It was easily over 10,000 hours of game time he
had spent on this game. It had become his
existence and he had been getting very frustrated
before today. The game was designed so that at the
end of an hour of game time a boss would appear
and kill you no matter what it seemed. During the
hour before that the player would gather the
resources that may just beat the boss and move on
from this level. That though never seemed to
happen. Fighting with all his might and with all
his upgraded gear and weapons, the boss had always
beaten down his life force until he expired and
had to start all over again. That wasn't the worst
part. He also lost all of his gear, coins and most
importantly, the legendary weapons he had
acquired. It was worth it though because the game
provided a real world feel and scenarios that kept
him engaged.
Sometimes it was a relief to start brand-new but
with a little more information each time to make
the challenges easier. In response it seemed, the
game changed his stats back to zero each time and
assigned him a new body to make it even more
challenging. He would have to patiently explain to
the male players that he was also a male and
didn't have time for those tired pickup lines. The
weaker body frame presented a whole new set of
dynamics he had to work with instead of brute
strength. No other games he played came close to
the realism offered by the Game Masters so it
would be with a resigned sigh that as death after
the hour was over that he assessed whatever body
he now had and started working on a strategy to
defeat the boss this time. Almost naked in some
new part of the game landscape with all new
parameters to face, here he would go again.
One thing that made the game both easier and more
interactive were his teammates. It was his crew he
could rely on with each new iteration of the game.
Their roles would change each time and it was the
reacquainting himself with his old team that made
the respawn process bearable. Sometimes some of
them would be there as he opened his eyes for the
first time to take in his surroundings and rely on
them to start the process of re-gearing for what
was to come. Others appeared at prearranged times
to help him through some crucial task.
Collectively they grew smarter together in
preparation for facing the final opponent. As each
hour progressed, seemingly weeks, months and even
years passed by in real time yet by the end of
every hour the time had just flown. Until now. Now
he had finally reached the next level and moved
on.
The first thing he noticed was the lack of any of
his crew to greet him. What did greet him was a
message from the Game Masters that explained the
new parameters of the level. The use of coins,
weapons and armor were no longer needed because
now, instead of being solo player, everyone was on
the same team and the challenges going forward
would be mental. With the new level came new
advantages he loved right away. He had three hours
before having to face the boss and new abilities
to master. Done with the reading, he looked up and
saw a player with an older looking avatar would
stop to see if he needed any help. He told the man
he was just relieved to finally make it here after
over 10,000 hours of trying. The old man smiled in
a knowing way and said, "son, each one of those
hours represented a life you lived which is why
they call the game Incarnation. Welcome home".
