Second Chance Addison

Later that evening, Chance logged into MagiScape to start rebuilding his stats.

'I should be working on real world stats.' He chuckled as he realized he hadn't done any physical activity since he was kicked out of his own company.

After silently resolving to start working out in the morning, he decided to work on his woodcutting skill.

Thankfully the tutorial had given him an ax so he set headed to a low level wooded area and started cutting down trees.

It took more time and effort than he would have liked because the area was inundated with other low level players.

Once his inventory filled up with logs, he headed to the closest bank to drop them off. His plan was to sell the logs later at the world market so he would be able to buy some armor and potions.

About fifteen minutes into an attempt at total deforestation, a high level player spawned nearby.

At a glance it was easy to see the other player was wealthy. The other player was wearing the rarest and most expensive set of armor in the game.

When Chance glanced at the other's stats, the number was a dangerous deep shade of red, indicating he should steer clear of him in a dueling area or pvp world.

'What is he doing here?' Chance squinted at the screen, as if it would give him a better understanding of the other player.

Chance was still near the village that the game sent players to after they had completed the tutorial. Most high level players stuck to dueling arenas and member restricted towns.

He glanced at the high level player again and felt there was something familiar about his name.

...

This time when the notification came through, a certain teenager happened to be lazing around in his bedroom with his phone in his hand.

He quickly opened MagiScape and found Chance.

Without thinking, he spawned in the same world and then teleported directly to his location.

Although Chance's avatar was now super weak, it looked the same as before.

The only way to find out if it was really Chance was to ask so he sent out a message and hoped for the best.

...

Chance was shocked when a message popped up in his private chat window.

[Kay-night: man it's been minute]

'Is he talking to me?' Chance quickly scrolled through his friends list. There was indeed a Kay-night.

[SirChancelot: way longer than that, i haven't been on in years]

[Kay-night: how ya been]

[SirChancelot: went through some stuff but can't really complain]

[SirChancelot: how about you]

[Kay-night: alright I guess just counting down to graduation]

'A student?' Chance wondered how he had befriended a student. The game was fairly old and didn't attract many younger players. Was he a college student?

[SirChancelot: what's next after that]

[Kay-night: off to college I guess]

'A high school student?!' It was more likely to encounter a legendary item drop than a teenager.

And factoring in the amount of time he had been away from the game, this Kay-night guy couldn't have been older than nine or ten when he started playing. That was assuming he started just before Chance had stopped.

[SirChancelot: what are you going to study]

[Kay-night: programming]

[Kay-night: you still running your own business]

[SirChancelot: it's a long story but not exactly]

[Kay-night: darn i thought i might have an easy in somewhere once i finish college]

[SirChancelot: i may still be of use]

Chance felt like this kid had an advantage over him. Clearly Kay-night knew who he was but he had no clue as to who Kay-night was.

[SirChancelot: what was the last quest we did]

[Kay-night: i think it was saving the princess of the western kingdom]

[Kay-night: that was back when we still had a decent party no one really plays anymore]

[SirChancelot: sorry about that life got busy]

[Kay-night: that's what they all told me as the dropped off one by one]

Now Chance felt guilty about forgetting this kid. Of course that was Kay-night's plan.

[SirChancelot: where are you thinking of going to school]

[Kay-night: b city university]

Chance hesitated before replying honestly. This was a kid, right?

From a seven and a half year old friends list.

There was no way he had anything to do with the people out to get, him right?

[SirChancelot: cool that's where i live]

[Kay-night: no way what a small world]

The teenager was relieved that his gamble had paid off. He remembered when his cousin moved to the city but wasn't sure if he had stayed there all this time.

[SirChancelot: tell me about it]

[Kay-night: i'm going to an open house in a few weeks]

[Kay-night: wanna meet up irl]

[Kay-night: i mean you don't have to]

[SirChancelot: i'm not sure how free i'll be then what is the date]

After messaging back and forth a bit more they agreed to meet for coffee when Kay-night came to visit the university.

[SirChancelot: it's been fun but i gotta get up early so ttyl]

[Kay-night: bye]

After closing the game, Chance wonder what kind of consequences he could face by meeting up with the teenager.

At best, it was really someone he knew. At worst, it was someone trying to kill him... Great!

That night, he had a tough time falling asleep.