1 Prologue: Logging In

     VRMMO's have become mainstream since they started back in 2020. One after another, they started popping up on forums, and people started to soak them all up. Each year a new game tried to do something new and better than the last. Whether it was better immersion, more realism, enhanced gameplay and expansiveness, you name it. Someone out there was trying to outdo someone else in this nonexistent competition. Most of them seemed fun in certain aspects. One by the name of Arch Online was pretty popular as it was able to completely immerse the player in the world, some people noted that some of it felt too real because of how well it emulated the senses. I tried it for a while, maybe a few weeks, but it didn't really hold much else besides how real it felt. It wasn't too expensive and everything was limiting like the class system being limited to 3: Warrior, Archer, Mage. I brought it back to the store after realizing all that. 

     The next one I tried was Magia Online. It was released in 2025, and it did the exact opposite of what Arch Online did. It was incredibly expensive to the point where classes weren't even a thing. You could make whatever you wanted in the game. There was a system that allowed you to show off your weapon and armor set to the public for people to copy on to theirs if they had the right items, but it was confirmed that barely anyone used it. It didn't exactly emulate the senses that well, but it did its job decently enough. It just went to show that each new game was lacking in something while excelling at another. 

     That all started to change the year after that, this year, 2026. 

     Royal Star came out of nowhere. A week ago it was announced that it was being released the week after. Not a single person knew anything about it, news articles speculated what kind of game it was going to be, but even the developers confirmed that none of their suspicions were right. After that, it got popular in those seven days. People made their own theories of what the game had in store for new players. Some posted what they were gonna be when the game came out. It was a big mystery to everyone. 

     Like any person would do when they got extremely invested into a new game, I decided to sit out at the front of a game store with a chair and a blanket to keep me warm. I brought my portable charger for my phone and had a few sandwiches and a couple of sodas in a cooler. Ten people were in front of me. I immediately kicked myself after I put my stuff down when I saw it. Here I thought that a couple hours before midnight was early. I sat down and looked at my phone, and the reflection made it painfully obvious that my hair was messy. Black strands poked out in different directions. It was obvious that I slept for a few hours before going out. I wanted enough sleep to stay up the rest of the night. After just a few minutes of my arrival, I saw that to my left, a few more people had set themselves down to get their spot in the line. Judging from the fact that they all wore the same red shirt it was obvious that when they got their copy of the game, they were going to make a party together. I sighed and returned my attention to my phone. When I placed my thumb on the fingerprint scanner, the screen turned on to show my home screen, and in the top left corner I was given a ton of messages. In a few of the servers I'm in on this group chatting app, people were talking all about Royal Star. Some of them were offering positions in a party for people. I was then messaged directly by a couple of people about joining their parties but I declined that. In games like this? I prefer to play solo. 

     I opened up a game on my phone and played that for a bit, hearing a mass collection of footsteps in the background. As time went by, groans became apparent as some clearly didn't plan on what would happen if people arrived even earlier than them. 

     I got bored so I returned to the forums, seeing the same stuff as before. This time people were making false claims that they got the game early and had a few copies to sell to people for a higher price than the retail price. Obviously, the naivety in people never ceases to amaze me so some were gullible enough to fall for such an obvious trap. The game was the standard $60. Though, there was a bundle that came with the headset you needed to play the game for $300. I already had my headset ready to use when I got home so no need to buy the bundle. I pre-ordered my copy of the game a few days ago, so everything was already set for me. I just needed to say my name and it'd be in my hands right then and there. A sudden tap was placed on my shoulder, and as I looked over to the right, I saw that this girl was staring at me with bright green eyes. 

     "U-um… hi! My name is Veronica! I know it's sudden but I don't know anyone who'd be willing to play this game with me and I'm… scared that I'll get lost somehow so…" The timid girl was clearly asking me about possibly joining her in the game. 

     I didn't know what to say. I normally played solo, and that's how I've done it for years, even in normal MMO's. It was something I couldn't really grow out of. The Guilds and parties I joined? They either kicked me out because I was too distant and only worked alone or because I got bored of them. I never really liked working in groups, I only did it to get the benefits. This girl seemed shy when around new people, but was clearly trying to get out of it by asking me to help her out. The longer I thought about it, the more intense her worried expression became. 

     While I didn't think this would go well, I sighed and nodded. "Sure. Why not?" I said. She started jumping up and down, her hands up to her chest. This sudden expression of happiness was something that took me by surprise. "My name is Damon." I introduced myself after she stopped jumping and finally sat back down in her chair. She scooted next to me with a bright smile on her face. She turned to me and said, "Nice to meet you! So, what do you think the game is gonna be like?" She asked.

     "That's a good question." I said. "To be honest, I have no idea. All I can say is that I expect it to be good." It became more apparent that I have no idea how to talk to women. "Oh? I think so too!" 

     That worked!?

     "I think that it'll be something fun for a lot of people. All the mystery behind it makes it kind of exciting, don't you think?" She asked. I nodded, and I looked down at my phone, seeing that it was 10:30 PM. Just an hour and a half longer and I'll be playing the game shrouded in mystery. "I just wanna see how immersive it is and how good the gameplay is." 

     VRMMO's use the brain's link to the body to move the virtual body in the game. The helmet scans brain waves, and that is emulated in the game perfectly. Meaning that moving your arm is as easy as it is in the real world while in the game. That was the first step to make immersion work while in a VRMMO. In the early stages of VR, it was all based on controllers that tracked your movement, but after years of development, the headsets were made to make those unnecessary. Because fantasy is a genre that can be used for just about anything, it's the genre that dominated the VRMMO scene like a wildfire. 

     "Hey, do you have Devil Strikers on your phone?" I asked. In response, she gasped and pulled out her phone. "I do! Wanna play for a bit?" I nodded, and we both pulled up the app and added each other. We played for the rest of the hour. By the time it was 11:55, we put our phones away and we waited for the lights to come on at the front of the store. We were so excited that we both stayed completely still without saying a word. As soon as the doors opened, we made our way into the store. The line made their way to the counter, which had multiple copies of the game behind it with three people working to get the line going as fast as possible. When it was our turn, we got our copies and made our way out the door. "Hey, give me your number so I can text you my name and everything." She said, holding her hand out. I hesitated at first but went through with it anyway. "Okay. See you later." I said, and the both of us split up to get home. I got in my car and drove down to my apartment. I went up the stairs and walked in. Because of my job, I was able to get a place of my own, so I could do anything without my parents worrying about me. They are a few blocks down the street anyway. 

     I went into my room and sat my cooler down, and put the chair into my closet. After sitting down on my bed, I took out the case and pulled out the small chip for the game. Pushing a button on the side of the headset, a panel opened for the game chip to be put in. I inserted the chip and flipped the panel. Without a moment to waste, I slipped the headset on and would lay down on the bed. I pushed the button on the other side. My eyes closed and I felt myself taken into a brand new world. 

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