Because of Corbin's previous experience with this game Corbin knew that the game allowed him to explore with relative freedom. That is, he didn't have to stick to a particular path. He did have to watch out for traps and there were zones that were off limits for one reason or another but there was no penalty for back tracking. Sometimes he was even rewarded for back tracking as he found helpful things that hadn't been there before. Several weeks ago, he had entered one room that had an empty pool but when he left and came back to the room, the pool was full of water. So Corbin decided to back track carefully just to see if he would find a reward or a trap.
The marble that provided light followed him lighting his way. The light was still dim but sufficient. One disadvantage of this light source was that Corbin couldn't direct it. It hovered near him but it didn't always light up what Corbin wanted to see. Still he had a torch that he could use to light up specific areas of a room and he could probe things with his axe to help him detect possible traps.
Corbin entered the room where the smell of human was coming from and noticed that it wasn't exactly a human. There was a hobbit thief snooping through a pile of barrels and crates looking for treasure. Corbin recognized this hobbit immediately as the type of character his friend Bruce always played.
Corbin called, "Bruce, is that you?"
The hobbit said, "I go by the name of Fred in this game. How do you know my real name."
"It's me, Corbin."
"Corbin? I never would have expected you to play a minotaur. Also aren't you a little underdressed?"
Corbin wanted to explain the situation but something prevented him from giving certain details. Instead, all he managed to say was, "I got turned into a minotaur and my clothes got ripped. Are you playing from your home computer?"
Bruce said, "Yea, my usual game is glitching out today so I decided to try this game you recommended. The graphics are wonderful but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing. I have found a lot of gold but if it's this easy to find gold, it makes me wonder how useful gold is in this game."
So you now know that Bruce is not in this game, that all you are seeing is his avatar. "No gold is not that useful you can buy things with gold but the really useful items cost several thousand gold coins. How much gold have you found?"
Bruce said, "Three thousand four hundred and sixty four."
Corbin said, "That will just cover one basic suit of armor or one magically enchanted weapon."
You thought about the story of Avarros and Kethos that had started your current quest. Could the game be trying to place your friend Bruce in the role of Kethos? Even though you had been growing closer to Bruce in the few months you have known him, you still didn't know if he had the same feelings for you. Also, how did Bruce get to Elivar Island when he'd only just started the game? Why wasn't he still in the tutorial? And why was he a hobbit instead of a human?