21st of September, Year 2132.
Hover cars are floating through the tunnels, looking like hamsters playing inside their cage.
A long line can be seen in front of a shop that sells fresh stuff related to gaming because the most awaited game is coming.
The Beastmaster Online, the most immersive online game made by the Groundhog Gaming Company, which supports the latest and highest AI technology that replicates the real life cycle.
Reports stated that they could consider this game as the 2nd world of the generation. Millions of people are waiting for this game to come out considering the time that they can spend inside the game is 3:1, 3 days in the game is equivalent to 1 day in real life.
"Brother! We can't even play this thing!" A young boy who is around 14 years old exclaimed as he tugged the shirt of the young man in front of him.
"No, we waited for this game since yesterday, the shop is opening soon so just wait for a bit more, okay?" The man explained as he looked towards the shop where a man came from and flipped the sign of the shop.
"The shop is open! Please, fall in line and don't push each other!" The man who flipped the sign instructed as he entered the shop and sat in front of a table where a hologram can be seen.
"Name, ID Number, and Location?" The man asked.
"Urie Jin, 032100130221, Lower District Central," Urie informed as the man registered his profile on the database and handed him a headset and a plate.
"Place the plate on a reception receiving area. We already recorded your data on this headset, please go inside that cabin so the system can fully scan your biometrics." The man pointed towards a cubicle at the far side of the shop.
Urie stepped inside the cabin as it scanned his entire body past his clothes.
[Scanning...]
[Identification Confirmed!]
[Name: Urie Jin]
[ID Number: 032100130221]
[Face Scan: Complete]
[Eye Scan: Complete]
[Fingerprint Scan: Complete]
[Biometrics Scanning complete! Thank you for your patience!]
Urie stepped out of the cabin as his brother is already waiting outside of the cabin for his turn.
"Hope this is worth all the wait, brother!" The little brother spoke as he entered the cabin.
After a few minutes, the kid went out of the cabin and they went home, bringing the headsets and the plates with them.
Lower District, Central City,
At the furthest part of the City where a single tower is placed, the houses are all dilapidated and looked like people have not touched them for a long time.
The two brothers entered a small house that looks like it is going to collapse soon, but inside, one can see that they always tidy the place up.
Two sofas can be seen near each other as the two looked at each other and nodded.
The game that might change their life has finally arrived.
They took their plates and placed them 5 meters away from each other in the middle section of the reception tower at high velocity.
"This should be high enough, Arie, let's get started and try to earn some living for us through that game!" Urie encouraged him as they walked back to their house and lay down on the sofa.
They wore the headsets like a helmet. The game will start as soon as the person who wears the helmet closes their eyes.
Urie closed his eyes as their surroundings changed as colors spiraled, and he ended up in a wide white room where a lady is standing beside a blue interface that is as big as a chalkboard.
"Welcome to the Beastmaster Online! I am Alexa, the guide, I'm here to help you with the tutorial, would you like to try?" Alexa the NPC guide asked and a new interface appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to proceed to the tutorials?]
[Nod if Yes and shake if No]
Urie nodded his head as the surrounding changed and this time, there were clothes and a color palette.
"Welcome to the Tutorials! First..." The tutorials went smoothly and Urie has changed his avatar to his liking.
The mechanics of the game is to collect beasts and evolve them to the highest and fight with other Beastmasters.
To win a fight with a beastmaster, one needs to defeat that beastmaster by attacking the master itself.
Respawn points can be seen in every town where the beastmasters can be revived. The penalty depends on the intensity of the death. Accidental deaths got a lesser penalty than the beast capturing incident.
The beastmaster can wear and use items and equipment, and one can customize the items the beasts wore or held.
Breeding is possible as long as the environment is suitable, and both of the beasts came from the same lineage.
They can discover lineages when one discovers the game slowly.
It is a game that updates and monitors the activity automatically, the developers themselves can't even predict the end of the game that's why it became the most awaited game.
Beasts can mutate and extend the lineage of their kind. Every successful Mutation Breeding can unlock more potential.
They cannot capture some beasts unless one got the certain requirements needed to capture one or else, a monster capturing incident is inevitable.
"That's all that you need to know for now! You can explore the world and use this Capture Crystal to capture your very first beast! Have fun!" Alexa handed over a blue crystal and disappeared as the surroundings shifted and turned until he found himself on a platform at the center of a town.
"Brother! What took you so long? People are capturing their beasts! Come on!" Arie exclaimed as he pulled Urie.
Urie kept his handsome facial feature and just changed his clothing style and hair color.
They were in the town called The Town of Beginnings, where all the new players should be first spawned.
"Stop! Before you proceed, confirm your identity!" A burly old man stopped the siblings asking for their identity.
"I am Urie, and this is Arie. We are going to capture our first beast!" They used their names as their Username because they wouldn't lose something if they changed it.
"No! You can't capture a beast without having Clan Affinity!" The burly man stated as he pointed towards a tent just beside the gate of the town.
"Clan Affinity? What is that?" Arie asked.
"Clan Affinity is the entity that has affinities towards one type of beast. For example, dwarves have a high affinity towards Earth-class beasts," The man explained while leading the two towards the tent.
Inside, they saw three people sitting behind and an old woman trying to put the thread on the needle.
Arie went to the table to inquire while Urie went to the old lady.
"Hello! Can I help you with that?" Urie asked the old lady.
"Oh! Thank you, young man! I'm struggling to put this thread through the needle hole," The old lady passed the thread and the needle to the young man.
Urie easily put the thread through the needle and handed it back to the old woman.
"Thank you, young man! Can you do me a favor? Can you catch a slime for me?" The old lady asked Urie as she receives the thread with the needle.
[Quest Incoming]
[Bring a Slime for the Old Lady at the Clan Recruitment Tent
Rewards: ???
Accept?]
Urie nodded and accepted the quest.
"What are you doing? Hurry and choose a clan!" Arie exclaimed.
"Oh, young man! You don't need to choose a clan to get outside, just show this badge to him and he will let you through!" The old lady handed a circular piece of metal the size of his palm.
"You heard that? Let's go now!" Urie pulled his little brother out of the tent and dragged him to the gate.
"A member of the Elf Clan!" The burly man let Arie through, but he stopped Urie from passing.
Urie took the circular metal and showed it to the burly man.
The man took the metal and examined it for a moment. After looking through it, he passed it back to Urie.
"Okay, you may pass!" The burly man stepped aside and let Urie pass.
He met up with his brother and placed the metal plate back in his inventory.
The inventory is a panel that looks like the board that appeared earlier at the tutorials, but it's small and he can see some smaller squares where small icons can be seen that look like the miniature version of the actual things.
There are two things in his inventory, the Capture Crystal and the Metal Plate.
They walked outside and saw a wide expanse where many people and beasts can be seen.
Some beasts look like a cow with moss around their bodies.
[Moss Cow]
HP: 50/50
They are all scattered across the open expanse and grazing on the weeds.
There are a lot of players trying to catch the Moss Cow, but they failed.
"Come on, bro! Let's catch beasts deep inside that forest!" Arie pulled Urie towards the forest at the west side of the Town of Beginnings.
They walked for a few minutes until they saw a small leafy bird and its name window.
[Hanin, Air-Grass class]
HP: 100/100
"Bro! Help me catch that one!" Arie exclaimed.
"How would you do it then?" Urie asked back.
"Hmm, should I throw rocks at it to lower its HP first?" Arie curiously suggested.
"No! Tame it first! It will just get aggressive if you hit it first!" Urie facepalm as he took berries on the bush and gave them to Arie.
"Here, use this to tame it! Let it come to you!" He pushed Arie, and the bird was a bit startled, but it didn't fly away.
"How should I do this? I only know how to hit and kill beasts, not tame them!" Arie nervously asked.
"Okay first, just hold your hand out and talk to it as if you are befriending it, do it repeatedly until it comes to you," Urie instructed the younger bro.
"Okay!" Arie responded as he crouched and slowly approached the bird.
"Come here, Hanin! I won't hurt you, I promise!" Arie tried to tame the bird. No matter what he does, it doesn't come to him easily.
It took him a full half an hour before the bird approached him and took a peck on the berries.
Urie gestured for Arie to pat the bird. He did it, and the bird moved closer to him and caressed its head in his hands.
"There! Ask it if it wants to come with you!" Urie instructed from behind.
"So, do you want to come with me?" Arie asked.
The bird flew and landed on Arie's head.
"Go on! Capture it!" Urie urged.
Arie took his Capture Crystal and a light suddenly flashed as it covered the bird and turned it into a card.
[Congratulations!]
[You caught a Hanin!
Exp. +10]
"Oh, I got it-" Arie choppily spoke as he looked at Urie and gestured that his connection was dying.
Arie logged out and stood up from the sofa as he went to the door to open it and a strong wind blew in front of him as a storm was forming and lightning hit the Reception Tower.
"Oh no! The plates!" Arie exclaimed as he ran towards the tower but he found his plate lying 20 meters away from the tower with slight scratches but his brother's plate is scorched and some part is melted and the board is burnt.
"No! I should inform him with this!" Arie took his plate and placed it on the roof of their house as he immediately went inside to dry himself before logging in to the game.
He spawned at the place where he left and saw that his brother is still waiting for him.
"Why a-am s-su-suddenly g-glitch-chy?" Urie spoke glitchy as he looked at Arie.
"Bro! Bad news!"