Watch and learn

It wasn't long before the party met other players. They spotted another group in the forest a while after the wizard's tower.

"Just keep walking. Don't look," Noah said. Sawyer got the idea that encounters with other parties were somewhat tense. "It's too early for them to waste time attacking, but... you never know."

"Why would they attack us?" Sawyer whispered. "Do players drop loot when they die?"

Mark was the one that spoke up. "Nay, young protege. Players keep everything on **** - but they respawn in the castle town and have to wait a period before they can return to the party. Some teams will kill just to inconvenience and weaken others - or for fun. If a team is wiped, they can teleport from the castle town to a random location, losing any progress they had in whichever area they were in before."

"So... parties that attack other players are kind of jerks, then?"

"Yes, that pretty much sum it up," Emmet said. "I've been on the receiving end more times than I wish to recount, unfortunately. I no longer play solo for that reason. It's just a free-for-all deathmatch."

The tension dissipated as soon as the other party was behind them.

Noah flicked his head in one direction, leading the team that way. "Looks like those guys came from the east. We should head west so we don't risk finding stuff they already looted."

In a few more hours of looting, that group found some more basic gear. In a carved-out cliff they found a rusty wood-axe for Mark. In a graveyard, leather armor and a bow (but no arrows) for Emmet. And in an abandoned cabin, they found the best loot of the day - an iron saber for Noah.

By that point, it was dark, and there was no night-vision built into Virtual Combat Realm. Exploring in the dark was next to impossible and stamina was a factor all players had to deal with. Sleep was the best solution to both problems. Luckily they were still in the cabin in which they'd found Noah's saber.

"We should probably hunker down for the night," Noah said. And the rest agreed. They started preparing the cabin right away.

All players get a few items to start out with on the first day. Basic stuff that isn't super helpful except to get started. Stuff like candles, a piece of flint, a bed roll, some rope, a cook-pot, and three small healing potions. The candles weren't bright enough to explore with outside, so Emmet lit a couple and the group sat together in a circle on the floor around them.

"Should we set someone on watch while the others sleep? Couldn't another party come wipe us easily if we're all sleeping at the same time?" Sawyer asked.

Mark answered, "Nah, that's far too boring for the poor oaf stuck as watchman. The gracious developers in all their wisdom allow each player to set a base zone. If the party sleeps in this zone, they are awakened automatically if any other player or monster gets within a certain range."

Emmet added, "Sleep-wipes happened far too frequently in the early seasons. No one liked losing that way or watching it in the replays so they patched it out quickly."

"Ah, makes sense," Sawyer said.

The rest of the night's conversation was pretty mundane. Sawyer discovered that Emmet was in the marching band and Mark was a very serious D&D player and LARP enthusiast. Noah had played field hockey for years then switched to soccer. They were normal, chill guys, at least in Sawyer's opinion.

A some point, the conversation managed to switch tracks.

Noah, sitting with his arms around his tucked knees grinned at Mark. "So, Mark... What happened with that girl you mentioned last cycle? The brunette you met at your Magic tournament? Did thine do the deed, buddy?"

Mark stammered and turned red. "Y-you forget yourself! You expect me to speak of such vulgarities in front of the whelp? I- I protest!"

Emmet chuckled. "That's most definitely a no, then. Even among fellow geeks, no female will touch him!"

Mark fumed and crossed his arms. "What about you, then, hmm? Pray tell - have you seen any action of recent? I think not!"

It was Emmet's turn to turn red and stumble over his words. "H-have too! I go to band camp every summer. You know what happens there!"

"Band camp? Bah! That one time doesn't count! You bring it up incessantly but a handy hardly counts!"

Sawyer looked back and forth as the two descended into an argument about whether or not a band-camp hand-job counted as losing your virginity. He kind of wished he could summon some popcorn to eat with the show.

"They do this every time girls come up," Noah said, chuckling. "They're both such dorks, but it's kind of fun talking about crushes and stuff again, like being back in school. Plus team bonding is important in games like this. Makes you better at communicating."

Sawyer raised an eyebrow. "Is this what they did when you played field hockey and soccer?" He couldn't help but imagine a bunch of burly guys talking about handys during practice.

"Haha, alright, maybe it's a little different, but same idea. These two are both really cool guys, but they've got some serious baggage irl. I think they - or really, we - come on here to get away from the real world for a while. This game means a lot to us all. So we might goof off, but don't think we aren't going to play our hardest tomorrow, okay?"

Sawyer nodded, "You got it. I'll try not to hold you back." He held his fist up and Noah gave it a bump.

"Don't worry about that. Consider this cycle your training round. We'll handle the heavy lifting, you just watch and learn!" Noah smiled and Sawyer felt his heart skip a beat.

After that, the group extinguished the candles and went to sleep on their bedrolls, ready for the first full day of the cycle.