May 21st Year 2130, Earth

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* *SMACK*

Kary opened her eyes and looked at her alarm clock.

'' 8 am, shit, I overslept! ''

Rushing out of her bed, she quickly jumped into the shower to wash up. She then rushed downstairs to grab a bite and leave. Her mom seeing her run out, shouted from the kitchen '' Be careful honey ''

'' Yes mom! '' Kary shouted back closing the door behind her.

The reason she was rushed this much was the new game coming out this same morning. She wanted to be one of the first people to log on to the new adventure game she had waited so long for. The ads on TV and internet said '' Come play 'Sword of Fantasy' and change your life forever ''. Being a gamer-girl to the core, it had instantly garnered her interest. Of course, there were no images of the game, which added to the mystery of it all. The only things the forums said about it, was that it would be the game of the century.

She had updated her game pod the minute the release date had been confirmed. She was super hyped for the game.

Reaching the store at 8:45 she heaved a sigh of relief. She could get in line and be sure to have a copy today. The line was about 30 people long. Not many girls were there either. Once in line, the guy in front of her turned around and struck a conversation.

'' Hey pretty face, you're awfully early at the game store for a girl. Did your kid brother send you? ''

He then started laughing, with two of his friends joining in.

Kary ignored him. She was used to such treatment, he wasn't the first macho gamer to try that lousy tactic on her. She knew that after trying to humiliate her, he would try to act nice to get her number.

'' All jokes aside, are you here for the new game for you or someone else? ''

'' That doesn't concern you, mister. '' She said politely looking into his eyes with a cold look.

'' Listen, love, we're all gamers here, why don't you give me your number and in-game ID so we can play together. '' The guy said, with a cocky smile.

'' Not interested '' She simply answered.

'' Aww, come on, don't be that way '' He said, inching closer.

'' Ok, knock it off Aron '' Said one of his friends. He looked at Kary with a pleading smile.

'' Fuck off Jimmy, no-one asked for your opinion '' Aron rudely said, before turning back and grabbing Kary's shoulder.

'' So, why don't you give me that number so we can hook up later, in the game I mean ''

Kary slowly pushed aside his hand, politely smiling and saying again '' Not interested '' He grabbed her shoulder again, asking '' Why not? ''

She then swiftly brought her knee right up into his balls and punched him in the nose. Going back to a smiling face she looked down at him and said '' As I said, I'm not interested, buffoon. '' She then proceeded to walk in front of all his little friends in line as the store was opening.

Kary had hung with boys all her life, so she had developed a strong character. She had also taken a few self-defense courses a few years back. There was not a guy that she knew who dared do what that guy did. They were all scared shitless of her.

Once in the store, the small woman had to roughly push aside a few guys to get to the stand with the newly released game she coveted so much. Getting her hands on a copy, she rushed to the counter, paid and rushed back home.

Once she got back home, she tried to zoom to her room, but she was stopped by her mother mid-way. Her mother looked at her hand and then put her hands on her hips.

'' What happened this time Kary '' She said with a tone of disappointment.

'' Some guy was trying to force me to give him my number and I punched him, mom. Nothing big, I'm not in trouble ''

'' Maybe not with the police, but here yes young woman. I already told you to stop hitting boys for such small matters. What would you have done if he hit back huh? ''

'' It won't happen, mom, I hit too hard '' Kary answered, looking at her feet with a half-smile. She looked back up just to see her mother looking at her with a tender smile.

'' I know that sweetie, but you have to be careful. Someday you'll face someone that you can't take down and you will get hurt. I just don't want that to happen. ''

'' Yes mom, I'll try to be careful '' She said, looking pitiful. She knew all her mother wished for was her safety and well being.

After her mother hugged her gently she took off in the stairs to go up to her room. She shouted to her mother '' don't wait for me to eat, I'll eat later ''

'' I know '' her mother answered back. She then added in a sigh '' If only you'd show as much passion for school as for games ''

She got into her room and dressed in-to comfortable clothes for a long session of inertia. The new gaming pod she had bought was one with complete immersion. She was going to send her consciousness inside the game to be her character. She quickly tied her hair and jumped into the pod. She then shut it and waited for it to seal to enter the game into the mainframe.

The new pods were government-issued and could withstand a nuclear blast, or so they said. There had been incidents with the older model on the west coast of the USA, where, during an earthquake, users died under the rubble. The world gaming federation had then made this new version, which was said to be unbreakable and equipped with air filters and pressure regulators. It was all to ensure the users' safety, had the federation promised. They said that the pods could basically be thrown into space and survive for a week with its internal supplies and that a building could fall onto it and it would barely make a dent.

With the game loaded into the mainframe, the pod automatically interfaced with her brain through various scanners and waves. With a 'shua' sound, she felt her body being sucked into a vacuum. It was just her consciousness leaving though. Her body had just fallen in a stasis-like condition. With bright colors and loud fantasy music, Kary landed in a room that looked like the inside of a temple. She then heard a female voice in her head '' Sex and appearance confirmed. Please choose character name ''

Her pod had scanned her whole body during interfacing and knew exactly what she looked like and it also monitored her physical condition. She then understood that her character in-game would be a copy of her real body.

'' Can't I modify my character's appearance? '' She asked.

'' System can make slight adjustments to appearance to make it harder to recognize others in-game, but users will still look like their original body ''

'' Okay '' She sighed.

'' Then I'll call myself Wandering Hero ''

'' Confirming name, please standby... Name confirmed. Welcome, Wandering Hero! ''

With another 'shua' sound and suction feeling, Kary landed in a plain. The plain was almost empty and the grass was a little withered. She held out her hand to feel the grass. When it slid in her hand, it felt so real she almost wondered if she had been dreaming her whole day and was out in the country. A notification in her ear broke her out of her daze.

'' Welcome to Sword of Fantasy, a world where you will grow and prosper with friends by your side. Please choose a class for your character, you can choose to change class at any time, but please take note that if you do, you will lose all progress in the current class and start from zero. Also be advised that if you die, you will also be given the choice to change class and be forced to start anew ''

'' Why would I start over if I die? ''

'' Sword of Fantasy is a game where death has serious penalties. To augment the feeling of authenticity, the player loses all states, abilities, and levels on death. Certain factors during the game will circumvent this rule. It is up to the players to find out how ''

'' Okay, what are the class choices then? ''

'' Classes available are Swashbuckler, Dualist, Swordmaster, Guardian and Berserker ''

'' No healers, or even mages? What kind of fantasy game is this? ''

'' Sword of Fantasy is based on real combat situations, therefore, there are no magic classes available. Nonetheless, there will be abilities acquirable that fall under the magic category ''

'' Ahh, so later in-game, you can cross skills with magic ''

'' Affirmative ''

'' I choose Swordmaster ''

'' Class confirmed, giving out random base equipment, please standby ''

White light shone on her body and suddenly she felt heavier. A basic set of armor appeared on her and a sword hung at her waist. She checked the gear's stats out.

~Basic Leather Armor~

Rarity: Common

Defense: 5

Durability: 10

~Basic Leather Pants~

Rarity: Common

Defense: 5

Durability: 10

~Basic Leather Boots~

Rarity: Common

Defense: 3

Durability: 10

~Good Iron Sword~

Rarity: Uncommon

Attack: 3-5

Durability: 15

'' Note to player, due to luck stat being good, awarded Uncommon sword instead of Common ''

Hearing that message, Kary went to check her stats.

~Wandering Hero~

Class: Swordmaster

Level: 1

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 5

Intelligence : 3

Wisdom : 3

Toughness: 5

Charm: 3/10

Luck: 7/10

Armor: 13

Attack: 3-5

'' Why are the Charm and Luck stack on ten and not the others ?''

'' Charm stat is awarded based on player's looks and Luck stat is rolled out randomly. Both stats can only exceed ten if boosted by titles, items, special rewards or body cultivation ''

'' What the hell is cultivation. And why the hell is my Charm only at 3/10 if it is based on my real body?! ''

'' System calculates charm based on research analysis on what majority classifies of handsome. As for cultivation, it is a method in-game to upgrade your character stats other than actual physical training''

'' Well screw your algorithm, I'm pretty and I know it '' Kary pouted.

'' Since the equipment has been acquired and class selected, the player will now be sent in the Beginner Trial Mission ''

This time, it was everything around her that turned white. And with the light disappearing, she wound up in a burning village. The citizens were running around helplessly, some were dead and some were sitting in the streets crying out.

'' Beginner Trial Mission started. The player must discover the problem and find a solution in the present scenario. Good luck ''

'' Well I've found the problem. THE DAMN VILLAGE IS BURNING! '' Said Kary, a little mad.

She then started to look around for a water source to extinguish the fire. She noticed a well nearby and headed to it. While walking towards it, she passed a burnt body and noticed something was not normal on it. The man was missing an arm, but it wasn't an old wound. It looked recent. She then heard screaming in the distance.

'' Weird '' She said. '' It looks like he was killed before burning. Is the village being attacked? ''

As she said that, a bar appeared in the corner of her vision and on it 5% progress was written. She decided to start by trying to extinguish a small fire nearby before going to investigate. The citizens around her had started to the relay from the well to a burning house with buckets of water. But it looked like it was all for nothing. She went to a villager and asked to borough his bucket, with which she then took water and went to a small hay fire next to the house. She doused the fire with water. The fire fizzled out, only to spark back into existence.

'' This isn't ordinary fire, water can't put it out. What caused it then? ''

She heard another shout in the distance, this time it sounded filled with rage, instead of pain. Kary decided to walk towards the shout to figure out what happened here. She soon turned the corner of a house, only to see a man, holding his head between his hands. The man was screaming, with a mix of pain and rage. The weird thing about him was that he had something coming out of his forehead, like a horn made of weird crystal.

Kary just stood there watching him, but suddenly, he stopped screaming and turned his head towards her. He then lifted his right arm, aimed at her with his hand and a fireball came out of it. The fireball came hurtling towards Kary and she barely had time to jump aside before it hit her.

The progress bar suddenly filled to 80% and an objective appeared under. It said ' You have found the root of the problem. You must now find a solution. ' She yelled at the bar '' It's easy to find, He's hurling fireballs at my face. Now, of course, I have to kill it! ''

She then got up again. The man was still looking at her, his eyes looking empty. She pulled out her sword and tried to calm down. Kary had played a lot of games like these in her life and she knew that trying to fight while one was not calm would only muddle her skills. When she finished calming down, the man was still staring at her, like he was waiting for her to do something. As soon as she lifted her sword in guarding position, that changed. A name appeared over his head and she could see his stats if she focused.

~Flame Possessed Villager~

Class: Farmer (Possessed by flame Spirit)

Level: 1 (+3 boost from possession)

Strength : 4 (+1)

Dexterity : 2 (+1)

Intelligence : 1 (+6)

Wisdom: 2 (+3)

Toughness : 3 (+1)

'' This is going to be a tough fight '' Kary said with clenched teeth, gripping her sword handle strongly.