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A New Game

"Hey!!! Joke of a man!  I have to clean the classroom, but my friends invited me out.  Thanks for volunteering to take over it for me," a school girl said.

Joko retorted, "Hey no I didn-"

"Thanks! Bye!"

Joko sighed.  "At least use my real name," he thought, "Now even the people younger than me are bullies."

He made his way to classroom 2-B.  He blushed as he walked in to see his old teacher.

"Oh!  Joko!  Back to see me already?  It only has been a week," he said, "So how is my star student doing?"

"Not well, Mr. John.  I came back to clean," Joko mumbled.

"The mumbling never changes, but that is not the point.  Cleaning you say?  If I remember correctly, and I'm sure I don't have amnesia, I asked a girl to do it.  Downright brat that one is," Mr. John stated in his as-matter-of-fact tone, "But since you are here, let's get to work."

The sun set and the air chilled, giving way to an almost winter-like night.  "Odd for spring," the teacher whispered, "Well by Joko."

(Fun fact, the school system I am using is from Japan, so school starts in spring and the students have a two-ish week break between years.  It just seemed likely that this would be adopted in the future due to more curriculum that needs to be covered.)

Joko walked home.  He saw people snicker as they walked by and saw the girl form earlier walk out of a bar, most likely drunk.  "Problems of the slums," Joko thought.

He turned down an alleyway turning into the third building on the left.  This shack is what he called home.  It was very unorganized and looked very hastily built.  There were gaps in the walls and the roof sagged.  None of this was a problem though, it was better than the street.  He walked in, not even ducking his head through the short, meter and a half tall doorway, it was still a good decimeter taller than him.  His guild greeted him.

"Hey Joko!  Ready for a game?" one asked.

"No Jake, and Jamie, get your feet off the table," Joko replied.

"Hey, lay back man, don't tell me that you are getting all detail oriented like those puzzle plebeians," Jamie said.

"Funny you are saying that," Joko thought, but he said, "Never, you know RPGs are the only thing for me.  So how was your day?"

"Terrible," they both said.

Jake answered, "I died because I took on an adult dragon without thinking there might be an elder dragon nearby."

Jamie added, "Then, we were ambushed by bandits that had an entire squadron of Pegasus riders, so... Mind if we borrow a few thousand gold pieces?"

"Fine, but you better make up for it.  In fact, show me where that elder dragon is and we will call it even," Joko said.

"Deal."

They traded in game.  Joko then sold the information to information brokers then went on his way to the dragon's lair.  Joko was strong in the game so taking on the dragon would be easy enough, thus, the information was just a con for the only thing left in the lair was remains.

"Nice play," Jake said, "Forty five seconds flat and enough gold for a month's dinner!"

(As people saw how useless real world money was, they started using in game currency instead.  This saved the money used to make money and also allows for everyone to make even a little money.  For the people who want realism:  1000 gold pieces in any form in an RPG counts as around $2.50, 15000 points in shooters is $3, a win in any puzzle game is $10, and any other form of score or currency in any other game is about 10k to $4.  Notice the bias.^)

"Oh, come on guys, the Triple J's know just how to do it, this job was just something for me to blow off steam," Joko said, shrugging off the praise.

"Let's order pizza!" Jamie exclaimed and walked into the "kitchen" for the only phone they had.

Just then, the television displayed a new add, the man in it shouted, "Tired of the old RPGs and how they need such outrageous amounts of gold for only a fourth of what puzzle games pay?  Are you a fanatic who wastes away his life grinding because that is the only thing you can do?  Living in a shack and want an upgrade?  Bullied at school due to any of this?  Then come on down to the GAME WORLD where the newest and greatest game has just come in!"

"Does this guy even breath?" Joko thought.

The man in the suit continued, "It is offering a 1 gold to 1 dollar ratio!", Joko raised his eyebrows, "Also, this game is in  limited stock, only two thousand copies are being sold.  Company and name doesn't matter with this new deal!!!  Just bring the code 1-9-13-6-15-17-22-1-17-4 to the GAME WORLD near you to buy this excellent game limit is one per customer so hurry now!"  With that the commercial was over.

However, Joko was out the door repeating the code over and over again.  "Quite odd," he thought, "such a long code for a new game.  Hope I have enough."

He made it to the store and a line was already around the block.  So, he waited... And waited... And waited... And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...And waited... And waited...

(Wow, you made it down here... Sorry to disappoint, the chapter is over.  Thought you could tell...  If not, well, I feel sorry for wasting your time.  I swear not to write anything after this.)

(Why are you still here... Dang it!)