A young man sat quietly with his head rested on his desk, his dark hair falling down into view of his eyes which were colored red as if bloodshot, his lips dry and his skin cracked.
The dark room around him was illuminated only by the dim blue light of his computer screen which bore the message "live service for Vanaheim Online has ended" on it , alongside a thank you message and an emailing service for the game servers which had just ended.
"Man… what do I do now?" He grumbled with a strain in his voice as if dehydrated. (real gamer moment)
He had played Vanaheim Online since it was in alpha testing for its kick starters, originally the game was only made by one person and had a rough start but due to the success of its kick starter campaign the game quickly developed after it began to gain traction.
*beep* another message pops up on the blue screen as the young gamer looks up from his melancholic state.
"As a reward for your extraordinary achievements in Vanaheim Online, you've been awarded a special gift so please check your email."
As he checks his mail a short 'thank you' message pops up in his email inbox with a single attachment: file: encrypted.origin.data101.
As the young man double clicks his his mouse the file refuses to open, "error, encrypted file".
"What the-?, …so it's useless?" With a heavy sigh, he closed the email file and turned off his computer monitor.
==One Year Later 'Release Day' ==
*Ding* the door to a small convenience store swings wide open with a small chime as a fit young man walks in carrying a gym bag and wearing workout clothes.
"Hello Arthur" a young girl shouts while waving at the young man from behind the checkout counter.
"Hi Maya" the young man replied with a polite grin on his face as he makes his way through the store.
As Arthur moves between the isles he grabs a handful of protein bars and a couple of sugar free energy drinks before making his way to the counter.
At the counter, Arthur and Maya exchange a few awkward glances as she rings up and bags the items for him.
"Have a good day."
"You too." Arthur waves back to her as he leaves the convenience store and goes around the corner to his apartment building.
When he gets up to his floor, A brown cardboard box with the sticker "Amazing" on it, as Arthur scans the box his eyes widen.
"I forgot, It's today!" Arthur grabs the box and heads inside after putting in his key.
As Arthur makes his way into the apartment he puts his keys on the cabinet in the entryway before removing his shoes and dropping his gym bag.
He carried the cardboard box into his room excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.
How could he forget, today was the release of 'Limitless' a brand new online game made by the previous developers of "VO" or Vanaheim Online, a game Arthur played for 8 years from his middle school days into his early adulthood.
VO was Arthur's entire life, even going as far as to become a pro player and build his own guild-based kingdom which rose to prominence in the game's large community.
Limitless on the other hand was unlike anything the gaming industry had ever seen before, a fully open world with free choice dialogue instead of branching options, and the sensations of the game itself for the first time ever.
Beyond that the game also boasted a unique scaling and progression system, instead of a simple class system the developers opted for an open-ended progression path with various "skill sets" which made up the standard archetypes of; combat, roguery, survival, magic, craftsmanship.
..
As Arthur cut open the seal on the box using a letter opener, he revealed its contents; a eyewear headset with a single power cable and a connector to the computer system as well as a manual to download the game software.
After setting up the game system and installing the software Arthur saw the 30 minute timer counter down until the game launch.
Arthur took this chance to take a shower and get changed after just getting home, when he returned to the computer he saw a new message had popped up *Additional files installed; encrypted.origin.data.101*
"Huh? Where did this come from?" As Arthur tried to investigate the notification disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
'I know I just saw something' Arthur thought but he couldn't retrieve the notification message, instead he saw the timer on the game launch was almost at zero so he dismissed it for now and laid down on his bed before putting on the game gear.
As Arthur put on the headset, he felt a surge of excitement run through him. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting himself fully immerse in the game world.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a beautiful, vibrant forest. The colors were so vivid and the scenery so realistic, it was almost like he was actually there. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a simple tunic and hide pants.
A small system window floated in the air with an empty space and greyed out text saying "type your character name here". Arthur used the same name he always used, so he typed 'Arthur Rungrave' into the box and clicked confirm.
A notification window popped up in the air in front of him. "Welcome to Limitless, Arthur. Please choose your desired race and starting skill tree."
Arthur frowned. He hadn't expected to have to choose a race and skill tree right away. He had never been good at making decisions like this. In Vanaheim Online, he had simply gravitated towards the kingdom-building aspect of the game and focused on that. But Limitless was a different game, and he didn't want to make the wrong choice.
He scrolled through the available races and skill tree's, trying to decide which one's to pick. After much deliberation, he settled on the 'warrior tree' and the standard human race for its well rounded starting bonuses.
Each race came with its own starting location and basic stat bonus but for the most part they were all equal save a handful of underpowered races.
His basic tunic was replaced by light armor and a sword dangling at his hip in a burst of bright and pixelated particles.
A third message popped up, "now please select your starting skill":
• Monster Hunter (combat)
• Reduced Earth (roguery)
• Abnormality Resistance (survival)
• Mnemonic (magic)
• Steel Touch (craftsmanship)
Arthur chose the "abnormality resistance" starting skill.
Arthur tapped on the "confirm character" option transporting him out of the starting area and into the sky.
With the strong breeze blowing against him Arthur turned and closed his eyes, but when he opened them he could see a stone ceiling, scanning his surroundings Arthur founds himself in a dimly lit cave with a few different paths in either direction and only a single half burnt out torch laid against the alcove wall to give him light.
"This definitely isn't the normal starting location for humans…" Arthur grumbled.
Looking around Arthur could see a bright light coming from one of the paths 'that one must lead outside' he thought to himself.
As soon as he took his first step towards the light a system window opened in front of him with the words "Hidden location discovered, Fafnir's Cave…"
"Fafnir's Cave huh?" Arthur muttered as he sent the notification away with a wave of his hand.
Arthur grabbed the torch off the wall and headed towards the cave entrance where the light was coming from, 'a game bug must've started me all the way out here, damnit.' He thought as he stepped out of the cave and onto a plateau resting on the face of a mountain's peak.
A refreshing sensation washed over him as the warm rays of the sun pierced his skin, "This game really is something" he muttered.
As Arthur stepped out onto the plateau he foot slipped into something mushy beneath him, "shit" Arthur stared down at a massive dung pile beneath his boot.
"What the hell could've dropped something this size?" He asked.
Arthur tried to pull his foot out of the pile and succeeded, a sense of relief washing over him until everything suddenly went dark.
Gigantic leathery wings obscured the sun above from view, blacking out the entire section of the mountainside.
Looking up with an expression of fear and shock, Arthur could see a massive body land on the mountain above him, a beast that could not be trifled with by a measly level 1 like himself who'd just started this game.
"A FUCKING DRAGON?!"
- END OF THE FIRST CHAPTER
[Name: Arthur Rungrave]
[Title(s): none]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Human]
[Skills:
• Abnormality Resistance]
[Vitals:
- HP: 10
- Stamina: 10
- Hunger: Medium
- Mana: 0
- Authority: 0]
[Stats:
- Constitution: 3
- Strength: 4
- Endurance: 3
- Dexterity: 2
- Mind: 0
- Focus: 1
- Luck: 1]