My vision turned normal, and I was met with bright colors yet again. From the looks of it, I'm standing on white tiles and I was 15 feet away from what seems to be- people! But… there's a blue-ish color that surrounded them. A message has arrived in front of me.
"This is the hub, where you can meet other Beta Testers before you start your journey on the real Lumidia RPG. Before you can proceed though, we must discuss important matters."
The message then disappeared- and more messages came. I had to walk to the left a bit to read the first one.
"Here are the rules of Lumidia RPG. Rule 1: Death is permanent. If you die here, you die in real life-
What the fuck!? There was nothing like this in the con…tract.
A memory then came. I was checking the boxes, and one sentence seemed too intense to be true at the time. It was "If I am injured in any way, it will be my responsibility." I was thinking: "How the hell am I going to injure myself by playing games?" Well… shit. I have to take this seriously now.
"Rule 2: Lumidia RPG is highly immersive. Treat NPCs as people so you'll get in less trouble. Rule 3: Don't be stuck in a box, Lumidia has no class system and you can be your own character. That means you have to learn skills by YOURSELF. Some NPCs may help or train you in that regard, but there are no shortcuts here. Rule 4: Don't take enemies for granted. Anything can KILL you if you're not careful. Rule 5: Although not necessary, please try your best in the professions you want the most. Lumidia RPG isn't just about monster-slaying, it's also about pursuing your dream professions and Lumidia RPG has a player-based economy too. Rule 6: You must finish a preset campaign first before you can proceed to Lumidia RPG."
The messages then disappeared, along with the blue-tint of color that surrounded… other people. Once the color disappeared, sounds from there came bursting in, and it felt… great? I didn't know that hearing other people talk so calmly in a new environment feels so… invigorating. The "hub" seems like a great place. There were black couches, some tables, and it felt like home. There were plenty of other people together with varying hair color, eye color, and ear shapes. I feel embarrassed now since I look like my real-life counterpart, haha.
I was on my way into a black couch until someone called me "Chatri". I turn to the stranger, and I see a name on top of them written in English letters. He was "Satoshi" with a flag of Japan beside his name. He had blonde hair and red sharp eyes.
"Hey, Chatri! Come!", Satoshi said in English.
I walked up to Satoshi, quite curious as to why he called me. There were more people along with Satoshi- maybe he's planning to form a group? The other people were a woman with purple-dyed curly hair and blue eyes, a man with brown hair which flowed down to bangs at even proportions and black eyes, and a man… with a red bald Mohawk and green eyes.
"Hi.", I greeted in English.
"Now we're complete!", the red Mohawk guy shouted. His name was "Crane" and had a flag foreign to me. He seemed to radiate positivity in his body language and his haircut is… interesting.
"Mhm.", the purple-haired woman nodded. Her name was "Mileena". The other guy was quiet though, but his name is "Aaron". Both of their flags were foreign to me. Maybe my fellow Thai went ahead of me?
"Well, we're planning to go on a preset campaign. Will you come with us?", Satoshi asked with a smile.
"Sure."
Hey, I think the chances of me surviving this will be greater if I have a team backing me up.
"Great- Let's go!", Crane shouted. Crane ran into the upper right corner of the room which had a message floating there with choices. The rest of us followed him. He instructed us to chant "Register". After that, the rest of us were added into a group called "Party", as shown in the Campaign options. Crane then pushed his hand through a choice- and I think we're being teleported. Moments after the "empty" feeling, I see myself inside of a shack.
I looked around, and the shacks had everything. Weapon racks, Armor stands, Stave racks, and closets. The rest of the party members wasted no time, picking what weapons suited them the most. I was just… walking and checking them out.
"What's wrong man? Did you skip the tutorial?", Crane asked.
"….No."
"Then don't hesitate!", Crane added.
"Ah. Well… I used my fists as weapons."
I heard footsteps coming closer.
"So you're the rebel?", Satoshi asked. I asked him to explain further, and he said that inside the "Hub" were patch notes. He read that "Fists, Elbows, Knees, and Shins" were registered as weapons and he wondered what nutcrack would try that in the tutorial… I guess I'm a nutcrack, huh? He then told me to look for "Fist Weapons".
Following Satoshi's advice, I find some leather gloves which had thick padding for the back of the hands along with some metal spikes- damn! As soon as I picked them up, a message appeared in front of me. The message said: "These are newly added weapons. Cestuses are fists weapons and the thick metal padding on the back of the hand portion can be used to parry blades… if one is brave enough to try."
I tried to wear it, but it feels weird inside. I reached for the hand wrappings in my wrist- and I just noticed that they were gone after I got teleported here.
"Hey, Satoshi. Did you find some hand wraps?", I asked.
"Uh… no."
"I see. Thanks!"
I tried smacking my palm as I wore one- and the insides feel so rough for my knuckles. It's actually heavy too, probably because of the metal padding. I see that Aaron had already worn his armor made from leather, and I'm glad that he helped me wear mine after I asked to.
After all of us had geared up already, Satoshi invited us to sit around a circular table.
"Well, I'm not that good of a strategist but please, bear with me."
He then explained what the campaign was all about. The story was about a necromancer in hiding, and we are tasked to assassinate him. He added that outside this shack was a graveyard, and the dead were resurrected.
"Now that our purpose is clear, let's have an open discussion about strategy.", Satoshi stated.
Satoshi said that he prefers mid-range combat since it takes time for him to casts his spells. Crane said that he chose Shield and Spear and he wears Heavy Armor. He offered to be in front though. Mileena said that she could heal wounds and that she wasn't a fighter. Aaron stated that he uses dual daggers, and he thought that it was pointless for him to attack skeletons. Before I could speak- Satoshi cut me off by deciding our positions.
With charcoal in hand, Satoshi drew circles in a pyramid-like position on the table. He then pointed to which circle we are. He explained that Crane will be the "Vanguard" or our first line of defense. Behind Crane will be Satoshi and Mileena, and he referred to the two of them as "Casters". Both Aaron and I were positioned behind the "Casters". Our main role will be to watch the sides and the back for ambushes.
"Any questions?", Satoshi asked.
Everyone seemed satisfied with his plan and after that, we headed out. I'm not familiar with video games, but I'm pretty sure I need to protect the one that could cure our wounds… but fighting skeletons? Eugh… I won't be going for leg kicks.
Outside the cabin was a forest with many trees. We're pretty much surrounded by them, and there was just a single dirt path for us. The further we follow that path, the trees around us turn gloomier. I feel… cold. I looked up and I think it's about to rain? Wow. I have to admit that this really does feel like real life.
We then progressed further onto the dirt path… and the trees around us were just… dead. No leaves, just white wood.
"Prepare yourselves guys!", Satoshi ordered. In our formation, I was positioned to the lower right, just behind Mileena. I kept my eyes open… until I feel something moving within the ground. Wait, if this is a cemetery, then-
It was silent… until skeletal hands burrowed out from within the ground. They pulled themselves back out, and they had a purple light from within their ribcage. Their hollow eyes had a faint glow of purple too- that's creepy!
The skeletons weren't armed, but I wouldn't want to punch or kick them. Luckily there was only one skeleton on my side.
I then moved forward into my stance, starting up my footwork as I face the skeleton. I wanted to observe the skeleton first so I slowly got into its reach. I was expecting it to throw a wild punch- but I see its knee raising- no way!
I push off my back foot step to the right with my lead foot before pivoting with it and rotating my hips, switching angles so I could avoid its… kick, I got to its left side before it could lower its right leg, so I just took a "half step" forward, pushing off my back foot to travel little distance with my lead foot.
My lead foot is now just behind its left… perfect. I reach out with my left hand to touch its ribcage and I sweep its left foot with my left foot as I push its ribcage, causing it to trip and fall backward. But… I don't know what to do next-
A loud alarm can be heard. A message appeared again in front of me- but in red colors.
"MOVE NOT REGISTERED"
Within the noise, I can hear Satoshi ask: "What the hell!?"
After I read the message, it was replaced by another one which said: "TELEPORTING YOU TO NEW INSTANCE."
Wait- with them, rig-
My vision was covered again by bright blue light and I feel empty. After a few seconds, I was back into the cabin- just me!?
Another message popped up.
"You are transported into another instance of this campaign to prevent more issues. Please, feel free to use all of your skills- but you will finish this campaign on your own. Death is forgiven for now.", the message said in blue colors.