"What?" Aya asks, disbelieving of the question. Her eyes fall on the sleek sliver headset now resting between Mars' fingers after she had taken it out of its protective case.
"Would you like to try it out?" Mars says again repeating the question.
"Uh..." Aya stammers.
Mars sighs noticing the girl's obvious hesitation. Moving over to a large device Aya hadn't noticed when she stepped into the room, Mars pats a closet sized mechanical device.
The thing unravels in a set of clinks and whirls, coming apart to reveal its velvet insides.
Aya realizes she looking at a gaming pod fit for one person. The girl discreetly pinches herself, making sure she wasn't dreaming.
Gaming pods were notoriously expensive, only the extremely wealthy could afford such technology yet here one was, right before her eyes.
Just who was Mars?
"This is my gaming pod, ever since I got it, I rarely ever use my Zephyr, so I'm going to let you test it out. To show you the difference between a computer and absolute immersion." Mars says approaching Aya.
"Wow." Aya gasps. Mars smirks, watching the girl unable to form a sentence as she refuses the kind offer.
"You won't break it because you'll be lying down and I'm only letting you test it out not lending it to you." Mars says flicking the girl's nose.
"Ow!" Aya says holding her nose. She nods.
"Let me get my computer!" Aya says running out the living room door.
"You have five minutes!" Mars calls as she leaves. The older girl shakes her head, balancing the headset on her waist as she listens to the sound of Aya's footsteps.
----------
"Okay, so I just connect this." Aya murmurs, plugging in the headset to her PacBook under Mars' supervision.
The older girl helps her put on the headset and get comfortable on the floor using one of the cushions from the bedroom.
"It's going to feel weird at first but you'll get the hang of it." Mars says. Aya nods, touching the large start button to the side and waiting for the game to begin.
----------
Aya finds herself floating in a dark space, she closes her eyes in fear, feeling herself fall through the void.
She screams, wondering where she was falling through when all of a sudden it stops.
The menu screen song catches her attention. Deciding to take a peek she finds the Moon Valley menu screen staring at her.
It had all its usual options and Aya uses her finger to select start and enter the game.
A force thrusts her forward and she's once again screaming into the void.
"Yvlena what's the matter?" A kind voice asks, Aya forces herself to open her again. Beatrice stands before her. The NPC's stares in concern over Aya or rather Yvlena.
The girl jumps, all around her are sounds, birds chirping, water flowing, and of course the sounds of the background NPCs going about their business.
A gentle breeze blows, ruffling Yvlena's hair it's as though she's been transported into another world all by the headset.
"I'm in the game." She says making a move to turn around, the fabric of her tunic follows and even the weight of her sword presses against her leg.
Underneath, her starter boots clack against the cobblestone streets of the Floral District.
"This feels so real." Yvlena says, lifting her hands to look at them.
Long slender elven fingers meet her eyes, she reaches for her ears, feeling the pointy tips with the pads of her fingers.
"Amazing." She whispers.
Beatrice places a hand on Yvlena's shoulder and the girl is suddenly aware of the weight upon her frame.
She hugs Beatrice suddenly, pressing her cheek against the older woman's face. The solid form of the embrace is as real as ever.
Yvlena can smell the herb stained arms that wrap around her, the gentle heartbeat of the older woman resounds in her ears.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Beatrice laughs, patting Yvlena's head gently as one would do for a well loved grandchild.
[Affinity with Beatrice increased+3]
The system says hovering above Yvlena's sight.
'Yes, I'm Yvlena now.' The girl thinks.
"Sorry about that Beatrice, I just needed a hug." She explains. The woman waves it off.
"Don't worry my dear, I haven't had a hug like that since my dear Twyla."
Yvlena nods in understanding, never having a hug since her dear grandmother.
"I know what it's like to lose someone too." Yvlena says, resting a comforting hand on Beatrice's shoulder. The two exchange smiles.
[Affinity with Beatrice increased +2]
[Beatrice considers you an acquaintance]
Yvlena nods, happy to see that. Soon the woman has to leave again and Yvlena is left to investigate the Rose manor.
The weight of the golden key rest in her palm after fishing it out of her pocket.
She inserts the key into the lock, opening the gates.
[New Title: Owner of Rose Manor]
Yvlena walks through the mess of a manor, taking a moment to observe the surrounding area.
The long grass and swampy damp floors slow her down before she can even reach the statues of Vaelindor and Selendriel.
[Quest
Rose Manor
***
Rose Manor is in utter decay. Once the gem of the Bloom Haven Floral District, it has long since fallen into disrepair due to neglect.
As Harvest Guardian, it is your duty to restore it to its original glory
Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
Yvlena notices, there is no reward listed, she shrugs hitting the yes button without hesitation.
'Must be a special type of quest.' she thinks.
If this was the outside of the Manor, the inside would be just as bad if not worse.
"I have my work cut out for me." Yvlena says brimming with excitement.
"How do I even begin cleaning this mess?" Yvlena says taking another cursory look at the area. "For one, I need to clear the land."
Looking around she could already tell her tasks would involve chopping down trees and clearing the weeds and swamps.
She would even need to till the land so it would be fit for new plants.
"I need an axe, a scythe, and a hoe." She says. Glancing around, she spots a decrepit wooden shed to the far right of the manor compound.
Dashing towards it as fast as she can, she opens it only to be surprised by a horned rabbit.
Yvlena quickly dispatches it but finds she cannot gain EXP.
[EXP gain locked until Level up]
[Level up locked until class selection]
The system tells her. Yvlena face palms, realizing she still hadn't chosen a class yet.
"I completely forgot about that, I'm level five now." She says.
"Menu." Yvlena yells, and instantly the screen pops up allowing her to click the class selection screen.
After scrolling through the classes available she finds her choice, summoner.
[Class change initiated]
[Choose Summoner as Main Class?]
[Yes/No]
(Cannot be undone)
Yvlena hits the yes button.
[Class confirmation: Summoner]
[Yvlena is now level 6]
[New skills unlocked]
[New changes to stats]
The girl is bombarded by messages from the system and after reading them all, decides to inspect her new stats.
[NAME: YVLENA
RACE: ELF
HP: 300
MP: 250
CLASS: Summoner
CLASS SKILLS: [Summon LV. 1]
SUBCLASS: Herbalist (Harvest Guardian) 1/10
SKILLS: [Herblore LV. 1]
[Alchemy LV. 1]
[Cooking LV.1]
Base Stats
[STR]:20
[DEF]:15
[DEX]:22
[AGI]:20
[INT]:16
[WIS]:16
[CHA]:10
[LUK]:10]
After checking the rest of her stats Yvlena nods in satisfaction.
"These are pretty good but how do I level up my skills and class though?" She asks. Putting it aside she faces the wooden shed.
A plume of dust rises from the old building making Yvlena cough, the dust was so bad it made her eyes water.
'I think they made this a bit too realistic.' she says stepping away from the shed to let it air out.
Coming back, she finds a set of tools waiting for her.
[Yvlena Acquired
***
Rusty Axe x1
Rusty Scythe x1
Rusty Hoe x1]
Retrieving the scythe she begins clearing out the weeds and grass from the front gate, swiping and swiping at the weeds until she gets a notification.
[Yvlena Acquired Fibre x5]
"A new item?" She asks, surmising it must be used for crafting, she carries on.
After what feels like an hour, Yvlena wipes the sweat from her forehead.
There was still so much to do but the Rusty Scythe took five hits before it cleared even the most basic bush.
"Maybe there's a store I can get better tools." Yvlena says, easily unequipping the scythe.
Looking over the manor, she notices she hasn't made a dent in the dense bushes surrounding the front yard.
"I may have to continue this later."
All of a sudden Aya finds herself back in the real world with Mars' face above hers.
"So how was it?" The girl asks. Aya sits up speechless, she stares at her hand. Regular human palms face her, then she looks back at Mars, dazed.
"It all felt so real." Aya says quietly. "How long was I in there?"
"Just under an hour." Mars replies.
"I see." Aya says, staring at nothing in particular.
"You're freaking me out with the way you're staring into space." Mars laughs. "Let's get you some water."
Mars helps Aya to her feet one hand at a time, pulling the girl up from the cushions with practiced ease.
She leads Aya to a cute circular, wooden table and lets Aya take a seat at the chair.
"Sit while I get the water." Mars says walking over to the fridge.
"Mars I was in the game! Like inside it." Aya says, "I could touch the NPCs, it was amazing."
"The Zephyr gear is currently one of the best headsets in the world." Mars says filling a glass of water from the pitcher in her fridge.
"I recall you told me your headset was broken what model do you have."
"The Icarus gear, it'll cost a lot to fix." Aya says resting her head on the table in defeat, completely disheartened.
"How much?"
"500 Lue."
"Doable." Mars says with a shrug.
"What do you mean doable? If I had 500 Lue lying about, I wouldn't be living in this dump." Aya grumbles.
"Well, you know how to make money from the game. How much did the fire stone sell for?"
"20 Gold."
Mars nods.
"Now all you gotta do is grind." She says. Aya whines.
"I'll even make you a wager." Mars says.
"I'm listening." Aya says lifting her head from the table.
"Beat me in a PvP match and I'll sell you the Zephyr with a discount."
"How much of a discount are we talking?"
"I'll sell it to you for 2000 Lue." Mars says. Aya sits up suddenly, almost falling out of her seat.
"That's more than 50% off!"
Mars nods again.
"But if you don't win, I'll give it to you for double that."
Aya does some math and figures out it would be about 4000 Lue still 1000 Lue off the original price for something that was in near perfect condition.
"That's still better than I'd get at most second hand stores." Aya says. She faces the girl with a serious expression.
"Why are you doing this for me?" She asks.
Mars places the glass on the table, right in front of her, Aya accepts the water, downing the whole glass in a matter of seconds.
"Silly girl, I told you I like you."