In The Game (Patreon)

This was a story commission for one of the top tier patrons - hope you all enjoy!

Vic almost kind of wished he was gay; women could be so much hassle. His latest chick had dumped him just a few days earlier because he supposedly paid more attention to his video games than to her. Personally he thought that was bullshit - sure, he’d cancelled a date or two so he could have Madden sessions with his bros - but he’d spent a fuck ton of dollar on her and she didn’t seem to appreciate it at all. He hadn’t been all that sad that she’d walked away in the end, he was more annoyed that he’d wasted so much money on her in the first place.

As such, there was no wallowing around the apartment in the days that followed the break-up. Instead Vic continued on as normal: cracking open beers and hunting achievements in his favourite video games. It wasn’t like he was worried about never getting laid again. He was a good looking guy and he knew it; it wouldn’t take long for him to find another chick to share some long exciting nights with, he just had to work up the energy to deal with all the other bullshit that came with having a girlfriend.

A few days after the break-up a parcel arrived that had his name on it but no address - somebody had personally put it through his letterbox and that meant it was from somebody he knew. Curiosity got the better of him and he opened it up to find a blank game box. Inside was an Xbox disc all in black with three clear words written in white upon it: RESIDENT EVIL IMMERSION. 

That caught his attention - he hadn’t realized there was a new Resident Evil game out and he’d loved playing the previous few. Without bothering to fact check whether the game actually existed, and forgetting about the mysterious circumstances of its arrival and packing, Vic returned to the sofa where he had spent much of the past week and booted up his Xbox. Inserting the disc, he grabbed his controller and settled in for an early morning gaming session: precisely how he liked to start his day!

No sooner had he loaded up the game though, something in Vic’s gut stirred. There was something that didn’t seem quite right but he quickly dismissed it and scrolled through the game’s difficulty options. He wasn’t the kind of bitch who played anything on easy mode - he relished the challenge of harder difficulties and as such selected the ‘Veteran’ option, the highest one available to him. At least he knew he’d get a greater sense of satisfaction once he completed it, something that truthfully chicks were really able to give him.

The controller vibrated in Vic’s hand as the opening voiceover began. He recognised it as the voice of the original game’s protagonist, Chris Redfield, and thought back to the long hours he’d spent playing as the well-muscled hero of the zombie apocalypse. He’d even dressed up as him once for a Halloween party and had convinced his girlfriend at the time to don Jill Valentine’s hot blue boobtube from the third game. He’d never been shy of a little roleplaying and that night had been hot as hell - for him at least. The girl had dumped him a few days later.

Vic was so distracted by the thoughts that he almost entirely missed the opening narration, but he caught enough to realize that Chris kept using the term ‘we’ as if he was speaking directly to the player. The title rang back into Vic’s mind - Immersion. What new gimmick did the game have to make it ‘immersive’ and was it going to be as laborious as the multiplayer that previous games in the franchise had attempted?

All of a sudden his screen flashed a blinding white and Vic’s stomach did a full somersault. The world spun around him for a moment and the next thing he knew he was falling forward off of the sofa and into darkness. His hands didn’t meet the soft carpet of his living room floor as he had expected though, instead they found the cold hard ground and had somehow gained a pair of fingerless gloves during the fall.

Pushing himself back up, Vic took note of his changed physique. The differences were subtle but enough for a vain individual such as himself to notice. Every one of his muscles was slightly larger and the skin looked more beaten and worn, even scarred, as if he’d gone through quite a number of scrapes over the years. His clothes were different too: long khaki pants had appeared where he had previously only worn boxers and a tight green top was pressed around his muscular torso instead of the loose-fitting black tee he had worn to bed the night before.

“What the hell?” he grunted, only to stop as a second realization hit him: that wasn’t his voice. It was the voice he had heard just moments ago though, reading the game’s opening narration. It was Chris Redfield’s voice! Checking the logo on the sleeve of his shirt, Vic noticed the BSAA lettering: the organization that Chris worked for in the later games. Panic began to set in. Had he… really been sucked into the game? Was this what the ‘Immersion’ subtitle implied? How was that even possible?

Even as he wrestled with his chaotic thoughts, a low groaning coming from the shadows pulled Vic back into reality - or whatever game reality he now found himself in! He watched in horror as a humanoid shape stumbled towards him, all rotting flesh and snapping teeth. A zombie. Holy shit it’s an actual fucking zombie. Vic moved on pure instinct, pulling the handgun from its holster by his side and firing off two shots towards the impossible creature. The first punctured its neck and the second impaled it through the skull, prompting the undead figure to drop to the ground, dead for the second time.

“This is fucking crazy,” he muttered to himself, taking a better look at his surroundings. He seemed to be in an abandoned car park somewhere and he definitely wasn’t alone. There were slow shapes moving in the shadows all around him! He needed to move and fast. Thankfully he was quick to locate a door - above which an all too familiar red-and-white logo was painted. The Umbrella Corporation. Vic had no idea what was going on but he was smart enough to figure that if he played through the game and made it to the end then maybe it would boot him back out into the real world. He’d have to play through Chris’ mission until then - more immersed in the Resident Evil world than ever - and that meant hunting down the evil scientists of Umbrella.

As he made his way into the unknown though, Vic thought back to his earlier option upon starting the game. Why had he decided to get cocky and do his first playthrough on the hardest difficulty? He didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he died in the game and with such limited ammo and health that was a real possibility. That was really going to come back and bite him in the ass… or a zombie would. Either way, he’d made a real mistake!

The ex-girlfriend responsible for trapping Vic in his new prison smiled as she let herself into his apartment with the spare key he hadn’t bothered to take back from her, collected the game from the console and returned it to the case which she claimed as her prize, tucking it away in her handbag. 

The truth was that while he was trapped in the game Vic wouldn’t die for real but he’d most certainly feel every bit of pain that Chris endured - every zombie bite, bullet wound and poison sting - before he respawned to do it all over again. Despite his hopes there would be no escaping, even if he miraculously made it to the end. Instead he - and the game - would remain on display alongside the other men who had been foolish enough to leave the young witch scorned and bitter. Maybe one day she’d find Mr Right but until then she’d enjoy knowing that each and every Mr Wrong who had come before him would never escape her grasp!