Author’s Note:
This is my first attempt at telling a story I have had running through my head for a while now. It is a LitRPG and most of the story will be taking place inside of the game (Explanations will, of course, be provided). I love the LitRPG genre, and read many of the great stories available, whenever I can. I will draw inspiration from many of them, while hopefully telling my own unique tale.
This MC is this story is based upon a character I created for a D&D campaign I played in about a year ago. And while I no longer play as him, he is probably my favorite character I have ever played. He is the main inspiration for this story, due to my regret that I am no longer able to expand upon his story in D&D. All this being said, the game mechanics in this story are not based on D&D. Many of the characters and personalities in this story however, are.
Now on to the story!
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An aging man lay upon a hospital bed hooked into all manner of monitors and machines.
This man is Frank Cole, former CEO and co-founder of Rust & Ember. Rust & Ember was first and foremost a gaming company, but had in the 40 years since it’s creation become a gaming technology mega-corporation. R & E had climbed out of the obscurity of their beginnings to become the number one name in gaming technology world-wide. They now boasted an impressive collection of titles across all genres, and had developed the newest hardware on which to play those titles. And now R & E was set to release the biggest game ever. Auriel Online, the first Full Immersion game ever created. Not only was it fully immersive, it was an MMORPG. Auriel Online had been Frank’s dream since his teens, a game where one could not only create a character, but live that character’s life in a world of magic and adventure.
Auriel Online was Frank’s Masterpiece, his Mona Lisa. It was what he wanted to leave behind for the following generations to to remember him by. He had spent the years since highschool developing games and gaming technology all so he could make his dream of Auriel Online a reality. Now, he wouldn’t even be able to see it himself. Frank had been a large man during his life, possessing broad shoulders and a barrel chest. He had displayed chiseled features, along with an impressive height. Now, he was an emaciated shell, displaying none of the physique of his previous self. The cancer that riddled his body, and the treatment to combat it, had rid him of his vitality.
Frank was dying, and everything had been done to try and stop it, but nothing did. Now he grasped one last piece of hope, one last chance at seeing his dream himself. An idea that was utterly insane, and he would never have tried had he been healthy. He wanted to upload his conscious onto Auriel Online and leave his dying body behind. He just had to convince the other person in the room to let him.
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Frank was joined in his room by his longtime friend and colleague Jonas Brown. Frank had known Jonas for years, having met him while they were both freshman in college studying Game Design. They had quickly become friends and started laying the foundation for what would eventually become Rust & Ember. With Frank becoming ill, Jonas had taken over as CEO and finalized everything for the release of Auriel Online. Frank had called Jonas here to explain his idea and, hopefully, have Jonas set-up everything that needed to be done to do it.
Silence permeated the air between the two friends, it was a heavy and oppressive thing that weighed on them both. Each knowing that Frank was quickly leaving the world, and neither having any hope of him surviving much longer. Frank finally broke the silence.
“Jonas… I want you to put me in the game.”
Confusion found it’s way onto Jonas’ face. They had discussed this before, Frank wanting to play the game before he died. Both men knew that it wasn’t ready yet, and even if it was he would only live long enough to play for maybe a week at most after release.“We’ve talked about this, you’d have what? A week, maybe more before your body gave up due to stress.” he said, frowning.
“... that’s not what I meant Jonas.” sighing Frank looked to the window, multiple emotions playing across his face. There was another moment of silence between the two.“What I meant was put my mind in the game, upload me. We’ve known it possible for years now. Ever since we developed the Full-Immersion gear, we knew it would work. We just never tested it.”
Surprise flashed across Jonas’ face, standing up he started pacing back and forth in front of the bed frank was lying in.“Frank...I...that’s crazy! We have no idea if it actually works...theoretically it’s possible but…” trailing off Jonas continued to mutter and form has words before continuing to pace.
“Jonas, it’s my only chance to see my dream. I don’t have much time left, the doctors don’t think I’ll even make it to launch at this point.” Frank met his friend’s eyes, pleading with him to see that this was his only chance to see his dream, to play the game he had spent his life building.
“Frank… there’s no guarantee it will work, I mean you could die…” Jonas’ trailed off realizing now where Frank was taking this discussion. There was really no danger for Frank, if it worked, Frank would forever be a part of the game he had spent his entire life building. And if it didn’t, well he was going to die anyway. “I understand where this conversation is going now, and honestly I’m not even surprised now that I think about it.” Jonas finally met Frank’s eyes. “No one can know. Ever. I’ll take this to the grave and so will you. If this got out…”
“I know Jonas, but it’s my last shot” Frank said. His eyes now glowing with hope and excitement, that had been absent previously.
“So Frank… How do we do this?”
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Author’s Note:
And that’s the prologue! Hopefully it’s enough to get you interested. This will be the last we see of the “real” world for a long while. So get ready to dive into Auriel Online after this!
Kromnal Greyskin