If you were given the option of living your life in a video game, would you do it?
I sure as hell would. Unlike video games, the real world isn't a place that accepts me. There's nothing more annoying than listening to your parents ramble on about your future, day after day. Telling you, "Where do you think this will take you in life?" and "How is this garbage supposed to make you money? Go get a job!"
Ugh, I'm tired of it all, but there's nowhere I else to go. I've read stories of people dying and being reincarnated, but I don't have the balls to die over something as dumb as that.
My game addiction may be a huge issue in my parents eyes, but there's always going to be bigger problems. Like for instance, my insistence to never leave the house. I'm what someone would call a hikikomori or a game NEET. But I would prefer to call myself a professional game addict.
2 years ago, after an incident that I would rather not talk about, I stopped speaking to everyone I knew. Rather than support me, my parents, teachers, and fellow classmates all refused to believe there was anything wrong with me. Now over these past two years I've lost all my "real" friends and my parents only come into my room to complain about my life.
It Doesn't sound too good right?
Well it's not all that bad. It's how I found out about the wonderful world of games. And in the process of discovering games, I made tons of online friends and even a little bit of money from selling in game items. So, in your face dad! You can make money from games if you try!
I've been saving up my money for the past few months to buy a brand new game called Sanctum. It's an "allegedly" infinite game. Which, for you normies out there means that the game doesn't actually go on for forever. It just exists as a single world with it being constantly changed as the game's lifespan continues.
Normally this would mean that the game receives updates from the developers to create new content for players as most games do. But Sanctum is a bit special in that regard. The entire game is run by an A.I unit known as Athena. It controls everything, from the servers to the lifelike NPCs that roam the world. It took those game developers over 20 years of development before they had anything to show for this game.
It was also promised back in the day that it would be a totally VR experience. But as the time of development got longer and as hype for the game decreased, the head of the development team stated that Sanctum was going to be the first full dive VR video game to ever be released.
As an avid game addict I, alongside many other people were incredibly excited to play this game on it's release. But it's been 6 months since the game has released and I still haven't gotten the game. The main problem was with it's stock timing being incredibly hard to know because by the time you noticed it was there, the game along with it's console was already gone.
Scalpers are a serious pain in ass for us hardworking gamers that just want to have fun with their favorite games. So instead of wasting my time trying to wait for the game's hype to quiet down. I instead bit the bullet and saved up $6500 USD, buying a secondhand console from a scalper.
Not my proudest moment I will admit. Buying used/possibly broken game equipment could be a detriment for anybody looking to get the best performance or go pro.
But it was a sacrifice I was willing to make for my future favorite game.
Now I'm sitting here proudly in my bedroom as I was able to set up the console and download the game. I'm also really glad this thing was able to fit in my closet as I don't think my parents would take it too well if they found out their son just spent $6500 USD just to play a video game.
Let's do this!
The console started up and I felt goosebumps as it scanned my physical body. A message appeared on the screen in from of me.
[Determining assimilation progress...]
[Please close your eyes for the next few seconds.]
I closed my eyes as instructed and felt my mind drift away. When I opened them again, I was inside a digital space that was meant for the tutorial. It was just as the instructions said, I was greeted by a young woman gliding down from the sky.
She had beautiful blonde hair and pure white wings. She was clearly an angel from how she was designed. But her clothes felt a little bit on the revealing side, I mean... she's only really wearing robes down there.
Well... I may have stared at her a little bit too long as she glided down, but the details aren't too important here okay!
"Welcome traveler."
...uhh hi?
"Please choose the level of difficulty you desire in the tutorial."
Hmm... I wonder? Is there any benefit for choosing a higher difficulty?
"Please be aware that the difficulty level you choose will not give you any benefits."
Well then what the poi- Hey wait a second! Can this angel hear my thoughts?!
The angel didn't react in anyway. She continued to give off her glowing smile as she waited for an answer. I guess I might have overreacted a little bit, there's no way an NPC could actually hear my thoughts.
A window appeared before me with ten boxes lined up.
[Lv 1] [Lv 2] [Lv 3] [Lv 4] [Lv 5] [Lv 6] [Lv 7] [Lv 8] [Lv 9] [Lv 10]
When I tapped on the window, a confirm button appeared. It's not too hard to understand what it wanted me to do. There's no use in wasting my time wondering what difficulty I should choose. If there's no benefit then why should I go with something hard?
I'll just stick with [Lv 1]
After pressing confirm, the angel took off and I was presented with a plethora of weapons to choose from. There was a sword, shield, dagger, and a bow alongside some arrows. The final weapon presented was a staff, which I grabbed right as I saw it.
Magic please!
I always play the mage in every fantasy RPG I've ever played. The feeling of using explosive magic power to delete the enemy's health while also trying to avoid death at every turn is exhilarating to me!
[Obtained 'Common Wooden Staff']
[★ Beginner Rank skill obtained - Magic missile]
I was excited at receiving a new skill even if every other mage player gets the same skill. The skill window then disappeared as I noticed a goblin appear about 15 meters in front of me.
Ew... they really did make this game look realistic after all.
The goblin's appearance was on the uglier side of things, but I'm not one to judge character design. What if, maybe it was bullied because of it's looks? Or maybe it's looks are attractive to other goblins?
Wait! I shouldn't be wasting time think about stupid stuff like this! I have to kick this (maybe ugly) goblin's ass!
Oh god it's already coming at attack!
The goblin was running at me with a jogger's pace. Those short legs really weren't taking him very far. His weapon was a small club, slung over his shoulder and would probably be his first method of attack. I'm not exactly sure what the range of my skill is, but I decided to try casting it anyways.
Magic missile!
Ow!
Just then, a pain hit me right in the back of my head. The magic missile I tried forming was destroyed and the goblin was still coming to attack me. I looked behind to find that nothing had actually hit me. So, why did my head hurt?
Saying the incantation again I focused on the goblin in front of me. It was only 5 meters in front of me at this point so it was hard to miss. A blue glow came from the palm of my hand before the pain suddenly came back again.
Ow! Cut it out! Who's doing that?!
It felt like someone just hit my entire head with a metal bat. And before you ask... Yes I've experienced that pain before.
[Pain has been reduced for the duration of the tutorial.]
What kind of video game makes you feel pain for real!?
[Pain can be turned off in the settings menu after the tutorial is complete.]
What were you thinking game devs?! Shouldn't it automatically be turned off from the start!?
Unlike the last time, the pain still lingered in my head before dissipating. It was an incredibly painful headache, but I had more important things to worry about.
"Giii! Giii!"
The goblin leaped up to my head level and swung it's club, aiming right for my skull. No thanks pal! I'm not interested in feeling anymore pain right now!
I stepped backwards just barely missing the goblin's violent strike. It started panting after it's landing, leaving enough room for me to strike again. I gave it one more try and tried using magic missile again, but the spell didn't' even form before a system message popped up.
[Warning! Mana is currently empty!]
You have got to be kidding me!
Running out of mana for a mage was like losing your sword as a goddamn swordsman. Without mana I'm pretty much useless. I'm finished... and it's against literally the first enemy I fight!
There was one solution that popped into my mind. It felt shameful, but there was nothing I could do unless I wanted to die. I let out a heavy breath, grabbed my staff with dignity, and smashed that goblin's face in!
[You have dealt 1 damage]
[You have dealt 1 damage]
[You have dealt 1 damage]
...
I mercilessly slammed my staff into the goblin's nose as it struggled to get ahold of my staff. It felt awful, but I held back my grin as I repeatedly saw damage numbers pop up. My arms were beginning to feel like jelly from the continued swings, and my breathing was getting heavier, thankfully a system message appeared.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the tutorial.]
[You will now be transported to the world of Sanctum.]
Huh? Already?
I can't believe that tutorial monster was supposed to be level 1. It felt like I was going to die in that battle!
Oh god I seriously hope the game will get easier from here on out....