THE dreaming wastes
Something is wrong here. His eyes won’t open and everything is dark. He feels sick like he just got slammed by an 18th level Titan and strung upside down as a lure for a Gorgespawn. We’re talking serious headache like the veins in his forehead are sticking out and pulsing, and a feeling like any minute he could vomit. If this is a new quest, he better be getting serious XP for putting up with this crap.
He should figure out why his eyes aren’t opening.
He reaches up. His arms are like lead and it takes him a few tries. They flop across his body first and there’s a loud clang like he hit something that isn’t supposed to be hit. His armor? No, his armor’s supposed to be hit. Now his hand is pulsing. The feeling is coming back to his fingers, but all he can do is wiggle them. Another flop and his hand is under his chin now. His chin can feel his fingers, but his fingers don’t quite feel his chin. It’s weird. It’s like something is wrong with the simulation.
This crap is gronk.
By moving his first and second finger like legs, he’s able to walk his hand up to his nostrils, then up the bridge of his nose to between his eyes, then his eyelids. Even that was exhausting. What is happening to him? Did he drink a poison draught or something? Did his avatar die and he has to start over at first level? He doesn’t even remember first level being this hard and first level stank like the backend of a mammoth.
After resting a bit, his finger presses his eyelid up. This must trigger something he forgot a long time ago, because as soon as the blinding light hits his retina, his eyes flutter open and then closed. Open to blinding whiteness. Closed to the comfort of darkness. Open, closed, open, closed, his eyes remembering their unused function. Blink, blink, blink.
That’s enough of that crap.
He leaves his eyes closed and tries to sit up. There’s all this stuff on top of him and some of it clatters to the floor. Wires pull uncomfortably in places, sting like open wounds. His whole body hurts, so he lies back down. This is the worst experience of his entire life. Why is everything in this sim so hard?