okay [open]

Unfortunately, sitting on his arse all day and doing nothing was quickly becoming an impossibility.

He’d been so sure that it was a joke, then that there was no way this would be allowed to continue, that he’d not bothered to do…well…anything. He’d laughed to himself at the idiots eager to throw themselves at monsters, certain that they’d be doing nothing more than risking their life for a vague dream of victory that would never come to fruition. Once it was clear that they were stuck, the authorities would shut the whole scheme down and they’d be free to go their own ways. He wasn’t even convinced that players actually died when their avatar did; sure, they disappeared, but who was to say they weren’t simply finding themselves back in the real world, or forced to create some new character?

Only it hadn’t ended. Days had slipped by, each hour dragging through his dull existence, and each morning he woke to find he was still stuck here, still trapped in this stupid game. A few days ago the boredom had driven him to check out the current quests on offer, though he’d quickly declared the majority ridiculous. Finding lost kites, him? He wasn’t quite desperate enough yet to subject himself to that. Similarly, he had little interest in setting up shop and playing the part of some nobody NPC.

Which left adventuring. He’d not quite worked up the nerve to attempt anything combat related – not that he’d ever admit the fear, even to himself – but he was quickly running out of anything to do. Given how little equipment he had, a rusty sword and the clothes on his back, he was even debating picking up one of the inane quests the town’s NPCs were offering. Maybe the threat of death was enough to make him swallow his pride a little.

Steeling himself, desperately hoping that nobody would see him submit to the asinine request, he sauntered through the streets, grateful at least for the sun on his face. It was surprising how busy the town still was; it seemed most people had, like him, opted to stay here, though the reasons behind the decision always differed, and he couldn’t even criticise them for being cowards without being a thorough hypocrite. Annoying. At least he’d made up his mind to rectify that situation. Live or die, anything had to be better than being stuck in this perpetual monotony.

Hands resting casually in his pockets, he glanced across the throng of people milling about. Most were absorbed in their own business, mostly chatting between themselves, though the silent girl on the bench drew his attention. Eager for anything that might put off the inevitability of having to do some work for a change, he winked at her when she looked at him and made for her position.

“See something you like?” While he was passably fluent in Japanese, he still spoke with a noticeable accent, though he’d overexaggerated the words enough to make them easily understandable. Hopefully the overt flirtation would make her blush and provide him with some easy entertainment.

He kept the smile on his face despite his irritation at her words, not allowing her the pleasure of seeing that they’d hit their mark. “I would like to see you attempt to speak English,” he muttered instead, switching languages, confident that she wouldn’t understand him.

And then, because despite everything he didn’t want to abandon the conversation yet, he swapped back. “Apologies. I’ve only been living in Japan for two months, so I’m still practicing.” He’d been lazy in perfecting his Japanese – due to only live there for six months before returning to England, he hadn’t seen any profit in wasting time polishing his language skills when he was understandable enough to be practicable. Most of those he’d spent time with had spoken English anyway.

“Maybe you could teach me, hm?” He flirted on auto pilot, even if she was a little young. Cute, he supposed, though that laugh was already starting to irritate. “I’m Icarus. Nice to meet you.”
A smile in place of a handshake, seemingly genuine, as he kept his words full of warmth and fake sincerity.

Was there something mentally wrong with her? Nobody, he was sure, laughed quite so often, and not like that – maybe that was why she was out here on her own. He was starting to regret approaching her.

Then she upped the weirdness by continuing to speak in rhyme. What could have been dismissed as coincidence the first time now looked, in all likelihoods, intentional, and it grated a little as she continued. Some sort of deliberate ploy to act cute, or special, or was it simply that he’d stumbled over the most cuckoo player in the town? Fantastic.

He deliberately ignored the fact he didn’t have 500 col, or even 50, and tried not to clench his jaw as she giggled again. “Dee, then,” he returned, possessing little desire to take her anywhere. “Not making the most of the good weather to leave town? Hunting boars in the rain is miserable, I’ve heard.”


DaT