Unlike many of his friends, Michael did not have any sort of abnormality that made him appealing to the Outside world. He was average in almost every way besides his brain. The Outside world- the world of the gods, would often choose certain people to participate in certain tasks. Perhaps taking a gold pendant out of a monster’s cave, or rescuing a girl from a dragon. Only a select few would be chosen. Michael read all of the manuscripts that most people dubbed unimportant and out of them, he began to contemplate a great deal of things.
The people on the Outside, Michael began to believe by his sixteenth birthday, were not gods as the people on the Inside claimed. They were merely folk like them, but on almost another dimension, if you will, controlling every action of those chosen few.
Michael grew ever more infatuated with this concept, but his infatuation hardly kept him alive. Michael had thirty-seven days left in the bank and no way of earning more. Strider, one of Michael’s close friends, often boasted about his twenty-eight years.
“Why not just buy more? I heard there are some, eh, ‘off the radar’ places to by some years. Hell, I can go with you!” Strider would often encourage.
“Oh, no, no. I can’t do that… I’m sure I’ll find a better way.” Michael would always assure him. Thirty-seven days goes by rather in the blink of an eye, if one isn’t careful. Michael, like many young boys, was rarely a careful sort.
…
Michael woke up so fast, it was as though someone was banging pots together inches away from his head. He jolted up, scanned the blue dawn lit room, then took a moment to collect himself from a nightmare that would’ve made most feel sick to their stomachs. His clock read 5:57, which meant the start of his day. School began at seven on the dot and let out at three, which was followed by an evening at the arcade with some of his school friends.
The arcade was an old grocery store that was converted, yet he still knew where all the aisles used to be. Where his least favorite aisle used to be before (the produce aisle, if you’re curious) was now his favorite; that was where all the action-adventure games were. He walked over to the blue game, which sat in one of the corners and was seldom busy.
One of Michael’s friends made a quiet comment, that was followed by laughter.
“Yeah, how many princesses can you save before it’s just time to let survival of the fittest come into play,” another one jeered.
“Come on, I know it’s a cliche... but there’s just something different about it, you know?” Michael argued quietly. As he flipped through the potential characters, he realized something that had never dawned on him before: a few of these names looked oddly familiar. Strider, a character known for his speed and durability, sounded so recognizable.
Author's Note: If this story confuses you, I understand! Please try reading it with this knowledge (spoiler coming up!) : Michael died at the end of the first part (before the ...). He wakes up in the 'Outside' world, and in the end, he realizes that the characters in the arcade gaactually actually the people he used to know in the 'Inside' world. The people who play the games are the 'gods' in the Inside world.