1 The Orpheus Class

Taking off the hoop that had just taken me into virtual reality, I had to sit down for a bit. Going from one environment to another so quickly caused my body to tremble and I almost crashed to the floor. These latest news were really surprising. I could only wonder whether my past life had just been a memory from a game. Or was it merely a coincidence? Anyway, the best way to figure it out would be to put the hoop back on my head. I was sure that the answers were hidden somewhere in the game.

"Emms..." I called out to my assistant. I needed to make sure no one would disturb me. Even though the package had arrived through official channels, there simply wasn't any information available about any virtual reality hoops, therefore, it would be better to stick to a more cautious approach.

"Mr Kornev, I have already asked you several times to not use unprofessional nicknames!" she replied, her voice harsh. I'd gotten really unlucky with her, the woman kept snapping at me. I'd seen the assistants of my employees, and they behaved like good servants: they were dedicated, they made coffee... this one just kept lecturing me.

"Fine, fine. Please make sure no one disturbs me today, I'll be working overtime." When I heard a grunt of confirmation from the other side of the line, I locked the door.

Here we go, I'm ready.

Enter

The world around me lost its colors, same as last time. While sinking into the darkness, I saw a message written in blood red letters hanging above me: "Choose your class". This time, I had to make a choice. Maybe a necromancer, considering the fact that it already had a place in my heart? No, a mage was not really my thing: I didn't know why, but there was just no appeal for me there. Which meant that, just like before, I had to choose some sort of warrior class—a barbarian immediately caught my eye, and the system moved me closer to the figure dressed in fur and armed with a huge battle ax. Or maybe I could choose something completely new? A knight in shining armor? Considering how many of those I'd crushed recently, I didn't think so. An archer? It was a sneaky approach, fighting your enemies from a distance, but as they say, whatever it takes to win a battle. And what was this button for?

You have enough development points to create an individual class for your character.

Do you wish to spend one thousand development points?

I had no idea how I'd gotten these and if I should've maybe saved them for future use, but an individual character class was always better than a generic one. I had to try it.

You have created the Orpheus class.

Confirm?

Well, of course! I hadn't spent one thousand points for nothing! Even though I believed it would've been fairer if the game developers had provided some kind of description of the classes, because relying only on a character's appearance didn't seem that useful or professional to me. I'd even say there was definitely some kind of trick involved.

A moment later, I was already inside a real world, or, to be more precise, a virtual one, but it met all the requirements. There was the Sun, grass, wind, land covered in stones and other players running around. They didn't kill me while I was just standing there and blinking in confusion, so I figured they weren't enemies. There were a few paths leading from the central area to the woods: a female lizard was sliding down the first one, a slug in armor and a stone giant were moving along the second one, and along the third one, something with very long ears had just jumped up and started traversing along the branches of the trees along the path.

"I wish you all a good hunt." According to the highlighted icon on the map, it was the slug that had sent this message to everyone. "Is there anyone here from the 'Brotherhood of Steel'?"

Is that some kind of local clan? I figured it wouldn't be bad for me to tag along in the beginning. Maybe I should try and lie to them? On the other hand, considering that I didn't know anything about this game, they'd definitely catch me lying right away, and it would only get worse.

"Oh, hell." Without waiting for an answer, the slug sent another message: "Three players from the 'Black Dragons' clan are against us. It seems like today is the day we lose. A group of noobs stands no chance against a well organized team, and I can't carry you alone".

"I'm on my own." It just so happened that I'd been writing my message at the same time as this nervous guy, but sent it after him, while he'd already managed to write one more. But it wasn't really my fault, it always took some time to figure something new out.

Then, suddenly, everyone went silent, and it seemed it was because of me. I was apparently the master of demoralizing my allies.

Never mind, man, it's time to move.

But first, I had to check what sort of class I'd gotten. Orpheus—I remembered this hero's name from Greek myths, but I couldn't remember what he was famous for: was he the one who'd gone to the Underworld, or had he played some kind of musical instrument? It could just be that the second option was something I'd come up with because of all the game sounds I was hearing. I looked around me once more, making sure that nothing was going on, and then I started examining myself from each angle.

A pair of pants, a coat, a wide hat—it was all made of some kind of metal-coated fabric, however, it wasn't even slightly uncomfortable. And in my hands, I saw something that seemed unusual—a sword. Why had I received this weapon used in close combat when my armor had clearly been made for a more long-range fighting style?

A portal suddenly opened up and a bunch of creatures that looked like monster frogs appeared right next to me. The creatures were gigantic, about 6 feet tall. I almost attacked one, but the system showed me they were allies.

What the hell is going on here? What am I supposed to do in this game?

"Hey, Orpheus, stop standing there and doing nothing! It's about to begin!"