《Dim Spirits》


 1. Welcome to the Family

    I unfolded the worn yellow flier and checked it against the address in front of me. Sure enough, all signs pointed to me being in the right place, though I had expected something more impressive than the squat, two story office building before me. I had imagined that the headquarters of the world¡¯s most well-known gaming company would be a multi-story building, if not a full skyscraper. But then, what did I know? I wasn¡¯t in game development.


    I glanced around nervously, but there was nobody around to see me loitering. Not that it would have mattered even if someone did see, because it wasn¡¯t like I was doing anything wrong anyway. I shook my head to try and dispel the anxiety. Stalling wasn¡¯t going to make this any easier.


    I entered the building and made a beeline for the receptionist¡¯s desk.


    ¡°Good morning, how can I help you?¡± the young man asked. His brown eyes met mine and for a moment I forgot the entire reason I was there. I had always thought that brown eyes were flat, boring, and for an eye color to be beautiful it had to be light and varied. That was before I started actually looking at people¡¯s eyes, which is something about myself that I¡¯ve been trying to work on recently.


    ¡°I, uh. I¡¯m here for the research program.¡± I slid the flier across the desk in case he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. He smiled, and my heart did a little flip flop that was half embarrassment and half helpless affection for this man I¡¯d only just met but who had beautiful eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you back to the conference room,¡± he said. ¡°Would you like anything to drink? Water, coffee?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no thank you.¡± I followed him through a maze of hallways into a room that was dominated by a long table.


    ¡°You can have a seat. I¡¯ll let David know you¡¯re here.¡± The door closed softly behind him.


    I fiddled with the levers on my chair until it lowered with a soft hiss. Then I stood slightly, just enough to take my weight off the seat, and raised it back up again--I¡¯d gone too far down, the first time. It wasn¡¯t quite right the second time either, but before I could mess with it further, a middle-aged man entered the conference room and sat across from me.


    ¡°Good morning! I¡¯m David, I¡¯ll be guiding you through the process today. What was your name?¡±


    ¡°Melanie,¡± I said. ¡°Is there, um, some paperwork I need to fill out, or¡­?¡±


    He smiled widely, his blue eyes twinkling. ¡°Straight to the point, then.¡± He set an intimidatingly thick stack of papers in front of me. Helpful sticky notes poked out of it at regular intervals, indicating ¡°Sign Here¡± or ¡°Initial Here.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re already familiar with our terms but please allow me to reiterate. You will be given room and board for one year at no charge, beginning on the date you enter our program, as well as a lump sum of ten thousand dollars at the conclusion of your participation. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°The entirety of your stay will be conducted in one of our state of the art FIVR pods, where you will be immersed in the company¡¯s latest release, Dim Spirits. Keep in mind that the purpose of this program is to determine the long-term health effects of VR, so we will have you diagnosed by our team of doctors prior to entry into the pod, and there will be a final diagnostic before you leave our care, as well as consistent monitoring of your vital signs throughout the process.


    ¡°Should any life-threatening complications arise during the next year, you will be removed from your pod and cared for to the best of our ability. For any subsequent cognitive difficulties or mental health problems, the company will not be held liable¡­"


    I tuned him out at that point. I had already made my decision, and I had done enough research to know it was well worth the risk. Granted, the whole point of the program was to better understand the long term risks of full immersion virtual reality, so there was a chance something terrible could happen, but the whole experiment was more of a publicity stunt than anything else. Everybody knew somebody who practically lived in the pod and didn''t have any serious issues. But that was all anecdotal, and if gaming companies really wanted to push their more demanding games, they needed to be able to show scientific evidence that refuted the most obvious argument about health concerns.


    So, they took people like me, who needed a place to live and wouldn''t mind putting the rest of their life on hold for a year. Some people even did more time, and each additional year provided double the lump sum of the previous, so if I stayed a second year I would receive $10,000 for the first year and $20,000 for the second. I would have that option at the end of the year before they pulled me out of the game, and to be honest I hadn''t decided what I would choose. That was a decision for Future Mel, and I didn¡¯t mind putting it off until I actually knew what it felt like to live in the game for a year.


    David cleared his throat; he¡¯d noticed my lack of attention. I blushed. Well, probably. I mean, I felt like I should be blushing. I read in books all the time that people ¡°flush with embarrassment¡± or they noticed someone else doing that, but have you ever actually been able to feel yourself blushing or notice it in someone else? Am I the weird one here, or is that something that books just exaggerate, like being able to feel someone watching you?


    In any case, I looked back at David and felt a bit embarrassed that he¡¯d caught me zoning out. That¡¯s another thing about myself that I¡¯ve been working on.


    ¡°I would like to reiterate that once you enter our program you are committed for the full year. Even in the case of family emergency or a change or heart, you will not be able to log out or exit the pod until that commitment has been fulfilled.¡±


    His kind blue eyes had turned serious as he spoke. It made sense. People thought they could handle a full year away from the rest of the world, especially since that would be a whole year of playing a video game and not worrying about expenses, but that kind of thing could be more lonely than you expected, or maybe the game just wasn¡¯t as fun, or whatever the reason.


    That wasn¡¯t going to be an issue for me, though. I wasn¡¯t cutting anyone off or leaving anybody behind. I wasn¡¯t putting my career on hold. I was somebody with nothing; nothing to lose, nothing to gain, and nowhere to go.


    ¡°I understand,¡± I said. ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem for me.¡±


    He looked at me for long enough that I remembered why eye contact made me uncomfortable. Finally, he nodded. I let out a breath I hadn¡¯t realized I¡¯d been holding and pushed the signed contract across the table.


    ¡°I¡¯ll escort you to our medical facility, and from there you¡¯ll be taken to your FIVR pod. Welcome to the family!¡±

 2. Choose Your Character

    The visit to the doctors passed in a bit of a blur. I had expected to spend a few hours in a waiting room, but there were distinct advantages to having your own private set of doctors. No sooner had they logged my personal information than I was taken into a small classroom where I was given a series of personality and psychological tests.


    To absolutely nobody¡¯s surprise, they diagnosed me with severe anxiety, as well as a mild case of¨Cyou know what? It¡¯s none of your business what else they had to say about my personality. You can figure it out the old-fashioned way.


    But I will say that it was that series of tests and diagnoses that first gave legitimacy, in my eyes, to the ¡°research experiment¡± concept. They really were going to do this again in a year and compare the results, because there was a possibility I would emerge more damaged than I already was. By that time it was far too late to change my mind and worrying wouldn¡¯t do me any good, but you try telling that to someone with severe anxiety and a mild case of whatever.


    Fortunately, before I could think about it too much, David appeared at my side.


    ¡°Ready to go?¡± he asked.


    I just nodded; I was all talked out for the day. After the tests had been conversations, discussions about why I made some of the choices I made and what that meant about me. Some aspects of it had actually felt therapeutic, and I wondered if that element was being accounted for as they gathered their evidence of my psyche. Not that it was any of my business, or my problem. All I had to do was play a video game for a year, then go home with a fat stack of cash.


    David led me to a car, which I had been hoping would be a limo but was instead, like much of reality, disappointingly ordinary.


    ¡°That¡¯s the last of it,¡± he said when we were on our way. ¡°Next stop is the FIVR Lab, which I suppose you could start thinking of as home.¡± He smiled like he¡¯d made a particularly clever joke. ¡°Do you have any questions for me before we get there?¡±


    I saw him watching me in the rear-view mirror, so I just shook my head. I didn¡¯t speak to him again until the FIVR pod was closing around me.


    ¡°Will I see you when my time is up?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t particularly like him, but it felt important.


    His eyebrows lifted in surprise. ¡°I can arrange that,¡± he said.


    Then the pod closed, and my world went dark. I won¡¯t say that it was my first time in a pod, but it was definitely my first time in a nice pod, which means that instead of your standard vomit-inducing disorientation, it was like being weightless in a void. Super weird, but not in a way that was unpleasant. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I won¡¯t describe the loading screen because duh, we¡¯ve all seen that before. However, once that had run its course, Dim Spirits automatically loaded without giving me any of the standard options for any other media. The black void that surrounded me filled with white fog until it was so thick I couldn¡¯t so much as see my hand in front of my face.


    CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER


    The words emerged before me, and I was greeted by a list of options. There were all the standard classes: Warrior, Knight, Thief, Sorcerer, Cleric, as well as a few unusual classes: Wanderer, Pyromancer, and Deprived. I immediately discarded Deprived as an option; that was the kind of choice that those hard-core players might go for, who already knew what they were doing and had to raise the difficulty just to make it a challenge. I rarely played video games, but when I did, I liked to charge in with all the finesse of a bulldozer.


    Without giving it too much thought, I chose Warrior and vowed to raise my strength so high I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about silly details like dodging or skill. There were options to change my appearance, but that sort of thing¡­well, some people like being able to change their body, but that¡¯s never been my thing. I skipped past those options until the only choice remaining was my Gift. I skimmed the options, but the item descriptions were painfully vague. Black Firebomb was fairly self-explanatory, but Pendant? ¡°Trinket. No effect, but fond memories comfort travelers.¡±


    What the hell did that mean? Why would anyone choose that? Should I choose that?


    At last, I settled on the Master Key. It was entirely possible that the Binoculars (used to peer at faraway sights) would have been the optimal choice, but it felt too much like a gamble. A master key was something I understood, and it hinted at shortcuts and secret locations, which appealed to me.


    Once I had made my choice, I tapped the Confirm button and the character creation options faded from view, leaving only the fog in their wake.


    A woman¡¯s voice echoed around me, her voice reverberating strangely among the mist. ¡°In the Age of Ancients,¡± she began, ¡°the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of gray crags, archtrees and everlasting dragons.¡± The fog cleared as she spoke, slowly revealing a barren gray wasteland of spindly trees and dust and one massive dragon that looked to be carved of stone.


    ¡°But then,¡± the woman intoned, ¡°there was fire, and with fire came disparity.¡± The world tilted sideways and I fell through the giant roots of a tree. Sparks slowly began to light the area around me as I tumbled deep into the earth.


    ¡°Heat and cold, life and death, and of course¡­Light and Dark.¡±


    Sparks became fire. From where I was standing, it looked as though the entire horizon was ablaze. As the woman continued her tale, I watched the events unfold before me.


    ¡°Then from the dark, they came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. Nito, the first of the dead. The Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos. Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights. And the Furtive Pygmy, so easily forgotten.¡±


    ¡°With the strength of Lords, they challenged the Dragons. Gwyn¡¯s mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The Witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the Dragons were no more.


    ¡°Thus began the Age of Fire. But soon the flames will fade and only Dark will remain. Even now there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.¡±


    The show of battle against dragons faded into a brief scene of a beautiful city, until finally the darksign was all that remained, a pitch-black circle rimmed with flickering flames.

 3. First Death

    Everything went black again, and as the light slowly came back I saw that I was in a small prison cell with stone walls. There was some hay in the corners, a long chain on the floor, and an empty bucket. Not much to write home about, all told.


    ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± The woman¡¯s voice continued. ¡°The Darksign brands the Undead. And in this land, the Undead are corralled and led to the north, where they are locked away, to await the end of the world¡­ This is your fate.


    ¡°Only, in the ancient legends it is stated, that one day an undead shall be chosen to leave the undead asylum, in pilgrimage, to the lands of ancient lords, Lordran.¡±


    I wondered at that. First there were dragons. Then, a couple people found Lord Souls and used their power to defeat the dragons, which caused the age of Fire. And now¡­the age of Fire is over and I¡¯m locked in a cell? Why is the age of Fire over? She glossed over a huge part of the story!


    There was a metallic creaking noise from above, and I looked up to see a small skylight, blocked partially by an armored knight looking down at me. He backed up and pushed something through the hole. It was large enough to block out the light, and I pressed myself against the wall to avoid it.


    The thing dropped into my cell with a clattering plop. I stared, motionless for a moment. There was one thing I knew about this game, and it was that it was lauded as one of the most difficult games ever made. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me at all if my first encounter was against a surprise enemy in my prison cell.


    But the thing didn¡¯t move, and when I crept closer (weapon in hand) I saw that it was a corpse. I glanced back up, but the knight was gone. Hopefully he was gone for good, and not just looking for more corpses to throw at me.


    Towards the center of the body was a glowing, wispy orb. I reached out to it, and the thing was sucked into my body like my hand was a vacuum.


    [Dungeon Cell Key] Opens dungeon of Undead Asylum in the north.


    ¡°Huh. Thank you!¡± I called up to the long-gone knight. Sure enough the key opened my cell door, allowing me to step out into the hallway of the dungeon.


    An emaciated figure waited for me outside the cell, its body puckered and pink with diseased flesh. I shuddered at the sight of it and gripped the broken sword I¡¯d started with. It was little more than a couple inches of blade attached to a sword hilt, but until I could find something better, it would have to do.


    Based on what I¡¯d heard in the cut-scene, I gathered that it was an undead creature, but I didn¡¯t know what that meant in this world. Was it a zombie hungering for brains? A tragic fallen hero with a backstory that would make me cry?


    I edged around it, and the creature didn¡¯t seem to even notice me. I let out the breath I¡¯d been holding as I passed. I was sure I would have to fight something eventually, but the longer I could put that off the better. Preferably, my first fight would happen after I replaced my sad excuse for a sword.


    I wandered through the dungeon, passing more than a few vomit-inducing undead creatures that didn¡¯t react to my presence. Each time, I gripped my sword hilt and crept past them, my confidence growing until at last, in a moldy corner of the dungeon, I found a ladder. By which I mean I found a nasty, rusty contraption that probably used to be a ladder.


    I whispered a quick ¡°thank you¡± to the game developers for including a full set of gloves in the starter set. Full immersion was all well and good, but there were some things I just didn¡¯t want to touch. I gave it a tug. It didn¡¯t fall apart, but the thing creaked under my weight enough that I hurried to the top. Moments later I emerged into sunlight.


    It was thin and dreary, straining past the heavy cloud cover overhead, but compared to the oppressive darkness of the dungeon it felt like a bright summer day. I closed my eyes and took a moment to enjoy the warmth on my face. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I was out in the open for the first time since starting the game. Straight across from me was a set of massive double doors that screamed ¡°Boss Battle,¡± but the grassy clearing was a small patch of life in the midst of the undead. Best of all, smack dab in the middle of the clearing was a sword, lodged point first in a pile of ash and bones.


    I glanced around for any sign of sneaky monsters. Seeing none, I sprinted across. Just as I reached it though, a system message appeared in the center of my vision: Rest at the bonfire to recover HP. Light bonfire?


    I reached out to grab the sword, and a ball of fire shot from my palm, instantly setting fire to the sword.


    BONFIRE LIT


    ¡°What the hell?¡± When I tried to reach for the sword again, I got another system message: Rest at the bonfire.


    Curious, I sat by the flame. I felt a sensation of healing warmth wash over me; it was like the feeling of wrapping yourself up in blankets when it¡¯s cold outside. I unequipped my gloves so I could hover my hands over the fire for a bit, but as soon as the gloves came off I yelped.


    I should have screamed. I wanted to scream. Most normal people who experience this in the game probably do scream, but it¡¯s just not something I¡¯ve ever been able to do. So¡­ I yelped.


    When I unequipped my gloves, my hands weren¡¯t my hands. They were the same size, the same shape, and they felt like my hands, but they had the same pink, puckered look of the undead I had passed in the cells. I was undead. My whole body looked like that.


    I put my gloves back on and put my head in my hands while I hyperventilated, hastily reminding myself that this wasn¡¯t real. I don¡¯t want to tell you how long it took me to get back to normal, but honestly, I¡¯m not even sure myself. Time isn¡¯t always a factor in video games, and when I came back to my senses the thin sunlight and thick clouds were unchanged.


    I did what I should have done in the first place, which was rest at the bonfire and make for the Boss Battle doors. They pushed open with a slow, terrifying creak. The room was largely empty, aside from some big jars along the walls.


    I inched my way inside. The doors slammed shut behind me (because of course they did), but I couldn¡¯t see the boss anywhere. I tend to imagine that if I walk into a scenario tense and ready for anything that I will not be frightened or startled when something startling does inevitably happen. I firmly believe this no matter how many times it is proven to be untrue, so what happened was, the Asylum Demon leaped down from, I don¡¯t know, the roof? It landed in front of me, too big for me to even see all of it. Boss Music started playing, loud as shit because I forgot to turn the volume down when I got into the pod. A system message flashed: Get Away! And I let out a little ¡°ahhh!¡±


    I tried to dodge and rolled immediately into a cluster of the big, useless jars. Trapped. The Demon brought it¡¯s massive (axe? Sword? Club? I didn¡¯t see, I was too busy being fucking terrified) weapon down on me, and I felt my whole body vibrate from the blow. It knocked my health bar down by almost a quarter.


    I tried to run the other way (away from the jars) but I¡¯d only made it a couple steps before it swatted me again. I saw my stamina bar completely deplete and for the first time experienced the absolute horror of not being able to dodge out of the way. The rest of the fight was a bit of a blur. I got a couple hits in, but I only did two damage and it wasn¡¯t enough to even register on the monster¡¯s health bar, so there was no way I¡¯d be able to kill it.


    YOU DIED.


    Everything went black for a bit, and I reappeared at the bonfire. Huh. So, I couldn¡¯t take the sword, but I¡¯d gotten a respawn point. That was pretty neat.


    I took a deep breath and reviewed the fight. The Asylum Demon was way too tough for me to kill, and that first message had told me to ¡°get away.¡± Ergo, there must be some sort of escape route. I just had to find it before the Demon turned me into a pancake.


    I pushed the doors open once again and paused at the doorway. Last time, the beast had appeared when I walked into the middle of the room. Would I have time to break the jars, so I didn¡¯t get trapped again?


    I decided it was worth a shot and started smashing jars, my broken sword hilt finally proving useful. I got maybe a quarter of the way around the room when the demon crashed down into the room with me, but by then I¡¯d caught sight of an open doorway. He smacked me once (with his club, I paid attention) and I rolled away. No sooner had I dived through the doorway than spiked metal bars closed behind me.


    That seemed like overkill to me personally, since the door was way too small for the Demon anyway, but it also stopped me from going back into the boss room, which was probably more the point.

 4. First Kill

    Leaving the Asylum Demon behind, I walked slowly down the stairs to re-enter the dungeon. As soon as the staircase opened up into a larger room, I stumbled into the next bonfire. I reached out like I was going to grab the sword, just like before, and a small fireball shot from my hand to the pile of ash and bone, setting the sword ablaze. I had to admit it was a cool effect.


    The bonfire lit the room only marginally better than the two torches on the walls. Flickering firelight reflected off of the four inches of water on the floor. I dipped an experimental toe in the water. It only took a moment for the water to slosh around in my boot, and as the dampness soaked through my socks I remembered that I was wearing the starter set. I pulled my foot back and the feeling of wet socks immediately disappeared. I cackled to myself. "There''s no rules!"


    The endless possibilities of virtual reality were something that had always appealed to me, and that I felt were underutilized. Most people expected and to some extent desired for virtual reality to reflect actual reality, with the only difference being that you could take actions and visit worlds that you would otherwise be unavailable to you.


    There was validity in that. Escapism has always been a necessity, the ability to step away from the harsher demands of real life. Virtual reality was the most effective form of escapism, because it could so closely mimic real life while only removing the negative aspects.


    My point being that that thought process, that desire to use virtual reality as something similar but better, made sense to me. I would suggest though, that we should have loftier goals. Don''t just mimic reality, surpass it. Don''t just recreate the laws of physics, write new ones.


    I''d heard of some indie games that actually tried that, and they occasionally got a bit of a cult following but nothing too widespread. Given the ability to experience infinite possibilities, most of us choose to remain with the familiar.


    All this to say that when my foot went from feeling totally soaked one moment to completely dry the next, I giggled like a fool. I love that shit.


    I messed around with the water mechanics for a while longer. To be honest I probably could have spent the entire afternoon there in that room, but at one point I felt the knockback effect of an arrow to the back, and the telltale numbness and tingling that signified an injury.


    Side note: what ever happened to that company that thought it would be a good idea to have pain sensors in a virtual reality game? All I remember is the advertisement that pain could be " lowered to 10% ", as if feeling any pain at all was anybody''s idea of a fun video game to play in their free time.


    Anyway. I got shot in the back with an arrow, and like a fucking idiot I spun around a few times looking for the archer, as though they had somehow appeared in the small flooded room without me noticing. There were two windows in the room, and I use that term loosely. They were holes in the wall with broken bars across them, but the space outside of them was only about 2 ft deep before there was another wall, so the concept of windows obviously hadn''t been well thought out in the first place.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    But I checked those "windows" like there was a chance the Archer had snuck between the walls and was shooting me from there. I''m embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize there was a hallway branching out, and I''d been messing around so long in the flooded room that the undead archer had actually walked halfway down the hallway to get a better look at me, and to shoot me four more times. By the time I ran across the room to the bonfire, I was nearly dead.


    It was at this point that I learned that resting at a bonfire actually resets the monsters as well as healing me, which was convenient because that put the archer back at the beginning of the hallway. This time I was ready for him, and he only shot me once before I was able to beat him to death with my weak ass sword hilt.


    I stood over his body for a moment. It¡¯s an odd thing, to kill in VR. It doesn¡¯t really feel like anything. I had thought it might, since the undead were humanoid, but whether it was because the undead were different enough or because I firmly knew this was a video game and they weren¡¯t real, or because I had the gore settings turned all the way down to zero¡­ I killed the undead and knew I could kill a hundred more like it, and I was instantly relieved because if that wasn¡¯t the case, I would have had to sit by the bonfire and twiddle my thumbs for the next year.


    With the archer dead, I was able to loot the rest of the hallway, which is how I netted my first shield and longsword, the descriptions of which were pretty basic. I won¡¯t pretend I know anything about gaming, but the numbers on the longsword were higher than the numbers on my broken sword hilt. With my new gear, I felt ten times more dangerous.


    When I turned the corner past the archer¡¯s body, I saw that the doorway was filled with a sheet of rolling white fog. Shield up, I stepped into it, and I could feel a light mist over my entire body as I passed through.


    I paused for a moment as soon as my vision cleared. I was ready for anything. I ran up a set of stairs and another long hallway (no archer this time) and found myself on a balcony that overlooked the first bonfire I had rested at. There was a broken area of the wall that I could step over, if I wanted to drop back down to that earlier bonfire. It wasn¡¯t clear to me why anyone would want to do that, but I could.


    I followed the balcony to the right and saw two sets of stairs, one leading up and the other down. I followed the one going down first, which allowed me to open a gate to the first bonfire, conveniently linking me back to the beginning. I looked up at those big double doors that led to the Asylum Demon, and I felt an unpleasant certainty that I would meet that Boss again.


    I went back up the stairs and continued up the second set. I only made it a few steps before a massive boulder came tumbling down. It slammed right into me before I could dodge, and I was lying down with the wind knocked out of me when an undead approached and started slashing at me.


    I jumped to my feet and put my shield between us until I had a moment to strike. When I did slash out at him with my longsword, it only took two hits for him to crumple to the ground.


    I whistled. That was a huge improvement.


    I made my way up the stairs with my shield up. It hadn¡¯t even occurred to me that I might be in danger of rolling boulders, but I supposed I really did need to be ready for anything. At the top of the landing, there was another gate, but this one rattled helplessly when I tried to open it. Even when I tried my Master Key it refused to open, which I thought was a bit of a ripoff.


    I turned back down the stairs and my eyes widened. The boulder had knocked a gaping hole in the wall, and I could just barely make out the familiar armor of the knight who had rescued me.

 5. Fate of the Undead

    I stepped gingerly over the rubble and made my way to the knight. He was leaning against a section of broken wall, and I wondered for a moment how he¡¯d gotten stuck in that room. There were no other entrances except for a hole in the ceiling. Maybe he¡¯d fallen through, and that¡¯s why he was dying?


    ¡°Hey there,¡± I said, trying my best to sound casual. I was pretty certain he had saved my life by sending me the key earlier, but it was equally likely he had just been throwing a corpse at me for the fun of it.


    ¡°...Oh¡­you¡­you¡¯re no hollow, eh? Thank goodness. I¡¯m done for, I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯ll die soon, then I¡¯ll lose my sanity. I wish to ask something of you. You and I, we¡¯re both Undead. Hear me out, will you?¡±


    What is your decision? Yes or No.


    ¡°Um. Sure, okay.¡±


    ¡°Regrettably I have failed in my mission, but perhaps you can keep the torch lit. There¡¯s an old saying among my family: Thou who art Undead, art chosen, in thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords, when thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know. Well, now you know. I can die with hope in my heart. Oh, one more thing. Here, take this: an Estus Flask, an undead favorite. Oh, and this: Undead Asylum F2 East Key. Now, I must bid farewell. I would hate to harm you in death, so go now.¡±


    He handed me a glowing orange flask and a key, then promptly died. I stared at him uncomfortably. I felt suddenly guilty about my earlier, uncharitable thoughts¡­but I also kind of wanted his armor. I reached out to try and yank the helmet off, but as soon as I bumped him, he disintegrated into white light and was gone. One hundred souls were added to my tally.


    I backed up slowly and decided to do my best to forget that happened.


    Back at the top of the stairs, I tried the Undead Asylum F2 East Key on the locked gate, and it swung open. Since I was still in the tutorial for the game, I saw a few signs that showed a variety of attack suggestions, including kicking the enemy to throw them off balance or doing a jumping attack. I took that advice with a grain of salt. I¡¯ve said it before and I¡¯ll say it again, that I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be good at video games. I make up for my lack of skill by increasing my stats to ungodly heights, and that¡¯s enough to get the job done. Work harder, not smarter, right?


    Now, by this time I was starting to get the hang of Dim Spirits, and I figured as soon as I turned the corner there¡¯d be another enemy waiting for me¨Cand I was right. Two undead started windmilling their arms in my direction, and I backed up to where I had more room to run around. I tried the lunging attack on the first undead, which knocked him out of the fight on the first hit. The attack had left me in a particularly vulnerable position however, and the second undead slashed me in the side before I could dodge out of the way.


    I held up my shield and waited for the undead to use up his stamina slashing my shield, before knocking him down with two regular attacks. With those two out of the fight, I rounded the corner again, my shield held high. It looked like I had reached the top of the building, not quite the roof but the outer walkway on the top floor. The outer railing was a row of stone blocks topped by a spiky metal fence. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    An archer stood at the other end, but I knew how to deal with him. I held up my shield to take the damage from his arrows, and I walked steadily closer to him until I could take him out with a single, lunging attack.


    ¡°I am a god among men!¡± I shouted as the archer crumpled to the ground. After struggling with the stupid little sword hilt for so long, it felt intoxicating to be cutting these baddies down like wheat.


    At this point, I had two choices. There was a fog doorway which, going by the guttural roars I was hearing, most likely led back to the Asylum Demon. The other option was a relatively normal doorway. I decided to start with that.


    Inside was the first fully armored undead. It had a shield and a full longsword rather than the wimpy daggers the others had been wielding, and it came at me fast. I tried to raise my shield and strike at the same time, and what ended up happening was I flailed around a bit and got stabbed too many times.


    YOU DIED.


    The words flashed in front of me for a moment before I materialized back at the bonfire. ¡°Damn,¡± I said. ¡°That one¡¯s tough.¡±


    I moved a little faster this time, not so concerned about what I would find around the corner. I already knew what awaited me, and I knew how to knock out the first few undead.


    I approached the final doorway cautiously, my shield raised. I had been paying attention to how I killed the weaker undead, and I was feeling just a little bit more confident. I kept my shield up until the armored undead slashed at me once. Then, while it was recovering, I lashed out with a basic strike. It took me about five hits to finally kill it, and I had lost about half my health in the process. The feeling of satisfaction when the armored undead fell, though, was unmatched. I grinned and kicked its lifeless body.


    At the end of the room was another gate. I tried to open it, but this too was locked. I wondered if my Master Key would ever actually get me anywhere.


    I went back to the fog gate. I could rest at the bonfire before going after the boss, but I didn¡¯t want to have to fight the armored undead again. I could try one of the Estus Flasks, which I suspected acted as a sort of health potion, but I only had five of them and I wasn¡¯t sure when I would be able to get more. It would be foolish to use them up before I even had an idea of how to fight the boss.


    I took a deep breath and stepped through the fog gate, feeling again that misty coolness. On the other side, I found myself on a broken ledge above the asylum demon. It looked even grosser and more bulbous from up high, and even in VR it takes an effort of will to jump twenty feet down. I finally compromised with myself and jumped first onto the top of the Demon, then down to the ground from there.


    I took a swipe at the beast, and to my delight I knocked out nearly a hundred health. That was still only a small fraction of its health, but it was leagues better than the two damage I¡¯d been able to do to it previously.


    It smacked me in the face with its club and I went sprawling, my whole body tingling from the blow. I jumped to my feet and ran around until I was face to face with its oversized haunches. To give you an idea of how big this thing was, its tail was higher than my head. I was able to get two strikes on it from that angle before it turned around and smacked me again, this time getting two hits in before I could fight back. That was enough.


    YOU DIED.

 6. Humanity Restored

    The Asylum Demon killed me six more times. I got to the point where I could plow through the four undead that stood in my way without taking a single point of damage, and against the Boss I perfected the tuck-and-roll, as well as my timing in dodging the club attacks and running around behind it to get a clean hit. On my best run, I got it down to about 25% of its total health, but it knocked me out while I was drinking an Estus potion (I finally got around to reading the Estus description: ¡°Fill with Estus at bonfire. Heals HP.¡±)


    On my seventh run, I did what I knew I should have done in the first place, which was read the sign just outside the fog gate. ¡°Falling attack for extra damage.¡±


    I plunged through the fog gate and leaped off the ledge. I held my sword point down with both hands on the hilt, and that first attack did a whopping 300 damage, knocking off 25% of the Demon¡¯s help in one fell swoop. From there, it was easy enough to dodge the club and run around behind it to attack.


    VICTORY ACHIEVED


    My Souls total soared to 2480 with the Boss¡¯s death, and I received one Humanity and a Big Pilgrim Key. I looked at the descriptions of both.


    Humanity: Use to gain 1 humanity + greatly restore HP


    Big Pilgrims Key: Opens inner door of Undead Asylum main hall


    I tried it on the square set of double doors, and they opened up to reveal a grassy hill littered with stone rubble and crumbling arches. A path led up to a ridge that overlooked the edge of the cliff. It was beautiful and haunting, and when I peered over the edge I heard the sharp caw of a raven.


    I looked up just in time to see an enormous black bird swoop down to pick me up in its talons. I yelped, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn¡¯t reach my sword, and I could barely even wiggle under the tight grip of the bird. It didn¡¯t seem to be hurting me though, so I did my best to relax.


    Then I heard a voice, the same woman¡¯s voice I had heard at the beginning of the game.


    ¡°Only in the ancient legends is it stated that one day an Undead shall be chosen to leave the Undead Asylum in pilgrimage to the land of the Ancient Lords, Lordran.¡±


    For a moment I glimpsed a sprawling city. The raven dropped me at a bonfire at the center of a stone circle.


    The area was thick with knee-high grass and moss-covered stones. It looked like the bonfire had once been a meeting place. It was ringed by stone steps and crumbling stone walls. A lone knight sat on a rock, gazing blankly at the bonfire.


    In Lordran, level up and kindle at bonfires.


    The bonfire was already lit, and as I approached I was shown multiple options: Leave, Level Up, Kindle, Reverse Hollowing. I was curious about all of them, but I started with Level Up. For the first time, I viewed my stat sheet. I was level four.


    Vitality: 11


    Attunement: 8


    Endurance: 12


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Strength: 13


    Dexterity: 13


    Resistance: 11


    Intelligence: 9


    Faith: 9


    Humanity: 0


    True to my promise, I plugged all my Souls into Strength and raised it three points.


    I selected Kindle next. Cannot Kindle while Hollowed.


    Okay¡­Reverse Hollowing. No humanity.


    Huh. I opened up my inventory and reviewed the Humanity I had received from the Asylum Demon. I used the item, and a counter near my health bar went up to 1.


    I tried Reverse Hollowing again. Offer humanity and reverse Hollowing? Yes.


    HUMANITY RESTORED.


    Still at the bonfire, I unequipped my gloves; I nearly wept. Gone was the taut pink skin that marked me as Undead. I was myself again, skin and all.


    When I calmed down, I approached the knight. He was sitting on a rock, his hands resting on his knees. He wasn¡¯t wearing a helmet, and I could see in his eyes that he was troubled.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said hesitantly. Before I could ask where the hell I was, he launched into speech.


    ¡°Well, what do we have here?¡± He asked, his tone lightly mocking. ¡°You must be a new arrival. Let me guess. Fate of the Undead right?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied hesitantly, recalling the woman¡¯s words.


    ¡°Well, you''re not the first. But there''s no salvation here. You would have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum... But, too late now. Well, since you''re here... Let me help you out. There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One''s up above in the Undead Church. The other is far, far below in the ruins at the base of Blighttown. Ring them both and something happens... Brilliant right? Not much to go on, but I have a feeling that won''t stop you. So, off you go. It is why you came, isn''t it? To this cursed land of the Undead? Hah hah hah hah¡­¡±


    Okay, I thought. Two Bells of Awakening. Ring them both and¡­something happens.


    I backed away as he cackled, nearly tripping over a corpse that was draped over an overgrown stone wall. At the center of it was the silver orb that signified loot, and I gained three humanity.


    ¡°Um. Thanks,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t sure if there was some sort of courtesy or etiquette for a situation like this. I mean, the dead guy wasn¡¯t real, but¡­still. I reached out as if to pat the poor fellow on the head¡­thought better of it¡­and continued on my way.


    Up the stairs and through the first archway, there were three paths. Just for the hell of it, I chose the middle one. There would be plenty of time to explore all of them over the next year.


    I paused at that. I had agreed to the terms because I needed the money, and because the contract was dependent more on time than progress. But for the first time, as I wrapped my mind around the Fate of the Undead and my mission to ring the Bells of Awakening, I found myself genuinely enjoying the game. So far the game was a bit dreary, but it was beautiful too.


    Around the next corner, I was surprised to find another knight. He had a blond bowl-cut and a serious look in his eye. What stuck out to me was his shield, which was blue and red. Aside from the orange of the Estus flask, those were the brightest colors I¡¯d seen yet.


    I waved at the man and approached.


    ¡°Hello there. I believe we are not acquainted? I am Petrus of Thorolund. Have you business with us? ¡­If not, I¡¯d prefer to keep a distance, if possible.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me? That¡¯s a bit rude, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Hello there,¡± Petrus said, ¡°I realize that I have requested that we retain our distance, but I also want you to know it is not meant in ill will. Here, take this as a token of peace. No, go ahead, it¡¯s for you.¡±


    He gave me a copper coin. I examined it. Copper coin of Old Man McLoyf.


    ¡°Who is Old Man McLoyf?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh my, you again? Oh, I know, how about this. I have to await my companions here anyway, so what if I were to teach you some miracles. Would that please you?¡±


    ¡°Uhhh, sure!¡±


    ¡°Very well. Then first, a Covenant with the Gods.¡±


    Join Covenant? (abandons former Covenant)

 7. Covenant

    I hesitated for a moment. What was a Covenant? I knew the word meant something like a promise, but did that mean I was sworn to this guy¡¯s Covenant for the rest of the game? What if there was a better one out there? Only one way to find out.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll join your Covenant.¡± I bowed my head reflexively as I spoke.


    Covenant established.


    ¡°Now, let me share my miracles. Only, their ultimate effectiveness will be determined by your efforts and your faith.¡±


    A menu appeared before me: Purchase Item, Enter Covenant.


    I tried Purchase Item first, but of all the miracles offered I couldn¡¯t afford any. I had already spent my souls on levels, and I wasn¡¯t sure I regretted it. Miracles seemed a bit more spell-like than my character build called for.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to come back later,¡± I said, not sure I meant it.


    ¡°Come again. The effectiveness of the teachings depend on your faith.¡±


    There was something about the man that unsettled me. He spoke with the generic, canned phrases you¡¯d expect from an NPC, but there was also an undercurrent of fervent insistence whenever he mentioned faith.


    I recalled the Faith stat I¡¯d seen when I was looking at my character sheet. Is that all it was, or was there more to it? Petrus had mentioned ¡°the Gods¡± as well¡­ I resolved to keep an eye out for any further mentions of game-world theology.


    Past Petrus, I walked up a long, thin staircase. It twisted back and forth and ended in a landing that had probably once led to the highest floor but now showed only empty air and a few crumbling ramparts. A corpse with a loot sphere was slumped on the edge, and I approached carefully. I might survive a fall, but it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant.


    With a deep breath and a reminder that none of this was real, I shuffled forward and held my hand out for the loot. As soon as I saw the notice that I¡¯d received a Soul of a Lost Undead, I hurried back to the safety of the staircase.


    So¡­It turns out I¡¯m afraid of heights. Learn something new every day, right? Logically, I knew that this was the one place I didn¡¯t have to worry; if I fell to my death, the worst that would happen is I would have to retrace my steps to retrieve my bloodstain. Instead of pain, I would feel the full-body vibration that simulated pain. Logically, I had nothing to fear.


    Not that that changed anything. I peeked over the edge of the stone landing once more and immediately felt my gut clench.


    Yep. I¡¯m afraid of heights. Even virtual, totally harmless heights. No way was that going to cause problems for me throughout the game.


    I scurried back down the stairs, berating myself for being afraid in a place where literally nothing could hurt me, when I passed a doorway that made me pause. It led to a small room with nothing in it, and there was a perfectly square hole where the floor should have been. It was pitch black and impossible to gauge how deep it was.


    I was transfixed. On one hand, probably the only thing scarier than heights was the total unknown of that pitch blackness. On the other hand, the only things I¡¯d encountered on this path were Petrus and the Soul, and there just had to be more here than that.


    After a few minutes of hemming and hawing, curiosity won out. I had to know what was down there.


    I crept towards the hole one tentative step at a time. I imagined it would have looked way cooler if I just jumped down, but what I did instead was sit on the edge so my feet were dangling into the hole, reconsider the whole thing about ten million times, then finally push off before I could talk myself out of it.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I fell through the darkness for a grand total of a split second, landing almost immediately in a crouch. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. If I stretched, I could touch my fingers to the ledge I had just jumped from.


    A thin strip of light guided me through the dark tunnel until I was able to jump down onto a grassy hill, where two classic-looking treasure chests dotted the grass. I ran a hand over the closest one, marveling at the smooth feeling of wood beneath my palm. The last time I¡¯d played a virtual reality game, it had been little more than an immersive visual experience. I¡¯d still had to use controllers to interact with the virtual world, and though I could move around, I hadn¡¯t been able to feel or smell the manufactured world.


    Not so with Dim Spirits. As I heaved open the wooden chest, the cedar scent mixed in with the breeze, along with a white mist that quickly dispersed to reveal¡­bones? I added the six of them to my inventory and checked the description.


    [Homeward Bone] Return to last bonfire rested at.


    That would definitely come in handy. Thinking back to the way I¡¯d reached this location, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to go back the way I¡¯d come, even if I could reach my fingers over the ledge.


    I opened the next chest, which looked to be a perfect copy of the first, cedar scent and all.


    [Morning Star] +3 damage


    I immediately swapped my sword out for the Morning Star, which looked like a mace. It was heavier than the sword, but it gave me a better feeling of security. I wouldn¡¯t need to hit as fast if each hit knocked the enemy silly.


    So armed, I strode around the corner of the stone fortress¨Cand nearly tripped on a third chest.


    [Cracked Red Eye Orb] Invade another world.


    I stared into the orb for a long moment. It felt like heavy glass, with black and red smoke roiling within, occasionally shaping into an angry red eye. Invade another world. I looked around at the empty hill and the vast graveyard that stretched before me. Would this be how players interacted with each other? The thought of not being so alone in this game called to me more strongly than I was prepared for. Since when did I need anyone else? What were the odds I found somebody I liked, anyway?


    Yet, the isolation of the day clawed at me. My only company had been the rotting undead and the two NPCs.


    I had been walking as I thought, and just as I decided to use the Orb, I froze. There was a clattering sound, like someone had cut the strings of a wooden puppet and let it fall down the stairs.


    I watched in horror as scattered bones and armor pulled together to form two complete skeletons. Each one held a gleaming blue blade and a rusted shield.


    I dropped the Orb into my inventory and hefted my mace. Just as the first skeleton pulled back his sword, I swung with all my might and slammed the head of the mace directly into its chest. The force of the blow dispelled the magic that held it together, and the bones went flying across the graveyard. Before I had time to celebrate the blow, the second skeleton swung its sword and connected with my ribcage, sending a shock of vibration through my body.


    I hauled the mace back, the slowness of the motion making me reconsider the heavy weapon, and I slammed the head of it down¨Conly to hit the skeleton¡¯s shield.


    The first skeleton was already reforming its body, and I could see I had only knocked down a small chunk of its health. I backed up, giving myself more time to raise the mace once more, and I paid closer attention to the timing of my hits, so I could scatter their bones. If I knocked one to pieces, I could give my full attention to the other. Rinse and repeat, and it was like I was only fighting one skeleton at a time.


    Just as I was gaining confidence, I once more heard the sound of a puppet falling down the stairs. Only this time, the sound was coming from behind me. I turned to look and saw two more skeletons forming up at the edge of the cliff, beside a couple battered headstones and the faint glimmer of a loot sphere.


    A sudden vibration punched through my stomach, and my hands instinctively cupped around the gleaming blue blade.


    YOU DIED.


    I opened my eyes at the Firelink Shrine, all thoughts of the Cracked Red Eye Orb gone from my mind. Dim Spirits was just as hard as everyone had said it would be. Those skeletons would take five or six hits each to die, and I would have to master my timing and my shield-work to do it. I couldn¡¯t let them push me into their reinforcements, so I¡¯d have to be more wary of the battlefield.


    I took out my mace for a practice swing. ¡°Whatever it takes,¡± I promised myself, ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill those skeletons.¡±