Prologue: Welcome to Grand Quest Online

Grand Quest Online, or GQO, is a recently released VRMMORPG that came out only a few months ago, but despite that is already one of the most popular and hardest to get games in the entire world. On this day, five people managed to get a copy of this very hard to acquire, and rather expensive, game. Going home soon after they got it, these five newest players of GQO would soon get home and log in, or set up their Real Game Gear, or RGG, if they had just got one and hadn't played any other VRMMORPG's before. After putting on the gear, one simply closed their eyes and said "Link Start" to turn on the system.

They would feel themselves falling asleep, their eyes closing as it would feel as though their consciousness was separated from their body. The new players would appear first in the Character Creation room, which was just a black room with various displays for assigning Stats, Attributes, and performing other aspects of Character Creation. After clicking the 'accept' button their temporary virtual body would become the body of their newly created character and their consciousness would fade once again. When they each next awoke, they would all be lying in a peaceful green field.

The sensations would all be real. The green, smooth grass beneath them; the gentle wind that blew through the area. Sounds of birds could be heard in the distance and it was incredibly calm. This sensation was much different than other VRMMORPGs. It all felt so... real. It was hard to even fathom that you all were inside of a game. There are a total of five new players in the field, this probably being a starting area of sorts. Unlike other games, there were no ID tags or anything else above the heads of other players, a part of the enhanced realism of this game most likely that had several factors, including having to actually get to know people.

After maybe half a minute of getting their bearings, a voice could be heard. It was a powerful, yet far off voice that seemed to resound everywhere throughout the field. It sounded as such.

"Welcome travelers. So you wish to enter my world?"

Suddenly on the other side of the field a door would appear. It was a rather simple, yet very large, round framed oaken door with runic symbols carved on the outer edge of the door.

"If so, you must prove that you are worthy enough to enter. Either with others or by yourselves, step through the door before you. If you are able to prove yourself, a world of wonder awaits you. If you fail, then only death awaits you. Feel free to turn back from whence you came, if you are not willing to take this test". The voice began to grow more far off now. "Well then, young travelers. I wish you all good luck..." With that, the voice faded into nothing, and the door on the other side slowly began to open.

All five players would be greeted with a window, each player only able to see their own windows that appeared for them and not the windows of others.



The window was azure in color, and at the bottom were two buttons. One could probably say Yes or No as well, but otherwise they would have the option of actually declining the beginning quest, which probably meant that they wouldn't be able to progress from this beginning area. For those who did press Yes, the window would vanish and a new one would take its place.

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For those that, for whatever reason, hit 'No' would fall unconscious once again with the message 'You are Dead' flashing before their eyes before they would be greeted with two options. The first was a button that said 'Create New Character' and the other was the 'Logout' button.

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For those that were taking on this quest though, the entrance to this 'trial' awaited them and they could either try and form a Party or simply progress into the Trial on their own.

At last ,my very own copy of the game Grand Quest Offline.It is the latest VRMMORPG released a month ago.This game was famous but really hard to get because it was very expensive.I used all my lifetime savings for this and of course with a help of my mother.Yes at last! I got it!.I looked at the CD Cover of the Grand Quest Offline looking at it excitedly and smiling.Now, I can't wait to get home! After walking on sidestreets and taking the bus then the train.Finally, i'm home but first, I greeted my mom so she knows that i'm home.I rushed into my room and turnen on the computer.Connected the Real Game Gear into the PC then the game.We're now set! I can't wait! I'm so excited! So I layed down on my bed and put on the RGG on me.I took a deep breath and exhaled it then closed my eyes saying

LINK START!

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I fell into a deep sleep and I feel like that I was being transported into an another world.As my consciousness returns, I was in a Character Creation Room.It was common sense because you cannot play without a character.So yeah let's get started! I made a female character of course and focused its stats on STR and AGI because I love fighting with a sword than magic because fighting with a sword is close ranged like you do not fear the enemy.Fighting with magic is ranged like you are scared to the enemy.So yeah, I will be using swords in this whole game.It seems that I have to choose an attribute.After that I choose my attributes,skill,starting weapon then skill and i am ready to go! I pressed accept then I fell unconscious again.

As I woke up again,I am lying on a green field.I am not Makoto Sora anymore,I am Midori-nyan! It feels so different.I walked around the green field just to feel the wind and hear the chirping of the birds.Wow, this world is like the real world..It's amazing... it feels so... REAL.Somewhere from nowhere, a voice can be heard."Welcome travelers. So you wish to enter my world?" Hmm, it must the GM greeting us five new players of Grand Quest Offline.As the voice said that, a large door appeared on the other side of the field.What is that? Well, I should keep listening to the GM to know more."If so, you must prove that you are worthy enough to enter. Either with others or by yourselves, step through the door before you. If you are able to prove yourself, a world of wonder awaits you. If you fail, then only death awaits you. Feel free to turn back from whence you came, if you are not willing to take this test." the voice started to fade away "Well then, young travelers. I wish you all good luck..." With that, the voice faded into nothing, and the door on the other side slowly began to OPEN."

A window then suddenly appeared in front of me saying:


It's a quest,so why not? It would be fun! So I pressed [Y] then it was followed by an another window saying:


Wow, those are good rewards and Failure Penalty... Death? Meh... I guess it is just normal to die in a game so what kind of Failure Penalty is this? Haha. that wouldn't scare me.The objectives said that I should either finish this quest by myself or with others.I can't do this quest alone so i'm gonna finish this thing with a party! plus it would be fun socializing in a game with others! that's why MMORPG are created.MMORPG wants to teach us teamwork because it would be non-sense if the players aren't helping each other in the game.So I turned back to the other four and said "Hey guys! I am Midori-nyan but you can just call me Midori.We must do this quest together so it will be easy as pie? So... who's with me?" I asked everyone

Sumāto tensai madō-shi sat on he bed with her RGG in her hands, ready to play the new VRMMORPG named 'Grand Quest Online', which she felt lucky to even have gotten. Many reports across the internet were filled with news about how it 'sold out hours after release', and was 'hard to get, even months after release.' She didn't need to configure the RGG due to the fact that she played many games, VR games were not new to her. She slipped on her RGG and laid down on her bed. "Link start." she said, and she felt the weird sensational she always felt of getting very tired, and her conciousness drifting from her body.

Next thing she knew, she was in the Character Creation room, so she created her character and clicked the 'accept' button. She once again felt her conciousness slip out of her body and she was now lying in a green field of fresh grass in her new body. The game was quite astonishing. Realism to max, most of the games she played had a 'virtual' feel to them, while this felt exactly like real life, with no additions, besides the new body. Quite weird, not even name tags.

After a moment, a far-off, powerful and booming voice spoke. "Welcome travelers. So you wish to enter my world?" A door then appeared on the other side of the field appeared, but she ignored that so she could listen to the voice. "If so, you must prove that you are worthy enough to enter. Either with others or by yourselves, step through the door before you. If you are able to prove yourself, a world of wonder awaits you. If you fail, then only death awaits you." the voice continued. "Feel free to turn back from whence you came, if you are not willing to take this test". The voice started to get more quiet and start to leave. "Well then, young travelers. I wish you all good luck..." And then, the voice slowly drifted away and she was left with the silence of the field.

Suddenly, a window appeared infront of her. Due to how the game worked, she couldn't see the other's players menu's, but could only see her own. Another addition to realism. She noted this, as she was quite glad this was hyper-realistic. The window appeared to have an alert on it.


She quickly clicked 'yes', and the quest was accepted. She was confused by why anyone would decline it, due to the fact of how expensive and hard-to-get the game was.



She hadn't a clue of what the quest would be about. It merely said 'Clear the Trial of Beginnings either by yourself or with the aid of others' and gave no hint to what the Trial of Beginnings was. She guessed she'd just have to find out.

As she stood up and closed the quest alert, she took a look at the other players. One spoke up, a girl, "Hey guys! I am Midori-nyan but you can just call me Midori. We must do this quest together so it will be easy as pie? So... who's with me?" she listened to the girl. "I am Meiji zoku sumāto." she said, introducing herself. "I will join you."

Adachi bolted home with a speed his kendo sensei wished he would show more often in warm ups. A friend of his who worked at the nearby game shop had called him after practice, saying that the store had received a copy of Grand Quest Online, the critically acclaimed and extremely rare VRMMORPG. Adachi had immediately bolted over, and bought the copy just as they were putting it on the shelf. Adachi had been saving for months for the game, and was lucky he had brought his wallet with him to practice. He bolted for the door of his house, and ran straight to his room. His parents would still be at work for a while, and his homework was done for the day. Somehow, everything seemed to be perfect for the circumstances. Adachi wrote a note on a post-it that said "In VR. Adachi", and put it on the kitchen counter. With a speed unlike his normal routine, he hooked up his RGG, inserted his new game, and put on the headset. With an invigorated "Link start!" Adachi started up the RGG and felt his consciousness slip away.

When Adachi came to, he was in the character creation room. Adachi already knew what he wanted to make, and set right to work on it. Whenever he played a VRMMORPG, Adachi always built a knight or paladin class to tank with. He loved the feel of so much power in a single swing, and he wanted to be right up in the thick of the action. Plus, it was an interesting contrast with the constant maneuvers and agility of Kendo. Satisfied with his build, Adachi entered the name he always used in an rpg: Arryn Elik.

The next thing Adachi, no, Elik was aware of was standing in the middle of an open field. He took a deep breath, and stretched out of habit. As much of a veteran of VR Adachi was, he needed to adjust to each new game's system. He glanced around, noting the four people around him. Looks like he wasn't the only lucky one to get a copy today. As the female voice from nowhere began to speak, Elik calmly drew his weapons. He swung his sword a few times while the voice spoke to get a feel for the system's combat. He was slightly annoyed with the AGI penalty from his shield, but he would surpass that problem. Proper advancement would render the penalty moot, or remove it all together. It was the first challenge and trade off of a tank build, after all.

Elik sheathed his weapons as the menu appeared. It seemed to be a quest start menu for the quest, "trial of beginnings". Adachi selected yes without hesitation, and read over the quest text. He raised his eyebrow at the failure penalty. Death? No rpg ever really phrased failure text like that, though he assumed it was just part of the game. Likely it really meant starting the quest over. He glanced around as the others discussed starting a party to tackle the first quest. A starting quest should be easy enough to tackle solo, but that defeated the point of an mmo. Besides, it looked like he was the only tank build in the group. "You can count me in," Elik responded calmly. "I'm Arryn Elik, but you can just call me Elik."

He supposed it had been put off long enough. The urge to play Grand Quest Online had been with Hideo since he set aside a copy from the first shipment, but it had been pushed aside for more important matters. No more though! Today, he’d finally delve into what was pretty much the most hyped game in a while and experience it for himself. The click of lock, a flick of a switch, and with soft steps Hideo ascended from the darkened shop to his home above the store. There would be no disappointed customers either, or at least hopefully. He’d been smart enough to update his blog and post a notice a few weeks in advance, notifying of possibly closures from this day forward. There had been some backlash from the customers, but he’d managed to ward off the worst of them with promises of still being open at least twice a week during this time.

Slipping his shoes off at the stairs, he stepped into the small upper floor he called home. Ignoring everything for now he made a beeline for the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Setting up the RGG took only a moment and before long he was laid out comfortably on his bed, slipping the headpiece on. With a, “Link start,” Hideo felt reality slip away as the Gear lulled him asleep.
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Drowsiness didn’t accompany his “awakening” in the virtual world as this was hardly his first time using the RGG. He took a moment to take in the Character Creation room before getting to work. As usual, he ignored any sort of visual customization and went straight for the things that actually mattered. Figuring out what he actually wanted from his character took a while, but eventually after his final tap on the interface Hideo was satisfied. Again, he felt himself losing grip on this “reality” as character creation took place, his vision fading to black.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to a rich world that didn’t disappoint and Hideo instantly understood how people could forget it was just a game. There was a sense of fullness to the experience simply sitting on the plain had that other VRs lacked, something essential. While amazed at what the development team had managed to achieve, his mind as a gamer quickly assumed direct control. He had only managed to examine his character details before a voice broke the silence. While, thankfully, not long-winded, the mysterious voice was also rather vague and cliche if he had to be honest. He supposed that this would be the equivalent of the game’s tutorial, and with GQO’s system being apparently revolutionary, Hideo felt no urge to cluelessly dive in. Having accepted the quest, he figured introducing himself to the others also participating would be apt. Especially given how three others had already done so. “Well I don’t recognize any of you, so Mushi’s fine.”

“How much longer, Benjamin?!” Yeshua asked his older brother, the excitement from his voice could not be concealed.”We’re almost home, Yeshua. Patience is a virtue!” Yeshua and his brother were driving home from a trip to Septemberes in the Entertainment District, having just picked up one of the last copies of Grand Quest Offline the mall had available. It was nothing short of a miracle that he’d been able to get his hands on the treasured new game, even though it’d been out for months already. Yeshua had vowed that he would play the game the minute it was announced. Soon, he would be able to achieve that vow. If only there weren’t so many red lights!

A grin appeared on Yeshua’s lips as he spotted the familiar pet store that they always passed on their way home. Based upon that landmark, Yeshua determined that it would take upwards of five more minutes to reach their house. Gah, I can’t wait! he thought as their sizeable and expensive car darted through the street.”Can’t you drive any faster?! I’ve waited wayyy too long for this day to get stuck in traffic.” Yeshua nearly shouted, his anticipation bubbling over.”It’s going to take even longer to get home if I get pulled over, Yeshua. Just calm down, we’re nearly there.” Benjamin retorted, the beginnings of a smile plastered on his face at his younger brother’s antics. He was a few years away from being eighteen, yet he still acted the same way he did when he was twelve.”Alright, alright. I can wait. I can totally wait.” Yeshua muttered, his breathing noticeably slower and more deliberate.

As soon as the car pulled to a stop in the driveway, Yeshua’s door flew open and he darted out of the passenger side seat and towards the door to the place he called home.”The door’s locked!” he called back to his brother as he tested the doorknob. Benjamin tossed the keys to his brother as he closed the door to the car. Yeshua struggled for a moment to unlock the door, his excitement making it hard to focus on keeping his hands steady enough to put the key in the door.”Grrr..” He growled as he struggled. Benjamin calmly took the keys from his brother and easily slid in the proper key and opened the locked door.”You’re way too excited about this.” He commented as Yeshua dashed inside and downstairs to his room.

The Israeli boy screeched to a halt as he slid into his room. He spun around and shut the door, before bouncing around on one foot in an attempt to pull one of his shoes off. Once the issue of unnecessary layers of clothing was dealt with and swept under the bed (literally), Yeshua grabbed his RGG and slid it onto his head, before plopping in the game and jumping onto his bed. After getting comfortable, Yeshua shut his eyes and turned the device on, letting the familiar feeling of vertigo from starting up virtual reality come over him like a wave.

Once he awoke, Yeshua found things to be like they usually were in these Virtual Reality MMOs. He was in some sort of character creation room. Rubbing his hands together, Yeshua set to work designing a character. He brought up a mental list of all the classes he plays in other similar games. After a minute or two of thinking, he decided to build a ranger, since he hadn’t done such a thing in some time. Yeshua set to work designing the perfect ranged class. It took a bit longer than he expected, but Yeshua was happy with the results when he was finished. There was only one more thing his creation required: A name; a name that Yeshua would be known by for as long as he played this game, which he suspected would be quite awhile. A name that he hoped would be forever immortalized in the history of Grand Quest Online. So Yeshua typed in a name he found would suite that goal nicely: Messiah. After hitting Accept, Yeshua felt the embrace of unconsciousness wash over his mind once more.

When Messiah awoke, he felt the strangest sensations. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings, and instantly all the hype the game had received was confirmed ten times over. Everything looked and felt so…real! So very real! The feelings of the grass between his fingers, the wind on his skin: it was all so breathe taking, Messiah almost forget that he had a game to play. He was pulled back into focus by the sound of a booming voice. Now where was that coming from? Messiah spun around and noticed that he was not alone in that expanse of green field. There were four others with him, yet none of them appeared to be the one speaking. So, Messiah assumed that the voice was some sort of automated greeting. While he was looking around, he noticed a door sitting out in the middle of the field. Now wasn’t that interesting? Messiah decided to walk towards the door, while also paying attention to the voice from the sky. The voice’s message was an ominous one, though Messiah felt only a small amount of apprehension as he approached the door. It was obviously just there to set the mood, right?

The sudden appearance of a window popping up caused Messiah to quite literally jump. He always hated pop ups. What it said was a little on the weird side, though. He could decline the beginning quest? Perhaps that was just there for veteran players looking to skip the tutorial for their new character. With a shrug, Messiah pressed the Yes button. Messiah didn’t jump this next time a window popped up. He had been expecting it this time. Messiah looked away from the window as the other players began to converse. It looked as if they would all be going in together. He toyed with the idea of going it alone, but decided against it. He’d much rather play with these other people than by himself. Clearing his throat, Messiah introduced himself.”Hello all, I am M-“ Yeshua stopped speaking and facepalmed. He had started off in Hebrew instead of Japanese. Gah, living in a different country sucked.”Excuse me. What I meant to say was, hello everyone. I am Messiah, and I would like to join your party.”

Ryu fluffed his pillow, giving it a good slap, a tug then tossing it back into place. He adjusted his windows, so that no one would be able to see clearly into the room, but that light would be able to seep out, alerting people that someone was home. He had to make all the preparations, everything needed to be perfect today...not that anything could really go wrong for him. Ryu wore a grin from ear to ear as he looked at the game he had recently obtained. GQO, he had wanted to get it when it was first released, but even the pre-ordering almost required pre-ordering. It was hard to obtain, it was expensive, and now every was awesome. He gave a brief look at the clock, not really paying attention to the time, aside from knowing that he had enough time to play.

"Alright! I left a note for Mom, everything has been prepared, I've used the bathroom, time to jump in!" He fist pumped the air, and started to run in place to try and get all his excitement out, it wasn't working necessarily, but it didn't hurt either. He got himself nicely laid out on his bed, and set himself up. "This is so exciting!" he shook his head a bit from side to side, settling into his pillow, "Link start!" The words left his mouth, and it was like he floated away.

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Alright character creation...stats, skills, name, usual fun stuff. he took only a few moments before he whizzed through making his character. He had planned ahead so so as to not be standing there working things out for an hour or two. Character creation normally took him longer than the tutorial levels did...actually, it usually took up his whole first day, but not this time! he had planned how he would look, how he would play, everything was going just as he wanted, and as he clicked the buttons to finalize it all, he woke up, finding himself in a new surrounding, with others, he would presume based on their basic garb, were in the same boat as him. Seeing as they also started to introducing themselves, this just fortified that idea. He stood up and got his bearings, accepting the quest which had come his way, and while adjusting his own clothes he spoke up, "A pleasure to meet all of you, you may call me Ozwald, or Oz for short, I also respond to hey you, and that guy, but I'd rather have a name." he started to gaze upward towards the sky.

After all of the players had the chance to make their introductions with one another, it would come time to make a party. A window would appear in front of each of them, again their windows only visible to each others. It merely stated that all systems in the game were voice activated, meaning that Party Creation probably was as well, all of the windows so far a light azure color. It was rather nice compared to ordinary whites or browns that most other windows were. Whichever of the five players (ill leave this up to all of you) decided to create the party would see the following window appear before them.



With no keyboard, they would probably have to use their voices to name the party since no keyboard seemed to appear. The first thing that they said though after the window appeared would make another one appear.



If they said no or pressed the No button, then the one asking what they wanted to name it appeared again, giving them another chance to name it, which in turn made the second window appear again. After deciding upon a name would come sending out party invites. Which was simply done by looking at a person and saying Party Invite, which needed to be done four times. Those who received the party invites would see the following windows appear before them.



It seemed that this window, along with the two buttons, also had a timer counting down from 60 meaning that was how long each of the four who got the invites had to accept their party invite. Upon clicking the accept button or saying 'Yes' they would join the party, a window appearing notifying the party leader of the following.



After everyone had either joined the party or declined the invite for whatever reason, it would be time to proceed with the Quest. Of course, there was still time to give all of their things a lookover like their Stats, Skills, Journal, and etcetera. By saying a window's name, that window would open, and a swipe to the window itself in any location or a touch to top right hand corner of a window closed it. It seemed that this quest could be pretty hard, especially with how poorly the party was in terms of equipment. A starting weapon, standard clothes, and an accessory called a Sack, which was worn on the characters' backs, was all they had equipped. Inventory access was a bit different. Equipment could be seen by looking at Equipment, but in order to access Inventory they needed to actually open their Sacks, showing that the only item inside was a Money Pouch meant for holding money, this actually taking up a slot in their Sacks.

The Ranged characters had one other thing equipped that the others did not. They also had an additional accessory on their belts known as an Ammunition Pouch, which was meant for storing the small ammunition for their weapons, so naturally if they wanted to reload or get out a new piece of ammunition, they needed to reach into their Ammunition Pouch to do so.

Once everyone was ready to go, it was time to depart. The door awaited them patiently for them to enter it, and as they each entered it a bright light would engulf their vision. The light wasn't blinding, as they could see each other clearly, but other than that the entire area would be white before that faded again after a few moments. Now instead of a peaceful green field they were inside a small room dimly lit by torch light. It looked like some form of ruins or old abandoned fortress, but it was really hard to tell.

The room was made from simple stone, not really any definitive features other than an oaken door that held the way forward. It was dark though, so they would need to take a torch with them, so whoever didn't need both of their hands to fight, probably the Wand user, would need to take the torch to light the way.

The first hallway seemed incredibly bare. A basic hallway made of stone bricks with a brick here and there out of place either entirely or just crooked inside its slot on the wall, which was lined with cobwebs here and there. This place was old and decrepit, probably a Dungeon of some type most likely, carrying a smell of dust as if nothing had stirred that dust in ages.

The first room would soon be reached, another old oaken door entering into another empty room. Upon everyone entering this room though the door immediately shut behind them and vanished, leaving nothing but an empty wall, the door on the other side doing the same. The room went completely pitch black for a moment, before braziers on the walls erupted into flames brightening up the room and revealing that they were no longer alone in this somewhat bigger than the previous room room.

Blocking their path now were four goblinesque creatures. One held a small bow, another a sharp, deadly looking sword, a third seemed to be holding some very small, black rounded objects, most likely bombs of some kind, a pouch on its belt bulging with them, and a fourth appeared to be wearing what looked like tattered robes, which wasn't like the tattered tunics that the other three were wearing. They were all chittering, but luckily the party was not surprised and, before these goblins; although what the identity of these creatures would be impossible to tell for now since there were no ID tags or anything to identify them, could act; the party would have a chance to act, this most likely being the first stage in the Trial of Beginnings.

With this, the game had truly begun.

Sumato listened to the other players introduce themselves, and decided that it was about time to get started with the quest. "So... who's going to make the party?" she asked. It was definately not going to be her, and she knew that, because she didn't like talking much. Right now was an exception due to introductions and most likely it would change during batle, but most of the time she was silent. She also took a look over the other players, whom they now had were Midori, Elik, Mushi, Messiah and Oz. That was 5 total (6, plus her). She noticed another person was still inactive, so she didn't count this person.

Given that the introductions seemed to be over with, Mushi figured it would be best to get things rolling quickly. “Party Creation,” he muttered and when no keypad appeared with the notification, “Trial of Beginnings.” Tapping the yes button on the window that popped up afterwards, he blinked in surprise when no changes occurred. Normally you’d get at least a list of names on the side of who was part of your party, but he supposed it was another feature the design team had set aside for more realism. With a sigh, he turned to each of the other five individuals and murmured, “Invite to Party [Trial of Beginnings].” Hopefully that was satisfactory enough.

While he waited for the others to accept or decline, he got back to familiarizing himself with the various windows. Dismissing them after he had a quick glance through, he pulled the [Basic Wand] free of its holder. Twirling the small wand around for a moment, he stopped and held it for a moment, examining the piece, before placing it back. Last but not least was the [Sack] that he had on his back. It was an interesting choice to make it so players had to actually manage their inventory physically instead of through a window, but Mushi could see it becoming an annoyance down the line. Seeing as there was only a [Money Pouch] inside at the moment though, he closed it back up and reslung it onto his back. With that, he was pretty much ready to head through the door and start the quest, but was waiting on the others.

Messiah examined the other players that he would soon be sharing a party with. He began to make a mental list of what he believed all of their physical capabilities were. First, he turned his eyes to the last one to speak, whom had said their name was Oswald. Kind of bland, but Yeshua wasn’t one to judge. Perhaps it was his real name. Or maybe he wished to be seen as ordinary. Whatever the case, the man’s name was trivial. Gauging by the way he joked and absently examined the sky, Messiah guessed that this was both his first time playing the game, and that he had the sort of personality Yeshua got along with quite well: the joking, carefree sort. Or perhaps he was just making a good impression. Judging by the lack of weapons on his person, and the ammunition pouch on his belt, Messiah guessed that he used some sort of small throwing weapons: Perhaps darts or knives, or something in that category. A rogue archetype, he supposed.

Next, the Hebrew’s eyes were turned upon the next to last person to speak, Mushi. He didn’t say too much, so it was hard for Yeshua to gauge his personality. He’d have to talk to him some more and get to know what kind of person he was. He had a cool name, though. Was it Chinese? He guessed that it might be and moved on with his scrutiny. He had what appeared to be a wand of some sort on his belt, so it was pretty safe for Messiah to assume he was a mage. Why did his hair cover one of his eyes?

Then there was Elik. There was no way Arryn Elik was his real name. But it was a name Messiah could appreciate: Unique, immersive to the environment, and short: a name to be remembered. The way he spoke made Messiah guess that he wasn’t very emotional, or he was at least pretty calm and chill at that particular moment. A cool headed guy like him would make a good leader. The sword he had sheathed at his side and the shield on his back made Messiah guess he was probably a tank of some kind.

Messiah’s observations were interrupted by a window popping up in front of him. It seemed Mushi had the initiative to create a party. Trial of Beginnings, huh? That wasn’t a name that made Messiah think Mushi planned to stick around for too long. Or maybe he was really bad with party names. Whatever the case, Messiah spoke the ‘Accept’ command and moved on with his over observation of his new party members.

Next on the list was Megi...No, Meji, Zoku…Sumota? Sumoto? Lord Almighty, Japanese names were a total pain to pronounce. Her introduction was short and to the point, so much so that Messiah couldn’t really detect any sort of emotion in her words. She was in the same boat as Mushi: neither of them seemed to talk too much, and were quite obviously introverts. He’d have to get her talking while they were questing. Zoku seemed to have some sort of tome on her belt, so he guessed her to be another magician. He also noted that she was pretty easy on the eyes.

Last but not least was Midori-nyan. She seemed as easy to read as Oz: An energetic, go-getter type of person. Another player he could easily get along with. Although Yeshua could probably say the same for the rest of the party, those two in particular seemed to be the easiest. Since she was so quick to get the ball rolling on this whole party issue, Messiah guessed she’d probably make a decent leader too. The sword at her side made him think she might be a tank like Elik, but the distinct lack of a shield made him guess she was more of a melee DPS type than a tank type. Like Meji, she was pretty good looking too. Although, most video game avatars were…

After he finished looking at everyone else, Messiah’s gaze set upon himself. His clothing was rather bland: he was wearing a long sleeved leather shirt and matching pants. There was a belt around his waist that held his ammunition pouch, as well as kept his pants up. He opened up the pouch and counted the bolts he had; only twenty? He’d have to watch where he shot, then. Perhaps he could retrieve them after a fight was over. Messiah then took the crossbow off his back and looked it over. It was a simple contraption of metal and wood, nothing special about it. Judging by its weight, Messiah decided he’d have to fire it two handed. Using both hands on a ranged weapon was usually the preferred option, but still. He’d seen one-handed crossbows before. Slinging the weapon onto his back once more, Messiah retrieved his bag and opened it. The only thing inside was a money pouch. He put the inventory item back where he had it before and turned his eyes to his fellow party members.

“Sooo…” He began, waiting for everyone else to accept the invitation, “How’s everybody doin’? Anybody else as excited as I am for this game?” Messiah said, grinning from ear to ear. This was going to be so much fun!

Midori-nyan has joined the party!

I accepted the party invite but first I will take a look at my everything before everything starts.I started with Stats Window,Nothing seems to be wrong all I can see is a stat of a STR-AGI type user so nothing wrong here seriously.So yeah, there is nothing wrong with my stats and now for my inventory.As I opened an inventory, I saw a fly just flied by my eye or maybe just a coincidence and there it is I met an empty inventory.Well im just starting after all so I would expect that.I looked at my teammates and said "Ok now let's go together!"."We can do this guys! as long as we have faith in each other"."Also, if we are in a tight situation don't forget to smile!" I added before proceeding to the door waiting for the others.I was excited so I turned back again and jumped excitedly then said "Come on guys?! What are you waiting for!? Let's go" I said still jumping in excitement.

Elik accepted the party invite as it came up. He took a few seconds to get used to the unique system of the game's menus, or lack of one, for that matter. It was slightly disconcerting to be without much of a standard UI, but it was just another thing he would get used to as time passed. To be frank, he appreciated the immersion, if at the cost of a more streamlined mechanic. Elik glanced around at the others as they still got there bearings. From the look of things, they had a pretty standard party. With himself as a tank, they looked to have a melee dps, a ranged dps, two spell casters, and what looked like a potential crowd control setup from Oz. A pretty standard party, minus a healer of course, but the first aid skill seemed to cover that, and he planned to level that up. A tank that could heal was certainly a bonus.

It seemed like everyone was ready to go, but no one was taking the first step. Elik figured that if no one else would, then he would go first. He did have massive health after all. "Already going," he said in response to Midori. "See you on the other side." With that, Elik stepped through the light of the door. It didn't seem to be blinding, but it replaced the scenery around him. Eventually, it was replaced with a dusty old chamber, lit by a single torch. Elik drew his sword and shield, preparing for combat. When no threat appeared, he moved to the door. The way through appeared to be difficult to see through, but the torch appeared useable. Glancing at the party, it appeared only the wand user had a free hand. "Hey, Mushi," he said. "Grab that torch, would you? I think the rest of us need both hands to fight." When someone had grabbed the torch, Elik move forward through the hallway, taking the lead. It made sense for the guy with the massive shield to be in front.

Coming to another room, the door suddenly closed behind him. Familiar with video games, Elik braced for a fight. When the room lit, he got a good look at the enemies; four goblin looking creatures, all armed differently. Looking at each one, he got a good idea of their damage potential. Before the fight began, Elik said to the party "Alright! I'll hold their attention. Midori, if I'm getting swarmed, pull one off me. Everyone, go for them in order of the most damaging. Bombs, then robe guy, then sword, then arrows." With that, Elik charged at the one with bombs, his shield raised, and swung at the little green thing. Combat had begun.

Ozwald simply accepted the party invite after hearing the notification noises sounding, but quickly went back to looking around his surroundings, going from the skys, to the ground. He managed to keep up with the group, though paying them little head at this time. There was no real point, roles didn't really come out at level one in most games, so it was a few bodies moving as a whole, some close range, others more distant. Nothing special.

When the goblin like creatures were then found infront of the party, Oz looked them over, judging which order they needed to die in to be the most effective. Mages first normally, the one with bombs could be tricky, but depending on the systems of the game, could potentially be the easiest to off, and the highest hitting foe. He looked back and forth, doing eeny meeny miny moe in his head, prior to seeing Elik charge at the bomber, and attempting to tell the party what to do as well. "Nope!" Oz smiled, as he gracefully pulled out a knife, and then got close enough to the robbed goblin to attack. "I like this one more, he is mine, I shall call him Po." He threw his knife as hard as he could.

These goblinesque creatures were probably around three feet tall, meaning they would be a small bit harder to hit due to their small frames and heights, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Elik charged forward first, shield raised as he aimed to bring his sword down upon the creature with the bombs, his shield slowing him down a small bit thanks to how heavy it was. Still, he was able to swing his sword nonetheless, hopefully able to hit what was probably a swift creature.

Elik's blade struck incredibly deep and true, the creature with the bomb in his hand letting out a loud screech of pain as it sunk in deep. A visible, red gash could be seen on the beast representing the cut, but there was no blood. It was more like it was glowing red slightly. There being no blood was probably due to the Realism Controversy that happened in the VR Gaming world a while ago, with games that had realistic death and gore effects traumatizing players and even awakening serial killers that would have never been awakened otherwise. It was quite the hot topic when VR Gaming first hit the scene and was quite the common knowledge among those who kept up with that sort of news.

The company who made this ultra realistic game were sued and actually went bankrupt due to all of the lawsuits and damages that they had to pay for. Needless to say, since then people who made VR Games made sure to to follow the Realism Code as set up after that controversy happened.

So while the sensation of the blade sinking into the goblin could be visibly seen and even 'felt' in a way, like as if he was actually cutting into a real monster in a way that one would forget that they were cutting into a game sprite, the glowing red gash down its torso would instead represent the wound rather than a bloody wound. There were no HP Bars or anything of the sort that appeared, but it was clear from how ragged the breathing of this creature was and how it was clutching its chest after that nasty blow that it was probably near death and in really bad shape. The sword did sink in incredibly deep after all, the heavy bastard sword a bit slower, but able to deal some serious damage.

Right after Elik made that rather swift, deep blow a window appeared before him, that one disappearing after he would close it and then another one taking its place.





Apparently to unlock skills, or one way to do so at least, was through 'Special Actions', which probably meant that Skills could be obtained through experimentation or other such things. There was no time to figure out that though, as all four enemies were still up, but there was one that was probably near to being out.

Next to react in that instant chance they all had to attack was Ozwald, who moved swiftly and aimed to throw a knife at the robed creature, this one possibly being a mage of some type due to its robes, but it was impossible to tell, Ozwald getting closer so that his Proximity Shot passive would give a damage bonus if he hit.

The knife flew truer than true, the thrown knife stabbing the robbed creature right between the shoulder blades before it could even react, a red 'Critical' appearing above its head before anyone could even register it, the creature having been knocked down somehow by the sudden attack as it cried out loudly, the knife sticking out from a softer point in the body. While it wasn't dead, it being prone meant that it had to spend time getting up and was a bit more open to melee attacks. A few windows appeared for Oz after his attack.













With all of these windows appearing, Oz was getting quite the bonuses, the +1 Thrown Weaponry one literally making him feel as though he was now a small bit better with thrown weapons. It was quite a weird sensation really, suddenly becoming better at something, and literally feeling it, because there was an increase in a number. This game was incredible indeed.

Still, there were two unharmed opponents and two opponents that looked quite close to death. Either way, if the heroes acted quickly, they may be able to wrap up this battle before the enemy even had a chance to strike.

While some hadn’t accepted the invite just yet, it seemed others were ready to get started with the quest. At least the tank of their group had the right idea, taking the lead and heading through first. As Elik disappeared, Mushi pulled his weapon out and twirled it about before gripping it firmly. Noticing that Oz had also gone ahead, he took that as his cue to get on the move. Nodding towards the door at the other three that remained, he quickly stepped through behind Elik and Oz.

As the world shifted from a wide open field to a dreary stone room, Mushi glanced around before relaxing. given how Elik was glancing into the unlit hallway ahead. Without any immediate threats, he moved to do as the other player had suggested. While he was fairly certain there were others who could have done the task, he was generally going to be out of the thick of combat, thus keeping their source of light alive. When the others finally joined them in the “dungeon”, the party finally set forth with Elik at the front and him in the center, lighting up the otherwise dark hallway.

Entering the next room was accompanied by an ominous feeling by Mushi, one that proved appropriate when the oaken door slammed shut behind the party. As braziers burst to life along the walls, blinding him for a moment, he nevertheless managed to notice the four creatures that stood ahead of them. And though he agreed with Elik’s assessment of the threat levels these creatures posed, Mushi also had to sigh when their tank charged forward towards the number one priority target. He wasn’t quite sure what Elik thought would happen, but Mushi was more than willing to bet friendly fire was a feature in this game. And given his large frame compared to the goblin’s small one, there wasn’t really any way for the ranged players to help him out with the mob. Not unless they were willing to get a bit closer, which of course Mushi had no issue with.

It wasn’t hard for him to keep up with their tank, given Elik’s heavy armor. As the other player brought the bastard sword across the goblin, drawing a glowing red line across the mob, Mushi darted out from behind Elik’s back. Crouching low to keep his balance, he wasn’t sure if the talent points he’d invested into [Acrobatics] had helped, but Mushi certainly felt they did. The movement was smoother than anything he felt he could have done in real life. Putting that thought aside for the moment, with his wand pointed right at the wounded goblin, Mushi muttered, “Magic Bolt.” He could feel the flow of energy from his body towards the tip of the wand, the piece of equipment glowing faintly, before it was expelled forth.

As Mushi moved forward, aiming his wand at the wounded goblinesque creature it would be a bit hard to aim at two creatures fighting, Elik's large frame indeed giving the creature a bit of cover, but that wouldn't be too much of an issue if the bolt hit the beast. The moment he chanted the Weapon Skill name, the wand shone lightly before suddenly a bolt of magical energy was expelled from the wand and towards the creature, it being maybe around the size of a softball and blue in color, a bit of Mushi's own MP being drained as he used the Weapon Skill.

Fortunately the bolt hit the beast dead on, the magical energy making the creature cry out before it fell to the ground, being no more as the bolt had hit the beast dead on and threw it to the ground, the bomb in its hand rolling out of it. The body remained there though despite all of that, this probably being another element of the game's realism, the body not disappearing upon death, it probably being something that could be searched for loot, but that would have to wait until the other three were defeated. A window appeared in front of all of the players stating the following.



Since they were all in a party, they probably earned equal XP for all of the kills, especially since they were also all the same level. Still, this definitely meant that one enemy was dead, leaving the swordsman, archer, and what was possibly a wounded mage. This battle was going very smoothly thus far.

A window appeared in front of Mushi though after his wand's skill was a successful hit, followed by a second one after that.

By the time the party invite was sent, the other players had already gotten up and begin walking into the door. She was easily wrapped up in books, and because she used a Tome, she had gotten distracted by it. She quickly accepted the party invite and jumepd up, following behind the others into the dungeon. Sighing with relief that they didn't go to far ahead of her before she realized, she walked behind with her Tome at ready and prepared for anything to happen.

Due to her being a mage, and obviously ranged, she stayed at the back with the other ranged heroes. Erik, who appeared to be a tank, was at the front, guiding them ahead. She was quite excited now, they finally would be starting their adventure through this VRMMORPG. She had played a lot of these types of games in the past, though, so she knew how dungeons worked in almost every video game she's played like this, she knew very soon they'd be encountered by monsters. This came true moments later when they all stepped into another room and the wall closed behind them, revealing four goblin-like creatures.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. Erik charged forward and sliced into the Bomber goblin, causing what would be quite a nasty cut if the game had gore, Oz aimed for the robbed goblin and landed a crit, and Mushi helped Erik by ended the remaining life the Bomber goblin had left in him by firing 'Magic Bolt', giving everybody 3 XP.

All this sudden activity and so-far success against the goblins suprised her, but not for long before she held her Tome in her hands and aimed for the robbed goblin Oz landed a crit on, muttering "Magic Bolt," and hoping it hit.

Holding her tome in her hands, opened, she chanted the skill name Magic Bolt. Magical energy would gather from within her and also from around the tome as well, flowing into her hand before it shot out in the same way that the Magic Bolt that Mushi had did, as a small, soft-ball sized concentration of bluish energy. The power, despite being weak, felt real and amazing. It literally felt like she was using magic rather than using a skill in a game, her tome shining a bit as she used the magic spell to attack the heavily wounded, robed goblin.

The bolt of magical energy slammed straight into the creature, making it cry out. It was harder to hit thanks to it being on the ground, and thus a smaller target for a ranged weapon to hit, but she still managed to hit somehow nonetheless, [Projectile Weaponry] most likely being used for accuracy here. The beast seemed to stop moving at all though after the blast hit it square in the chest, it having cried out wen hit, but now it wasn't moving at all, signifying that it was dead, as another window for everyone appeared stating that another 3 XP had been earned.

A few windows appeared for Meiji after she had killed the robed creature with her Magic Bolt spell, which was also, coincidentally, the same Skill that Mushi's Wand could use.







Two enemies down, two to go now, and there were still two people yet to move in this instant. If they did well enough, they could take down the swordsman and the archer enemies before they had any chance to react, their being at least no danger of bombs or possibly magic, if the robed one had been a mage, now, which was nice.

Messiah shifted on his feet as the party stood around in silence for a few awkward moments. Finally, Midori broke the silence and urged the rest of them to get a move on into the Trial Of Beginnings. While he was a little disappointed that no one seemed in the mood to respond to his attempt at small talk, he was glad that everyone wanted to get things started. After all, this was a game, not a chat room. Messiah watched as Elik took charge and stepped into the door first. It made sense, since he was their tank. Heh, sense and since. Messiah waited for everyone else to walk in and followed them inside. There was no need to put himself in danger by going in second or third; he was ranged, after all.

The first hallway they entered was a little ominous, but nothing Messiah hadn’t seen before. It was just like any other dungeon, even if it all seemed a bit too real. He followed silently behind everyone else as Mushi grabbed the torch and they moved down the hall and into another door. Messiah shifted his crossbow off of his back and into his hands, sensing that they might come into contact with enemies somewhere inside here. Perhaps the next couple of rooms, even.

Yeshua’s prediction seemed to be correct as the doors to the next room disappeared. He bent down into a kneeling position and raised his crossbow in the instant the door was gone: there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to be seeing some action. Just as he thought that, four goblin looking beasts appeared out of thin air. Messiah listened as Elik shouted orders and charged the bomb-wielding goblin. The plan seemed sound enough, so it seemed everyone else was content to do whatever they pleased. Messiah whipped his crossbow around and took careful aim at the sword-wielding goblin.”AIM!” He shouted, activating his skill and letting loose a bolt.”Midori, finish him off!” Messiah yelled out yet again, even before the bolt made contact. Hopefully he’d do as well as the rest of his team..