I can't move. There is nothing but darkness around me, as if I'm suspended, drifting into oblivion. Ugh. My body feels as if it's been torn apart and stapled back together again. Wait... where is my body?? Looking around, to where I think is down and around me, I see nothing though I am convinced my eyes are wide open. Do I even have eyes right now? Am I dead? I try to force myself to remember what happened.. I was in my room.. Something happened.. A countdown. Ah right, FRO shut down. What has happened to me though? I have no being yet I feel the chill of nothingness wrap around me, filling me with a sense of empty warmth. I keep pushing back into my memories to think of some reason for this but it's useless. I can feel myself slipping away now as my incorporeal being numbs.
"Who even cares anyway?" I was content to let this emptiness consume me as my consciousness continue drifting further and further into the void.
-PING
One sound. One single sound was all it took for me to violently snap out of whatever trance I was in. I could never forget that sound. A notification from the FRO System. A single notification tab sprang into existence in front of me.
[ WELCOME TO THE FORSAKEN REALM. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SYNC PLAYER DATA? YES / NO ]
This has to be a dream. It has to be. There is no other explanation for this absurdity but even still, the cold emptiness writhing around me assured me one thing.
This was reality.
[ YES / NO ]
"Yes."
[ LOADING . . . ]
[ WELCOME BACK, HYUNG EUNTAE. PLEASE SELECT YOUR AVATAR. ]
A full, life sized portrait of my FRO character stood before me. Looking at him now, he was everything I had always wished to be. Strong, tall and handsome. His white hair was cut short, brushing over his pale face. His expression was motionless, looking at him, we felt nothing alike but yet.. we were the same.
[ CHOOSE THIS AVATAR? YES / NO ]
"Yes."
[ LOADING . . . ]
[ PLAYER SYNC COMPLETE. CHOSEN AVATAR HAS RECIEVED "THE RANK 1 AWARD : SAVIOUR" ]
[ WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS REWARD? YES / NO ]
"Yes."
[ AVATAR REBIRTH CONFIRMED ]
[THANK YOU FOR PLAYING FORSAKEN REALM ONLINE... ]
[ HYUNG EUNTAE ]
My eyes snapped open as I immediately jerk up. Dammit. My head is throbbing like crazy yet I can vividly recall my interaction with the system.
"Avatar rebirth?" I mumble. I was convincing myself that it had to be a dream. Sitting up, I look around my room again. It's a lot dustier than I had remembered and the lights were off.
"Where's my bed?"
I take a double take around the room to see my futon crumpled up in the corner. It looks as if my desk and chair had slid down there too. Wait.. Slid? I can feel it now, my body had adjusted to the minor shift at first when I woke up but-
The room is completely slanted. It's not too insane but it is incredibly nauseous to focus on. My eyes are steadily adjusting to the darkness. I blinked. That can't be right. Were the walls that badly damaged? I turned back to the door. A faint, crimson light was flickering from the underneath, seeping through the gap on the floor. An earthquake. That must be it. Just a small earthquake.
-Grrrrrrrrr
Wow, I'm starving. How long was I asleep for? Hopefully I left some instant ramyeon in the kitchen. I reach for the doorhandle-
-SNAP
-and it breaks right off. I stare at it in astonishment.
"What the hell did I do?" There was no way I just snapped it off that easily, I barely touched it. "It must have gotten damaged in the earthquake." I give a little nervous sigh. Great, not only will Yeonjoo get pissed at this, I'm trapped inside now." I go up to the door. Maybe he is home, and bringing my knuckle to the door, I go and give it a knock. "Hey, Yeonjoo! You the-"
-CRASH
The moment my knuckle impacts the door, it's wooden body splinters and bursts from it's hinges. This display of monstrous strength isn't what shocked me. The moment the door burst I was hit with a gust of hot air, as if the door from an aeroplane burst open mid-flight over a volcano. Looking out, my kitchen was no longer there. As our apartment was among some of the top floors and it's as if the building was cleaved clean in half. I look out upon the Seoul skyline, but it is no longer imposing, bright or majestic anymore. I stare at what appears to be a ruined, ravaged city. Buildings reduced to rubble and come still collapsing in the distance. I hear a high whisking sound as the wind whips inside my room, due to its high altitude. The sky is inked a dark crimson with vile black ash clouds blotting the skyline.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Wh- what the hell happened??" I blurt out, scrambling back to the wall, pressing my back against it. The air is suffocating. Dust, ash and speck of rubble billows into the room. I approach the opening again and examine the ruination before me. This has to be some sick dream, but I know better. This is my reality now.
Could FRO really have predicted the apocalypse?
Or..
-A notification block appears, expanding across the crimson sky, impossibly large with the words-
[ WELCOME TO FORSAKEN REALM. YOUR QUEST BLOCK HAS BEEN UPDATED ]
[ CURRENT QUEST : SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ]
[ OBJECTIVE : Survive for 12 hours. REWARD : 300 EXP, 100 GP, STARTING CLASS, 1x GRADE E WEAPON. ]
[ BONUS : An additional 100EXP rewarded for each creature you slay during the given time. ]
[ 11:59:32 ]
...could they be responsible for it?
I stare at the giant notice block, looming down on me. This is... the exact same starter quest from the MMO! But how? Does this mean that I am now inside the game?
Or is the game now reality?
-PING
A tab opens up in front of me. The exact same hotbar design from FRO. I immediately recognize the icons.
[ CHARACTER / STATS / INVENTORY / STORE / QUESTS / PARTY ]
They say no matter how bizarre the situation, or how crazy the task, so long as you have muscle memory or an innate reflex, your body will act on it's own. After years of being shut in, doing nothing but playing FRO, despite being one of its only players, I knew exactly what I had to do, what to look for and where to find it.
"Character."
The hotbar expands open and an avatar picture alongside a list of character traits open up. My eyes widen at the avatar.
"Is that me?"
The person in the picture definitely resembles me, there is no doubt. Same eyes, nose and lips but... his hair is shorter, for one, and all the blemishes on my face are gone. I feel my cheek. It's smooth. Completely different from what I had felt throughout my life and...
"Have I grown taller?"
It's as if my FRO avatar and I have merged bodies. What I'm looking at now is...
Me.
This is me.
[ NAME : HYUNG EUNTAE ]
[ GP : 00000 ]
[ AGE : 17 ]
[ LEVEL : 1 * ]
[ CLASS : ??? ]
[ TITLE : THE SAVIOUR ]
"Level 1... Star? What's up with that?"
I look at it for a second. My attention is drawn to the title on my character sheet.
"The Saviour. That's the same name that the system called me before all of this stuff happened.."
"Stats."
Another window pops up again, this time showing me a very familiar panel that I am used to seeing.
[ HYUNG EUNTAE : THE SAVIOUR ]
[ UNIQUE TRAITS : REBIRTH ]
[ STRENGTH : 1 * ]
[ AGILITY : 1 * ]
[ DEXTERITY : 1 * ]
[ MIND : 1 * ]
[ BODY : 1 * ]
[ CHARISMA : 1 * ]
[ LUCK : 1 * ]
Again with those stars.. What annoyed me the most was that my stats were rock bottom. Usually you start with at least 5 points in each but this is just my luck. If I can at least pass the current quest, I should be able to get enough EXP to level up. FRO's system was intricate about it's levelling. You see, big, burly tank players would dump all of their Stat Increases into Body and Strength, making them an unstoppable force for low Challenge Rating quests. Usually Mages and Summoners, Mind and Charisma based classes would be the obvious counter, as magic should handle tanky brutes pretty easily. However, the influx of magic items and in particular, the ones that give magic resistance tipped the scales of balance, and so, to circumvent this and to give players more of a reason to spec into the Mind stat, you actually gain extra Stat Increases depending on your current Mind stat upon levelling up. This meant that Mages in particular would have additional Stat Increases to spare after maxing out a stat, so some spec into Charisma for better bartering or Luck if they are a troll...
The maximum score a stat can be is 80. If I remember correctly, my character had everything maxed out. This would have been impossible unless you bought the "Level Overcap" feature in the store, making my maximum level cap 120. Of course, this feature was only available to Premium Players. Which I was the only one of... I guess no one else wanted to pay for this game. Yet I still have no idea what "Rebirth" means. Is that the reson my body looks different? Does it have something to do with the stars beside my stats?
"Hmm.. Inventory."
Once again, the familiar popup. Now shows a human silhouette with certain tabs pointing to different body parts. Some tabs have pictures on them. As to be expected. My white tee and black underwear offered 0 defence whatsoever. I sigh. Some "Saviour's Gift" or whatever the hell this is..
Before I do anything, I rummage through my room and find a pair black pants, quickly beating the dust off of them. These will have to do for now. I can't go out onto the apocalypse half naked...
-PING
A quest notification just showed up on my hotbar.
"Quests."
Once again, my hotbar expands open and I see a new quest brief on my Quest Log. I take another glance outside. No more huge messages in the sky.. A personal quest perhaps?
[ NEW QUEST! ]
[TYPE : HIDDEN ]
[ NEW OBJECTIVE : Escape the collapsing building. REWARD : 500EXP, 500GP ]
[ PUNISHMENT FOR FAILURE : DEATH. ]
[ 00:59:57 ]
"Huh?"