Jules stared at the wristband. Well, at the information window for the wristband, since he couldn’t actually see or feel it. Did he just trick himself into making an information window for something that didn’t exist? Well, he could actually try to test that. He attempted to use View Data, this time imagining the wristband was on his left wrist. If the same thing happened, he would try to imagine a different object, and see if an information window about that came up too.
Instead, he got nothing. Maybe it was because he doubted that it would work… but maybe it was really just that the wristband was on his right wrist.
| Wristband (Equipped on right wrist) |
| Technological Item |
| This is a wristband. It has something to do with lore, probably. |
His ability persistently told him that it was real. Well, as real as anything here was. He looked around at the purple sky, and everything else in the game. Still, since it was ‘real’, it theoretically had some purpose. What could he do with it? Did it do anything at all?
| Wristband (Equipped on right wrist) |
| Options:
Invisibility (Enabled) Restricted mode (Enabled) |
That… wasn’t a lot of options. It didn’t tell him much, but it was something. Could he change the options?
| Would you like to disable invisibility mode? |
| Yes/No |
Mentally, he clicked yes. Suddenly, he felt the weight of a wristband on his right wrist. It was just the same as the one outside the game. He hadn’t been able to feel or see it at all before. His hands had definitely passed through where it was earlier. Well, it wasn’t that hard to spawn in items in games. Or, the feeling of them, since the game was what told him what he was feeling anyway. Still, it was weirder when it felt real. Well, what was that other option?
| Would you like to disable restricted mode? |
| Yes/No |
Yes.
| Are you sure you wish to disable restricted mode? |
| Yes/No |
Yes.
| Warning: Disabling restricted mode will likely lessen immersion in the game. Are you sure you wish to disable restricted mode? |
| Yes/No |
Jules felt like the game was trying to stop him from doing this. However, that made him want to do it even more. It had gone from idle curiosity at the option to a desire to uncover its secrets. He absolutely would find out. Yes. This time no message popped up, but Jules still felt that it had not succeeded.
“I strongly advise against what you are doing.” A voice spoke out of nowhere. No, it came from the wristband. It felt… familiar, somehow.
“Can I not do it?”
“You can. However…” the voice sounded hesitant.
“It’s not against the rules or something, is it? I’m not using anything from outside the game.” Jules wanted to know why there was a voice talking to him now. At the very least, he could keep it talking to figure out where he remembered the voice from.
“It isn’t against the rules. However, it’s still better to not change the setting. Just so you know, it won’t give you a single bit of advantage in gameplay. In fact, it is quite likely to make it less fun.”
“Well, if you tell me what it does, then maybe I won’t. Though, why include a feature that you don’t want to be used?”
“Unfortunately, even telling you would have about the same results.”
Jules realized why it had taken so long to recognize the voice. He had only heard it once, almost a week earlier. “Well, if you won’t tell me, that’s okay. After all, without you, I wouldn’t be able to play this game. It’s fun, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“…Not going to deny it?”
“Would you believe me? Besides, I have no interest in deception. It’s a bad policy to lie to customers.”
“I didn’t give you guys any money though.”
“It’s the same as if you won a raffle. You have access to the game, so you are a customer.”
“Well, since you had triggers set up to notify you that I was doing this, I bet it’s a pretty important option.”
“It’s possible that I was browsing events and just happened to notice.”
“At this time? Not likely. I thought you weren’t interested in deception, or do only direct lies count?”
“It doesn’t count if I don’t expect you to believe it.”
“That’s fair.” Jules concentrated on the game again.
“…I see you haven’t given up.”
“Not going to stop me?”
“I won’t.”
“Won’t or can’t?”
“Won’t. However, don’t say I didn’t warn you, a lot. I won’t accept any complaints. Oh, one last warning. It is in your best interests to not tell anybody about the results.”
“I’d ask why, but…”
“You’re right, I won’t tell you.”
So, Jules, for the final time, brought up the menu and pressed yes. This time, he was sure it worked. He could feel it. He just wasn’t sure what it did. Absolutely nothing changed. He didn’t even feel different. His stats were the same. Well, that was to be expected. He had been told that it wouldn’t affect the way the game worked. Then… what did it do? Jules experimented with everything he’d learned. View data still worked in the same way. Telekinesis. Speaking Uesmethi. Nothing was different. He tried everything until it was about time to get up for work.
“I don’t suppose you will tell me what it did?”
“Nope. I won’t. Figure it out on your own.”
“…You were actually still listening?”
“Sure, I don’t always know when people are going to act like fools, so when I get the chance I definitely pay attention.”
“You’re weird.”
“That is probably not untrue. It’s almost seven, by the way. You should probably sleep.”
Jules logged off, but he didn’t sleep. He just stared at his real-life wristband until it was time to go to work.
2184-12-03 07:00 Friday
This is my first comment here, so firstly I would like to thank you for your captivating stories.
When I read the first few chapters I thought that this story will be similar to Necromancer, but with this chapter (and what I think will follow it) it might be more similar to The Gamer.
I think that your lead up until now had enough hints to figure out what this option entails, but the way it happened is well done. I cannot imagine how Jules will keep this a secret (probably won’t… I hope), but it could be interesting to see how he tries to cover up his real? life abilities.
Again, many thanks for your works, I cannot wait for more!