“Uh, what am I doing here?” Max muttered, not remembering logging in. Or buying the game, for that matter. In fact, he didn’t even own a VR headset or whatever else he needed for this. He’d played MMORPGs before, just not the virtual reality kind. Maybe he was at a friend’s house? No, he didn’t really have any, and not one that would do this with him. And no one else was nearby in the game as if they were doing it together. What was he doing here?

He’d heard of Llurien Online, which was based on several series of books set on a world called Llurien. The game had launched a while back, but between work, the band, and his nearly complete degree in classical guitar, he seldom had time for computer games anymore. He wasn’t that good at them anyway, not having the patience for them – or dealing with other players attacking him. It was aggravating building up a character and getting loot only to have someone kill you and take your shit, not that all of them had that. Hopefully this one didn’t.

The screen before him was apparently a HUD, or Heads Up Display.

He sighed and looked for a logout button. As if reading his mind, one appeared in the upper right corner of his vision. When he turned his head, it moved with the motion. It looked greyed out so he couldn’t click it, and he wasn’t sure how to anyway. But just thinking about it caused the button to depress and release without any apparent effect. It certainly didn’t log him out. He tried several times. Maybe the game had crashed?

Frowning, he imagined taking off the virtual reality headset he assumed he was wearing in the real world, but nothing changed. He made the motion to do it as if he was wearing it in the game, but still nothing happened.

He sighed. “I can’t really be stuck in a VR game, can I? Maybe I can save and quit after creating the character.”

At his impulse to reach up and click the “Proceed” button, it clicked by itself.

A character creation screen appeared. In a row at the top were eight species from which he could choose. A different color outlined each circular picture of a head. He noticed the colors were the ROYGBIV rainbow spectrum from left to right, with the human one at the end encircled by white. That one was already selected, which didn’t surprise him, as his hands and limbs appeared human. That might’ve been a shock to see himself as some other creature, given that he didn’t know what he was doing in here.

Below that row on the screen stood a human warrior that looked nothing like him, but he figured he could change it on another display. The gender had been set to male but could be toggled, though this was also greyed out. He mentally clicked a few times to be sure, not that he really want to switch it, so he moved on. As he read a description box on the screen’s right side, the same pleasant female voice spoke the words.

Species: Human.

Summary: The eighth species of Llurien, humans were created by all twenty-eight of Llurien’s gods, who realized no species equally represented all of their traits. They are therefore the most unpredictable. Evil to some, good to others, humans are sometimes called Antarians after the first male and female, Antar and Taria; Antaria is also the name of a continent upon which you stand. Their language, Antarian, is spoken throughout Llurien.

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Species Strengths: Superior Versatility, Mastery, and Resilience. All religions possible.

Species Weaknesses: -5% Luck, -1 Wisdom, -1 Morale.

Species Bonuses: None.

Class Restrictions: None. Dual classes permitted.

The human player didn’t sound particularly interesting, but being able to choose any class or be dual class was attractive. And yet, playing something else was part of the fun of RPGs. He’d certainly examine the other choices. The description seemed to suggest that the other species had not inherited the traits of every god. How would that affect game play? He had also noticed that all of the options were called a “species” and not “races,” and when he began clicking on the other seven, he saw that most of them had more than one race under them. Humans did not.

Curious about other options, he started at the left with kryll, a species whose picture a red outline encircled. On selecting this, a new humanoid replaced the human. This one seemed a little taller and muscular but with a thin waist, reminding Max of a male gymnast. The acrobatic moves the kryll made onscreen reinforced this impression. His face seemed similar to humans but with a stronger brow, jaw, and chin. Long, red hair, streaked with silver, was braided. His skin was pale. He didn’t seem to have a class assigned but casually wore leather armor that likely facilitated his movements.

As Max watched, a human appeared onscreen to fight with a broad sword, and the kryll spoke something Max didn’t understand. A shimmering gauntlet emerged from his forearm bracers to cover the hands, which were larger and with longer fingers than Max expected. That kryll blocked several sword swings with his hands and then punched the human, who feel backwards. Whatever those magic bracers were, Max wanted them. Being shown on the creation screen suggested they were common.

He read the description.

Species: Kryll.

Summary: One of the seven original species, kryll exhibit the traits of the four Red Sphere neutral gods who created them: curiosity, aspiration, fairness, and peace. Lovers of nature, they are excellent singers with powerful, agile bodies. Some are pacifists while other strive to balance good and evil with action. They excel at melee and ranged combat, especially with their traditional enemies, jhaikan, but their endurance is poor. While skilled magic-users, they can be reluctant to draw energy from the environment to cast.

Species Strengths: +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence, +1 Morale.

Species Weaknesses: -1 Constitution, -20% Regeneration, -20% Reputation, -10% Mana

Species Bonuses: +20% Luck, +5% Magic Resistance, +15% Speed, +10% Physical Attack, +10% Reaction Bonus, +1 Spear Bonus. They receive bonuses for using kryllan weapons. Balance Bonus, Befriending Animals, Calming Presence, Direction Sense, Hide, Leave No Trace.

Class Restrictions: None. Dual classes permitted.

“Wow,” said Max, excited.

The list of bonuses was great, but if Max was going to play this game and choose kryll, he’d need some way to counteract their regeneration and poor mana, like a magic item. He didn’t understand why their reputation took a hit, but it did say they strived to create a balance. Did that mean if too much good was being done, they would do something evil? That was interesting, if so, and could explain it. Maybe they were just unpredictable. A poor reputation could be a problem when dealing with NPCs, who might refuse to trade with him or help, or try to gouge him when bartering.

If he wanted to be primarily a fighter, though, a kryll seemed a solid choice, especially for use as a tank. He was curious what kryllan weapons they had, but there didn’t seem to be a way to find out now. If he ended up fighting one, he might get his ass handed to him.