Trapt

"Lv. 5!" Saya jumped up as she finally reached an unlocked goal. She could now leave the main home of the elves and had unlocked travelling.

She ruffled Kiba's fur playfully and checked her inventory. She had plenty of meat and some unidentified herbs. She was about to head back to Ivest when a loud squeeling brought her to her knees in pain.

"Attention Fushionheart players. We've reached the onemillionth player goal. We will now shut down the portals. Welcome to your new home."

The announcement was over but Saya stayed on her knees a little longer to get her balance back. Kiba licked at her hands worriedly.

"I'm okay, Kiba." Saya sat up slowly and hugged the wolf to her and instantly felt a difference. She could actually feel his fur and smell it to. Her finger moved gracfully along the wolf's fur.

"What?..." Saya looked around and notices everything seemed different. More real. Saya was already off guard, but the scream from town made her jump.

She raced to town with Kiba at her heels and saw different people in different stages of bewilderment. This was becoming too much for her.

Saya tried to see the menu screen, but she couldn't see any icons anymore. Fear set in as realization hit. She couldn't log out.

Saya sat next to a pond casting her character's reflection. She had heard the announcement like everyone else, but still didn't understand, at least, didn't want to. A town meeting had been called for noon. She had no way of telling time, but everyone knew to head to the center of town when the sun was at it's highest. They were still finding people wandering the woods and meadows.

"Excuse me." Saya looked up at the sheepish female voice. A small girl looking almost impish was edging closer. "I know this is strange, but are you actually a girl?"

"What does that mean? Of course I'm a girl." Saya sat confused as the girl blushed and switched from one foot to another.

"My name's Tono. I really need to use the bathroom, but I don't know how. Normally I play a knight character but I lost to my sister and we swapped characters today..." The blush was getting brighter.

"How old are you?" Saya stood up and walked over to the Tono.

"I turned nine last week. This was kind of a birthday present for me." Tono was practically jumping from one foot to the other.

"Okay, I'll help you. Come with me." Saya couldn't help but wonder about the other players now. How many chose different genders or even different races. She was an elf and still had humanoid features, but some chose werebeasts.

Tono was shy and scared and now clung to Saya for dear life. She was sure she was stuck with the kid. Around noon, they made their way to the center of town along with a few hundred players.

"My name is Redfang in game, but my real name is James. I'm sure we are all scared and confused. No one knows what's going on. The capital city is north of here. I've been to it a few times but I'm not sure what has changed. I think we need to make our way to the capital and regroup with other players. If anyone has a better idea, please speak now." The town was quiet for the most part. Saya looked around and noticed the NPCs were staring at them. That's when she knew they were no longer NPCs.

"What about the NPCs?" Saya yelled over the crowd. Everyone looked around and had noticed now. They were curious about what the players were doing. The crowd started getting loud.

"Calm down everyone. The NPCs are normal people now. We've been talking to them and for them, nothing has changed. We are still people brought here by their keeper to save them from the darkness." Redfang, or James, continued calming everyone as the meeting continued.

It was decided that a small party of ten would go to the capital and everyone else would stay here and try to stay safe. Many people seemed okay with that. Redfang already had his party selected and would head out in the morning.

"Saya?" Tono looked up at her as they sat at the inn's table in the corner. Everyone had gone they're own way and most had come to the inn so Saya had followed the group.

"Hm?" Saya took a drink of the water she'd gotten as she tried to think about her next move.

"What's your screen name?" Tono asked wiggling in his seat.

"Soul, but I wanted Sayame." Saya looked at the empty plate of food she'd eaten and wondered if she should make plans to camp outside given the inn was already full.

"My sister named this character Moonflower. I don't like it, but people will know I'm a boy if I go by Tono. What do I do?" Tono looked at her pleadingly.

"I see the problem. We used to be able to see someone's screen name if you add them to your friend's list, at least that's what I've been told. I hadn't made any friends here before this happened." Saya wondered if she should go by Soul for a while. Everybody was going to have to make that decision eventually.

"While we're in the game, call me Soul and we'll be friends, ok?" Saya stretched her hand out.

"Okay! I'll be moonflower then!" Moonflower happily jumped up and grasped Soul's hand to shake it.

The screen startled both of them as a friends list appeared and the name was added. Soul took her hand away but couldn't get the screen to go away. After a while, she realised her fingertips were the menu buttons. After a lot of experimenting, she was able to access her skills, inventory, friends list and even a monster book that held information about everything she'd beaten or tamed.

"That's amazing, Soul. Should we tell others?" Moonflower asked trying to replicate what Soul had taught him so far. Still no logout screen or button though.

"I'm not sure we should just yet. For now, let them find out as they go. Besides, we'd have to try to gather everyone again and that would take a while. For now, lets go find a good camping spot. This inn is full as I'm sure other places are."

Soul took Moonflower to the meadow and had Kiba take guard duty as they settled into a makeshift tent.