Ash woke up in the middle of the night. He had slept early because he was tired from school and his job at the café. It had been a busy weekend.
He went to the bathroom and then looked for his mother. She usually slept at this time because she woke up early to cook for her catering work.
Their life had been just the two of them since Ash's father died before he was born. His mother had named him Ashborn because she held his father's ashes when he had been born.
She worked very hard to take care of him and make sure he could go to school. Now he was in his second year of high school.
"I knew it, Mom must have fallen asleep on the couch again," he said quietly to himself.
And there she was, asleep on the couch. One of her arms was hanging down, and her phone was next to her. She often played easy games on her phone to relax after a long day.
Ash looked at his mother's tired face. He took the blanket from her legs and covered her up. He felt sad seeing her sleep so heavily, but he was also very thankful for everything she did for him.
He picked up her phone to put it on the table.
Ting
A message popped up on the screen. He looked at it quickly:
[EternalFate player took the Mystic Pendant from FoodAddict player.]
'Hmm...'
FoodAddict was the name of his mother's food business. He looked at the message for a bit, then opened the phone. It looked like she had forgotten to close her game.
'This game looks pretty good,' he thought.
Ash started to see how the game worked. It was about finding things, but in this game, players could also take things from each other. Players could get stronger by finding more things.
He looked at what his mother had in the game.
[Inventory:]
- Phoenix Feathers: 6
- Diamonds: 49
- Jade: 12
- Healing Potion: 9
- Willow Branches: 89
- Pinnacle Relic: 1
'Healing Potion? Why would there be healing potions in a game about finding things? Is this also a fighting game?' he wondered, seeing that she had nine of them.
He was curious, so he clicked on the Quests button.
[Quests:]
- Find Magic Gloves in the Castle of Eldwein.
- Find Wraith Curse in Elmire's Forest.
- Find the Magic Key in Dragon's Valley.
'Hmm.'
He opened the game map and quickly saw where all the places in the Quest list were.
He moved his mother's game character to Dragon's Valley first. He wanted to see how dragons looked in this game. Finding the Magic Key in the valley was surprisingly easy.
[You found a Magic Key in Dragon's Valley.]
[You got 35 points.]
[Total points: 345.]
'That was easy,' he thought.
But just as he was going to put the Magic Key with the other things his mother had, a dragon suddenly came out of a cave and attacked with fire.
[You are dead!]
The message made him angry.
"Arrgh..." he said quietly, quickly covering his mouth so his mother wouldn't wake up. She moved a little but stayed asleep.
[Your Magic Key now has Dragon Breath and the Pinnacle Relic mixed in.]
[Something new has started.]
He frowned. 'What new thing?'
[You will go into the game.]
[Counting down.]
'Huh? What does that mean?'
[Three.]
[Two.]
[One.]
Paattttt...
A very bright light filled the whole room. Ash had to close his eyes.
When the light went away, he opened his eyes. He wasn't sitting on the floor in from of his sleeping mother anymore.
Now, he was sitting on a cold stone floor inside a castle.
***
Ash stood up and looked around. The room was big, with old-looking decorations on the walls.
There were different weapons like swords, spears, bows, and maces near the walls. The room smelled damp and old.
Not far from him, there were some fake people made of hays used for practice. Some of them looked like they had been hit with sharp things.
He looked up at the very high ceiling. Big wooden pieces went from one wall to the other.
The room was very quiet, and no one else was there. He didn't know where he was or how he got there.
'Did I just fall asleep?' he wondered. Then he stood up and walked around the room. His footsteps made sounds on the stone floor.
Ting
The notification sound came again after he walked a few steps. He looked at his hand an saw that his mother's phone was gone.
'Huh? Where did that sound come from?' he thought, looking confused.
Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of him.
[Player: Ashborn Locke]
[Player Number: #23875]
[Level: #1]
[Stats:]
[⇒ Strength: 5]
[⇒ Endurance: 5]
[⇒ Agility: 5]
[⇒ Intelligence: 5]
[⇒ Magic: 5]
[Extra Point: 0]
[Profession:]
[⇒ Finder: 0]
[⇒ Warrior: 0]
[⇒ Rogue: 0]
[⇒ Apprentice Mage: 0]
[⇒ Mystic: 0]
[You can pick a Profession now.]
[Do you want to pick now?]
[Y/N]
'What is this?' Ash was even more surprised after reading the screen.
Ting
Another notification sound came from nowhere. Another screen appeared in front of him.
[Game: Finding Objects]
[All players must find the things on the Quest list.]
[All players must find things they need using their chosen skills.]
[There are no rules about how players get their things, but it's good to use all your skills.]
[There are no rules about how long it takes to get things.]
[Each player will go up a level if they have found all the things in the quest.]
[Each player will go up levels if they get special or rate things. The number of levels depends on the special or rare thing.]
[Good luck!]
Ash looked at the glowing words. At first, he was confused, but then he started to understand something scary. He wasn't just playing a game anymore. He was inside the game.