[ Reward: $100 ]

  Kairo stared at it, frozen.

  "Is this reward real?" he muttered under his breath.

  Before he could even understand what was happening, a hand settled on his shoulder.

  Kairo jerked and nearly stumbled, panic shooting through him. He spun around.

  A boy stood behind him, around his age.

  His clothes were simple and looked handmade, wrapped around his body with uneven stitching. Around his neck hung a small necklace made from pieces of bone tied together with thin thread.

  The boy smiled, looking at Kairo who was still crouched and gasping for breath. "I'm glad you made it," he said.

  Kairo's eyes stayed on the boy's strange outfit. "Made it where?" he asked, still trying to catch his breath.

  "Through the marsh," the boy said, clarifying himself. "Not many people manage to cross that part."

  Kairo glanced around the swamp again, nodding in understanding. "Where am I?" He asked the boy as he stood up. Judging by the boy's clothes, he seemed to know about the place.

  "This is the outer swamp," the boy replied.

  "And you are?"

  "My name is Lorin."

  Kairo nodded slowly and introduced himself, "I am Kairo. Glad to see another human. By the way, how did you find me?"

  "We watch the marsh," Lorin said. "When someone survives it, we guide them back."

  "Back where?" he asked, confused.

  "To the village." Lorin pointed ahead between the trees.

  Kairo followed the direction with his eyes but could not see anything yet. "How far is it?"

  "Not far." The boy started walking in the direction without waiting for Kairo.

  Kairo hesitated to follow the strange boy. Following a stranger in a place like this was stupid but staying alone felt worse.

  Anyways, after a quick thought, he moved quickly and caught up, keeping a small distance behind him.

  As they moved deeper into the forest, the mud felt slightly firmer. The trees were still twisted, but thankfully fog was disappearing.

  Kairo kept looking around still on tip toes trying to be cautious about the unknown dangers the forest had.

  "How old are you?" he asked after a moment.

  "14," Lorin answered.

  Kairo nodded in acknowledgement. "So people actually live here?"

  "Yes."

  "In the swamp? Near danger?"

  "We built the village on ground a little safer from the swamp," Lorin replied.

  They walked a little further. "What's in the swamp?" Kairo asked, confused and wanting to understand what this place is and whether he is really dreaming or moving into a different realm. By the look of it it felt he moved to a different realm every time.

  "There are many dangers here," Lorin replied.

  "Like what?"

  "You will hear about them in the village." Lorin glanced back and smiled again.

  Kairo stared at him. The boy appeared to be strange. "Aren't you scared?"

  "So the villagers know what's out there?" Kairo kept throwing questions at Loren trying to understand.

  "Yes." Loren replied short.

  "And they'll explain it?"

  "Yes."

  Kairo walked silently for a few seconds before asking the next question again. "Why was I in the swamp?"

  Lorin didn't respond.

  Kairo looked at him thinking he might not have heard him. He asked a different question, "What is this place exactly?"

  Again, no answer.

  "How do I leave?" he asked, more urgently now. He sped up, moved in front of Lorin, and turned to face him.

  Lorin suddenly spoke again with the same smile. "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo blinked confused, as he walked backwards. "What?"

  "I'm glad you made it," Lorin repeated.

  Kairo stopped walking. "Yeah… you already said that."

  Lorin kept smiling and walked past Kairo repeating, "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo stared at the boy's back. That smile didn't feel the same anymore. It felt weirdly creepy.

  He hurried to catch up. "Lorin," he said slowly, "I heard you. Can you answer my other questions?"

  "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo's mouth went slightly dry.

  "Do you know where I came from?" he asked.

  "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo stopped walking for half a second. It wasn't that Lorin refused to answer. It was like he couldn't.

  He watched the boy's expression while still moving backward, carefully, watching the way his eyes didn't change.

  He tried again. "How do I leave this swamp?"

  "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo exhaled quietly as realisation struck him. He wasn't in a different realm nor was this a nightmare. He was in a game and this boy was a NPC.

  To test his theory, he stepped a little closer and tried asking questions again.

  "How do I leave this swamp?"

  "I'm glad you made it."

  Same words. Same expression.

  Kairo asked another question. "What did you say your name was?"

  "My name is Lorin."

  So that worked. "How old are you?"

  "14."

  That worked too. Kairo nodded slowly and he tried to understand the pattern. He asked again, "Why am I here?"

  To which Lorin replied with an anticipated reply, "I'm glad you made it."

  Kairo confirmed. This was an NPC. Some questions had answers. Others triggered the same response. Scripted. But by whom?

  But who built it, and why was he inside it?

  He didn't have time to sit in that thought. He kept following Lorin.

  A minute later, the trees thinned again and the village came into view. In front of him stood wooden huts on raised platforms connected by uneven paths. Smoke drifted from one of the roofs and few people moved between the huts, working like it was a normal day.

  Kairo slowed down slightly. "What happens now?" he asked, trying to understand the next step.

  "Yeah right," Kairo muttered dryly. At this point he wasn't sure what was worse - being stuck inside a game or talking to an NPC.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  For a moment he had actually thought Lorin might be a real person who could help him find a way out of this place. But that hope was gone now.

  He looked at the huts again as they stepped out of the woods. Before he could fully leave the forest, the air around him suddenly tightened. The village blurred in front of his eyes and everything went dark.

  Kairo opened his eyes in his room. The fan above him spun slowly and the morning light came through the window as usual.

  He sat up on the bed and looked around his room for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened.

  Recalling the message displayed by the panel, he had survived the objective. That meant whatever it was, it had some kind of goal and he had managed to complete the first part of it.

  He rubbed his temples slowly and muttered under his breath.

  "So it was like a game."

  "Not a dream. Not a nightmare. Not some other realm I had been transported to while sleeping. But a game."

  The problem was that none of it made sense. How was it happening? Who would build something like that? Why was he involved in it? And if it really worked like a game, how was he supposed to get out of it?

  Before he could think further, the notification sound of his phone on the bed side suddenly pulled his attention away.

  Kairo reached for the phone and looked at the screen. It was a bank alert.

  He opened it and immediately felt dumbfounded as he read it.

  +$100 credited.

  For a few seconds he simply stared at the message, unsure if he had read it correctly. There was no sender name attached to the transaction. The only thing written under the amount was a short note that said 'Reward.'

  Kairo refreshed the banking app to check again but the amount did not disappear.

  His hands trembled slightly as he held the phone. The reward mentioned in the game was credited in real life.

  "So it was indeed a game," he said quietly to himself. "Somehow connected to the real world."

  He kept looking at the number for almost a full minute, trying to find a reasonable explanation for it, but none appeared.

  If completing that objective resulted in real money, then whatever he experienced there had real consequences as well. The thought made him uneasy.

  He glanced at the clock on the wall and remembered something else. School. He had already missed the previous day and he didn't want to keep missing classes and affect his grades.

  He checked the amount one last time before locking the phone and placing it back on the table to freshen up for the school.

  As usual, he poured milk into two bowls and placed them on the floor for Ash and Luna even though he already knew the second bowl would probably remain untouched again.

  Kairo stared at the second bowl for a moment, sad that Luna still wasn't back. She had never stayed away this long before. After a few seconds he shook his head and finished getting ready.

  At school the thoughts about the game stayed with him the entire morning. He tried to focus on the lessons but every time he looked at his notebook his mind drifted back to the same questions.

  By the time the second period ended he was already tired of thinking about it alone. Finally he stood up from his seat and walked toward the nurse's office.

  If something strange was happening to him mentally, he wanted to at least rule out the possibility that he was simply losing his mind.

  He knocked lightly on the door before stepping inside.

  The nurse looked up from her desk. "Yes?"

  Kairo hesitated for a moment before speaking.

  "Mrs. Foskin, I wanted to ask something," he said.

  She pointed toward the chair across from her. "Sit."

  Kairo sat down, unsure how to explain it without sounding strange.

  "I've been having… very real dreams," he said after a moment.

  "What kind of dreams? Nightmares?" the nurse asked casually.

  "Not exactly," Kairo replied. "It feels like I'm somewhere else. Like I'm actually there."

  She gave a small nod seeming to understand him. "Dreams can feel real sometimes, especially if you've been thinking about games or stories before sleeping."

  Kairo hesitated, then added, "What if the same dream continues the next night?"

  "That happens too," she said with a faint smile. "Your brain just continues the same story."

  He paused for a moment before speaking again. "And what if something from that dream appears in real life?"

  The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

  Kairo thought about the bank notification.

  "…Money."

  "You mean you dreamed about getting money?" she asked.

  "No," Kairo said. "I actually got it after the dream."

  The nurse chuckled lightly. "I'm pretty sure dreams don't pay people."

  Kairo stayed quiet.

  "You're probably overthinking it," she continued. "Students sometimes get vivid dreams when they're stressed or tired. It doesn't mean anything's wrong."

  Kairo stayed quiet. He could already tell where this was going. Mrs. Foskin might be thinking he is making up these things to avoid classes.

  "I see," he said, knowing explaining further would be of no use and stood up.

  The nurse gave him a reassuring smile. "You look fine to me. Just try to get proper sleep and focus on your classes."

  "If the dreams keep bothering you, we can talk again," she added, already reaching for the papers on her desk.

  Kairo nodded politely and left the room.

  As he stepped into the hallway, he pulled out his phone again and glanced at the bank notification.

  The message was still there.

  +$100 credited.

  What he didn't notice was the faint reflection on the dark screen of his phone. Two small red lights staring back at him.