Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 10

Reid was almost getting used to the sensation of moving between worlds. One moment he was in his bedroom, the next he was in the city ruins. There was a flicker of weightlessness between the two. And that was it.

Maple was beside him, and then so was Issac a split second later. Reid smiled, mostly to himself. This was the way these games were meant to be played and explored, not with stupid guild recruiting newbies but with your friends. This wasn't about different dimensions, or wherever this really was. It was just exponentially more interesting than watching his dad flip through channels.

Familiarity crept into the edge of Reid's vision. Whatever that thing was in this world, it would just never go away. He checked up at the sky, once again perceiving the darkness that sat behind the permanent red hue. When he brought his head down, he could already see one of the Hollows wandering in the distance. It would be time to really play the game.

"Kay, I did this the other day and figured out a couple things," Reid started, instantly capturing the attention of his two friends. He felt a little waver in his chest, a tightening different from the usual anxiety he would experience. This one gave him a little surge, some excitement, as everyone's eyes fixated on him and waited for his next instructions. "Get out your phone and tell me what the number is. Then add each other's number as a contact and you'll have a friend."

"Wait," Issac cut in, holding up a hand. Reid's normal anxiety suddenly snapped into his stomach. "Is this where you got a girl's number from, really?" The teen leaned in slightly, raising his eyebrows. "Cause getting a girl's number on the internet doesn't count man. They're probably not even a guy."

Reid blinked, slowly. "You can clearly see you're represented by your own...avatar...thing. Person. You know when....no wait, I didn't get it here...never mind." Maple snickered. The trio swapped numbers with each other.

"What's all the other stuff mean though?" Maple asked, pointing to her own screen.

"I think Flock is like a guild or something," Reid replied, opening his own screen to review his level. Still a two. But the purple bar had moved further along than the last time. "I don't know what Rank does. I know it's a rank I guess, but like, no idea how you earn it." The other two nodded along. "If you tap your face it's where you logout and also you have a level but I don't know what it means. I saw this other player trying to get experience by killing monsters but nothing happened."

"Maybe it applies when you logout or set up camp?" Issac commented, rubbing at his chin in thought. Maple giggled. Reid felt a strange little surge of jealousy flow through his body. And then it was gone. Maple laughed at Issac all the time. Reid laughed at Issac all the time. It was normal. And if Maple...did like Issac...it's not like Reid had some sort of claim on her heart. Or whatever this was.

"Yeah." Reid backed out of the screen and was back to looking at his other stats. His Twilight was the same as always. It seemed he would need more levels before it would tell him anything else about it. "I said that too but the guy didn't know. So I don't know."

"Weird."

"It's a weird game," Maple added. "It's got freaky fucking monsters too."

"What's up with the avatars?" Issac was staring at himself, moving his hand in front of his own face. "This is just a mobile phone. Feels like I'm here or something. Like virtual reality?"

"We don't get it either," Maple chimed in.

Reid held the real answer back, on the edge of his tongue. Virtual reality. Different dimension. Same thing. So long as nobody got hurt they'd be fine. Even if they did, the app had all these game features. Reid was pretty certain it wouldn't just let that happen. What would happen to all the new people who just joined and then died? People would notice.