# Prologue
As the old saying goes:
Necessity, is the mother of all invention.
Indeed, most of the inventions made in the past were born of necessity.
The telephone. The printing press. The pneumatic wheel. The can, and by extension, the can-opener.
However, not all inventions were born out of necessity.
The potato chip, for example, was a happy accident by Native American chef, George Crum. (autocorrect almost did it's finest with that word)
But on the other end of the spectrum, there were inventions that were definitely not needed.
Guns, for example.
The problem with these is not that they caused the death of countless people.
Oh no, people will always be killing other people.
The problem is, they made killing terribly easy.
For the first time in history, an untrained adolescent peasant could kill the most well trained and most armored knight with the simple pull of a trigger.
They did not have to know swordmanship, nor have colossal muscles.
They did not need to have a keen eye to aim with a bow. Even with a crossbow, the bolt might not be able to penetrate the armor from a distance.
Now, all they needed to do was point and shoot.
But that was over a thousand years ago...
This is now
**********************************************
*Dear Merton
We thank you for your contributions to the production of our Virtual Reality Capsule. Without your help we would not have been able to successfully launch our product.
To show our appreciation, we would like to present to you one free unit of the aforementioned product.
We hope for your continued support.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Unicorn Corporation*
This was a letter attached to the large cardboard box that had just arrived at my doorstep this morning. It was a largish box, a little taller than the average person and three times as wide. Likely it was made to cater to Asians, as most other races would have trouble fitting into the machine with their taller frames.
I had been expecting it to arrive for quite some time now, as many of the other engineers and programmers who contributed to the company had already received their unit. It is no big surprise, however, that I was among the last to receive my unit.
After all, I'm not quite a proper engineer yet, but rather an engineering student who just happened to have the right connections. Also what I contributed was the design and creation of a small mechanical part. It was not even a part of the machine itself, but of the machine that produces the machine.
In truth, the person that they contacted was my teacher, but (un)fortunately, he was too busy to take the job himself and recommended his star pupil (me) to take his place. After some discussion with the heads of the school, my teacher managed to convince them to allow me to produce the part for my final year project.
And now, instead of him, it was me who received the unit. True, it was a year and a half after the actual release, but it was still free, and a student needs to save money whenever he can. I've had to resist the temptation to simply buy a capsule on my own for over a year so that I could play the latest virtual mmorpg "Royal Road", and I'm not gonna wait another moment to start.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The unit came with an instruction manual, but I didn't even take a glance at it.
Why?
Because I'm an engineer. (And a super ultra nerd with next to no social life who spends most of his time playing video games, reading manga and light novels and writing fanfics on his phone.) I've had to assemble more computers and machines over my school days than I could care to count.
Plus, the Capsule was a consumer product. Hence it was designed to be easily set up by the common man.
10 minutes and a whole lot of elbow grease later the capsule was set up and I was logging in.
***************************
Connect to Royal Road? Yes/No?
"Yes"
The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?
"Yes"
Select the Name of your Avatar.
"Notrem," my actual name backwards. Easy to remember, and sounds like an actual name, as compared to "FireDude, or "YourMomsCar". In non-virtual reality MMORPG's such names were commonplace. But in Royal Road using such a name would make you a laughing stock.
Select gender from male, female or neutral.
"Male," while many people might choose a gender opposite of theirs for fun, I'm not one of those.
Royal Road has 49 races currently 29 races are playable, please select your chosen race.
"What are the most common races?"
That would be the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves.
Dwarves are master craftsmen and sturdy Warriors. They are, however unable to use delicate weapons such as rapiers, bows an~ (if anyone finds any evidence otherwise, please tell me)
"Pass," in every game I've played, I've always played a ranged class.
Elves are excellent mages and rangers. They gain a bonus when crafting staves and bows. Their slight frame gives them high Dexterity, but lower Strength, making them unable to wield heavier equipment.
"... ... Hrm... ... No," it was tempting, but if I understand correctly, heavier weapons tend to deal higher damage, even for bows.
Might I assume that you wish to be a Human?
"Yes, please," always a good, balanced race.
You may alter your appearance.
"As is.... Wait, if my actual appearance changes, will my appearance in game also change?"
No, your appearance will still remain in your last saved state.
"Keep my appearance then."
Understood. Your glasses will be an optional equipment in game. Your vision will not be affected in any way whether or not you choose to wear them.
Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.
Select a City and Kingdom you want to start in.
"Send me to a popular and well populated area." I'm not interested in being a pioneer or anything similar, and I'd rather have a stable economy. More people also means that it'll be easier to find a party.
The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom has been selected.
Welcome to Royal Road.