"Oh my god, Emmie, this is the perfect birthday gift for you, don't you think?"

My sister's tone dripped with such mean-spirited sarcasm, and it took everything in my being not to "playfully" bruise her. I didn't want to surrender my pride by showing any interest in the reflective box she’d grabbed from the shelf, but curiosity got the better of me. Irritably, I grabbed the box from her hand and scanned the title.

Lover's Quest - Find Your Soulmate

The hell?

"Ha, ha, online dating is pathetic, I get it," I said, annoyed, even though I thought online dating was one of the most viable ways of seeking relationships in theory. But Carrie still thought it was romantic for a random dude to grossly compliment you on your beauty in a cafe when you're clearly having brunch with your sister. That's how she met Ben, her latest main squeeze. It took weeks for me to agree to go out with her again after making me feel like a third wheel on our coffee date.

"It's not just online dating," Carrie said. "It's a game! Like the ones you play all the time while you're sleeping with that thing on your head."

"I'm not sleeping, it's called 'virtual reality.' I'm very much awake, just fully immersed in a different reality.'

She was right, though. This Lover's Quest was apparently a VR massively multiplayer online role-playing game that doubled as a matchmaking service, or so the back of the box declared. They boasted a 95% success rate for couples that reached endgame in a beta-testing pool of 300. The game had a personality test built in to judge compatibility between players to help you find your soulmate. Other than that, it seemed like a normal fantasy MMO with monsters and quests.

Dammit, this actually sounds kind of interesting.

What better way to find a boyfriend than through a common interest? And even if I didn't match with anyone, at least I'd still have a game to grind through. Granted, the game would probably be wrought with hopeful romantics and/or couples, but I’d played through MMOs on my own before without really getting into the social aspect, and there was also the 5% of failed couples I could hang out with if it came to it.

But I wasn't about to let Carrie know that. I'd just have to come back here and buy it later, when Carrie wasn't breathing down my neck.

"Meh," I said as I placed the box back on the shelf.

*****

When I came back to buy the game, the cashier gave me major side-eye, so I just said yes to the bag, quickly exited the store and speed-walked the ten minutes home. I knew I shouldn't be ashamed. About anything I did. But I just couldn't help it. I often wondered if it was in my genetic make-up (Mom was constantly worrying about what strangers thought and almost never wanted guests over because the house just was never clean enough, which was a plus for me), or if something was wrong with me. Carrie always assured me I was being a young adult, but she didn’t act that way. She never did.

And whenever I pointed that out, she'd just shrug and say, "I guess I'm just an amazing human being."

It also helped that she had long, golden brown hair instead of a dull bob and color to her face with her real tan instead of a pasty computer screen tan. But in the world of VR, your real appearance didn't matter one bit, and that's what I loved about it. You could be anything you wanted to be.

In this game, though, it seemed you had to be human. And your appearance was largely based on your appearance in real life, which disappointed me a bit, though you could also change parts of yourself that you could change in real life. I considered slapping a tattoo onto my avatar, but decided against it.

As I scrolled through the class options inside a room dimly-lit by torches mounted on stone walls, I settled on mage. If I had to be as frail and thin as I was in real life, my best chance of survival would be long-ranged abilities that could put up a decent offense as well as defense. After choosing my class, a window popped up in front of me.

[You will now partake in a personality test that will determine your compatibility with other players as well as influence your base characteristics. For best results, please answer accurately and honestly.]

The thought of someone trying to game the system had come to mind. What's to stop anyone from making themselves look smarter? Or more accomplished? But I reasoned it was no different from someone trying to catfish in online dating, or lying on the first date. No system was full-proof, and I'd have to be vigilant in my judgments, high compatibility score or not.

I reached out and touched the "Next" button on the window. The first question popped up and a soothing female voice started reading aloud.

"Question 1: What is your name?"

Even in other MMOs, I always opted to use my real name. It helped that it sounded like a name out of a fantasy game as well.

"Emilia."

Luckily, the game was new enough that the name wasn't in use yet, because the first question faded away and the next question popped up.

"Question 2: What is your birthday?"

"August 23rd, 2031."

"Happy almost-birthday."

"Thanks."

"Question 3: What is your sexual orientation?"

"Straight."

"Question 4: What is your current occupation?"

"College student," I said, then added begrudgingly, "slash part-time employee at grocery store."

"Question 5: What are you looking for in a significant other?"

I thought for a moment, feeling, unsurprisingly, embarrassed.

"Good sense of humor. Someone who is comfortable staying in and can carry a conversation by himself."

"Question 6: What is your ideal date?"

"Dinner at home and video games."

I could just hear Carrie scoff in my head.

"Question 7: What is your current goal in life?"

"...I don't know."

I wasn't sure if the game would accept my answer, but then the next question popped up on the screen.

"Question 8: How would you describe yourself?"

“Introverted,” I said.

"Please provide specific information."

“I’m shy,” I said. “And quiet.”

"Please provide more specific information."

I blinked. I wondered if there was an actual person recording my answers, or if this AI was particularly intelligent.

"I...like video games. I like having a goal in mind and completing it," I said aimlessly. "I like to read books and watch streams and just get away from the world for a little while before going back and busting my ass at school."

"Answer is sufficient. Please standby."

After a few minutes, a new window popped up in front of my face.

[LEVEL 1]

Stats:

Strength - 2

Intelligence - 5

Agility - 2

Health - 100

Resistance - 0

Charisma - 1

…

…..

Am I really that unlikable?!

Whatever. Of course my base stats would look pathetic. The whole point of these games was to build yourself up from the bottom. Sure, it was kind of a blow to my ego, but I could deal.

I confirmed my stats and one last window popped up.

[Are you ready to begin?]