My name is Jacob and I am trying to find an escape from the pain I feel in this world. Some would call me privileged while I would call myself tormented by my family's prestige and money. I have no mother and an almost nonexistent father.
I hear about a new way to be freed from my pain, a game called Shattered Realms. It seems perfect as a distraction from the difficulties of my life. I jump into my pod and start downloading it as fast as I could after its first release. It finishes downloading in a burst of light and a musical call of a bird. I open my virtual home as soon as the sound stops and see a new door in the lavish room to rest between worlds. The door is a beautiful red with a swirl of black running through it and a golden handle. I open it and step through into darkness then I see someone before me.
I blink, thinking it was a trick but it was not and the person was still there. I step closer and see that it is a 3D replica of me that I can change to represent me in the game. I start by making myself new soon after observing what my body looks like with black hair, emerald eyes, sharp features and skinny lean frame and my memories of the past. I clear them all. I then look to see what races I can be and am surprised that human is grayed-out leaving me with the options of dwarf, drow, undead, demon, elf, orc, gnome, halfling, Lycanthrope, and finally hybrid. I select hybrid and check its description. It says the mix of two or more races gains special abilities at the cost of being looked down upon by most races. I select hybrid without looking any further for it reminds me of the pain I expect those less fortunate feel being looked at as inferior. Then I select demon and elf. I am asked to select what type of demon. My options were incubus, imp, or devil. I chose incubus for I feel it represents a part of me that I always hide; the fact that I take the pain others have as being my fault. I am asked what type of elf I would like to be and am given the option of dark, lunar, or lost. I select lost and see that its description is an elf that is lost to a different realm and adapts to its new environment while keeping some of the base elf characteristics. I feel this represents how I feel now that my mom died and my father won't even, look at me, let alone talk to me.
I become truly alone and lost. I select this being, as my other half. I am than shown what I will appear as. I look to be six feet nine inches tall with midnight black hair lavender eyes with a black fire burning in them and sharp handsome features on a light frame with strong toned muscles; a strong confident man who I want to be and not the weakling I was before. He looks like the true me and I accept it and once again am plunged into a world of darkness. A light appears in the distance and I walk towards it.
As soon as I step into the light the world around me shifts into that of a training yard. I then see a NPC (non player character) appear in the corner. I walk up to him.
“Hello, what am I doing here?”
“What's it look like you daft or something?”
I then notice that he is a good 6 inches taller than me and is built like a wall of rippling muscle.
“No sir. I just don't know where here is or what you want me to do?”
“That's fine boy but use your head. What’s it look like?”
“A training yard sir.”
“Good, you're not daft like the others.”
“Others?”
“Ya those who come from the Broken Realm.”
“What am I supposed to do that the others didn’t?”
“Have me teach you.”
“Ok what do I need to do.”
“Start running.”
“Yes sir.” While running I then ask, “how long?”
“As long as you feel boy.”
I stop an hour later for I could no longer just keep running.
“What now sir.”
“Obstacle course.”
he points and I follow. I see an obstacle course full of logs, mud pits, walls, and at the end of what looked to be a mile course, a wall of fire. I head towards it but before I take a second step he stops me with a hand.
“You only get one try, so do your best.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Sir, any other advice.”
“Sorry boy, and good luck.”
I start to jog towards the course and see a new bar that was not there before. It is a light seethrough yellow that I take to mean my. I am uncertain but I have resolved to give everything in this game my all, unlike I have done in the real world. I get to the obstacle course with only an eighth of the yellow bar gone. I stop to rest and the bare slowly fills, confirming my suspicion. Once full, I start the course, I dodge the logs that fly towards me and move through the mud pits as fast as possible, scrambling up the walls only to be caught by a log in the back at the last fifty or so yards of the course. I hear clapping behind me and turn to see the NPC and I realize I had yet to ask his name.
“Nice job kid. You made it farther than most do after years of training.”
“Thank you sir and sorry for being rude and forgetting to ask your name.”
“No worries kid and the name’s Luke. What’s your name kid, so I can make fun of the
troops!”
A window of glossy glass appears in front of me asking for my name. I enter Drake Van Arthur. It felt right even with using my father's name as my last. It felt like it was the new me.
“Sir my name is Drake and what did you mean by the troops.”
“Oh you don't know? I train the troops of this king's land.”
“Sir, I don't even know the name of this land let alone the king of it.”
He smiles, “It's alright kid, the name of the land in Landfall. And this is the king's troop training ground in the capital city of Renewal under the rule of the King Edward.”
“Thank you what should I do now sir?”
“Now we see what weapon chooses you,” as a cruel smile flashes on his lips.
“Ok sir,” I say with a nervous expression and waver in my voice.
He leads me into a dark room with only a torch on the wall and weapons of all sorts around me.
“Stand here boy and wait until you feel ready to leave. Then once ready, reach your hands forward and grasp whatever is there. if there is nothing don't fret all is well just walk out; but I know you will come out with something good. I can sense it.” He then left with a smile.
I stand there for what seems to be hours before I feel a warmth in my mind. I slowly reach forward with both hands and feel a cool metal pole in one and what seems to be a piece of leather in the other. I still cannot see but I can feel I am ready to walk out.
“About time boy you've been in there for hours. Oh, but look at those beauties you brought out with you.”
I look at my in-game clock and can see that indeed four hours had gone by. I then look to what is in my hand and see the leather was a black belt with the sheaths for two short swords on it. The other item a scythe made of what looked to be shadow and meteoric iron made into midnight black steel.
“Boy you ready to learn?”
“Yes sir I am ready.”
“ Let’s begin.”
He then takes me over to some training dummies that seem to have been there for years and are covered in chips and tears.
“Lets begin with those swords of yours.”
I draw them and see that they also look to be made of shadow but this time it seemed to have a handle of ebony wood and a black cloth that sticks to my hands.
“Begin by making a slash like this.” He then shows me how to do it with my left sword than right.
“Tis so that you catch your opponent off guard. Not often you have fight someone with a sword in their left hand let alone a sword in both hands.”
“Ok sir” I begin by copying what he showed me to the best of my abilities and I continue until my stamina has completely disappeared.
“Good job kid.”
“Thank, (pant), you, (pant), sir.”
An alarm suddenly goes off startling me. It was set off by my dad's butler to tell me to get ready for diner.
“Sir I must go for the day. Can I come here for more training tomorrow or the next?” I have completely forgotten that I am talking to an NPC and instead am thinking of him as a fellow person.
“Sure kid I am looking forward to it and keep up your enthusiasm and you will be the best someday! I can see it.”
“Bye sir.” I then log off and am once again in the world of my pain and torment. I sigh and move towards the bathroom to clean up and get ready for dinner with my so-called father and his new girl of the week. I look in the mirror and see the face I hate more than anyone and it is staring right back at me; a boy with no courage to be honest to anyone. The one who watched as his life fell apart without trying to stop it. He is not me. I am Drake now; no longer the weakling Jacob and with that thought a smile touches my lips, with the new resolve I feel towards the future and what it holds for me. I leave to deal with my father so I can go back to being myself once again. A month later on earth and four months in the game, I am finally ready to show everyone the new me. I will no longer hide in the dark but will step into the light and depart from this world of pain to embrace my new world and identity.
DIVE pods a recent innovation in the last 50 years that allow people’s consciousness to be
transferred into the virtual world. This device also stops the body from moving by intercept the
brain’s signals to the body and the signals from the body and making a fake system of signals
that the pod uses to stimulate your brain and senses.
EARTH it is becoming more toxic and is said to be unable to sustain life within the next 300
years. This has led to panic and a desperate need to advance technology to either leave earth or
completely integrate the mind into the virtual world with no need for the original body.