I thought about waiting for Sam to log in, he couldn't be more than a few minutes. But as I waited in the tavern, new quests were being posted every minute. I figured it couldn't hurt to take on a few side quests, and grind out a few more levels so the two of us were more evenly balanced. Heck, now was the perfect time to continue my class quests since Sam wouldn't be able to do those.
I jumped back into my own character's personal quest line, defending villages from rampaging monsters, crafting powerful weapons, and concocting healing potions. Each completed task gave me a boost in my stats. Each side quest piled on the XP. I was so lost in this fantasy world, I didn't even realise Sam had logged in until he pinged a raid request over to me.
Before I accepted it, I decided I should upgrade my inventory. I didn't want to go in unprepared, after all, and I'd earned some awesome stuff while questing. I returned to my in-game house, and picked out some weapons I'd had enhanced by a wizard. I took the time to check my new stats. I had reached a cool level 12, one higher than Sam was. And my all-rounder stats continued to stay that way, bar an impressive strength boost.
Finally, I teleported to Sam's location. While I had teleported in game before, this felt different due to the fact I actually felt something. It was an almost imperceptible tingling through my whole body. But by the time I noticed it, the feeling had passed, and I was now standing amongst a wave of players outside of a looming mountainside, a gaping jaw of a cave straight ahead. I passed off that peculiar feeling as nothing and sought out my buddy.
Even amongst the hundreds of players gathered at the site of the raid, I could immediately spot Sam sat down by a pile of boulders, his wild beard, wilder hair, and fearsome muscles stuck out amongst the smaller characters and various friendly monsters. I strolled up to him and gave him a clap on the back. "Good to see you finally made it online!"
Sam grinned as he clasped my hand in our signature handshake. "I see you've been working hard this evening, I'm almost jealous that you're a higher level than me now."
"Right. Almost." I gave him a playful nudge.
"Yeah, yeah. I can't help having an actual social life." He stood up and swung his hefty battle axe over his shoulder. "I'm digging the new look, by the way. Very manly. It could always be manlier, though," he grinned while stroking his furry beard.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your beard? It's bigger. You didn't notice?"
I reached up and heard the faint scratching sound that signalled facial hair, yet i felt thin air, forgetting I couldn't actually interact with my character outside of my actual boring, physical self. "Weird... I didn't make any changes..."
"You must have turned the environmental changes toggle on by mistake," Sam explained. "It changes your character based on how you play, and for how long. Apparently, it feels more rewarding for people when their character grows as they level up. Personally, I think it's a little corny. I'd rather be a massive beast right off the bat, you know?" He flexed his titanic biceps with a wink.
Curious, I opened the game menu to check my settings, and sure enough, the tab was checked. It must have happened the previous evening when I damaged my band, and I never noticed. I also had a better look at my character model. I was more rugged, with a half-inch long, dense beard. More hairs curled out from the gap in my shirt, gathering between the bountiful cleavage of my pecs. I looked buffer overall, as if I'd been at the gym for months on end. I also looked more battle-worn with a few scars on my exposed skin. It all added up to create a tougher, more imposing character. Finally, I noticed I was now a few years older, equal to the amount of levels I'd grinded, up to 24 years old. This brought me closer to Sam's age in the game, but he was still older, if only by a few years.
I hovered a finger over the toggle, wondering whether to keep it on or turn it off. On one hand, unlike Sam, I thought the gimmick was pretty cool. It felt like I was actually progressing in the game. On the other hand, I liked how my character looked beforehand. It would be easy to change my appearance back, but to do it every time I levelled up? What to do...