I crouch, notching an arrow. My senses tingling. The target squats a few yards away; some weird komodo dragon-like hybrid. Wicked fangs, tough scales, body as big as a fallen log and probably capable of toppling a concrete wall. It's completely harmless, by the way. 

Blinking several times switches me into identification mode. My sight takes on a reddened tinge and a digital box appears hovering a few inches above it, displaying various pieces of information like speed, strength, special abilities and a text box reading it's history. I shake the tinge away like an irksome fly and steady my breathing.

My fingers tense on the string and I pull it back until my arms creak, taking careful aim, my pointed ears twitching. The air is ringing. I hold my breath and the forest holds it with me, the only sound is of the creature snuffling as it digs around for worms. Not a breeze crosses the trees. Perfect, my scent won't be blown in its direction and my arrow can't be thrown off course. The only thing that exists in this world is me and my prey. I count the seconds under my breath and begin to relax my fingers on the string, my eyes dry but unblinking.

Thwack! The arrow flies in a beautiful arc, straight and true, piercing it right through the gullet. It's a perfect shot, performed expertly, so of course it's not me that did it.

Now, when you're surprised and holding a bowstring taut to the point that your arms are shaking, pointed at where the monster used to be and where the other hunter now is, I'm sure  you would let go of it too.

The person lets out an audible yelp of surprise and stumbles away, narrowly avoiding death and probably meaning that they are now going to kill me. I decide to go down laughing in death's face, bursting out of the bushes with a frantic, "Sorry!" which I assume is an appropriate response when you almost gore someone with an arrow. Maybe that's just me.

The person turns and I stop dead in my tracks. Death just retaliated, I shouldn't have laughed at him. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Jesus take the wheel, have mercy on my soul.

She's a girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen. I just have time to note her long, shockingly deep hazel hair before she leaps back and pulls out a short crossbow, her eyes blazing and set.

"Um... You might want to put that away." I suggest, my voice coming out in an extremely uncool,  deluxe ruin-your-first-impression squeak.

She doesn't seem impressed.  Instead, she opts for lifting it higher until it's pointing right between my eyes. I saw her arrow hit my target, she wouldn't miss at this range.

Oh boy. I think.

I clear my throat, and try again, . "You obviously don't know how to use that, so please don't try."

I wince at that. I sound like a second-rate jerk now.

Understandably, she seems to be getting angrier and angrier.  "Of course I know how to use it, are you some kind of jerk?"

"Um, no. I'm sorry about that last remark. You... uh... I bet you can use that crossbow... really well. But, um... can I take that to mean that you didn't load it on purpose?"

Her eyes flick down in surprise. My comment hit home, apparently.

"You know, by now if I'd wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have taken the time telling you all this and would have finished the job already." I point out, which seems fair. "Can I have the meat, though? You did steal it from me, sort of. I mean, I saw it first... and..."

She ignores me and lowers her crossbow into her pocket with a touch of unfitting awkwardness. It blurs, as if it's structure were coming apart at the seams, then with a soft zweem, it vanishes.

Now that she isn't looking at me with her eyes on fire, I'm able to relax and start panicking properly. She's pretty, for sure, in a kind of leave me alone, or I'll kick you way. She's a little shorter than me, which makes me feel better for some reason. She wears the standard warrior outfit: A fur vest made of some light brown material over a beige shirt, a dagger dangles off the side. A dusty and lethal looking sword swings at her hip, easily long enough to cleave off my head at this range. Her face is the kind that could be scary if it wanted to, a bit like Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen look, just younger... and more hazel. Why am I thinking this right now?

"You tried to shoot me." She says. Getting right to the point. No working around, no loopholes. Just bam! Wow. That's a first. Usually, people tend to try to convey coded messages through words like I mean, you know? or Well, sort of. Seriously, why can't you just be straightforward?

"Uh... Yeah... that did happen. Um... accidents, y'know? Ha ha. I was just surprised and let the arrow go. Y...y... y'know?" I decid that this is as good a place as any to shut the hell up. Why the hell did I stutter so much? Why the hell did I say 'y'know' so much? Why? Why? Why dammit! WHY CAN'T I JUST SPEAK?!

I take a discreet breath and wait for my pounding heart to still. Unfortunately, it can't do that.

Her eyes scan me long enough for it to get uncomfortable. I know she's just judging me, but still, I'm not the kind of guy who gets stared at by many girls. And by many, I mean any at all.

"Um..." I try again. This time trying for casual and friendly, though it's probably too late anyway. "Hi, yeah, I'm Hide, like Hideyoshi, y'kn... I mean, you've heard of him, right? My namesake. Yeah. Anyway, I'm still sorry for almost killing you. I don't normally... I mean, if I did normally, I'd be in jail and... well..." I kind of trail off and make a mental note to find a cliff to jump off of later.

She seems to decide that I'm not too dangerous. That, or she just thinks I'm too stupid to be. The latter, most likely.

"Okay, well. my name's Akemi, and you better be sorry," She says, jabbing a finger at my face, and earning a flinch. There's that straightforwardness again. I don't know, but I like how I can finally understand a conversation. She's scary, though. "This probably wouldn't slide in the real world."

The real world, I hate the real world.

I don't really envision the real world as being, well, real. Because over there, I'm a social outcast recluse shut-in with no family, friends, or any reason to like it.In this world, at least, my life has meaning.

Since I'm a solo player, I made my avatar look as much as the other world me as I could. I didn't at all know how to interact with different people, so I figured if I kept my original form, they would keep their distances, like in the "real" world.

"Yeah, when you almost kill someone, 'sorry' doesn't usually cut it." I say with an edge of nervousness. Just an edge, mind you. For me, that's a major upgrade. Stay cool, stay cool.

"Yeah." She nods. "Yeah, I guess."

There's an awkward silence and I curse the fact that I can make literally any kind of person feel uncomfortable or awkward. Like, even social workers and psychologists run out of things to talk about around me.

"Could I do something to be forgiven?" I ask, scratching my elbow for no apparent reason. "I'm asking this because you seem like the kind of person that would pursue me to the ends of the earth."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asks hotly. Why do conversations always end up feeling like a minefield?

"No, no no. Did that sound bad, was that bad?" I do a few tongue rolls. Think of what your gonna say, this will give you time, think. Think! "It's just... um... I'm not exactly great at choosing my words."

She eyes me, clearly annoyed. This is just a video game, I can log out whenever I want. I'll look like an absolute idiot and would have to hide from society for the next few years. That's fine, I guess. It's what I've always done, anyway.

She reaches into her pocket and for a moment, I'm afraid she's going for her crossbow. Right as I'm about to turn tail and run for my life. she pulls out a card, very much resembling a credit card, holds it out in front of her and releases it. Instead of falling, like the laws of gravity suggests it should , it revolves on the spot and projects a screen above it, holographic style. This world just can't decide between futuristic or antique.

On the screen is an rectangle checkered with boxes containing items with enough space for about 25 of them, most of which is full. Right above, her stats are represented in a menu.

She's fifteen, level 12, a warrior as I'd guessed. Her name doesn't have a last name, but that isn't uncommon, pretty much nobody these days bothers to add last names on their avatar, and nobody really cares what other people's last names are, so much.

In this game, there are seven types of roles: Warrior, elf, healer, magician, assassin, hunter and merchant.

I'm an elf. We're skilled in magic (though not as much as magicians) and light weaponry. The pointy ears bother some people, but it's become a bit of a fashion trend, as of late. A bit emo, sometimes, but it looks good on some people. I happen to not be one of those people.

Warriors like Akemi are pretty much skilled in all general weaponry and are just really good at fighting.

Said warriors voice snaps me back to reality, I hadn't realized that I was spacing out. "Um... actually, yeah, it would be a nice idea. If you know a good place. I don't think I can make a meal of this."

'I... uh... I'm kind of low on money. Okay. I'm broke actually. Mind if I trade some pelts for cash, first?"

She shrugs and nods, her hair fluttering a little. The smell of lemons reaches my nose and I note that it's not that strong. At least, not compared to some of the girls I used to pass in the school hallways. I swear to god, seventy percent of their body weight must be hair products.

My heart does a kind of ba-bump ka-thump routine, but it always does when I talk to girls, or anyone.

"Let's teleport. It's pretty far." I suggest.

She cocks her head. "Teleport?"

"Just a second. You'll see."

I search my inventory for a certain large, leather bound book I'd found and my most valuable item. It had taken three days straight of killing and leveling up to get this item and already I'd died about a million times to the same boss, over and over. It was probably the only thing I'd ever put that much effort into.

The volume contains my permission to use certain effects. Teleporting, for example, since it's the only one I actually can use. It's a little lacking in content, but this book costs probably double its weight in gold. Merchants would probably be pestering me left and right if only they could afford it, or knew I had it. Only one other person in the world knows, and one other is about to figure out.

I walk over to Akemi and grab her shoulder without thinking.

"Hey!" She jerks away from me and jabs at my hand. "What are you...?!"

"Oh sorry," I say, rubbing the back of my hand, which has turned red, she can strike like a rattlesnake "I was gonna teleport and I need to be touching you to transport both of us."

"Oh." She inches back to me. "Okay, don't try anything funny."

I would have said: Don't worry, I value my life, but figured it wouldn't be very appreciated. Not knowing what part of her to touch, I pinch the very edge of her vest and say in a hasty voice. "Command sequence: Teleport entity players Hide, Akemi, town 13!"

We dissolve into light, I hear the warrior gasp next to me, in wonder or surprise, I don't know. I'll never forget the feeling I got when I found myself in a world of spinning light, feeling space rush past me and reforming in a quiet place in town. Always a quiet, secluded space. I once teleported in on a couple making out in the back of a bar. That got awkward quick.

I unpinch her vest as if it's on fire, trying to calm my pounding heart. Why is it so active, right now? Because I managed to talk to someone for the first time in so long?

"Handy." She notes, causing my miserable self to flinch. Why, I have no idea. "Why don't people just use that all the time?"

"Because you can't. After you use it, it has to recharge for a day or so and you can only teleport into towns, so I think I'm gonna be spending the night here." I say, the words flowing over my tongue, unnaturally natural.

I begin to walk in hasty strides. Akemi falling behind.

"Where are you going?" The warrior asks once she's caught up. "And why are you going so fast?"

"To my favorite trade shop, Aaron's: stuff. I need to go, because he always closes before the patrol can reach his street."

She stares at me. "I'm guessing the owner's name is Aaron."

"Yeah, he had a name that was longer but meant pretty much the same thing, he changed it thinking it affected his business." I explain. "Probably right, too."

"Does he do illegal stuff?" She asks with a suspicious look in her eye.

"Why?"

"You said 'he closes before the patrol reaches his street.'"

"Nah. Well, not really... Not so much that he'd be arrested."

"I see..."

We walk in silence. I never knew silence could be so loud.

"That's it." I say, pointing.

Akemi stares. "Well, he's doing well."

Imagine a stereotypical old-fashioned western cowboy movie bar where a bunch of drunken manly men either mope around playing cards with flies buzzing around them, or beating the place to hell. Now shrink it a bit, you've got a pretty good idea of Aaron's shop. It's completely empty, besides a low-level player, trotting out like there's a bear in there, bearing a new and probably overpriced helmet.

I step inside, my hunting thief in tow. The left walls are lined with shelves. Helmets, boots, chestplates, and different armors are thrown a little pell-mell on it, but it's somehow ordered and labeled. The right is covered in axes, swords, spears, bows and staffs of different size, color and shape. Behind the counter, a shelf is overflowing with furs, extra-insulating coats, goggles for seeing in smog, gloves that really don't do anything but look cool and other accessories and equipment. In front of the counter, is a glass box displaying whatever rare and impressive items he can get his hands on. I count three.

Aaron is at the counter. Black spiky hair, bored, gray eyes (which most people find creepy), he looks like the kind of guy who could star as a weirdo in a high school movie. He's wearing the typical merchant clothes (which is actually just vest pants and shirt), albeit with a straw hat on his head.I don't know why he keeps his hair like that. He says it makes him look like an anime protagonist, but it gives me the urge to raid his hair with a comb.

He pauses, grins, and looks up. "Well if it isn't the man of the moment, Hideyoshi."

"Business is booming as much as usual, as I can see." I answer, walking up to him. "Always a good day to rip off the people of our fine community."

He spreads his arms. "Wouldn't have to if someone would just endorse my products. Come on, man!"

"First off, what is there to endorse? You sell pretty much whatever you can grab."

"Exactly! You endorse literally the first thing you grab! That's what makes it so easy!"

"You don't what endorse means, do you?"

"I do! Just need to clear it up a bit, you were saying?"

"Second off, no. If I'm the one talking about this place, people are gonna ransack it and hunt you down with pitchforks. Get a cute girl to do it, or something."

"Speaking of girls, who's this?" He asks, gesturing to Akemi. "Hi! I'm Aaron. If you're going out with Hide, then I'm sure you've heard about me."

"I'm not!" She exclaims which makes me jump, she can go from being entirely quiet, to quite loud, in an instant. "He almost killed me on our first meeting!"

The merchant raises his eyebrows at me. "Wow, call me impressed. Never thought Hide would be so risqué."

"Cut it out Aaron, I'm here to do business." I grumble over Akemi's angry protests.

He grins. "No more rust flakes, I hope?"

"No, and that last time was an accident, so shut up already. I've got some Cunipes pelts, okay?" I draw them from my inventory and lay them on the desk.

He examines them closely, blinking five times to lower his vision into identification mode. "These should be worth about twelve rennings."

"Altogether?"

"No, apiece. That's some pretty high quality stuff."

"You'll sell it for higher, anyway."

"Bet your ass."

"How about, sixteen? I really need the money at this point." I lean in and lower my voice to a suspicious whisper. "I owe this girl a meal."

Aaron hesitates, balancing between merchant and friend, then caves. "Okay, fine. Make it fourteen. But that's the final offer."

We shake, he transfers some cash from his inventory, and collects the pelts.

"Thanks! Nice seeing you again, Aaron! I'll try and drop by again, every once in awhile!"

Aaron grins at me. "What's a little help between friends? Enjoy your date Hide."

"Shut up, y'idiot" I say as I walk out to the sound of Aaron laughing as he piles his pelts on the bargain shelf for twice what I sold it to him for.

Why people ever buy anything from him is a mystery to me, but he makes fairly steady business.

After we put some distance between us and the shop, Akemi speaks up. "He was... interesting."

I shrug. "Whether that's good or bad is up to you. I decided it was good and may have regretted it."

She rolls her eyes. "He's your friend, huh?"

"Yeah, my only one, really." I answer sheepishly.

She looks at me thoughtfully, opens her mouth to say something, closes it, and then speaks. "So, where are we going to be eating?"

I point down the road, deciding to inore her hesitation. "There's a nice little inn that way, it's not too expensive. Wanna go there?"

She smiles, a very small one, almost a shadow of one, but a smile all the same. "Well, I don't know the place too well, you're the guide."

My heart goes ba-bump again.

Give it a rest. I tell my heart.

My heart does not, and instead, proceeds to beat my chest like Tarzan. I would punch it in the face, except it has no face, and I would look crazy punching myself in the chest.

"What do you mean by not too expensive?" The warrior asks.

I think. "How does not-gonna-make-me-flat-broke sound to you?"

She makes a small sound, possibly a snort? "Sounds reasonable."

"Alright then miss, anything else I can tell you as your guide?"

She rolls her eyes. "I was kidding about that, let's just go."

And not even a single stutter. Is this a blessing?

Maybe this will go well.