“Everything seems great so far. I can’t even figure out how they made all of this.”

I was constantly repeating phrases like this. The map was enormous, everything felt incredibly real and I was finally living the dream I always wished for. It was obvious for me to feel this way.

While feeling extremely happy I kept running in the direction the half elf girl ran. After a couple of minutes I finally understood why she was running in this direction.

A giant city suddenly appeared. It was hidden in the middle of the pine tree forest I was located.

“Wow” was the only word that got out of my mouth. I was amazed by the beautiful city that was in front of me.

Without thinking it much I decided to go give it a look.

Running like a child from one place to another I explored a big part of the city. It seems big from the outside but when you’re inside it just feels like it isn’t going to end.

Everything was so cheerful; some people were dancing and having a good time while some others preferred to just hear the music and watch the dancers. The musicians played with a couple of instruments that I had never seen before. One was playing with something like a lute and the other one with some kind of ocarina. This happened in the plaza.

I kept moving and found the market. It was very colorful and filled with tons of people.

It was very exciting to see all kind of different stuff, mainly weapons like swords and axes but there were also fabrics and food.

Also amazing was to see all the people trading and buying, it really felt like a fantasy medieval world.

Moving to one store to another I was exploring the city until a weird feeling in my stomach stopped me.

I opened the menu and Maid-chan appeared again.

“May I know the hour Maid-chan?”

“Of course onii-san! Right now it’s 2:00 pm.”

“2:00 pm?! Now I know why I was so hungry!”

“Where do I get something to eat? Or worst, am I even able to eat in the game? Also, I will need money to pay.” Those were my thoughts.

In that moment, an old man approached me and told me if I needed something.

“How do I get money sir?”

“You look like an adventurer, aren’t you one?”

“I think I am, I’ve already killed a couple of monsters…”

“Did you loot them?”

“Is this what I should have looted?” I asked while I took out the gems of the monsters.

“Yes, exactly those. You can change those gems in the Klanen for actual money.”

Isn’t Klanen Norwegian for “Guild”? I suppose that’s the name of the city’s Guild.

“Sorry but, could you tell me where the Klanen is?”

“If you walk straight for about 100 Kedrs you’ll get there. It’s the big building in front of the Sacred Lake in the center of the city.”

Kedrs? This game should tell me at least what that means, but it doesn’t even have a map!

“Thank you!” I told to the old sir which happily answered to me “You’re welcome kid”.

“Well, I just need to keep walking in this direction until I reach the lake.”

“Now that I think of it the city has a lake right in the middle! That’s super cool!”

I walked straight until I eventually reached the Klanen.

It was a big building that reminded me of “La Casa Rosada” or “The Pink House” in Argentina, except that it was white.

“What a beautiful building! But I can’t see the lake, the Klanen is too big.”

With a feeling of disappointment I entered the place.

I tried to read the signs but they were written in a strange language I had never seen before.

I opened the menu and asked Maid-chan to read it for me but she also couldn’t.

“I think these are the kind of bugs that still need to be fixed.”

I almost forgot that this is still a Beta. Everything couldn’t be perfect right?

“Still this is amazing. I seriously can’t believe that an actual virtual world this huge was created. Every single detail was carefully designed to make this world look and feel more real and real every second that I spend in the game. It really is an ambitious project.”

While still lost in my thoughts a young lady, apparently working here, asked me if a needed something.

“Yes, uhm, where can I change these gems?”

“Follow me; I’ll change them for you.”

“Thanks!”

When I was finally able to change the gems the girl mockingly asked me: “Is that all?”

“Uh… yes.”

“Oh, okay then.” She said quickly as if she was willing to end the conversation as soon as possible.

It was an uncomfortable moment I know; I’m an expert in those themes.

“I think this isn’t much money, but I hope it’s enough for a meal.”

I was leaving but something caught my attention.

I big entrance to a garden was near the exit of the building, a lot of people were there and I was just standing still because what I saw after seeing the people was beautiful.

An enormous lake welcomed me as I entered the garden.

It was a gorgeous loch filled with pure blue water. The noise of the people was muted by its majesty. I stopped being in my senses and just admired the beautiful picture I was contemplating.

As if it wasn’t enough, a big church that seemed like the “Cologne Dom Cathedral” (because of the Gothic architecture but a little bit smaller) was in the middle of lake, constructed over a small island.

Again, the developers surprised me: “God, that’s a really cool design for the main city of the game.”

I was just getting back to reality (the virtual one) while an old lady started to talk to me. People are really friendly right? Well it’s a game so I should get used to people talking to me frequently.

“This is your first time in Galdric right?” I assume Galdric is the name of the city.

“Uhm, yes it is.”

“Haha it seemed so. Do you know the legend of the castle?”

“The legend of the Castle…?”

“Please let me tell you the legend of the castle of Galdric better known as the castle of the Stoigom.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Finally some storytelling” I thought before she started her story.

“A thousand of years ago this city was just a simple and non-relevant village beside the lake but it had one particularity; the gate of Ynfernorsk, the world of demons and monsters, was located in the small island in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately the villagers didn’t know a thing about this.

One day, the previously mentioned gate was opened and all the demons started to attack the small and defenseless village. But it was more than just some demons doing antics; it was actually a massive invasion that the leaders of the Ynfernorsk planned in order to get the Vahnorsk, our world.

With no other option, the villagers gathered and started to pray to the Gods and asked them to help the village and the world to stop the invasion that was happening. The Gods heard them and thought that it would be a good idea to help the humans. They then decided to give some humans the power to fight against the evil forces. This power was later known as the “God’s Kiss”.

With this power the heroes were able to defeat the demons and to close the gate of Ynfernorsk. These heroes then built the temple to seal the gate and to honor the Gods that gave them the power to fight.

When the construction of the temple was finally over, one of the most powerful Gods, Gavrel, descended from Daltnorsk to deliver a message; “We really appreciate your gestures of gratitude and to compensate you for not forgetting who you are and having kept your praises to us all the time, we will give you a gift”.”

“And what was the gift?”

“See that castle over there? It’s full of different gates that lead to different worlds or levels. “The brave that defeats all the 100 worlds of the castle and reaches the level of a God will be granted a wish”. That’s the legend of the castle.

 “Stoigom” means one hundred levels in an ancient language, that’s the reason of the name it has been giving through the years.”

“Wow that sounds really great. As I’m and adventurer I should go give it a look right? Maybe I can get my wish granted.”

“Haha I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Because the farthest that someone has ever reached is level 70 and that happened 93 years ago. People usually reach level 30.”

“Maybe I can be the first one.”

“I still don’t think so but if you’re still willing to get there then you should enlist yourself in the city’s academy. They’ll teach you how to properly fight.”

“Thank you a lot grandma!”

“By the way, aren’t you hungry? This is also the cafeteria of the Klanen, you can eat here if you want. You really have a face of being hungry.”

“Haha, you got me there. Let’s go then.”

The old lady took me to an empty table and started to take my order.

“Shit, I don’t understand anything in this menu at all. This is really pissing me off.” I thought while smiled and told the lady to bring me the cheapest thing in the menu.

During the time I waited for my food to arrive I admired one more time the beautiful scenario that was in front of me.

After a couple of seconds my eyes then pointed to the castle in the little island and I remembered the whole story that I just heard.

“Well, clearly the religion in the game is based on some polytheistic religions. Also the name of the god that gave the humans the message, Gavrel, is very similar to “Gabriel” who was an archangel and the messenger of God according to the Catholic Church.”

“I also noticed the use of Norwegian words in the language of the world.”

During this obviously professional review of the game my food was served and without hesitating I ate.

It was some kind of meat that looked and smelled really weird, but as hungry I was that didn’t matter at all.

“The story of the game is really interesting so far and also the fact of going to an academy before you go the castle is one plus. As a VRMMORPG the fights are obviously very different from just having to press some buttons in the keyboard.”

“With beautiful graphics that makes you feel in the real world, cool story and a lot of things to do this game is an excellent experience and I’m sure it’s going to sell a lot of copies in the first weeks. It’s probably going to be a new record that won’t be surpassed for a long time.”

“The only thing that I’ve found very annoying is the fact of not understanding a single shit of the language of the game. I just hope it gets fixed by the official release.”

In a matter of seconds (or at least for me) I finished eating. I was so concentrated that I can’t really remember if it was a good meal or bad one.

I stood up and searched for the lady so I could pay and get going because it was almost time for the first reminder of the game to get out.

I finally found here and asked her for the check.

“It’s just 100 Aurs. Very cheap ain’t it?”

“Is this enough?”

“Hahahahahaha that was a good joke.”

Unfortunately that wasn’t a joke and as if the lady immediately realized what I was thinking in that moment, she then asked me.

“I’ll give this meal free if you do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“I’m running out of eggs so I need you to go to the forest and get some eggs of Lagvf. You know, those big green lizards that are usually in the forest. But be careful, they are really aggressive so make sure to just fight one at the time.”

“Ok, I’ll bring you as many eggs as possible.”

“I will also give this map I use. It has the location of the spots they usually live on.”

“Thank you.”

“Good bye and get your ass here before it’s dark. I need those eggs for tomorrow.”

In that moment, one little window appeared in the corner of my field of vision:“New Quest: Eggs for the lady. She really wants those eggs.”

“LOL, what the fuck with this name” I thought while laughing in my mind.

I accepted and then remembered that I was doing another quest.

“Oh yeah, I was looking for the half elf girl. I’ll  leave that for later.”