by Tyler R Lee
He thought about it, and though he probably would have switched the feature off, he didn’t see any harm in it. He didn’t really know if anyone near him played. Then, he remembered that Ariel had said she played. So, she would know he was part of the game now. Peter wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Anyway, Peter, last thing. Be sure to be online tomorrow at about 5pm your time. There will be a big announcement concerning the completely free weekend. You won’t want to miss it. Farewell.”
Peter waved and watched as Yoshitsune disappeared like a hologram from a science fiction movie. It was then he realized that he was alone. But not alone with nowhere to turn like in reality. No. He was alone, with an entire fantasy world within his reach. With excitement in his eyes and a longing for adventure in his heart he had never felt before, Peter leapt from the ledge he was standing on overlooking a wide field and marveled at how it felt to jump so far.
When he landed in the field about thirty feet below the ledge, he opened up his map screen and saw that the nearby small town was where his first story mission started. With that, he began walking down the worn path that led to the small town, knowing he would leave the trail long before he got there. He was excited about that, but more excited about finding out just what would draw him from the path.
Chapter 3
He hadn’t been walking long when Peter heard something coming up behind him on the same path. When he turned to regard the noise, he noticed a horse pulling a covered wagon. The driver of the cart was dressed in a mix of old-west and classic fantasy--a black vest over a white, button down shirt, black boots, with a forest green hooded cloak covering him. “Interesting style,” Peter smiled. “Classic, yet unique.”
Peter stopped to get a closer look, anxious to experience his first non-player character encounter of the game. “Hail, and well met, traveler,” the driver said in a cheerful voice, then gave a, “Whoa,” to his horse.
“And...to you,” Peter stuttered, unable to commit to either acting natural or playing a character.
When the wagon came to a complete stop, the driver shook his hood off, revealing a bit of black hair on a slightly balding head, and a mustache that would have made Theodore Roosevelt jealous. “What brings you so close to New Beginnings, friend?”
Peter stared, wide eyed and confused for a moment before remembering the name of the nearby town from his map. “Oh, um…” Peter tried desperately to think of something in character to say. Finally, he gave up and just said, “Not sure. Just started playing and I think that’s my first stop.”
Apparently, the NPC didn’t care whether Peter acted as if he was a real person in a fantasy world or a player in the game. “Understandable. See lots of people on this road making their way to and from New Beginnings. Lots of people find their own adventures there. I’ll bet you’ll find yours,” he ended with a grin and a wink.
“Probably,” Peter smiled back, feeling a little awkward at the conversation. He was socially inept enough when talking to real people. Apparently, it also translated to bits of code as well. “Well, I’ll be going now.”
“Would you mind, terribly, if I asked you a favor?” the stranger asked before Peter could take a step.
“Oh, a quest already. I mean...sure, what’s up?” He realized it was going to take him some time before he got the whole “actually speaking with NPCs” thing down.
“Well, we’ve only a bit left in the trip to New Beginnings, but you see the dip in the road about a mile thataway?” Peter looked toward the town and saw where the driver was pointing. Indeed, the road went down hill and cut through what looked like a small, rocky region. When the boy nodded, the driver continued. “While it is probably nothing, more than a few lonely wagons of goods have been ambushed in those hills. You seem to be a strapping lad. Would you be so kind as to accompany me through?”
Grinning, imagining a chance to test out his skills in the game, Peter nodded an enthusiastic “you bet!”
***
The driver of the cart offered Peter a seat beside him for the rest of the journey, but Peter turned it down, choosing to walk and continue to get a feel for how this in-game body felt and moved. In the background, the driver prattled on about how long he had been driving a trade cart, people he had met, and several other things Peter wasn’t paying attention to. Instead, he marveled at how he felt, physically. He felt...light. Every few steps he noticed he was almost skipping. He had never felt so light on his feet before. A couple of times he jumped straight into the air just to see how high he could go. Effortlessly, he found he could jump a good fourteen to fifteen feet straight up.
He also found himself throwing a few short punch combinations out in front of him, marveling at how fast he was. Though, he wouldn’t really know how hard he could punch until he actually hit something, he imagined it would feel amazing.
“Alright, we’ve arrived,” he heard the driver say, snapping him back to virtual reality. “Look sharp. You never know what could be hiding behind any rock or up on those ledges.”
As if right on queue, Peter noticed a few stones from one of the rocky ledges to his left come loose, followed by an accompanying shadow move away from the edge. Then, he heard the driver cry out, “Oh no! Kobolds! Look out!” Not able to hide his smile, Peter looked ahead as the wagon came to an abrupt halt and saw three short, orange, scaled creatures in tattered leather and thin, metal armor running his way, growling and howling, spears and swords held high. He thought they looked like a mix between a bipedal crocodile and a small werewolf, due to their mostly scaly form, but with a fair amount of fur or beard around their long snouts.
“I’ll handle it,” Peter called to the driver as he ran towards the advancing kobalds. Now was his chance to see how his martial artist handled enemies. He was upon the first one in a matter of seconds, and he found that he could easily sidestep the creatures seemingly slow spear thrust. Wasting no time, Peter stepped in after the easy dodge and threw a straight punch into the center of the creature’s face, pushing its snout into its head. The unfortunate kobald fell backward with ease, dropping its spear and growling as it grabbed its snout.
The other two came in with swords high. Peter easily dashed to his left, leaving both of them slicing down into thin air. He ended up on the side of one, and allowed himself this time to throw three punches into the kobald’s side, then threw a left and right into its head. He put a bit more power into the last punch, which sent the enemy spinning through the air and to the ground.
Peter’s face was painted with a wide grin. He had honestly never had so much fun. The final of the three came in, again with sword high, but Peter planted his right foot into the creature’s gut before it could swing, which pushed it back and cause it to fold over, gasping for breath. The martial artist took this opportunity to run over, drop down to one knee, and deliver a fierce uppercut that even brought him off the ground a bit. The unfortunate opponent lifted into the air, then came crashing down on the first kobald, who hadn’t quite perished. This was remedied when its companion crashed down upon it.
“Back here!” Peter heard the driver yell. When he spun around, he saw three more kobalds waving their weapons at the driver.
“Uh oh,” he said as he dashed over quickly. So quickly, he noted.
Curious, Peter ran full speed at the closest kobald and then thrust his elbow out as he plowed into the unfortunate creature. It sailed a good twenty feet away and didn’t move. “Sweet!” he commented. When he turned, the other two were waving their spear and sword his way.
Just then, Peter remembered something Yoshitsune had said to him; the martial artist has a special ability to block with their arms or hands and not take much damage. Thinking this was as good a time as any to try it, Peter let the sword wielder come down with his curved blade onto Peter’s arms, held above him and crossed at the forearms. When the sword landed, it made a metal-on-metal sound and bounced off. Peter felt a tingling in his arms, and watched his health points deplete barely
enough to notice. “Neat,” he thought, aloud. “Now, back to business.” With that, he let loose a flurry of punches to the kobalds midsection and face, marking the last one to the face with a “see ya.” Indeed, the creature fell back several feet.
Then, Peter found himself pushed to the left as he felt a strong tingling in his right side. He looked to see the final kobald holding the spear it had just used to stab Peter in his ribs. Noticing his HP go down quite a bit more than when he blocked, Peter realized he needed to keep his focus on all the enemies in the future, unless he wanted to die all the time.
Thinking quickly before the kobald could attack again, he grabbed the spear and threw it to the ground. Then, he stepped up and planted a side kick into the creatures gut. Peter, interested to see how his balance and skill were in this body, stayed on one foot and kicked the kobald in the head with his still extended leg, then brought it back with even more force to strike it on the other side of the head. This sent the kobald spinning into the air.
Once that enemy was down, Peter looked around the battlefield. He counted six kobalds, all down and not moving. He checked their HP and they were, indeed, at zero.
“Oh, thank you so much, traveler,” the driver said in a very grateful voice. “I knew you would be helpful.” Peter smiled and felt he was probably blushing in real life.
As they made their way out of the rocky area, Peter kept replaying the fight in his head. He had never felt such a rush before. He was so strong, so powerful, so athletic. And it all felt so natural. Those kobalds never stood a chance. Most of all, it had been so much fun.
“Ah, there be New Beginnings,” the driver said with a sigh of relief as they topped the final hill before the town. This brought Peter back to the game at hand as he spotted the small but bustling village. “Thanks again, stranger, for accompanying me. I’d have been in big trouble if you hadn’t fought off those nasty kobalds.”
“No problem. Safe travels,” Peter responded as he stopped at the edge of the town while the driver drove his wagon onto the stone streets. Suddenly, a burst of light came from Peter’s whole body. Surprised, Peter quickly saw the cause on his heads-up-display. “Hey. Level 2,” he noted.
“Well,” he said after checking out his slightly increased states. He took a deep breath, quite nervous about what would come next in this game. “Here we go.” He exhaled, thought quickly about meeting new people, going on new quests, and, possibly, making some friends along the way. Then, he stepped onto the stone streets of New Beginnings.
***
Walking slowly through the streets, Peter grinned as he took in the scene before him. It resembled the typical small town you would see in a common fantasy video game; the streets were made of stone, trafficked by citizens in common and modest dress, horse drawn carriages, and sectioned off by many a stone and wood building making up most of the shops and houses throughout the area. There was even an ornate fountain at the town square not far from the entrance Peter had made his way through, complete with a statue of a heavily armored warrior, sword in front of him as he stood atop the fountain, clearly meant to represent some local hero from the lore of the area.
What caught Peter’s eye, however, were the more decorative or ornately dressed and armored individuals moving through the town. He noted a few heavily armored warriors in colorful mail, some archers in decorative leather, more than a few dressed in samurai-esque and ninja-like garb, many ornately robed figures, and so much more. These, Peter guessed, were the players.
With an audible gulp, Peter questioned whether he was ready to introduce himself to anyone. Maybe he would just quest by himself for a bit until he worked up the courage to join a party. As he was about to turn around and head out of town to regroup, he heard a sound in his head, then saw a speech bubble pop up in his heads-up display. “What the…” he wondered, before touching it and reading “Turn around.” Peter, confused, whirled around to see two figures waving at him--one was a warrior type character, the other was some kind of spellcaster. His confusion was replaced with relief when he noticed their names; the warrior had the moniker of ShieldBro, while the spellcaster was Lysander.
“It’s about damn time you got Our World,” the spellcaster smiled as he pointed his tall wizard’s hat at Peter. His skin was a deep, dark purple, with violet eyes and pointy, elf-like ears. His navy blue robes matched his hat, minus the light-blue and white outlines along the sleeves, collar, waist, and the bottom of his robes.
“Hey, better late than never,” the warrior offered with a smile of his own. He appeared completely human, from the pale skin to the long, shoulder length brown hair. His armor was quite impressive, sporting a full-body plate armor set made of what looked like white metal rimmed and highlighted in dark blue on the shoulders, gauntlets, greeves, and chestplate. His metal shield and longsword sheath matched in color.
Peter returned their smiles and ran up to them. They were several inches taller than his 5’6” height, though he knew them to be older, so understood that they probably were in real life as well. “I gotta say, I’m glad to see you guys.”
“Same, man,” Lysander offered as he playfully punched Peter in the shoulder. “We were actually doing some grinding together and saw your name pop up in our GamerTacs window as ‘online.’
“We finished up the mob we were fighting and bolted for New Beginnings as quick as we could,” ShieldBro added.
Peter wasn’t about to show it, but he was deeply touched that anyone would be excited to see him. He had never had that in reality. However, he had gamed with these two for a couple of years now, and, though he didn’t know their real names--he always used some form of Peter or Peter Robinson for his online name--they had always been kind to him. ShieldBro had been a sort of mentor to him when he started gaming online. He met Lysander not too long after, and the three of them would often work together in what they were playing. Over the past year, however, their interactions had been mostly chatting online, with them playing a lot of Our World and Peter not having the game nor the system.
“Really?” ShieldBro cocked a smile and raised an eyebrow Peter’s way. “Peter0016? Creative name.”
“Shut up,” Peter blushed. “Peter will be just fine.”
“Oh no,” Lysander put in. “I was gonna call you 0016. Really rolls off the tongue.” After the three shared a laugh, the wizard continued. “So, come on. Let’s run you through some of the earlier stuff so you can get caught up with us. We aren’t too far ahead of you.”
Peter then noticed their “Level 4” status on his HUD. “Yeah, what’s that about? You guys have been playing for over a year. How are you only level 4?”
“We started over, ya big dummy,” Lysander teased, to which Peter shot him a mocking “oh really” look.
“Yeah,” ShieldBro explained. “They launched this new area we’re currently in a few days ago for the big free weekend. Lots of people actually started new characters to get the best of some of the new content.”
“So, how many starting areas are there? And how does the game know where to place you? I didn’t get to choose.”
“There are actually several,” ShieldBro continued. “But this new one is something special.” He then pointed to the sea several miles from the town. “All the other starting areas are across the sea. This new one, for some reason, is its own little continent-island thing.”
“And,” Lysander added,” since they launched this new area, anyone who starts a new character doesn’t get to choose. You are automatically started here, which is why there are so many players.”
Peter looked around and, indeed, he noticed more players for a small town than he would have thought.
“Seems like they’re wanting to get as much out of this starting area as possible,” Lysander continued. “Which is fine with me. It is a pretty neat area. Some cool dungeons and other places to explore. So, let’s get to it!”
Peter chuckled. “Alright. Anything I need to know about the game? Tips?”
&nbs
p; “Not so much,” ShieldBro shook his head. “As far as gameplay, if you’ve played an MMORPG, you pretty much know how it works.”
“Yeah,” Lysander put in. “The real cool shit is in the actual combat and just being in the game and interacting with stuff. And that will be totally on you and how you react to it.”
“Well then,” Peter said, ready to get back to playing the game, excited at the prospect of experiencing it with his old gaming buddies. “Let’s do it. Where do I start?”
***
Over the next few hours, Lysander and ShieldBro helped Peter grind through several of the starter quests. They dungeon dived, explored a forest infested with raiders, and even fought off some kobalds who wanted revenge for the ones Peter had killed in his first mission. These fared no better than their fallen kin. Throughout the adventures, Peter had more fun than he could ever remember having. Not only was he, in almost every sense of the word, actually doing battle with fantastic creatures and exploring a fantasy world, he was doing it with friends, two things he never thought he would ever get to do.