The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 11: Scaling the Mountain

(Tuesday, February 9th Game Day / Thursday, January 14th Real Day)

As the sun woke from its slumber and decided to grace me with its presence I had found myself nearly five-hundred feet up from the base of the mountain, with nearly two-thousand and eight-hundred feet left to go.

Though that sounded great, in reality I had just finished the only easy part of the climb. I was scaling the southwesterly-aspect of the mountain and had now reached the end of the gradual incline.

In front of me was the start of the vertical climb that would continue until I reached the top.

This side of the slope was actually the easier face, with the next two-thousand feet averaging between 70-degrees to 80-degrees above horizontal. The northwesterly and northerly slopes were much harsher at 75-90 degree inclines. The easterly aspect was the easiest at only 40-70 degrees but would take far too long to go around… so in the end, I was stuck with the vertical climb in front of me.

Carrying a small bag packed with enough rabbit jerky to last me a few weeks, two spare ropes, a rope with an attached hook, two small ice axes, and the clothes on my back I was ready to climb.

I began the vertical ascent with a free climb as there was currently no need for my gear and there was certainly nowhere to attach any of it anyhow. There were no carabineers, rings, ice screws, or bolts here. No one had scaled this mountain in the game yet, and even after I scale it I doubt anyone else would anytime soon.

It simply wasn't a very friendly mountain.

As I continued the climb I eventually found myself at one of the vertical points where my life was in serious jeopardy. I stopped to rest my forearms by leaning tightly against the rock wall while standing on the small crag that allowed me a short rest.

I was only six-hundred feet up give or take but it was still taxing on the body. Gathering my strength, I tied my bag to one end of the rope and the other around my waist. I wouldn’t be able to climb the over 80-degree rock face with it hanging off my back.

I had no interest in falling backwards to my death.

The first edge was only three feet higher than the ledge I was currently on and served as my first foothold, but then the second edge was nearly three feet up as well as being two feet over to the left.

Splitting my legs in order to brace my weight I did what I could to balance myself while hugging the cold gray rock wall. If I fell now, I would most likely die.

Looking down, the six-hundred feet seemed like it was a mile and all of the jagged tips of the rocks below did not look very forgiving, or welcoming for that matter. Exhaling while trying to calm my nerves, I was constantly reminded of the saying, "Don't look down."

It was a bit late for that though.

Turning back to look for my next edge or crack I was able to spot a nice little overhang that would provide for an excellent grip… only it was almost five feet away from my second foothold and nearly eight feet straight up from my first.

I fully extended my right arm, barely able to hook my fingers over the small ledge while now stretched in three different directions and in no position to fully utilize my strength or leverage. At least I had longer than normal arms or I would have been at an impasse already.

Taking a moment to make sure I was confident in my grip, I then looked for the next edge that was another two feet up and a good one and a-half feet to the left.

I hesitated for a second; looking back down at the small edge I had placed my left foot on, I wondered if I could fit both feet. No matter how long I stared at the edge though, it wasn't getting any bigger and there was definitely no way I could get both of my feet to rest on it.

A little dejected, I tried lifting my right leg while locking out my left leg as much as I could; hoping with the slight elevation of my body I could reach the next edge.

After a few seconds of struggling to reach, I lowered myself back into the awkward position I had been in moments before …only now my right forearm was starting to fatigue from being outstretched and holding the majority of my weight.

My footholds simply weren't good enough to support my bodyweight and the longer I stayed in the same position the more dangerous it became. Taking a deep breathe, I tried to release a little of the tension that had been building.

I could barely see that there was a ledge about six feet above me and knew if I could get there I would be able to rest temporarily. It became a moment of do or don't. I knew I could reach the edge to my left if I could manage to pull myself up with my right arm, but it was akin to a one-armed pull-up and muscle-up without an easy to grip bar.

In addition I was nearly perfectly vertical, so if I leaned back just a tad bit too much, my center of gravity would change and I could quite easily lose my grip and plummet to the ground. That ground that was so slanted, I would probably roll the entire six-hundred feet down to the floor.

I gave it a slight test, trying to see how far I could pull myself up but found it simply scared me more than it encouraged me.

Yeah, it was scary.

But even if it was scary I still had a calm mind and believed in my body, even if it was only a virtual representation of my body.

It certainly felt like my own.

Adrenaline started to build as I anticipated the quick outburst of strength, thinking to myself that I would just get it over with as my forearm had started to burn.

Doing something just to get it over with is generally a terrible decision, but thankfully a death in-game wasn't a permanent one.

The game was more forgiving of bad decisions in that way.

I liked it that way.

Within a split second I had relaxed my legs and pulled with all of my might.

Using all of the strength in my right forearm, biceps, shoulder, and back muscles as they quickly contracted and propelled me up with my left arm outstretched to its maximum and my eyes completely fixated on the edge that I had to grab for dear life.

Holding my breath, it was my moment of truth.

Nearly instantly soaring up, my eyes opened wide with fear as I gasped in the split second between a deathless death and salvation.

The edge was right there, it was right there.

Stretching my left arm out to its utmost and beyond, I was reaching, grasping for anything. With my body starting to lose momentum but still moving ever so slightly closer, I could feel contact.

I made contact.

Hooking the slight edge with only the three fingers on my left hand, with only the fingertips just barely over, I pulled.

Gripping the slight edge with my fingers, giving it all that I had, I held on for dear life as I instantly swung my right arm up and held the edge with both hands.

My legs swayed in the air from side to side as I attempted to still myself.

I had almost lost myself and I knew it, I had just barely made it.

I had gasped in that split second of fear where I wasn't sure I would make it.

I nearly didn’t.

Breathing heavily, I was now hanging on one edge with both hands and no foothold to speak of but I knew there was another edge to my left and it was only a foot above the one I held now. If I slipped, if I lost my grip, if I grew too tired to pull myself onto the next edge, I would fall to my death.

There was no possibility of survival from this height.

With such dire consequences racing through my mind I continued upwards.

Pulling myself up with both arms I quickly removed my left hand as it darted to the next edge, grabbing hold as a shiver shot down my spine. The previous jump didn't leave any time for a bodily reaction to the fear that struck, even now I was holding back on that fear as I looked to the next edge.

Repeating my previous process, I brought both hands to bear on the edge and pulled myself up just high enough to outstretch my right arm and grab hold of the next edge with my right hand.

With one arm shooting up only to be followed by the other, slowly making my way up the nearly 90-degree vertical rock face.

I felt like a mix of a ninja, a warrior, and a psychopath.

Definitely more of the latter was mixed in though.

I felt I was about 80% crazy for doing this, and would never do this again, but damn it all it was the only way right now. I couldn't be bothered with stupid thoughts and stupid distractions.

This was the last edge before the ledge.

I only needed to grab one more.

I was home free.

I could do it.

With a sudden flood of even more adrenaline, the liquid courage steadied my mind as my heart raced, oblivious to the pounding of my chest I pulled and grabbed, pulled and grabbed.

And then I pulled all the way and pressed myself up high enough to get a leg over, sliding onto the ledge and then lying on my chest; it was then that I realized I was panting quite heavily, like a dog on a hot summer's day.

But I was safe, so it didn't matter.

My heart could pound on my chest all it wanted as my mind knew that all was right.

I was safe here, for now.

As the realization of the fate I just nearly escaped started to settle in I was starting to regret my decision to take the short-route. I was starting to doubt myself. Shaking my head as if to lose the thoughts in the scramble, I yelled out loud, "Shut up you fucking pussy."

A saying came to my mind as I continued to lie on my stomach, that "Courage was fear holding on a minute longer." I didn't feel all that courageous but fear hadn't completely taken over despite the obvious fear in the moment. It wasn't about having fear, but about not giving in to it.

Yeah, I couldn't give up.

I wouldn't give up.

After regaining my composure I looked back down the roughly seventeen feet to where my bag lay. It didn't take long for me to realize that I most likely couldn't return back down the same route.

This was a one-way trip.

Even though that wasn't exactly news to me, there had remained a slight sliver of hope that I could return the way I came in case I got stuck.

That option was long gone now.

I only had enough rope to rappel down twice and then I would probably have to cut it or leave it. That simply wasn't an option.

Looking up at the rock face beside me, I felt an insurmountable feeling of being infinitesimally small. I was but a tiny speck on this mountain and this mountain was but a speck on this world. I didn't even have to think about the solar system, the galaxy, or the universe. I was small enough on this rock, right here.

Lost to my thoughts, I was suddenly snapped back to the present when a large gust of wind hit my face sending a different type of shiver shooting through my body. I was already bundled up with the warmest clothing I could buy or craft but being along the side of a mountain with only the rock wall to one side and the open… space on the other, it was exceptionally cold. As I started to pull my bag up the first of many snowflakes landed on my face.

Yeah, it had started to snow.

The snow continued to fall for the entire day as I lay curled up in a ball along the ledge some six-hundred feet from the base. My bag was but a pillow for me to cuddle with as I dare not move for fear of rolling off the side of the mountain. The width of the ledge was hardly two feet while the length was at least twenty feet across; I had plenty of room to lay straight but no room to wiggle.

By the time I had recovered my strength the snow fall had picked up, we were in the middle of winter after all. The snow-free weather from before was but a temporary respite and now I found myself at the real crux of the issue. But, it was something that would have to be overcome, and I had no intention of shirking my duty.

Standing up ever so slowly with hands grasping the small cracks in the wall so as not to lose my balance and tip over the side, I took a deep breathe to steady my mind as I looked back up the wall in front of me.

One step at a time; there was no reason to think about the two-thousand and seven-hundred feet remaining in the climb when there were only one or two feet in front of you.

The big goal is undoubtedly a nice thought, but when you're faced with constant struggle and your mind grows weary, that distant goal becomes nothing more than negativity as it fuels self-doubt and insecurity.

The way to combat that was to only think about what you could control in the moment, and to honestly not even think about that.

You simply didn't think about it, as hard as that may be.

I would take one step at a time, and I would only think or concentrate about that one step ahead of me. I would not worry about anything two steps ahead. I would not let myself get to that state of doubt and insecurity where I would question myself.

I continued to climb the rock face in front of me as I slowly maneuvered to the side, in the end the vertical rock wall didn't provide enough edges or cracks for me to climb straight-up and I was forced to zigzag from side to side.

This took a lot more time and effort but it was the only way.

As I had stopped thinking and only focused on the edge that was in front of me, I eventually came to the realization that nearly two hours had passed. I had traveled nearly two-hundred feet in the past two hours and was now sitting at another ledge; this one much wider than the previous one.

At four feet wide I could actually sprawl out and lie comfortably without fear of rolling off the edge if I so much as turned around. I had made significant progress but the daylight had now ceased to be as I found myself some eight-hundred feet above the base with snow fall and gusts of wind a constant torment.

The only easy day was yesterday, after all.

After eating some beef jerky to stabilize my virtual body's hunger and provide enough fuel to keep me from freezing, I entered the logout sequence.

It was time for some real food and rest.

My vision faded in the weird way a dream fades as you wake up from your slumber. It was a trippy feeling knowing that you were just playing a virtual reality game only to have it end with you waking up from a dream. It was a surreal type of feeling and I still hadn't gotten used to it after over a year of playing since the Alpha and Beta phase of testing started.

I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to it, really. I was also a little worried about what would happen if I had started to dream in real life, of my virtual life.

Thankfully that had yet to happen to me but there were a few people that did experience that, and they all had widely varying responses and opinions on it.

Well, no one had lost their mind yet so I suppose that was a good sign.

The lights inside The Cube had started to turn on, bringing the pitch-black room to a dim-white so as not to hurt the eyes. While the lights went through their sequence of adjustment I started to remove the headgear along with all of the flat metal discs they called electrodes that were attached via circular suction pads.

As I understood it, those were what made Dragon's Wrath possible.

Having detached everything from my head, chest, and fingers all that was left was the harness that held me in place. The six-point harness was similar to one you would find in a race car except much more comfortable and not quite as strong.

The idea wasn't to keep you from flying out of a windshield at 100+MPH after all, but was meant to just keep you in-place while on the chair in case you had an involuntary movement.

After removing the harness the lights in The Cube had now reached full illumination, matching the light outside of the room so my eyes would be properly acclimated. They had really thought about everything. I was now ready to leave my little gaming station.

Exiting The Cube and walking over to the kitchen, I peered into the fridge hoping to find something that I knew didn't exist. I opened both the fridge and freezer doors at the same time but found nothing of interest like I had already known.

There was nothing really in there, but I still opened the doors anyways. Maybe it was a force of habit, maybe I was secretly wishing someone else had bought food for me, or maybe I was just a little crazy. There was nothing to be had so I decided to clean up instead; it looked like I was going to have to leave the house in order to eat today.