Shit..

My money.. it's gone.. I have nothing! I mean, maybe they made a mistake.. but no, I think it's real. My parents really haven't given me my allowance this month which means they probably wanna leave me for dead!

I take a few deep breaths and open my window.

My name is Niji Okamasu, I'm a nineteen year old "college student" who's really just been saying that to my parents so they can continue paying for my "tuition."

I've been bent on being a lazy leech until I "graduated" and mysteriously "die" and then totally not embezzle funds from their offshore account to go and live a trouble-free  life, out of any radars!

Guess my luck has run out after all.. but maybe it's for the best, I mean, I could go out and get a job..

I went and sat down at my desk, watching over my PC for anything interesting to happen. Hm.. this new game came out, Genesis Online? Turns out its a massive fantasy game that runs off of player input.. and you play it on your Virtual Eyes?

Oh yeah, Virtual Eyes. Their a new revolutionary type of Reality Headset that hooks your senses up into the game so you can feel pain and other things. Another plus about it is it allows for you to virtually consume food.

The problem with this "headset" is that you had to strap yourself in and the whole process was really annoying, but eh, who cares?

I continued to read on the site about this game, and I found out two interesting things.

1. The game can be purchased via the console so I don't have to wait.

2. You can convert game money into REAL money..

Wha.. I could make real money by playing a game?! 

Yup, says here.. 1 gold is 100 Yen. So not that much money but hey, it's something. I knew I had to play this game right away!

I went and grabbed my Virtual Eyes and then spent ten minutes struggling to strap myself into the headset.

After spending my last 8000 Yen on this game I went in.

The screen was black at first, but then I saw a screen appear, and grand fantasy music roared in my ears. The cover showed an adventurer walking forward into a dark cave. I set my eyes on the 'Create' button, and I was brought into a new screen.

I saw a screen with an avatar creator. I crafted a short and speedy character with cyan hair, and as much fun as being a woman would be, I picked the male option. The next option was my.. race?

There were plenty of options.

1. Elf

2. Human

3. Dwarf

4. Skeleton

5. Spriggan

6. Fairy

7. Goblin

8. Orc

9. Spirit

10. Dark Elf

11. Keegun

12. Korelian

What race should I go for.. I wasn't very keen on looking through everything to optimize stats, and this was my third RPG game, like ever, so I guess it wouldn't be too important what I picked.

I pressed the Spriggan race and a huge skill tree popped up.

One block was lit up.

Spriggan Skill Tree

Level 0: Reishi Max Increases 0.01 every minute.

Huh.. so I have a skill tree. I looked through everything and there seemed to be three different paths of progression, with one of them having to do with this substance known as Reishi.

Then a system voice spoke up.

[Reishi is the substance used to cast spells and use skills]

Ah, so its the mana of the world. With Reishi increasing that much, I wonder how high I could get my numbers as I leveled up.

I picked a username.. after about an hour.

LIVE NIJI FOOTAGE:

Huh.. someone else has the name Niji?! Bullshit!

But alas, the system was telling me the name was taken.

Niji0098

It finally went through.. I had to input every number individually and the VR keyboard was less than optimal.

The System is rolling for your starter skills!

Then the system apparently stopped scrolling and a scene of two people fighting some demon appeared.

The first one in a blue scarf jumped up into the air and unleashed five attacks that made ripples in the air that took the demon off its feet. The one in a red scarf then held their hands out, and shouted,

"Patron of Nets, Kitoyi, give me the strength to do your will! Ultimate Spell, Dimensional Bind!"

A blue vortex appeared behind the demon as it fell back and it was suctioned into the vortex, until that too disappeared and all that was left was the two fighters, who sighed, and then looked at the screen.

"Create your own legacy today! Defeat the Demon Lord and claim the ultimate prize!"

The screen faded into black, and then I could feel the SafetyNet being disabled.. meaning I would now be able to feel my senses in this body. A little side effect of this was that I might have some trouble logging off, but not like I have much to go back to..

I felt the air shift now like I was being placed somewhere.. and then I fell.. like the feeling you get when you fall asleep too fast and you jump. I opened my eyes and was welcomed with a cave interior.

I lifted myself up and inspected everything, to see nothing more than a normal cave except there was water surrounding the little pad I was standing on. 

Suddenly the pad expanded into a bigger platform that was just short of the exit. A blue barrier appeared around me, and I could feel a lump grow in my throat.

I didn't even have time to see what I looked like.. I mean my skin was human enough and I was fitted in a black tunic and matching pants, then short boots.

A sword was clipped to the side of my waist and I held on to it for comfort. 

"Tutorial.. Start!" A voice exclaimed, welcoming a enemy into the mix. 

The stone from the ceiling fell down into the middle of the platform and collected itself into a slim sentry.

"In Genesis Online there are plenty of gameplay mechanics to get used to, newbie! The first is going to be attacking! Run up to the sentry and attack it with all your might!" 

The uneasy feeling that clouded my judgement had dispersed now and I unsheathed the sword, appearing to be a fencing sword. I held it in a way no fencing sword should be held, and slashed at the sentry after making a mad dash towards it.

The sentry turned to me and its arm turned into an axe and they parried the attack with a powerful swing. 

I lost my balance and fell back, my sword clattering to the ground.

"Ooof.. don't worry adventurer! Pick that blade back up!"

Easy for the voice to say, it wasn't fighting. Normally, there would be parameters in place so that hitting a target required no skill at all, but I supposed I would have to actually try and fight this thing.

Crap, now I'm scared again.

I ran up to the fallen blade with a sense of disparity, like this would be my only chance to get this right.

I stumbled over myself, but managed to pick it up and use it to parry the sentry's attack with the margin of error so tiny I didn't render it as an achievement. 

The sentry's golden eyes shone and a sinister mouth like that of a Jack-'o-Lantern spread across its face. 

"Now, since you have been given a blade, use a blade skill! Their are billions of these skills that can be collected with better weapons, higher levels, or even just luck! Each person gets their own!"

Blade skill, huh.. not like they didn't tell me how to use it!

I flicked my body up off the ground and went for a pierce at the sentry, breaking off a piece of stone from their body. The sentry cackled and swung at me with the axehand again, me promptly ducking down.

I went to roll to the side but.. yeah, totally failed. I flopped across the ground and struggled to my feet. The sentry was closing in and slashing maniacly.

"NPC's are all programmed with human intelligence! Their personalities as well as tenancies are all determined by how you interact, so be cautious! This sentry seems to be bloodthirsty!"

Noted.. these things can think and adapt like humans then, right? 

The sentry finally got close enough to attack but I parried with my blade and held it for some time, staring into the eyes of the sentry. Their eyes shined even brighter and they pushed down on me.. I wouldn't be able to hold up much longer.

And just then my legs caved in from the strength, god I must be weak..

The sentry used this as momentum for a kick in the stomach that sent me flying back. I coughed a bit, feeling my chest struggle to rise and fall like it should.

I raised myself, teeth gritted. Was I really that week.. that I couldn't beat the damn tutorial! I took a breath, with newfound determination. If I couldn't win this battle, I wouldn't be able to make enough money in this world..

I crouched down, and held on to my sword as tight as possible, hoping for something like whatever that blade skill thing was called to happen. The sentry looked at me, confused.

Then with a flash of light, I was in the air, above the sentry. The sword was glowing.. purple? I went along with it, and with a shout I sent multiple pierces at the sentry, all aimed at it's head. The purple blade multiplied my attacks twicefold.

The purple attacks chipped at the sentry until something near it's leg fell and it grew a little shorter. The purple of the glow subsided and I fell a little quickly from my height of about ten feet.

The tall sentry was now on my level, and I was able to pierce it twice more in the chest, causing it to fall back and the rock to crumple into heaps of nothing. At last, the glow of those menacing yellow eyes disappeared. 

I fell down on my bottom, sighing relief. 

"You have finished the first part of the tutorial, combat! You will learn many other things on your own, but I think you've gotten the feel of combat!" The voice boomed, the barrier now gone.

Well yeah, I had the feel of combat. I almost lost to the tutorial monster!

"May I direct you to the top right of your status.. you will be able to see your stamina and health. These stats can only be increased by skills and taking damage/using them. I think you'll see at the level your at now, using a skill like that seems to be too much for that little Level 0 body of yours," the voice explained, then towards the end it turned into a cruel and mocking tone.

Well maybe if this was a normal game I'd be able to do better but.. really it wasn't. This game was locked in first person meaning I couldn't look at myself, so that it felt like I was truly looking through as if I was really in this cave.

"Now get your butt up and exit the cave to start the next part of the tutorial!"