Nworie Azuka raced down the maze of tunnels that made up the empire. He was racing against time. The mix of metal plastic and the mysterious white material, that made up the tunnels seemed to wiz past him. He pushed himself again. The others had taken the bus and he wished he could afford it. his teacher, Mrs Harrison, was one of the few people who treated him well and had let him leave early enough to have a chance. He hated missing school like this and it felt like he was the only one.
He lived a little short distance from the school in a small flat. It was pretty and well looked after but without any of the flamboyance the other houses in his neighbourhood possessed. He preferred it like that but knew it ashamed his parents. They never had friends around and would just struggle on in their meaningless dead-end jobs. He wanted to do more than that.
He felt like his chest was going to burst. They had finally released the game. He had to get home fast. It didn’t matter that he was 6”4’ with a passion for martial arts and well trained muscles. His parents weren’t home and his parcel would be stolen by the local bad boys as they get back from school. There would be nothing he could do to stop them if he wasn’t there. He waved to his neighbour as he passed and saw his delivery in front of the door. He sighed with relief and picked it up. This was what he had spent his savings on.
Nworie was a kind, strong and intelligent boy. He had four passions which he pursued constantly. He loved knowledge, martial arts, helping people and games. Of these gaming was his favourite. Unfortunately, his family was poor and had come from an Igbo background. He could never afford anything more than the old two dimensional games. They were still popular because the VR games are not only expensive but terrible and few. In games, he had an odd quirk which he could never seem to break. He would always try to achieve the objective of the game avoiding the most obvious method. For example, in fantasy or action games he would avoid killing no matter what and in peaceful games he would try to rampage as much as possible.
He would level with the completion of fetch quests and joining teams as a healer. He gained the nickname pacifist after being the first person to gain a hidden award for reaching max level on one RPG without killing anything. He liked the nickname despite it having been intended as an insult.
Of course, gaming required money. He became the go to person for those who wanted an odd job done for a small fee. He would help regardless if they couldn’t afford it but almost everyone who asked for his help could. In between he would practice the old martial arts. He never needed to train the way he did. Most people would just use the electro-bed to train their bodies. It could be set to decide the intensity exercise that it would imitate and was both easier and safer than traditional exercise. However, there were two simple reasons why Nworie would never use it. Firstly, it would mean a person didn’t hurt because of exercise and they would never become more resilient and able to push themselves. Nworie loved both. He liked the burning sensation that showed he had made progress and he loved the amazement people showed after he got up after a fall with minimal injury and without any reaction to the pain.
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For his love of knowledge Nworie would throw himself into his studies at school and read where possible. He had a naturally brilliant mind but he would put this to the end of his list. His greatest love was in the old myths. He would memorise entire ancient pantheons and be able to recite stories of each god. It was pointless and illogical but he loved learning for the sake of it rather than any practicality. He had a few flaws. He was far too stubborn and that had cost him a lot. He had the hatred of the local gangs and almost everyone in school. He would never retaliate and would always be faced only by large groups. Many called him a saint. The human authorities hated that even though the system says it values such qualities it would never favour him for it all for the concept of fairness.
He picks up the case and moves through the door. He moves straight to his room. This was something he didn’t want to delay. He carefully places the parcel on the bed of his closet- sized room and carefully peeled off the dark brown wrapping. A smooth steel sheen is immediately visible. He breaths deeply, almost shaking with excitement as he unveils the helmet. It was entirely undecorated except for a single logo on the front. Despite this it looked beautiful. He walked back to the front door, locked it and moved back to his bed. With the greatest care, he could manage he plugged in the helmet and placed it on his head, adjusting his long hair to avoid impeding the device’s function.
He presses the small power button on the side of the device and a single light blinks in his vision whilst the rest of the world goes black and the rough feeling of the cheap bedsheets below him disappears. “Please select a program to start”, states a weird metallic voice. I look at the two options: the VR multiverse and the game, Ilmarinen. He smiles. The game shares the name of the smith god that created the sky in Finnic mythology. “This is going to be interesting” he thinks to himself as he selects Ilmarinen.
Please select a player name.
He pauses for a second. He hadn't thought of that. His usual name was just a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols but from the distinct lack of keyboard he would have to say it. He smiles as he thinks of the perfect replacement. "My player name is" He stops and proforms a series of strange hand movements combined with some leg jerks to form some form of odd jig laughing quietly to himself the whole time.
Please confirm player name.
Now laughing openly, he repeats his jig.
Player name confirmed. Welcome to the game MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
A stick figure floats in the air next to the prompt, proforming his silly jig."Why did I do that?" he thinks to himself.