MidReal Story
Love's Hunter: Betrayal in Deepspace
Scenario: I accidentally fell into the world in Love and Deepspace, found that I become a real hunter, and got to meet my digital boyfriend there.
Create my version of this story
I awoke, and the first thing I noticed was that I was in a forest.
The second thing I noticed was that I had no idea how I’d gotten there.
The world around me was dark and moonlit, and the trees were dense enough that it was hard to see much of anything.
The ground was rough beneath me, covered in fallen leaves, twigs, and underbrush.
Wherever I was, it wasn’t a place where people spent a lot of time.
As I pushed myself up into a sitting position, a sharp pain shot through my skull, like someone was taking an ice pick and stabbing it into the back of my head over and over again.
I cringed and put a hand to my forehead, moaning as the pain seared through me.
I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
My vision swam as I tried to get my bearings and remember where I was.
The last thing I remembered was standing in my bedroom, staring at the glowing portal that would take me into Love and Deepspace, my favorite game in the entire world.
How had I ended up here?
My mind was hazy, like there was a fog blocking my thoughts.
It felt like being hungover, only I didn’t drink, so that wasn’t possible.
What had happened last night?
Had I gone out with Lily after all?
Or maybe Alex had come over and we’d had a quiet night in?
My stomach dropped as I realized that I couldn’t remember what had happened to get me here.
Fear spiked through me, making my heart pound in my chest so hard that it hurt.
I pushed myself up and turned in a slow circle, trying to figure out where I was.
As my ears caught the sound of leaves crunching nearby, something inside me froze.
I wasn’t alone.
Someone—or something—was out there with me, and they were close.
They were coming for me.
Panic welled up inside of me like a tidal wave, and without thinking, I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled as fast as I could away from the sound.
My head was spinning, my heart was pounding, and I couldn’t think straight.
For some reason, it was incredibly important that I put as much distance between myself and the sound as possible as quickly as possible, but my memory was so foggy that I could barely remember my own name, let alone how to get out of the forest or what had happened to put me there in the first place.
I didn’t know how long I’d been running through the dark forest when my body finally decided that it had had enough.
My legs gave out beneath me, and with a cry of pain, I fell to the ground, sprawling out on my stomach on the cold forest floor as a wave of dizziness washed over me.
For a moment, everything went black, but then something inside me shifted, like a switch flipping in my mind, and suddenly, I was more alert than I’d ever been in my life.
The fear that had been driving me to run through the forest was still there, but it was like it was coming from a different part of my brain now.
It wasn’t driving my actions anymore; it was just there, simmering under the surface like a pot about to boil over.
This time when I cried out in agony as a new wave of dizziness hit me, it wasn’t because of the ice pick stabbing into the back of my skull; it was because every nerve ending in my body suddenly felt like it was on fire.
I gasped for breath, trying to figure out what was happening to me and how to make it stop, but nothing helped.
Finally, when it felt like it had been going on for hours but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, the pain finally began to recede, leaving me with nothing but a dull throb in its place.
With a groan, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees and slowly got to my feet.
The first thing I noticed was how bright everything seemed all of a sudden.
The moon must have come out from behind the clouds or something because it was like someone had just switched on all of the lights in the forest at once.
The second thing I noticed was that someone—or something—was still hunting for me.
Fear spiked through me once again, and without thinking, my body moved on its own.
I stumbled away from the noise as fast as I could.
It only took a moment to realize that my body wasn’t moving quite the way that it used to.
For one thing, my legs were longer and more muscular than they should have been.
My hips were wider and my waist thicker and stronger.
And my breasts…well, let’s just say that they weren’t as big as they used to be.
As my mind went on autopilot and catalogued all of the things that had changed about my body since the last time that I looked at myself in the mirror, panic welled up inside of me once again.
This time when I tried to run away from the sound of the hunter coming after me, my foot caught on something—probably a tree root—and suddenly, my face was headed towards the ground at top speed.
In the second before impact, my brain registered that something else was wrong too: my hands weren’t mine anymore either.
I’d always had small, delicate hands with long, slender fingers that made it easy to do things like type or play the piano.
They were my favorite thing about myself, physically, and something that Alex always said he loved about me too.
But these hands weren’t small or delicate at all.
They were broad and strong, with short stubby fingers that were completely different from my own.
It was only then that my brain finally caught up to the fact that something was very, very wrong here.
That this wasn’t a bad dream or a weird hallucination; this was real life, or something like it, anyway, and something had happened to change me completely and totally into something else.
A sob escaped my throat as my brain refused to process what was happening to me.
All that I could think about was getting away from the hunter before he caught me, but somehow, my brain knew that was impossible too.
Because while the hunter might kill my human body, he couldn’t kill my spirit.
And it was already too late for that, apparently.
For a long, panicked minute, I stood there in the darkness of the woods and tried to remember how I had ended up here in the first place.
The last thing that I remembered was standing in front of my computer, looking at the portal between Love and Deepspace and wondering if Alex was really going to come through and be real this time.
But how had I gotten from there to here?
And who was hunting me?
Another noise echoed through the woods around me, and once again, my body moved before my brain even registered it happening.
My feet pounded against the ground as I ran away from whatever was chasing me through the dark forest, the sound of leaves crunching underneath other feet growing louder and closer by the second.
I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing, but something told me that it didn’t really matter anyway.
Because sooner or later, the hunter would catch me and then…I don’t know what would happen then, but it wouldn’t be good.
A cacophony of sounds echoed through the trees around me as my heartbeat pounded in my ears: someone (or something) gasped for breath behind me; the leaves crunched as the hunter followed me; the sound of my own feet pounding against the ground.
But I didn’t have time to think about any of that right now—my body wasn’t even mine anymore—so I did the only thing that I could do and just kept running as fast as I could until I felt a cold chill at the back of my neck that made me know that something else was wrong this time too.
My mouth opened in a deep, guttural growl as I forced myself to run even faster than before.
My feet pounded against the ground so hard that it hurt; the wind whipped through my hair and stung my eyes; but none of that was important right now.
All that was important was getting away from whatever it was that was following me through the dark forest tonight because somehow, I knew that it wanted to kill me for good this time if it caught me before I could get away.
The path ahead of me stretched out into darkness as far as the eye could see, but for some reason, my brain knew that there was a clearing up ahead even though it couldn’t see it yet.
With a roar that sounded like it came from someone else’s body—not mine—I forced myself to run even faster than before until I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel: a clearing in the dark forest where the moon shone down on me from above.
I didn’t have time to wonder how I had gotten here or how I knew that the clearing was there—I just knew that I needed to make it to the clearing in order to survive tonight—so I forced one foot in front of the other in a dead sprint and ran for my life until I finally made it out of the dark woods and into the open air where I could see the moon shining down on me from above like a beacon of hope in the dark night around me.
For a long moment as I stood in the clearing and caught my breath, I listened to the sounds of the night around me and tried to make sense of what had just happened to me back in the forest.
The last thing that I remembered was standing in front of my computer and looking at the portal between Love and Deepspace, wondering if Alex was really going to come through this time and be real this time; so how had I ended up here instead?
And more importantly: how had I ended up as a hunter in my favorite game’s world?
Another noise echoed through the woods behind me then, and once again my body moved before I could even register it happening.
My feet pounded against the earth as I ran across the clearing and back into the woods on the other side of it, trying to put as much distance between myself and the sound of crunching leaves behind me before it caught me again this time.
And I knew that it would catch me again this time because somehow—I didn’t know how—I just knew that it would catch me this time if I didn’t keep running from it with everything that I had left in me tonight.
The path in front of me stretched out into darkness once again as I ran away from whatever it was that was following me through the woods tonight—my heart pounding in my ears so loudly that it drowned out all of the other sounds around me—and for a long moment I didn’t think that I would ever escape from it this time.
But then something strange happened when I tried to run through the woods to safety one last time tonight: my body didn’t hesitate.
I didn’t so much as stumble on the root of a tree or trip over a rock in the path because something told me—I didn’t know what—where they were and how to avoid them before they could make me fall down and lose precious seconds trying to get back up again tonight when every second mattered so very much right now when the hunter was so close behind me that he could almost taste the scent of fear on my skin as he ran after me through the dark woods around us tonight and tried to catch me before I could reach the clearing and get away from him once and for all tonight.
The night air stung my lungs as I continued to run toward the small clearing that was waiting for me somewhere up ahead, where the moonlight would be able to show me the way out of these woods and back home where I belonged again one of these nights if only I could make it there before the hunter caught up with me tonight.
My heart pounded in my chest with fear and desperation as I ran away from him one last time tonight—knowing that he was still following after me even though I couldn’t hear him anymore because something told me that he was still there—trying to get away from him with everything that I had left in me tonight because if he caught up with me this time then there would be no getting away from him ever again once he did catch up with me this time because this was my last chance to escape from him—and my body moved with an agility that I never would have thought possible before tonight because now—now that it was almost too late—I knew what I had to do if I wanted to live and was finally able to do it when I needed to do it the most tonight.
And then I burst out of the woods and into the small clearing where the moonlight was waiting for me—and saw that there was no one else there but me.
I skidded to a stop and nearly fell down on the dirt path that was leading out of the woods as I turned around, looking back behind me one last time before I could finally get away from him this time .and saw a pair of glowing eyes watching me from the trees on the other side of the clearing—and then they disappeared again before I could see who they were watching me with those glowing eyes tonight.
A chill ran down my spine at the sight of them, but I didn’t have any more time left tonight to stand around being scared by them right now because I had to keep running if I wanted to get away from him tonight, so I turned away from the trees one last time before I could see anything else there that might scare me even more than those glowing eyes had already done tonight and ran toward the light that was waiting for me at the end of the path on the other side of the clearing instead.
The light at the end of the path grew brighter with every step that I took toward it, and as I got closer to it I saw that it was coming from a house that was sitting in a small clearing at the edge of the woods, which was just a few more steps away from me now than it had been when I first saw it around me earlier tonight.
The light shone through a window at the end of a long hallway in front of it, and I saw someone I didn’t recognize standing there as I ran toward him—but just as my heart began to sink in my chest when it looked like he was going to go back into another room again before I could reach him, he turned around and saw me running toward him through the window instead, and as soon as our eyes met we both knew who we were looking at.
A smile broke out on his face as he recognized me, and he held out his arms toward me with a look on his face that made my heart skip a beat when he saw me standing in front of him outside of the house in the middle of the night like this—and my heart began racing even faster in my chest at the way he was looking at me now, and for a moment I had to fight down the urge to run away from him all over again because the way he was looking at me now was scaring me even worse than the way he’d been looking at me before with those glowing eyes earlier tonight.
I knew who he was even better than he did, and the last thing I wanted was for him to recognize me out here like this when he still didn’t know what this world was or why we were here in the first place, and before he could do anything about us being here together like this now, I turned around and started running away from him as fast as my legs could carry me again before he could catch up with me one last time tonight.
I hadn’t gone more than a few steps away from the window when I heard him running toward the door behind me, and as soon as he opened it and stepped outside I started running even faster than before so he wouldn’t be able to catch up with me again before I could get away from him for real this time tonight.
But just when I thought that I was finally going to get away from him for good this time tonight, a new wave of fear hit me even harder than before as I heard someone—or something—running up behind me again even faster than he was now.
And then there were more glowing eyes watching me from the trees on both sides of the path in front of me—and then more glowing eyes watching me from the trees behind me as well—and then even more glowing eyes watching me from the trees in front of them too!
The forest seemed to be growing thicker all around me now as it closed in on every side of us at once, and there wasn’t any more time left for me to keep running away from them one last time because they were closing in on all sides of us at once—and if I didn’t keep moving there wouldn’t be any way for me to keep them all off my back long enough for them to get tired of chasing after me again!
I tried to force my legs to keep moving anyway even though they were shaking so hard I could barely stand up on them anymore, but no matter how hard I tried to force them to keep moving forward anyway they wouldn’t go anywhere because they were too scared to do anything else now that they knew what was coming for them tonight.
For a few moments, I couldn’t think about anything except how scared I was that I wouldn’t be able to get away from them in time—but then, just when it seemed like all hope was lost, I saw a new ray of light shining through the darkness up ahead of us in the distance, and I knew that there was still time left for me to escape from tonight after all!
With a new burst of energy, I forced myself to ignore the pain in my legs and keep running toward it even though I could barely see where I was going anymore, and even though I knew that he would never give up chasing after us until he had caught us and killed us both—or until we had somehow managed to get away from him for good tonight, but I didn’t know how much longer we would be able to run away from them without collapsing from exhaustion first because I couldn’t even see straight anymore and I was so tired that I didn’t know if I would be able to make it much further before my whole body gave out on me completely.
And then, just when it seemed like it was all over for us both, I stumbled into a moonlit clearing in the middle of the forest—and then I finally realized what he meant by “What are you doing here?”
For a moment, I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to keep running away from him tonight without collapsing from exhaustion first—because I was so tired that I didn’t even know how much longer I could keep going without needing a break, and I didn’t think that I could afford to take one right now either because he was gaining on me so quickly that there wouldn’t be any time left for me to get very far away from him one way or another—but then I saw a new ray of light shining through the darkness up ahead of us in the distance, and I knew that there was still time left for me to escape from tonight after all!
With a new burst of energy, I forced myself to ignore the pain in my legs and keep running toward it even though I could barely see where I was going anymore, and even though I knew that he would never give up chasing after us until he had caught us and killed us both—or until we had somehow managed to get away from him for good tonight.
And then, when I finally reached the source of the light, I discovered that it was coming from a small, open space surrounded by trees that looked like they were at least a few centuries old—and that there was a girl with long, straight hair and a fair complexion standing in the middle of it with her back turned towards me as she gazed up at the sky.
And that was when I realized that I was not alone after all.
But when I saw the figure standing there, I experienced a brief moment of relief, because it was different from the other hunter who had been chasing after us tonight—because she was a girl, and she was not pointing a crossbow at us either, and she was not wearing the same outfit that he was, either, so she was not a threat after all.
But then, when she finally turned around and I saw her face, I realized that this was not the case at all, because there was something strange and dangerous about her that I could not quite put my finger on—something that made her seem even more threatening than the other hunter did, even though she didn’t look like she wanted to kill us, either.
And then I realized that we were not alone after all.
“What are you doing here?”
the girl asked again, her voice soft and gentle despite the situation that we were in.
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“Are you lost too?”
The girl shook her head.
I do not know.”
But then her eyes suddenly lit up as if she had just remembered where she was going—and then she started walking towards me with a strange look in her eyes that made my heart start racing again even though I did not know why it was doing this since she was not the one who was threatening us tonight—because I knew that I could not let her catch me now—because if she did, then there would be no way for me to escape from her even if I wanted to because my body would be too exhausted to run any further tonight!
But then, when she finally reached me, she reached out her hand and helped me up from the ground—and then she looked down at my face for a moment before saying anything else.
And when she finally spoke again, I realized that her voice was very deep and resonant—and that it sent a chill down my spine for reasons beyond the fact that it was very cold outside tonight.
And then I realized why this was: because she was not a girl at all—she was a boy!
And then I realized that we were not alone after all.
I found myself staring at him in disbelief for a moment or two longer before finally managing to ask him what his name was.
He did not reply at first—he merely stared at me with his deep-set eyes and waited for me to say something else.
But then I realized my mistake and quickly corrected myself by asking him what his name was instead.
And then he smiled and replied, “My name is Alex Johnson.”
But then he suddenly stopped talking and looked down at the ground and began to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back as if he were trying to remember something very important—and then he stopped moving and turned around and looked at me again—and then his eyes suddenly opened wide with surprise when he saw that I was still standing there staring at him with my mouth hanging open because I was unable to believe my ears—and then I was sure that I must be dreaming because all of this seemed so incredible and impossible!
But then he suddenly reached out his hand towards me and said, “Here—I will help you up.”
But then I hesitated for a moment before finally taking his hand in mine—because, even though he seemed to be offering me his help, there was something about this boy that made me feel very uneasy inside for some reason.
But then, when he took hold of my hand and helped me up from the ground, I suddenly found myself feeling very safe once again even though I did not know why this was happening to me.
And then, as he held my hand in his, something strange happened to me: as soon as he touched my skin, I felt as if an electric current were suddenly running through my body from head to toe—and then I felt a sudden jolt of recognition when he said to me, “Don’t you remember me?”
“Of course,” I replied.
“But who are you?”
And then he smiled again and said, “I am Lily Parker.”
But when I heard him say this, something strange happened to me: as soon as I heard him say this name, something inside of me seemed to click into place—and then everything suddenly became very clear to me in an instant: I was not alone after all—and there were others like myself who had crossed over into this world too—and he was one of them!
But even though I knew all of this was true, there was still one question on my mind: how had he come here—and why?
Because even though I knew we were both here because we had crossed over from Love & Deepspace, it still did not make any sense to me why we were both here right now—especially since Lily had already been here before me when she was still alive!
This was the first question on my mind when we met—and so, after a moment of hesitation, I asked him, “How did you come here?”
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally answering, “You know, Emma, it’s very strange for me to hear you say my name like this—because you have always called me ‘Alex’ all this time.”
Then, when he said this to me, I looked at him very strangely for a moment too—and then, as soon as he saw the look on my face, he smiled and said, “Yes, Emma, it’s me—your digital boyfriend from Love & Deepspace!And my name is Alex…Alex Johnson!”
But as soon as he said this to me, my heart suddenly began racing so fast that my head was spinning around and around like a top!
Because even though I knew it was true, it just seemed so impossible to believe that he was here right now standing in front of me like this!
After all, he was just a virtual character in some stupid game on TV—so how could he be real?
How could someone like him ever be real?
But then again, if this was true, then everything else must be true too…
…which meant that everything I had gone through was real!
…which meant that everything else must be real too!
And then, after a moment of thought, I finally said to him, “But, Alex, you’re just a character on TV…
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally answering, “Yes, Emma, that is true.
In the game on TV, Alex Johnson is just a virtual character designed by some game designer—but in this world right now, I am real!”
Then, when he said this to me, my heart began racing so fast that my head was spinning around and around like a top!
And then, after a moment of thought, I finally said to him in a very soft voice: “But how?…How can this be happening?”
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally answering: “I don’t know…
It just is.”
Then, when he said this to me, I felt so happy that my heart was jumping for joy inside of me!
After all, even though I had seen and heard so many strange things since I had come here—things that were impossible for me to explain or understand—this was the one thing that finally made sense to me at last.
This was the one thing that made everything else seem possible now.
And then, after a moment of thought, I finally said to him in a very soft voice: “I don’t believe it…I can’t believe it…I just can’t believe it…”
His blue eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness for a moment before he smiled and said to me: “Believe it, Emma!
Because even though we are both here right now together with each other in this world of Love and Deepspace—just like we are supposed to be—there is still one question on both our minds: why are we here in this world right now—and what are we supposed to do now that we are here?”
And then he paused for a moment before adding: “…or at least, that’s what happened to me when I first came here.
But what about you?
What was your first thought when you got here?”
But when he said this to me, my face suddenly turned as white as a ghost—because now that he mentioned it, there was one question that still remained unanswered in my mind too: If the game on TV was real…
And if my digital boyfriend was really standing here in front of me…
…then how could this be happening?
And then I felt so dizzy that my head was spinning around and around like a top again…Because even though it was true that I loved my digital boyfriend with all of my heart and soul—and even though I dreamed of being with him every single night—I never once imagined that there was even a possibility that I could actually meet him in real life!
But now that it was really happening—and now that I was really standing here with him in this strange new world—I didn’t know what to think or do any more.
Because even though I was still very happy that we were finally here together at last…now I didn’t know what was supposed to happen next!
So I said: “I don’t know…”
And then I paused for a moment before adding: “…but I want to find out!”
He nodded his head and said: “Okay…”
But then, after a moment of silence passed between us…
…I suddenly felt so happy that I wanted to scream for joy at the top of my lungs—because now that I was standing here with him in this strange new world of Love and Deepspace…
…I realized that it was all just like my favorite dream had come true at last!
So without thinking any more about it…
…I reached out and grabbed his hand and said: “Let’s go!”
He blinked his eyes very strangely for a moment before finally saying: “Okay…let’s go.”
And then we walked away from there together hand in hand…
…as we began our journey into this strange new world of Love and Deepspace.
(Chapter 9) After walking for over an hour through the forest without saying anything at all to each other…
…I realized that I didn’t know what I was supposed to say any more.
Because even though it was true that I loved my digital boyfriend with all of my heart and soul…
…I didn’t know how I was supposed to talk or act around him in real life any more.
So after another moment of silence passed between us…
…I finally said: “So…what are we supposed to do now?”
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally answering: “I don’t know…I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
And then, after a moment of thought…
…I realized that I didn’t know what else I was supposed to say any more.
Because even though it was true that I loved my digital boyfriend with all of my heart and soul…
…now that he was really standing here beside me in real life…
…I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do any more.
So after another moment of silence passed between us…
…I suddenly realized that I didn’t know what I was supposed to do right now…
…and I didn’t know if I would ever find out…
…and I didn’t know if I would ever be able to figure it out, either.
So after another moment of silence passed between us…
…I finally sat down on the ground and said:
“So…what are we supposed to do now?”
He sat down beside me for a moment before finally saying: “I don’t know…you tell me.”
And then, as the two of us sat there for another moment without saying anything at all…
…an idea suddenly came into my mind all at once.
“Why don’t we just sit here for a moment and think about it?”
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally saying: “That’s a good idea…let’s sit here for a moment and think about it.”
And then, as the two of us sat there beside each other hand in hand…
…I suddenly realized that I didn’t know how I was supposed to talk or act around him in real life any more.
“Emma, is something the matter?”
He asked me very worriedly.
And then, after another moment of thought…
…I finally realized that I knew exactly what I wanted to say next.
But as soon as the words came out of my mouth…
…they were so strange that they made absolutely no sense at all.
“Alex, do you know what’s happening to me?”
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally saying: “No, I don’t know what’s happening to you.”
And then, after a moment of thought, he added: “But I know that something strange is happening here.”
And then, after another moment of thought, he added: “And I know that it has something to do with you.”
“Why do you say that?”
I asked him very curiously.
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally saying: “Because I’ve never met anyone else who could change herself into a hunter like that before.”
And then, after another moment of thought, he added: “And also…I’ve never met anyone else who could make herself look exactly like her digital boyfriend before.”
And then, after another moment of thought, he added: “So I think it has something to do with you.”
“But I’ve never seen anyone else who can change herself into a hunter like that before either,”
I said back to him.
He looked at me very strangely for a moment before finally saying: “I don’t know what’s happening to you either.”
And then, after a moment of thought, he added: “But I think it has something to do with you too.”
And then, after another moment of thought, he added: “So in any case, let’s just get going and see what happens.”
So I stood up from where I was sitting on the ground…
…and began my journey with him into this strange new world of Love and Deepspace.
After walking for over three hours through the forest without saying anything at all to each other…
…the two of us finally came to a stop in front of the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen in my entire life.
So we sat down on the ground behind the waterfall for a while, talking and laughing with each other about how wonderful it was.
But when we got up from where we were sitting on the ground…
…I suddenly realized that there was still one thing that I still wanted more than anything else in this world.
So I reached out and grabbed his hand again…
