Willow hadn't been an avid MMPORPG player before playing Ether Online, but he wasn't an idiot either. Immediately when he saw the thing over the pointy-eared, white-haired woman's head, it brought to mind the character information sheets.
-:|:-
Name: Aria Valenwood
Race: Elf
Level: 108
Description: She's curious about you.
Emotions: Curiosity, Confused?
-:|:-
Willow blinked a few times. 'Elf? Level?'
Even knowing what that was, it didn't make it any easier to understand what the hell was going on.
This elf didn't seem like the patient type. She took a deep breath, put a hand to her head temples and said:
"It's dangerous here. Did you faint or something? It's lucky I saw you, otherwise you'd wake up in the night and probably be killed by monsters or wolves."
In fact, from the cool breeze even with the sky so clear, it could only be late.
"Honestly, I don't know how you didn't get attacked by other, smaller monsters... This is a peaceful village, but it's still surrounded by many dangers. I can only assume that you were lucky." The woman continued. "Come on, give me your hand so I can help you up."
Willow was still surprised that the woman had long ears. So it took him a while to take her hand when she held out her right hand. Like this woman's face, her hands were thin. Despite this, they bore calluses and a surprising strength that lifted Willow without him even straining.
"Where... am I?" Standing up, Willow finally managed to formulate his first question.
The elf frowned, but placed a hand in the middle of her breasts and decided to answer:
"What do you mean you don't know where you are? Did you drink too much in the village tavern?" she asked and then sucked in a breath. "Snort... Well, you don't smell of alcohol or mead."
Willow waved his hand. "No, of course I didn't drink last night. I only drink on Fridays when my boss calls me for an after-hours get-together."
"Friday? What's that?"
This time it was Willow who frowned. How could there be a person who didn't know what Friday was? Even children knew, and this woman didn't?
'Wait, long ears... hair... white... Okay, there's definitely something wrong here. Willow thought and turned around to get a better look at the place.
When he turned around, he finally realized that he was in the middle of an extensive green plain, where there were some narrow dirt roads and a lot of wooden houses gathered in the distance with low fences. In the distance, there were mountains so big and tall that they could make anyone feel small, and the peaks of all of them were snow-capped like the mountains of Switzerland.
In the other direction, behind the white-haired woman, there were several fields of rice paddies.
At this point, Willow's mind finally decided to start working effectively and digest all the information he had received in the last two minutes. This wild environment, the woman's features... everything seemed to culminate in the classic conclusion of transmigration. The worst part was that Willow knew it wasn't a dream, it couldn't be, because it was all too real. He could feel his heart beating fast, smell the countryside and hear the gentle whistling of the wind. Slowly, as his eyes moved from one point to the next in this landscape, a smile appeared on his face. Even if he had no idea where he was, his mind already had a vague idea.
"If you're having trouble remembering things, you might have fallen and hit your head. That would explain you lying here in the middle of the field. I recommend you go to the village healer... Anyway, I've come to see if you're alive. It's good that you are. Now, I'm going to make my way to the village. Good luck with your... memory lapse." She turned and started walking back to the dirt road that was only a few meters from where Willow was sleeping.
"Wait!" Willow said and grabbed her right wrist.
The woman, on alert, grabbed Willow's arm and spun him around in the air with tremendous ease and threw his back against the ground. However, she didn't use enough force to hurt him.
"Never touch an elf lady without permission!" While Willow was already on the ground and she was twisting his wrist, she said with an even stiffer expression than before and with slightly rosy cheeks.
"Ouch! I... just was going to ask your... Ai! your name to thank you... better." revealed Willow.
The woman then released Willow's grip and walked away. As he stood up, she tossed her hair back and said:
"Humph! You could have asked that without touching me... My name is Aria Valenwood, I'm part of the Sylvanor Hunters."
"Sylvanor?" Willow questioned, recognizing that word. "That's..."
"Yes, that's what the Elven Kingdom is known as here in Aethoria. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to continue on my way."
Sylvanor was a word Willow knew better than he would have liked. After all, Sylvanor was one of the most exotic areas in the entire world of Ether Online.
"Am I inside that game...? No, it can't be. This has to be a nightmare..." He muttered and, taking advantage of the fact that Aria wasn't looking, pinched himself, but he didn't wake up. "Okay, calm down, Willow. You need to stay calm. You've read enough novels about this to know that you have to stay calm... Let's start by testing..."
"Open status screen..." muttered Willow.
Not so surprisingly, a blue, semi-translucent rectangle appeared before Willow's eyes just as he had imagined it would.
+
[Player Status]
Nickname: Willow
Age: 23
Race: Human (?)
Class: Divine Seducer
Level 1: 0/600 EXP
---
Attribute | Value
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 15
Agility: 10
Charisma: 5
Constitution: 10
Wisdom: 12
Dexterity: 10
Perception: 10
+
Willow put a hand to his chin and frowned as he looked at the screen. "As I imagined, somehow I'm on Ether Online. Was I just delirious and didn't log out? Yes, I might have spawned somewhere else when I switched classes."
Well, his theory wasn't exactly impossible, as he'd been playing non-stop for over a month after work and hadn't had a good night's sleep all month to be able to switch classes in time before the players closed, so it was possible that he was delirious when he thought he'd taken off his NeuroGear and fallen backwards onto his bed. However...
"What? Where's the logout button?" he asked himself after asking aloud to open the start menu.
Normally, the menu showed the options [Player Status], [Inventory], [Skill Tree], [World Shop] and [Logout]. However, this last option wasn't there.
"Shit, am I stuck? What's going on? Am I the only one left after the servers shut down and that's why this thing is happening? No, I'd certainly be disconnected automatically."
He tried closing and opening the start menu, to see if the disappearance of the Logout option was a bug. Even so, the option to leave the game wasn't available. What's more, Willow had a strange feeling. Ether Online was a hyper-realistic game, just as most neuro-immersive virtual reality games were, except that it was usually possible to see some difference between reality and the game, which wasn't true now. Except for the huge attribute window, everything seemed exceptionally real.
Willow was a little scared. Anyone would be scared in the face of something like this happening all of a sudden. However, there was one particular reason why this fright quickly became his nightmare.
Kneeling on the ground, he punched the grass and said:
"No, it can happen to anyone, but to me. I'm no longer a teenager who wants adventures, I finally became an administrative manager three months ago and I also got a date with Becky from the sales department! I even made a reservation at a nice restaurant!"
Anyone would be scared at first, except that most Ether Online players would be thrilled to actually be living this world in the flesh. However, this wasn't the case for Willow, because, as well as finally starting his adult life, he didn't even like this game, he wasn't an addict or one of those gamers who put all their money into it. No, he was a casual gamer who only dedicated himself to changing class out of his own pride.
"Ah, yes... that's right... I've changed class, maybe I should..." He thought, not very excited.
"Khum!" Someone clearing their throat interrupted Willow's loud thoughts. "Sorry to disturb you, but you wouldn't happen to be hungry? I think I can buy you some food at the village tavern."
Willow looked back and saw the same girl as before. Aria was her name. He noticed that she was looking at him, more specifically at their clothes, and if his eyes weren't able to notice it, the screen above her head updated to inform him that he was on trial.
-:|:-
Name: Aria Valenwood
Race: Elf
Level: 108
Description: She's feeling sorry for you because she thinks you're homeless.
Emotions: Pity, Compassion
-:|:-
It was then that he looked down and noticed the clothes he was wearing. Instead of the comfortable clothes he wore when he went to sleep, he was wearing simple beige clothes, apparently handmade, already worn, as if they were the usual clothes of a peasant. Immediately, Willow recognized them. These clothes were the classic Ether Online starter outfits, the ones you get so you don't get your avatar completely naked while talking to the starter NPCs.
'Shit, she must think I'm a beggar because I'm wearing these clothes and lying in the middle of nowhere!' Willow deduced. 'Maybe I should take advantage of this to get free food...? No, I have to maintain some honor as a man... Is it?' He was in a quandary.
Suddenly, as if responding to Willow's thoughts and Aria Valenwood's question, Willow's stomach rumbled loudly.
*Grrrrr*
Willow put a hand to the back of his head and, a little awkwardly, said:
"I think I'm going to have to accept your invitation."
Surprisingly, Aria laughed, a sweet, gentle sound that made Willow's heart flutter a little harder.
'Okay, okay... Let's take it easy, buddy. I don't want to become one of those guys who fall in love with hyper-realistic 3D characters and who... Oh, she's an elf, even if she was 2D I'd fall in love.' Willow said to himself as he touched the left side of his chest.