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Ep 2: Glitch

''Virtualization Begin''

Upon saying those words, spiraling lights flooded towards Abel's eyes. What felt like miniscule zaps travelled along his skin, in his flesh and within his body. Sensations of an out of body experience could be described for the feeling he felt which all ended as soon as Abel blinked. He found himself no longer laying comfortably in his virtual machine nor within his own home, he stood within a space that was empty. ''Welcome to NewOrder Adventurerer. Do you seek power? wealth? knowledge? friendship? chaos? your true desire is your own adventure!'' as the voice echoed in the room, Abel listened in awe due to how real everything around him felt. ''Dea...H%"£!^*^'................Would you like to begin character customization?'' what the hell was that about Abel questioned. The distorted voice of the A.I threw him off for abit but he brushed it aside thinking due to the fact that he had just set up his virtual machine therefore it probably was just a minor glitch.

''Yes''. A series of pop-ups similar to that of a touchpad appeared before Abel and in front of him was his very Avatar being shaped into the character her desired. Selecting randomize made Abel giggle slightly due to how messed up the avatar turned out during certain randomizations.After customizing his full appearance and selecting his race all that was left was his username.'' Not looking too bad. As much as I wanted to play as an Ogre race due to its high base stats, starting off as a goblin is a big no. I have read too many comics to know the outcome of my character. wouldnt wanna meet a particular slayer''. Laughed Abel to himself. He decided to play as a Dark Elf even though it was weaker compared to an Ogre, the Dark Elf race had race specific passives which greatly enhanced stealth and ranged weapon usage which he thought would go hand in hand with his solo play and party match ups every now and then. '' Now then, I'd go with.....BlackOut....Darkness88........KillerHunter......was creating a username always this hard??'' After enough thoughts on a decent username without sounding over the top corny or cliche Abel decided on one he thought suited his character. ''LoneWolf''. ''Are you ready to proceed with your chosen avatar?'' questioned the semi-robotic voice asked. ''Yes! lets go!''.

The room lit up and the following announcement followed. ''Due to error, character creation failed. re-staging the process. Process completed. Begin Avatar assimilation. Character fully assimilated. Avatar creation begin....'' Abel could not move nor really react and before he knew it, he felt a nice soft breeze on his face. He was standing in an open surrounding surrounded by trees and up ahead, a town could be seen. The warmth of the sun kissed the back of his neck, the texture of land his in game shoes felt, the sticky sensation of humidity being cooled by the breeze. Licking his dry lips, ''Wow...I knew virtual reality was realistic to a certain extent but this is just incredible.'' Noticing his HUD (Heads up display) ,Abel said out loud ''Aww what the hell.'' His inspections had led him to realize that his avatar looks exactly like the real him and his username was AbelValentine. ''So much for the time spent on customizing my character..ugh..furthermore my race is human. The most cliche of the classes.'' Abel grumbled and was hesitating whether to log out and redo his character after contacting customer support regarding the glitches and bugs he encountered. But playing the game was more important and Abel wanted every minute to count.

Abel Valentine Lvl: 1  Race: Human(?) Job: None

HP: 250/250

Mp: 50/50

Str : 5 (+3)

Agi: 5

Intelligence : 5

Wisdom: 5

Endurance: 5

??? :

??? :

??? :

Advance Stats:

???

???

???

???

???

???

???

???

???

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Skills:

Barehanded attack (Passive)

Novice Blessing (Active) - Temporary skill.

Traits: 

??? - (Incomplete)

''Well that aint much to look at, and all these question marks are probably hidden stats that I will unlock?'' He blankly stared trying to piece together the information displayed before him. However what truly got him puzzled was the (?) beside his race and the trait stating it is incomplete. From what he had gathered online prior to him playing the game is that traits are normally present imediately upon character creation due to the A.I taking into account the player's selected race, Real life talents,actions,speech during the creation process.Advance traits are of course unlocked with selected Jobs that the player decides to specialize in. Abel was confused but due to the game adapting and being different for every user, he just assumed his would eventually pop up once he started getting in his beginner quests.

*Bleep* 

Quest: Welcome to NewOrder. Requirements: Head to the town of Braton and make your way to the Adventurer's Guild. Upon arrival, Speak to Hedwig who would give you your very first adventurer task. Rewards: Novice Gear, 80 copper, 50exp

Abel cracked his neck and did a quick stretch and once done, proceeded towards the town Braton. Despite having a couple of minutes to adapt to the virtual environment and feelings, the realism continued to captivate Abel. On the pathway towards Braton, Abel noticed a sudden distortion on the corner of his eyes. Quickly glancing at what he noticed,nothing seemed to have been amiss and all was the same. Abel decided to go off path for abit to inspect his sighting to convince himself that it was probably just him getting too engrossed in the game resulting in him seeing things. After alittle searching around, Abel came across a  peculiar looking engraving on the tree around the area where he thought he saw the distortion. He walked towards it and curiosity led to him subconsciously touching it.

A sudden pattern appeared on the ground below Abel followed by a prompt stating * - Teleportation Engraving has been activated - '' Abel could not move away from the pattern which locked him in place, a bright light shined below him and and engulfed him. Seconds passed and Abel shook his head to straighten himself out from the disorientated effects of being teleported for the first time.

*Sllhhkk* 

                                                               -118HP

 *What..*

                                         You have been poisoned.

                                   You have been afflicted with bleed.

 Abel looked down at his stomach area and saw that he had an arrowhead sticking out of his gut. He shivered and fell on his knees. Abel threw up empty bile mixed with blood from the shock and pain he felt as the realization sinked further in that he had been wounded by an arrow. He looked around with desparate eyes and crawled towards the deadened trees. ''Fuck. This hurts so bad. *cough* *cough*. I get the realism, but is it suppose to be this instense.'' Abel grit his teeth while his eyes wondered his surroundings. '' I need to get out of here. Worst comes to worst, I'll just log-out''

                                                         -15hp Due to poison effects

                                                            -5 hp due to bleed effects

 *It's just a game, It's just a game.'' Abel felt his wound burn from the pain and the poison made him weak and lethargic.Urges to puke came once again and Abel felt life slowly drain from him. ''Fuck this, I'll just log-out and check how to reduce the sensitivity of the pain receptors.'' *Log Out*........

*Log Out Failed Due to Event. Log Out has been restricted*

''What the fuck, LOG OUT*

*Log Out Failed Due to Event. Log Out has been restricted*

*Crunch*

''AAAURRGHHH''

                                                                            -57hp

An arrow struck Abel from the side of his calf causing him to shout and twitch in pain. Abel was pale and scared, fear crept in him, slowly consuming him. But desperation caused honed senses due to adrenaline coursing through his blood. Not too far from where he took cover at was a cave that looked to be an abandoned mine. He had no time for second guessing his decisions and slight cover from the openness of the dead forest he layed in was better than being a target of enemies he could not see. He looked around and with all his strength he forced a disabled run towards the cave entrance.

*Thud* Abel fell short of his attempt, falling flat on the ground. Inches away from the entrance of the cave. An arrow on his shoulder had stopped him on his tracks. His consciousness fading, he heard footsteps approaching him.