Pearl

In the centre of the room was a large circle. Around it were holograms with little puppets in them.

All characters from a game. My father's game.

Fascinated, I looked at a girl with an axe.

So different, yet so real.

My hand slides through her and comes out the other side. Before I noticed, I heard a scream and turned around, startled.

One of the holograms, a boy, lies on the floor and disappears. On the floor is the number 12:00.

What's that? I look at another doll and see another number. 16:05. 16:06, 16:07... Every second a number is added.

Is this a timer? Is it counting how long they have been in the game?

Another scream and I jumped up. 14:54. With each new second, someone dies. Nobody will make it to 30 minutes.

Shaking my head, I walk on. Until someone comes into view.

The figure has brown hair covered by a dark green hood. A tuft of it falls in front of his eyes, and he holds a long, slender sword that looks frighteningly sharp. He has a determined expression on his face and looks off into the distance.

What we integrated the most was his counter. 47.30400 seconds. I quickly took out my mobile phone and did the maths.

Divided by 24, divided by 60, divided by 365: .... 9.

He's been in there for 9 years! I laugh and shake my head.

Unbelievable.

Admiring the loyalty, I went to the huge circle in the middle.

As I stand in the middle, everything fades away and a counter appears in front of me - 00:00. Then a bar appeared and I entered my name. Nothing happens for a while until I get dizzy and everything disappears.

My vision became clearer and I looked around in confusion.

I am no longer in the building! I'm in the game!

"Welcome Pearl Harper, Player 7." 

I even have my own voice in my head!

"You are in the Dragon Fighter of Heaven area. You need to find a weapon."

A weapon. Let's see.

I look around and start when a symbol appears on my arm. It's a blue question mark.

I click on it and some text appears.

"Find Aid."

Aid?

I go to the woods and pull out some grass. It feels so real! Well done, Dad!

A roar brings me to my senses. I looked up to see a dark shadow circling. Startled, I jump out of sight.

Little voice! What am I going to do now? There is no answer and I curse. I run from tree to tree, stopping only when I see the shadow slide across the ground. My heart is in my throat and I can hear the blood rushing through my ears.

Shit! This is really scary.

The creature vanishes and I sigh. As I take a step forward, a gust of fire comes at me and I fall onto my stomach.

"Damn dragon! Give me a head start!" I jump straight up and run as fast as I can in the other direction. The bushes are shaking and the birds have stopped whistling. A village stretches out in front of me and I cheer.

Too soon, as a large scaly reptile jumps in front of me and I look up. Oh no, oh no, oh no! I jump to the side and run towards the village.

"Help!"The people look up in horror and their eyes glaze over when they see the dragon. "Help anyway! Anyone?" I squeal and look behind me.

I inhale like my friend flammie and close my eyes. I expect to be roasted, but all I feel is a hot gust of wind.

Cautiously I look up and see someone standing in front of me.

He is holding his cloak in front of him and I see that the flames are not burning through it. The dragon growls, as does the boy, and they both roll to the ground.

After a few seconds, the beast lies still and the boy stands up, dusting off his trousers. With a start I see who it is.

It is the boy who has been stuck here for nine years. He walks over to me, pulls up his hood and looks at me kindly.

"My name is Evan Houst Bander O'Neil, but they call me Aid."

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