The lobby inside the Nexus Gaming auditorium was a spacious, almost futuristic marvel of minimalist decor. Every wall was lined with enormous interactive screens showcasing a variety of newly released Virtual Reality game trailers, predicted leaderboards, and player statistics from previous Beta tests. Today would be the official release day for the newly revamped VR system and all the accompanying games.
Separating the capsule auditorium from the lobby was a row of reception desks staffed by both human attendants and newly released AI avatars. James pressed the [Accept] button next to his name, completing his check-in on the touchscreen kiosk.
“You checked in?” James asked his grandma, who seemed to be finishing up with her own kiosk.
“I do not understand why they don’t use real people anymore,” she remarked, tapping the same spot on her screen multiple times before it beeped with a note of completion.
“It’s supposed to be easier, I suppose,” he said with a grin and held out his arm for her to take. Gran took his arm with a smile of her own. She leaned on him and James took the extra weight without complaint.
As they passed the line of reception desks, they were greeted with the sight of rows of sleek, pod-like VR capsules arranged in a gridlike formation of lines. Each of the sleek, newly released capsules was a self-contained unit designed to offer the ultimate immersive experience that was supposed to blow all previous Virtual or Alternative Reality experiences out of the water.
James approached Gran’s capsule and tapped a small red button on its side, and the transparent glass door slid open with a hiss of air. Her capsule, like all the others, featured a glass door that would frost over once the immersion process began to ensure a sense of privacy for the gamer. Inside was a single, state-of-the-art leather chair where the gamer’s body would rest as their senses were transported into the VR game. Unlike earlier versions of VR capsules, these new ones did not contain any way for the chair to swivel and there were no speaker or feedback systems since the idea was everything would be produced by the gamer linking with the game through the VR helmet. Advanced ventilation and temperature control systems would, however, continue to be active until the gamer disconnected from the VR helmet to maintain a perfect environment within the capsule.
James looked at his grandma as she moved around him to approach her capsule as well. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the aged woman moving around in a light gray full-body biometric suit and gloves. Even her feet were covered by the material. Gran hadn’t wanted to wear it but Nexus Gaming required any gamer over the age of sixty-five to wear one so the central command center overlooking the gaming auditorium could monitor their health.
“Gran, you sure you want to do this?” James asked, resting his elbow against her VR capsule. The gaming center was much more populated than usual as gamers from around Seattle converged to test the new gaming system. There were at least a hundred, no, maybe two hundred capsules in the auditorium that people were quickly filling into. Good thing he’d thought to reserve the capsules.
His Grandma grunted as she moved to climb into the capsule. James rushed to help her into it and she flashed him a thankful smile, accepting his aid. When they finally managed to get her situated in her capsule, James looked at her again.
“Gran, let me know if you don’t want to do this. I don’t mind.”
“Oh, hush. It’s just a video game, James,” she said, adjusting the fragile glasses atop her nose. In the past year since he’d graduated from law school, his grandma seemed to have started aging faster. His gut writhed at the thought but he couldn’t help but notice the deepening wrinkles and how she’d started to slow down. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m eighty-five, not dead.” She patted his hand which still rested on her capsule. “Let’s have some fun.”
“Sure thing,” James responded with a grin. “You remember what the game is about?”
She squinted and nodded. “A series of games.”
“No, Gran. Well, yes actually. Sort of. You remember what Goblins are?”
“The little green monsters. I don’t have dementia James, I’m just old.” She patted his hand again. “Go get in your seat before someone takes it.” James hesitated, still worried. The doctor had said the new VR system could help her regain some of the physical movement she’d lost recently, but it came with risks since it was unknown how long-term VR exposure would affect the elderly as the system was too new. “James, it’ll be fine. Stop worrying so much.”
He sighed, glancing up into her soft brown eyes and meeting her gentle expression. They’d already had this discussion multiple times and she always won. Not that her winning was surprising. No grandson could win an argument against his grandma. And even if they could, they wouldn’t want to.
“Alright Gran. Don’t forget we’re supposed to meet at the tutorial store before starting any missions, okay? I don’t want you going off on your own.”
She just snorted and shooed him away with a wave of her hand as she placed the VR helmet over her head. “Don’t make us late!”
Gran’s capsule let out a soft hiss as a thin sheet of plastic slid out from the capsule. It closed the opening and gave a few small beeps letting James know everything had been properly connected and Gran was being introduced to the world of The Goblyn Games.
James hurried over to his own capsule and double-checked that all the appropriate wires were attached. Hisses echoed throughout the auditorium as other games entered The Goblyn Games and staff started doing their hourly walkthrough to make sure everything was working properly. He’d paid quite a bit extra money to have access to a Gaming Center with security and onsite staff. Both the game and the VR system were relatively new, with the beta versions having only come out a few months ago. His Gran had been so excited to have something they could do together that she’d insisted on them participating in the official opening day.
He sat in his seat and took a breath. The beta version for The Goblyn Games had been alright, though not the most exciting VR beta he’d tried in the past few months. Not that he’d ever tell Gran that. The VR helmet was initially slightly large for him but the autosizing kicked in, tightening until it fit snuggly. He heard a slight whoosh of air as his capsule closed and for a second his vision went completely black.
His heart skipped a beat in the darkness, worry gnawing at him that something was wrong in the system. Had the game not been properly connected? What about Gran’s?
Fortunately, the darkness didn’t last more than a split moment. His vision blinked and James found himself surrounded by a blue neon light that illuminated the darkness, originating from the bottom of a chair, hovering at least a dozen feet off the ground.
It wasn’t exactly a chair. More of a capsule with a cushioned seat built into one of its faces. Wires hung loosely around its other rounded faces as a large 1 hovered over the top of the seat capsule.
Sitting in the chair capsule was a pink-haired girl with pigtails. She had inhuman yellow, diamond-shaped cat eyes that looked down at James with a sort of gleeful disdain. The image of the girl crackled and she reappeared, though this time she wasn’t human. Still pink hair and yellow eyes, but now she had lumpy green skin and sharp, horizontal ears that jutted nearly a foot on either side of her head.
“Welcome to The Goblyn Games,” the goblin girl said, clearly bored. I frowned. Could a program be bored?
“Analysis complete,” she said. “Player registered. From now on, you will be automatically redirected to The Goblyn Games whenever you access the client.”
He waited as the goblin girl program thing went silent for a moment and examined the room. Not that there was much to examine other than the darkness in the distance and the checkerboard floor he stood on.
“You may now create your character,” the goblin girl finally said. Then she stopped and smirked at me with an eerily human expression, making it all the more disturbing on her green monster face. “Oh no. It looks like an error has occurred. You’ll be entering The Goblyn Games as yourself.”
“Wait hold on-”
“Please select a class.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“What? Back up, what do you mean it looks like an error has occurred?”
“Please select a class.”
James groaned. “Open menu.” Nothing happened. He groaned again and looked at the NPC girl. “Send a message to support staff about the error. My menu isn’t working either.”
She just shrugged. “Oops, another error has occurred. Support staff cannot be reached. Please select a class. If a class is not chosen within five minutes, the game will start to autopick. Note that each player can only choose a single character to maintain the realism of The Goblyn Games.”
“Wait, wait. Pause the game then. The beta version allowed me to change race and appearance.”
“Please select a class. Warning, three minutes remaining.”
Fuck. Well, whatever. He could just call the support staff after a request for a race change if ‘human’ proved to be a weak or off-meta pick.
“Show classes,” he grunted, waving his hand in front of him like he’d done during the beta test.
A light blue screen finally appeared in front of him. At least notifications were working. How had Goblyn Inc. let such a massive bug into their game?
[Possible class options for Player James Carter.]
[Option 1: Magic Swordsman. Subclasses available. Type: Rare.]
[Option 2: Berserker. Subclasses available. Type: Uncommon.]
[Option 3: Ranger. Subclasses available. Type: Uncommon.]
[Option 4: Mage. Subclasses available. Type: Common].
[Option 5: Swordsman. Subclasses available. Type: Common.]
[Option 6: Slayer. Subclasses available. Type: Growth.]
Fortunately, the options were the same as during the beta test, excluding the last one. During the beta test, Magic Swordsman had stuck out as the clear meta build. Even some legendary subclasses the lucky gamer managed to get added to their primary class didn’t give as many stat advantages as a Magic Swordsman.
Still… the type was growth. James had only heard a little bit about growth-type accessories. No one in the beta had reported a growth-type class. That didn’t necessarily mean no one had obtained one, but usually, beta testers shared information fairly succinctly with each other, or the developers would reveal it later for more feedback.
James bit his tongue for a moment, then shrugged and clicked on the [Slayer]. During the Beta test, he’d already gone through the first few Games as a Magic Swordsman. Might as well shake it up.
He reached in front of him to tap on the red indicator under [Slayer] labeled [Class Description].
[Class Description: For every mob killed, gain +1 unassigned stat point. Experience points and leveling will be blocked.]
[Starting stat points for a Human Slayer]
[Strength: 5]
[Constitution: 4]
[Dexterity: 3]
[Widsom: 3]
[Intelligence: 3]
[Charisma: 2]
[Unassigned Points: 5]
Well, that wasn’t too bad. The start would put him quite a bit behind other classes like Magic Swordsman, but the growth capacity seemed… almost broken at the higher levels where skills were harder to level and stat points were harder to come across.
James grinned and clicked [Slayer].
“Good luck, Slayer boy,” the NPC girl said with a wicked smirk as she waved at him and everything flickered black.
In the next instant, a gust of wind slammed into him so hard he neither lost his footing. He opened his eyes and was created for the second time with a middling view of the tutorial town uniquely and cleverly named Newbie Town.
The aptly named town was a designated Safe Zone for new players to go through minor tutorial quests and gain an understanding of the VR mechanics. Even Beta users were recommended to participate, as new features had apparently been added that weren’t a part of the beta trials. Or, at least, that’s what James had read somewhere on Reddit. Thinking back on it, he probably should have double-checked with Goblyn Inc.’s official website for new features. Oh well.
The town was encircled by a protective field of magic that occasionally shimmered with a faint, silver glow, but for the most part, it was completely transparent. If James hadn’t known it was there, he might have never seen the flashes of silver. Newbie Town had a very light, almost playful vibe about it that James knew to be an incredibly stark contrast to quite literally everywhere else in the game that was always dark, moody, and edgy. Like a weird, depressing anime.
As he headed toward the tutorial store at the center of town, James started to snap his fingers trying to place that one anime Goblyn Games reminded him of. Maybe Attack on Titans if the Titans were, you know, small goblins. Everyone on Reddit had been raving about how this new VR system was basically the realization of all the VR anime. James didn’t quite agree. The VR worlds in Sword Art Online and Log Horizon, or even Hack were miles above what he’d experienced in the beta trials. Those anime gave players specialized abilities and a guild system, and the immersion was 100%. Though, on second thought, maybe he didn’t need the 100% immersion rate. Gran certainly didn’t.
The general architecture of the buildings in Newbie Town was an exciting blend of rustic charm and medieval fantasy. James spotted a player who sped by on a mana fueled motorcycle that most beta users had been rewarded with.
Okay, so maybe not that medieval. Medieval with maybe a splash of modernization.
Cozy-looking cottages with thatched roofs and high stone walls edged against the freshly cobblestoned street. Each building was decked with flowers and a variety of plants that sparkled against the rising sun with a plethora of colors ranging from gold to pink and everything in between. The aura of the place, despite his urge to resist it, was quite enchanting. Timeless, really.
He passed by a group of younger boys, no older than high school age, who were happily discussing their stat points. One of them had gotten Rager, the rare version of Berserker. The kid looked absolutely ecstatic and James barely held the grin that threatened to betray his eavesdropping. He ducked, just barely dodging a hanging lantern from an overhanging wrought-iron post. As he continued, he noted that all the buildings hung similar lanterns, all casting a warm, dreadfully inviting light even in the dense sunlight. Magic, probably, though he couldn’t be sure given his current newbie status.
James didn’t bother opening his inventory just yet, though he knew a motorcycle of his own would be in there. All beta users had been provided one as a bonus. Most of them would probably show it off immediately, forgetting or not caring about the mana consumption. They’d be drained fairly quickly and be put behind at least an hour, or some gold for a mana potion.
He only had 3 points in intelligence, so his mana was around 30. Really low.
After a few more minutes James finally found the central square. And a hundred people all crowding around the item and potion stores. He couldn’t even send Gran a message yet since they weren’t friends in the game.
Spotting the tutorial store in the distance, he pushed through the throng of people toward it. It took a while to make his way around the large, ornate fountain at the center of the square that featured a statute of some brave adventurer no one cared about. Some NPCs had grouped around the statute and were selling some basic wares to unassuming new players who didn’t yet know they could haggle with street vendors.
“James!”
He turned his head to the left and saw his grandma walking toward him. Her gait was impressively stable and the speed at which she walked was faster than he’d ever seen her move before. When he saw the genuinely excited smile on her face, he couldn’t help but light up with another giant grin. Similar to him, Gran was still human and still wore the exact same clothing. Where he wore his normal outfit of beige jeans and a light brown jacket with a gray t-shirt, Gran was still wearing her oversized blue sweater and dark purple skirt. They'd have to change that as soon as possible. Some armor to raise her defense stats would be a good idea.
They found an empty wooden bench hidden behind the tutorial store after checking in with the NPC vendor who noted them down for a tutorial hunt in ten minutes.
“What class did you get?” James asked, giving her staff a poke. He obviously already knew what class she’d picked since she had a staff, but he wanted to let her tell him anyway. It had been a long time since he’d seen his grandmother so happy. She looked… younger. If his mom could see Gran now, she might cry.
“Wait a second.” Gran waved her hand, opening some screen he couldn’t see.
James whistled, impressed. “Damn Gran, you learn fast.”
She laughed. “I was quite the catch back in my day, you know. Clever as a fox, your grandfather used to say.” James caught the hint of sadness in her words. He was about to change the subject back to her class when she gave him a piece of bread. “Eat first, you only had a small breakfast.”
He rolled his eyes. “Gran, we’re in a video game. Food doesn’t actually fill us up.”
She shrugged, taking a large chunk out of her small loaf. “Tastes good.”
That made me raise an eyebrow and I followed her lead. It did taste good. Like, really good. And that wasn’t normal at all. Taste had been a very minor part of the beta trials, barely applied at all. The food was just used to replenish vitality. Not for taste or enjoyment.
I really shouldn’t rely on Reddit for all my information. James thought, regretting not looking more into the new features beforehand.
“Were you able to pick a different race or appearance?” he asked, remembering the error in his own login.
Gran shook her head. “Nope. Some green lady told me there was an error. Quite rude about it too.”
Not wanting to ruin the mood with talk of errors for an activity she’d been planning to do with him for months, James took advantage of the pause to turn the subject back to her class. “So, what class did you choose?” He took another bite of the bread.
“I did what you told me and looked for the one with the best rankings,” she said, wagging a finger in his direction. James was pretty sure meant highest ranked. Close enough. “There were some classes I didn’t understand.” It looked like she was trying to remember one as an example and gave up when it didn’t come to her. “Anyways, I choose Sage.”
“Oh?” He said, genuinely caught off guard. He'd figured Gran had chosen wizard. Or maybe hermit, if she’d been lucky. But sage? That was an Ultra rare class.
She nodded. “The green lady, who by the way is very rude. I cannot believe that young lady managed to get a customer service job. Does not seem like a right fit. Anyways, she told me Sage was available to be because I am so old.”
He was tempted to remind her that the girl was an NPC, and not an actual person, but again kept my mouth shut. James wasn’t entirely sure Gran really grasped the concept of NPCs, much less the gray area of AI-controlled NPCs.