I stood frozen in the middle of Istrath, the town of beginnings. The vibrant market square buzzed with activity, just like it always did in the game. NPCs walked around, going about their daily routines—merchants selling wares, children running through the streets, even an old man haggling over the price of vegetables. It looked just like it always had. But this time, I was no longer playing the game. I was living it.
I ran my hand through my hair, staring at the interface that was supposed to let me logout. The message blinked back at me: "Log out failed. Error. Please try again later."
"Later?" I muttered under my breath. There was no "later." This was it. The reality that I had been avoiding since I first realized what had happened. I was stuck in my own creation.
I tried to calm my breathing, but panic was rising in my chest. Think, Aryan. Think. It was only a game, after all. A world built on code, rules, and parameters that I knew inside and out. I had designed this world. This was my domain. There had to be a way out. There had to be.
But no matter how many times I pressed the log-out button, the same message appeared. I couldn't even access the admin interface. It was as if the game itself had locked me out. I cursed under my breath.
Suddenly, the ground beneath me seemed to shimmer. At first, I thought it was just my imagination. But then, I saw it again—a brief flicker of distortion in the air. A ripple, like the surface of a pond disturbed by a stone.
"Is someone else experiencing this?" I whispered to myself.
The NPCs didn't seem to notice. They continued on with their lives, unaware of the strange glitch. The distortion passed quickly, but I felt it—a chill crawling up my spine. Something was wrong. Something deeper than just being trapped in the game.
I walked away from the market square, my mind racing. What was this? Was it a bug? An anomaly in the system? Or was it something else entirely?
As I made my way through the winding streets of Istrath, I noticed another strange thing. There were fewer players here than usual. In fact, there were almost none. Just NPCs, moving in their usual patterns, never deviating. It was... wrong.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I turned sharply, my thoughts interrupted by the sound of a voice. A woman, standing in front of me, her eyes bright with curiosity. I had never seen her before.
She looked too... real. Her features were sharper, her gaze clearer. Most NPCs looked blank, like puppets on a string. But this woman? She was different.
"Are you lost?" she asked, her voice warm but with an edge of something I couldn't place.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Who are you?"
"Lira," she replied with a small smile. "I live here. You don't seem like you belong in this part of town."
I studied her closely, wondering if she was an NPC or something else entirely. But I couldn't sense anything off about her, at least not immediately. She seemed normal—well, as normal as someone could be in this world.
"Do you know what's going on?" I asked. "The... glitches? The system errors?"
Her smile faded slightly, her gaze flicking to the side before returning to me. "I know more than I should, but I can't tell you everything yet." She paused, then took a step closer, lowering her voice. "Things aren't what they seem here. You should be careful."
I felt a surge of frustration. Careful? I was stuck in the game, unable to escape, and she was giving me cryptic warnings. I needed answers, not riddles.
"I don't have time for games," I said, turning away. But then I stopped myself. What was the harm in asking? What did I have to lose?
I looked back at her. "What's really going on? Why is the system failing?"
She shook her head slowly. "You'll see soon enough. But I suggest you start thinking about your next move. Things are changing, and not in a good way."
Before I could ask more, she turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. I stared after her, a sense of unease creeping over me. What did she mean by that?
I couldn't shake the feeling that something much bigger was at play here—something beyond just being trapped in the game. The glitches, the distortions, Lira's warning... they all pointed to something wrong with the system itself.
I needed to figure this out. Fast.
I moved toward the edge of the town, my mind racing. There had to be something here I could use—some clue that would give me a way out. As I passed through the gates and into the open fields beyond, the sun dipped lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the land.
Wait... Something flickered again in the distance. It was too far for me to see clearly, but it wasn't an NPC. It was... a person.
I squinted, trying to make sense of it. The figure didn't move like the other NPCs. There was something about their posture, the way they walked, that seemed... deliberate. This wasn't normal.
I had to investigate. I couldn't afford to waste any more time.