Standing cluelessly in the street, looking around at the dark atmosphere, Leek took in the surreal feeling of being transported to another world through the medium of playing a video game. The roughness of the town was lost partially in its innate contrast between times of day
A sense of tiredness was absent from his mentality, jerking the immersion slightly. In this he set out for a place to rest his digital head, disregarding the lack of physical fatigue he felt. Little could be done as darkness forced everyone of valuable knowledge into hiding.
Travelling for a while, before eventually checking his mini-map for guidance, he found an establishment selling the service he was searching for, overnight shelter. The twin doors creaked as they were separated from one another.
A lit room, thriving off the open flames lining the walls, had within it an empty waiting room. A desk filled to its brim with individual pieces of paper, and tied folders, placed distance between anyone entering and the woman behind it.
-Worker: Making herself known, by raising her hands, the woman greeted the patron. "Welcome in! What can we do for you this evening?" The overtly friendly attitude was a fresh take from that of Elle.
-Leek: "Hello, I'm looking to get a room... if ya'll don't mind." He let out a muffled chuckle, trying to keep in mind the subjective nature of humor. "How much for three nights?"
-Worker: "That would be 20 half bids" A smile erupting on her face the moments neither of the two were speaking. "We have seven open rooms. No belongings are permitted to be left in rooms, unless booking for a full day and night. Your initial room may be given to another patron, as you're only booking for the nights, but one will be reserved for your stay regardless."
-Leek: "Weird rules, but sure." Sparing no time to barter he simply took the deal at face value, pulling out the needed payment from his seemingly bottomless pockets. The bids were nicely wrapped in a pouch, each standing vertical for better assortment. "I added two on top, as a thanks for the hospitality." A wink finished his sentence.
-Worker: "Well thank-you very much." Her hand takes the cash substitute, to then disappear behind the fair amount of documentation on the desk. "Gimme a moment to get the written agreement." Her right hand swiftfully wrote a string of sentences, each coming together in detail. "I've wrtiten it all out on here, read it over if you want, but your name is all i'll need you to sign at the bottom here."
Skimming through the passage, with due caution, he took in the jist of the information he'd be signing, which through itself was not far in any aspect from what the worker had spoken. She held out a metal tipped feather in the assumption it would be needed. Meeting this forethought he took the pseudo-pen in his left hand.
-Leek: A slight confusion was taken into account as to whether 'Leek,' his in-game name was the intended signature. He spoke to himself softly, "Leek it is i guess," the inked paper followed his words.
-Worker: "Everything is in order... Mr. Leek, I can give you your room key in just a moment." Retracting both the feather and the piece of refined papyrus she quickly replaced them with the keycard she spoke of. It was made of a thin plastic-like material that was cheap to the touch.
The bottom of the card had a copy of Leek's signature, if it could even be called that.
Leek: "So do I just walk into any empty room... or" Having already walked a step away he noticed his words did not reach the worker. Rather than restate his question he continued to a room.
A passageway to the right of the front desk, when facing it from the entrance, lead into a rundown hotel-like lobby. There were doors on both the left and right walls, each facing one another in pairings of two.
No visual queue gave tell of whether someone occupied the room, but in its stead a feeling of presence was given off from behind the doors; you could tell, in a most vague sense, the personality of the occupant.
He stopped after arriving at the foot of a door which gave off a sense of yearning, emptiness. Though he could easily discern between this one and any other before, there was no guarantee the feeling was true to the occupation.
With caution he opened the door, turning the hybrid handle-knob slowly, and poked his head to see inside. There was a single bed in the back corner, beside it a nightstand with a small lantern atop it, a door which seemed to lead to a bathroom, and no windows in sight.
-Leek: An eyebrow was raised to the state of the interior, confusion mixed into what he had been expecting. "Geez, this place is not worth the money. Not even actual lights, just a damn lantern." These words echoed vividly against the walls and right back at Leek. "I gotta make some money to do better than this shit. Even in video games i'm broke." The joke raised his spirits slightly.
Taking a seat on the bed he aimed to ponder about nothing in particular. *Chime* A noise startled him to a degree as he sat.
'Do you wish to log-out, or go to sleep?' The familiar looking prompt flashed before his face in congruence to the noise.
-Leek: "Oh yea, don't know why I didn't think they'd carry over this feature." The thoughts of Fallen Arc trickled in as he took into account any similarities of the two games.
When compared to one another you could assume the two games were produced independently; Fallen Arc 2: online by a AAA studio, and the first being an indie production, both sharing only the same IP.
Focusing his eyes again, the prompt still clogging his field of vision, he took in one more look at the room he sat within. The walls gave nothing short of a sense of loneliness, this in spite of the fact they both were alone together.
Leek, getting over the predisposed novelty of the humbling walls chose the option to 'log-out.' This decision taking into account what it was 'go to sleep' meant in context of the game.
The prompt changed in accordance with his response, 'Have A Great Time, We Await Your Return!' These words graced Leek's mind just before everything became blurry. The ground got closer and the roof remained under his left foot, the walls twisting to choke the air from his lungs... then nothing but unconcious sights were perceivable.