Civilization

It is still late at night for most people and since I had died in the game I could not go back into the game until tomorrow. I didn't feel tired so what can I do during this time? For the past month and a bit, this was the time I was in the game experiencing a different world alongside characters' who I have established a bond with but now I don't even know what is happening in the game. 

I poured myself a cup of water and sat at my table, pondering on what I should be doing with my time. I had no work tomorrow so I was free to do anything and since I can't schedule anything with Evan and Sabrina since they were still in the game and won't see the message until after 0600. 

Sleep? No...Not with how awake I am right now. After experiencing the monster completely massacring everything around me I just didn't feel like sleeping. I had an odd feeling around my neck, like a noose slowly getting tighter and tighter.

I boot up my computer and sip on my water while thinking about what just happened in the past couple of days of playing Settlement. I found players nearby, got ambushed by an extremely stronger group of monsters than I was used too and died for the first time in the game. What have I learned?

Absolutely nothing!

My location felt so isolated from other potential players due to the towering walls of the canyon as well as the steep mountainous terrain and the dark creepy forest. I almost didn't think I was going to see another player until a couple more months into the game when players become more adventurous. 

Then there were the monsters. The previous safe copper mine had been overrun and overtaken by them but why now? During Balta's 'reign' of the copper mines they weren't seen or mentioned. Usually, when a bag guy is about to die they would mention a higher power seeking revenge but now nothing like that came from Balta which leads me to think that they had only recently discovered the mine as well and from a different entrance.

This means that could have just been a scouting force or their real nest or home is in a location not too far away from the copper mine. This worries me since they are just so much stronger and I didn't have a way to defeat them yet.

Lastly was death. It felt terrifying. The feeling of my head leaving my body and then reattaching it again after some time while I was still 'alive' was completely unreal. Like an out-of-body experience except I was experiencing it every step of the way. 

I shiver slightly and look at my screen since the computer has booted up. I go to the game forum to find out some information on other players that have experienced death. Scrolling through the forum I see a lot of similar posts.

"Dying by a goblin stabbing me in the chest. Not the best feeling by the way" - 5lay3r

"A goblin ambushed me from behind. Embarrassing right?" - LighterOfHell

"ORCS! ORCS! ORCS! I HATE THEM!!!" - HateOrcs2021

"Can't believe I died like this…" - WiZARDo

"Yet another death." - Constant

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"Dying by strangulation and going to a physiatrist." - Therapy101 

A post near the release of the game attracted my attention. Much like me the player had more or less died from trauma to the neck. In this player's case, it was strangulation and in my case it was decapitation.  Both are pretty bad ways to die.

I look through the post and the player describes his death in great detail. From prior to his death to after his death the player had described everything and post-death we were the same. After dying, the player felt 'alive' while in a dark space. Clearly feeling the fact that his throat had been squeezed and air could not flow inside them but being able to see the dark space around for a while until he was transported back to his room.

After the event, he tried to sleep however was incapable of doing so as his throat kept feeling like it was being squeezed. Breathing became difficult and with the increasing lack of sleep, he resorted to going to the hospital where he was referred to a physiatrist. 

As explained in his post, he spent multiple days with said physiatrist as well as being in the hospital where they would force him to sleep allowing his body to recover slowly. After many meetings, he explained that the feeling of death in the game will vary from player to player and the more extreme or violent the death was the more likely the brain would believe it was a real event.

Once the brain is tricked into believing it has happened then the brain would try to recreate the event slowly making the body do things that would harm itself. For example, if the brain believed that the player died from being stabbed then around the area that was stabbed causing the death of the player would be a scar. A kind of stigma the brain creates to resemble death.

After reading the post, I subconsciously touched my neck to see if there were any bumps or cuts and luckily there were none. I was fine for now.

I close the forum and take a deep breath before shaking my head.

"I'm fine. Just a game. Just a game."

I bring out my phone and texted the group chats with Evan and Sabrina.

"Hey, I just died in the game and I want to talk about it with someone. Is anyone free during the day to have lunch or something?" - Ian

Knowing that the message would not be seen by anyone for a while I turn off my phone and turn the lights off before climbing into bed and under my covers. I looked at my ceiling and for some reason, it just felt off.

I felt uncomfortable like something was wrong with this scenario. Me being in bed under my covers in the dead of night trying to sleep but it felt weird. I brought my hand to my neck again and once again confirmed it was still there. I sat up and just looked around my eyes, slowly adjusting to the darkness.

Nothing was out of the ordinary around me nor did my body feel weird but this atmosphere...It didn't feel right. Unable to pinpoint the reason I stood up and turned the lights back on and put a movie on the TV and watched in silence until my phone buzzed at 0610.

"Brunch 1000!" - Sabrina