1 Ch1 It pays to pay attention

Today started like any other day, except that today the technology that would revolutionize the world would go online for the first time. The future is now! Of course only for a select few Pre-Alpha testers. A nondescript young adult put on the newfangled VR helmet they bought as a graduation present to themself and ten minutes later the servers booted up for the first time.

"SELECT CHARACTER SEX: Male/Female/Other"

In a white void a radiant golden spark floated lazily.

Ten seconds slip by as they struggle to select anything. They never read instruction manuals…

"WHERE IS THE CURSOR? HOW DO I CONTROL IT?!"

A prompt appeared on top of the previous, "Automatic selection in 10...9...8…"

"Wait, why is everything getting dark?"

"7...6…"

"Why don't I have hands?!"

"5...4...3…"

"FFFFFF" a curse comes to mind. Pitch black around them now

"Female selected"

"SELECT RACE" and a long list of fantasy races they recognized and even a few they didn't despite being an avid fan of tabletop rpgs, or all rpgs for that matter.

"Hhh..ow (do I go back?)" while stuttering out they are already interrupted.

"Human/Owl selected… analyzing… success"

"No no no no no n…" Trailing off in a recursive nightmare…

"Beginning cutscene."

"Well I guess my first character will just have to be an owl/human… but really who thought it was a good idea to use voice commands…" Sam thought to themself over some system noises that they figured probably didn't matter much. *error* Overdive.

The world was getting very dark and Sam started to notice sounds and could feel themself moving around in what felt like a liquid. Sam knew about this from reading so many novels. This was… Transmigration? "No" they thought, "I never met truck-kun… So what is going on? And why can't I see anything? And will SOMEONE STOP THAT INCESSANT SCREAMING!"

A feeling of being squeezed. But not roughly, almost like a strange full body hug. Suddenly there is light and less liquid. *Cough cough* A giant smacks Sam on the tuchus rather hard. "Ah, watch it buddy…" or at least that is what they intended to say… In fact what came out and was heard by everyone, Sam included, was a loud crying. Sam couldn't hold it any longer and started screaming for anyone who would listen "Oh! This is the opening cutscene?!"

Sam looked for their mother. A petite woman was holding Sam. Brown locks and the cutest button nose, her face a bit wide but maybe that is just from the massive smile on her face. Even disheveled she was the most beautiful thing in the world to baby Sam. It was at this moment something clicked inside Sam. I am missing something… "Wait…" Sam tried to look down but sudden sleepiness washed over them.

When Sam woke up they were in a crib, with a mobile that had dragons, griffins, and other mythical beasts. "Head check. Arms check. Legs check. What am I missing?"

Sam attempts to look down but their head won't budge but it wouldn't matter for long because Sam couldn't help but babble instead of grunt while trying their hardest to make their head move. A young skinny if somewhat plain girl of maybe sixteen comes over to the crib and gently picks them up, "Oh is little Samantha awake already?"

"WHAT? OH NO in all the chaos I forgot something very important… I selected female." For the first time she understands what seemed off. She was Samuel born and raised but her friends called her Sam. "What will my friends think when we meet up?!" She worries for awhile till her eyelids can't stay open and soon she is sleeping as sound as an angel.

"Strange I was told the whole cutscene would only last one minute before multiplayer started." She thought. "Just from the time I am awake it should be at least half an hour."

Because Samuel, an ever studious young man, never deigned to read instructions even when offered a chance to become a tester of the newest full immersion VR, he didn't know that this technology could "compress" perceived time and that the first minute would be fifteen years for the whole cutscene and again when open beta began another 15 years would be compressed. Despite not reading a single word of the manual, he did get a stern talking to about certain rules that if not followed would not only get him kicked out of the program but also thrown in jail for treason depending on the severity of the broken rule.

"ONE: NEVER tell anyone from the world that their world isn't real! Though you won't be "normal" you won't be seen as anything but. TWO: Tell no one outside of this room ANYTHING about what goes on in there until the game releases. You will be debriefed at the end of every night and your V-gear will compile everything we need to know and send it to us. THREE: Enjoy the new world, and try not to forget about us." a wicked smile on what Sam only remembers as a big man with a square jaw and that scar across it. Even his eyes and hairstyle elude her memory.

The scene plays back almost like a dream in Sam's head. Sleeping takes up most of Sam's time but during the lucid portions she ponders through why she was abandoned by the game. Just like that nearly half a year went by. That plain young girl's name was Abitha. She was a milkmaid. Sam found out very quickly that when your tummy is empty you will drink anything. Sam learned to crawl rather young, she also discovered some pretty cool things about her new body. She could turn her head all the way around, not 360 exorcist style but more like well… an owl… Her night vision was also very sharp along with her hearing. When she was old enough to toddle her rotund little diaper butt around she found a full body mirror to look into. "Strangely," she pondered, "for being an owl-person I don't look like it?" Deep hazelnut locks curl on her shoulder.

In this world humanoid owls did in fact exist but she wasn't born to one of them, no she learned as she grew older that her proud family was the human descendants of the owl goddess of wisdom… or at least that is the story. As Sam grew older she forgot some things… for example that this was supposed to be a game… and blissfully her life on Earth.