The bell to the convenience store door I work at went off as I walked in. A girl around my age stood behind the counter and smiled brightly when she saw me walk in. Not because of me, the person, but because the person who would take over her shift was here.

“Zoe, you are here.” The girl’s name was Stephanie Langley.  She was a college student and also an aspiring actress from what I understand. Not that I care since I hardly say much to her… or anyone for that matter. You can say I am kind of socially awkward.

“Ah… Mm… Yeah….” As always, my words were nothing more than a few mumbles since I was unsure how to act around this girl. This was why I preferred the late shift. I only had to deal with customers. 

    “You really do not talk all that much, do you?” I watched as Stephanie sighed and got her things together. I really did not have much to say. I barely watched TV. I did not follow any idols. I did not go out on the town. Hell, my only friend was my… You could say that my only solace in life was my computer, where I could play games. 

But when it came to games, they were not online. So this made me wonder…. Will I be okay playing an MMO? In my dreams, when I started playing Mortal Online, I was a solo player. But as time went on, I found I had no choice but to team with people in order to complete certain quests. After a few years and when things began to change in the real world I had quite a group of people around me. However, I am not sure if you can call them friends or not.

It makes me wonder if the reason my dreams were so vivid was that the me in my dreams, who could converse normally, was what I wanted to be deep down. But at the same time that feeling that it was all real at once point still kept giving me a cold shiver. Mainly because the scenes I saw of people being eaten alive by monsters as monsters began to appear in the real world were heavily vivid in my mind even now.

I am used to it now, but at first, I would get sick to my stomach every time those images reappeared in my mind. The blood and guts that spilled out as stomachs were torn open were so graphic, and even the smell…. This was something else that bothered me as well: why could I smell things in my dreams? It did not make any sense, but I could.

“Zoe, I’m leaving. I already counted my drawer and put it in the safe. The keys are in front of you. Don’t forget to lock up when you leave tonight.” Stephanie snapped me out of my inner thoughts, causing me to look up at her retreating back. It took a minute for what she said to register in my mind. Only when it did did I pick the keys up in front of me and stick them in my pocket.

“Right… I will be here until close…” I couldn’t help but frown. I was doing a double shift. Stephanie had an audition to go to, and I jumped on to take her shift since I needed the money. Luckily, I was able to get this shift, or else I wouldn’t be able to put in my order for the equipment for Mortal Online. They begin taking preorders in two weeks. I had to make sure I got my name in and needed to dish out three hundred bucks. 

“Hello? Are you mute?” A man stood in front of the counter, making me frown. This was why I did not like dealing with people. Yet here I am, working a customer service job because I have no other choice. The nighttime was so much better. Not as many people came in. Daytime, though… just thinking about it makes me want to run and hide. 

I didn’t even raise my head to look at the man who just spoke as I asked: “Will this be it?”

“No…” The man seemed to be annoyed with me, but what could I do? I just said more words to him than I normally do to people who work here. Even my boss does not get so many words half the time. But I have no other choice but to say them. Luckily, it allows me to keep my voice from really disappearing.

My day went by as normal as it could ever go and so did the days that followed. No incidents. No nothing…

Right now, I am sitting in my computer chair, staring at the clock on my screen with Mortal Beyond’s website up. “Two minutes….”

“One minute….” I was biting my nails. Even my eyes were wide as I stared at the clock. I am sure I looked like some kind of drug addict right now. But I have worked hard for this moment. I already had all the money put together to get the game; I even only ate instant noodles this entire month. If I preorder now, I can get the game on the release date at the end of the next month!

I did not know why they were only doing one month’s preorder, but that was beside the point. Right now, I just wanted the stupid clock to strike 8 PM!

I watched the seconds pass by while refreshing the page over and over until…. “It’s here!” I cheered loudly, doing a weird dance in my chair while clicking the buttons and filling in my information. The whole process was quick, and in no time at all, I saw an email notification popup stating that my preorder had been placed. The equipment for the game would be mailed to my house on the day of release. Now that this was paid, I had to upgrade my internet, which was going to cost another sum of money. But luckily, this was something I could make payments on after a deposit. I do not need anyone to come out for this since It was just a speed increase. But now I think with everything, come the end of next month, after I upgrade things, I will be ready for the game. At least, I hope….