Mona picked up the VR helmet and set it on her bed. She stared at it for a long time contemplating whether she wanted to play the new game or not. After a while, she let out a sigh and pushed a button on the top of the white helmet. A slot opened up and revealed a small disc reading Shining Armour. She pulled out the disc and threw it on her drawer. Afterward, she put the new disc inside the helmet and closed the cover. She plugged the helmet in and it lit up. A whistling sound came from the helmet and she waited for the lights on the side of the helmet to turn green. When it did she pulled it over her head and laid down on the bed. She breathed in deeply before pushing a button on the side and closing her eyes.
Mona opened her eyes again and she was surrounded in a white space.
“Welcome to Road Builder,” a female voice rang out from behind her and she turned around. She looked up to see a woman floating in the sky with long flowing pink hair and honeydew colored eyes. “My name is Sarah, and I will be your guide today into creating your very own Road Builder character. Before we start, may I ask you a question, miss?”
“Yes,” Mona quietly said.
“Have you read the instruction manual, or have you played any other games produced by our company before?”
“... no,” Mona lied.
“I see. I will try my best to help you today miss. Let’s get started,” Sarah waved her hand and a screen filled with letters popped up in front of Mona, “please enter a name for your character,” Sarah smiled. Mona’s tongue felt dry, and her finger trembled as she pressed down on the letters. When she was done she tapped on the finish button at the bottom of the screen.
Mona hugged herself as the guide looked over the information. Her hands shook and her heart began to pound faster.
“Just for confirmation, young lady, you want your name to be Ferti, pronounced as in FUR-TUH and spelled F-E-R-T-I?” Sarah slowly said. Mona nodded her head. “That’s great miss, the name has not been taken yet and is still available. Next, we will move on to creating your avatar,” Sarah waved her hand again and another screen appeared in front of Mona, “in Road Builder, there are a total of 56 races, with 21 being available. Please choos-”
“Human. I would like to be a human,” Mona answered as she continued to shiver.
“Yes ma’am… you have been registered as a human. Next, we will decide on your gender. Ple-”
“Female. I would like to stay as a female.”
“Yes, ma’am… you have been registered as a female. The next step is determining your appearance,” Sarah slowly waved her hand down and a green light appeared, scanning Mona from her head to her toes. “Due to mobility restrictions, you will not be able to change your height or tremendously change your body size. Other than these, you may change whatever you wish too,” a figure of Mona appeared in front of her.
Mona flinched for a second, scared. It took her a moment to calm down as she reached her fingers up to the avatar’s eyes. She pinched them, making her big eyes smaller. She pulled the center of its face back, making her small nose a little taller. Then she stretched some places, and pushed some of her face together, making her oval face more angular. She also made the two lumps on her chest smaller, until they were almost flat. She had found them an inconvenience in real life, and wished to play without them.
After that, she chopped off the avatar’s long locks of hair until it looked like a boy cut. Though afterward, the avatar did not look like her anymore, it still resembled that of an above average looking female. Actually, due to the short hair and flat chest, she resembled more of an above average looking male.
“I’m done,” Mona said as she backed away from the avatar.
“Will this be all miss?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then… your avatar has been registered into the system. The next thing we will determine is the first three skills you will have when you enter the game. In Road Builder, a person may have up to ten skills, not including the primary three they are given in the beginning. The three skills that are chosen first will be stronger than the other skills that are selected later by 75%. If one wishes to gain more skills, then they must reach mastery in one of their skills. Once, they reach mastery in one of their skills, a new slot for skills will be open. Skills can be obtained through quests, NPC teaching, player teaching, or at rare occasions, player earned. Each skill also has its own skill tree, specialty, and etc. For more information please visit the Road Builder website. For now, look over the list of skill and select three that you would like to have right away.”
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Mona glanced at the skills. She had already made up in her mind three skills she wanted but looked at the others just in case.
"Do these skills affect you later on when you choose a class?" Mona asked.
"No. These skills are just common skills that anyone with any class can learn if they so wish to."
"How come each avatar is limited to ten skills until they master a skill?"
"This is so each avatar does not get overloaded with information and cause the player to start buffering, or not streaming correctly. Also, this was decided so that limitations could be set so that each person will choose their skills wisely."
"If you learn a skill but no longer wish to want it, can you get rid of it and open up another slot?"
"Yes. If you wish to delete a skill you may do so in your skills menu, however, you may not be able to relearn the skill you have deleted until three months have passed in real time, and you will also have to start from the beginning."
“I see," Mona nodded as she scrolled up and down the skills menu, "Are these all the skills available in Road Builder?” Mona asked as she looked up. Sarah raised her eyebrows, surprised for a second.
“N-no. These are all the skills that can be earned through learning from an NPC, player, or quest. Player earned skills are not listed as player earned skills differentiate from person to person.”
“Is it possible for me to look over the skill tree of the skills listed here?”
“Yes. By clicking on a skill you can look over its skill tree,” Sarah answered. Mona nodded as she scrolled back to the top of the list and clicked on the first skill.
For the next two hours, Mona went through each skill. She memorized each skill and their skill tree. She also asked a lot of questions to Sarah pertaining about the skills.
“I’m ready to choose now,” Mona said as if she wasn’t ready in the first place. By now the trembling and shaking in her hands had increased, but she ignored it. Her pale face had also grown red over the period of time.
“Well then miss, what are the three primary skills you want to start out with?” Sarah asked.
“I choose the healing skill, alchemy skill, and the identification skill.”
“Are the healing skill, alchemy skill, and the identification skill your final choice?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then… these skills have been registered onto your avatar. Now, one final thing before you can go and pla-”
“Do I get to add points to my character’s skills, such as intelligence, agility, and etc? And also, do I get to choose where to spawn first?” Mona quickly asked.
“No, miss. Character skills and first spawning point will be randomized by the system. Also, when you first spawn you will have to stay in your spawn town for the first two months.”
“What is the time ratio for in-game and in real life?”
“It is a four to one ratio. Four hours in the game is just one hour in real life.”
“I see… thank you. Please continue.”
“Yes, ma’am. Now, the last thing we require for all our players to do is to set a goal for themselves. When they accomplish this goal we will give them a reward. Goals such as ‘my goal is to eat food in the game’ or ‘my goal is to reach level 2’ are allowed, however, the rewards for these goals will not be that great. Goals that are harder to achieve will receive a much better reward, so we encourage you to set a goal you can work hard towards.” Sarah said. Mona stood there, her body has stopped shaking as she stared at Sarah with no expression.
“... do I have to set a goal?” Mona asked quietly.
“Yes, if you do not then you will not be allow to play Road Builder.”
“...why? Why do we have to set a goal?”
“This game is about inspiring people to work hard towards something that they wish to achieve. Don’t you have something you wish to achieve too ma’am?”
“... I… do.”
“What is your goal then ma’am?”
“My goal… my goal is to become the ultimate supporter,” feelings rushed back into Mona’s eyes as she balled her hands, hard, “I want to help others succeed. I don’t need to be the main character. I want other people to be the main character,” Mona yelled as tears began to stream down her face, “I just… I just want to feel needed again,” Mona sniffled. Sarah looked at her with a soft expression on her face.
“Is ‘I want to become the ultimate supporter’ your final choice?” Sarah asked. Mona bit on her lip as tears continued to stream down her face. She slowly nodded her head. “Alright then… this goal has been registered onto your avatar. You will soon spawn into a town and began your journey. Tutorials will be available from NPCs once you starte the game,” Sarah smiled, her eyes illuminating warmth to Mona. Mona nodded her head understanding as she wiped away the tears. A blue circle appeared around her as numbers counting down from ten appeared in front of her.
10… 9… 8…
“By the way miss,” Sarah said.
7… 6…
“Yes?”
5… 4…
“I am sure you will achieve that goal, and to guarantee that, I give you my blessings.”
3…
“What?”
2…
“Enjoy your time in Road Builder.”
1…
-
Ferti opened her eyes and to see a bunch of people walking around her. Some of them were wearing beginners clothing, while others were wearing grand armors. She could hear music playing the in the background. She looked around her to see buildings of all sizes.
She began to shake. The corner of her lips went up, and her eyes turned into crescent moons. She let out a loud laugh as tears stream down her face. People stopped to stare at her, before giving her a weird look and continuing on their way.
“Hahaha! Yes! Hahaha! Yes! I’m back! I’m back!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she jumped up and down. She grabbed her hands together, stopping the shake as she smiled. “I’m… back,” she breathed.
And for the first time in a long time, she felt alive, truly alive.