Walter sat on his bed and looked at the gleaming capsule in the corner of his room.

His father ordered it a week ago, saying something about making friends.

Walter didn't understand the problem with this.

At school, the teachers are nice to him. No one bullies him.

Sure, his grades may be a little low and he often has to take summer classes.

But he's never actually had any problems at school. He enjoys his time there.

He's involved in sport and enjoys playing soccer with the rest of the soccer club.

The rugby club had often tried to recruit him in the past due to his large size and speed, but he hated pain and didn't want to involve himself with it.

Looking at the capsule, he sat and thought. A rare occurrence for him.

A few weeks ago, one of his fathers friends had visited, Walter was invited to join in, though he knew he wouldn't be a part of the conversation.

They had talked about a array of topics and often mentioned a game. At one point Walter was asked if he played, and he mutely shook his head.

His father's friend had exclaimed at that and asked why. Walter only shrugged.

He also remembered his father later exclaiming at the price of the game, though his friend had calmed him down, mentioning that he could get him a employee's discount.

Then a week ago his father had casually mentioned that he purchased a capsule..

Walter didn't particularly care about this. His breakfast was more important than this.

And today this arrived while he was at school..

His father had carefully explained how to use it, and so Walter understood what it was for.

He opens the lid and gets in, then closes the lid.

He will then be inside a new world.

With a reluctant sigh he decided to get it over with. Opening the lid he was mildly surprised to find it looking comfortable inside.

He gingerly climbed in with a dexterity that defied his large size and settled himself into a position he found comfortable.

After a minute of waiting, he realised he was supposed to lower the lid and after doing so, the world went black.

- Connect to Royal Road

Yes | No

Walter thought the choice was fairly obvious. "Yes"

- The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?

Again, a easy question he could answer. Walter spoke "Yes"

— Select the name of your avatar

Walter then hesitated.

His father had told him that it would ask him for his name. But this wasn't actually asking for his name was it?

He also wasn't sure what a 'Avatar' is.

"What?" he stuttered in confusion.

— Select your gender from male, female or neutral

Huh. The question from before had disappeared. Convenient. And this new question was much easier.

"Male" he said confidently.

— Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine.

Oh dear. Another hard question.

But.. He knew the answer for this as well. His father had explained that he needs to choose something he felt comfortable with.

But he didn't know about any of these choices of 'elves' and the like. He only knew about humans.

Which he was. So the answer was obvious here. After all, how can he choose something he doesn't know about?

"Human" he happily answered. Another difficult question solved.

- You may alter your appearance

Walter hesitated again. He could see himself as if there was a mirror in front of him, and while he knew what it meant, he wasn't sure what to do.

After remembering what his dad said. He carefully looked himself over. But there was nothing he wanted to change.

Why would there be?

"I don't need to change anything" he said to the voice.

- Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.

Now he was looking at a giant map.. But he knew how to solve this.

He was supposed to pick where he will play, and his dad did say that he should pick a large place.

But there was so many choices..

The answer becomes obvious, so he just needs a dart..

He looked around, but obviously, he wasn't going to find one here.

So he closed his eyes and pointed randomly at a spot on the map.

- Selected Regus, Keurion Kingdom

His vision flashed and another text box appeared

- Welcome to Royal Road

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Something approaching a tutorial then appeared. He really didn't like the look of it.

It sounded like he was going to get a exam on this.. He doesn't like those.

"Do I have to?" he groaned.

To his surprise, he saw a box appear

- You can skip the tutorial by saying 'Skip'

Happily he said "skip"

And the world faded out..

Light flared and Walter blinked.

Looking around, Walter was amazed. He was actually in another world.

He didn't stay still for long. Too much to see around here for that.

Walter slowly started walking as he peered at some of the items spread on the ground, the strange people walking around and the buildings.

He had never seen such a chaotic place before, and there was so many things he had never seen before!

He often saw a few people who looked different from everyone else. One person had pointing ears and another was taller than he!

As he looked around wide-eyed, other people often looked at him and chuckled "Newbie".

Walter wandered around, looking at the new sights as he followed a road from the large area he appeared in.

He passed shop after shop, and often had to quickly step out of the way as other people crossed his path.

Eventually traffic started to die down as he approached the huge walls surrounding the city.

He gazed at the massive walls and tried to follow them as they curved around into a circle.

Eventually he gave up on this quest. There were too many buildings in the way, and he didn't think he would find his way easily.

He backstepped to where he had seen a large city gate and warily approached it.

His father had also warned him that he cannot leave the city for a month.

Walter walked up to the gate hesitantly, the guards didn't look very welcoming as he approached them.

Gingerly he tried to walk between them, only to have them step in front of him and bar his path with their spears, denying him from walking any further.

"Halt!" The left guard barked. "You may not leave the city at this time!"

Walter didn't want to argue and he quickly turned around.

Walking quickly away he hesitantly looked over his shoulder and found to his relief that they were no longer paying attention to him.

He walked haphazardly down the streets, looking for something he should do.

He really wished he knew what he was supposed to do.

His father did tell him that he should find someone to work for, as he would need food.

But its not like such things are easy to come by. Maybe he should try ask some of the shops?

But again, he knew he wouldn't be able to help with any of the complex things. He never could remember everything he was supposed to do.

Behind him, a man stepped out from a building and looked down the street.

Amidst the people walking around, he spotted a large figure slowly walking as if they had nothing to do, the man bellowed out "Boy!"

Walter hesitated and stopped, he looked around and saw the man looking directly at him.

Walter hesitantly approached the man, hoping he hadn't done something wrong already.

The man grinned and gruffy said "Want to earn a few coppers? I need someone to carry wood across the city, you'll be rewarded at the end of it"

- Tring!

A box appeared. Something about a quest carrying wood.

Walter didn't care about what it said. He finally had something to do.

"Yes" he replied quickly. "I can carry your wood!"

He saw another box. Something about the quest being accepted. Didn't matter to him. He finally had something to do.

The man grinned and waved him inside. 3 fat cords of wood sat on the ground, tied and ready to go.

Walter bent down and heaved a cord of wood into his arms.

He groaned. It was far heavier than it should be. He normally didn't have trouble with this kind of weight. Maybe it was something to do with this new world?

The man quickly gave instructions on where to deliver the wood. Walter didn't remember all of what he said, but he did remember the house he was to bring this to. Walter desperately repeated in his head the directions.

"White windows, red fence and its a long ways down this road"

He nodded to the man and slowly made his way out onto the street while struggling under the weight.

A step after another, he started on his path.

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First chapter. Wondering how posting works..

Dunno if I'm going to continue this. Fun premise however