I awoke in a valley of shadow and mist. Before me stretched an endless barren road with faded gray-grass hills on either side. Above me, like a giant's eye, a metallic orb dragged itself across the sky. Its copper fire fell among the mist leaving no shadows, no separation between light and darkness. I felt no warmth, no coldness as I searched this strange landscape. I had a feeling of dread, misery and dismay fleeting in the wind all around me. This was not a place of joy. It was a place of death and decay and I had chosen to be here. And I was excited.

Gods Felled Online had finally launched and I stood in the game's introduction staring in awe at the reality of this new world. A place where I could be something new. Leave behind my old life and take on a new form. A place where, even though it supposed to be the toughest online game, I could be the best.

I took my first step down the dusty path and got my first glimpse at my new body. My foot was decrepit and raw. My legs like ashen wood. I was bare, as bare as the gray hills. No clothes, no weapons, with skin as bleak as charcoal. My body was frail, thin and skeletal. I looked at my hands, hands I knew were mine but old and decayed. I had not genitalia, no hair, and I could feel my lips peeled back over rotten teeth.

I took another step as I flexed my bony fingers and nearly tripped on something that caught my foot. I turned to see what had caught me and was met with a gruesome sight. Behind me laid rolling hills of decayed bodies. Like my own they were all naked, shriveled and bony. I thought about waiting, waiting and seeing if one of the bodies would move. Awake from its dark sleep and stand before me but something within me encouraged me to leave behind this darkness and turn to the path forward.

I left this scene of death and walked into the mist and shadows. The fog before me parted, shrinking back as if frightened by my presence. No matter what direction I moved it fell away. I don’t know how far I walked before I heard the bell ringing. Somewhere in the distance, either over the hill or beyond the horizon I could not tell, a bell tolled on. It’s deep resonating sound grew louder and louder as I walked down the path. It seeped into my dried flesh and curled my soul. I felt my mind being drawn deeper and deeper into this new world. A new reality.

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As I continued my way down the path, I was eventually greeted by a glimmer of light hanging in the air. It floated at my eye level and as I came closer its blurring edges sharpened into a single word.

[ENTER]

I reached up into the air and touched the glowing word. In a strange sensation, as if I was falling but upwards, I was whisked away from his path of dust and bones and taken somewhere new.

The ringing of the bell stopped, and I found myself standing in a clearing. A thin wade of ink like water shimmered in the light of the metallic orb in the sky. My feet barely covered by its depths. The grassy knoll that once surrounded me was replaced by an endless void. A void that only shined where I now stood. However, I was no longer alone.

Before me stood six figures each dressed in different armors, robes and hoods. They all held in their hands a variety of weapons and shields. Some with spears. Others with swords. A few with books or bows. None of the six figures moved or reacted to my presence. They all stood still like statues waiting for midnight to call them to life.

Another blur of light presented itself before me. It flared to life as a ripple in space before coalescing into a sentence.

[CHOOSE YOUR CLASS]

This was the moment I was most excited about joining Gods Felled Online. Becoming someone new. I had studied the classes extensively before the launch of the game and I had a good idea of which class I was going to choose but now that I saw the different shapes before me and the potential they held, I knew my choice wouldn’t be easy.