still kissing. She pulled me down with her and for a while I forgot about the revenge plot, forgot about Ryan, forgot about everything except how real this felt.
She broke the kiss, looking up at me with those eyes. "Stay with me tonight? In game, I mean."
"Yeah," I said. "I'll stay."
She smiled and pulled me back down into another kiss, this one slower, deeper.
And the whole time, part of me was thinking about how this played out last time.
How she refused me. How she said I wasn't good enough. How she gave this to Ryan instead.
Now I was getting what I wanted.
But not because she actually cared about me.
Because I was useful. Because I was powerful. Because she saw value in me.
When we finally stopped, she rested her head on my chest. I could feel her breathing, slow and steady.
"That was nice," she said quietly.
"Yeah."
"Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Promise you won't leave me? Promise you'll keep protecting me?"
I thought about my answer carefully.
In my last timeline, I would've promised forever. Would've meant it.
This time, I knew exactly how long this would last.
Just until someone better came along.
But two could play that game.
"I promise," I said.
She smiled and closed her eyes, holding onto me tighter.
I stared at the ceiling of the virtual room, thinking about Ryan Foster.
In my previous timeline, he was level 43 by week three. Led the biggest guild. Had the best gear. That's when Emma left me for him.
This timeline, I was ahead of everyone. I'd hit level 30 before Ryan hit level 20. I'd have Legendary gear before he had Rare. I'd be untouchable.
And when Emma saw that, she'd try to lock me down for real. Try to make sure I didn't leave her.
That's when I'd do exactly what she did to me.
Find someone better and leave.
She had no idea what was coming.
We stayed like that for about an hour. She eventually fell asleep in game, her character's breathing synced with her real body.
I was about to log out and get some actual sleep when the notification appeared.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[LOGOUT FUNCTION ERROR]
I frowned. Error? I pulled up my menu to try the logout button.
Nothing happened.
I tried again. Still nothing.
Then the sky outside the window turned red.
Emma woke up immediately. "What's happening?"
"I don't know."
The room shook. The entire building shook. All around us, through the walls, I heard other players shouting in confusion.
Another notification appeared, this one in massive red letters that filled my entire vision.
[EMERGENCY SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
[ALL PLAYERS ATTENTION]
[CRITICAL ERROR DETECTED]
[LOGOUT FUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY DISABLED]
My blood went cold.
Emma grabbed my arm. "Jake, what does that mean? Permanently disabled?"
Before I could answer, another message appeared.
[ATTENTION ALL PLAYERS OF ETERNAL QUEST ONLINE]
[YOU ARE NOW TRAPPED IN THE GAME]
[REMOVING YOUR VR HEADSET WILL RESULT IN DEATH]
[DEATH IN GAME WILL RESULT IN DEATH IN REAL LIFE]
[TO ESCAPE, YOU MUST CLEAR THE GAME]
[REACH LEVEL 100 AND DEFEAT THE FINAL BOSS IN THE OBSIDIAN TOWER]
[CURRENT PLAYERS TRAPPED: 847,392]
[GOOD LUCK]
The words hung in the air. I read them over and over.
Death in game equals death in real life.
Can't remove the headset.
Must beat the game to escape.
"No," Emma whispered. "No no no. This isn't real. This is a joke."
Outside, the screaming got louder. Players were panicking. Running through the streets. Some were probably trying to force their headsets off right now.
The room stopped shaking. The red sky faded back to normal. But everything had changed.
Emma looked at me with terrified eyes. "Jake, I don't want to die. Please tell me this isn't real."
I wanted to tell her it was fake. A prank. An event.
But I knew it wasn't.
Something went wrong. The regression, the timeline change, my second chance—something broke. And now we were all paying for it.
"It's real," I said quietly.
She started crying. Actually crying, tears running down her face. "I can't die here. I have a life. I have things I need to do. I—"