“One minute left,” Roam said to his viewers. There were close to 50 000 people watching him right now, a new record utterly dwarfing his previous one.
It was January 31st 2177, right before the turn of the year. The servers for Rising Sun: Online were set to unlock at 12am Eastern Time. While regular folks around the world watched one of the various televised New Year countdowns, gamers were glued to the timer on the RS:O icon inside their vr helmets.
Roam was already strapped in the pod and connected to his avatar which currently lounged on a long-chair in front of an ocean on a remote island paradise.
Players could chose which main menu theme they wanted set as default. There were various versions in different genres. For example, there was an horror themed one that looked like a graveyard and the tombstones acted as the menu icons that could be interacted with.
Jerome had chosen the beach theme. The time of day in here was synced to his time zone, so it was night. The moon reflecting off the sea and dozens of bamboo torches spread around the area gave the beach a festive glow.
Full-dive capabilities allowed him to smell the fishy ocean air. He even turned up the heat from the pod’s mattress he was laying on a few degrees. He really felt as tho he was in the actual tropics. While there was a blizzard going on in his home town, he was cozy in here. Take that, harsh Canadian winter.
He was kicking back with everyone in the chat. They were seeing through his eyes and he was currently staring at the line of game-icon looking clouds floating above him, watching the seconds tick by.
Although a big chunk of the watchers were not here for him but just to see gameplay, it was his job to entertain them as they did. It was an momentous occasion for the gaming community so he figured he might as well give an uplifting speech to the masses.
“Alright guys, this is it. In less then a minute, we are about to make history,” Roam said in an overdramatic serious tone. From now on, all of you gathered here today will be able to say that you witnessed this moment, the birth of vrmmorpg’s.” Subscribers in the chat played along and began spamming one of his custom emotes, a cat wearing an army beret standing at attention.
“We are on the cusp of greatness my brothers and sisters,” Roam said, is voice raising into a shout. “YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?” he added as he jumped out of his seat and slammed his coconut cup filled with pina colada on the ground. “I SAY NO. TIS NO GAME. Tis the future…”
The chat was flooded with clapping emojis and then the promised time was upon them.
5…4…3…2…1
Just like the time of day, the menu had also been programmed to mimic the New Years celebration. Fireworks burst from a series of floating platforms on the ocean, launching colored streams that exploded into mesmerizing blossoms. At the same time, the game icon refreshed and the lock symbol disappeared. Access was now granted.
“Happy New Years everyone. See y’all on the other side,” Roam said as he spoke the voice command to launch RS:O.
The sea-side landscape eroded around him until he stood in a vast empty space called the transition area. It was a loading zone in which the players could still move around while data loaded; vr games did that once at the start, then whatever else it needed would be done in the background.
There was a slight ethereal echo here so he amused himself in shouting nonsensical words into the void. With a huge crowd of young gamers and meme-sters in his chat, they didn't have trouble coming up with dumb ideas.
After a few minutes, the world morphed again, this time into a swanky office. The walls were painted a light tan color while the trimmings, ceiling and paneling were wood of a rich brown, polished to a glossy shine.
The back wall was lined with shelves stacked with thick books except for the right corner. There was a door there instead. An ornate mahogany desk that no doubt cost a fortune completed the luxurious look of the room.
A beautiful Japanese businesswoman stood next to it. She was petite but very well proportioned and wore a miniskirt, blazer and glasses. She had the air of a serious upper manager in a big firm.
“Umm, I thought we were supposed to be in feudal Japan,” Roam mused aloud.
“Welcome. Please have a seat,” the woman asked politely, pointing to one of the cushy leather chairs in front of the desk. Roam disregarded the demand, instead walking over to stare at her. It was the first time he had seen an actual human recreated in vr. The other games he had tried had been first person simulators devoid of npcs. She looked as real as anyone he had seen before.
Obviously, he tried to cop a feel as any straight man would. Heck, it wasn't just a guy thing, it was also a unspoken gamer thing. If it can be messed with, it shall be messed with.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Before his hand could grab anything, it was violently recoiled by an unseen force. The lawyer lost all seriousness and childishly screamed “OBJECTION” while crossing her arms in an x-shape in front of her. She stayed that way until Roam took his seat at the table.
“Hi, My name is Suzie,” the woman said, regaining her composure. “I am a digital representation of Shinkodo’s legal department and this is my office. To be able to play the game you need to look over this online access agreement.” She materialized a stack of paper in her hands.
“As this is an online game with a monthly fee and interactions between players of various countries, there are certain rules we must abide by. The document also goes over things such as company indemnification, privacy, general policies, etc.
Lastly and most importantly, this game has mechanics that people with certain triggers could have trouble dealing with such as light simulated pain or spells that can bind or paralyze you and more. It is all detailed in the document. You need to understand and agree to the terms by signing this agreement before you are given access to the game.
I am here to help with any questions you may have. I can also read the document to you should you want it. If you choose not to sign, you may exit the game by leaving through the door behind you.“
She slid the stack of paper towards Roam then folded her hands on the table and waited for him to sign. He picked up the document and leafed through it quickly. It was the same type of end user agreement he had accepted in other mmorpg’s in the past. Normally, it would just pop up on screen in text form when you started a game. This was the vr version of it.
Roam picked up a fancy pen from the table and signed without going over it. He usually read these but he was working right now, entertaining people with short attention spans who were already spamming “BORING” or “ZZZ”.
“Thank you,” Suzie said before standing up, taking the file from him. “Please note that you may return to this room to peruse our legal documents at your leisure by selecting the “Terms and conditions” option from the main menu. And I will always be available to answer any questions you may have.
You may enter the game as soon as you are ready by exiting through the door at the back wall. Enjoy your time in Rising Sun: Online.” With that she bowed to him respectfully, returned to her desk and went to work on some random paperwork.
There was a circular clearing about five meters in circumference, surrounded by a bamboo thicket, waiting for Roam when he opened said door. He took a few tentative steps in, studying his surroundings. The air was noticeably hotter then the office as the area was basking under a bright sun and blue skies devoid of clouds. The summer heat brought out the buzzing sounds of cicadas. The bamboo stalks swayed, jostled by a slight wind. It made their shadows dance on the forest floor.
He could see the top of a giant tree rising above the canopy further ahead. The path cutting through the wall of greenery in front of him probably lead to it. When Roam looked back, he found that the door was gone. Guess there was only one way to go now.
He followed the trail to were the tree was in its own larger clearing. As he walked past the forest’s threshold, a whimsical Japanese melody played with flutes started. Just like the office door, the path he had taken was no longer visible.
Ahead, there was a small square dilapidated building that he assumed had once been a shrine before it was reclaimed by nature. It had been built near the base of the tree, which must’ve been thousands of years old and was as wide as a bus. A series of overgrown shelf mushroom growing over the structure put it under perpetual shade.
A large, hollow spherical bell hung over where the shrine’s sliding door used to be. From Roam’s limited knowledge of Japanese culture, a person would ring it and pray to the spirit residing there. Unfortunately, the bell was rusted and the cord used to pull on it ripped short and in tatters.
There was movement on the roof. Roam spotted cute creatures playing like young children, running after each other or sliding down the tiles. Some precariously close to the edge. They had phosphorous green skin and looked to be part flower. A thin branch grew from the top of their heads with one or multiple leaves on them depending on the spirit’s size which varied from tiny to small.
He noticed more of them popping their heads out from beneath the tree’s roots or between its branches. One appeared out of thin air on the shrine’s banister. Roam stepped on the rotten and mossy steps wanting to get a closer look but they cracked and broke under his weight, scaring the creature away. He gave up on exploring the shrine further as he could tell there was nothing else to find anyways.
The only other thing of note in the area was a stand-alone wooden frame that was slightly taller and larger then he was. There were pegs on it holding little wooden plaques. He headed over.
BIIING
Before he reached it, he received a donation from one of his viewers. The superchat highlighted the donor’s message and kept it pinned on top so it could be easily accessed and read out loud.
NihonScholar donated 20$: Hey, found you not long ago and I’m already a fan. Keep up the good work.
P.S. I’m a English teacher in Japan, been here nearly 20 years. If you need details on what you see, let me know.
“Cool, thanks,” Roam said. “I’ll add you as a moderator so your messages will be highlighted without having to pay. What can you tell us so far?”
“Those creatures are Kodamas, gentle tree spirits. And the plaques you’re about to check out are called Ema. The Japanese write wishes on them and hang them. At some point they’re collected and burned together in symbolic Shinto rituals.”
“Oh, professor dropping some facts. Very nice.”
Roam looked them over. With the exceptions of a few drawings of animals such as those from the zodiac, most had Japanese phrases scribbled on them. He did spot the Shinkodo company logo, which was a nice easter egg.
The middle row tho, had English words on them. “New game”, “Continue”, “Exit game”, “Extras”, “Settings” and “Terms and conditions”. That last one had been mentioned by the lawyer.
Roam touched the “new game” plaque and a window popped up in front of his eyes.
Your location is Montreal, Canada. Checking for closest server. Closest server is North America. Set as default or choose other location?
He took a look at all the options before choosing the NA megaserver right away. There were three others; EU, ASIA and JP. He returned to the previous menu and made his selection.
He was asked to confirm and when he did, the music stopped abruptly.
“What now?”.