Fantasy Omega [Namelesshero and Valtyr]

[namelesshero]

It was made in secrecy. Few knew about the development beforehand. A surprise to gaming community. A game which will redefine the meaning of "Virtual Reality". Created with the best in graphic technology, filled with a world and story so deep it could engage players for years to come.

Its release date was unknown. Its publisher was unknown. The only rumor which was recently out was that the game would begin its close beta phase soon. Invitations had been spread to those deemed worthy to try the game. Enthusiast. Gaming experts. A wide range of potential customer base. Those who've received the invitation boasted it online, although only few could be true. Their numbers weren't known, but approximated to ten thousands from all over the world.

Utilizing its newest technology in Virtual Reality, the Total Immersion System (abbreviated as TIS), the game stimulates entire five senses. Player would enter the game through a capsule-like chamber, giving total immersion to the game world. Moving a finger in real life will translate to the avatar in game. Everything is made possible with a thought. Brainwave sensors gave the tiniest bit of thought into responses, providing a gaming system close if not similar to real life situation.

Real time, blood-boiling battle system! Lush, beautiful world! Epic quests and monsters!

Join the game now. Be our beta testers.

Welcome to Fantasy Omega.

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It's the year 2050, but the world hadn't change much. Flying cars were still dreams. Although life had been easier in general, usual, everday problems were still present. Youngsters laughed when they hear what the old people envisioned their years would be. Teleportation devices. Touchable hologram displays. Some of them were applicable to some extends, but the others were simply dreams exaggerated. One thing did advance, though. The Internet, the network between computers around the world, had entered into everyone's life. People were connected everyday, everytime to the vast collection of human thoughts. One aspect which flourished was Online Game. From the simple, 2-dimensional online role playing games back in 20th century into the advancement these days. Games had surpassed people's expectation from times to times, and soon game world wouldn't be able to be distinguished from real world. The level of reality was so high it bordered on the uncanny valley.

As such, it was no surprise to her when her brother brought back the news of a new game. "Surpassing reality", he said. The game's name was Fantasy Omega, a role-playing game blending element of usual medieval settings with modern ages. While the premise was the simple role playing game, it was awaited for its boast of "Real Life Virtual Reality". She thought that it would be nonsense. After all, game was just game. There was no way a game can come close to reality. Rumors of it kept on floating the Net, thus there was no way to confirm whether it was true or not than trying the game itself.

Which was why it piqued her interest when her brother brought two keys for the Close Beta period. Finding it peculiar, she agreed to play the game as a beta tester. Few weeks passed by, and soon the time was nigh. The siblings went to their usual internet cafe, which was supposed to be, in secret only known to chosen beta players, housing a few TIS chamber. Since TIS was a big structure, it would be most likely that normal players would need to play from internet cafe, like what the two did.

Her brother entered one of the capsule-like TIS, and she followed suit on the one beside his. When the door closed, it was utter darkness. And then, the engine started. She was suddenly inside a white space, and instructions started to be displayed in front of her. Was it a part of the capsule's function? Or has the game begin and she was seeing it in her mind, like how Nerve Gaming System worked? She started to show interest in the game. First step was to create an avatar, which could be anyhow she imagined it would be. She ended up creating an avatar similar to her own self, although there were slight differences. That was good enough, she concluded. Next would be a name. She gave thought for a bit, before settling on one.

"Shasarazade," she thought. It was all that the system needed to response. Her data was sent in, and the world grew dark once more.

"Welcome to the world of Gaia, Shasarazade. May the Goddess be with you," the introduction sentence played out and then everything was silent.

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Had she fallen asleep? The darkness seemed to last only a few seconds, or could it be hours? Apparently tapping to the nerve system directly could affect one's perception of time. She was sure that it wouldn't have been a minute now. When she opened her eyes instinctively, everything has changed. She was no longer inside the internet cafe. Instead, she was standing atop a prairie, a red sky hanging above him. "Whoa..." she couldn't help but opened her mouth wide. The feeling of wind breezing through her, the soft nudge of grasses playfully swaying below...even the resolution seemed so high she swore she mistook it for real life at that moment. "This is for real...it's awesome," when she touched her hand together, she could literally feel the skin brushing each others. Her finger could feel the texture of the grass. It was strange. It was...unbelieveable.



Suddenly in front of her eyes was shown words from out of nowhere. She realized that her avatar was wearing a goggles-like apparatus. The glass part was actually projection made by the hanging piece on her right ear. The words were something she'd seen in other games: "quest", "status", "menu", and many other standard game function. When she removed the goggles, she could see the world in full view without being obstructed by what was being displayed.

"To enhance PvP, huh? That's nice. The developer really thought much about this," she put the goggles back on. Information about her location appeared. She was in the Field of Beginning, with a quest title shining on the top-left corner. "Visit El Brunel, the Champion City", it said. Perhaps it was a beginner town, where she could get more quests and leveled up. She was a bit confused about her brother's whereabout, though. Seems like the game employed random points for new players to enter. "Well, perhaps I'll meet him there. I don't know what his name is, though...but I bet his face stayed the same," her brother had no sense of imagination when it came to that kind of things. She would just have to see the town then. Following the direction shown in the map on her goggles, she started the journey.

[Valtyr]

Excitement fueled him as he made his way down the side streets and between buildings. He got the message that he had been chosen for the beta testing of the new revolution of gaming. He could hardly believe it, he was chosen out of so many that had applied. A dumb smile plastered on his lips as he nearly jogged his way to the location. He arrived, the local internet cafe that was tucked between large business' and a few blocks from the large mall. He walked in, seeing a small line of other people that had the same ticket he had and flashing it to a sort of security guard. He tried to calm his excitement and remain calm and casual. A slow, casual stride brought him to the back of the line. Everyone in line seemed as excited as he was. He tried to see if he knew anyone but sadly no one did, but there was people already signed in so maybe he would meet someone in the game. As he inched closer and closer to the front of the line and the state of the art TIS gaming capsule about what he should make himself look like inside the game and what name he should use. He was a gaming enthusiast and decided on naming himself the same thing as all his other characters on other games so that was taken care of already and he hoped it was still available. Now what would he look like? Would he make himself look are huge and brutish or slim and fierce looking. He eventually decided to let himself look like himself in real life, wanting to be recognizable if any of his friends were lucky enough to get the open beta; but maybe give himself that muscular figure he always wanted. He laughed at himself but it was final! He would be the very same, only ripped.

As he came to this ultimate conclusion he arrived at the front of the line at long last. He rose his ticket up and the large, bulky mass of a man nodded and waved him through. He tried to act cool and not dance around in joy like a retard and so far so good. He went down and found an open TIS-capsule. He climbed in and sat down, pressing a small button the capsule shut around him and it was dark at it seal. The soft whirling sound of hardware kicking to life sent shivers of delight up and down his spine like shot of electricity. "Oh man! This is awesome!" He declared just before the entire inside of the capsule light up nice and bright, seeming like he was in a huge white room by himself. Suddenly a little display popped up in front of him with a title of Character Creation. With only a thought the next button lit up as if pressed and he was off. With only his mind he created his avatar that would translate into the virtual world. He made a carbon copy of himself but with a little more defining muscles outlines. He was about to hit complete but he took a second. After a moment of thought he raised his height by only two inches; perfect. He completed the process and now it was the name and he cross his fingers. Within a flash the name began to blink before him in a bright green color signifying the name was available; 'Kreed' was his name.



With a thought it completed and suddenly darkness took over. He felt like he was in a void, he couldn't even feel the seat he was sitting in. Suddenly a warm, dim light seemed to flicker and grow as a world began to grow out from where he stood. The colors blurred and pixelated until they refined and it looked just like real life. They seemed to determine his starting location would be in a dense forest with lush trees and wild life. Only fifty meters from him a deer grazed casually, if it weren't for the faint green health bar above the animal he would have thought he was really in the forest.He was considering testing out the fighting system but a quick inspection made him change his mind. He had no equipment yet. He was in simple cotton shirt and leather pants and simple boots. "Hmm.. I must have to complete the starter quest before I get my gear?" He thought out loud. With a though a display popped up in front of him. He was a bit startled, reaching up he touched around his eyes until he felt something weird. He grabbed it and pulled it off.... glasses? As they were removed the display went with it. He was in awe, this was so cool. He put back on the glasses and with his thoughts went through the different options and checked his inventory, empty. Character equipment page, what he assumed and was common cotton shirt, leather pants and boots with a bunch of empty slots. He closed that panel and opened the quest log and there was only quest available with a light blinking exclamation mark next to the name; 'Visit El Brunel, the Champion City' in nice bold letters. He opened the quest and thought about tracking it. A small display at the bottom left corner of his vision a tiny map appeared with a small directional arrow pointing him in the right direct. He began the simple journey through the forest.

It only took maybe five minutes to get out of the dense forward and find the road that lead to the champion city. As he walked he was astonished with the surreal beauty this new world exuded, it was breath taking. It wasn't long before he walked up the large stone stair case that brought him up to the center of town where a great gathering of other players and NPC's were scattered about; discerning the two by the colored Crystal above their head, silver for NPC and green for players. Trying not to get caught up in the immensity of all the intricate details of the buildings and store shop windows he began to make his way through the crowd towards the quest location.

[namelesshero]

As she traveled across the landscape, the world grew diverse. She was once in an open field, but now she could see forests and mountains around. The red sky stayed above, which she suspected not because of dusk. Although in the game world common logic shouldn't apply. For example, her physique was nowhere as near in reality. She'd practically been running for a few minutes now and she didn't feel tired at all. She tried jumping. In full force, she could leapt twice as high as real world would allow. It was cool in a sense, although it kind of breaking the feel of reality.

Soon her sight fell on a big structure towering the sky. It was the wall of a city. The display on her goggles showed that it was indeed El Brunel. "There it is," even from this distance she could see that the city had multiple entrance. Flocking the entrance staircase was people. Players. When she saw through her goggles, their name and health bar appeared atop their head, alongside with a green crystal-like icon.

"This is so real!"

"I can't believe it! I can practically feel you!"

Such mentions of awe was all over the crowd. Indeed, when she accidentally brushed other players, she could feel their presence. It was indiscernable from real life, as if they were truly there alongside her. "What did my brother said before? The uncanny valley...it's cool, but a bit scary..." she muttered to herself. Everyone was wearing the same thing as her; leather shirts, pants for the guys and shorts for the girls. Standard starter equipments.

The city was huge. It was a mixture of medieval and modern architecture, with stone archs and pillars alongside steampunk-era machineries all over the place. She spotted other people with silver crystal icons. Perhaps they were NPCs. She stumbled upon one, whom she apologized immediately. She felt a bit dumb apologizing to a game character, but the NPC reacted with a smile. Wow, the Artificial Intelligence was good.

"Do you need help?" the NPC, who was dressed like a knight, asked with a merry tone.

"Ah, yes...I got this quest..."

"Are you perhaps a Novice? Then just head to that building," he pointed to a large tower in the center of the city. She left him after saying thanks. That felt like a real conversation. She couldn't help not to smile happily. This game was different than the others. This was so...so great!

The tower was packed with people coming for the quest as well. She stumbled on people again and again, still not too good in keeping her balance. "Oops, sorry..." she yelped a bit when she hit someone hard on the side. It was a guy clad in Novice gear just like her, someone named Kreed. However, his face surprised her more than anything else. "Wha...you're...!" she was about to yell his name out of surprise, but remembered that it wasn't good to say real life name in an online game, so she covered her mouth immediately. "Um...sorry. Do you recognize me? We're in the same class."

[Valtyr]

He spent a good while just walking around, he saw how crowded the quest hall was and decided to wait for it to clear up a little more. He looked at all the intricate architecture in awe, his hands reaching out to touch the stone walls and he could feel the texture as if it were real; it was warm from the sun and rough to the touch as if weather had deteriorated its prior smoothness it seemed, it was unreal. He spent a while chatting it up with a few NPC's in amazement at how interactive they were, if it weren't the colored crystals above their head he would be confused who was a player or not. After a while and the eagerness of getting started with this game and fight some stuff he headed for the quest hall. "Ugh!!" He groaned as he arrived, it was still just as backed up. He waited in the back as the group slowly thinned out. Suddenly someone bumped into him and he looked back over his shoulder. Weirdly enough she looked familiar.

Than she asked if he recognized her and said that they were from the same class his eyes lit up. "Oh heyy ..." He trailed off, almost saying her name but reading her name. "..Shasarazade?" He butchered the pronunciation of her name horrible. "That's awesome! I didn't know you get into beta testing too!!" He exclaimed joyfully to have found someone he knew finally. "Want to group up? Help each other out since its a whole new experience and all and we could use any help we can get!" He asked. He opened up his display menu once more with a thought and went to the party options, sending an invite to her all within a second as it was all done with just the thought. "Man this game is awesome!"

[namelesshero]

It was indeed him, no doubt about it. He was always the game enthusiast that she knew. On the contrary, she was of a quiet type. She'd spent the time in her class reading, or just hanging out with her circle of friends. "Okay, 'Kreed'...hmm...just call me Sasha. The way you say it turned my character name into something else," she took her name from the Persian queen, but it seemed that it was too hard to pronounce.

A pop-up appeared on her goggles the moment he offered to make a group. She didn't need to touch the button, just by thinking 'yes' registered her name in his member list. "That's convenient," she commented. "Hmm..." using the buttons on the goggles' side she opened the party chat. At first she thought that the words would be read aloud, but apparently it was literally chat system. What she'd thought appeared on the lower-left corner of the goggles. "They made us able to do things with thoughts, but the chat system used text? That's a bit inconsistent," she knew it was for reinforcing reality and stuff, but it felt off somewhat.

"Well, let's go and see the quest. Seems like the crowd had thinned up," the lockets on the tower base, which was packed with players before, now felt spacious. Most players had took their quest and started exploration. She wasn't too eager to play, but the game's unexpected features started to hook her up. "Let's go," she took his hand and pulled him along.