Game Start

Author's note: Time for the actual first chapter. =, )

...

"Link sta... Erm. Game start." Li Shi Ming closed his eyes as the VR machine activated.

He originally applied on a whim and filled out his personal information, since he didn't believe that he could actually win an entry. However, he was pleasantly surprised to receive an email congratulating him for being one of the chosen.

Last Reality Online is run by a fairly unknown company called Blackstone. After doing some research, Li Shi Ming was surprised that they were in fact one of the top tier corporations that owned a lot of other well-known trademarks.

They developed Last Reality Online in secret before recently announcing its Alpha and asking for testers. In all honesty, 10000 players was a lot, but if the game promised to be revolutionary then Li Shi Ming could see how.

Just fitting so many players on a single server was already amazing in the game industry.

The game promised so many other features that Li Shi Ming thought to be outlandish. Sentient NPCs with smart AI. Enemies were able to evolve and adapt, promising a level of difficulty similar to the infamous Black Souls games.

The player's senses would also be input into the game, making it feel nearly identical to real life. Not only that, but there was also bonus features from other genres.

After Li Shi Ming found out that he won, there was a fairly large package that arrived in the mail a few days later. Inside was a complex, adjustable electronic helmet with various wires and USB cables.

With the instructions was also a code for the Alpha tester's key. After downloading the application on his computer and running it, Li Shi Ming made himself comfortable on his bed.

He still had a hard time believing that all of this was free. Even the helmet is for him to keep as a gift for participating in the Alpha.

Thanks to the long cables, it was easy for the helmet to connect to the computer on his desk. Words immediately flashed over his eyes on a virtual screen, making Li Shi Ming's mouth form an "o" in amazement.

[Connecting to server...]

[Authorizing user...]

[Initializing deep dive...]

Li Shi Ming felt everything around him suddenly disappear into darkness for a brief moment. He was then greeted by a white light that led him to the login screen.

Overhead, the bright blue sky was decorated with fluffy clouds that blocked out the burning glare of the sun. Li Shi Ming was stunned as a cool breeze blew through the grassy field that he was on, feeling like he was truly transported to another world.

"This... This is amazing." He whispered. Outstretching a hand, he felt around the ground around him. "It feels like I'm really touching grass!"

[Welcome to Last Reality Online] The game notified him with a large title screen. [Please enter a username]

Li Shi Ming happily typed his wanted username into the prompt. However, his pleasant expression soured immediately when he received an error.

[Error. The username "Snowcat" is already taken]

F*ck.

Snowcat was a fairly common username in games. Li Shi Ming sighed, performing a virtual facepalm. He liked using the name because his favourite animal are white cats.

He decided to try a different version of the name, by adding an underscore.

[Error. The username "Snow_Cat" is already taken]

"Are you serious?" Li Shi Ming was feeling a bit triggered as he tried once again.

[Error. The username "Snow Cat" is already taken]

[Error. Cannot have foreign characters in name.]

"Argh!" Li Shi Ming yelled angrily in exasperation. Even the Chinese characters for snowcat weren't working.

This went on for a few more tries as Li Shi Ming desperately tried to retain his favourite username. All of his efforts proved to be fruitless and he hammered at the virtual keyboard in frustration, pressing another button by accident.

[Generating random username. Success.]

"What? Noooo!" Li Shi Ming gaped in horror as his screen shifted to character creation. There was no button to head back to the previous screen, and now he was stuck having to proceed.

[Scanning the player. Success.]

Li Shi Ming kept swearing when the game suddenly did some kind of scan on him, and then he saw his own face and body on the screen. It was very detailed and looked exactly like him.

He sighed. The game so far has been amazing, but after the username fiasco, he was feeling quite depressed. Choosing some random accessories and editing his character to make him seem cooler, Li Shi Ming confirmed his finished avatar.

[Your stats will now be adjusted with 10 bonus stat points to allocate accordingly. Any value higher than 1 means you are above average in that category]

"Huh?" Li Shi Ming was confused until a character screen appeared in front of him.

[Username: Guest 4355]

Level: 1

[Stats:]

HP: 10/10

ATK: 1

DEF: 2

CRT: 1%

CRT DMG: 0

ACC: 3

AGI: 1

MAG: 1

STA: 1

[Select here for more information]

"This is very similar to Walkescape." Li Shi Ming noticed.

Like the MMORPG he played before, there were no set classes for players. Once they levelled up appropriate stats, they could technically become part of that class.

However, it was not completely set in stone. As long as the points were distributed to the correct stat, a player could also use abilities and perks of other classes, including the different equipment. The only requirement was having the appropriate level in the stat to do so.

Looking over all of the choices, Li Shi Ming was surprised that there were so many. His excitement died down again when he noticed his username at the top of his character, dampening his mood.

Seeing the last button, Li Shi Ming selected the prompt and was greeted with a detailed page of information.

The first stat, HP, was set at a starting value of 10. This was the basic value for the number of hitpoints a character has. Once it hits 0, the character dies.

The next stats were all fairly straightforward. ATK, or attack, determined how much physical damage you dealt. This was great for warriors and those who used melee weapons. After that was DEF, or defense, which determined how much damage you can mitigate from a source.

For example, if someone was dealing 10 damage to you and your defense value was 5, you would only take 5 hitpoints of damage instead of the full 10.

CRT stood for crit, or critical chance, which started at a basic 1% and increased by a percent for every point allocated into the stat. Li Shi Ming read that different weapons and buffs could also alter the crit values.

When a player crits, it deals extra damage with 1.5x of the initial value. CRT damage was the increase for this multiplier, but only added on 0.1x bonus damage per stat point.

ACC was the accuracy stat, which helped players in landing hits and gave bonus ATK values to ranged characters. AGI was agility that increased a character's movement speed, which in turn would help in dodging attacks.

MAG and STA were the last 2 attributes. MAG was obviously magic, for those who wanted a powerful ranged playstyle but were weak to close combat. STA or stamina changed depending on the character.

For those who didn't use magic, it was their energy bar required for using skills and abilities. For mages, it was the mana bar required for them to cast and use spells.

Having finished looking over everything, Li Shi Ming looked down in deep thought. It was weird for the game to somehow adjust his stats accordingly, but he didn't think too much about it.

He could go for an assassin/glass cannon playstyle, focusing on ATK, CRT, CRT DMG, and AGI, while the remainder went into stamina.

On the other hand, archers also seemed strong. His ACC was apparently above average sitting at a value of 3.

Or...

Suddenly, a sly smile stretched itself on Li Shi Ming's lips. He remembered a smurf account of his in Walkescape that only maxed out defense, while the other stats were untouched. He only relied on a weapon's base damage to fight, and was surprisingly effective at countering many builds.

"Oh well, it's just an Alpha version anyways. Can't hurt to test." Li Shi Ming spammed the up arrow key beside the stat.

[Warning. Points allocated into stats are unable to be changed later. Continue?]

Seeing the warning screen, Li Shi Ming scoffed and closed it. DEF seemed to be able to mitigate damage from ANY source, and there were no downsides in upgrading it. Compared to the crit and crit damage stats, increasing his defense seemed like a much better investment.

[Confirmed.]

[Username: Guest 4355]

Level: 1

[Stats:]

HP: 10/10

ATK: 1

DEF: 2+10 -> 12

CRT: 1%

CRT DMG: 0

ACC: 3

AGI: 1

MAG: 1

STA: 1

"Perfect." Li Shi Ming looked over his character screen in satisfaction.

[Character creation completed. Now entering World 1... Please wait...]

Li Shi Ming felt himself suddenly being picked up and transported to somewhere unknown. In another bright flash, he was thrown out of a portal and landed hard on the dirt ground, surrounded by crowds of people.

"These are NPCs?" Li Shi Ming observed the other people walking past him, although a few stopped by briefly to give him weird looks. The game told him that the people around him were not players.

He picked himself up and looked around in wonder. It was your standard fantasy town, with many bustling stalls and markets. Hawkers and traders debated on prices back and forth, and he could hear the voices clearly and accurately with the various distances.

Li Shi Ming then brushed off the dirt from his starting clothes, consisting of a white leather tunic and pants with bronze kneeplates. All of the sensations felt so realistic as he rubbed the dust between his fingers.

He couldn't really believe that this was just a game.

"Beep!" Li Shi Ming received a Bonfire voice chat request.

He noticed that Bonfire and Last Reality Online had partnered up for the chat system, where the game was also linked to your Bonfire account. It was very convenient to connect with friends this way.

"Yo Snowcat." It was Kevin's slang voice once he accepted. "What happened to your name? It only says Guest 4355 on my screen..."

"Long story, I'll tell you later." Li Shi Ming sighed depressingly. "Mistakes were made, but I'm finally in the game now."

"Come to me, the devs are about to make an announcement before opening up the quests and other areas." Kevin urged him. "I'll send you coordinates to the place, it's at the center of the town."

"On my way." Seeing a white marker appear on his minimap, Li Shi Ming began to head towards the location in anticipation.

He couldn't wait to start a gaming experience that was about to change his life.