A/N:
Hi all, this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. Or actually anything at all. So please don’t be too hard on me. I’ll decide on whether to continue this based on your reactions to it, but don’t feel pressured to follow my story. No really, don’t. I mean it. Jokes aside, I hope that you (whoever’s reading my weird a/n.) enjoys reading this.
Note: While it IS supposed to be a royal road fanfic, I’m far too lazy to stick to any of the guidelines (like sword mastery giving a certain % of anything etc.)
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Chapter 1: Game… Start?
“Hopeless Immersion, huh.” Dale warily observed the game shop that Vera had dragged him to. Hopeless Immersion, as the shop was named, stood on a street four blocks away from the school compound. True to its name, it was a dilapidated building in need of a thorough cleaning and paint job.
“Truly hopeless,” Dale mused as he trudged towards it. As always, Vera’s strange aversion to any moving vehicle decreed that they would walk there. Dale had only acquiesced when Vera told him that Thomas would be coming along with them. Dale, Thomas and Vera had been best friends since childhood. Unfortunately, when they turned 18, Dale and Vera had decided to continue with their studies, whereas Thomas had chosen to take over his family business, carpentry. As such, it was exceedingly rare for Dale to be able to meet Thomas. Vera, on the other hand, happened to be Thomas’ neighbour, and so met him on a daily basis.
As they approached the shop, a tall, lanky boy strode around the corner. Spotting them, he strode towards them tousling his already-messy brown hair, a sheepish grin on his face. “Dale,” he exclaimed happily, “Long time no see!” Dragging me into a bear hug (and crushing my bones in the process) he turned towards Vera and nodded. “Vera.” She nodded in acknowledgement before joining in the hug, the three of them bursting into joyous laughter.
“Well, shall we?” Vera raised an eyebrow as she disengaged, while Dale and Thomas continued to crush each other in their embrace. The two stepped back, embarrassed, and started walking into Hopeless Immersion.
Three hours, a long walk and many breaks later, Dale finally reached home, lugging a gigantic capsule behind him. Sure, he had a trolley (of sorts) to help him, but it was still impossibly heavy. The capsule had come with an instruction manual to help with setting it up, so Dale got to work immediately. He’d always prided himself on being handy around the house. When he left the shop, it had been early afternoon. By the time he cranked in the last nut and switched on the power supply, it was midnight.
The trio had agreed to start playing separately and meet up in the later stages of the game, as had happened with all the other MMORPGS before. They’d also agreed on the roles they wanted to play. Dale was to be a tank and Thomas, a ranged fighter whereas Vera was to be a healer. They had found it to be their favourite party formation. Anyhow, they liked what they did and were good at it, so there were no complaints.
Although they’d discussed this much, little else had been researched and thus, Dale started the game with zero knowledge on the world of Royal Road.
Connect to Royal Road?
Yes/No
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Yes."
-The scan on your iris has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?
Dale stood in a large room, the walls a blinding white. Before him, an interface appeared, words appearing along with the voice. “Yes.”
-Select the name of your avatar
“Hmmm...” Dale thought long and hard about this. Due to the fact that Royal Road was released globally and the nature of the game, they had decided that repeat names were allowed. Simply put, there could be a thousand ‘Dale’s in game. He wanted something original, but simple enough that it wouldn’t be laughed at. Definitely nothing excessively loud like ‘DemonConqueror24”.
“Mouse.” In the end, he decided on the name ‘Mouse’. He’d always thought that creatures of the rodent family were among the most resilient creatures in the world. Of course, he didn’t want to name himself ‘Roach’ or something of the like, so he’d settled on something that was tough but didn’t invoke feelings of disgust.
-Select your gender from male, female or neutral.
“Neutral? What the hell is that, even?” Dale thought.
“Male” He settled on the safe choice. He didn’t exactly find pretending to be a girl interesting, though he’d done it a few times before just for the kicks. Although the game became much easier with the constant support of desperate male players, it usually made the game too easy. Not to mention, it was really embarrassing to pretend to be a girl…
-Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary-
“Human.” Dale cut off the system before it could continue. He couldn’t see himself playing as anything other than... well, himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that the author can’t remember how many races were available at the start. Moving on…
-You may alter your appearance
“As is.”
-Your account has been created. Your stats and class will be determined while playing Royal Road.
-Select the City and Kingdom you wish to start in.
“Random.”
.
.
.
.
.
.
-System Error. We are unable to process your request at the moment. Please try again later.
Dale stepped out of the capsule for a minute. Judging it to be ready, he stepped in again.
-Select the City and Kingdom you wish to start in.
“Random.”
-System Error. We are unable to process your request at the moment. Please try again later.
“F******************!!!!” Dale screamed in frustration. Why couldn’t he get in?
Following the wisdom of his Asian ancestors *, Dale decided that the only logical course of action was the bang on the capsule until the problem was solved.
-Select the City and Kingdom you wish to start in.
“Random.”
-The wilderness of Eristard has been selected. Welcome to Royal Road
“?????” Dale had heard enough to know that new players usually started in cities or at least, villages. The fact that the system had mentioned a wilderness was enough to drive him into confusion.
“WTF??” Dale screamed as the room faded into nothing.
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*Old Chinese people have a habit of banging on their TVs and stuff whenever it stops working. No, I'm not being racist. I AM Chinese. And my grandfather does that. Along with my dad. And myself. Nuff' said.