Liam Barette:
"Ahhh, son of a--"
I shake my head as I look at my own timer. According to the stupid thing, I only have thirty minutes left.
"I wonder if I could pause and put in some more quarters. Then again, even if there was a way, I don't have any more quarters left. Damnit."
Shaking my head again and sighing, I walk back to Honeywood. With both SkyGlimmer and the silver ring gone, I can't think of anything else to do.
"Alright, lads and ladeooes," I say to my invisible drone. "I guess it's solo adventures now. Let's see what kind of riveting content we can scrounge up here in Honeywood, should we?"
Hoping to level up fast in the next thirty minutes, I move fast and search the village for any more quests, and thankfully, I find some.
"Hail, adventurer," Jessa Meadowdrop says, waving at me as I walk past her fields. "Would you kindly please help me pick some apples?"
"Uhhh," I start, checking the rewards. It's really not much: some apples, a small amount of experience points, and only ten gold coins. Shrugging, I hit the hovering accept button and start picking apples.
"Darn. These apples are wet."
As I grab, I feel the cold water droplets condense on them. Throwing the apple into a nearby bucket, my jaw drops when I see the sunlight reflecting off the water in my hand. I pick the rest of the apples for Jessa Meadowdrop, and she pays me. Slowly but steadily, my experience bar fills up.
"Branna Hearthold, the innkeeper, needs these," Bryn Oatsworth, another farmer, says. He gives me heavy baskets full of hot loaves of bread. Thankfully, as soon as Bryn gave them to me, they all disappeared into my inventory.
"My back already feels better."
"Please deliver them to her," Bryn asks, pointing down the road. "When you do, she'll pay you."
I push the accept button on this quest, too, and walk over to the small, wooden inn. A small but comfortable inn with a fireplace and many tables covered in food, I see Branna, an elderly woman, standing behind the counter.
"Here," I say, opening my inventory and dumping all the baskets onto her counter. "Give me my money."
"Thank you, young adventurer," Branna Hearthold says with a smile. She takes all the baskets and hands me the shining gold coins. "My inn was running low on food. Your arrival is most timely."
I leave Branna Hearthold's inn and go to my next quest: finding a lost chicken for the traveling merchant, Tobin Rennford. Finding the bird on the other side of the river, I grab it and carry it back to Tobin. However, as we enter the water, the chicken starts pecking me.
"Ahhh! Stop it, you stupid chicken! Ahhh! Why did they have to make this real, too? Ahhh, hey! If you don't stop, I will drown you! Do not test me!"
20 health points lower than when I started, I give Tobin his damn chicken back.
"Well, that was less than heroic," I say while rubbing the cuts in my face. "Tonight, I am definitely having fried chicken."
I tap my wrist again to check the timer. According to the timer, I have less than five minutes left.
"Okay. Well, I'm not doing any more fetch quests. At this point, I'm more of an errand boy than a warrior. Might as well do a little more exploring before I'm kicked out."
I decide to visit Rogar Steelbrand, the Honeywood's blacksmith, again and show off his wares.
"Holy fudge--Look at that sword. Oh my god. 900 gold coins? Yay, maybe, hopefully later."
Next, I go to check out the Honeywood Trader. To my surprise, when I check the trader's inventory, I see a few potions. Health, mana, and even stamina potions, I check the prices and let out a big sigh.
"Only 200 each. Oh, finally. Something that won't cost me all my blood and sweat. Still."
Deciding not to buy one, I leave the trader. As I leave, I see a passing guard and try to interview him.
"Hey, guard! Sir? Uhh, quick question. What is your stance on goblin-related crime?"
The guard turns and stares at me.
"Hail, traveler," the guard says with a smile.
"Right, right, right. Hey, how do you feel about angry chickens? Especially those that try to kill you when you're trying to save them?"
"Hail, traveler," the guard repeats with the same smile.
"Okay. Any advice for young adventurers trying to make it in Honeywood?"
"Hail, traveler," the guard says again with the now creepy smile.
"Wonderful. Very insightful."
A new screen appears in front of me with a timer.
"00:10. 00:09. 00:08."
I look at the timer and sigh again. I then turn to my drone.
"Well, that's it. Thank you very much for watching, everyone. Be sure to leave a like, comment, and---"
Before I can finish, I hear a clicking sound, and then all of Honeywood vanishes. It's replaced with black walls with pulsing green lights. The door hisses as it slides open, revealing an almost blinding light. Blinking and adjusting to the light, I rub my eyes and shake my head before leaving the gaming room.
"Okay," I say, "Let's see what you got."
I run back to my apartment and drop into my chair. Pulling out my cell phone, I start searching the store for the Gaming Cube app SkyGlimmer mentioned. Surprisingly, I find it fast and download it. The second I can, I open the app, and there it is, every single second of drone footage, saved in all its crisp, glorious details.
"Oh my god," I cry, scrolling through all of it, every recording of SkyGlimmer and me walking through the forests, the two of us fighting goblins, and even the lame interview with the guard. "This is gold."
I didn't sleep that night, or the next one. I sit at my desk, editing like a man who is possessed. I combine scenes, cut some, add silly sound effects, and dramatic zooms. I finish the session with my signature closing.
"EpicFailGamer94," I say into my microphone. "Failing so you don't have to."
With shaking hands, not entirely sure if they're shaking from fear of getting no view or the dozen empty soda cans on my desk, I hit the Publish button. When I see my first Gaming Cube video on my channel, I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep.
The first thing I do when opening my eyes again is check my phone.
"Oh my god," I say, shooting like from my desk. "I've been asleep for three days? Aww man. Jordan? Jordan! Didn't you see me sleeping here? Why didn't you--"
As I yell, I turn around in my chair and see Jordan sleeping on the couch. Throwing my hands over my mouth, I shut up. However, even with my hands over my mouth, I keep hearing a pinging sound.
"What is that?"
I look around and check my phone again. My phone is bouncing up and down, and the screen is flashing on and off. Grabbing it, I check it and fall over in disbelief.
"Views are at 25,432. I have 1,038 likes! There are 612 comments. I--I---I have cracked triple digits before!"
Unable to hold it in any more, I jump into the air and shoot my fists up.
"Yeesss! Yes! This is it! I'm blowing up! I'm finally blowing up! I'm going to be famo---Ouch."
A pillow hits me in the face. I grab and throw it down. Looking around, I see Jordan still lying on the couch, but he is lowering his hand.
"Liam. Shut up! Some of us have work in the morning."
Shaking my head, I grab the pillow and throw it back at Jordan. Somehow, he catches it and places it beneath his head. Stretching my arms, legs, and back, the sound of my bones realigning, I head to the bathroom while feeling a smile growing.
"This is only the beginning."