“Frozen Hearts?!”
A gasp escaped Elizabeth's lips as she unwrapped the game, her fingers trembling with excitement. Her mother chuckled as the teenager rolled around on the ground in excitement. For years, the memory of the Frozen Hearts demo had lingered, its haunting melody fueling her desire for the completed game. It was a VR game that allowed you to live as a resident of an icy, fantasy world that prided itself in immersion.
Since the announcement of the game, numerous others have come out to compete with it. Most crashed and burned as they were rushed to make as much money as possible. But the ones that did succeed became huge and won the love of the general public. This left the hype for Frozen Hearts to quadruple as people wondered if it would be overtaken before releasing.
As the years went on more trailers were released showcasing features and character classes. Elizabeth took off the rest of the wrapping paper and saw the classes on full display. There were five that came with the non dlc pack version of the game and ten that came with the two promised packs. She'd already seen people raving about how amazing those packs would be.
“You can play it for two hours then we have to go to your grandmother's house for brunch.” Her mother said as the girl got up and practically ran upstairs to her bedroom. “Don't forget to do your chores and your hair!”
“Yes, mom!” Elizabeth yelled as entered her room and closed her door.
She paced around the messy bedroom with a huge grin on her face. This was officially the best day of her entire teenage life. Since she was thirteen she had been wishing to play Frozen Hearts. Back then she had heard the price and immediately thought she'd never have it. To her younger brain, it seemed impossible for her mother to ever be able to afford it.
But she'd been proven wrong and she was thrilled. In her hands was not only a copy of the game but also a custom VR headset. She sat down and began to unbox everything, gasping in awe at its beauty. The headset was a dark blue with snowflakes drawn on in glitter paint. The connection cord was braided and resembled snow with how white it was.
The teenager connected to her system and turned it on. Instantly, the CD port opened up and she popped the game in. The CD was similarly designed with ice crystals and snowflakes that moved in the light. She was shaking with nerves as she looked at the headset. The game began to boot up with the game's English theme song twinkling in her ears with its soft tune.
The headset was built so it slipped over your face as a pair of goggles. There were earphones connected that you popped in and she could feel the softness of everything. She was surprised by this as everything looked so sturdy but at the touch was like a pillow. Elizabeth shrugged and just figured it was another way Frozen Hearts was more advanced than others.
Slipping the headset on and the earphones into her ears, she shivered. She gasped as she saw a log-in screen pop up as if it were in thin air. Elizabeth waved her hands and the screen remained solid in its form. It was blue like everything else related to the game but the text was white and bold. With nothing else to do, she began to set up an account for the game.
“Username? That's easy.” Elizabeth used the same one for everything related to gaming. “Password has to be at least twelve characters? Sheesh.”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Once she finished putting in her information, the login screen disappeared along with her room. Elizabeth let out a scream and winced expecting her mother to run upstairs to see what was wrong. Instead, nothing happened besides a pop-up appearing in the darkness. It was in the form of a note that had an arrow directly to a button. She clicked the open button and her surroundings began to fill with what had to be sunlight as she read.
“Outside and in-game noises will be muted unless there is an emergency.” Elizabeth hummed, finding that to be pretty reasonable. “Alrighty then.”
She clicked the accept button and was thrust into the ground. She screamed again, feeling the snow beneath her body soak her clothes to her shock. The teenager stood up and shivered. She was barefoot, in a sweatshirt and jeans. Not what she had been wearing earlier. Elizabeth looked at herself and her surroundings in disbelief. There was nothing but snow and mountains as far as the teenage girl could see. She was freezing and coughed weakly.
With the cough, the environment itself moved like a glitch and a menu came into her view. It was blue like the login menu but felt and looked more real. Everything about it was 3D and left the woman unnerved.
{WELCOME TO FROZEN HEARTS}
☆PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER CLASS☆
She stood there, rubbing her arms in the freezing snow in deep thought. She paced around and tried to think about the classes. From what the girl could remember they were as follows: Farmer, Hunter, Cook, Maid & Nurse. This may seem like a tiny amount for such a high-class game but each type had hundreds of choices, missions, subclasses, and powers to explore. With how everything felt, she knew that playing them out would be amazing.
☆PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER CLASS☆
“Jeez,” Elizabeth yelled out as the menu became bigger and more intimidating. It was like there was an invisible timer ticking off for her to choose. The teen hummed anxiously and just picked what came to her mind. “MAID wa–”
☆YOU'VE CHOSEN THE CLASS OF MAID☆
{YOU ARE: MAID ‐ LVL 1}
☆SAVED: MAP OF FROST TOWN & ESTATE☆
“From the tutorial teaser?” Elizabeth asked herself as she watched what had to be her inventory pop up. A chest appeared out of thin air and she clicked onto it. This showed her a physical map of the town and the estate in it.
She took it out and read it over, instantly feeling her head hurt. “Goodness, this is so much information.” It was a fully drawn-out map that showed she was in the middle of the town's mountains. “I have to walk for that long?”
Before she could continue complaining the previous menu closed out. A new one appeared and she closed her map to read it. It was a basic rundown of everything she had been previously told in detail. Due to her rushing to choose a class, to her dismay, she was stuck as a maid. Elizabeth silently cursed herself and wished she had just chosen to be a powerful hunter. It stated that she was supposed to go to Frost Estate for her mission to begin.
Elizabeth remembered it from one of the first teasers. It showed the tutorial of how a player would be dropped on the mountain trial to start. The girl looked around, seeing that under the snow a few feet away was a path. The pathway was made out of stone and she could see ice on it. Elizabeth didn't want to slip and take a tumble down the entire way. Thankfully, the menu reminded her that she had a starter amount of money and supplies to use.
{MAID LVL 1 ‐ STARTER INVENTORY}
◇ 1 MAID OUTFIT ◇
◇ 1 MAP OF FROST TOWN ◇
◇ 1 MAP OF FROST ESTATE ◇
{YOU HAVE x2000 COINS}
“Two thousand is good enough for me to go buy a snow coat when I get into town. But for now, I'm going to be stuck with this.” With an annoyed eye roll, the brunette teenager clicked on the maid outfit and switched to it.
Like magic, her tutorial jeans and sweatshirt disappeared into thin air. Her clothes were replaced by the stereotypical French maid outfit. The black dress thankfully came to her ankles and the apron to her waist. It was tied into a large and dramatic bow behind her back, frilly like the bonnet atop her head. Her hair transformed into ringlets that reminded her of romance film protagonists in the period pieces her grandmother adored.
Flexing her arms, she watched the wrist-length sleeves gracefully flow in the air. She touched the fabric and felt how soft it was. “Wow, this is cool.”
Elizabeth looked at herself in wonder. She tapped her shoes against the ground and was shocked they were so sturdy. They appeared to be plain flats but they stood strong in the wet grass. Along with this, she was surprisingly warm in the cold winter air. The mountains around her didn't feel as daunting now that she was dressed to battle them. The teenager took in a deep breath and prepared herself for the journey ahead.
The brunette didn't doubt that she'd see other players soon. This was the tutorial starting point so there'd be others trying to figure everything out. But with new players came the mobs and NPCs built into the game. Wild dogs, elves, thieves, and more awaited her down the snowy slope. And she didn't have anything to defend herself with. Elizabeth balled her hands into fists and pushed these troublesome thoughts to the back of her mind.
“Let's get going,” Elizabeth said with a determined fire burning in her eyes. “Show me the MAP OF FROST TOWN.”