by J. B. Smith
"Yes sir," I answered eagerly.
"Great. You're right on time. It's always a good sign," he said with a chuckle.
He looked at me then at Johnny. "And you are?"
Johnny straightened up and tried to sound confident. "I want to play too," he replied with a stammer. “I mean, if you need more players. You need more players, don't you? "
"Yes. We are accepting new registrations for the next two days. You are also welcome to try the trial."
Johnny's eyes widened. "Thank you sir."
The man preceded us and we followed him into his office. "Sit down," he suggested with open arms.
We started to sit down as the man handed us some paperwork. "Just read this and sign where indicated."
I flipped through the pages. How many were there? There had to be at least 50 pages. "Should I read it all?" I asked.
The man straightened his glasses . “This is just standard information. You can read it all or just browse it. It's really up to you. "
I looked at Johnny and he shrugged. “Just fill it out. This is what I do whenever there is a lot of paperwork.
Maybe he was right. The review of all documents would be a major pain. Also, I needed the money and really wanted to play BladeDust. I scratched my head and asked the most important question I could think of. "How exactly does the free trial work?"
"That's a good question," replied the man. “There is a reserve of money which is updated every month. When players pay their monthly subscriptions money is put into the game. This, combined with the advertising money, allowed us to try out a free trial option. It is an attractive way to gain new players because they can start without investment. "
"But what is the problem?"
“There is no real catch. You just need to earn a certain amount of in-game gold. Once you have this amount, your membership will carry over to the next month. After that, all the gold you earn in the game will be pure profit for the game world or the real world. It is your own choice. "
"So the monthly fee also covers the cost of keeping players in the capsule?"
"Indeed," the man replied. “We now have a program that allows players to rent a capsule. Pay the rent and you keep playing. All of this is included in the monthly fee. "
"Okay. But how do you make real money? We want to make money that can actually work in this world."
“You have to earn 35 gold coins per month to stay in the game. Those 35 coins will pay your monthly fees. After that, you can convert all the remaining gold into real currency. "
"What if we don't win 35 gold coins?" What happens then?
“We'll wake you up and tell you to go. You can come back, but only after paying your outstanding balance. It really is that simple.
"Sounds fair," I replied. "Is it easy enough to earn 35 gold coins?"
“It can be difficult on the first Monday . But we'll work with you if you're close enough. We're giving new players a bit more leeway in the first month. "
I smiled. "Oh yeah. I'm excited for this. How soon can I get started?"
"You can start right away if you wish," replied the man.
"And me?" Johnny asked.
“You can both start in the same place. How does that sound? "
“Sounds pretty cool,” Johnny replied.
The man laughed as he started to walk back and forth. Then he stopped and pointed to my papers. "Just sign the papers and we can get started."
"Where are my papers?" Johnny asked in a strained voice.
The man walked over to his desk and pulled out another stack of papers. He quickly walked over to Johnny and handed them to him. "Just sign them and you're good to go."
The man stood over us and waited for us to start signing. Silence followed before hearing Johnny scribble his first signature.
Chapter four
The first few pages seemed to be pretty basic information. He asked for my name, height, age, date of birth and place of residence. Pretty standard stuff. As I continued to flip through the pages, I noticed a health warning. "What does all this mean?" I asked.
“Just the standard health warning. No different from the seizure warnings you've seen on older console games in the past. Just like these, we must also list them. "
As he read the text he was talking about epileptic seizures, mental disorders and other problems. "So is there nothing to worry about?"
“This stuff is possible with almost any game you play,” the man replied calmly.
“Yeah. I remember I was scared when I saw that on an RPG I was playing,” Johnny said. “Some people get sick playing games. But I've never known anyone to who this happened So I wouldn't care if I were you.
I turned to Johnny and saw that he was busy signing all the places that required his signature. He turned from page to page and scribbled his signature over and over. The man watched patiently. “You are very fast,” he said in a soft voice. "Your friend could take a lesson from you."
Johnny laughed as he continued to sign. There was a small part of me that wondered why I felt so uncomfortable in the whole situation. What was the problem? I was going to get paid to play one of the biggest online games in the world. I should have been happy, but for some reason I was worried. "So are we just gonna stay in one of these pods while we play?" I asked.
"Indeed you are," replied the man. “It's perfectly safe. We make sure your vital signs are normal and everything in between. Food, water and respiration are all taken care of. We even make sure to stimulate your muscles while you play. Our technology is at the cutting edge of technology. "
"What about the parking lot?" Can I just leave my car here when I play? "
He put his hand in the air. “Sure. You don't worry about a thing,” he replied. “Relax and enjoy the game. That's all you need to do.”
I narrowed my eyes and took a moment to think. "Alright," I replied, laughing. “Sometimes I worry too much. I can't wait to ask so many questions. I hope you are not offended.
The man waved his hand in the air. "Not at all. I'd be more worried if you didn't have any questions to ask. That's a lot and I understand why you would ask such questions. Now are you ready to finish the paperwork?"
"Yes sir," I replied with a strong nod. "I'll fill it up right away."
My pen moved to the next signing spot. Without thinking, I signed it. Again, I moved on to the next place and signed. In ten minutes, I was done. I looked up at the man and smiled at him. "I'm done."
"Excellent," he replied, taking my papers.
"So when do we start?" Johnny asked.
"Everything is ready. You can start right away."
Johnny rubbed both hands excitedly. "It's going to be fun. I can't wait to start playing."
I smiled. He was right. It was going to be fun. "Guess we'll spawn together?"
“Yes. Like I said earlier, I'll fix it,” the rep lied .
“I can't believe this is about to happen,” I say enthusiastically. "What do you want to do when we get there?"
Johnny's forehead creased. “I want to ride a horse. I always thought I would look good on horseback.
"Dude. You can ride a horse in real life."
The man stood between us. “You can do whatever you want. There are, however, a few basic rules of the game. But we like to let players learn them naturally. If you have any questions, ask the other players in the game. Letting players learn as you go keeps the game fresh and exciting. And we found it to be a much more rewarding experience for the players. "
"That's fine with me," I replied.
"Sounds good to me too," Johnny repeated.
"Excellent," the man replied, pointing to a door. "If you decide to go this route, we can connect you."
My heart started to beat faster. Plugged? Was that what they called it? It was so exciting! I almost feel like I was going to get on the biggest roller coaster in the world or some thing like that . But I knew it was going to be a lot better than that. My footsteps were heavy as I followed the man into the r
oom. "This is it," he said with both arms wide open.
Around us there were capsules with people inside. I looked closely at one of the capsules and have examined. It was white and only had a small window that revealed the faces of the players. The capsules almost looked like cocoons waiting to hatch. "So how long do these people play?"
"As long as they want," replied the man.
"Is there a time limit?"
"Not at all. We recommend players log out at least once a month. But that's just to keep in touch with reality. I don't want to spoil anything for you. Just talk to the other players and they'll tell you. everything. Why let me remove all the excitement even before you start playing? "
The man walked over to an empty capsule and pressed a small silver button. There was a knock as the capsule opened. "Who is the first?"
Johnny ran for the capsule. "Me! Me first," he yelled.
"How can we play the game?" I asked.
“It's very simple. Our technology is state of the art. Your actions are controlled by your thoughts. Just roll up the inventory and find the exit button. It's no harder than lifting hand. Once you get a feel for the world, everything will become second nature to you. If you need to find the exit button, it's at the bottom of the inventory. "
"So are you sure we're going to spawn in the same place?" Johnny asked as he climbed into the capsule.
"Yes. This is the last time I'll answer that question," he muttered. "You'll be a few feet apart. I'll make sure.
"Thank you," I replied, approaching Johnny's pod. "Let's do this! I'll see you soon."
Johnny closed his eyes. "I'm ready."
"No need to close your eyes," the man laughed as he pressed the button to close Johnny's pod.
There was a thud when Johnny's pod closed. Leaning forward, I could see Johnny's breath misting over his window. He looked so relaxed. "Is he sleeping ? I asked.
"No. He's probably in the character creation section," the man replied. "Now let me show you your pod."
The man stepped forward and pointed to a capsule a few rows down. "It will be up to you."
I walked over to the capsule and latched onto it . I went behind my back and tried to relax. Both of my eyes watched the man's finger as it moved closer and closer to the button that would close my capsule. Then he squeezed it. There was a loud boom as the capsule closed. Relaxation took over as I felt drowsy. It was weird, but it felt good. I couldn't help myself, I had to sleep. It was the feeling that took over. Soon after, my world went black.
Chapter five
In front of me was a character creation menu. Yes, that was it! I was about to create my first character. A message appeared in the center of my view:
Choose your breed:
Note to the user: the races have different skills and advantages that are released while the long game. However, each race has the potential to reach maximum levels. Enjoy creating your character!
The message disappeared and was replaced with a shopping list. What did I want to be? I scrolled through the options and landed on the face of an elf. Did I really want to be one of these guys? No really not. I traveled through Orcs, Trolls, and a few other races before I saw humans. A human? I was already one in real life and it looked pretty cool to me. But did I really want to be a part of it too? I kept going back and forth until I realized I wanted to be a human. It seemed fair to me. After choosing the human race, a message appeared in front of me.
Choose your class:
Note to user: Classes encourage users to play in a certain way. But, a class doesn't lock you into a certain style of play. Users can play however they want. Limitations will not be set just based on your class.
The message has disappeared. So far, the game seemed quite open. It was good, because I liked open games. I liked games where I could be who I wanted and do what I wanted.
A class list appeared. There were a lot of different choices and I didn't know which one to choose. The mages, knights, warriors and templars were the first that I saw. I stopped and thought about my choice. I wanted to know magic, but I also wanted to be strong. Of course I wanted to fight with the sword. Magic or sword fighting? Guess it didn't matter much since the game seemed quite open. I chose a warrior and another message appeared in front of me:
Character appearance:
How do I want to watch? There were so many options. Maybe I should look like a frog man? Or maybe I should become half dragon and half human? I took a few moments to play around with the choices, but realized that I wasn't sure of anything. The minutes turned into ours as I walked back and forth with different looks. It was taking a lot longer than I expected. The weird thing was that I almost just wanted to look like myself. I had the chance to change my appearance, but I didn't want to? I guess I loved myself more than I thought I would.
The truth was, I think it might scare me to look at myself in the mirror and not see myself. Plus, I've always considered myself to be a pretty good looking guy. Yes, that was it! I would just look like myself. I played around with character creation until my character looked like me. I cleaned a few small "problem" areas on my face. My nose looked good in real life, but it was just a little too sharp. Don't get me wrong, it was still a really good nose. But it was just a little sharp. Within seconds, I had it fixed and had the perfect nose.
My eyes were brown and I always thought they would look really cool if they were blue. I corrected that too. I left my hair alone because I have always considered it perfect. My own shaggy hair was something people had always told me looked cool.
I played around with the weight scale a bit. You might be muscular, but nothing too huge. It was cool, because I preferred to be super cut anyway. I wanted to be slim, fast, and have an eight pack. I scaled it all the way to the bottom. It looked pretty good. I would look skinny until I took off my shirt. I had known people like this in the real world and it was always surprising once they took off their shirts. Yep, that would be a fun way to play. If someone bothered me, they would first think I was a weakling, but then I would surprise them with my super cut body and extreme speed. And if I was fed up with it, I could surely gain muscle naturally during the match. I hoped so anyway. Yes, it would work for now. Knowing that this made a lot of sense, I decided to go for the best version of myself.
After that, I was asked to choose a name. It was what the world had to know about me. It was actually quite difficult as I mentally digged through a bunch of cool recycled names that I had used in previous MMORPGs. The minutes passed as I debated all kinds of cool names. George the Great? Teddy the barbarian? I mentally slapped myself. They were actually pretty terrible names . What was going to be my name? My mind kept racing as I tried to find the perfect name. Bradley! It was simple and I liked it. But, an error message appeared:
Sorry, that character name has already been taken. Please choose another name.
Shit! I should have known Bradley was already taken. How did this other unknown player dare to take my name? I made a mental note to myself that I had to eliminate Bradley if I ever encountered him during my playing time. He would pay to take whatever name I wanted. My mind clouded over as I tried to come up with another name. Suddenly, a random name came to my mind. Walker Williamson! I thought it was cool, so I went with it. Then a message appeared:
Congratulations!
Your character is ready to be created. Please confirm that your character creation information below is correct:
Walker Williamson - Level 1
Male Male - Warrior
Statistics:
HP: 10
Endurance: 10
Mana: 10
Attributes:
Strength: 1
Persuasion: 1
Intelligence: 1
Willpower: 1
Stealth: 1
Agility: 1
Skills:
None yet
Benefits:
None yet
Capacities:
None yet
Note to user: P
erks, skills, abilities, weapons, and armor are all acquired throughout your game at the rate you desire. All users start with empty inventory and have equal potential to be successful in the game world.
Please confirm your character build. Yes / no ?
It was all so exciting. I liked the idea of everyone starting at the same basic level. I had played games like this in the past and always had fun with them. But it was different. I was actually going to be inside the game. I was ready to play, but it was almost too exciting. I knew this exact moment was one of the best times of my life. Nothing in the past could compare to the excitement I felt during this moment. Strangely enough, I hardly wanted to confirm. What if the gaming world isn't as realistic or as cool as I'd hoped it would be? Well, there was only one way to find out. Yes! Everything was as I wanted it and I was ready to play. Everything turned white and pleasant music began to play. My body shook from side to side as it descended a luminous tunnel. That was it! I was about to enter a whole new world.
