The sun sank in the sky, but the first thing Alastair noticed was the general beauty of the bay as viewed from the overlook which looked down upon it, with an expansive light sand beach stretching for what seemed like kilometers in both directions. The second was the double-masted sailing ship that was anchored in the middle of the bay. Alastair focused on the ship.

  The ship looked tiny in the bay, compared to the ridge rising behind it, but Alastair considered it was significantly larger than the tiny boat that had carted him and Flor across the bay each morning for several subjective days in a row, even if that day had been repetitive.

  Truly, the bay could probably contain dozens of such ships.

  Would completing the bay require him to go aboard? Or was this something that was a daily event that didn’t affect the gameplay? One way to find out.

  “What’s my energy at, Etc?”

  “Hovering at 4, about to go up to 5, until you start traveling again.”

  “So maybe I’ll get there with a little energy left.”

  “To the tents?”

  “The tents?”

  “Yes, those tents in the trees there. I thought that was your objective.”

  “I meant the ship.”

  “Oh, I doubt you could swim that far.”

  “I could! I swam competitively in high school.”

  “I don’t know what high school is, but I meant not in your current energy state, you couldn’t.”

  “Do you want to know what high school is?”

  “Not really, unless you feel obligated to tell me.”

  “Okay, so those tents, then,” said Alastair.

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  “Stay on the path, precious. I estimate you’ll only just make it unless you rest a bit.”

  “Fine. I didn’t want to do this, but, if it gives me a slight boost, maybe it’s worth it.” Alastair pulled a battery - 1 from his inventory and activated it.

  Use Battery - 1? Yes/No?

  Yes.

  You’ve gained 1 energy!

  “Brilliant, sir, you’re now at 5 full energy. Maybe you’ll be able to talk to someone before you die of exhaustion.”

  “You don’t know I’ll die. Tell me when I get to 2 and I’ll pause for a bit.”

  Alastair continued downward. The path had transitioned from rocky to rocky sandy with shrubs, but even on the downslope felt like he needed to take care of his footsteps to avoid a stumble. He saw that the shrubs would level out to a canopy of trees surrounding the tents.

  A rowboat pushed from the beach, and the people in it began to row toward the ship.

  Just before he came upon the trees, Etc piped up. “You’ve just dropped to 2 energy.”

  “Fine. I’ll rest.” The sun had begun to truly set from this lower elevation with the mountain in the way, but Alastair sat and leaned against a tree.

  The exhaustion of the day bore down on him. He wasn’t sure he’d gain enough energy to be able to find and complete whichever thing would be the challenge here. He realized his eyes were fading. Not yet. Stay awake.

  Alastair woke in the dark with a headache, dragged along the ground. His arms were stretched over his head, his hands bound to something, and he could feel every bump in the ground. Every rock and root.

  “Where am I?” he tried to say, but the gag in his mouth wouldn’t come free. A very real sense of dread came over him until he remembered that it didn’t matter. He’d wake up in the university. Nothing was permanent here.

  Finally, the dragging stopped.

  Silence hung in the air, except for the crashing of waves much closer than he expected. Perhaps Alastair had been dragged to the tents.

  Alastair felt something sharp press into his stomach, and the gag was loosened.

  “Who are you?” asked a voice.

  “Alastair,” he answered.

  “You’re supposed to be whimpering. Why are you not?”

  “Because I know you’re a part of a game.”

  “So you think we can’t hurt you, huh?”

  Alastair said, “You can.”

  “You’re darn right we can. Should we eat him, boys? Fresh meat!”

  The threat of being consumed alive scared him thoroughly. But he understood he was still too levels deep - this alpha test and then Holst then the real world. Whatever pain they inflicted here, however realistic, was only cursory in the real world. It probably wouldn’t replicate to the middle layer. There hadn’t been any pain that he could remember in this setting, anyway.

  “Turn his pain receptors on!”

  “What!?” exclaimed Alastair.

  Even through his shroud, through the blinders, Alastair heard then felt the heavy breath lean down toward him. The sharp object in his stomach pressed harder, then harder still. A pungent scent of uncleaned teeth wafted through the layers.

  “Maelstrom sends her regards.”

  Alastair fainted before he could hear more.