It does not appear that you have any active characters: Would you like to create a new one?
The question appeared in the darkness, floating mid-air. Along with it, a female voice with no owner in sight read the text to him. Underneath the question were two flashing options: Yes or No. Viktor reached an invisible hand out and tapped on “yes”.
The text disappeared and after a minute of loading, another message approached.
There are twelve races. Please choose one.
A light illuminated the darkness to reveal twenty four life-like statues standing around him; both genders for each race. He recognized some of them; most notable the common-video-game-race known as “Elves”. As his eyes brushed by all of the features each race offered, he ultimately settled on the statue of a human.
“Human,” Viktor said aloud.
You have the option of changing your appearance: Would you like to or do you prefer to stay true to your real body?
Viktor paused to ponder the question. It was a video game, after all, so shouldn’t he make someone that’s different from what he usually sees in the mirror? Somehow, it felt too false. He didn’t want to run around in a fake body, he wanted to feel the adventures himself.
“I want to keep my body,” he replied.
What would you like your name to be?
…
“Orion.”
There are 10 points you can put into your Health, Mana, and Stamina. How would you like to spend these points?
Orion went to scratch his chin, but only massaged thin air. He read online that how he spends the 10 points doesn’t affect how they increase when he levels up; they only set the base stats.
In that sense, shouldn’t he have more health than the others? Then the rest would depend on the profession he gets later, so they would need to be more equal…
“5 points in Health, 3 points in Mana, 2 points in Stamina.”
Are you sure?
“Yes ma’am.”
There are many professions in Genesis. You have a list of options that will appear in front of you now.
Orion scanned the four categories. After clicking “Offensive”, the list transformed into a longer list of specific classes that are based around the offensive category. As he studied it, he thought about what he was good at.
A profession that went by the name of “Shade” was at the end of the list. He tapped on the text and a small window emerged, showing him the possible attributes, gear, and skills of the profession. It looked as if the general theme was a stealthy warrior that occasionally used a sort of dark magic.
‘At least I wouldn’t be straying too far from my old job back in the real world. Well, except for the magic...’
“Shade,” he announced.
Are you sure?
“Yes ma’am.”
Showing in front of you now is the list of attributes. You have 3 points to spend, which will increase the attribute you chose by 5.
After following the instructions, the text disappeared along with the statue of his character. Then, a map appeared.
Which beginner-level city would you like to start in?
Orion’s jaw dropped as small points on the map lit up. Not only were there hundreds, but they were tiny and hardly took up a fraction of the map. The world had to be the size of earth, if not bigger!
To him, it didn’t really matter where he started. He just wanted to start exploring already. He tapped a random city.
Congratulations, you are ready to play! You have one more chance to go back to change any option you just decided before they are permanent, or you may begin the game.
“Begin!”
The sound of a wind breaking the air echoed through the empty space. Orion glanced up to see a door twice as big as him dropping from the sky, only to land in front of him. A cloud of dust suddenly burst from around the door as if it landed on ground.
At the same time the dust dispersed the doors began to creak open, revealing a bright light that nearly blinded Orion. He hesitantly stepped forward, unsure of what to do at first. A mysterious force seemed to command his feet to move without his permission.
He soon entered the light, which brightened and fully blinded him this time.
Orion covered his eyes with his hand but a second after the light engulfed him, it spit him out.
Once he opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of a medieval-esque city. What looked like one hundred players and half that amount of NPCs, or non-player characters, all wandered through the town square. The clacking of hooves pounded the pavement as a horse strolled by, dragging a cart with a man in a suit guiding the animal.
“Move, noob,” a knight spat as he bumped into Orion, shoving him to the side. Though he felt the contact, it didn’t hurt Orion.
A hand clapped Orion’s shoulder, so he turned his head in time to see a ranger emerge from his blind spot. “Welcome to Genesis, scrub,” he said with a smile and wave before turning and continuing to walk away.
A breeze brushed by his cheeks, carrying the scent of freshly baked bread from a nearby bakery. In the distance, Orion could hear the faint sound of a blacksmith hammering a metal.
It was so much to take in, but Orion did not feel anxious. Instead, he only felt excitement and his heart eagerly begged him to begin exploring.
But he had to figure out the situation first.
He felt completely the same; the only difference from the virtual world and the real world was the clothes he currently wore. His sweats had turned into old-looking tattered rags.
‘Let’s see,’ he thought to himself. ‘How do I open my inventory?’
The moment he said the word “inventory” in his mind, a screen popped up. He flinched backwards and looked around to see if anyone else could see the window, but it appeared like no one did. He stared at the screen for a moment--other than a simple, iron sword and a map it was empty. He didn’t even have gold, so he just equipped the weapon.
“Close.”
His inventory closed.
“Stats.”
A new window appeared before him, this time full of information.
Character Name: Orion Profession: Shade Title: None Fame: 0 Level: 1 Health 500 Mana 300 Stamina 200 Strength 10 Willpower 5 Wisdom 5 Intelligence 10 Agility 10 Luck 5 Defense 5 Charisma 0
“Looks good,” he thought. “Close.”
The window closed.
The strength would be good for his one-handed sword. The dexterity will help his movements as well, like if he fails to dodge an attack from a mob there was a chance the attack will still miss. It should be noted that the chance is incredibly small.
He had some intelligence as well, which increases a spell’s power. He skimmed through different windows looking for any beginner spells and, after finding the skill page, was disappointed to find literally nothing.
What should the first goal be? There didn’t seem to be any sort of main story line, so he took the chance to look around. In the middle of the town square where he spawned sat an enormous fountain. In front of the fountain was a wooden sign.
It read: Welcome to the City of Dawnheim!
‘Ah, I almost forgot to check my map.’
He opened his inventory again and pulled out the map. In the middle was a small logo of a castle with text underneath it reading “Dawnheim”. However, all around it was completely blank because he hadn’t personally explored the areas yet.
He tapped the logo twice, which forced the city to completely cover the map. The entire city was mapped and decorated with different logos. Located underneath the symbols were the names of some buildings such as: tavern, market square and different guilds.
The Fighter’s Guild would probably be the way all the warrior-esque characters go. Or perhaps he should first visit the Mage’s Guild?
He sighed and decided to just go to whichever was closest. However, neither of them was. Right next to him was the Craftsman Guild.
He scratched his chin while debating on if he should enter or not, but he was quickly drawn out of his mind.
On the other side of He doubted that they would teach him to fight, but the goal was to level up first… right? So, he walked through the double doors.
“Hello!” a voice boomed as he entered. A heavy man with a great, grey beard stood at the entrance as if just waiting for people to enter.
Orion was taken back and hesitantly replied, “Hi…”
“I see it is your first time here in the Craftsman’s Guild! Would you like to hear information?”
“Sure.”
“The Craftsman’s Guild is home of the most useful art forms. Here you can learn, and practice, woodworking, leatherworking and blacksmithing!”
“Okay. I’ll take a look around, thanks.”
Orion walked passed the entrance into a huge area. A forge was in the middle and a muscular man stood next to an anvil. Around the forge were different areas for woodworking and leatherworking. As he walked around, he peered through one of the gigantic windows (that stopped the building from getting too hot due to the forge) and saw a few players out by a small pond.
He exited the building to approach them. They all looked high level with impressive armor and weapons. The players went over to the pond and pulled poles out of thin air. A woman standing a few feet away called to them, “That’s right, just cast the line into the water!”
“Excuse me,” Orion said to her. “What are they doing?”
“Fishing,” she replied with a sweet smile. “Are you interested?”
A new window popped up:
New Quest!
Learning the Basics Difficulty E
+50 EXP
+5 Gold
You have met one of the fishing trainers and she offers to teach you. To learn, you must catch 5 fish and bring them to her.
Orion was unsure how far 5 gold would take him, but the EXP reward caught his attention the most anyway. It was half a level just for catching 5 fish.
“Accept.”
“Here, take this and come find me when you finish.”
Item Obtained: Beginner Fishing Pole
Can be used to fish in small ponds
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
After positioning away from the other players, he cast his line out. He probably sat there for 5 minutes, wondering the whole time whether he should bail and do something more useful, until his line tugged. He gripped the pole with both hands and began the battle of strength against the fish.
The struggle lasted until he pulled the pole up with all his strength, forcing the fish to fly out of the pond. It came directly toward him and he caught it. Small text appeared around the fish that said “+5 EXP”.
Increased Fishing Mastery: Beginner Level 1
“I guess that’s not too bad,” he told himself. “5 EXP per fish plus the EXP from the quest, I’ll just need 25 more to level up.”
The sky blue fish wiggled in his hands for a moment longer. Since it was so small, maybe no more than five pound, the slipperiness caused it to slip right through his fingers.
He cursed, but luckily the mob didn’t disappeared. Once he picked it up again, it ceased movement and turned into an item.
Item Obtained: Minor Groople
The most basic fish, only spawning in starter towns.
Catching all 5 fish probably took a full hour. Even though he remained optimistic, he couldn’t help but fear that the quest wasn’t worth the effort. He approached the trainer and handed her the five fish.
“Well done,” she exclaimed. She took the fish from him and they vanished.
You have completed a quest!
Learning the Basics Difficulty E
+50 EXP
+5 Gold
After catching 5 fish with your new rod, you talked to the fishing trainer to turn them in.
He sighed with relief as he opened the map and found the closest gate by the wall. After that experience, he didn’t feel like questing again. He just wanted to go out and fight monsters. If they’re close to the walls, they should be really low levels.
Despite setting out with the plan of avoiding quests, something caught his eye by the gate. A very old woman was hunching over by a tombstone and flowers that had been placed in front of a house. She wore a brown gown with a white apron. Her grey hair reached her shoulder and a few strands fell over her forehead.
Orion planned on walking by, but something deep down told him not to. An old woman was crying, how could he?
“Excuse me,” he said gently. “Are you… okay?”
“Oh,” she replied with a weak smile. She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped underneath her eyes. “It’s nothing dear, but thank you for asking.”
She turned away and looked back at the stone. It was obvious that she was lying, but he had no idea NPCs could lie like that. Or maybe she just didn’t have a quest.
“Well, even if that’s so, you don’t have to stay by yourself. Are you paying your respects? May I join you?”
She didn’t reply. He guessed she really didn’t have a quest. Still, Orion felt like it would be wrong to simply walk away. Whether real or fake, the old lady was hurt. Would he walk away from his grandmother if she were hurt? Never.
He remained silently by the woman’s side until he was ready to get back on track. However, just before he walked away she spoke up.
“You stayed by my side,” she noted. “Thank you. It means a lot. Not many people do, you know, they talk to me once but then just leave. This is my grandson’s grave. Today is the anniversary of the day he left to go to war and never returned.”
She paused to wipe a few tears away with her handkerchief, so Orion put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Even if it was just a little bit.
“I raised him since he was a boy when his parents died. He used to make me this one meal and I’d give anything to eat it again.”
“I can make it, if you have the recipe.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that, dear. Staying with me was more than enough.”
“Nonsense! I’ll get it done and bring it back to you in no time.”
“Well, if you insist…”
A Loved One Lost Difficulty E
+10 EXP
+10 Fame
+2 Charisma
It is the anniversary of when Grandmother Ethel's grandson went to war and never returned. Cook a dish as close as her grandson used to make as possible.
“10 EXP,” he muttered under his breath. “The things I do…”
Item Obtained: Grandmother Ethel’s Spicy Beef Curry Recipe
The recipe used by her grandson.
Orion decided that the best way to recreate the recipe would be to gather the ingredients himself as opposed to buying them. That way, he would finally be able to explore while also doing a quest. The first animal he encountered was a boar.
He assumed the mob was somewhere between levels 1 and 5 since it was in the Eastern Forest, which was right next to the starter city. Even though the boar wasn’t part of the recipe, Orion decided to fight it and test his limits for the first time.
The beast glared at him menacingly and dragged its front hoof along the dirt. Unless he backed away now, it would attack.
He unsheathed his iron sword and held it out in front of his body. He didn’t know how to use a sword that well, but he knew how to fight. It couldn’t be too difficult, could it?
The boar charged forward and he side stepped just before it head-butt him. As he moved, Orion also swung the sword around and sliced into the beast’s side.
It tumbled forward but quickly rolled back to its feet. Once more, it dragged its hoof and charged forward. Orion attempted the same maneuver, but the mob predicted his movement. After adjusting its direction slightly, it managed to tackle Orion’s shin.
Orion’s leg was forced backwards, sending him into a spiral that ended with him on his back. He propped himself onto his elbows but before he could stand, the boar smashed into his face.
His jaw cracked and blood spew from his mouth, but luckily there was no pain. The blood was simply the game showing a loss of health since you could not see other player’s health bars like in other games.
Anger fueling him, Orion spun onto his gut and faced the boar. He knew he wouldn’t have enough time to stand, so as the boar charged again he thrust the sword forward while still on the ground.
The sword passed through the beast, dealing damage, and Orion received damage from the head-butt as well. If a player or mob takes damage to a normally-lethal area, say the head, the weapon will go through their avatar with slight resistance. After all, it seemed better to the developers to do it that way instead of having players running around with arrows piercing their heads while still alive.
Orion managed to climb to his knees in time for the next charge and opted to block. As the boar grew close, he turned the sword so that the boar’s head would slam into the straight side. The beast recoiled, but before it had time to retreat, Orion swiftly swung the sword and sliced through the boar’s neck (though, the head remained attached).
The boar cried out in pain before collapsing to the ground.
Level up!
Increased Swordsman Mastery: Beginner Level 1
Increased damage by swords (+3%)
“Yes!” Orion shouted happily, even going as far as punching the air. He turned and began to continue the hunt for beasts. He even leveled up a second time. Eventually he found a piece of farm land by the road, so he decided to use this time to look for ingredients.
He knocked on the door but there was no reply, so he went ahead and turned the doorknob. Luckily, it was unlocked. He entered and noticed that nobody was currently home.
“Things are really starting to look up,” he thought. There were a dozen barrels gathered together in the kitchen. Most of the barrels were filled with fruit or vegetables, and plenty of other ingredients could be found in drawers or cabinets. The farmers even had a couple bottles of Applewood Whiskey!
Once he left, he went around to the back of the house and saw cattle. He took one down in just one strike; apparently domesticated animals could be taken down easily unlike wild ones. A window popped up revealing beef and even the bones.
After taking what he needed he traveled through the forest back to the city. On the way, he leveled up again and was now only 20% away from level 5!
Grandmother Ethel was inside the house now, so he knocked on the door. She wearily called him inside and he entered to find her sitting at the table.
“Back so soon?”
“Actually… I just got to Dawnheim so I don’t have many supplies. I have all the ingredients, but I was hoping I could use your kitchen?”
“Go ahead, dear,” she said with a smile.
Orion immediately went to work, using the bones and vegetables to create a broth and slicing the beef with a nearby knife. Still following the recipe, he whipped up something to marinade the beef in. Then he prepared a chopped onion with spices and peppers and cooked them in a pan.
After he cooked the onion mixture, he threw the beef and cooked them until they had a nice, dark brown color. He chopped a tomato, stirred it into the contents in the pan and finally poured in the beef broth.
The lid was placed and he took a seat to wait. Without a clock he was forced to check the curry every so often, watching the beef until it was tender enough. The game time and the real time were synched, so after a few hours it was ready.
Spicy Beef Curry Decent quality No effects
Increased Cooking Mastery: Beginner Level 1
Dishes prepared now give effects
+10 EXP
He had to admit, it was fun. He even found that Grandmother Ethel had rice and he prepared it with some spoon fulls of the beef curry once the timer went off. She took a bite and her face lit up.
“I’m impressed,” she said. “I only gave this job to a few people, yet you are the first to make it exactly as my grandson would. It was the rice. People tend to only do what they need to while few go an extra step.”
She looked as if she would cry again, but at the same time she looked cheery. Orion couldn’t help but smile.
You have completed a quest!
A Loved One Lost Difficulty E
+10 EXP
+10 Fame
+2 Charisma
After comforting Grandmother Ethel, you set out to make a dish that was on the same level as her grandson's cooking.
“You’ve been such a sweetheart. I must ask, where did you find the beef? The quality was superb!”
“I stumbled on a farm house not too far from here.”
“On the opposite side of the Eastern Forest?”
“Yes, how’d you know?”
“I just talked to the owner of that farm; he is here to repair something at the blacksmith. I’m glad to hear that his farm is doing well, though.”
“Why would it not do well?”
“Well I’m sure you hadn’t ventured that far, but further east is the Swamp of Sulfur. Lizard creatures live there and they all obeyed a monster named Diablo.”
Orion clenched his fist as his heart skipped a beat. A boss fight is not far from him.
“The rumors say that Diablo is a demon,” Grandmother Ethel continued. “Anyway, the smaller creatures of the swamp often venture out of the swamp to eat livestock. That’s why I was happy to hear that my friend’s farm was doing well.”
“I can take care of Diablo.”
“Oh, no no! You mustn’t! Anybody who has ever seen him never returned to tell the tale. The closest anyone got was Fisherman Joe, who saw only part of Diablo through the trees. He said it was the biggest creature he’d ever seen, with bloodthirsty eyes and jarred teeth that could rip a man apart. Joe met the monster’s eyes and terror filled him to the point where he no longer leaves Dawnheim! Please don’t go, I’d be awfully sad if anything were to happen to you because of me.”
Orion showed her a reassuring smile, saying, “Okay, don’t worry. I won’t go.”
He hugged her goodbye and she wished him good luck in his future endeavors. As he left the house, closing the door behind him, the smile faded.
Of course he was going to fucking go.