Ep. 1 Pilot

A haze of cigarette smoke and the dull hum gaming machines greeted Jae in as he walked into "Twilight Cafe" a cheap PC/VR gaming cafe downtown. He had all the cash he ever saved inside a pocket in his jacket. As a mute, it was usually hard getting things he needed, but here, no one like talking to people anyways. He decided to spend money for an hours worth of time, he wasn't going to waste any more time or money if this just happened to be a prank. A screen with a beautiful woman talked him through the registration and reservation steps. It was nearly all automated here, Jae just needed to interact with a floating screen at the entrance.

He picked out the a machine in the back, it was a chrome capsule— not one that required the user to lay down, but to sit inside. After paying, He walked deeper in the cafe and found his capsule in the corner. He opened the capsule and sat down, taking a whiff of the alcohol and cigarette smell staining the seat.

Jae's face crumpled in disgust as he booted up the machine. The capsule closed and a panoramic displayed flashed white before his eyes. On the menu, he choose Starfell and was prompted into the login page.

Jae fished out the black case and stared at it for a couple seconds before grabbing the cord near the front display. He had to fiddle around with the case to find the port, he cursed the old generation character card when he finally found the port hidden by a removable cap.

Starfell nowadays implemented the character card concept into smartwatches registered and verified by Empyr. Though Jae was too poor to afford a smartwatch in the first place— meaning, if the character card was registered in his name digitally, he wouldn't have been able to play at all.

Click.

The cord slipped into the port and the case started to light up.

Question marks floated above Jae as he stared extremely over-the-top character card on his lap. Although Jae wasn't really caught up in gaming, he wasn't completely oblivious to something as big as Starfell— especially when that was the only thing boys talked about in his school. Yet, he still had no clue what kind of card this could be.

WWWWWWrrrrrrrr

A hum slowly began to be audible as it grew louder and louder. Unexpectedly, the case began to slowly open and theatrical lights began to light up the case in a myriad of blues, greens, and purples.

The display in the capsule suddenly changed, a window popped up informing Jae of the situation:

[…

Error: Unknown input @…

Override…

./Pendras

Verifying integrity of dst…

complete.

Receiving data from src…

complete.

Updating to latest patch…

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 4.20gb/4.20gb

complete.

Unlocking Constraints for user…

complete.

Deleting data from src.

Deleting database of src.

Deleting…

…

complete.

Entering in:

3…

2…

1…]

"..?"

Jae's mouth hung wide open as he rapidly read the appearing messages. He quickly uploaded the picture onto the portable drive, modern games had accessible files in-game for the streamers and content creators. As soon as it uploaded the screen turned black.

[Enjoy J.]

….

Somewhere from within the darkness a bright blue window appeared in front of Jae:

[Welcome!

Your adventure awaits in the planet of **XMZ-0288** codenamed: Starfell.

The United States Space Force, U.S.S.F., has discovered a habitable planet in the year 2132. The original planet of Earth has become artificially preserved by harvesting ore from the asteroid belt. In an effort to expand planets, a new frontier was formed in space.

However, a danger unforeseen by man lurks in Starfell…]

the welcoming message was replaced by a character cut scene. Jae's sat in the capsule and watched the entire cinematic to get a better understanding of "Starfell."

The character scene replaced the ending cinematic of the transport ship arriving at the planet's atmosphere.

[…Choose carefully, character must be reset completely to choose another starter class.]

The screen was replaced with three floating avatars, each representing the choices he was given. In front of him was the Recruit class, Wanderer class, and Citizen class.

Jae contemplated his choices with the little to no information he had. Luckily there was a small information box next to each class:

[Recruit:

Has had training back on Earth in order to serve the USSF. Begins with slightly higher physical stats.]

[Citizen:

Has graduated from college but was not the brightest student. Perhaps Starfell will be a new windfall, starts with slightly higher mental stats.]

[Wanderer:

Earth was not a place that was friendly to the wanderer, always searching for a place they can call "home", they came to Starfell. Start with increased coordination stats.]

'Citizen seems to be too passive and weak for an action game in the early stages, i'm not sure if thats what I want. Wanderer seems like my type of style, but recruit would probably have good combat bonuses from the get go…'

Without having the pertinent information, Jae was unable to come up with the "right" choice. Remembering that a character reset was always possible, Jae stopped hesitating and chose the class he personally wanted to play. Right when he thought of it, the system automatically highlighted the class and reconfirmed.

[You have chosen the Wanderer class.

Please choose your characters name.

Again, character must be completely reset in order to change

the name.]

Jae typed in the name he had in mind already. His fingers paused slightly as he felt a wave of nostalgia, remembering the times that were associated with that name.

[Initializing Origin Scenario.

Loading Tutorial stage]

…

Jae's entire vision tunneled, as if all the light as sucked into a blackhole in front of Jae—he felt a pulling sensation that one would feel riding a roller coaster, or even a fast car. Just as suddenly as it happened, light from a distance crashed in Jae, who felt as if he was "plunged" into this world.

GASP.

Jae's eyes were wide, as he tried to comprehend the sensations that he felt in the past couple seconds. Surprisingly, he wasn't having the usual panic attack. Jae wondered if it was because he couldn't tell the game apart from reality before his head swiveled around to the right. He had seen something move from the corner of his eye, it was then that Jae realized the situation he was in.

Jae nearly choked. There was blood. Lots of it. Blood streaking through nearly every inch of the room. In the small, dimly lit room were five others. Four of them were heaving like Jae had done just a couple seconds ago.

The atmosphere was tense, like the beginning of a horror movie. The lights were dim and the walls were painted in blood. Everything was a mess—there were papers on the floor, tables broken, and map of the ship fizzled in and out of a cracked screen near a pair of barricaded door.

The remaining person in the group was laid back against a wall, his eyes looking at each person here. When his eye's met Jae's, Jae looked away, unable to stand the man's intense gaze. He was tall and muscular, standing upright like a soldier. The gaze of the man was piercing and cold, but once they made eye contact, his eyes didn't budge. Jae could feel the gaze of the stranger despite looking away. Unable to take it any longer he was about to speak out when one of the other spoke out first.

"Am I in Starfell right now..?"

The person who spoke was an older teen with brown hair and freckles. He looked pale as he looked around noticing the apparent destruction and implied bloodbath.

"AAAAHHHHHH—"

A woman's shrill scream cut through the air but was swiftly silenced by the barrel of a gun. Before anyone could react, the man who was staring at Jae had pulled out his gun and rested it into the screaming woman's mouth. The tension in the air was thick as the click of the hammer being pulled was heard.

"Shut. Up. If you want to die, I'll help you myself."

Jae stayed silent throughout the whole scene. He guessed that the man with the gun was an NPC and the rest of the five, including him, were players. Some of the males in the group frowned at the situation, like they were about to be the white knights of the situation. Jae chuckled, why would anyone go against the wishes of a powerful NPC, especially at the start of the game?

"My name is Colonel Roy Mardoom, the ship that was supposed to transport you to home base has crash landed."

The NPC turned around to look at the rest of the group, but his eyes rested on a tall white man who stood out among the players with his hawk-like eyes and nose. Jae stared in wonder at the complex AI behind the NPC, discerning from a crowd of players the most intimidating just by looks.

The eyes of the other players slowly turned to look at the white man who steadily received all the gazes; everyone, except a blonde boy who was off in the corner, keeping his eyes on Jae. Jae made eye contact with the boy before awkwardly looking away, creeped out by his stare. Roy broke the silence by sudden speaking towards the tall man.

"…you, what is your name?"

"…I supposed it's Seventh."

Roy lips curled upwards as he heard the aloof but steady tone of the man in front of him. He holstered his weapon and looked more closely at Seventh. His discerning eyes could detect the confidence of this man despite the alarming situation—a quality that only came from someone who either foolish, or…

"Hmm, you have some good eyes. Seems like you'll be the most useful of this lot. Unlike some others…"

Roy looked meaningfully at Jae, announcing to everyone that he felt Jae was most useless. Jae looked down in embarrassment, turning red from an NPC's speech. Roy continued speaking unimpeded.

"Listen, when the ship entered the atmosphere, we were hit by the strange force that appears all around the planet post-Starfell. In other words—"

""We're in a different time.""

Seventh and the blonde child looked at each other as they said those words. Roy sized up the blonde child who suddenly interjected; the child had his fingers wrapped around his chin, as if he was contemplating the current situation like a mature adult. At the mention of "time" everyone seemed to have a slight enlightenment as their faces lightened up. Roy's smile widened.

"You, whats your name?"

"Tadeus"

Roy nodded his head in approval before giving the other three the cold shoulder. He indifferently explained the context of Starfell, fulfilling whatever fucked up tutorial the game had in mind.

Rather than dungeons, Starfell had raiding locations known as a [Breakpoint]—formed from excess energy radiating from the decaying heavenly Star, natively called Mannastar. The Star is made up of energy, similarly called Mana, which has the ability to manipulate reality from matter and space, to time itself. Radiation from the star is often unstable, and events or beings that had an impact on the planet's history would often be replicated by the [Breakpoint]. These rifts could not be exited without ending whatever started the trigger, a term known as [Time Break].

Sometimes these rifts would open up a marble of the past, creating an instance of ancient monsters or treasures that once inhabited the planet. Even more rarely, instances of the future could also be created, allowing lucky adventurers to obtain bizarre and useful technology and research.

"..normally thats the case, but we are not equipped nor prepared for that. In that case, the only remaining chance we have is at resetting the ship's system."

Right after Roy finished speaking, a series of vibrations echoed throughout the room. Jae flinched, he wasn't used to having a smartwatch and nearly shit his pants when he felt something vibrate on his wrist. Checking the watch, Jae saw a series of notification windows open:

[You have entered the Antereon Era. All firearm-type technology loses effectiveness by 20% and all explosives have 20% reduced damage. High-technology takes double input.]

[Tutorial Quest:

Escape from the Past!

Grade: D+

Details:

The ship you happened to ride has hit a stray Breakpoint! You are trapped in the past, but Roy has figured a way out. Assist Roy in resetting the ship's system, which is equipped with a Mana shield that could break open a small hole in the instance a separate term known as [Time Out]. Quest completion will be determined by the player's contribution to resetting the system or contribution to Time Break. Completion rating can be reduced if player negatively affects the team during this mission.

Reward: Beginner Package]

[Rift Zone: Event

Grade: B-

Details:

You're ship has been invaded by beings seeking refuge from the rule of the Antereon. Defeat all intruders -or- defeat the enemy that is chasing them.

+10-100 points for each refugee killed.

+1500 points if Hunter is killed.

-1000 points if teammate is killed

Reward: ]

KKEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Before Jae could finish reading, a high-pitched cry rang outside, somewhere just below their current location. Immediately afterwards, the shrill screech of metal being scratched replaced the cries heard outside. Roy immediately ran out to window, followed by the rest of the players.

"Shit, they're back. The last wave killed nearly everyone on board."

Looking out, the players saw a wave of at least two dozen medium to large insect-like monsters clawing away on a crudely barricaded door at the foot of the large transport ship. Although they were too far to see clearly. The insects were the most terrifying things that Jae had ever seen in his eyes. Each one seemed more hideous than the last: at least two bulging crystalline eyes and sharp appendages of various shapes.

BAM!

A flying insect smashed into the window. Although its one it's eight, long and scaly arms couldn't pierce through, it managed to latch onto window itself. Everyone finally got a good view of the monstrosity in prismatic green armor. Its scaled antenna erratically flicked before its mouth opened, revealing thick yellow mucus and circular rows of teeth. The two daggers in either side of its mouth clamped onto the window.

Crack!

Small cracks formed on the thick bullet-proof window from a single snap of the monster's mandibles.

"RUN!"

Roy shouted from a door. He already hauled his ass to the nearest barricaded doors and pulled out the bar that he had placed between the two doors. Once he got everyone's attention, he peaked out the door and looked outside the hall both ways before gesturing for the team to follow.

Everyone immediately scrambled to his position, except for the freckled boy with brown hair. He fumbled over his own feet in fear and fell directly on his chest.

Having the wind knocked out of him unexpectedly. He laid there gasping while the insect at the window made a small hole and squeezed inside. The metallic monster gave a shrill cry before flying straight at the fallen boy.

Right as it was about to reach the freckled child, a hand pulled the shirt of the boy, bringing him out of danger. Two sharp pincers dug into the ground, causing the insect to get stuck momentarily.

"Good one, boy!"

Roy had the pistol in his holster already out as he took two shots. The pistol roared before the two bullets hit the insect squarely in its eyes. The insect squealed before dying with his pincers still stuck to the floor.

The brown haired boy scrambled away, his face drained of blood. As he ran to the group he turned toward Jae and muttered in a low a voice.

"Thanks."

Jae nodded, but his feet was stuck to the floor, his heart pounding at the sound of gunshot. Memories he had locked in his head poured in—memories of his father, but more recently, memories of kids laughing as he had a panic attack. Since then everyone avoided him and called him names like Psycho and Crazy Eyes. Jae closed his eyes tightly.

CRACK!

The window behind Jae cracked open as more insects started cramming into the hole in the window. The only thing stopping them from entering was the fact that too many tried to enter at once. Jae opened his eyes, and hurriedly ran to the door to rejoin his team that was currently listening to Roy's plan. Jae felt flush with adrenaline as the current situation demanded his full attention.

Despite knowing he was in a game, everything was incredibly realistic. Realistic enough to trigger the primitive desire to survive. As danger loomed, Jae's head began to race and think properly for the first time since arriving in this hellish metal box.

"Let's move out. Everyone down this hall hall, we're going to go through the cafeteria and make a run for the control room near the front of the shop."

The team began to move out at Roy's command, taking a right and moving down the hall. Jae took a good look at their backs and took confident steps in the opposite direction, unaware that a pair of eyes had caught his departure.

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