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"HELP!"
"PLEASE SOMEONE, SAVE ME!"
"NOOOO!! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
Screams of pain rang out from a group of men and women all fitted in gear encrusted with gemstones that shone with potent power, yet that power would be left unused as soon after those screams went silent.
Hundreds of bodies lie stacked atop one another like discarded laundry, and yet as if unaware or uncaring of all of this, the culprit of this tragic slaughter nonchalantly sat atop the disheveled corpses as he stared up into the starry night sky, pondering to himself.
'How long has it been since I came here?..'
His caramel brown skin now resembled a red velvet cake as even his dreaded void black hair was coated in the sloosh of his victims, a lasting reminder of the battle.
And yet, as his shoulders drooped low from exhaustion, and his violet eyes twinkled recalling the memories of the past, he couldn't but think back to that day, murmuring to himself, 'The day that all of this started...'
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[Present Day]
The room was still.
A boy sat in his single-room complex.
A single chair was in this room positioned at a single table.
A single plate was left in the kitchen sink with thick green gunk encrusted over the faucet head.
A single window was to the right of the boy barely letting in even a modicum of light onto his velvet complexion and to the left of him in the kitchen was a completely empty refrigerator.
The sole occupant of said room nearly resembling a corpse if not for his barely rising and falling chest and the sound of his weak, strained breaths.
The boy's lips and eyes were bruised and bloody, and the goop that leaked from his nose had yet to fully clot, forming a winding river that oozed down his chin.
Yet, none of this mattered to the boy as he stared triumphantly at the item in his hand.
His front door was behind him, fully locked, and his only dresser lodged up against it.
The table he sat at was in his living room with a barely working TV playing news coverage.
The two hosts, one man and one woman talked excitedly amongst each other.
The male host spoke //Today is the Grand Opening of Omnerra, said to be the most innovative game to have ever been released! Such an exciting time!//
The female host followed up // Absolutely, 100% world immersion and they're saying it's the potential for a 2nd life and even as a source of income for many!//
The boy smiled to himself, 'Another life...'
He took one last look around the room before preparing to put the helmet onto his head, 'I never really had one here to begin with.'
"START!"
He commanded once the helmet was firmly placed onto his head and the world went dark.
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SHOOOOOOOOOH!
A bright flash erupted and the boy found himself floating in an empty white space.
He looked around in a daze before calming himself down, 'From what I've heard there should be a way to select your race and class at the beginning of the game, this must be it.'
Sure enough, as he finished that thought, a soothing, female voice called out to him snapping him back to the present and grabbing his attention.
"Welcome, New Player to Omnerra! Please select your starter class and race, your affiliation can be chosen at a later time and will affect your experience, so please choose wisely."
The boy raised an eyebrow at this, 'Affiliation?'
Nonetheless, a menu appeared in front of the boy asking him a question.
[What Will Your Name Be?}
[Name:_______}
The boy upon seeing this grinned to himself, 'This is a new world, so why even use my old name, but at the same time...'
The boy silently entered his name as a voice responded to him, "Welcome to Omnerra, Crow. Please select your race."
Unsure of his decision to use this name, Crow looked at the next prompt.
[Races:]
[1. Human]
[2. Elf]
[3. Beastkin]
[4. Dwarf]
etc...
____
Crow glanced over the options before promptly choosing human, he considered the elf and beastkin, but with the rumors that this game was like a 2nd life where restarting your account wasn't possible he considered it was best to play it safe for now.
As he made his option, a new prompt appeared before him.
[Class:]
[1. Warrior]
[2. Mage]
[3. Healer]
[4. Ranger]
[5. Thief]
etc...
____
The boy rubbed his chin as he took a look over his options.
'Based on the little information that's been put out about the game, it's hard to know how each class plays, or even how races will affect those classes...'
He shot a glance at the Thief class, 'Well, to say I don't have familiarity with Thief would be a lie, a wry smirk forming on his lips.
He had made his decision and so he leaned forward to select his option, yet at that moment:
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
{ERROR!}
The classes had gone awry, with error messages replacing them, and the previously white room was flashing red.
The soothing female voice of before was blaring loudly, shouting out, "ERROR! ERROR!"
The room began to shake as deafening horns blasted out, shaking against the boy and rocking him to his core.
Crow curled up into a fetal position, covering his ears and closing his eyes as the room spun around him, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!"
A boy shot up from bed.
His breaths were rapid and uneven, and sheets of sweat coated his entire body, soaking through his thin white nightgown.
"Wait? What? Where am I?!"
Crow looked around in disarray.
A gentle ray of light leaked in from the window to his left, he was seated on a modest twin-sized bed with simple cotton sheets, and a wooden aesthetic to the entire room.
"What is thi-"
Yet, before he could finish his thoughts a gruff voiced figured knocked on the other side of the door, "Ayy, what was that lad? You have a nightmare?
Before Crow could even open his mouth to respond the man continued, "Gahh, stop all that screaming, you sound like a wee baby, come on and get up, it's time to start workin' runt."
Yet, Crow could only sit there and blankly stare as the question arose in his mind 'What... the hell is going on?'
Slowly but surely, the boy got up and changed from his nightgown into normal attire.
He cautiously made his way down the walkway, the sound of metal clanking could be heard as he turned the hall to see a man hitting away at a sword with a metallic hammer.
Each hit was powerful, yet precise.
Crow waited and watched carefully as the man continued for the next 10 minutes before turning to him.
"Hah... you're finally up."
Yet, Crow could hardly respond, rather, his eyes bulged in surprise taking in the situation.
The figure was a plump middle-aged man with greying auburn hair, and a hanging gut, contrasted by his bulging muscular arms, and his unusually short stature, but that wasn't the unusual part about what Crow was seeing.
Directly above the man's head, Crow could see a prompt.
[Name: Raz {NPC}]
[Race: Dwarf]
[Occupation/ Class: Blacksmith]
[Realm: 2]
[Stage: 2]
[Source: Fire]
____
The boy's mind raced, 'So I'm still in the game? Then why did it freak out like that?'
Memories of that experience sent shivers down his neck, yet before his mind could linger on that for too long, "Ayy, lad, now's not the time to get distracted, you may not be able to build any wares yet, but I'll be darned if you don't earn your keep and sell em' so go open up shop and get to it!"
Raz barked out, as he grabbed another weapon and began to hammer on it.
After Crow opened the weapons shop doors and flipped the signs, he stood behind the counter and thought to himself, 'I never heard about starting the game like this, then again, very little is known about the game besides that it's the most advanced technology in the world so far, creating an entirely new world, surely, it's not strange I got a bit of a... unique start.'
The boy took a look at himself and his clothes, 'The same body as in real life, impressive, touch, taste, sound, feel, hearing, it's all so... real.'
He took his attention away from his senses and towards his prompt, "Let me at least see what my stats look like."
[Name: Crow {NPC}]
[Race: Human]
[Occupation/ Class: Blacksmith Apprentice]
[Realm: 0]
[Realm: 0]
[Source: None]
Sometimes the feeling of shock is so great that one doesn't scream or cry, one just stares.
'Why the fuk does it say I'm an NPC?..'
Crow could only stare at the prompt, continuously rubbing his eyes to see if the game was maybe playing tricks on him, 'Maybe this is like an undercover quest where I have to pretend to be an NPC.'
As he attempted to delude himself a pair of clean-shaven young men walked into the store, one wore heavy armor alongside a helmet while the other wore grey robes.
"Welcome to Raz's Blacksmith shop!" Crow called out as "politely" told to do by Raz, and yet as the 2 walked towards the counter Crow's eyes widened in shock at what he saw.
[Player 1]
[Race: Human]
[Occupation/ Class: Knight]
[Realm: 1]
[Stage: 1]
[Source: None]
___
[Player 2]
[Race: Human]
[Occupation/ Class: Mage]
[Realm: 1]
[Stage: 1]
[Source: None]
___
As Crow saw these 2 approach him and start talking, an unnaturally wide grin spread across his face and his mind subconsciously drowned out the noise as he thought to himself, 'I'm fuked.'
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