Stage01.NetGameSaga.ww\NOAH\Beta_Test
Level 03:\NOAH Staff\Henry\Startup -Opening the Gate-
« Philippines\Quezon City, Manila\Orion Digital Entertainment Headquarters »
Several computers in the spacious warehouse area blared zipping noises, as Henry walked to the meeting room. He saw the employees' flat screen monitors displayed messages from the players, then the young employees responded to them in a snap.
“Another complaint from an American player about our transforming slime monsters, sir Henry!” the bald employee shouted at him.
He approached his father's employee, with his hands in his fitted denim shorts, “For now, tell him to strike 'em at their sides.”
“You sure about this?” the bald employee raised his voice, “I died like five times fighting three of them, then we'll answer that?”
“Yes. Tell it to him.” Henry smiled at him.
The bald employee nodded at him, then he strode to the meeting room.
Henry panted after his hasty walk to their office. He saw his bespectacled siblings, and his father, sat at the long wooden table. He sat beside Iris, his twin sister. “What's up, Ate Iris?”
Iris whispered, “Papa has something for us.”
Orion, the white-haired father, cleared his throat, “Kids, from now on, you will be given a special NOAH Online character.”
“Would that mean, we get to play all day with you, dad?” Edgar, the spiky-haired brother with glasses, asked.
"Yes, but we won't be like the regular players though.” Orion smiled at him. “Those new characters you'll get are: our game supervision and modification characters.”
“That means, we'll be likely to use them for organizing events for the players, dad?” Valerie, the short-haired eldest sister, stroked her chin.
“Oh papa! How are we going to be noticed?” Iris asked.
While Henry's siblings asked most of the questions, he drew a mental picture of his other avatar.
In his mind, he saw himself as a dark blue-haired boy. He wore a short-sleeved baby blue uniform, with a pair of epaulettes. Should this game run as planned, I'm going to find this costume! If not, I can always model it myself.
In a split second, a short-haired girl with short cycling shorts hugged him. “Hope to see you again, Henry!”
A gentle breeze caressed his legs, then he found himself wearing a pair of yellow mid-thigh bike shorts. At the same second, his face reddened, either for his imagined girly-boy avatar? Or the sight of his schoolmate crush?
Edgar patted his shoulder, “Hats, why are you blushing?”
Henry shook his head, “I can't wait to see her again.”
Valerie sang at him, “Alicia & Henry under the tree—”
Iris joined her sister, “H-O-L-D-I-N-G!”
“W-wait a minute!" Henry waved his palms at his siblings, “It's not like I have feelings for her, but I like her as a best friend.”
“Your face's showing it! You like Alicia, bro!” Edgar laughed.
“Kids, let's set that aside.” Orion stood up in front of them, then he gave them golden cards. Each golden card provided a special username, password, and a mugshot of an in-game character.
Orion tapped a large touch screen monitor behind him, “Before I let you log into the game, there'll be unique characters in the game that will assist us in maintaining this game.”
“As in, AI partners, dad?” Valerie stretched her hands to the roof. “I hope they don't take over our place, dad.”
“Don't worry Valerie, they'll listen to me, the Granddaddy.” Orion patted her smooth shoulders.
Henry raised his hand, “Say, would the players even notice their presence?”
“They'll never see them, as if they're the Director from Left4Dead, son.” Orion tapped his shoulder, “Anyways, time to welcome our pioneers, son.”
« Logged into NOAH Online; Global Test Server as [Game Moderator] Reoruune desh-Kaidun »
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
« Briarwelt Moon\Walled Metropolis -Kanpeki Sekai- »
While most of the players trained themselves in the «VR Training Decks», his long-haired Elf avatar, Reoruune desh-Kaidun, materialized in the middle of a tree park.
He lifted his hands in the air, then his palms popped out holographic hexagonal crosshairs. At the same second, a holographic list appeared on his left arm.
“«Worldshaper» mode, activated. Set to Object Mode.” a disembodied high-pitched female voice spoke from his gold jeweled belt.
"Henry, make the park welcoming for the new players, okay?" his father's disembodied voice said to him.
"I'm on it, papa!" Henry, as Reoruune, answered. He launched glassy holographic cubes at the park's paths, then he selected an archway with balloons on his holographic list. The cubes around him popped into archways in three seconds.
“Now, add in NPCs of varying ages and races! Just like at the start of the novel, okay?” his father radioed him.
Reoruune set his «Worldshaper» to an «NPC (Non-playable character) Spawner» mode, then he fired 20 reddish-orange, heart-shaped energy projectiles on the stone paths.
“Papa, do they have dialogue already?” Reoruune watched the smoking projectiles on the ground.
Orion said, “Yes, we have programmed them since Alpha Test, son.”
Three seconds after, heart-shaped projectiles on the ground turned into bystanders with varied clothing. The AI personality on his belt spoke, “«EMZARA» reporting: Bystanders done, Reoruune!”
People around him opened their eyes, then many wandered around the park. In front of him, two human teenager NPCs gazed at the colorful plants grown at the park. The spiky-haired boy held the girl's hand, “My love, what do we do next?”
“We'll travel around the world, then discover precious creatures in the wilderness!” the girl with a straw hat smiled at him.
Droplets of tears crept on Reoruune's pale face. How in the world did the in-game characters talk like real people? What form of sorcery or programming is this?
“Reo, «HAIKAL» wrote their destinies, and made them to live like us.” EMZARA spoke to Reoruune.
HAIKAL. An image of a flow-chart heavy page of the NOAH Online operation manual gave out its definition: Humanization of Artificially-Intelligent Kinetic Avatar Library.
“Say, where's Eden?” Reoruune stroked his chin, “I thought he's doing the starter map...”
“Eden's now in charge on what will happen here tonight.” Emzara showed herself as a female Elder Celestian, “Anyway, I'll show something to you!”
The NPC characters around him produced fiery blue lines headed to different directions away from their location. The human lovers' paths pointed to the north, while a new path appeared below him.
Reoruune stepped away from the blue fiery line, “What's this line?”
Emzara replied, “That's the path programmed for an upcoming merchant.”
He heard a whirring sound headed to his way, then he found a bearded Dwarg merchant, designed for selling newbie equipment. He parked a futuristic wooden wheelbarrow, filled with equipment from the medieval times, beside him.
The Dwarg merchant spoke to him, “Lookin' gaudy, my friend!”
Reoruune patted its furry head, until a reddish holographic window appeared on his left. « 70 players completed training! EMZARA, HAIKAL, and EDEN system in full operation. Welcome to BRIARWELT PLANET, everyone! »
« Switching client. Session to be continued... »
« Chapter Appendix: »
This is the first of the developer/staff chapters to appear in this version of NOAH Online/NetGameSaga story. Henceforth, some of the new names mentioned here are acronyms of a living system in the game.
* EDEN : Eternal Dynamic Entertainment Network
* EMZARA : Entity Management, Zoning, Assembly, & Restoration Avatar