“Hello, you have reached the Heaven’s Will helpline. Please be aware that all calls are recorded for posterity measures and placed into blind storage. Should the call be used for training purposes all personal information will be omitted. Should you require the use of any recording, please contact our legal team.
You are now being redirected to an available operator.”
An old fashioned ringing replaced the automated voice recording before moments later being replaced by the voice of an energetic young male.
“You are through to Blaze. How may I assist you?”
“Hello...Blaze. I think something is wrong with my character.” Trevor paused as he thought about how to phrase his problem.
“Okay, sir. Before we continue, I just have a few things I need to confirm with you.” After waiting for Trevor’s assent he continued. “So just to confirm; you are talking about our company’s game, The Boundless Realm?
And is the game account registered to yourself, Mr Trevor Mason?
And can you confirm the payment method for the game account.
And the name of the account holder, please.
That’s great thanks.”
The call went quiet momentarily as Blaze waited for the security check to come back.
“Okay then. Everything is coming back green and your implant is pinging back, confirming your identity. Now let’s see here…
Ahh, you’re a new player?”
“Yes, is that a problem?” Trevor furrowed his eyebrows.
“Oh. No. Not at all sir. I apologise, I was just a little surprised was all. I think I know what the issue is.” The cheerful voice didn’t waver for even a moment. “You see, the premise behind the game is that you are a young genius from the mortal world. The key word here is young. In The Boundless Realm, the younger years are supposed to be when you can gain the most benefits from cultivation. That is to say the younger you look combined with the level you have achieved, is a kind of visual marker for how powerful and skillful you are as a player.”
…
“So what was the point in customising my character at the start then? Sorry, I think I might be missing something here.” He knew he should understand what Blaze was telling him, but for some reason his mind wasn’t connecting the dots.
“Ah, well, Mr Mason. Part of the game’s design was that we wanted the world to feel like it was an actual place. Alive, you know. Well it kind of defeats the object if you yourself don’t ever change. So part of that is having player characters being able to age. What we have you do at the start, is create the character the way you think you would like it to look. An ideal image, if you like.”
“Uh huh...continue.” Trevor was still apprehensive, but he felt like he was starting to see the young man’s point.
“Well. Basically, your character will change and grow as time passes in game and you progress. Things like aging, muscle growth and scarring are all possible. Of course there are medicines you can buy to aid or counter these kind of things as well. As you reach certain levels, the aging process slows and once you reach the point of having achieved ‘immortality’, it stops.
We found that players become much more attached to their characters this way and will act in ways that are more ‘true-to-life’ and less ‘meh-it’s-a-game-what-do-I-care-anyway’. It is also a point of pride to some players, to be able to walk around with their characters and have other players be able to see visually, how skillful and powerful they are.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
There was a slightly awkward pause as Blaze finished and was clearly waiting for some audible moment of clarity from Trevor. Trevor however, was letting the information sink in and still trying to figure out what it actually meant.
“Sorry young man. I’m still not getting it. It’s on the edge of my mind but I just can’t seem to make the final leap.”
“Oh, no worries Mr Mason sir. Well what it means for you is that as your character ages, it will slowly change to fit the mold of the character you designed at the beginning. If for example you created a younger looking character, the computer would just age the character model.”
“Ah. I see now...Hmmm, that’s quite impressive.”
Ever since what is known as the ‘Golden Age of Virtual Reality’, began, computer technology, software programming and the creation of AI’s had advanced by leaps and bounds. He knew that things had improved immensely since his youth, but this was beyond what he had realised was possible.
“Yes. It is...or rather was, one of our games best selling points. Also one of our most common call subjects. We haven’t had many of these kinds of calls recently, for obvious reasons.” For the first time, the cheerfulness in Blaze’s voice seemed to dim. But not for long. “That is sure to change soon though. Although I think the whole aging thing is going to be explained properly for new players. No doubt there will still be a few who rush through the tutorial area’s and still call us to ask about it though.”
“Why is that?” Something in his voice had piqued Trevor’s curiosity.
“You don’t know!? Oh, sorry Mr Mason. That was rude of me. I keep having to remind myself you are a new player.”
“That is quite alright. So, you were saying?”
“Well, the big update is a month away. Although to call it an update is an understatement. They called it a ‘large patch’, at the start. If you can believe that. Instead of an update, it’s more like an upgrade. Much of the game is getting a rework. We’re hoping to see our player population boom and the developers are saying it will increase the game’s lifespan significantly. Current estimates are saying that the pop count will double in the first week. So don’t worry if it feels a bit sparse in the starting areas. You’ll have plenty of company soon.”
“Oh...well...that’s good to know I guess.” He had wondered why he saw no other characters walking around the sect. “Is it okay for you to be telling me this?”
“Oh yeah. Everything I’m telling you can be found on the official forums or on the game site’s front page. I will send you the link containing the details for all the changes being made if you would like?”
A box popped up in front of Trevor’s eyes, asking for his consent.
Shrugging to himself he pressed yes. Most of it probably wouldn’t affect him, but it might be handy to read up on things; lest he end up calling the helpline for something rudimentary again.
“Welp...if that is everything Mr Mason, I will let you go.” Not hearing any words of disagreement, Blaze gave him the company sign off. “The path to immortality is vast and long. I wish you luck and good fortune.”
Trevor was happy to know that his ‘character bug’ wasn’t actually a bug but a purposeful bit of programming. He didn’t relish the thought of running round looking like a teenager. Especially when said teenager was actually inhabited by the mind of a 60-something year old man. For some reason, that thought just did not sit well with him.
*Ding!*
You have recieve 1 new message.
The message must have been from Blaze as it contained links to various forum posts and game news pages about The Boundless Realm. The address it was sent from was a company one, but the signature at the bottom was most definitely not. It read:
“From B’loo D&Ash
I hate to see trash lying on the ground”.
Beneath these words was a picture of a stylized sword and a flame. It took a moment of reading the name out loud a few times before Trevor finally understood it.
“Haha. Blood and ash. Clever.”
Trevor could only assume it was meant to be hinting at that being all that would be left of his opponents or something like that. He filed the message away for later and checked the time.
It was just after 2 in the afternoon. He could have sworn he had been in the game for longer. Not having anything else planned for the day though, he didn’t mind though at all. Shrugging to himself he got comfortable once more and booted up the game.
Trevor once again found himself inside his new residence looking at his youthful reflection in the surface of the pond. He prodded and pulled at his face a few times, looking at it this way and that before sighing and eventually giving up. It was just another thing he would have to learn to get used to. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be how he looked permanently.
He was taking another look around himself whilst he tried to figure out what to do next when it occurred to him that he should probably check his character’s status.
“Hmm. Maybe I should have gone with a more interesting name?”
Name: Auroch Level: 1 Cultivator Type: None Cultivation Level: Ki Gathering (1) Strength: 12 Focus: 5 Agility: 7 Comprehension: 5 Stamina: 14 Earth Affinity: 8 Water Affinity: 6 Fire Affinity: 1 Light Affinity: 1