Jim blinked his eyes and shook his head. He was floating and tumbling as if he were in space. Everything was dark except for twinkling lights all around him about 20 feet around him in a sphere. As he tumbled around he saw a large screen come into view with a countdown timer. There were about two minutes left. As he tried to focus on the screen he saw the question:
Please choose your class from the following:
At least 50 different flavors of occupations were on the long list after the prompt. A red warning bar above the input field was flashing.
If no entry is registered, the system will choose a class at random.
Jim was used to video games, even though he had only played more now that his dad wasn't around as much to disapprove. When he played with the gang, he usually played caster classes. His role was the cleric and was the dedicated healer when he and his buddies played D&D or multiplayer MMORPGs. The timer hit 59 seconds and Jim finally found the cleric entry. In his haste to select it, he misjudged and hit Paladin by mistake which was one entry away.
"Bizknacker!" He yelled in frustration as the timer kept counting down. The screen went blank, preparing to show the next optimization choice. It was going so slow! Jim didn't know how many more screens he would have to cycle through, but if this were like most games, there could be a lot of selections, and the timer kept its merciless march to zero.
Finally, the next screen was up. Now he had to choose his alignment, which was easy since everything but lawful good was greyed out. He clicked it quickly and another pause before the next screen showed stats:
Please allocate your free stat points(20). If no entry is registered, points will be allocated at random.
Character: Jim Roark
Class: Paladin
Alignment: Lawful Good
Stats:
Agility: 8
Constitution: 8
Charisma: 8
Strength: 8
Perception: 8
Intelligence: 8
Luck: 8
Jim tried to quickly move the virtual cursor before the time ran out. Luck was highlighted and the timer clicked to zero.
Unassigned stat points randomly allocated.
Agility: 8
Constitution: 8
Charisma: 8
Strength: 8
Perception: 8
Intelligence: 8
Luck: 28
"Ah, no! This is ridiculous!" Jim exclaimed in anger. What a horrible build! He knew that this would be very difficult to progress in his class with all his stats being at the very bottom base values. He tried to remember when he had started playing a VR game, but he could remember very little from before. He remembered odd snippets, like his family and friends, but the recent past was a blur. It must be some kind of short term memory loss. It wasn’t totally uncommon in full immersion VR games to be a little disoriented at first as the brain tried to assimilate the different inputs and interpret them into sensory data and to calibrate movement and have these impulses sync with the game world. The amnesia effect was a little weird and different though.
Focusing on the game, he wondered why didn't he have any time to chose properly? What type of game was this? His lack of short-term memory was frustrating. He briefly looked through the menus and did not see any chance to log out in the settings menu. Just options for modifying his display and how messages were sorted and shown. The program continues with the process, booting him out of the settings menu and moving on to the next selection step. The floating screen reverted to its character design mode and Jim saw another message.
As a paladin choose your patron deity: No entry selected. Deity class(es) chosen at random: Trickster/Fortune
Jim's mood fell even more. Probably because of his luck stat is the only one he had any points, his patron deity as a paladin had been chosen for him. Disappointed, he waited to see what else was going to be chosen for him.
Specialized item(s) detected for the character. Delivered. Please view your inventory to access and equip.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Prepare to enter the Kingdom of Dar
Jim closed his eyes and felt a sensation of sliding. He was pulled downward as if standing on the sand in the upper part of an hourglass, rushing towards a sparkling light that grew ever brighter. There was a flash of light and heat, and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in on the top of a large dune. In the distance, there was a city visible. Jim pulled up his inventory and saw he was wearing basic robes. The only other item was a silver sword and a small pouch. He opened the pouch and found an amulet and a small scroll. He pulled out the scroll to read it when a gust of wind blew sand in his face. Spitting and cowering away from the wind, he wrapped a swath of the robe around his face to protect himself from the annoying sand. Keeping the wind to his back he looked at the scroll.
Jim Roark, you do not know me but I am here to let you know you are in danger. You are trapped in the game Ouroboros Online and Executives at WSG want to blackmail your father by using you as leverage. You must not die or they will be able to hack your character. I have enclosed an amulet that will prevent any damage, leaving you with 1% of total hp from any strike that would kill you. It will also randomize your character name and facial appearance so you will be able to evade mercenaries or people specifically looking for you, so do not reveal your true name to anyone. I will try to help you more in the future, but I cannot be discovered. Good luck, I will try to contact you soon! ---The Oracle
Jim stood there trying to make sense of everything. It wasn't until after he was older, that his father allowed him to play video games. Probably due to his dad’s life becoming super busy with his company. He simply wasn’t home as much to guide Jim’s choices.
Jim had never played OO, mostly because it was one of the most expensive VR games out there. Its highest tier of play boasted sensory connection through nanobot interaction so people could feel their muscles move and experience every sensation. He didn't have nanobots, they were prohibitively expensive and often killed people during integration if the host suffered from a rejection event.
WSG also offered a capsule option that was still only for the richest of people who were reluctant to interact with the unreliable nanobot technology. Capsules offered another level of immersion above the simpler haptic suits that were usually in the price range of most regs. Not everyone was so into games that they would risk dying from the nanobots, even if they did double life expectancy due to their ability to repair and detect diseases and conditions years before they would show up in normal tests.
On top of that, the yearly game subscription was equivalent to the average yearly middle-class regs wage. Had his father gifted him a subscription because his company was doing so well? It seemed unlikely, his father was thrifty and pragmatic. Questions for a different day, perhaps.
Jim pulled out the amulet from his inventory and wondered, Who is the Oracle? Can I trust him? Why would they help me, unless they have their own agenda I know nothing about. Focusing on the item, he saw its stats:
Amulet of Protection
Can only be equipped by Jim Roark
Item will become soul-bound once equipped and cannot be removed or stolen.
Randomizes player’s name and changes appearance so will not show up on direct searches.
Any damage that would reduce hp to zero is mitigated to allow 1% hp to remain.
Cooldown(hp save): 1 day
Looks like it does what she said it would. He donned the amulet the chain and medallion feeling cold against his skin even in the hot environment. Even after wearing it for a minute, it retained its cool temperature. Jim looked around, trying to find some landmark to head towards. Shielding his eyes, his white gauzy robes that flapped in the hot winds that blew sandy grit around him. He saw what he thought to be a city off in the distance. Orienting himself in relation to the sun he set off.
Climbing, or more accurately sliding down the dune, he tripped against something hard and tumbled ass over teakettle down the dune. After getting to the bottom, he noticed that the wind was a little less intense, which was a welcome change. He looked upward and saw something dislodged in the sand about 10 feet uphill. He duck-stepped up to the object and saw that it was a small tarnished lamp. Picking it up he looked at the stats.
Plain-looking tarnished lamp.
Why not give it a rub and clean it up?
Thinking better of it, he stashed the lamp into his inventory. He'd try to get to somewhere stable before he threw anything unknown into the mix. If he knew games, the lamp had a genie and a whole quest line that would follow, and he had basically no armor and a beginner weapon. Better to level up a bit before committing to something that may have a time limit.
He followed at the contours of the dunes heading the direction of the city. Without any water, he soon grew parched as he trudged through the loose sand. The sun was sinking lower in the sky, and he was able to walk more in the shade as shadows stretched with the waning sun.
Unfortunately, he did not have any money, so getting something to eat and drink as well as some lodging would be difficult if he got to the town too late. Hopefully, there would be some easy fetch quest or something some rats to kill so he could make it through the night. From the note he received, he realized that he couldn't log out. And if the people who made the game were gunning for him, he would have to level fast and stay as incognito as possible.
That reminded him to check his settings. He found the settings to make his account hidden along with his level, and stats from other players. He doubted that would keep the developers from finding him, but if there was a bounty out for him it would be more difficult to find. He hoped. They may not know his name, but he didn’t want to broadcast he was a noob if there were bounties popping up.
Faster than he expected he reached the outskirts of the city. The town looked deserted, with sand piled up along the edges of round buildings that appeared to be made of some form of clay. Interspersed amid the smaller buildings he expected to see in a middle-eastern setting, he noticed ruins of large skyscrapers jutting out like jagged teeth in the city’s edge. This city appeared to be built on the ruins of another city, long dead.
Walking down the main street he saw some evidence of life. A large building with a sign out front with a picture of a bed seemed to beckon to him. Below it there was writing in an exotic language with lots of swoops and dots that reminded him of Arabic. Figuring this was the inn, he stepped inside. A large man stood behind the far counter, polishing long angular glassware.
"Pardon me, but I have just arrived in town. Would I be able to trade some kind of service for lodging and a meal?" Jim asked tentatively.
The man stopped what he was doing, set down his glass and blinked. Jim wondered if the man spoke English, trying to think of a way to pantomime what he wanted.
"Sorry, could you repeat that?" the man said, with a thick foreign accent that was hard to place.
"I was just asking if there was a way that I could trade some kind of service for a meal and lodging. I am new to town and have no money yet---"
"Of course, of course! I am glad you have come! We don't get much traffic out here. You have the look of a wanderer, am I right?"
"A wanderer?"
"Yes, yes, I can see it in your eyes. You are not from these lands, are you? It is very rare that anyone comes here. In fact, I think it must be at least ten years since I saw a wanderer visit these lands. He did not stay long, saying that this land was far below his level. I know of many people who need things around town and that would be more than willing to trade a bit of coin for your help." the man said.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” Jim was secretly glad he had entered the game in an unpopular area. It didn't sound like any other players were here, which would be great for him to level and grow accustomed to the game. He would have to increase his reputation with the town and hopefully, the townsfolk would notify him if anyone suspicious showed up looking for him. "What is your name good sir?" Jim asked, putting on his best disarming smile.
"You can call me Dilshad....” the man said, rubbing his hands together, “...shall we get started?”