The next day, I took Oliver into the woods surrounding the town. We walked down the path he originally came down to enter at the start of his time in the great game, but turned off before we got to the starting character creation meadow. I knew mobs had been generating now for a while, beyond the usual fauna and occasional deadly flora that is always there.

  As a Game Guide, I had access to a list of local mobs as they were being generated. I'd initially planned to start off my Player by hunting Giant Rats or Badger Bombers that are always around, but as Oliver was already Level 10 right off the bat, starting with such small enemies didn't feel right. He wouldn't get much experience from defeating them, both in the literal sense and in terms of the experience points he'd need to keep raising his level. So I had to come up with something a little more complex, but not too much so as to overpower him.

  It also would be a good opportunity to work out just how he made sense of the game and its systems. It came easily to me, after the initial shock, because I was a bit of a gamer back in life, but I didn't know how much of this would make sense to Oliver. I mean, obviously he probably had the time to do whatever he wanted in life, but he probably used all of that at crazy parties and who-knows-what else, no matter how much of a gamer he says he was.

  Thankfully, I found that some small pockets of Goblin Snatchers had popped up in the local area. Snatchers are basically like the goblin version of Rogues, but not as effective. Goblins themselves are semi-intelligent at best, so they should be a little manageable challenge for him.

  We'd been pretty much silent on our walk down the path, after initially filling him in on my plan when we met in town in the morning. But now we were stalking through the woods, I tried to gauge just how much he knew about this kind of thing.

  "We're looking for the goblins because they'll yield better experience for you, but you should keep taking out any other minor mob we come across. If something looks too high a level, or we start to get swarmed, we should flee though. But I'm not expecting that to happen yet," I said as I stepped over a moss-covered hollow log.

  Oliver casually hopped over it, marvelling at the surroundings. He was looking up and around him, barely looking at where he was actually going, so I kept calling out obstacles as they appeared.

  "The fidelity is amazing, man! Like, I can actually smell the flowers here. That's wild!"

  "Yeah, the thing to remember is, this isn't a simulation, not exactly. While we're dead, sure, this is essentially like a second life, which means the world is very real for you."

  "What about you? Shouldn't you be joining in with the fights a bit?" Oliver looked at me, a small smile on his face. "I promise, I'm not a total experience hog."

  I narrowed my eyes at him as I pushed a bush apart. "Well, as a Game Guide, I'm at the Max Level I can get. Remember, I'm not a Player, like you. I don't get to experience everything here, you do," I stepped a couple feet ahead of him, looking for mob dots on my mini-map in my HUD. Nothing had appeared yet, and we'd been looking for hours now.

  "So, you were a gamer? Back in the world, that is. Or were you too busy running massive corporations and hanging out with models and movie stars?" I asked, glancing at him sideways. Weirdly, a strange expression washed across his face, like he felt momentarily queasy or something, but it passed within seconds.

  "Uh, I didn't really do much of the partying. Not really my scene, y'know. I was a bit of a gamer though, so I've played my fair share of RPGs. I'll be good, don't worry," he grinned and winked, and it took everything in my power not to roll my eyes. Then his face tensed into a stonier expression. "And I didn't really do much of the day-to-day running of LifeZest...that was more my father's thing."

  "I thought you were, like, the Assistant CEO or CFO or something?" I tried to recall what I'd read about him back when I was alive, and the little he'd spilled since he got here.

  "Uh, CTO actually. Chief Tech Officer...it wasn't really an official role or anything though, more a title. I didn't have to go in much, just the odd meeting now and then. You know, for the board," Oliver explained, sounding weirdly tense about it.

  "Yeah, of course," I muttered, returning my focus to the map. Finally, more red dots appeared, and I could see they were goblin-sized. I held up a hand to signal Oliver to stop.

  I peered around a large rock into a small clearing in the woods. Sure enough, a small party of Goblin Snatchers were bickering about something or other around a small chest. This was likely part of the loot prize for winning the encounter, but I couldn't access full details about that. They liked to keep some things a surprise, even for the Guides.

  Oliver came and crouched next to me, slightly crowding me. I glared at him, and he backed off by a half foot.

  "Okay, so there's five of the little buggers back there. They'll be a little tougher than the creatures we've seen so far, so you won't be one-hitting these guys. Plus, some will have ranged weapons, so you'll need to keep an eye out for projectiles," I started to explain.

  Oliver had pulled his battle axe from his inventory and had a big grin on his face. "Cool, cool. We got this."

  "You will have to have this. I'll only jump in if I think you're in trouble. Not a Player, remember?" I scanned the group again. "Looks like most of them are around Level 12 to 13, so a few levels above you, but you should be able to handle that. It's odd though, there's usually one who'll be a higher level than the others to lea--"

  Oliver cut me off with a smack on my back as he straightened up and leapt into the clearing. "Have at thee, tiny cretins!" he yelled.

  What the hell was that?

  Oliver landed right in the midst of he group, and swung wide with the axe. Surprisingly, he actually did manage to one-shot one of them, cleaving the creature in two, its top half flying sideways with the motion of the blade, a confused expression on it's face, eyes wide. The top half smacked into one of the other mobs, knocking him over and leaving him dazed.

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  Oliver's axe had hit another goblin in that initial swing, but he'd simply damaged it. Oliver's Strength stats were high, I recalled, as the health bar popped above the goblin's head, already knocked down about halfway.

  I begrudgingly had to admit, Oliver was surprisingly good at this. He may have thrown himself in seemingly blindly, but that initial attack had actually thrown the small group into disarray, and even took one out completely. It was a gambit, sure, but with his Constitution and Strength stats, and at this level, a pretty safe one.

  "Oi! Knobhead!" One of the goblin's shouted as it raised a crossbow in Oliver's direction. I was about to call out a warning, but Oliver already caught on. One second he was stood where he landed, the next he was two feet to the left, the bolt from the crossbow slamming into the dirt where he once stood. He had cast a Dodge spell, pulling him out of harm's way.

  Without missing a beat, he kicked the downed goblin as it was getting to it's hands and feet, square in the stomach, winding him again, and sending his health bar further into the red. He then spun around, and hurled a dagger at the crossbow wielder, hitting it square in the chest.

  The last goblin ran screaming into the woods. I watched from the sidelines, actually impressed. Oliver seemed to be a natural at this, somehow. I'd have to ask him how he was managing to move around his magic, skills and items options so easily for his first time out.

  But something was still niggling at me. It didn't matter how capable he seemed to be, which in itself was making me feel alarmingly pointless right now, something wasn't sitting right with me.

  As Oliver finished the prone goblin with a stomp, I realised what it was. The bushes on the far side of the clearing where the one goblin had deserted his packmates rustled and parted, and out stepped a lumbering, sickly yellow skinned blob of a goblin. Unlike the others, this one was easily six feet tall, and was covered in bark-made armour and held a large tube on his shoulder. The deserter was with him, pointing at Oliver.

  "Boss, boss! That's the bugger! He killed Bony an' Gunner! We di'nt do nothin' to 'im, an' he just kilt 'em!"

  The big new guy grunted and moved a step closer as he seemed to level his vision on Oliver. I pulled up his stats.

  Goblin Boomer Lv. 25

  Explosive Specialist

  I jumped into the clearing. "Oliver! Get out of there!" He had finished with the goblin group that had stayed behind, and was fiddling with the small chest. He looked up at me, and then over at the Boomer, a smile spreading across his face.

  "Oh cool, this should be good!" He hefted his axe and planted his feet.

  "What are you doing? You need to flee!" I yelled.

  "Russell! Did you see how I took them all out? That was so cool!" He looked over at me beaming as I ran up to him.

  "Never mind that, this is too much, we need to go!"

  He just grinned at me with that stupid grin, his tusks slipping out. He turned his attention back to the mob and squared up.

  The Boomer grunted again, as his little goblin underling hopped up and down screaming and laughing like a lunatic. I knew Oliver wouldn't be able to pull off a Dodge again so soon, but for some reason the idiot was dead set on standing his ground. I didn't care about his stats, this kind of attack, at this range, would likely wipe him out.

  Oliver swung his whole battle axe over his head, and flung it forward. I yelled, but it was like he couldn't hear me. At the same time, the goblin fired a massive blast of Fireball from the tube on his shoulder.

  I leaned with all my strength to my side and shouldered Oliver out of the path, but then found my momentum abruptly changing direction as I was knocked flying back. The air was knocked from my lungs, and I felt heat wash over me, before slamming back into the large rock outcropping.

  I slid to the ground and groaned, my sight flashing in and out of focus, going black and spotty, and then back, as I saw Oliver spin on his heel, kicking up dirt and burning leaves, moving as though in slow motion. He was running towards me.

  The strangest thing was my health points flashed in and out of view. One moment, it looked like they'd dropped significantly, almost zeroed out. But that couldn't be right. The next, I was back to full health again.

  Oliver skidded through the dirt on one knee, coming right up to me, just as I started shaking my head and trying to shake off the dizziness.

  "Oh my god, Russell, are you okay? I'm sorry, I should have listened to you, I didn't want you to get hurt." Oliver fussed over me, looking for injuries I knew he wouldn't find.

  "I'm fine," I groaned. "But yes, you should be listening to me, it's what I'm bloody here for. Now let's get out of here before he can load another shot"

  "I, err, don't think that's going to be a problem." Oliver looked back towards the Boomer, and I followed his gaze.

  The Boomer stood wobbly, Oliver's axe protruding from the centre of his head, as the blackish red blood oozed from the wound. His eyes stared dumbly into nothing. Then all of a sudden, he crumpled, his huge form collapsing towards his tiny minion.

  "Gah, no, boss, n—!" That was all he managed to get out before he was crushed to death, completing the whole encounter.

  I sat there staring, agog. I can't believe that worked. Oliver did a little fist pump to his side, the opposite one from me, like he hoped I didn't catch it. Then he returned his attention to me.

  "Where are you hurt? I think I have a healing potion in my inventory from earlier, will that work? Can I give it to you?"

  I pressed a hand against the rock and pushed myself up, batting away Oliver's protestations.

  "I'm fine. I can't be injured, I keep telling you, I'm not a Player. I'm just a tool; one they won't throw away."

  Oliver shook me, looking me up and down again. "You are not a tool; you are a person. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," he said earnestly. I just raised an eyebrow at him, and he let me go, looking at me sheepishly.

  We stood there for a beat, before I sighed and let my shoulders relax. "Look, it's done now. Let's just grab the loot, and call it a day. We can grind some more tomorrow, get you some more levels so you can do your action man schtick with less risk to you. And everyone around you," I grumbled and moved towards the dead Boomer.

  Oliver slowly got to his feet, wiping a hand on his face, and then moved back towards the small chest.

  I probed into the stats on the fallen creature. I already knew his level, but it seemed strange that he could be a good fifteen levels higher than Oliver yet be taken out in a single blow from him. Especially from something as reckless as a thrown weapon.

  Sure enough, something did look odd. The Goblin Boomer's Strength stats were high as his level would suggest, but it's Constitution was surprisingly low. Mobs don't get to choose their Skill Point allocations; they just tended to all go up evenly or would lean towards one Skill over the others. But it shouldn't be quite this far. It was amazing the mob didn't kill itself with its own blasts.

  "Oh, nice!" Oliver had managed to open the chest, and I turned to see him watching as a scroll levitated out from the opened box, and slowly unfurled.

  "Wait, you should read the description before—"

  Too late. The scroll burned up from one edge to the other, as Oliver momentarily glowed.

  "Oliver," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You should read them before you apply them, some of them can actually have negative effects."

  "Uh, I did read it, it was a scroll of True Sight. It gives me the ability to see through deceptions and stuff. Should be good for catching traps and any other stealthed enemies, right?"

  Huh. Yeah, that sounded right, and a great reward too. In fact, it sounded a little too good, this early and in this kind of encounter. Something didn't feel quite right, and I didn't like it.

  "So...did you still want to call it a day?" Oliver asked, stepping from one foot to the other awkwardly.

  "Yeah," I sighed. "Look, I'm fine. I just need to clear my head. We'll pick this up again tomorrow."

  Oliver rose to his feet, and then his shoulders sagged. "Okay," he sighed back.