> Welcome, Robert Gray.
He blinked away the startup window. “Open the GAMES menu.”
> GAMES (4)
>
> [> Reclamation: The Last Stand
> [> Headspace III
> [> Squad Fortification IV
> [> Shattering the Veil (NEW!)
It was a short list. Games, like all necessities, were expensive. “Run Shattering the Veil.”
> Game starting…
Three seconds elapsed before the white void of his Hub turned black. “Must be a pretty huge game.”
> REGISOFT STUDIO PRESENTS
“Oh, joy. The opening credits.”
> IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WEX33 SOFTWORKS
Robert internally sighed. He didn’t care about which billion-dollar names wanted to take credit for the game.
> SHATTERING THE VEIL
“Is it done yet, or…?” The words took a solid five seconds to fade into view — and another five to fade out.
> THE FIRST SIMULATED-REALITY GAME WITH 7 FULLY-RENDERED OPEN WORLDS
Surely, that would be it.
> BROUGHT TO YOU BY GELIPOP: FLAVORS THAT MAKE YOUR TASTEBUDS POP!
“Ah, how could I forget,” Robert remarked. With a small sigh of relief, he noticed feeling begin to creep back into his limbs.
Finally, he regained control of his eyes, and opened them to what was immediately recognizable as a character creation screen. He stood before a mirror with several monitors slapped onto the side, each displaying sets of labeled sliders. It all seemed pretty standard for an RPG, from his experience with Reclamation. Stat points to assign, race selection, and a bunch of purely cosmetic changes. There was also a box to toggle Child-Safe Mode, which just gave him a pair of underwear and removed some of the cosmetic changes when he checked it. He was pretty sure it had been off by default because the Nervelink had a bunch of his personal information stored on it — including the fact that he was 23. Games and applications loved peeking at that stuff without telling you. Robert quickly flicked Child-Safe Mode back off and looked over the rest of the cosmetic options.
“Scars?” Nobody had quite figured out how to mimic scar tissue in SR yet, so the only way to get a convincing one was to use cosmetics and presets. But what sat before him was not a list of stock scars he could slap onto his avatar, but rather a box he could tick. Had the developers managed to achieve realistic scar formation in simulated reality? It was a smaller feature for certain, but still an impressive breakthrough if they had. He tapped on the monitor and ticked the box; it was worth testing. The rest of the cosmetic options were pretty standard. Sex traits, bone structure, muscle and fat distribution — the usual customizations. Robert didn’t do much with them. He changed his face a bit, softening some edges and changing hair and eye colors, but that was about it. His changes to his body were similarly minor. All he really did was rearrange a few bones to give himself a more slender frame.
“Now for the good stuff.” Robert’s newly violet eyes glittered with greed as he turned them upon a different window.
> Strength: 10
> Vitality: 10
> Spirit: 10
> Agility: 10
> Perception: 10
>
> Free Attribute Points: 5
The game wanted to call them “attributes,” but he knew what they really were. Stat points. The staple of RPGs everywhere. The question was, what did he want to do with them? From the trailer, it looked like this game would definitely have magic, as well as swordplay. Two more RPG staples. The swordplay in Reclamation had felt great, and so had the magic in Headspace. He liked being a glass cannon that annihilated enemies from orbit, but also enjoyed cleaving through hordes of monsters with a big-ass sword.
“Both get boring after too long, though…”
A mage would become invincible by simply killing every threat within a mile’s radius. On the other hand, a melee character would usually manage to become invincible by getting too good at soaking up damage. After a certain point, you stopped needing to apply yourself to fights. Instead, you just went through the motions you’d already memorized, and everything died. It was boring.
“Maybe… I’ll be a melee build with no survivability. That should be more fun.”
He would still be a glass cannon, but using melee weapons would force him to put himself in harm’s way constantly in order to deal damage. It would ensure he was always engaged by his fights. Way less boring. With that decided…
> Agility: 15
He would need it.
As for the racial selection, he preferred to stick with plain old human, barely even glancing at the other options. It didn’t have any special benefits, but it was also the only race offered that didn’t come with any drawbacks. Besides, he’d have to redo all of his cosmetic changes if he changed it now. Robert was far too lazy for that. He selected the FINISH button on one of the monitors.
> Please state your name.
“You already know it.”
> Welcome, Robert Gray.
Robert chuckled as the tiny box he and the mirror sat in unfolded. Walls, windows, and furniture sprung up from impossible hidden compartments until he was sitting in his own little apartment. The mirror was in a corner with slightly fewer monitors hanging off the side, and at the far end of the room was a “door” that looked more like a portal. Above it was a thin LED pane with words scrolling across it: “HAPPY LAUNCH DAY! 20% OFF PREMIUM COSMETICS TODAY ONLY!” Opposite the “door” were the windows he’d seen spring into being, looking out over what seemed to be a pretty generic city. Fake neon lights, extravagant billboards, and countless lights shining from distant windows. It seemed to be nighttime. Thick blackout curtains hung from either side, ready to be pulled into place. Between the wall of windows and the “door,” a bed was pushed against the wall, with a small nightstand and lamp adjacent to it. It looked like a comfy queen-sized bed, with fluffy sheets and pillows like they had in hotels. The only other notable feature in the room was a dresser opposite the bed, which had an old landline phone on it — the kind with the little plastic buttons, or whatever they’re made of. Presumably, it’s for calling the support staff.
“I guess this is the player hub. Time to check out the door, then.”
> To Veilcrown City
The words hovered at eye level in front of him as he stepped towards the glowing blue gate. As he crossed the wall of light, he got the impression of walking through energy. It was one of those weird feelings he was sure some poor developer had worked on for months because Regisoft wanted a “more immersive experience for the players.” The worst part was that it worked. He felt the experience to be about as immersive as walking through a door could get. Everything seemed to warp around him, and suddenly his view changed. The soft blue light gave way to the streets of Veilcrown City, which looked very similar to what he’d seen from the window. The only major difference was that there was a floor. Rather unremarkable pavement walkways indicated a lack of cars. The light from the myriad advertisements hanging from the walls of surrounding buildings was so bright that the developers hadn’t even bothered with streetlights. An endless sea of people milled about around him, chattering and shouting and laughing. They all seemed to move in a particular direction; towards a towering pillar of rotating holograms. Holographic billboards spun lazily along the perimeter of a cylinder, sporting all kinds of content. There were advertisements for various companies he recognized, including GeliPop, as well as some that seemed to relate to the game. Most read “HAPPY LAUNCH DAY!” and either advertised purchasable cosmetics or some reward that people had a limited time to claim. Also a cosmetic, it seemed.
Vaguely impressed by the number of advertisements in his field of view at any one time, Robert followed the crowd toward the wall of ads. The sheer number of people around him made it hard to take in much of the actual streets, so he just studied the other players. All sorts of sights met him. There were some of the classic fantasy races, like the long-eared elves and the massive orcs, but there were also some more curious additions in the crowd. He saw several examples of a scaly humanoid that either drew from a snake or a fish; it was impossible to tell which. Another common race was a winged one that seemed to take inspiration from harpies. A lot of them were trying, and failing, to fly — supposedly, the more a body diverged from that of a human, the harder it was to pilot. The display he was witnessing reinforced that notion. The few who weren’t trying to fly walked in a hunched manner, sometimes on all fours. The wings must have made balancing hard.
“I suppose it makes sense that so many people don’t want to be human. Not with so many other options.”
The noise of the crowd drowned out Robert’s voice as he drew nearer and nearer to the wall of holograms. Eventually, he got close enough to see — and hear — what was in the center of all the advertisements. A massive, ornate fountain gushed water in impossible streams that defied all known laws of physics. They all ended near the center, forming a curtain of water around a portal like he’d walked through to get here. Except, this one lacked a conveniently placed doorframe, and instead opted to float. The excess water formed a sort of wading pool, which had six whirlpools arranged around the central portal. As he watched, players walked into the whirlpools and promptly vanished. A few went into the central portal, but seemed to burst into motes of light and dissipate. Maybe that one sent players back to the apartment they had spawned in? Robert just picked one of the whirlpools and started walking towards it, eager to get to the content the game promised. The one he picked emitted a white glow, and as he got closer, he began to hear a strange whistling sound. It reminded him a little of the sounds wind would make in videos of old storms. When it was right beneath his feet, he looked down and saw nothing but white.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
He stepped forward and let himself fall in.
----------------------------------------
Suddenly, he was very cold. Particularly his feet.
Robert looked down, and saw a whole lot of whiteness. Just… all white. So much of it. Except his feet, which looked as if they’d sunk into the ground a little. Those were still the pale off-white of his usual skin tone. Not like the ground, which was the purest white he’d ever seen — while somehow managing not to sting his eyes! Incredible. The cold was a bit of an issue, though. His skin was turning blue at an almost visible pace, and he was stark naked. Maybe he should’ve turned on Child-Safe Mode. Underwear would have been great. Taking a step forward, he—
“Woah!” The ground just… crunched! Cold, white, crunchy ground. How strange.
He mentally chided himself; he could marvel at the crunchy ground when he was no longer freezing to his simulated death. He started scanning the horizon as he walked, looking for signs of anything that might be useful. Mostly, there was just more white. After a few minutes though, as he was beginning to feel little frost crystals form on the hairs of his arm, he spotted a spot that wasn’t quite as white. Instead, it was a gentle, glowing blue. Robert ignored the prickly chill stabbing at his feet, and way the cold air burned his lungs, breaking into a sprint. He had no idea what that light was, but in the interest of his health, he was determined to find out quickly.
The source of the blue glow came into view very gradually, requiring Robert to completely exhaust himself to get close enough to make it out. First, he saw the white bumps on the horizon. Then he started to see little dots of brown, white, and tan. Soon, splotches of gray came into view, and the white bumps started looking more like buildings. The light was coming from a settlement of some sort. At the center, he could see the source of the light; a large, frosty blue-and-white dome towered over the other structures, with an iron brazier built into the top. The brazier contained what was, undoubtedly, blue fire. White ground, blue fire — what a strange place, indeed! Even their sky was white. Perhaps it would turn black at night!
The many oddities of the developers’ design choices aside, Robert was spent. His legs burned, and the rest of him felt frozen. He could no longer feel his feet, or fingers, or nose, or ears, aside from a faint sense that they were there. Close though he was, he wouldn’t make the final stretch on his own. Close to unconsciousness, he made a decision. It was time to employ one of his strongest breathing techniques.
“HEEEEY! I NEED HELP!” Breathing technique number 14: shout for help. Truly, a last-resort measure.
----------------------------------------
Robert awoke on something fluffy. But, also, lumpy. It was simultaneously comfortable, and not. His body ached and stung from exhaustion and frostbite, making quite an endeavor of sitting up. But it didn’t seem like that was where all of the discomfort was coming from either. Which didn’t make sense, because when he blinked the stars out of his eyes and looked at what he was sitting on, he was in a bed! A bed that felt like it was stuffed full of rocks. Very soft and fluffy rocks, but still rocks! It was perplexing how the fabric could be so luxurious, but the mattress so solid. Why would somebody—
“Oh, you’re awake! I’ll go get Bernie, he wants to talk with you.”
Robert turned just in time to see a blur of motion before the door closed.
“Ah. Bummer,” he grumbled. He was planning to ask that girl what the fuck was the deal with this bed. Oh, and he should probably also mention the fact that these people had saved his simulated life. In fact, maybe he should start with that. First impressions, and whatnot. The million questions he had for them would be his second impression. Robert idly scratched his chin, making his questions fight to the death for the right to be asked first. At least, that’s what you’d think he was doing with how intense his expression got. In reality, most of his thoughts could be condensed to a simple, “why is everything so weird in this place?”
“Hello there,” spoke a gruff voice from the door, “I’m glad to see you’re well. Forgive my curtness, but I have questions.”
“Uhm,” stammered Robert, not knowing how to respond to a literal bear speaking to him. “Uh, y-yeah, sure. That’s fine.”
“Good,” he(?) huffed. “I am Bernard, this settlement’s chieftain. You are a human who wandered naked through the cold to our doorstep.”
Robert nodded uncertainly.
“This would not necessarily be cause for alarm in and of itself, but the fact is that you are the second person to find us in such a manner this very day. Moreover, the one we found earlier has been rather tight-lipped.”
“I see…” Probably another player who took the same portal as him. “And you want me to explain how I got myself into this situation, I take it?”
The bear nodded.
“Well. I’m not… entirely sure how I can explain it to you, because I don’t really know anything about you — or this place. The bare-bones basics of the matter is this; I’m from another world. Myself, and a lot of people like me, came through a portal to be here. I can’t speak for everyone, but the reason I came here was to have fun and see things I’d never seen before. And — wow! I have not been disappointed so far! I mean, I’ve only ever read about bears in books, and I never thought they could talk! And the ground here is weird and white and crunchy, and don’t get me started on the bed! It’s li… is, something the matter?”
Robert hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a girl standing behind the bear — giggling madly at him as he talked. “N-no, s-sorry, I just…”
The bear sighed. “Please excuse my daughter. It seems you have the, ah… opposite affliction as your company. You say, this person comes from the same place as you? Is that right?”
“W-well, no, I’d have to talk to them to be sure, but the chances are very high. It’s not a… common predicament, is it?”
“Hah, no. Most definitely not. Thank you for your openness. I have more questions, but those can wait for your recovery. Rest well.”
The bear gave a courteous dip of the head, before turning and walking back out the door — leaving Robert alone with his(?) daughter, who was just beginning to recover from her giggling fit.
“So, that’s… your father…?”
She wiped her eyes. “A-ahah, yes, sorry. T-that’s my dad. I keep telling him he shouldn’t greet strangers while he’s still shapeshifted, but he keeps ‘forgetting.’ I’m Sera, by the way.”
“Shape— wait, so your dad’s not a bear?” Robert’s eyebrows shot to his forehead.
“N-no…!” Sera doubled over with laughter this time.
“That’s… weird.”
“I-it’d be… w-weirder if… he w-was one…!” She cackled.
“Oh, well… I suppose so.”
Sera was taking quite a while to recover from her laughter, and Robert took advantage of that to examine her more closely. At first glance, she was rather normal-looking; hair as white as a fluorescent light, crystal-blue eyes, pale skin, and a modest but attractive figure. However, she had noticeably inhuman qualities when you looked at her for more than two seconds. For one, she had wide, triangular ears on the sides of her head covered in fluffy-looking tufts of fur. A bushy white tail could be seen swaying behind her as well. The final oddity, and the one Robert somehow noticed last, was the black spot on the tip of her nose. From the scarce few photos he’d seen of animals like the Arctic Fox, she certainly looked to be modeled after one.
“Alright,” Sera sighed, having recomposed herself. “Bernie asked me to look after you while you’re recovering. Is there anything you need right now? There’s a pitcher with water by your bed.”
“Oh,” said Robert, “I hadn’t noticed that. Thanks. And, um, there’s nothing I really need right now, I don’t think. But as I said, I don’t know much about this place. Do you have some spare time to tell me about the area?”
“Ah, that’s no problem!” She threw up her hands in a carefree gesture. “The only other thing I have to do right now is look after that other girl we found, but she’s no fun. So, what do you want to know?”
“Well… I suppose I’d like to start with the most basic stuff. What’s the ground here, uh, made of?”
She blinked at him. “That’s…”
Robert tilted his head.
“T-that’s snow…!” Sera seemed to struggle to contain her laughter once again.
“Wait, that’s…?” Robert’s mind whirred into motion. “My grandpa would tell me stories about snow, but…”
“Is snow… not normal, where you come from?”
“Ah… no. It’s too warm. The last time it snowed was almost a century ago, so I’ve never seen it in person.”
“Seriously?” She raised her eyebrows. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get sick of it real soon. Most regions of Glacia are frozen year-round, so you’ll see it everywhere you go here.”
“Wow…” He took a moment to stare off into space. “Oh, also. Your sky. I’ve seen that it’s white during the daytime, but what about at night? Does it turn black?”
Sera seemed almost taken aback at that one. “Yeah, of course the night sky is black…? And, the daytime sky isn’t actually white; those were just clouds you saw.”
Robert’s jaw dropped. “Those— Clouds? But… the whole sky was white!”
“Well, yeah. During snowy weather — which is almost always, here — the clouds make the whole sky look white. The actual sky underneath that is a perfectly normal blue.”
It boggled his mind how the developers had thought of all this! “Huh… okay. Right. I feel like I’ll never run out of questions about this stuff at this rate. How about you tell me more about the settlement we’re in?”
“Sure. You’ll probably have plenty of opportunities to look at the sky yourself, anyway. Our little village here is a pretty small one by Glacia’s standards; we don’t even have a name. There are about twenty-five families living around here. We’ve got the essentials for self-sufficiency covered. There are a couple families that do most of our gardening, producing root vegetables for eating, and ingredients for medicine and alchemy. One family owns a ranch to the east of here, and their sheep provide a lot of the wool we use for clothing. There’s also a family that handles the smithing, one of carpenters, and so on. The families that don’t have a special profession they can live off of mostly become guards, and train to defend the rest of us against monsters. Most places don’t have much of a monster problem, but we’re next to two Dungeons. According to the Lorekeeper, this settlement was a failed attempt at subjugating them both by some upstart nobleman.”
“I see,” Robert lied. He had so many more questions now. “Also, what’s with the fire? There was a giant blue bonfire on top of a building, and that was what I followed to get here. Say what you will about the sky, but I know blue isn’t a normal color for fire.”
“Got me there,” Sera chuckled. “Normal fire is red, yes. What you saw was frostfire. It’s a kind of magical fire that can burn without melting snow or ice, and also leave people who get burned by it with a nasty case of frostbite. We don’t quite understand how it works, since ice and fire are supposed to be opposite elements, but it does. The beacon you saw has been specially enchanted so that it helps ward off monsters.”
“This place… is kind of awesome.”
“Glad you think so, at least. As I said, we’re a pretty small settlement. This is one of the more boring places to live in Glacia.”
“In fairness, I could probably find anywhere here exciting. It’s just so… different.”
“Hmm,” Sera hummed. “What’s your name, by the way? You haven’t mentioned it.”
“Oh, goodness, I’m sorry,” he said as he facepalmed. “My name is Robert. It’s nice to meet you, Sera.”
“Likewise, Robert. You’re an awfully curious one, aren’t you?”
“I… suppose so, yes. Where I live is a little boring, at least by my standards. This is the most interesting place I’ve been in ages, so I have a lot of questions. Probably more than you have time to answer, really.”
As if on cue, Sera’s stomach growled. “Ah, probably. I’m going to go get something to eat. I’ll bring back something for you after I check up on our other guest, too. Freezing to death is hungry work.”
“Thank you,” he called out.
Giving a brief wave back at him, she walked out the door and closed it behind her. Now, Robert was alone with his questions. How did alchemy work? What were Dungeons like here? Who was the Lorekeeper, and where could he find them? That sounded like exactly the person to answer his questions about the game. Despite feeling absolutely exhausted, Robert just couldn’t quell his excitement. But he had nobody to talk to now. And he couldn’t muster the strength to get out of bed and explore…
This called for one of his signature breathing techniques.
“Well, what am I supposed to do now?”
Breathing technique number 13: talk to yourself. A personal favorite of his.
> ( Introduction )
> Now that you’ve had a chance to look around, would you like an introduction to Shattering the Veil?
> [ Y / N ]
“Oh, hey, that did something!”