Sunlight peaked over the horizon and Astoria awoke to the sound of a notification. Unlike past notifications, which had just blinked as an icon in the corner of her vision, this one forced itself open and covered most of her field of vision. She read it and was immediately in a state of disbelief.

Global Notification

Players, as you may have noticed, this game is unlike any you could have imagined! As the warning indicated, there is no turning back!

This world is yours to live in, yours to die in! There are 24 million users and that is all that there ever will be. Your consciousness has been transferred into the game and your real bodies have died.

You have all been reborn! This is a world of wonder as well as one of consequences. If you die within this world, you will not re-spawn.

We do realize that this may seem cruel. However, this world is a gift given to you select players who managed to log in within the first 6 hours of launch. This is your world now. Everything is real. Tread carefully, explore and truly live the adventures that you have surely always dreamed of!

There will be no further global notifications.

Astoria read the notification over and over again. She was completely dumbstruck by this revelation. She simply stood in place for several minutes panicking over what she had just read. This has got to be a joke. There is no way that a company could get away with doing something like this, she tried to reassure herself. If it was not a lie, then she was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Her body, like many others, would be found lifeless, hooked up to a VR system. There would be outrage. It would be a horrible, worldwide tragedy. No one would ever know that they were still here. Nobody would be coming to save her, and there was nothing she could do except learn to survive here.

Phoenix Online is a world of magic, adventure and limitless possibilities. She would not succumb to panic and would not let this game beat her. I can do this. I just have to move forward. This world is what I've always dreamed of, and the real world has always been shit to me anyway, she tried to pull herself together. Even so, it was heartbreaking to realize that she would never get to see her family again. Most of all she felt bad that her mom and sister would have to lose yet another family member. It made her think of when her dad died and how it utterly destroyed her mom.

Wiping away tears, Astoria did the only thing she could do, and began to make her way down the mountain. She figured that her best course of action would be to get to that village and go from there. At the very least, she could try to get herself a real weapon, and there was also no telling what types of skills she could acquire by using her Kleptomancy ability.

She slowly made her way downward, following a treacherous and steep trail that wound its way around gigantic pine trees and was partially obscured by overgrown brush. At times, she had to make her way carefully along perilous cliff faces, but there was little chance of her falling to her death as long as she was careful with her footing. Once she got to the lower area of the mountain, she was relieved to see that the trail meandered downward at a much gentler slope. It was still obscured here and there due to overgrowth, but not as bad as before.

She had a feeling that she could be heard from a mile away as branches and leaves constantly crunched beneath her boots, and she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of monsters might be lurking in this forest. I really don’t want to get into another fight right now. I just want to get to town and hopefully get healed up.

After what felt like hours of walking through the thick underbrush, she came to a small stream that flowed in the direction that she was heading. Astoria had seen this from above and planned to follow it to civilization. The water looked cool and her throat had long since been dry to the point that it was painful to swallow. She looked at the water longingly. She knew that the risk of getting sick from drinking bad water was a real possibility, but she couldn't resist and took a drink anyway. The water was cold and refreshing and she splashed her face with some water before moving on.

As she continued, following the stream, time seemed to drag on and on until suddenly she smelled something that could only be food. Crouching down, she looked around. The last thing she needed was to be caught off guard. Circling around the long way, she tried to be extra quiet as she looked for the source of the smell. It took several minutes, but she came upon a small clearing where there was a fire and a small cook-pot sitting over it. Her stomach felt like it was going to eat itself, especially when she was so close to food. Suddenly she saw motion from her hiding spot and could make out two figures as they made their way toward the fire.

Unfortunately, the hope that there would be friendly people that could help her near this campfire quickly slipped away as she realized the two figures were goblins. Their green skin, pointy ears, and bulbous noses were enough for her to easily identify them. If her experience in gaming had told her anything, it was that these two would not likely be friendly. Her heart began to pound. She continued watching and couldn't tell what type of weapons they might have or if there were more than two of them. The creatures spoke in guttural tones in a language that was completely foreign to her. Damn... so much for eavesdropping on what they're saying... Astoria thought to herself in frustration. She tried her best to creep away slowly.

The plan was to continue to go wide around the goblins and get back to the river so that she could continue toward her destination. However, nothing ever seemed to work out so smoothly for her. She had managed to get about fifty feet away from the campfire when she heard harsh voices coming from behind. She turned and stole a glance at her enemies. One goblin had a wicked spiked club and the other had a bow with an arrow nocked and pointed at her. Letting out a squeak, she dove behind a tree just as the arrow had loosed and flew through the spot where she had been standing. Her heart began pounding anew and she was acutely aware that, even after recovering some overnight, her health still stood low at 89/180. She reminded herself again that this was no longer a game. It was real and she could really die here.

The crunching sounds of leaves and twigs could be heard as one of the goblins charged toward her. It lunged out past her tree, doing a spinning attack with the club toward her middle. She managed to get her own weapon up in time to block the blow. The goblin looked at her with pure hatred and pulled back, readying his weapon again. Astoria couldn't see the archer anymore and suspected that he would be circling around to get a clear shot. She would only have moments before being exposed again. She had to act now.

Doing her best imitation of wielding a lightsaber, she swung her club in sweeping movements that were parried by the goblin. Luckily, she was stronger than the small creature and each blow knocked his weapon from side to side, staggering him little by little. After a flurry of attacks, he was knocked sideways and she gained the opening she needed. Before the goblin could get back up, she gripped the torch with both hands and brought it down in an overhead strike. A loud cracking noise could be heard as it smashed down onto her opponent's head. She had cracked open its skull. Astoria took a quick second to grab the spiked club and put her back to the huge tree, trying to spot the other goblin.

An arrow zipped through the trees in front of her and managed to nick her ear as it slammed into the tree. The goblin had a clear line of sight on her now and it was readying another arrow. She ran toward the goblin while using trees for cover. Astoria continued to close the distance between her and her enemy and managed to barely dodge the arrows as they flew toward her. Once she was close enough, the goblin dropped the bow and unsheathed a simple looking dagger that had a curved edge and was about a foot long. It managed to get inside her guard, avoiding her reach with the spiked weapon, and landed a glancing blow that opened a long gash along her side. She had to clench her teeth against the pain and felt the side of her clothes getting wetter by the second. That hit was all that the goblin would score, however. When he came in for another attack, she managed to counter him, smashing a large spike straight into his chest. It spat thick black blood and cursed at her in its strange tongue.

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"I've got one more thing I need to do before you die, asshole!" She reached out and touched the dying goblin, gripping his arm hard, and activated her Kleptomancy ability. Unsure of how it worked, she waited the five seconds as the creature bled out. Once the time had elapsed she checked her new notification.

Notifications You have used the ability Kleptomancy and have stolen the Archery skill from the Goblin Scout.

Awesome! Archery should be really useful! It still sucks that I don’t get to choose the skill that is stolen, but beggars can’t be choosers, she thought gleefully. With the new knowledge she gained upon learning the skill, she felt a lot safer, confident that she could probably make decent use of a bow now. She continued reading her prompts.

Notifications Congratulations! You have learned the skill Archery! With a bow and some arrows, you can now more effectively slay your enemies from afar. You have gained 60 EXP for defeating level 3 Goblin Scout You have gained 50 EXP for defeating level 2 Goblin Raider

The next thing on Astoria's agenda was to search the bodies of her foes. She examined the small pile of useful looking things she had found on the two goblins.

Crude Goblin Short Bow • Quality: Poor

• Durability: 20/36

Crude Goblin Dagger • Quality: Poor

• Durability: 17/36

Basic Goblin Arrows (18) • Quality: Poor

• Durability: 10/10

Crude Spiked Club • Quality: Poor

• Durability: 6/15

Weak Health Potion (x3) • Rarity: Common

• Durability: 36/36

The items weren't anything to write home about, but they were definitely an improvement over the torch she had been using up until this fight. She knew that she didn't want to take the spiked club since it was heavy and awkward to carry. Astoria had always favored play styles that focused on agility and stealth, so archery would suit her perfectly for now. All in all, she couldn't complain when her previous weapon had been little more than a stick.

The small potion bottles clinked in her hand as she considered her options. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to get more potions easily in the near future, but all of her injuries were really beginning to stack up. Ultimately, she decided it was more important to feel better now than to worry about conserving potions. Astoria popped the corks off two of the potion bottles and downed them in quick succession. One thing that no one ever seemed to mention in fantasy stories was that these things tasted awful. She gagged a little as she forced herself to keep it down.

Astoria was amazed at how well they worked. In just a minute's time, she was feeling a lot better. The wounds she had received from the insect-like monsters the night before were completely healed and other than a bit of soreness left over in her shoulder, her injuries were all but forgotten. It was hard to believe that just moments earlier she had been beaten and battered at all. She examined her status page again and was satisfied to see that she now had Archery listed as a skill there.

Astoria gathered up all of her loot and equipped it. The quiver full of arrows was attached to a belt that hung at her side, while the dagger was secured via another small belt that fit snugly around her upper thigh. She slung the bow over her head and across her body, and then decided that it couldn't hurt to see what the goblins had been cooking. Her stomach was growling so loud and so often that she started to have a hard time concentrating on anything else besides her hunger. It didn't matter what was in the pot, so long as it was edible.

There was a log that had been rolled over near the fire, and she spotted two crude wooden bowls with spoons sitting atop it. The cook-pot bubbled and a good aroma wafted toward her as the breeze picked up a little. She found a ladle sitting near the fire and stuck it into the pot stirring it around for a second before scooping a portion into a bowl. Despite the smell, the food didn’t look very appetizing and she was worried about what kind of things a goblin might eat. There were chunks of some sort of meat inside and what looked like little potatoes floating around. Taking a deep breath and gathering up some more courage, she tentatively took a bite of the stew.

To Astoria's surprise it didn't taste all that bad. It was fairly bland and chewy and she had no idea what kind of meat was inside it, but she couldn't complain. She was also pleasantly surprised to find a couple water skins and a necklace, which had a small steel bar and piece of flint attached to it, behind the log where she sat. Other than the fact that she found out this morning that she had died, things were starting to look up.

After resting for a short while she tied the water skins to her belt and put on the necklace. Alright, time to get the hell out of these woods! On that note, she continued following the stream down the mountain toward the fields where she would hopefully find safety. Astoria was acutely aware that she had not found any currency on either goblin. She would have no way to buy any items or even stay at an inn if she could manage to get to the village in one piece, anyway. Even so, it would be best to get to civilization as quickly as possible. Anything was better than hanging out in these dangerous mountains any longer.

Much of the journey the rest of the way down the mountainside was uneventful. She did get a chance to test out her bow. She was elated when she managed to successfully hit and kill a rabbit. She only gained 5 EXP for killing it, but her Archery skill gained some progress toward the next level, which was nice. Every little bit helps, she thought cheerfully.

After hours and hours of following the stream, she found herself on flat ground. The forest thinned out and gave way to farmland. It was getting late, and the sun hung low in the horizon. Ahead of her was a field of what looked to be wheat. The gold colored grain swayed gently in the wind and motion rippled through it like waves across a pond on a gentle summer day.

Spoiler: Astoria's Stats

Name Astoria Level 002 (230/294 EXP to next Level) Class None HP 127/180 MP 150/150 Attributes Vitality 12 Magic 10 Endurance 12 Magic Resistance 10 Strength 10 Luck 6 Agility 11   Dexterity 10 Abilities • Kleptomancy Skills

• Archery - Level 1 (29% toward next level)