Chương 3: A Matter of Focus

It took them moving a few steps before for the guy she'd led away finally spoke.

"Hey, so, do I know you?" The guy asked. It was obvious he was still trying to get his bearings. Scarlet glanced up at him like she was genuinely considering the question. Then that brief smile flashed again.

"I heard some of the things you were talking about back there," she said. Her voice was soft and soothing as she projected playful curiosity while entirely bypassing the question.

"Wait, you were listening?" He asked. More curious than cautious.

"I was," Scarlet said. Her eyes now forward as she navigated them back through the throng of people.

"Those stories you were talking about. The concepts were fascinating. Could you explain it to me?" she asked. It landed exactly the way she intended. She knew because his eyes lit up, and he made a giddy little noise that was both bizarre and endearing coming from a grown man.

"Yeah, you think so?"

"I do,""Okay, cool, cool, cool. So… so it's this- this thing," he waved his free hand in front of his face.

"These messages floating in the air, the whole 'Integration' and 'Initialization' thing. Then there's the fact it's everywhere. Like everyone sees, right?"

"Right,""Right! I was just telling my friends that this whole thing reads just like a litRPG."

"A litRPG. And that is what, exactly?" She probed. This was what she'd heard him shouting about so enthusiastically from across the room. Perhaps her hunch was wrong, but something told her this guy might know a thing or two. Besides, if nothing else, he acted as a fantastic buffer through the crowd.

"Okay, so imagine if the real world worked like a video game," he began.

"Stats, levels, skills, that kind of thing."

"You believe the world is turning into a game. Are you one of those people who believe we're in a simulation?" She asked, part probing, part teasing. He laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"No, probably not. Maybe? I guess I'm one of those people who doesn't really think it matters." He smiled a dopey half smile.

"So, this would be what, a system update?"

"Kind of, I guess? That's not a bad way to put it. A cosmic update-" he laughed.

"Only, there are books about this. There's this whole genre about systems and screens showing up and changing the world. A lot of them happen when a character somehow ends up on a different world – shoutout to Truck-kun."

"Pardon?"

"Its… Never mind we're not really in an isekai scenario, obviously-""-obviously-""-because we're still here. On Earth."

"Alright, so you're saying these messages, this timer everyone is seeing is some sort of countdown to a cosmic update. Am I following?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, so in these books the system changes the world. That's why it's an apocalypse.

"Those things that pop up are called notifications. They're how the system interacts with us. Right now we're pre-tutorial, so we don't have our stat screens yet or anything. Oh, the tutorial is like a starting zone where you learn about the system.

"I do have a concept of a tutorial. You're aware they aren't exclusive to video games," she smiled.

"Right, sorry. It's just, usually the tutorial is where you pick your class, figure out your stats, get your build and stuff."

"Build?"

"Yeah, like, what role you're gonna play, and how you play it. Stat distribution, skill selection. You've gotta decide if you're gonna be a mage, a rogue, a fighter, that kinda stuff. Like, have you ever played D&D, or…" He looked at her, blushed.

"I have not participated in a campaign, but I have watched. I am familiar with the franchise," she smiled.

"Oh, great, okay, so you totally get it. The books I read talk about what would happen if the world turned into an endless campaign. Only, not all the games are D&D, and not all the systems are neutral or benevolent."

"That's not reassuring."

"Sorry it's just. It so cool to think about. Real life becoming a video game and you are the character. It's just so sick. I could become a hybrid, like a battlemage or a spell-sword. That's totally me. I'm a hundred percent gonna be a caster type." Scarlet's gaze flicked over him briefly, taking in the pale, nearly translucent skin, the thin build with barely any visible definition or muscle, and the hunched way he held himself. Mage she could see, but frontliner? Well. Stranger things, she figured.

She kept her thoughts to herself, allowing only the faintest hint of amusement to colour her expression as she asked.

"Stat distribution?" If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. She got him talking for a while about the common tropes, his favourite books, and his personal insights about what exactly might be happening to Earth. They moved through the crowd as he spoke about what must have been one of his favourite subjects. The entire time his attention was fixed on her. On the fact that she was there, holding him and listening.

His complete and utter devotion to the subject matter was very convenient for Scarlet. It meant he wasn't paying attention to anything else. Scarlet took advantage of that to discreetly finish some shopping, as well as slip a tip to certain convention volunteers and staff. Money appeared, items disappeared, information was exchanged, and the crowd – plus her new companion – were none the wiser. With most of her goals accomplished Scarlet was now free to leave.

Planning to beat a hasty retreat, her plans were cut short by a tug on her arm. They were passing by a stall filled with wizarding props clearly derivative of a familiar franchise featuring a magic boy who lived. The vendors had displayed the wands in neat rows on a velvet cloth, and the childlike giddiness radiating off her companion was almost palpable. The people behind the stall were in a three-way heated discussion with someone on the phone.

That didn't deter Scarlet's new font of information in the least as the guy lit up immediately.

"Okay, so something like this, right, would totally be a focus for a mage," he said, picking up a wand and gesturing with it as he talked.

"A focus?"

"Yeah, something to channel mana through. Though it's not always called mana, sometimes its spells, or magic, or essence, or ether, or chi or ki or…" Scarlet laughed softly, the sound easy and warm as she cut him off.

"Alright, I understand." She reached out, took the wand gently from him, and turned to the vendor.

"I'll take this one," she said. The vendor forced a smile, distracted. The woman behind him was hastily packing things away, while the other one didn't even stop his phone conversation as they processed payment and handed the unboxed, unwrapped wand back to them. Scarlet just shook her head, replacing the display model on the table before peering over the table. She scanned for a while until she saw what she was looking for.

Before anyone could make a move, Scarlet leaned around the booth and hooked the handle of her cane into one of the opened boxes of inventory. She tugged hard enough for the whole box to slide over. With a move that baffled her unwitting audience, Scarlet twisted her wrist, flipping a well packaged wand onto the top of her cane, balancing the bubble wrapped merchandise between the handle and the shaft before pulling it in and handing the wand to the guy, her fingers brushing his.

"That should be the right one," she said, looking between the name on the display wand, and the one on the box she'd just rummaged through. That snapped the vendor out of his daze. His face going from confusion to indignance in moments. He didn't have time to speak before she'd already turned away.

"Didn't you say these were meant to help with focus?" She asked. The guy laughed.

"A magic focus, yeah."

"They obviously didn't get the memo," she said.

"Not the same thing," he said, but he was smiling. She made to ask him another question when she felt it. The shift. The cord pulled taut had finally snapped, and the atmosphere around the convention had just become much more volatile. She couldn't see exactly what had happened, but she could hear the commotion on the far end of the room. Shouting, multiple overlapping voices, and the pressure of a crowd forming around a spectacle. The feeling brushed against her skin like the first drop of rain in a typhoon.

It was time to go. It was time to go now. She steered them towards the exit, subtly at first and then more direct. The guy either didn't notice or didn't mind the tension in the air as he kept talking, moving easily with her, still caught up in his explanations.

"…and meditation is actually really important," he was saying.

"Okay, if this was more of a xianxia system, then cultivation would be way more important, right? Meditate in high density areas, grow your core, or dantian or whatever. But even in regular systems, lots of mages need it for mana control. It really depends on the system." Magic. It seemed so impossible, but then again so did the system message – notification? – that everyone in the world saw, simultaneously. What she believed didn't matter, she planned to be ready for even the impossible.

When they reached the elevator, there was a crowd already waiting. There were no escalators, and there was absolutely no way she was taking the stairs down. The atmosphere as they waited was oppressive enough that even the guy beside her had gone quiet. As they packed in, the tension that had been building seemed to seep into the atmosphere and consolidate inside the small elevator car.

When the doors shut and the machine began to move, it felt like they were closed in with an unpinned grenade, just waiting for an explosion that was only being held off only by tacit understanding and shared awareness that perhaps an enclosed elevator was not a great place for anything to happen. Despite the number of people all bunched into the elevator, the parking garage itself was quiet. People dispersed into the large cement structure like penned chickens.

Scarlet couldn't claim to be different as she quickly guided the guy towards her motorbike. A matte black, 2022, Honda Forza 350. She stroked along the flank of the bike as she mentally shifted gears and consolidated what she had learned so far.

"Could you help me pack these?" She asked, leaning the cane briefly against one of the giant concrete pillars near her parking spot and taking his wand from him as she passed him her bags. The guy took the items automatically, his arms filling without question as he began to neatly pack things away in the top box at the back of the bike. While he did that Scarlet was unlocking the under-seat compartment and pulling out her leathers.

She thought she heard him choking, but when she turned to check nothing apart from flushed cheeks appeared wrong with him. When everything was neatly packed away, she finally turned around and faced the suddenly quiet, very fidgety young man. She adjusted her stance, stepped towards him, and then very slowly and very deliberately tucked the padded wand into the waistband of his pants. Her gaze never left his as she slid it into place.

The guy was completely frozen, and his body went somehow even more rigid as she patted the wand twice. Two light, deliberate taps. Then that same hand slid up to his bicep, gave it a small squeeze, and she smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You were very helpful." He did not respond. He did not move. Scarlet wondered if he was thinking at all, as for a moment there was absolutely nothing happening behind his eyes. She kept the soft smile on her lips as she pulled her helmet on in one smooth motion. Then she was turning to mount her bike. In the moment before she completely turned away, a small movement caught the guy's attention. A tiny head poked out of the collar of the woman's shirt. The guy blinked.

"What the?" Finishing its quick scan of the surroundings, the head disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived. [70: 20: 01] The man waved a hand in front of his face. He fumbled with the wand, pulling it out of his waistband and staring down at it. The purr of an engine had him jerking his head back up, but she was already gone, the bike zooming away as he stared after her.

"That was real, right?" He looked down at the wand again.

"Yeah, yeah, she was real." He paused.

"But the mouse?" He shook his head, turned, took half a step back towards the elevator as he rubbed roughly at his head. His only thoughts were of getting back to his friends so he could share what had just happened to him. He pulled out his phone to send them a message only to realize there was no signal underground. That was fine, he'd see them soon anyway. Two steps forward and he froze.

"My attendee badge." His voice broke as he realised he had no way to get back in.