1 The Living Dead
"Round up the last batch of prisoners! Light to moderate type punishment. Sentence for 2 years!"
Words resounded as clangs of metal bars filled the air. It was not like any conventional or usual cell. The ground wasn't damp, and the atmosphere wasn't gloomy. From the body down to the feet, the prisoners were dressed in number coded silky white cotton clothing as opposed to the usual numbered and orange shirts with rugged shorts provided in medieval times.
"Code Mark 1719, Mark 62718, Alicia 52812, Romeo 00029 and Mayla 3217. Prepare for system integration."
'Scanning subject.'
'Subject scan completed.' Resounded the heavy metal machine as the prisoners passed by the 3-meter X-ray frame.
On the left side of the platform, located was the metallic square-shaped phoropter-like machine where iris biometric inmate identification and account registration was done.
After the body and irises of the inmates were scanned, the prisoners in white were led to the basement. A big brass door was located at the end of the tunnel where a unique eloquent dragon was carved. The dragon had a long body covered with scales. Its wings had phoenix feathers, half-broken with a heavy tinge of bloody red color. There were three horns protruding its head with the central horn broken.
They were the last batch of prisoners with the lightest punishment. Also, they were the last test subjects to be known as 'the living dead.'
Two years. They will be spending two years behind that door. And unlike the conventional detention facilities, they were alive but only breathing, awake but only thinking.
Clang… clang… clang…
Metal chains rumbled as the door was being opened. Behind the elegant metallic door, thousands of capsules were lying in an orderly manner.
The OP, also known as the Online Prison, was the darkest secret of the government and the private sector. As ULAM launched the latest virtual reality game, people never knew how the sacrifice of these prisoners of war highly contributed to the game's development.
A syringe containing bluish gray liquid was injected to the newcomers. They then obediently laid down in their respective capsules directly connected to the main server, Axis. A tank, connected to the capsules via 3cm round rubber tubes, provided and replenished the energy needed by the capsulemates to maintain their brain's activity. The capsules were also equipped with sweat-processing absorbent pads in addition to the built-in thermostat for body and cell hibernation.
3… 2… 1…
Initializing game sequence…
***
'Water… Earth… Fire… Air… Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire…'
"Sh*t, I'm late!" Exclaimed Jingco as he rose up from his bed and hurriedly shook his head to throw away the thoughts brought about by his crazy dream.
He immediately washed up and ate the breakfast left by his mom before rushing to the newly acquired capsule at the corner of the living room.
It was 9 in the morning. And yes, it was the day he was waiting for – the last day of the month after ULAM's announcement, that the game Word Art Online officially started.
Scanning irises…
Scanning body structure…
Subject scan completed…
3… 2… 1…
Initializing game sequence…
Welcome to Word Art Online!!!
Swoosh!
Jingco appeared in an independent world but it wasn't as what he expected it to be.
"Eh? Why am I here?" Exclaimed Jingco as he examined his surroundings.
He was in a zoo. Not that the animals were caged though, as the different life forms of varying colors and sizes were grazing freely on the ground. Innumerable avian species were also spotted either lazily perching on the tree branches or hovering up in the air chasing each other.
It was a very peaceful and harmonious scene!
In a distant was a conspicuous pond as wide as a lake. Jingco walked towards it and was amazed of the several life forms merrily swimming in the crystal-clear body of water. It was only then that Jingco noticed the walkway leading to the wooden shack surrounded by a variety of ornamental plants and flowers. By its appearance, one can conclude that the shack belongs to a girl.
"Welcome traveler! This is the beginning of your Word Art journey!"
"My name is Tem, the guardian of your dreams! You can call me Sis if you like!" Chattered the black-haired poker-faced NPC as she saw Jingco approaching from the zoo. The girl, dressed in red robe coupled with an old-fashioned spectacles, extruding a scholar-like demeanor, was holding a golden-paged book on her left hand and a silver fountain pen on her right.
"Hoh? So you're Sis Tem? How unusual! Pleased to meet you!" Jingco greeted cordially while laughing inwardly at the 'not so impressive' naming sense of the game.
"So, it's another newcomer! Welcome to the new world! I'm Ter, the guardian of your choice. You can call me sis if you like!" Uttered another poker-faced loli who came out of the shack out of curiosity as she heard an unfamiliar voice outside. She looked like Tem with the exception of her hair being blonde and her dimples being distinct even though she's not smiling.
Ter was wearing a cyan robe with distinct gold markings while holding an elegant azure staff on her right hand. Her glasses' frames were round which accentuated her chubby cheeks and thick eyebrows.
"Eh? Sis Tem and Sis Ter? Is this game really messing with me?" Jingco thought inwardly when he heard a low-pitched chuckle from inside of the shack.
It was only then that Jingco noticed a middle-aged woman staring at her as she sipped her last drop of tea. The woman also introduced herself in a deadpan manner. "Hi, little traveler! Welcome to our humble abode! My name is Mis, the guardian of words! And please don't call me Sis because I hate it as it sounds like I'm married!"
"Mis.. sis?" Jingco almost blurted out, but good thing he didn't. Heaven knows whether the blade sheathed on the scabbard hanging on Mis' waist will slash Jingco into two.
"This place is called the NeverLand. An independent space we maintained for travelers to make their choice. The only place you will never see in the continent and will never land again in your lifetime. This is your only chance," explained Sis Tem.
"This is where you will make your choice. Do you want to live as a prince, or do you want to live as a frog? Do you want to fly and travel the world, or do you want to conquer the vast ocean? Your choice however is restricted to the limits of the known. You will not be allowed to live in the distant moons, nor traverse the path to the heaven and the underworld. Your choice of race will be limited to the life forms in this space, but your life will depend on your actions and words," added Sis Ter.
Unlike any other VR game, the game provided the highest degree of freedom where player's choice and actions determine how your life and the world progress. There were quests and events, but the rewards and outcome depended on the actions you will take.
The most distinct feature of WAO that made it unique from other VR and online games was that the players can choose to live a life of an NPC. Though the NPC-players' actions and words were restrained by various circumstances, several curious individuals opted to choose being a NPC merchant or store owner to try earning easy money… or that's what they thought.
There were no distinctions between NPCs and players. All humans in the game had a nameplate on the upper left corner of their shirts. Names were written in white and the shade darkens for every criminal or heinous offense incurred.
As infamy increases, the righteous alignment of the character changes to chaotic and the name color changes to red. Further violation or evil crimes committed will result to character name turning black and the character will be restricted entry to white-labeled villages.
"So, I can also choose to be an outlaw like a bandit to start with, but my name in the nameplate will be red or black right from the start?" Jingco pondered inwardly as he heard the explanation of the world.
"… Not only can travelers choose the high order class Homo sapiens, you can also opt to be a beast like the gray wolf, Canis lupus and establish your own pack, rule the vast waters as a manta ray, Manta birostris or even conquer the forest lands as a Yateveo tree lording over the life forms and instilling fear on the living…" added Mis.
"However, note that only human species will receive formal identification plates so as to protect the identity of the travelers belonging to other species," Mis further added.
Jingco thought for a while as he reexamined the various species in his surrounding.
"In any case, let me just choose being a adventurer," Jingco finally said as he supposed it would be very time consuming to get accustomed to the new body if he were to choose a different species.
"Noted. Adventurer chosen. Please register your traveler's identity," asked Sis Tem as she handed over to Jingco's the golden book, Pro-File.
"Heh? It was like a slam book," Jingco grinned as he remembered his childhood crush asking him to answer the questions in the book about himself.
"Daimos! Oh wait, I probably have to be a word master. What should be a good name?" Jingco mused as he deeply thought of a creative nickname for his character.
Nickname.: ________________. That was the blank section under his real name that he needed to fill out. The nickname written in his Pro-File will serve as his in-game name (IGN), hence, he needed to think about it deeply.
With Jingco's witty naming sense, he came up with several IGNs that he knows geniuses like him would be able to conceptualize.
"Hmm... MasterWord? MacrosoftWord? PassWord? CrossWord? Wordon Ramsay? Or maybe just Wordy?" His naming sense creativity reached to the peak as he racked his brain of what unique name should he use.
"Oh nevermind, I'll go with Jiggy," reaffirmed Jingco. "I'll choose human as my race, and the same appearance as me. Just tweak it a little bit. My handsome face should be the same except that my eyes be a bit squinty and slanted, my brows a bit thicker, my bangs a bit shorter. Oh, that's perfect! I also want my cheeks to be a bit rounder, my nose a bit pointed, oh and please remove the mustache, make my sideburns a bit longer, put some mole..., a scar should..., my ears…"
"…lastly, my feet, make it larger. They said that the larger the man's foot, the larger is… the shoe size."
"I think those minimal changes are enough," affirmed Jingco as he looked at the avatar drafted by the mage, Ter as she graciously waved her staff here and there generating the life-sized hologram through the photo-editing board iMage.
Up on the side, Sis Tem finished updating the registry as Sis Ter created the avatar design.
"Please confirm character creation," asked Sis Tem as the nameplate with the word "Jiggy" has been attached to the green-clothed avatar.
"As you have chosen to be an adventurer, your life's starting point has been set in a village. Here is a bag of 25 coppers (25c) and 10 pieces of edible bread," explained Mis while handing over the items to Jiggy, who felt a bit itchy. It's as if he had gone a massive plastic surgery when the drawn hologram of his avatar merged with his body and felt the few traits he requested of the system being restructured.
As the assimilation finished, Jiggy heard the final "goodluck, traveler" as he moved into the world portal for a random starting village.
Whoosh!
Jingco transformed into white bright light vanishing from the NeverLand.
As Jiggy got transported to the village entrance, a cut scene of the world was played.
***
In the slums located at the region governed by the Selfless Affluent Beggar Association of the West (SABAW), many beggars were gathered in iStarBucks café. All those beggars with aspirations were queueing up to play WAO.
As the beggars in the region mostly provided alms for building and roadworks, the government had decided to provide 1,000 capsules in the SABAW region for free.
Monthly membership for the capsules were waived for the first year hence, the beggars were required to make money, through game or in real life, to sustain the costs for the capsule's operation and nutrient solutions.
"I can finally live as a free bird! Fly! Fly! Fly!" Joseph happily exclaimed as he logged in to the game.
