By the time the white light has faded, we found ourselves standing on top of a dais in the middle of what appears to be a medieval town square. And noticing all my wounds gone, and realising our outfit resorted to brand new. The Russian guy set us down on our feet again.
"Move it scrub!" a stranger came out of nowhere and pushed me aside.
"Sorry..." I instinctively apologised.
Now realising the dais was a spawn platform, located in the middle of a busy intersection, all of us quickly stepped down and moved aside.
"Congratulations! You have all passed the tutorial!" came the deep female game tutorial voice, as new floating golden brimmed panel hovered in front of me.
"Now you may begin your adventure! Say "menu' to open your menu to review your stats."
"Menu." I said.
Immediately a new window panel hovered in front of me, replacing the victory screen. On it was a complicated menu with a bunch of options and functions. And when I tapped the stats button with my finger, a new window opened, layered on top of the menu one.
Avatar name: Riga
Sex: Male
Class: Cleric
Level: 2
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Health: 120/120
Mana 140/140
"Good job! You have 1 skill point you can spend. Click the skills tab to open it." said the game voice. And doing as told, I clicked on the skill tab, and sure enough, there was only one skill block in the centre, and the next skill block being grey with a lock symbol on it.
"Now click on plus sign beside your skill to level it up. And you will unlock a skill point every time you level up and each skill point is irreversible, unless done so by a reset scroll. So spend your points wisely."
I clicked on my only skill and an information tab popped up:
"Basic healing: heal one targeted ally by saying the word 'heal'. Heals for 1 hp per sec, cost 1 mana per sec. CD (Cooldown): None CD. Radius: 10m."
I clicked the plus sign. A new window popped up:
"All your skill points has been assigned. Are you sure? (Points are only reversible through reset scroll)"
I clicked the yes button.
Changes has been confirmed.
I pressed the ok button.
The window disappeared and the stats for the skill changed:
Heals for 2hp per sec, cost 2 mana per sec. CD: None. Radius: 10m.
Well I guess's that's that, just like every freaking RPG game ever...
Then I noticed the tab that was labelled 'social' at the side of the screen.
Don't forget what you came here for...
"Umm..." I cleared my throat and faced my 'team'. And before I could even mutter a single word, a random Asian guy from the crowd stepped out of nowhere and interrupted:
"老王!你妹的,我们等你半天了!"
"去你妹的,老子刚到!" the Cantonese guy in my group responded with a heavy accent.
"速度点,我们走!" the random Asian guy said, and just like that the Cantonese guy went with him and left the group.
"Mama-Mia!" the Italian guy exclaimed all of a sudden, looking at the corner of what I supposed was his menu (your menu is only visible to yourself). "The pasta was ready 10 minutes ago!"
And it only too me a moment to realise there was a time display at the bottom corner of the window.
"Ciao amigo!" he said, as he frantically scrolled through his menu, then click a button. A second later, his figure turned glowing blue, then was gone, just completely disappearing out of existence without a trace.
It only took me a brief moment to realise he logged out.
"I must go and refill my spirit." the Russian guy said as he walked over to the nearest building that had a sign labelled: Tavern.
It was just down to me and AJ.
"So..." I said, my confidence dangling back and forth like a pendulum.
"Sorry man, I gotta go as well. I think the pizza guy is here."
"Oh, that's ok. But can I add you to my frie-"
"Wait, where is the log out button...oh...uhhh sorry man, I mean sure..."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Actually, I will add you later, I almost forgot I haven't knocked down all the trash can in the neighbourhood yet. But thanks for saving me." he said, holding out a fist.
I gave it a half-hearted pound.
"Alright homie, I will catch you around. But for now, I really gotta go, I think I can smell the pizza already."
Finally unable to take it, I said dishearteningly:
"The logout button should be at the bottom of the menu."
"Oh...anyways, thanks man." he clicked on the button, a moment later, he disappeared.
Now it was just me, alone in the crowd.
I choked back a sob.
I knew it was going to be like this.
Nothing has changed.
Tears began fog the corners of my eye.
Everyone's like that...
Another time...
Sorry, probably another time...
Uhhh, probably next time...
WHEN THE FK IS NEXT TIME?
I hate everyone...
JUST FK!
I'M DONE!
But saving myself from going berserk in public, I quickly scrolled down the menu and smashed the hell out of the logout button.
Everything went white, then dark again.
Q: Have you ever been in Riga's position before? If so, what was your response?