I waved my hand back and forth through the box, entranced by it, it shimmered as my hand went through and left trails of blue pixels. Wow. What the hell did that guy spend on something this lifelike, and how did he even get a hold of it! This is lightyears ahead of any VR tech on the market!

As if noticing my thoughts (and repeated prodding) a small box was highlighted in the bottom right corner that flickered back and forth like a walk sign, making a motion for me to flick right.

I did and another set of dialogue followed.

Would you like to start the tutorial?

Hmm. That makes sense I guess, this little area is nice but it’d be a little rude to throw me in the game without any hints or advice.

I press the button, and I feel a small prick in my stomach, which turns into a bout of extreme nausea as my world spins and I’m whipped through.. something. Its incredibly dark for a second before I once again fall flat on my face.

Ouch.

I stand in front of an empty run down movie theater, with faulty neon letters that say Movie Palace. Everything except for the VI from Movie and P from palace are out. Huh. This is the tutorial?

I look for a blue box to give me any guidance but all it says is.. Watch the movie in theater 3.

Well, I mean, at least I don’t have to fight any monsters right yet? I was starting to acclimate myself with the fantasy setting though, it reminded me of DND. I stop at that thought and sigh a little. I miss you Marie.

CREAAAAK

DAMN!

The loud noise pulls me out of my head, and I see that one of the letters is hanging precariously now. I think I’m going to head in before anything falls..

Anyways, let's see what's in here! I shake my head to throw off the mood that set in and walk in.

The heavenly smell of butter and soda hit my nose, jeez, it's been a long 3 years since I last had anything sweet, well.. anything edible at all really. With my bowel movements and lower body paralyzed anything too intense just kills my body.

I stare at it longingly. It smells so real, and there's nobody behind the counter. They wouldn’t mind if I took some, right? Sure it might be a little stale but I’m not too picky nowadays..

I quickly run over, grab a bag and a pop, and make my way into a theater at random.

I find a nice seat, and happily clap my hands in glee as I dig into the popcorn. Its wonderful. The flavor is perfectly captured to my surprise, and I even feel my belly fill as if I was actually in the real world. I'm even more amazed that Chase could get his hands on this thing. Suddenly the theater screen turns on and I hear the reels spin as an old timey countdown starts.

When the countdown ends I see a screen that says

“Produced by MASSIVE DYNAMIC, in cooperation with BIOPLEX”

And then it flicks to the image of a planet from the perspective of space, it looks lush and vibrant. Before I can get a closer look the camera zooms in on it, almost like the camera is falling from above into the world. It quickly reaches a kingdom, and looks down on it from above. It bustles with life and traffic, kids and adults walking, a thief grabs a purse and runs, and a typical guard chases them. It goes down and then swerves up, leveling off in front of a large palace, where a handsome and tall man that I feel like I vaguely remember stands, he’s smiling wide and seems to be some sort of.. Business man? For being in a fantasy-like game he certainly looks out of place.

“Hello folks! My name is Chase, but you may know me as the CEO of MD, Mr Binetti, you may even work for me.” Chase MADE this game?? Holy shit. That explains why was able to get me a pod. “If you're playing this game it can only mean one thing, you’ve been greenlit to test Sunfall! The big guys up in the board stopped complaining long enough to give me a list of names and addresses to send these pods, as well as on deck nurses to make sure nothing goes wrong.

I’m sure some of you have a good idea of what this is, but for those of you who may not be in the know, Sunfall is a virtual reality RPG, with a heavily populated world of AI NPC's with near perfect engineering. If my boys did their job well you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Well, at least until you cast your first spell.” He chuckles a bit before continuing “So, what should you expect? Well, that's the fun part, I don't know!” He pauses for a moment

Great. That’s real helpful Chase.

“Wait, wait, wait. Before you start getting mad just listen a little longer, you won’t regret it.”

Damn. Same old Chase, always seeing a step ahead in social situations. Makes sense why he made it so far in business.

“I don’t know because where you land in the world and what you encounter are entirely based on what you want and who you are! The system in Sunfall can sort of skim your thoughts or emotions as well as gather’s data on your achievements and activities whilst you play, and again! Please don’t get angry, if you signed to accept this pod you also signed the terms of service that let us do this.” Heh, sneaky ass bastards, I didn’t sign anything! “There is also an AI Watchdog in the form of your System helper that can sort of intervene or help out if needed, with a bit more life to it, so if you encounter any bugs or issues it should sort them out or report them for you.”

“I’m sure you're asking Chase! It sounds like you have this thing pretty well put together, what do you need me for? Well folks, as much fun as I’m sure you’ll have, we have never actually had real players in this world. Now I know that sounds scary, but if you get into any danger the nurses will immediately eject you from your pod. But trust me, we have double and triple checked the systems and world, there should be no problems, and all we want from you is your honest gameplay! Just do what any normal gamer would do and try to min max and cheese the game so we can balance or fix what we need to. Well that's about all I’m allowed to say, the big guys told me I shouldn’t spoil anything. He pauses again, before winking at the camera But you know I’ve never been great at listening to them”

The screen goes black

Poof

A piece of paper appears, slowly drifting down towards my hands. I reach out and grab it, and see that the handwriting looks the same as the note that came with my pod but a little more hurried and scribbly. Chase huh? It reads ”Be careful of players, Your stats will draw on your physical body, Weird happenings, Special pod-” The end seems sorta abrupt, and it looks like he tried to write something more but didn't have the time. Sigh. Guess I’ll just have to figure out a bit myself, but huh if it draws on my physical body for reference.. Whatever, there's nothing I can do to fix that, let's just hope it's not that bad.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A blue box pops up as I fold the note up, which promptly burns away.

Calculations complete, would you like to see your character sheet?

I swipe right quickly, excited for the goodies.

Name: Toth

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 90 lbs

Legacy: Human

Class: Wimp Lvl 0

[Wow you suck. These are the worst stats I’ve seen from one of you humans, you must be half a foot in the grave!]

Health: 120 (200 + -3x10 + -3x20)

Stamina: 120 (200 + -3x20 + -3x10)

Mana: 190 (100 + 3x15 + 1x15 + 2x15)

STR: -3

CON: -3

DEX: -4

AGI: -3

WIS: 3

INT: 1

CHA: 2

PER: 1

“Uhh what the hell system! How am I supposed to do ANYTHING with this.”

[The names actually Sunfall, Sunny for short. Should’ve thought about that when you was doin, well nothin apparently.”] A vaguely new york accent speaks from the void.

“... First of who is talking to me. And second, you should KNOW that I would be moving if I could. I’m paralyzed.”

[Eh. Make’s a bit more sense why the system summoned me.] Snap

A man appears whom I observe wearing dress shoes, brown pants that flare, a yellow and white striped button up with the sleeves tucked and cuffed, and black slicked back hair. He puffs a pipe in his mouth. He wears brown tinted glasses as well, and gives off the general ambience of an old New York dad, with a surprisingly well put together fashion sense.

“I’ll give you some advice and a few benefits to help with your terrible stats kid, just sit down with Uncle Sunny for a moment.”

He snaps his fingers once more, and the environment around us shifts to a small, and busy coffee parlor, with me and him sitting opposite to each other at a table. A hazelnut latte sits in a small teacup in front of me while he takes a sip from a black coffee in a tall mug.

He puts his coffee down and clears his throat.

“So kid, I got some good news and some bad news. Which would you prefer first.”

“I’m used to bad news. Give it to me.” I respond

He grins a bit and slaps the table “You got some guts in you kid, I can see it, alright then. The bad news is that you are something of a nobody, and it’s a bit hard to sell giving you any benefits because they don't think you could give them anything back. The good news is one element took interest in you, and because I like you I’m willing to throw out some of my own clout to give you a bit of an advantage.”

“Which element?”

“Surprisingly fire. Usually they prefer someone with a bit more destructive capability, ehh not to say that you couldn’t hurt somebody, but your arms look like my moms spaghetti.” He says, squinting at my less than athletic body.

“I'm just gonna ignore that. But uh, probably because me and fire have been friends for awhile, I’ve used it anytime I play a mage!” I respond

“Mm. Okay, well uh. I’m just gonna pick some things and packages that’ll you help alright? You won’t see me much in the actual game so take advantage of it. All you have to do is accept the notification and you’ll get sent in with your benefits.

“Wait, can I ask any questions?” I reply

“Hmm. Ok kid, three questions and then I have to go.”

“Uhh alright, first.... what should I focus on in Sunfall?”

He thinks for a second before replying,

“Your skills. They are extremely important, and not just the level, but your understanding of them and base foundation. For you that would be the element of fire. Find hot places, make them, watch fire, and you’ll progress. Obviously casting it and such will work too, but to truly become a mage of any element you have to become a channel for it. Next question kid we don’t have much time.”

“Who are the “they” you were trying to ask to help?”

He moves his lips back and forth again, thinking carefully of what to say,

“Benefactors? People of Sunfall with goals, Elements, All powerful or with deep history in the world. Last question kid.”

“It says my legacy is human, can I change that?”

He smiles, “Yes, in fact I’ll be giving you that option when you get into the real world, free tidbit before I go, you’ll be starting as an apprentice in a fire mages academy, benefit of your element.”

“Thanks Sunny.. I dunno why you went out of your way but I appreciate it.”

“Its Uncle Sunny.” He snaps his fingers and disappears

Another blue box pops up detailing the choice I have.

Congratulations, Two benevolent benefactors have agreed to help you get started in your journey to Sunfall.

You will gain:

- Trait: Mana Bucket (+100 mana per upgrade)

You have a little more mana than the average person

- Trait: Beginners Luck (+2 luck until level 10)

Sunny smiles upon you, and hopes to see you grow fast

- Class: Apprentice Spark

The element of fire smiles upon you, and hopes to see you reclaim its power

You may choose a special option - Legacy Change.

- Smothered Flame:

The water took something from you, you will never again let it.

+2 Con, +3 Cha, Gain negative reputation with Aspect of Water and its Acolytes

Gain trait: Kindle

You gain experience in flame magic 20% quicker, and it comes easily, you may do bonus damage with fire spells but also take overheat damage for the amount you do.

Gain Passive: ???

This passive is dependent on your path and may change your legacy

- Waterwalker

When you died in that water it claimed part of your soul, this comes with certain advantages denizens of the light don’t have

+4 Con, -2 Cha, Gain negative reputation with Light-Affiliated groups, Gain positive reputation with Dark-Affiliated groups

Gain trait: Dark Magicks

You are one of the dead, which means your spells lean toward Dark damage, this affects any you learn in different ways.

Gain passive: Half-dead

Your skin turns a sickly purple, but you are slower to starve and thirst, and pain affects you less, you still bleed but it clots quickly.

- Scarred Soul

You have suffered mental and physical wounds far beyond your capability and the effects have marked you.

+2 con +2 strength

Trait: Tough Cookie

Gain 20 points of Innate Mitigation

Hmm, I think I’m going to have to take a moment with this one.