Sword Slay

Chapter Three: The Guild

Akihito and I walk to an inn. It doesn't look that bad, but the walls have some cracks in them. It doesn't matter anyway. We're in a video game.

I look around the lobby area and see three guys staring at me. I tug on Akihito's shirt. He ignores it, or maybe he just can't feel it because it's a game. I'm still not sure how this game works. I shake his shoulder. He does notice that and turns to look at me.

"What do you need?" He asks me.

I point to the guys staring at me. The guys smile at us. Akihito walks over to them. I stay where I am, but I can still hear their conversation.

"Can I help you guys?" Akihito says to them.

The guys look up at him. One guy, the one on the left with dark brown hair, says, "Yeah. we need some guild members and you two seem good recruits."

"Oh. Sure, just let me talk it over with my friend." He gestures to me. "Can you give us some time to discuss it? Add me as a friend and I'll message you when we decide."

Akihito and I go to our room. The rooms are sound proof, so no one can eavesdrop on another player.

"Mayuri, what do you think? The guild seems nice." He asks me. I crinkle my nose. "What's wrong? Don't like them?"

I shrug. "They're ok." I say with my small voice. He can hear it, though.

"Let's try it out. We'll never know until we try." I nod, and he pulls out his menu so that he can message the boy from before. I hear the tapping of his keyboard. There is a 'swoosh' sound. He just sent it.

"Ok, Mayu, let's go to sleep now."

We both crawl into our separate beds. "How long has it been?" I ask.

He is silent for a moment. "I... I don't know."

I close my eyes and fall asleep, but before I do, I think about whether my slumber will be real or not. Probably not.

The next day, Akihito taps my forehead, knowing that I'm a light sleeper and I'll wake up from that. I open my eyes, squeeze them shut, then open them again.

"Ready to go to our new guild? They're a small group around level thirty."