Volume 1: Plight of the Gods | Chapter 1: Welcome to Infinitia!
A soft thrumming permeated the silence. The upbeat music accompanied the vibrating gadget, alerting of an incoming call. A door opened and a lanky man came out, only wearing his boxers. He had a towel draped over his shoulders, his left hand using it to wipe the excess water from his hair.
"Hello?" Came the baritone voice.
Silence.
"...It's okay." He answered in a controlled tone. 'Not really...' Yet his inner voice begged to differ.
Another brief pause as the guy listened to the caller.
"No need to apologize. I was about to call and say I wouldn't be able to make it anyway...Yeah, I'm busy..." 'No you're not. You've been anticipating this day for a long time...'
He moved on to his bed and fell on it with the phone still held to his ear.
"It's alright. See you soon..." 'Yeah...maybe next year.'
Lucas ended the call. For a minute, he remained still. Then he sat up with a swift movement, the hand holding the phone raised up and poised to throw the phone against the wall.
'...'
'Nevermind...' Phones aren't cheap nowadays, destroying one so he could vent wouldn't be worth it.
So instead, he settled with the next best thing. He stood up and kicked the side of the bed.
A loud bang resounded as his foot connected with it.
Something he regretted immediately as he hopped in place, his hand clutching his injured foot.
A few minutes and some curse words later, Lucas found himself seated on the bed. His gaze fell on his clock.
The green indicator flashed on 7:56 p.m.
There's still time. Instead of focusing on his throbbing toe, he opened his phone and messaged his friends.
"Hey...took a rain check. Turns out I can play with you guys after all."
He looked at the bottom of his phone and saw his friends' avatar's move down. An indicator with round buttons appeared in an instant.
OtakuGirlXX, ArcticMonkey, Spartacus are typing...
" ✺◟(∗❛ัᴗ❛ั∗)◞✺ Yayy~!!"
"Great! See you there Luke!"
"The gang is complete!"
His friends' reply came in succession. Their reactions made a smile appear on his face. Atleast some people were excited to see him. He completely forgot his recent pains, both emotional and physical.
The online game, Infinitia Online was about to go live. He wasn't supposed to make it. This day was his birthday after all. If things went the way he planned, he'd be in a restaurant with his family. But as per usual, the schedule changed. He should've learned by now. And yet, he kept hoping.
'Is it really wrong to hope to be with my family during my birthday?'
Lucas shook his head to clear it out. Pity parties aside, he needed to get something to wear. Otherwise, he'd risk getting a cold. He went to the cabinet and took out clothes he can get comfortable in. Performing a body check before he immersed himself in the game, he realized he wasn't that hungry. He'll check things out with his friends, maybe finish a quest or two then if he gets hungry, he'll just log out.
He looked at his laptop, situated on his bedside table. A browser was opened to the Infinitia website.
The site didn't have a lot of information. It was quite straightforward, actually. It only had the name of the game on top and a timer with a simple instruction that sat below it.
'Plug in your Virtual Reality Console while staying on this page. Press the Play button once the countdown reaches zero.'
Great reviews about the game have spread through the entire gaming community. Gaming and reaction videos from alpha and beta tests of the game spread through the internet like wildfire. Naturally, his gaming buddies knew about it and two of them even participated in the tests.
Game popularity is usually dictated by the innovations it presented. It had to offer something new compared to the other VRMMORPG's in the market.
In the case of Infinitia Online, there wasn't much hype about it in the beginning. Only that an unknown company created and produced the game. Other top games had the backing of well-known companies. So it was only natural that people ignored it.
It all started with a game teaser in its official website. The caption read, "Would you like to live in a world separate from your own? One where magic exists and you get to play the hero?" which at the time seemed too common for a catch phrase. The publicity didn't work. The game didn't gain a following and after a time, the developers went silent. A few months later, the underestimated game made a comeback with a gameplay video to boot.
The game brought new meaning to the word virtual reality. The former could be disregarded as the latter gave it more emphasis. The graphics was too genuine. As if it was a movie shot in real life and polished with awesome effects. At first, debates and speculations ran wild about its authenticity. Some people remarked that it must have been a short movie opening to promote the game. Whilst others hoped that it was the real thing.
The whole conflict reached its conclusion as they released gameplay videos and more details. Suffice to say, the reaction and attention it gathered was more than overwhelming. Some game elements and features were also revealed.
There were some features that were the same as most games. They dulled the pain sensation to avoid detrimental effects on the body. They also imitated some human biological conditions to make things realistic. But the pervasive truth was that the "graphics" were beyond its years. "It's like I got transported to a different world and wore helmets and swung swords!" "It's so real that I could actually feel the fine hairs on my avatars skin when I ran my hand through it!" "I actually perspired after I did some monster hunting!" were some of the reactions posted through different sites.
Because of these reasons, and coupled with peer pressure, Lucas finally caved in. He got roped in by his friends to try out the game.
"Well here goes nothing!" After sending a message to his friends that he would be logging in, Lucas placed the Virtual Reality Gear on. He felt as if his body got sucked into a vacuum and after a few seconds, everything went black.
~*~
When Lucas came to, he found himself standing in a dark room. "Wow, the developers did good..." he murmured to himself.
"…"
"What am I standing on?" he observed when he felt a wet sensation on his feet.
"Water?! Am I standing on water?! Hmmm…" His gaze went up as light flashed a few steps from where he stood. It was a floating crystal shard, hovering up and down. The object seemed to beckon him.
"I guess that's the log-in panel. Might as well get through with this."
Reaching out to the crystal, he heard a voice echo inside his head. "Hi! I'm Tir! Thank you for responding to our cry for help! What's your name?" a soft female voice said coupled with a flash of silvery white light.
After the blinding light show faded, a girl about the size of a twelve year old floated in front of Lucas. She wore lacy white vestments and her face radiated with an expectant smile. On her head was a white beret with a feather design.
"I'm Luca—wait a minute! If she's asking for my name then she must mean my character name right?" Lucas started to say but the rest turned to mumbling as his right hand went up to rub his chin. He wasn't really good with names. Usually, he settled with names of actors he liked. This time, it took a while before a name of a certain actor crossed his mind. Well, not really. More like the character that the actor portrayed in the movie. He was about to say his new name when he hesitated.
His eyes had a deadpan look. Remembering the times when his friend Mikhail had used "pet" names. Just because his friend found it hard to pronounce the names he chose.
"Oh…Leonardo Di Caprio this time? I'll call you Leo."
"You got that from Robin Williams this time I presume? Meh, will call you Rob!"
"Now it's Johnny Depp? Too wordy, Jon will be okay!"
Those memories made him cringe. So instead of using the real character name Ulrich, he chose to change how it was spelt. Alric. Yes, that would suffice.
Upon reaching a decision he looked at the waiting girl who had her head tilted to the side "I'm Alric! It's spelled as A-l-r-i-c! Nice to meet you!"
Yes, he didn't choose a jester's name. That would be too hard to live down. Yes, the character and portrayal was great. But he didn't have what it took to carry that name.
The girl chuckled, "Hello Alric! Before you enter our world, may I ask you a few questions?" and as she did she floated towards him.
"Ummm…sure! She might be asking about my character…"
The girl twirled around and shouted with glee "Yaaay!"
"First things first, what will be your race?" She asked her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Oh! Asking that all of a sudden huh? There isn't even a choice? Well…an elf would be nice--woah!" He yelled when small particles of light engulfed his whole body.
When the light faded, the first thing he noticed was that he wore different clothes. It was mostly made of leather and cloth and had a green and yellow theme. Apart from that, he noticed something felt a little different.
He raised his arms and observed them. He seemed more slender than his usual build.
'I wonder if I look any different' and just when he thought of it, a floating mirror appeared in front of him.
"Whoa! I take back what I said! I look nothing like before!" That was putting it lightly. In actuality, Lucas' appearance became more feminine and refined. The word androgynous popped into his head as the more apt description. For a more common term, he seemed to have transformed into a "beautiful" man. However, the most noticeable difference was that he had pointed ears.
He did different poses in the mirror. Imitating the models in the commercial ads he had seen. "Wow! I definitely look like an elf! Complete with the pointed ears. Not to mention the green eyes! This is awesome!" He got a little bit sidetracked, excited at the level of detail. Gone were the days that you looked at a monitor and used sliders to change your avatar's appearance.
"But I'm curious, let's see…how about an orc?" This time he wasn't that surprised, well not enough to elicit a yell and embarrass himself.
First, he noticed was his height and built. He was a bit taller than his elven form and his build a little bulkier. Complexion-wise, it was light green and he had tattered clothes on. He looked like an orc alright, complete with two canines sticking out of his lips.
With a huge smile plastered on his face, Alric tried different races. From a vampire to a werewolf, a demi-human and every single race he could think of. Most of them were available but there were some he tried that seemed to be nonexistent in the game. The NPC beside him remained patient, awaiting for him to settle on his final choice.
"To have so many choices at my disposal, and this is the first question. This is hard…"
"I guess I'd go for a human?" He said and finally returned into his normal appearance. The only difference this time was his eyes which looked bigger than his small squinty ones. Bigger than his usual European Asian eyes.
"Are you satisfied with the way you look?" The girl asked which made Alric look at the mirror. He always had unruly hair in the real world and he didn't want to have that problem within the game.
"I was wondering if I could have easy to style hair?? One that isn't...like mine?" He said with a sheepish look. With a flurry of lights, his hair changed to a shorter and cleaner look.
"Will that do?" Tir asked afterwards.
Lucas' hand went up and ruffled his hair. True to his request, his hair didn't get messed up. After his hand left his head, his hair had turned back to its "fixed" form. He wasn't the vain type of person. The only reason he requested it was because he disliked fixing his hair if he had to go somewhere important.
"Yeah. This'll do. Thanks!" He answered as he turned back to Tir.
"Are you more inclined to using magic in a battle or fighting with a weapon?" The little girl asked, her face taking on a more serious look.
"Well, I would say I'm a mixture of both? I like to be able to attack my enemies with a weapon. But I also want to use magic when the need arises." He explained. In the games he played, he usually played a hybrid character. He played the role of mid-vanguard, he stayed in the middle of the formation. He did this to protect the mages and healers at the back while dishing out damage as well.
"Wow! What a unique class! I wonder how you'll turn out to be? That will be it! Enjoy your stay in our world!" The NPC answered which kind of confused Lucas.
He didn't know that she was asking about a class. Before he was able to react, the NPC twirled around and burst into bright lights. He covered his eyes not knowing what to expect next.
The sudden noise reached Lucas' ears, prompting him to open his eyes.
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