I slowly came to. My grogginess could not be overstated – a mixture of exhaustion and rockstar partying. I glanced about in a haze. The rickety wheels of the horse-drawn cart etched into the dirt road. The mile high pines reached for the cloudy skies all around me. Snow dusted the surfaces of all things in the early workings of winter. I couldn't make out the sky's rim on the horizon – the draw distance of the fog guaranteed that.
My hands were bound, and my clothes raggedy. A few others were in the cart with me, and in much the same state. The man across from me noticed. With sunken eyes he said, "Hey, you! You're finally awake."
"Gamer, what are you doing?" Persica interrupted the narrative.
Gamer paused from his recollection, "I'm explaining how I got here."
"Be honest, at least. Snow? Pines?"
The jig was up, and Gamer's fun would be regulated. He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, "Fiiine..."
After we had seen the Illuminati sign over the fortress, we decided to rest for the night. We were tuckered out after the race that I won without contest. Asterion and Sonia logged out, and Minnie and I claimed one of the beach huts.
The next morning, I awoke to birds chirping, a beautiful sunrise, and two soft turtle titties pressed into me. I did my morning routine of stretches, inventory check, and gooch massage. By the time I was done, Minnie had fully awakened. We went over how to tackle the fortress, and she was puzzled by a word I used.
"What does defenestrate mean?" Minnie asked.
I promptly hucked myself out the window. I rolled across the sand and popped back to my feet. Minnie rushed out, and I explained, "You defenestrate people by throwing them out windows. You can self-defenestrate yourself to grow distance between you and enemies. Useful against hordes of zombies."
"Oh, cool! There's plenty of windows on the fortress. I'll do my best to defenestrate," Minnie promised. With the vocabulary session out of the way, we departed from the beach and headed into the resort.
The potentas carried out their duties. We picked up some breakfast kebabs and suckled on their juicy bits. There weren't any other players, and I felt relatively safe.
Of course, it was all ruined when we got near the kart building and saw the flaming head of Sweet Cheeks, or Sweet Teeth...whatever his name is - I can't remember due to my memory-erasing fear. I saw him shaking hands with Asterion. Our favorite minotaur decided to go with a new skin today. He resembled one of those highland cows, with the shaggy haircut that covered his eyes. His clothes looked Greek, with a garment that only hung over one shoulder and then draped like a skirt. I barely picked up what they were saying to one another.
"Thanks again for all your help. We couldn't do it without you, bud," Asterion said with his sexy, heavy voice.
"Worth every bit of sweat. The news is eating it up. Gamer, Marathon, the Council are on everyone's page," the psycho clown reveled in it all.
"Gamer's turned both the real and digital world on its head."
"You've got something for revolutions? We haven't dabbled in council affairs since Tennis for Two."
"I suppose rebellion is in my blood..." Asterion shrugged.
"I've heard on the rumor mill that Dimitri is speaking out against your actions. He's being called in by the council."
I did not recognize the name drop, but it appeared to fluster Asterion, "As expected..."
"Watch your back, Asterion," and after that ominous warning, Sweet Guy logged out.
My paralysis lifted and I moved, "Whaddup, Asterion? You're on early."
"Good morning, Asterion!" Minnie squeaked.
Our greeting jolted Asterion from his mental conundrum, "Morning, Gamer, Minnie. Yeah, things are crazy out in the real world. I figured I'd be the mailman and deliver the news."
"Mailman, eh? You got a special package for me?" I teased the big guy.
It helped chip more of his stress off, "Tch, maybe later. Right now, though, you should know that your bounty has been revoked."
"Revoked?"
"Isn't that good?" Minnie asked.
"You would think. The raid idea and race failed to knock Gamer off his pedestal. The Game Masters and the council must be contemplating their next move," Asterion figured. "The quest to kill Gamer is gone, and from what online forums have put out, no more players will be invited to join Chanterelle."
"Scaredy-cats!" I insulted the gods of this world. My original plan to milk lesser players by using myself as bait couldn't be achieved any longer. It soured my mood, "I rejoin the Million Point Club and this is how they react?"
"How are you here, Asterion?" Minnie's ignorance of the real world was evident.
"Anybody with the invite code can still join, but I suspect anyone who witnessed the ass-whooping from yesterday will think twice about coming back."
"Sō janai to omoun dakedo. I only needed to think once," a feisty voice said from behind me.
We all turned to see Sonia. Her outfit this time was a blue tank top, stretchy black pants that hugged the right amount, and one of those beanies that looked like an animal. Hers was a wolf, and the two flaps that hung from the side were its arms and paws. I sensed her furry energy and was too confused to understand, and too lazy to care.
"Who's Sonia?" Persica interrupted my incredible storytelling. The audacity of this bitch.
Persica and Lord Shellie, in the midst of the tale telling, sat on the couch in the center of the room. Kammy and Qammy were pushed to the floor to make more space. Lord Shellie shared beers and popcorn as they listened to Gamer's retelling.
"She's from our world. Energetic, cute, always trying to one up me. Now..." Gamer proceeded with the story.
Anyways, as I was saying, Sonia joined the resort lobby. Which put my guard up immediately, "Back so soon? Jumping at the chance to rematch me now that there's no competition?"
"Your bounty is revoked. If punking you only earns me half your score and perma-kills you, it'd be a headache and a half. I'm here for another reason," Sonia played with her beanie's paws.
"We have a new party member?" Minnie became excited.
"Magic touch, baby!" I proclaimed with absolute confidence. Minnie and I high-fived one another.
"Damare, bakas," Sonia scrunched her nose at us.
"What's your reason, then?" Asterion asked.
"We're curious about that, too," another voice materialized behind Asterion. We all turned our attention to two modern businessmen who logged in. One was an old cue ball, and the other was a dorky four-eyes.
"Am I just a problem magnet?" I demanded answers. Asterion and Minnie solemnly nodded at me, and I shrugged at their quiet honesty.
"Mr. Khom, the vice president of Marathon, and Nathaniel, one of the Game Masters of Chanterelle," Sonia introduced. The moment she mentioned Nathaniel's occupation, he had my undivided attention. He had on a wry smile, and nodded at my acknowledgement.