A few doctors surrounded a bed in a hospital.
"We can put your consciousness into Slay Online, and your mind will live on as your body dies… You won't be able to leave the game. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. Anything is better than this. I just want the pain to stop." Kai replied, a sense of resoluteness in his weak, cracking voice.
Kai was dying from an incurable disease, it was slowly eat his body, but he still had one option left - to enter a VR capsule, dying in this world and waking up to start a new life in another - in the world of Slay Online.
It all started with Jerno Medimillian, an infamous physicist 'mad scientist' who was wanted around the world for crimes against humanity; he created a game, Slay Online, which couldn't be blocked by internet providers, and no one could find the servers for it.
Slay online, a game which was so lifelike that people couldn't tell if videos in it were from the real world or the game - until someone would cast a magic spell or be dressed in armour.
Eventually, government secret agents found the lifeless body of Jerno - lifeless inside a VR capsule, though the servers for the game have never been found.
Over time, people began to access and play the game, upload videos, and soon enough it was legal to play - it was so popular, that politicians against legalising the game would get zero votes.
As soon as it was legalised worldwide, a countdown in the game started, appearing in the sky for everyone to see.
No one knew what would happen, but it had reached a point where people needed this game.
Soon enough, a way was found to push human consciousness out of the body and into the game.
This was initially an ethically highly debated topic, but for special cases of people dying, such as Kai's, it was allowed.
Kai was soon transferred to a VR capsule by doctors at the hospital.
"We will have to wait until the countdown in-game stops. We don't know what will happen when it reaches zero, so we have to take precautions." A doctor said to Kai, watching a monitor by his bed.
The countdown started exactly 6 days and 21 hours ago, and no one knew what would happen when it reached zero.
Would the game shut down? Would it be replaced? Would the whole internet go down?
No one knew.
Kai lied anxiously on the bed, in pain as he waited. All the forms were signed for him to leave his body and enter the game, but for now he just had to wait.
Kai was an orphan, so he had no family to come visit him. He was always one of the weaker kids at the orphanage, too slow to even run away from his bullies.
His life until now was a bitter existence, and most of the time all he could do was run from his problems. Perhaps it was the one thing he was good at.
Of course, he was malnourished and his food was stolen regularly, he would always run out of energy before his bullies did, getting beaten up regularly.
"I just want the pain to stop…" Kai thought as he anxiously watched the countdown, while the pain from his body ceased to halt.
Suddenly, the countdown was reaching zero and Kai held his breath, unconsciously clenching his hands.
"Dammit… what is happening…"
The timer finally reached zero and the screen on the monitor flashes white for a moment before words began appearing on the screen.
[Server Reset Complete]
[Due to legalisation of Slay Online, everyone now has equal access to play.]
[The Slay Online world has been reset and rebuilt]
[A completely new world has been created, so no prior knowledge about dungeon locations, hidden chests, items or quests will be relevant]
[The true game begins now]
Despite the pain, Kai's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the announcement, coming to terms with what this meant.
"A full reset? What does this even mean?" he asked a doctor.
The doctor looked annoyed, fidgety as he himself played and realised his character had just been deleted.
"Everyone goes back to the start, and the race begins again. You've played computer games before right?"
"No…" Kai weakly said.. "Well, are you going to send me in?"
The doctors promptly started working right away as they closed his VR capsule. Clearly, they all just wanted to go home and start playing, otherwise they might get left behind.
The capsule closed and Kai was in darkness for a moment.
"The extra few hours of pain was definitely worth it." he thought to himself.
"Are you ready?" a doctor's voice sounded from a speaker somewhere.
"I'm ready. Send me in... and thanks." Kai said to the doctor's surrounding his bed.
The doctors looked at him as if he was the prey as they shamefully thought to themselves "No, thank you… your body will be invaluable to our research…"
Suddenly everything went black as his consciousness was sent into the game.
"Finally…." Tears welled up in Kai's eyes, he felt like crying from the relief. He no longer felt the intense pain from his body. It felt like it was easier to breathe.
Suddenly, he looked at his hands.
"What the? I'm like a blue ghost! So cool!" he had never seen anything like this before as he was merely an orphan without access to any sort of game.
Some words appeared before his eyes.
[Welcome to Slay Online!]
[Detecting complete soul migration… Severing body connection… Accepting… Complete!]
[Congratulations! You are now a citizen of Slay Online!]
"A citizen..?"
[Citizenship unlocks hidden classes not normally available no non-citizens]
"Classes?"
[A class is a designation that determines your abilities and fighting style. Your mind will be scanned to find your most compatible classes.]
[Scan now?]
After a moment, Kai understood and decided to not wait any longer.
"Scan."
[Generating class options… Done!]
<[Class Options Available]>
- Gambit Rogue
- Demon Hunter (Hidden Class)
- Goblin Slayer
- Elemental Assassin
- Ether Jester (Hidden Class)
- Shadow Blade
- Void Walker (Hidden Class)
- Regenerative Guardian
"Hmm… these all seem like they have to do with darkness and killing. Except for that guardian class?"
[Based on your past life experiences, you have been matched with agility, dexterity and pain absorption]
"... yeah…" Kai looked down solemnly, remembering how bad his life was before.
"I don't want to feel pain again…"
"I suppose I should choose a hidden class since only I have access to these?" he thought as he looked at the demon hunter, ether jester and void walker classes.
Immediately, he took ether jester out of the list.
"I won't be a clown. That will probably attract more beatings…"
"Hmm, so it's between a void walker and demon hunter…"
His eyes gazed at the both, drifting back and forward between them.
"Can I have some information on these two classes?"
[Demon Hunter - Agility, Dexterity]
[Void Walker - Agility, Intelligence]
"I was hoping for a more detailed explanation… hmm… that doesn't make it too much easier to pick."
"You said I was better matched with agility right?"
[Based on your past life experiences, you have been matched with agility, dexterity and pain absorption]
"Ok… so probably demon hunter? But void walker sounds cool.. Damn. I suppose if I need a job in my new life though, hunting demons might actually be one."