"Bast!" My mother yelled for me, the sound of her voice coming from down stairs. I sighed as I stood up from my computer as I paused the Andrew’s interview which I’ve watched for the hundreth time. I’ve been saving up whatever amount of money that I got a hold of to be able to buy a Omnicorp headset and Adventure Online to go with it but as of now I’m absolutely nowhere near the $4,000 for the headset alone. As I entered the living room my mother was grinning while holding a box.
"You know after a lot of debate your father and I have decided to get that new game that you've been talking about." she said. "Hmm, now what was the name of it..."
My eyes widened in shock "You have to be kidding me..."
"Now why would I joke about that?" she asked “Oh yeah Adventure Online.” She read off the box she was holding in her hand and slowly turned it around and she showed me the front of it and clear as day the words ‘Adventure Online’ were sprawled across the top of a planet with clouds swirling around it.
“While we did get you the game you would have to buy the headset yourself.” She continued as she stared up and put a finger to her lip.
I stared at her in disbelief as the oh so familiar gut wrenching feeling of dread washed over me.
After glancing at my face she burst out into laughter "Hahaha! You should've seen the look on your face. Comeeeee onnnnn did you really think your parents are dumb enough to buy a game that needs a special headset and not get you one. Well, we were going to give it to you tomorrow because it's a school night, but we decided you can play after you finish your homework."
At that I raced up the stairs to my room and closed the interview I was watching before. “Damn I really hate English.” I groaned before I started writing.
--2 hours later.--
As I started closing my laptop I glanced at the clock on it which read 8:30 p.m. 'So I can play until 12... no what am I thinking?? I can play until 1 and then head to sleep until 7 for school' I thought. I walked down stairs and into the kitchen and ate a light meal before grabbing the box with my game and the larger box that contained the headset. Once I reached my room I set the gear aside and read the manual for the Omigear, but something interesting caught my eye. "The Omigear sends non-harmful electrical impulses to your brain which creates the details of the games directly to your brain. While using the Omigear your body acts as if it's in a state of rest and that the games are a dream, therefore utilizing the Omigear grants the same effect as sleeping."
'So I can play Adventure Online until 7!' I rejoiced as I finished reading the manual. The set up was rather easy as it was a simple helmet with some cords to plug in here and there. ‘Is this thing really capable of delivering its promise?’ I was skeptic due to how simplistic it was.
As I laid down and flipped on the power to the headset I immediately begin to feel immensely drowsy and as I closed my eye all I see is a bright light. Once I became aware of what I’m seeing I realized that I was thousands of miles above a planet surrounded by thick clouds. As I admire the incredible detail I felt a sudden pull and started to speed towards it while the clouds parted the closer I get to them.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The closer I got to the planet I noticed that my descent slowed until eventually I landed in the middle of what seemed to be a training ground. Suddenly a phantom seemingly passed through me a few feet before stopping and turning around to look at me freezing in place, which to my surprise I found my own face staring back at me.
"I see that you're a new player." A deep voice surprised me.
I turned to see a man with white hair that stretched down to his shoulders. He wore a plain brown shirt with tight green pans the lead to his knee-high boots. He had on a white cloak that was tattered and had flecks of dried mud towards the bottom.
"My name is Arnold, what might your name be lad?" He spoke with a tilt in his head.
At that a text box and keyboard appeared in front of me asking to type my name. After a few moments of thinking I decided on what I wanted to be called in this new world.
Arnold nodded "Soulus, interesting, would you like change your appearance?"
"Yes." I replied almost instantly.
I looked at my short blond hair. "I'd like for my hair to be a bit longer and pushed towards the right... a tid bit longer please." Good, the style is right but the color is wrong.
"Can you change my hair's color to a dark brown?" I asked.
Almost immediately the hair started changing from the roots to the tips.
"Can my eyes be changed to gold?" The eyes responded as such.
As I looked at my clothes I asked if the shirt and pants color can be switched. 'There' I thought. "I'm done altering my appearance." I confidently stated.
"Are you sure?" Arnold asked.
"Yes." I replied simply.
"Alright," he said, "now time to distribute 10 stat points."
There were 4 main stats that were available at this time, each came with their own descriptions.
Speed-How fast your character moves and strikes.
Strength- How strong your attacks are, also has a perk to carry heavy objects outside of battle.
Intelligence- Used for skill and magic learning thus useful for both swordsman and mages, has a perk for the higher chance to solve puzzles.
Defense- Used for making better use of armor.
I placed 3 points in speed, strength, and intelligence. I placed a single point in defense.
"Now since you are done I'm supposed to tell you thank you for buying the game and good luck. However, you don’t really care for that, therefore, I will tell you that the AI in this game are incredibly advanced and therefore the creator of this game ask that you refer to them as Natives or by their name" Arnold said.
“That’s interesting, what will players be called then?” I asked.
“It’s rather simple.” He smirked, “Players will be called Summoned.”
“Summoned huh.” I murmured to myself.
“Yes, now do you have any more questions?” Arnold asked.
I replied, “ No thank you for telling me these things.”
“Alright then good luck with your adventure.” he said as he faded out of existence.
All of a sudden the phantom unfroze and walked towards me before merging with me finalizing my appearance in the game. A gate opened and was dazzling brightly as I walked through it and into a beautiful square. Surrounding a large fountain in the middle were vendor stall which in turn were fenced in by buildings that were eerily similar to Roman Villas. ‘Everything looks so realistic.’ I thought right before I noticed a woman who was staring rather intently at me. I shrugged it off and started walking around to find an Inn to gather any information on the city I’m in and grab some quests while I was at it.