The Luckiest Gamer

"Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen, We have an important announcement to make! As of today, the world's first VRMMORPG, 'Live Universe' has launched!" The announcer on the National Gaming Channel shouted. I sat and watched the television Intently. I had been waiting for Live Universe to come out for over two years, and today is finally the day.

It's been 4 years since Live Universe was announced, and the hype for the game was astronomical. with over 7 million pre-orders, and constant discussion about the game during it's entire publicly known development, the game was an almost guaranteed success. the game was stated to have almost 4 times the content PoW (Planet of Witchcraft) on release. my excitement for the game was immeasurable. finally, after many long years of waiting, I could have something to sink my time into, and separate my boring work life from my even more boring home life.

[Bzzzt Bzzzt] my phone vibrated in my pocket and I took out my phone from my pocket to answer the call.

"Yo, Terry! D'you hear the news? Live Universe just released!" A loud voice said from the phone's speakers.

"Yeah yeah, I heard, Giuseppe. I already pre-ordered the game a week ago, and it just now started downloading on my SkyVisor." I replied.

"Well, I'm gonna start doing some research while I wait for it to download, you should do the same" Giuseppe replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it. I'll call you when it's finished downloading, okay?" I responded.

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later!" Giuseppe hung up.

I hopped on to my computer and started looking through forums. Supposedly, some of the beta testers had leaked some basic information about the class and stat system. According to some of the forum posts, there were six main stats and one known hidden one, each with their own function. These were Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck. Your luck stat was randomly generated from 1-20 at the start of a new profile. Luck could be increased further by finding rare items and hidden areas, as well as special events and quests. Most people thought that Luck was completely useless as a skill, as it only increased your chances of finding rare drops by .1% every stat point, and didn't give any skills that were known.

A timer rang from my SkyVisor, alerting me that my download of Live Universe had finished. I texted Giuseppe to get online, and I loaded up the game.

[Welcome to Live Universe. Please choose a race and class, and then customize your appearance.]

Please choose a Race

[Human]

1 extra stat point per level

[Elf]

Increased spell damage

Increased bow damage

[Goblin]

Increased speed

Increased dodge chance

[Orc]

Increased melee damage

Increased health

[Undead]

Increased curse damage

Spell damage resistance

[Kitsune]

???

Increased fire damage

I stared at the screen for a long time, pondering what race to choose. I was torn between Kitsune and Human. Having an extra stat point would be extremely useful, but curiosity overtook me, and I excitingly chose Kitsune. "What could that mystery possibly be? I bet the devs put that in for only the impossibly daring"

[are you sure you want to choose Kitsune as your race?]

"Yes"

[Race Confirmed]

[Please Choose a Class]

[Swordsman]

Swordsman, despite the name, are not bound by swords. rather, they are users of melee combat, using anything from swords, to fists, to war hammers. Swordsmen work well as both tanks and damage dealers, and are best kept at the front line.

[Ranger]

Rangers use bows and crossbows, and specialize taking out their enemies from afar. their high speed and extreme accuracy also make them great scouts. Rangers are best used as a support/scout position.

[Assassin]

Assassins are those who lie in the shadows. using poisons, daggers, and traps, Assassins specialize in killing off single targets, and are best used as a damage dealer/selective target killer.

[Magician]

Magicians use magical books called "tomes" in order to cast spells. these spells are usually somatic, but some extremely powerful spells require ingredients in order to perform. Magicians are great damage dealers, and can easily take care of multiple targets.

[Cleric]

By praying to different gods and goddesses, Clerics can Heal their allies, along with dishing out buffs and debuffs, to both their comrades and enemies. Clerics work best as a support class, helping out the rest of the team from behind.

"I choose Assassin"

[Are you sure you would like to choose Assassin?]

"Yes"

[Class Confirmed]

[Please customize your appearance]

I hadn't thought about how I'd like to look in game, I decided it'd be best to keep my character creation somewhat quick.

I picked out a nice, scraggly yet good-looking hairstyle, with black hair and red tips, and one of the many pre-made face options, that looked somewhat handsome and slim faced.

Continuing with character creation, I made my character a similar height to me, because I heard that having a large height difference between you and your character could cause problems with balancing yourself.

I finished character creation, and clicked confirm.

[Character Creation Complete]

Of course, the character wasn't all that close to how I looked IRL, I mean, I was about as average as could get. 5'8", black hair and brown eyes. I was by no means ugly, but I wasn't exactly attractive either. though that may have been in part due to my poor schedule and habits.

[Please Confirm Your Username]

"Acc1"

[Username Is Taken, Please Choose Another]

"Acc_1"

[Username Is Taken, Please Choose Another]

"ANOTHER"

[Username Accepted]

[Logging In...]

"Wait wait! Cancel cancel cancel!" I screamed, not wanting to be relegated to such an odd and embarrassing name.

However, it was too late, and my name couldn't be changed. My body fizzled into existence, on a platform in the middle of a small town. I looked left and right, large groups of players conversing and discussing the game. Even though the game had been out for only a few minutes, it was if I was walking into a game with unlimited content.

I opened my stat menu, checking that everything was in order

[STATUS]

[USER] ANOTHER

[LEVEL] 1

[TITLES]

HP: 100/100 MP: 100/100

EXP: 50/100

STR: 10

DEX: 10

CON: 10

INT: 10

WIS: 10

CHA: 10

[SKILLS] Slash LV1, Sneak LV1

[EQUIPMENT] Tattered Leather Armor, Chipped Wooden Sword, Stew x10, Water x10

"Looks all good to me," I thought to myself, staring at the stat screen.

[DING DING! YOU HAVE RECEIVED A MESSAGE]

the alert had took my by surprise, because I completely forgot that the SkyVisor had a cross-game friends list and message system.

FROM USER: JeanPierre

"Hey, Terry! It's me, Giuseppe. Have you just spawned in? So have I! I'm at the blacksmith shop to the right, you can find me there.

I searched up and down the smithy, but I saw no one that looked remotely near Giuseppe. eventually, I went up to a young, somewhat petite, elf girl near the smithy, asking if she'd seen anyone.

"Uh, hi there. sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for a friend... he's big, burly, really tall. have you seen anyone like that?" I asked, looking down at the girl.

"No... I haven't seen anyone like that. do you have their username?" she queried. I was instantly off-put by her extremely deep and masculine voice.

I opened up the message screen and looked over at the sender. "Uh, yeah their username should be JeanP-" as I was saying that, I looked over to the elf girl's username. Right above the girl's head, hovered the tag "JeanPierre".

I stood there puzzled. Was the person in front of me really my best friend, that I've known for almost 7 years?

JeanPierre, or rather Giuseppe fell to the ground and started laughing uncontrollably. "Man I got you good! you should've seen the look on your face, hahaha!" she slowly got up, and settled down.

"Hey, Terry! Good to see you!" The small elf hugged me tightly, with surprisingly good grip. "You enjoying the game so far?" Giuseppe asked.

"Ah, well, I haven't really gotten much time to experience any of it, considering how I came over here the instant you messaged me," I responded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. How about we get some experience in and go out monster hunting?" Giuseppe Queried.

"Sure, let's head out" I responded, walking towards the gate of the town.