Chapter XVI

"Hey Matcheon, what are you up to?"

He didn't see me approach and by now I stood right in front of him, bending down waving my hand in his face.

"Morphynn? The bug guy from Azalea? You made it here?" he answered in shock.

I could hear two things in his voice. First of all, he was using a real time translator and probably didn't understand English. Second, that translator didn't hide his belittling tone and it was clear he did not think highly of me.

"Took a while for Ghostface to show up, sorry to keep you waiting."

"How many other competitors did you see on the gym statue?"

"I think your name was third on the list? I stopped counting after the first twenty or thirty or so."

I wanted him to believe there were dozens of competitors on his tail, mess with his mind a bit. It worked. Matcheon let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

"It can't be done... It's too hard."

His avatar disappeared, meaning he probably logged out to cry in a corner in real life.

I inspected the door he sat in front of, a hovering sign unveiled the multiplayer map behind it. This level was named "Demon Gate".

I brought out the ladies night invitation I got on Westeros and it lit up a bit.

"Thank you, Matcheon."

First I allerted Finn, who would be here in ten minutes. Then I triple checked this world's details to make sure I couldn't perma-die here. All evidence luckily pointed that way. The fact that Matcheon already lost at least once, seemed to underline that.

Demon Gate was designed as an arena where players could shoot each other up in a deathmatch. There were weapons and one defensive power-up you could grab to get an edge. A match lasted at least five minutes. When you died, you'd respawn. The player with the most kills would win.

When Finn arrived I brought him up to speed about how I got here and that I met Matcheon.

"He's a condescending dick," I said.

"Always was," replied Finn. "All competitive Pokémon players are."

We stood in front of the door that led to the Demon Gate map and there was just one thing to do now.

"So, I might as well give this a go…" I mumbled.

"Just give it a go, see what we are up against. No pressure."

I activated the door and the map loaded around me. The eerie soundtrack by the Nine Inch Nails started playing and immediately there was the sound of gunfire and explosions, the screaming of dying players.

The deathmatch instantly started and I quickly got shot in the head by a brunette wearing camouflage pants.

"Cha-ching!" she yelled. "That's all you've got?"

As she was running away to find her next target, I noticed the letters hovering above her. "Tanya" was her name.

"Wait… She's not from this game," Finn said over our audio connection.

He was watching my live stream and did instant research. I had no time to join him in his studies, because I had already respawned elsewhere on the map. I ran towards a Double-Barrelled Shotgun I noticed up for grabs.

Before I could reach it, Lara Croft showed up and shot me.

"Tombraider girl!" Finn yelled. "First appeared in 1996, just like Tanya."

We started to understand the "ladies night" aspect of this quest. The enemies were inspired by the "action girl" phenomena from the nineties. This map was filled with girl power.

Another pixelated brunette was coming to kill me. Dressed in a blue uniform I took a shotgun blast in the chest. Courtesy of a certain Jill Valentine.

"1996, Resident Evil!" Finn commented as if he was participating in a trivia quiz.

Trying to make my way through the map I tried to avoid all the rocket blasts and gunshots, but the women were so damn fast.

There were a lot of them. I noticed Kasumi from Dead or Alive, also born in the year 1996. Just like Sakura Shinguji from Sakura Wars.

"Cha-ching! Give it to me!" Tanya laughed, killing me another time with her two pistols.

Just before I started thinking there were only dark haired women invited to this party, Pamela Anderson chased a bullet through my body. "Barb Wire", her name tag read.

After five minutes the match was over. Tanya won with 23 kills, I ended last with an impressive zero hits.

Finn tried to convince me to jump right back in, subject myself to a speed course in Quake. I disagreed. I wanted to prevent myself from ending up discouraged and despairing like Matcheon. I needed a plan.

I dug deep in internet archives to find tips and videos of player playthroughs. But the game was released in the era of paper manuals and strategy guides. Not easy to find.

There were ways to master the game, like using the rocket launcher as an improvised jetpack. But still it would take a lot of practice.

I logged out and fell to my bed, overwhelmed by a sudden urge to just stop existing.

There was a reason I stayed away from PvP zones, didn't compete in official Pokémon championships and spent most of my days in the OASIS. It was called fear of failure.

When no one was watching or there was nothing at stake, I could be brilliant. But as soon as I was supposed to be good, things would go downhill. A racing heart, sweat, lightness in my head and a constant urge to poop.

Amplifying the basic anxiety I felt, was the fear that I would actually suck at playing Pokémon when I would compete in tournaments. It would not only mean losing, but also break the immersion I had in my personal RP. It would prove I was in fact not "the very best that no one ever was".

As long as I stayed away from such competitions, I could keep my fantasies alive. Live them in the OASIS. But now this quest expected me to win a hardcore shoot-up on the highest level.

Finn knew all this, even if we never discussed it. It was the reason he backed off for now, knowing any pressure would have a negative effect on me.

But there was another person that maybe could help me out.