4. Emerald Enclave

"No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! Each day is a new page." — C. JoyBell C.

Paul emerged from a restless slumber, his mind a jumble of half-formed thoughts. The reality of his situation was a puzzle, the pieces slowly falling into place. And then, like a curtain lifting, he found himself back in his college apartment.

Upon realizing this, he did not know what to think; it seemed like he had been sent back in time. 

Realizing this, he was neither happy nor sad. Instead, he couldn't help but feel exasperated, feeling similar to if he was reading an incredible book series but was forced to reread the first book many times before going on to book two. 

Going to the bathroom to wash up, he couldn't stop himself from looking at the mirror and speaking softly in an exaggerated tone.

"TiMe To StArT mY pAtH oF aScEnTiOn."

Laughing to himself lightly, he decided to burn through the next ten years up to where he had been in life before while min-maxing what he could do in Harbinger while he was at it.

He knew better than most people that the people who made the most money in that sort of game were the economy people, and knowing what would rise in prices and what would have demand was essentially giving him all the info he needed. 

Even though he never played at launch, he knew a thing or two about the game early in its lifespan, which could catapult him forward lightyears compared to other players. 

Thinking about what he knew, Paul instantly knew his strategy after launch.

Thinking about the dinner he would have with his roommates later, he was somewhat happy to relive this day; after all, he rarely did this sort of thing, only ending up at guild meetups in real life with Dawnfire Forge, where he did not particularly enjoy their get-togethers that focused more on getting drunk and strange corporate bonding games. 

It was only after 7 PM that Zach knocked on his door, and they met up with CJ and Josh to go to the Chinese buffet.

CJ was a very skinny guy who stood at around 5'6 and weighed about 115 LB; on the other hand, Josh was around 5'10 and around 200 LB. If you were to ask Zach, he would say CJ needs to bulk up, and Josh has hit the time to start cutting, but neither of them was really into the gym either. 

Seeing the quartet out and about was nothing really to look at, but all of them were happy enough; from what Paul could remember, Josh had just gotten engaged around a month before this and planned on having his wedding after graduating next year. 

The other three of them, well to say they were bachelors, failed to describe just how single they were; at this point in life, Paul had never even kissed a girl, leading to the disaster two years from the present while the other two were marginally ahead. 

Looking back at it, Paul was genuinely depressed thinking about all he had done to try to impress girls who never looked at him for anything other than profit or how he would try to show off to get attention just to look like a moron. 

Despite what many might think, there were many other charismatic gamers who were at a high level, and he was just not one of them.

Silently promising himself that he would not make the same mistakes again, the four of them made their way inside the buffet and paid $20 each to probably eat $8 worth of food each and then eat jello while talking for a while, eventually leading them to head home and do their own thing.

After making a list of what he planned to do for the foreseeable future, Paul looked through social media to see what was trending then. He found some very nostalgic trends that he now found ridiculous. 

Before he knew it, the clock struck 5 a.m., and he needed to get some sleep, or he would miss the game's launch time. 

Despite sleeping for a while earlier, he still drifted off to sleep with ease. He did not feel much excitement or anxiety around the game launch; he thought of it more as another day of going to work in the virtual world.

After a restful sleep, Paul woke up to the afternoon sun streaming through his southern-facing window, feeling refreshed and ready to get to work. 

Upon checking the time, he saw that the game's launch time was around 30 minutes before, so he quickly got something to eat and drink before entering his Wombat 64. 

Upon seeing the white room and dashboard, he instantly chose the icon for Harbinger's Call, feeling the feeling of falling, similar to when he would log into the VR environment. 

He was on the character creation screen after the sound of grand music and intricate graphics of many types of weapons sticking out of a sphere-like object. Without looking at any other option, he quickly changed the faction to Emerald Enclave, the human race, and the class to Templar. 

Only stopping at the account name section, he suddenly felt that his old username no longer fit; after thinking for a few minutes, he decided on a new name and entered it.

Lazarus

With that, everything was set, and the game started running. It started off with a cutscene and then a starting mission, which functioned as the tutorial. 

Instantly, he was assaulted by an uncomfortable feeling as scenes of gruesome tutor played out in front of them, happening to his character.

As the scenes got worse and worse, his eyes started drooping before completely closing; when he came in the next instant, he was tied up on a cold stone floor and heard shouting. It didn't take long for two cloaked figures to find him, drag him off to a strange room, and inspect him before taking him up a large flight of steps. 

Before long, he was seated in front of an ornately decorated wooden table with a beautiful blonde elf seated before him, looking him up and down.

This was Eilantha, the reason why he had chosen the Emerald Enclave as his faction, at least in his past life. 

She appeared frequently in the trailers for this game, and he had been utterly in love with her for a long time.

"Greetings stranger, I am Eilantha of the Etherhall Tower; I would appreciate it if you would tell me how you ended up in my private experiment room without anyone knowing."

Seeing her charming face and graceful body again, he was momentarily mesmerized.

"Esteamed mage, I am just as confused as you on how I ended up in this strange place. Please forgive my intrusion and allow for this humble one to repent."

In the Emerald Enclave, elves were the primary race, and humans were like a subservient race; therefore, acting in the in-universe etiquette for his social position would improve the NPC's view of him and allow him to hear rare character dialogue. 

As for why he picked humans, of course, it was because that was the optimal class for a templar. 

"Is that so? Your appearance will remain a mystery for the time being. Since you have nowhere to go, why don't I give you a job as a gardener?"

"Thank you, Lady Eilantha; this humble human will do his best to do anything for you." 

Saying this, Paul felt very cringe, but sometimes this is how you have to act in this game. 

Before anything else could happen, there was a loud dragon roar, and the entire tower seemed to shake; hearing this, the elven mage before him suddenly panicked and stood up, letting her beautiful royal blue and white robes go on full display.

"Stay here and wait for my return; trouble has come."

She quickly approached a double door leading to a balcony and flew away with a pale white wooden staff that had appeared in her hand at some point. 

Paul just watched all of this happen while watching the woman leave; as she passed through, another much louder and ferocious roar sounded, and he could visibly see the mage shiver and begin shaking before resolving herself and flying into the sky.

She was a character who served as love bait at its finest, but that didn't help Paul from feeling very attached to her, even if it made him feel like somewhat of a loser.