On January 9, 2097 the world was forever changed. Technology had been rapidly advancing, forcing electronic developers to take the greatest and make it better. Originally starting out as a company for prosthetic limbs, Envy Corps dove into the gaming market after realizing they could do much more than simply allowing people to see the world in front of them; they could give them a whole new world. So, like every other reasonable gamer that day, I stood in an endless line for the next generation console.
Of course, changing the scenery in front of your eyes was done decades ago. Around the beginning of the second millennium when my great-grandpa rode dinosaurs to school to be precise, but that wasn't what made this special. Envy Corps managed to create a virtual reality system that brought all of your senses into a world they called "Adria". In it, you had a whole new life awaiting you. Countless possibilities that weren't influenced by the outside world were present and available to all. You could be a hero, a villain, or even both if you tried hard enough. It helped that time flowed 4 times as fast in the game than it did outside of it.
"C'mon, hurry up already! I've been literally here all day and more!" I shouted impatiently.
"And you would have been standing here longer if I hadn't camped here for a week Gary." my friend (?) replied.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've said thank you many more times than I've complained." I said to him excitedly. We were the 30th group of people in line, but in comparison to the 1,000th group this was heaven. You'd think I owe him my life or something, but in reality, he was getting paid for this. I sponsored 60% of his bill the first month of his game just to do this. Yes, I had money to wipe with but I wasn't cocky about it. After what seemed to be a century, our turn to in line finally came. I rushed home with the box as fast as my sports car could take me and bolted the doors shut.
"It's- It's beautiful" I cried as I opened the box with the NVR. At a speed close to supersonic, I installed everything precisely and thoroughly. Not desiring to waste any time later, I had a light snack and brought out more just in case. Booting it played a melodious sound that played with my feelings like Beethoven played his piano.
Welcome to Adria!
Would you like to start? Yes/No?
“YES!” I shouted like a drug addict. After a small timeframe, I was REPLACEed into a world of white. Floating around, a voice began to echo throughout it.
Iris scan shows you are a new user, would you like to create a new account?
“YES.”
Please choose a name.
“Gray” I said without missing a beat. I chose this anagram of my name for all of my online games.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Thank you, Gray. Please choose your avatar’s race from the currently available: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc.
“… I’d like the Elf” Elves specialize in speed and magic thereby making them my favorite choice for games. Truthfully, because of my reckless playing style I should choose something with an innate amount of increased defense and health; however, Elf girls are definitely cuter than Dwarf or Orc girls. Yep, yep.
Please customize your appearance to your satisfaction, and then say done.
Not that I think I'm a handsome stud (my grandmamma says I’m gorgeous), but even with the elf-like attributes added, I don’t have any desire to change my appearance. Then again… “Please change my eye color to silver gray. Afterwards, make my hair roots black as soot and the rest of it until the tip pale silver. Make the tips white.”
After approving of the change in my head, I finished it off by saying “Done”.
Well, aren’t you a handsome stud-muffin. Would you like to play the tutorial?
Wait, what/ No
“No” I replied reflexively.
....
Initializing tutorial
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“I-is my hair ready!? Aghhh!! I should have checked before I invited him!!” grumbled the mysterious voice.
“Ugh…” I groaned as I woke up to a racket.
*Cough, cough* “WELCOME MORTAL TO MY REALM. BE EVER GRATEFUL FOR MY MERCIFUL AND BENEVOLENT NATURE.” Spoke the voice loudly.
“Err, thanks but… where am I? Isn’t this the character creation space?” I said as I looked, no, sensed around to see the endless white space. The body I had during creation was gone and was replaced with an orb of light.
“LIKE I SAID EARLIER, YOU ARE IN MY REALM. THE REAL TRAINING WILL COMMENCE AFTER YOUR BIRTH, FOR NOW, I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO ASK ME ONE QUESTION.” Spoke the voice.
Since I was originally planning to skip the tutorial, I was confused on what to say. “!!” I remembered that at this moment, countless others could have already begun their quests and I decided to break my way out of here.
“GREAT BEING, answer truthfully (yes or no) to the following question: Will the next word you say be 'no'?”
…
Initializing Adria
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