"Nice work!" Van said as he trotted up to Sang. "You did a killer job."
"I did a killer job," Sang said as she rushed up and hugged him. "You were the one to set up that trap! How did you know I would pick the field?"
"Because you're pragmatic and impatient," Van said. "You'd never pick the slower route."
Sang laughed at that. "Where are the others?"
"Dead," Van said. "The other team got pretty mad that we won and kept fighting us until they were kicked out of the game. Fredlin and the rest will respawn in the next round, though. I got notice that said we'll have to wait out the rest of the hour since we finished this game in record time.
"Oh," Sang said. "Well, I don't mind the break. You know,, I've got to say, this is an absolute blast. I don’t know why we didn't do a competition sooner!"
Van just frowned at the comment. "Ugh, Sang, you do remember why we're here, right?"
"Oh," Sang said as she felt all of the excitement draining out of her. The cold expression on Van's face had reminded her of exactly why there were there. "Sorry, I just got really excited. I'm pretty competitive, I guess."
"I keep forgetting, too," Van said with a shrug. "I'm not sure why, but all of this focus on something like winning a competition makes me so single-minded."
"It's fun," Sang agreed. "Fun enough to make me forget all of this mess."
"Yeah," Van said quietly.
"Are… are you going to be able to say goodbye to this place?" Sang asked. Van flinched, but didn't speak. "I'm just... I mean, this tournament was so exciting just a few minutes ago, I can see how easy it is to get wrapped up in this," Sang continued. "I just… I know it's going to be hard saying goodbye."
"I keep telling myself that there's some other way," Van said as he looked at the ground. "That maybe we'll find some kind of a switch that just kicks Draco out for good so that the game stays around. But this technology… this advancement… there's no possible way we'd keep it all going. It'll be gone soon."
"I'm sorry, Van," Sang whispered.
"I am, too," Van replied as he sharply turned away from her. "You've heard about the five stages of grief, right?"
"Of course," Sang answered as she shifted a little.
"I feel kind of weird, but it's like I'm going through all of them at once. Anger, denial, depression, bargaining… what's that last one?"
"Acceptance?" Sang offered.
"Yeah, I don't think I'm feeling that at all," Van said. "Not yet. But I keep trying to tell myself that it's stupid. That it's stupid for me to be so affected over a video game."
"I don't think kicking yourself is going to help," Sang replied as she walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This place is your home. I really get it. Van, I had so many beliefs about gamers and gaming in general when I first came in here. I really thought I had you all figured out. But… I know I was wrong. About a lot of it. Do I think it's unhealthy to have this kind of relationship with technology? Yeah, absolutely, but… at the same time, it's not like there was a better life out there for you."
"There still isn't," Van whispered. "Nothing's out there for me."
"That's not true," Sang snapped. She hadn't meant to come off so harshly, but she could feel the raw emotion surging through her. "Van, you have me. You have prospects. People respect you. You're working with the government on a job. Do they believe all the alien stuff? Hell no, but that doesn't matter. They trust you enough to put you on an anti-terrorist mission."
Van shrugged. "But that's not the life I wanted. I didn't ask for any of this. You know? If… if you made a choice that completely changed the course of your life, wouldn't' you want it to land you somewhere better than you were before? But what's out there that's better than in here? Oh, I have a government job, hurray. In here, I get to climb mountains with my bare hands and stab dragons to death."
"I understand your pain," Sang replied, "I really do, but what if there is something greater out there for you?"
"Like what?" Van asked. "What could possibly be outside of this game that's better? A job? A nice house? A wife? I don't know if you've noticed, Sang, but I've been very content with my life the way it's been."
"But that's the lie this kind of thing sells you," Sang replied. "That things can stay the same. A video game never changes, but to be human is to experience change. If you try to remain the same way your whole life, you'll find yourself miserable. You grow up; you mature. Things take on new meanings based on your age and phase of life. This game? It sells you the dream that things don't have to change. And now… now you're going to have to wake up from the dream. You have to wake up and move on."
"But…" Van said with hoarseness in his words, "I don't want to move on."
"Well tough, because you don't have a choice," Sang replied. "The world is moving without your permission and it always will. The best thing you can do is adapt and change. If you try to keep things the same, you will grow more bitter with each passing year. You can't go home again. No one can."
"I guess," Van whispered. "I just wish it was different."
"You say that only because you don't know what's waiting for you past this. What if the best part of your life is waiting for you outside of this game? What if you took all of this effort and energy that you put into this virtual world and applied it to the real world? Van, I've seen you do some incredible things in this game. I know you can do something great outside."
"You really think so?" Van asked.
"I know so," Sang replied. "You've never cared about the real world because there was a better option, but now it's the only option. You have no choice but to care, but the good news is that you have what it takes."
Van slowly nodded. "I really hope so, Sang. I really hope so."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Van paced back and forth as he looked out from behind the steel gate. He could count at least four other gates inside of the coliseum, and each gate would hold a separate team. There would be five teams all competing in a team deathmatch known as The Meanest Mother. The rules were exceptionally simple: the last team standing would go on to the next match. Those who lost would be ejected from the fight.
"I'm willing to bet we'll be fighting mostly warrior types," Kylian said. "So I say we let the wizard stay invisible for the duration of the melee, until it's all over."
"I'm more effective during an actual fight," Fredlin replied.
Van turned to face his team. Everyone had been transported behind the cage and given the simple rules for the fight. It would only be a few minutes more until the gates would all slide open and 25 players would pour out into the arena.
"I’m not so sure, Fredlin," Van said. "If you take a stray arrow or a stealth type gets on you, you're dead. If you hold off until the end of the fight, you'll have a better chance of winning it for us."
"Regeneration's been disabled," Sang said. "So that means no one is healing without a cleric."
"Like the clerics won't be the first to die," Sahara said. "I mean, the moment a cleric is pointed out, everyone is going to be on top of them."
"The order of kills are simple," Van said. "Clerics die first, then the wizards, then the ranger guys, and finally the warriors."
"So, we gotta keep you alive, Fredlin," Kylian said. "They'll all be too busy fighting each other to notice that only four of us came out of the gate."
"Agreed," Sang said. "You turn invisible and wait until there are only a few of them left. Best case scenario, you show up when we outnumber out opponents – "
"Worst case scenario is that I'm the only one left against a freaking tank," Fredlin grumbled.
"Hey," Sahara said, "you were the one who wanted to play the wizard."