Page 20 of Level Up
“I dunno. I thought it would be fun if we…did the tutorial together? Maybe that was dumb?—”
“No, it’s—That sounds cool,” I tell him, pouring oat milk into my gargantuan mug to top it up. “Just give me a sec.”
I set the mug and my headphones on my desk and take a quick bathroom break, since I suddenly realize that I’ve probably had to pee for the past hour without noticing.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror as I wash my hands, and it occurs to me that Scones and his friendrecognizedmetonight. I don’t really understand how anyone could recognize me. I have the most boring face. In high school, I kept getting mistaken for three other girls in my grade who also had curly brown hair, as if we were all interchangeable. There’s nothing noteworthy about me.
And yet he recognized me from watching a stream or two?
“How did you recognize me?” I ask as soon as I’m back at my desk, pulling my headphones over my ears.
“What—”
“At my mother’s shop, you seemed to know who I was,” I clarify. “But you’d only seen my speedrun at that point, I’m guessing, and I assume you didn’t even watch all of it. So how did you recognize me if you’d hardly seen my face? Or do you just look that freaked out by every store clerk?”
“Oh, um—” He clears his throat. “I…have watched your streams before?” He says it like a question but I don’t think he’s asking me. “I mean, I…pretty much always watch your streams. Or sometimes I catch them in your archives, but yeah.”
Well,thatI was not expecting.
“I’ll put them on while I playCloud Questor something chill like that,” he adds. “Just to de-stress, I guess. And Malcolm’s seen them sometimes, since my computer is right in our living room, so that’s how he knew what you looked like. Sorry if that was weird.”
I don’t know what to say for a full minute. “I can’t believe you playCloud Quest.”
He laughs gently. “You playCloud Questall the time.”
“Yes, but I am a Cozy Gamer, so I play cozy games like that.”
“Look who’s gatekeeping now,” he says, and I huff a laugh.
“Okay, fine. I believe you.”
“So… Are we ready to find out what this undead plague is or what?” he says, jolting my attention back to the fact that I’m supposed to be playingThe Stones of Ayor 4right now, the thing I’ve been dying to do all day—all decade.
I take a deep breath, one hand on my mouse and one hovering over WASD. “Let’s do this.”
The Stones of Ayor 4 -Character Build
Choose your primary class:
Brute:A lifetime of unfettered violence has made you the perfect tool of destruction, allowing you a 10% bonus to Dismemberment, Charged Attack, and Stoicism, and a +2 bonus to Offense if you carry a two-handed weapon.You cannot use magic or stealth as a Brute.
Medium:As a vessel for communing with spirits, you bridge the gap between the planes of life and death and know many secrets believed to be long buried, allowing you a 10% bonus to Insight, Intuition, and Healing, and a +1 resistance to being Frightened.
Miscreant:Years as a troublemaker have made you quick on your feet and light-fingered, allowing you a 10% bonus to Pickpocketing, Lock-picking, and Distraction, and a +1 bonus to Speed when unarmed.
