Somewhere where the trees reached an incredible height, reaching more than 20 meters up in the sky and cluttered together to form a shield isolating their little forest kingdom from the rest of the world, a group of three people were huddling around a bond fire, trying to find warmth from the chilly air of the night.
Not far from them was the dead body of an enormous boar whose fangs were at least one meter long looking fearsome and intimidating, but now all the ferocious beast was is dinner for the group of humans.
"That sure took a toll on us," a man wearing leather armor said as he took a chunk of the fragrant meat roasting on the fire. He had a sturdy build and a considerable mass of muscle underneath the armor. With dark brown hair and clean skin, the way he conducted himself at the center of the group suggested he was their leader.
"It sure was strange though, why would an Iron Back Boar appear here of all places? We haven't even crossed to the middle boundary of the shattered forest" a woman who had the air of a kind next-door girl answered. She strapped a bow around her back and had short hair. On one hand, she wore a half glove, which was the hand she draws the bowstring with.
"Right? I found it weird as well. Iron Back Boars usually dwell on the middle forest, the only reason it would be here would be if it got lost, but this one was a full adult, it wouldn't get lost"
The man on the back who was keeping to himself suddenly jerked when he heard that.
"What's wrong Lan?" the leader asked after seeing the sudden change of expression of his friend"
Lank stood at once, he had a big muscular body and wore iron chest plates with leg and arm guards. "You're right Don, an Iron Back Boar would only move to the outer forest if it got lost. Or…or something stronger than it drove it away"
Don and the archer girl's expression turned gloomy in a second. Only they knew how difficult it was to kill this boar. They had to use precious healing pills and damaged their weapon not only to kill it, but to also not damage its precious parts. Normally, they would just run after meeting one, but they felt their strength increase in the past couple of months and they had already finished their mission and would head back to the city the day after.
Under their teamwork, they finally defeated the monster and were relishing in the fact that they made more than the reward for the mission after all the iron back Boar fur, hooves, and fangs were sold for a very high price, something ordinary hunters like them wouldn't get for even one month work.
However, now that something stronger than the boar may have chased it and would possibly locate them very soon. They clearly remembered that when they stumbled upon the beast, it already had a wound on its backside, which was mainly the reason they defeated it.
If whoever it is chased after the boar and found them they may have no way to defend themselves.
"Clear the camp, we're moving ton����" don hadn't finished his sentence when bush rustling was heard from behind them. The three were startled for a moment before taking battle positions while trembling slightly.
Whoosh, whoosh…
The rustling continued for a few moments before a tall figure emerged.
.
.
A few hours ago.
Sen breathed a sigh for the umpteenth time. The sun was about to set and dyed the entire forest with a golden hue. He was not used to this. This sort of thing does not happen. How can one second he was just playing on his computer and the next he's inside a creepy forest?
He looked at his body that has suddenly grown much taller than before, now standing at 1.9 meters. Not the tallest by earth standards but certainly taller than his previous 1.7 tall body.
But that was not all that changed, although his skin became somewhat darker with a shade of blue, it was no big deal, he thought it was very cool. The thing that frustrated him was the blood like red tattoos that covered his hands like a glove and made its way up to his arms only to dissipate when it reached his elbows in a fiery design.
Suddenly, it struck him. He had felt a sense of familiarity from his arms and body shape. Now he finally realized what it was. This was his in-game avatar!
A few years back when he was just 16 years old, a new game made its way into the market, it was called the Last Realm. It was a highly addictive game that had over millions of players all around the world.
However, LR (Last Realm) did not last long. With the emergence of VRMMORPG, old school computer games like LR either declared bankruptcy or invested in the new VR game.
Soon, the gaming sector was dominated by the VR industry, yet the Last Realm did not get axed nor did it declare bankruptcy. Instead, it continued to release updates on a regular basis, much to the delight of its now-a few hundred player populations.
These players stayed loyal to the game and decided to keep playing it till the end. But when the gold and real-life money exchange system was released in the VR games, and people realized how much money is to be made. Even that few hundred players left in LR crossed over to the virtual realm.
As for Sen, he enjoyed the game too much to leave it for a new game. He felt that that was betraying LR who he gave do much time of his life to. His parents were rich so he did not lack money. And with no competition, he soon became the strongest in all of the Last Realm.
Days continued to go way until the faithful day where the Last Realm finally decided to close down.
Heartbroken, Sen decided to stay up all night till the last second of LR and watch the last cinematic. He lamented that if LR became a VRMMORPG, then no game out there could ever hold a candle to it.