by Edward Brody
“About us, Keysia… about you and me.”
Keysia bit the outer edge of her bottom lip and blinked a couple times. I waited for her to say something, but she darted her eyes away and stood there in silence.
“You see? Something’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong, Gunnar. And why now? You’ve said nothing of ‘us’ for quite some time now?”
“I’m sorry. With everything going on… The attacks, the High Elves showing up, this new plan to colonize Edgewood. It’s a lot.”
“It is a lot,” Keysia interrupted. “I understand.” She crooked her head to the side and slowly stepped away from me. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Edgewood should be your top priority.”
I took a deep breath and let out a long, audible, exhale. “You make me feel dumb, Keysia.”
Keysia turned back to me with her brow furrowed and confusion etched across her face. “I… make you… feel dumb?” She shook her head. “And how exactly do I do that?”
“I don’t know,” I explained. “I guess I feel stupid for not finding time to spend with you every day. And sometimes I want to say things to you, but it’s just awkward, because guards and guildmates are always around.”
“What kind of things?” Keysia asked.
“I don’t know… flirty things.” I scratched my shoulder and smiled shyly. “And cute stuff, I guess. Like when we were in that smelly dungeon near Barbarosia.”
Keysia swallowed, closed her eyes, and breathed heavily. When she opened her eyes again, she asked, “Are you horny tonight Gunnar?”
My eyes went wide, and I almost took a step back at the sudden question. “Horny?”
“Do you want to fuck me again tonight?”
“Uh…” I was stunned by the blunt line of questioning, but I felt a surge of blood rush between my legs. Asking if I wanted to fuck her again brought about a mental replay of the first time we’d made love, and it was amplified by the joojak we had all been smoking, which hadn’t completely worn off. I hadn’t been particularly aroused before her questioning, but her words certainly nudged me in that direction.
Was she just high on joojak? I wondered. Was that why she was so forward?
I swallowed hard and licked my lips as I gazed at her. While I was gone, she traded in her robe that had battered during the last attack for a cheap cloth skirt and a strappy shirt—if you could call it a shirt—that wrapped around her neck and slung in a crisscross over her chest, exposing her shoulders and midriff. She had looted a pair of unusual green gloves as well that were woven of grass and looked like they were growing up her forearms. She looked sexy as hell in the new outfit, and I would’ve loved nothing more than to peel the tight-fitting ensemble off her body. I wanted to roll around with her in our birthday suits and have another taste of what I had before, especially after the frustrating failure earlier in the day with Adeelee. “Well, if you want to…” I stepped forward and placed a hand on her hip.
She looked up to me with glistening eyes. “Of course. You’re the guild master, and you’ve done so much for the dark elves. I want to thank you however I can, however you’d like.”
My heart sank, and the blood between my legs seemed to rush back up to my brain all at once, pulling me out both my joojak high and my sexual stupor. “That’s not what I…”
Keysia rubbed a finger down the center of my robe, past my green belt, and finally stopped over my crotch. She found the bulge under my robe and squeezed gently with her slender fingers. “This is what you want, right?”
I looked down at Keysia’s face, and confusion flooded over me. I hadn’t intended for the conversation to go the way it was. I had just wanted to clear the air with her and make sure she was okay, make sure nothing had changed between the two of us. Donovan had seen me kiss Adeelee, and the idea that Keysia might have also seen it was eating away at me. I had to say something.
But now, she had her hand on my most sensitive area, inviting me to play with her. Part of me was exhilarated. There was no drama, no dispute, and seemingly no problem. Maybe she hadn’t seen the kiss after all.
The situation was most men’s fantasy—to have a woman as sexy as Keysia hanging around the guild, ready to please me—the ‘guild master’. Who wouldn’t want that? I could still take my time to pursue Adeelee if I wanted to, and Keysia would be there to take care of my needs whenever I had the urge—at least if I was reading her correctly.
But as titillating as it sounded, it didn’t feel right to me at all. Keysia and I had connected on an emotional level that was more than just sex. I genuinely had feelings for her, and I could never view her as just as sex toy. But what stung me was that she sounded as if she wanted to do things with me not because of that emotional connection I thought we shared, but merely because I had helped the dark elves.
Was everything I thought about us completely wrong?
I gently grabbed her arm and tugged her hand off of my jewels. “What’s gotten into you, Keysia?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “Isn’t that what you want? Sex?”
“Well, ugh…” I held my hands out in front of me and motioned them as I spoke. “Of course, I would love to… I want to do everything with you.” I shook my head. “But not like this. This doesn’t feel right at all.”
“What’s not right about it?” she asked. “You obviously have an agenda, and I’ve accepted that.”
“What do you mean ‘an agenda’?” I asked. “I don’t have an agenda. I care about you.”
Keysia chuckled and looked down as she shook her head. “You don’t have to say those kinds of things anymore. You don’t have to lead me on, Gunnar. I saw you and the Princess on the hill.”
“Damn…” I muttered and gulped. “I was afraid of that. Why didn’t you say something before now?”
“You don’t have to be afraid. I told you before that I know I can’t compete with the Princess, and I’m not going to try anymore. I had hoped there may be something stronger between us, but…” Keysia shook her head. “I was wrong.”
“You’re not wrong!” I protested. I put my fingers on each side of my temple. “This is all new to me, and it’s confusing. I spent most of my life single and alone. I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”
“A situation like what?”
“A situation where I care about Adeelee, but I also care about you…” I looked her in the eyes. “…a lot. It’s…. It’s…” I stuttered for the right words. “I haven’t even been in Eden’s Gate for long. I’m scared to make the wrong decision, scared of missing out on something, and scared of losing you all at the same time.”
“It’s okay, Gunnar,” Keysia consoled, her face unreadable. “I’m glad you care about me, and I’m still here, working to make Unity into something more. Nothing has to change because of this.”
I sighed and shook my head. “You told me once before that you would give me time.”
Keysia smiled as if the conversation had suddenly turned humorous. “I gave you some time, but seeing you and Adeelee together… It… it made me wake up and realize that I was waiting for nothing.”
“It was not for nothing,” I stressed. “I mean… I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I just need to figure things out. I… I…” I wanted to say, ‘I love you’, but the timing was wrong. I knew that I loved her, but if I said it at that moment, it wouldn’t feel right. Not while we were arguing. Not after I had nearly slept with Adeelee earlier in the day. Not after kissing the Princess in front of her.
Keysia sighed. “You don’t have to figure out things anymore—at least not with me. I’ve made up my mind, Gunnar.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a guild mate and your friend. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Keysia…” I groaned. “Please don’t say that.”
“Like I said,” Keysia continued. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for the guild.” She rattled her head and smiled. “And I’m not a prude, so if an
other go is really all you want—why not? But I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that it’s anything more than sex.”
“I don’t want it to be like that—not because I’ve done something for the elves or because I’m the guild master or for fun or whatever. That’s not how it works.”
“Why not?” Keysia asked. “We’re both adults, and we’ve already done it once.” She pointed her finger at me. “But only while I’m single. If I find someone new, then, you know… I’m not a cheater. And if you’ve made a commitment to Adeelee now, I’m not going to be your mistress either. Don’t expect me to take part in some sort of harem.”
I exhaled loudly. “Please, please, stop. I just need a little more time.”
Keysia smile subtlety. “That’s the thing about life, isn’t it? Perhaps you still need time, but I’ve already decided to move on. Sometimes our minds and hearts don’t run in parallel to each other. Even if we care for someone, we have to learn to move on.” She sighed and glanced behind her. “I’m going to get some rest, Gunnar.”
“Keysia…” I muttered. “Please.”
She turned and walked away while I sat there having no idea what more I could say, short of falling on my knees and begging her to come back.
“Keysia,” I said one more time a little louder.
She ignored me and continued to leave.
And just like that, as I watched her walk through our ruined forest, I realized that I had lost her.
I was devastated.
When I was a little kid, sitting in the back of the classroom reading fantasy novels, the heroes in those stories were so often underdogs—nerds, geeks, underachievers, and sometimes flat-out losers. While saving the world, they’d be thrust into situations where women whimsically threw themselves at them, often falling in love with the hero for little or no reason at all. Sometimes there were unrealistic relationships, where the men would have hordes of gorgeous women, all vying for his attention. And more often than not the women were okay with knowing they weren’t the only one.
I guess that’s why they called it fantasy? It was completely unbelievable.
Perhaps I had gotten a little ahead of myself in Eden’s Gate. I had never gotten so much attention from beautiful women like Adeelee and Keysia before, and maybe that made me a little more confident than I should’ve been. I had somehow forgotten that Eden’s Gate wasn’t just a fantasy world where wishes came easily and everything revolved around me. As Dr. Winston put it, “There can be no pleasure without pain,” and that seemed to apply to relationships as well.
Much like Earth, a simple kiss could ruin everything. And that’s what made Eden’s Gate such a realistic, amazing world.
I couldn’t just spawn in the game and expect two gorgeous, remarkable NPCs to love me without much effort. The non-Reborns in Eden’s Gate had minds that worked much like humans—like real people back on Earth. They had realistic pride, jealousy, and they could change their mind if you gave them a reason to, or even if you didn’t. It would require effort to hold on to them.
“Damn you, Dr. Winston…” I mumbled under my breath.
I was feeling heartbroken, but another part of me felt an odd sort of relief. Seeing how Keysia was capable of walking away from me so easily raised the stakes tenfold. She wasn’t just an NPC pawn, so if she or any other NPC ever loved me, I could rest assured it was real rather than some simple programming telling them to answer a Reborn’s every beck and call. I’d have to earn someone’s love and face the challenges of maintaining it, just like another person would have to do with me.
Though my stomach was in knots, I grinned a little bit. Keysia was by no means ‘easy’, and if I ever wanted to be with her again, I knew I’d have to go to great lengths to get her back. Was I up for the challenge? Was that even what I really wanted? I needed to put some thought into it.
Maybe she was right about me, or maybe I was just a young, confused, idiot. Earlier in the day, I would’ve put my life at risk to have a round of fun with Adeelee. At that time, I really did want to just have sex and it didn’t feel complicated.
What the hell had Eden’s Gate done to me? What the hell did I want?
I wasn’t sure, but before I could get my head straight, I needed to talk to Dr. Winston.
Chapter Fourteen
2/18/0001
I leaned back in my bed and pressed the “Page GM” button on my settings screen for the first time. It made a clicking noise, and I looked around my house wondering if and where Dr. Winston would appear.
After a few seconds, I clicked it again, and then again, and again.
Click, click, click, click, click.
I rolled my eyes, closed the game’s interface, and laid my head down on my pillow. The button was either broken or Dr. Winston wasn’t responding.
Fuck it, and fuck him, I thought. The frustration of losing most of my village, losing my chance of having fun with Adeelee, and losing Keysia was really getting to me.
I made myself comfortable, closed my eyes, and tried to forget the stress of the day, but right as I felt that I might fall asleep, there was a knock on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
I pushed away the grog, jumped out of bed, and hurried to the entrance. When I swung it open, there he was. Dr. Winston was wearing his usual brown robe and looking much the same as he did last time I saw him, though his hair was soaking wet.
“Hello, Gunnar,” Dr. Winston said. He crossed his arms as he stepped inside my home. “What happened over here? Did you guys blow something up?”
“Goblin fire arrows,” I said. “Burned half our village and took a lot of the surrounding trees with it.”
“Ohhh!” he said with a smile. “Must have been quite the fight!” He pointed a finger to me before pulling his hand back and rubbing it through his hair. “Do me a favor and press the report button only once, will you? It pops a window up in front of me each time you use it, so it’s quite annoying if you press it several times consecutively.”
“Yeah, sorry,” I replied.
“And sorry I took a while to respond. I was out with my succubus, diving into a Billbaggin’s nest earlier today, so I had quite a bit of gunk to wash out of my hair.”
“What’s a Billbaggin?” I asked and tilted my head to the side. “Wait, you fight monsters too?”
Dr. Winston looked surprised by my question. “Yes, of course. I’d be bored as hell if I just sat at home all day. I mostly travel solo though. I don’t want to give an unfair advantage to anyone.” He looked around my house. “Did you find a bug somewhere? Why did you summon me?”
“Not in my house,” I explained. “But I found a bug, for sure.”
“Where? What happened?”
“Well, today I was at the palace in Mist Vale, and I was about to…” I paused, realizing that what I was about to say sounded a lot more asinine when spoken aloud than it sounded in my head. “I was about to ‘do it’ with the Princess of Mist Vale.”
“Oh?” The doctor raised an eyebrow.
“But I couldn’t…”
Dr. Winston chuckled and shook his head. “Have you been cursed? If you had erectile dysfunction on Earth, I can assure you it didn’t transfer over into the game.”
“No, wait,” I said. “Not like that. The King and Queen were in the palace, and it’s like I couldn’t do it even if I tried. The fear of death overwhelmed me.”
Dr. Winston’s brow furrowed. “Well, that sounds pretty idiotic. Why would you try to have sex with a Princess while the King and Queen are nearby?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Because I wanted to. Because she wanted to.”
Rupert raised his eyebrows again and shrugged. “Well, okay…” He placed his finger on his chin and rubbed. “Are you certain it was the fear of death?”
“Almost positive,” I said.
He looked up and inhaled heavily as he thought. “Well, the programming is designed to prevent Reborns from doing anything that they know for certain wil
l result in death, but I supposed that may actually be a bug. I didn’t intend for it to prevent people from having sex or that sort of thing.”
“Well, it did.”
“Are you certain that there was no chance for survival? You’re certain you would’ve died somehow?”
“The palace echoes, and I’m pretty sure a guard or someone would’ve overheard us. The King, or maybe even the Queen, no doubt would’ve killed me.”
Dr. Winston shook his head. “Then that’s not a bug! That’s stupidity!”
“I should be allowed to be stupid sometimes!” I argued.
“Dying for sex?” Dr. Winston said. “That’s unreasonable.”
“It’s Adeelee… she’s…” I rattled my head. “Whatever. I’ve been wanting to for so long, and now I may never get the chance.”
“Oh, please,” Dr. Winston said. He strolled over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll have an eternity to dip your wick a million times over. Have you heard of the Red Isle yet? If you want to be doused with pleasure, you can go there and have fun without any fear.”
I pulled away from his hand. “You don’t get it, man. It’s not the sex that I want. It’s the choice…” I raised my voice as my anger grew. “You don’t understand, because you don’t want to give people a choice, just like you didn’t give people a choice to be stuck in this world!”
“If given a choice, would you choose Earth over Eden’s Gate?” Dr. Winston asked smugly.
“It’s not just about me,” I explained. “I didn’t really have a family or future back on Earth, but what about those who did? Have you thought about that?”
“They will have an eterni—”
“An eternity to have millions of families, right?” I interrupted, shaking my head. “What if I was a single dad and logged in on launch day while my kid was in the other room? What if I were the sole caretaker for a family member?”
