Chapter 1: Rude Awakening
'This really can't be happening,' I thought, in a daze, for what must have been the tenth time. I rubbed my eyes a little too aggressively, but when the spots finally faded from my vision, the source of my disbelief remained. I was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room with no memory of how I got there. But the truly mind-boggling thing was what could only be described as a dialogue box hovering in the air about two feet in front of my face. It was a square of dim, blue light with bold, white lettering inside.
[WELCOME TO Obsessive Fate: Dark and Twisted Love! BEFORE WE BEGIN, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER: THIS GAME CONTAINS EXPLICIT ADULT CONTENT AND NON-CONSENSUAL ACTIVITY THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE OR TRIGGERING. ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. REAL-LIFE ACTS OF NON-CONSENSUAL BEHAVIOR ARE SOUNDLY CONDEMNED BY THE CREATIVE TEAM. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SKIP THE TUTORIAL?] Underneath the bold text were options for [YES] and [NO].
I recognized the name of the game. It was one that I had briefly tried to watch my boyfriend play before we broke up a while back, but I quickly found it wasn't for me. A gay sex game set in medieval times sounded like it would be fun, but it turned out I was a pretty simple guy and I liked sex to be that way, too. At least, simple in the sense that I really wasn't into hardcore BDSM, or tentacles, or whatever kinda shit I saw in that game. Well, I didn't see the tentacles, but Lee told me about them, and that was enough for me. The dialogue window stayed in front of me, so I was able to scan the room while it stayed in place. Surprisingly, I could see three spots in the room where a cloud of glitter floated in the air: one in front of an armoire at the foot of the bed, one over a desk on the other side of the room, and one in front of a cabinet near the desk.
'Oh,' I thought, suddenly relaxed. 'I'm just dreaming.' It was surreal how realistic this dream was, but deciding to go with the flow, I leaned forward and tentatively reached out my hand. There was the barest moment of resistance as I selected "NO," almost like pushing my finger into cotton candy.
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED A NEW QUEST:
GET DRESSED!
OBJECTIVE: Have Jester get dressed at the wardrobe and learn about clothing and accessories
REWARD: Plain Clothes and???]
After I finished reading the window, it vanished into thin air. Standing up, I was briefly disoriented by how different and small my body felt, but shook it off as I approached the cloud of sparkles. They vanished as soon as I opened the wardrobe. A faint chime sounded from somewhere as I picked up the button-up shirt inside. The dialogue window reappeared.
[THROUGHOUT THE GAME, JESTER WILL ENCOUNTER DIFFERENT CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES THAT MAY HAVE STATUS EFFECTS OR BE KEY ITEMS TO ADVANCE THE STORY. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION THAT YOUR ATTIRE IS APPROPRIATE FOR ANY GIVEN OCCASION. BLUNDERS MAY BE DISASTROUS!]
It faded away as I got dressed. Underneath the clothes was an unassuming silver hoop bracelet inlaid with a single, small green gem. I slid it on my wrist and the dialogue box briefly popped up again.
[MERCHANT'S BRACELET EQUIPPED: +1 PERSUASION!]
"Weird that my dream put me in a game I've never even played," I said aloud. I'd always preferred FPS games, but Lee had been into the whole point-and-click, choose-your-own-adventure style games. Since this was the first and only game of his I'd tried to learn about, it must mean I was missing him. Maybe I should have spent more time getting to know his hobbies...
[NOW THAT YOU'RE DRESSED, YOU MUST BE HUNGRY. LIKE CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES, FOOD CAN ALSO CAUSE STATUS EFFECTS. GET A SNACK FROM THE CABINET TO START YOUR DAY!]
Dispelling a second cloud of sparkles, I opened the pantry to find a bowl of cherries. Weird snack to have just hanging out in a bowl in some cabinet, but sure. I grabbed one and carefully popped it in my mouth. I was immediately surprised by how sweet but tart it was, making my lips pucker slightly. The notification window popped up again.
[TEMPORARY: +1 SEX APPEAL! +1 PERSUASION!]
Sex Appeal? Why did eating cherries have an impact on sex appeal?
[TO VIEW AN ITEM DESCRIPTION AND STATUS EFFECTS, VIEW IT IN YOUR INVENTORY.]
How do I do that? No sooner had I thought of it than a gray notification window opened in front of me. The window had 3 tabs: Status, Equipment, and Inventory. Inventory was the current tab and only listed "Cherry...x2". I looked at the two cherries in my hand.
Selecting the item in the Inventory window immediately opened a smaller window with an image of a cherry and a description: Cherries are a sweet snack that stains your lips and fingers red. Okay, no explanation for why it would cause those status effects, though? I clicked on the Equipment tab and saw my plain clothes and bracelet listed; no surprises there. Finally, the Status tab. I was immediately transfixed by the image I saw. To the right were my character stats.
[Name: Jester Valroy