March 31, 2032

“Holy crap.” Rhys was astounded. The fact that he had said nothing but those two words for the previous ten minutes showed just how astounded he truly was. There was a man in his bedroom, plugging in cables and setting up a brand new console on his desk. The guy had been waiting outside his apartment after he got home from work that afternoon. He hadn't believed he'd actually win one of the consoles, not so close to the fifth anniversary celebration. But there it was. Answer a short survey and look what it got him. All he had to do was plug in a program that would gather player data for Yxel Entertainment.

The desk sat next to his bed, placed there so he could game lying down if he so desired, and for a moment he felt a glimmer of confusion when the brand new gaming system didn’t include a monitor. He wondered if he would need to go out and get himself a new monitor, or if his old gaming monitor would be compatible with the new system, when realization struck. A second later his hand struck as he smacked himself in the forehead.

“Idiot,” he muttered. “Of course there’s no monitor, it’s a virtual reality game, the image is projected into your head.”

“Alright, Kid. Here ya go, yer all set up. All ya need to do is go through these instructions, initialize the system and let the software updates install. That should take a few hours so be prepared to wait, ok?” Rhys nodded, accepting the manual from the tech that installed his new console. “Once the software updates are complete all you need to do is install the game.” He held out a small plastic stick, roughly half an inch wide and two inches long that contained his new Firewind Game.
“Oh, and ya gotta plug in this sub-routine also. They want to collect all the data they can on how you play and all that crap.” He shrugged dismissively and handed Rhys a second data stick.

“While your game is installing you need to plug in the hardware and put it on, there’ll be prompts that will explain what you need to do. Young guy like you, I’m sure you’ll figure out the rest in no time.” He patted Rhys on the shoulder, collected his equipment, and left without another word. Rhys stood there, dumbfounded that he had actually won the console. Whatever it was they were looking for they found it in his answers to their questions and he was now the proud owner of a brand new Yxel FIVR Console System.

He stared at the stick in his hand for a few moments longer before a delighted smile spread across his face, his hands balled into fists and he suddenly threw his arms into the air and screamed as loud as he possibly could.

“WHOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!” he shrieked and cheered and started jumping around his room like a complete lunatic until one of his neighbors started pounding on the wall.

“Sorry!” he yelled, even though he felt anything but. Without waiting another moment he ran over to his desk, settled himself in the simple chair and turned on the console.

Nothing happened.

He frowned and looked at the sleek black device. A light was on, blinking beneath the power button on the front and there was a quiet humming sound coming from the sixteen linked micro-processors and three cooling fans used to keep it from overheating.

It was on, obviously, but it wasn’t doing anything that he could see.
A moment later his hand connected with his forehead again.

“Idiot, there’s no monitor.”

He reached out and snagged the black, glossy box off of his bed. The box that was filled with the hardware he would need to play the game. It took a bit of fiddling, and flipping through the instruction manual that he had been handed by the installation tech, but eventually he found a small driver plugged into a slot on the headset, which he plugged into the console. A small light on the driver lit up and he pulled the head gear on and pulled down the visor.

The whole thing looked like a grav-cycle helmet. It had a smooth, cool, metal exterior, but the inside was cushioned and lined with a soft fabric that he new would conform to the shape of his skull once it was flipped on. He plugged in the headset itself to the wall outlet near his bed, then reached up, and pressed the button next to his jaw.

A moment later the entire device lit up like a kaleadiscopic light show. The visor showed a dazzling array of colors and designs flashing across it’s curved surface for several seconds before it settled onto a simple message.

Welcome to your Yxel Entertainment Systems FIVR Gaming Console. Software update in progress, please wait until this update has completed before you continue.

He sighed, irritably. The tech had said it could take a while for the software update to complete itself.

“So what am I supposed to do, just sit here and wait?” he grumbled to himself.

You do not have to remain within your Yxel Headset while Software update continues. If you wish to set it down and return later, you are more than welcome to do so.

Rhys blinked. “Did… did the console just respond to me?” he asked.

No. The Yxel Entertainment Systems FIVR Console did not respond to your question. The Y.E.S FIVR Headset, did. Please, remove your headset and return in… 5 hours.

Rhys quickly pulled off the headset and stared at it in utter astonishment for a moment before he started chuckling quietly to himself. “That’s nuts,” he muttered.

“Voice recognition software on top or everything else. No wonder these damn units are so friggin’ expensive.”

He shrugged and set the headset aside, and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Nothing to be done until the software finished updating anyway. While he ate he read through the instruction manual cover to cover, then dug through the box and pulled out all the included literature on the Firewind gaming world itself.

“Multiple classes, jobs, and skill-sets,” he muttered several hours later as he read through the game manual for the third time. “Shop keep to Black Smithing, artificing… jeez, this is nuts. It’s really its own world. People can get jobs inside the game. You can buy a house, furniture, hell you can get married?” He laughed and tossed the book aside.

A glance at the clock told him that his five hours were up so he grinned and hurried into his room to try out his new game.

He sat on his bed and pulled the headset on again only to find himself facing a blank visor.

“Umm… hello?” he ventured.

A moment later light played across the inside of the visor again and he breathed a nearly silent sigh of relief as words start scrolling across his field of vision.

Software update: Complete
Initializing system start-up.
Start-up: complete.
………………
………………
………………
Please insert game stick in port 01

He dug the data stick for the game from his pocket and inserted it carefully into the port on the console.

Error: Unit requires data retrieval sub-routine before beginning installation

“Oh shit, where was that….” Rhys blinked in surprise when the game wouldn’t even install and than remembered the second data stick that the tech had handed to him. The one he had promised to plug into his console before running the game so it could collect the data as part of his agreement with them. He dug around in the box the hardware had come in and found the stick where he’d left it and quickly inserted it into the port marked 02. Immediately the error message disappeared and the game began installing.

“Hells yeah,” he muttered and bounced slightly on his bed. He was wound up. Filled with nervous energy and he couldn’t wait to get started. He glanced at the clock. Five minutes to midnight on March 31st. “No work tomorrow. Mom’s coming by in the afternoon so that’s not a big deal. I could play for a few hours and get to sleep late tonight…”

He grinned, and without giving it another thought laid back on his bed and got comfortable. It took a little maneuvering to get his head situated comfortably with the gear on but he managed and as the clock ticked over to 12:00 a.m he spoke calmly and clearly despite the nervous energy that was flooding his body.

“Start up, initialization. Connect.”

Elia flopped down onto her couch; finally able to relax after a long day of work and school. It had become apparent to her in the past couple of years that neither her full-time retail job nor her full-time university understood or appreciated how much time and energy Elia had to expend into each of them. Without her assistant manager position at New True Blues, Elia would have no way of paying for her hefty tuition and affording rent at her small, cramped apartment; and without needing to pay for her university classes and future Business degree, she wouldn’t have a reason to put in so many hours at New True Blues, which desperately needed her expertise and dedication among a crew of workers with a high turnover rate, who were always either unqualified or unwilling to work as hard as they should.

She sighed, wishing they would both cut her some slack. At least, miraculously, she had the next three days off from work and school; an unprecedented occurrence.

Elia briefly flipped on the TV, but was bored within minutes. She turned it off and rummaged in the fridge for some leftovers, choosing cold pizza over a Tupperware full of cold spaghetti. Once her hunger was sated, Elia wandered over to her room; grateful for the lack of stairs in her one-story apartment.

She flopped onto the bed just as she had flopped onto her couch, and her hand brushed against something plastic. Elia brought her head up to see the helmet she’d touched; the grey headset for her FIVR console. Elia smiled. She hadn’t touched it or logged into her Firewind account in more than a few months. Perhaps it was what she needed to jumpstart her three-day weekend in a good way.

Elia turned on the console, plugged in her helmet, and tugged it on over her dark curly hair. The visor greeted her with a ping and a message.

Welcome back to your Yxel Entertainment Systems FIVR Gaming Console. Software update in progress, please wait until this update has completed before you continue.

“Huh? I didn’t install any updates,” Elia pointed out.

Mandatory updates installed. Uploading process in progress. Please wait until this update has completed before you continue.

“Oy.” Elia removed the headset and lay back on her pillow, wondering just how long the supposedly mandatory update would take. Sometimes these FIVR games were more trouble than they were worth.

Elia fell asleep, woken only by the ping of her console several hours later. She wasn’t hungry yet, so she sat up, rubbed a small bit of drool from the corner of her mouth, and placed the headset back on. This time, a paragraph of words scrolled across her field of vision.

Software update: Complete
Initializing system start-up.
Start-up: complete.

Elia smiled and spoke the words she hadn’t said in too long of a while. “Start up, initialization. Connect.”

April 1st, 2032

“Holy crap that’s bright!”

Rhys lifted one hand, covering his eyes against the bright light that assaulted them. “What the hell happened?” he muttered. “I thought I was gonna play Firewind.”

“Welcome, Player,” a computerized voice broke in. “You have entered the staging area for the Fully Immersive Virtual Reality MMORPG known as Firewind.”

His eyes, which had been squinted almost completely shut behind his hand, shot open and he sat up, jerking upright as if someone had just sent a jolt of electricity through his body.

Body. His body.

“My body,” he muttered and looked down at himself. He was wearing a simple pair of brown boots and pants and a loose, black shirt. The kinda stuff you’d imagine in a fantasy book. That aside it didn’t look like regular clothes. The colors were… bright… vibrant in a way he just couldn’t explain. Even the room around him looked different.

“It’s like I’m living in an anime,” he muttered. “Everything’s brighter than the real world.” He scrambled to his feet and looked around him. He was in a relatively plain room, maybe fifty by fifty feet square. He had been laying on the ground in the exact center of the room and on the wall directly across from him stood two doors.

He studied them for a moment and considered what the computer voice had said.

“Character creation?” he muttered. “OH! I have to create my game avatar!” He walked over to the doors and noticed that although both looked identical in nearly every way there was one distinct difference. Each door had a round plate in the center, and on that plate was a male or female figure, much like you’d see on a public restroom.

“Guess that’s how you pick the avatars gender?” he said to himself and with a shrug pushed open the male door and stepped into another room.

The second room was nearly identical to the first save for a single small pedestal standing in the exact center of the room. On the pedestal stood a figure that he realized was wearing the exact same clothing that he was, and as he got closer he was able to make out a few more details. “Whoa,” he muttered as he came to within a few feet of the motionless figure. “That’s me.”

The figure on the pedestal was an exact copy of himself. It was like looking into a mirror in three dimensions. He walked around the figure, looking at it from all angles. “How the hell did they get such an exact scan?” he wondered.

“Records indicate that you have chosen to play as your real life gender,” the computer voice said again, seeming to come from every direction at once. “Standard procedure is to offer the player the option to play as themselves when they have chosen their own gender. If you would rather not play in your own body than you may make adjustments to your avatars in game appearance, if you like.”

“That’s so weird,” he said with a laugh and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet for a moment. “Man this is nuts, it really feels like I’m standing here. I mean, I know I’m lying in bed at home right now but… it’s so real.”

“Please indicate if you will play as yourself or if you will change your avatar,” the voice asked and he frowned.

“Kinda pushy for a computer game,” he muttered but he walked over to the center pedestal and looked at the figure of himself. After a minutes thought he shrugged.
“Why not. Might as well play as me.”

There was a flash of light and he cried out, falling back slightly with his arms up in front of his face to ward off the glare once again. When the light faded, and he was able to lower his arms, he blinked several times, not sure at first if what he was seeing was actually there.

Instead of a single pedestal with a single figure there were now several. Each with an identical copy of himself standing on it. But now each figure was holding a different weapon. Giant battle Axes, Broad Swords, one handed long swords, cross bows, and on and on. He moved from left to right, and as he did the figures shifted, sliding along as if they were on a conveyer belt. He stopped before one figure and held his hand up in front of him, palm facing the figure. A small menu appeared in front of him and he started tapping at the buttons floating in the air.

“Jeez, this is gonna take some getting used to,” he muttered but carefully read over the information. “Ok,” he muttered. “So different weapons belong to different classes, and different classes get different skills. Skills are how you can be most effective in combat. Weapons skills are like special attacks… Ok, nothing I didn’t already read in the manual…”

“So, Rogue, Warrior, Archer, etc. All the classics. And a bunch of others that are more specialized.” He walked to his right, watching as the figures slid by him while he seemed to stay in the very center of the room. Finally a figure landed in front of him and he grinned. In one hand it held a slim long sword, simple and elegant with a straight, double edged blade, and in the other a shorter blade. He reached out and opened the menu again and just before he touched the button to select the Dual Wielder as his class the short blade in the figures hand seemed to flicker.
Then his finger touched the button and a wash of warm light flowed over him.

A moment later the agony hit and he started to scream.

April 1, 2032

“Oh my god. Oh my god, holy crap, god dammit…” Rhys muttered to himself over and over and over. He wasn’t even aware he was speaking, really. Not for a while at least. It took some time for him to come to his senses and when he did he found himself lying on the ground, the grass scratching at his cheek and the exposed skin of his arms.

“Holy… what the hell happened?” he gasped and pushed himself shakily to his hands and knees. He was wearing a simple pair of brown boots, brown trousers and a dark green shirt. The kind of clothes you’d imagine in most fantasy books or games and he lifted his head, groggily. It took a lot longer to do so than he thought it really should have as he kept having to fight the almost irresistible desire to just fall over and go back to sleep.

“That hurt. I mean that really, really, hurt. It wasn’t supposed to hurt was it? I thought playing a game wasn’t supposed to hurt. It’s just a game. Why did it hurt? What the hell happened?” As he continued talking he realized he was starting to sound more desperate, bordering on hysterical so he clamped his jaw shut tightly against the rambling words that still wanted to spill out of him and fought back the panic rising in his chest.

He pushed hard, falling over onto his hip until he could roll onto his butt. Finally seated on the grass he looked around and for a brief moment nearly forgot the agony he had experienced just moments before.

In the distance, maybe a ten minute walk from where he stood, stood a massive city, the likes of which he had never seen. Stone walls surrounded it and towers stood at regular intervals along the wall. The surrounding countryside was rolling grassy hills and gentle valleys, scores of monsters roaming about. Wolves, and creatures he couldn’t identify. Excitement flooded through him but it was tempered by the weakness and residual pain he still felt.

“Ok. I’m in Firewind. That’s obvious enough. But what the hell happened?” He crossed his legs and propped his elbows on his knees, chin dropping into his hands a moment later as he frowned and considered the situation.

“I logged into the staging area,” he muttered. “Created my character, and then I officially logged into the game itself.” Everything appeared to be ok up to that point. “Next thing I know I’m in the worst agony I’ve ever experienced in my life and I’m waking up out here.”

He looked around again. The sun had risen in the distance, still hanging low toward the horizon and a few people could be seen leaving the town and making their way out into the fields. Within minutes the sound of battle could be heard, people yelling and the clash of metal.

“Alright, that hurt, we’ve figured that out. Next order of business, what’s my current condition?” He stood and took stock of himself. He still felt a bit weak but every minute that passed had him getting stronger and the pain was slowly receding. He was still wearing the simple outfit he’d had on in the staging area but now he also had a brown cloak and a leather strap wrapped around his chest. Reaching up and back, he found the hilt of a sword protruding over his right shoulder but he found now secondary weapon.

“Looks like I’ll have to buy myself a short sword?” he mused.

Lifting his hand, he swiped it through the air in front of him. A moment later a menu opened and above that a single green health bar appeared. He frowned immediately as he took a closer look at his health bar.

He had one hundred hit points. But his bar was at ninety. The last ten points in his bar were blacked out. Checking his inventory he found a health potion and downed it but his health bar stayed exactly as it was. “What the heck is going on?” he muttered.

“Ok, how long was I out?” He searched through the menu until he found a clock. “7:20 in the morning?” He shook his head and looked at the time again. It hadn’t changed.

“How the hell did I sleep all night? Is it even possible to sleep in a game? I’ve gotta log out and I haven’t even done anything yet, dammit.”

He reached for the menu icons again to log out when one of the buttons on his menu started to flash and he blinked, staring at the simple button marked ‘messages’. With a shrug he pressed the button and another window opened, a small wall of text scrolling by slowly as he read.

Welcome to the fifth anniversary celebration of Firewind! I'm sure some of you might have noticed by now that friends that have died in game haven't respawned. I am sorry to tell you that they're dead, :) They won't be coming back. Firewind has become a much more realistic game than ever before. Dying in game will result in real world death.

Also, no one can log out of the game anymore. Removing the FIVR gear from your physical body in the real world will also result in death. Noticing a theme here peoples? We're going to have so much fun!!

In other news, here's what's happening. Six servers were affected with twenty-five thousand players logged onto each. If you're doing the math at home then you know that you're trapped in this wonderful, beautiful, ever evolving world with 150,000 of your closest friends. Well... except for those that have died already.

Getting to the beauty of it though, you'll be noticing some changes to the world around you as time goes on, I don't want to spoil the surprises so I'll leave them for you to discover. Otherwise there's only one other thing that you need to know. There IS a way to escape this world. There is a quest that can be completed, or an artifact that needs to be found, maybe a specific boss to destroy. If someone discovers the key, the virus I uploaded will be destroyed and you'll all be able to log out of the game.

In the meantime, have fun, and try not to die! :*

The more he read, the colder he felt. By the time he reached the end he was sure he had ice water flowing through his virtual veins instead of blood.

“Holy crap.” He closed the windows with another swipe of his hand and looked out over the gentle grassland again. About a hundred feet away a small group of new players were attacking a pack of wolves. Four players to half a dozen monsters and the chill he felt grew even colder. One of the players, a young looking man, swung at the lead wolf and scored a hit with his mace. The beast shuddered and a moment later shattered into a thousand shards of light.

Through the glittering cloud of virtual debris a second wolf lunged, its teeth flashing bright in the sunlight and closed on the mains throat. His HP bar dropped all the way to zero and his body shattered, just like the wolves had.

“Aw, damn it, Ryan got himself killed already?” one of the players yelled and the other two laughed.

Rhys swallowed hard, turned his back on them, and started running as hard as he could toward the city gates.

Elia heard screaming.

It wasn’t until she landed in the bed she’d last logged out in that she realized those had been her own screams.

“God. Why was that so painful?” she groaned, sitting up slowly. Everything seemed unharmed and otherwise intact; but she certainly didn’t remember ever experiencing agony like that, in all the times she’d logged in to this game.

Elia swung her legs out of bed and stood up, scrolling through her menu to make sure she still had all of her items and hadn’t lost them to whatever glitch had made logging in so painful.

Ranger’s longbow, shortbow, spear, and other various supplies she’d had in her inventory… “Everything seems to be here still,” she muttered. Elia smiled ruefully. “Aaaand I’m talking to myself again.” She closed the menu and left her room, jogging down the steps to get outside.

Firewind’s atmosphere felt so much more real than real life did, sometimes. She wondered how it was possible to create a virtual reality that almost made you never want to return to the real world.

Elia scrolled through her brief contact list, but none of the few players she’d connected with in her gaming sessions were online. Maybe it was best that she could re-acquaint herself with the game by herself, without worrying about forgetting things she should know by now, or getting killed by a low-level creature because she had forgotten how to fight.

Elia’s avatar was her own self. She understood the draw of playing as your own fictional creation, but because Firewind was completely immersive, she liked the fact that she could travel through the game as herself and become the adventurer she’d dreamed up inside her head.

Blinking, Elia realized something had been strange in her menu. She pulled it up again, scanning to find what had caught her eye. There it was: she noticed that her Messages tab was flashing. She clicked on it uncertainly.

Welcome to the fifth anniversary celebration of Firewind! I'm sure some of you might have noticed by now that friends that have died in game haven't respawned. I am sorry to tell you that they're dead, :) They won't be coming back. Firewind has become a much more realistic game than ever before. Dying in game will result in real world death.

Also, no one can log out of the game anymore. Removing the FIVR gear from your physical body in the real world will also result in death. Noticing a theme here peoples? We're going to have so much fun!!

In other news, here's what's happening. Six servers were affected with twenty-five thousand players logged onto each. If you're doing the math at home then you know that you're trapped in this wonderful, beautiful, ever evolving world with 150,000 of your closest friends. Well... except for those that have died already.

Getting to the beauty of it though, you'll be noticing some changes to the world around you as time goes on, I don't want to spoil the surprises so I'll leave them for you to discover. Otherwise there's only one other thing that you need to know. There IS a way to escape this world. There is a quest that can be completed, or an artifact that needs to be found, maybe a specific boss to destroy. If someone discovers the key, the virus I uploaded will be destroyed and you'll all be able to log out of the game.

In the meantime, have fun, and try not to die! :*
Elia’s eyes widened, and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Then she shook her head slowly. “Ha… Ha ha. That must be an April Fool’s Day joke. Kinda morbid, though…” She scrolled down to the logout button—only, it wasn’t there. Elia’s hands felt ice-cold.

“Gotta be a joke. They’ll put the button back once the in-game time hits April 2nd… They’ve got to.” Elia ignored the panic bubbling up in her chest and looked around to see if anyone knew what was going on.

The players milling around the main courtyard were either just now checking their messages, or looking around them with nervous smiles or worried expressions. What was going on?

Elia decided she didn’t want to be caught in the middle of some sort of panicked riot; especially if dying in the game really did result in your real body’s death. If she was going to die in here, it wouldn’t be because she got trampled by a bunch of scared gamers. Elia briskly made her way to the outskirts of the main town, avoiding the glances of anyone around her.

"Feck me sideways," Rhys groaned. In his mad run from his spawning location toward the distant city he'd come across five wolves, two raiding parties of players, and three jelly like creatures that reminded him of the old school slimes from some other games.

Panic seemed to have taken up a permanent residence in his chest, a fluttering, terrified feeling that just wouldn't go away no matter what he tried. A cyber terrorist attack? Virus in the system coinciding perfectly with his login with a data stick containing who knew what for sure... he pushed down the immediate suspicion and shook his head as if to physically buck the terrified thoughts circling his mind.

"How the hell could it have happened?" He muttered. He ducked as a wolf lunged at him from the side and his right hand flashed back over his shoulder. He spun hard on one foot, arm lashing out just as the beast turned and lunged again. The edge of his blade cleaved through the creatures neck leaving a red line of digitized damage across it. The health bar dropped to zero and a moment later the creature exploded into a cloud of light as it died.

"How did they get the virus into the system?" A chime echoed in his ears telling him that he'd just leveled up but he ignored it, preferring to keep running. "Introducing a virus into the games system should have been impossible."

All around him, people and monsters milled about. Many of the players looked lost, panicked as he felt, and the creatures seemed more menacing and frightening now, knowing that death was permanent once again in a world where it should have been nothing but an annoyance to die in battle. This escape from reality had taken a turn for the real, with lasting consequences.

He finally neared the city, walls rushing by on his right side as he ran while players and monsters dotted the rolling grassland to his left. He could hear voices raised in anger, fear, and dismay. The clash of steel rang through the air and the glass shattering sound of monsters and players alike losing their lives floated unerringly toward him.

His vision blurred and he rubbed at his eyes, attempting to scrub away the tears that threatened. When he was finally able to see again, he looked to the path in front of him just in time to see an attractive young woman exit the city gates right in his path.

"Lookout!" He cried just as he crashed into her, sending them both tumbling painfully to the ground. Rhys rolled several times on the rocky ground at the cities entrance and groaned quietly once he came to a stop. "Oh, son of a fecking... I'm sorry about that. Are you ok?" He pushed himself shakily to a kneeling position and glanced over, hoping she wasn't injured.

Elia sprang to her feet, regarding the guy who had barreled into her with a wary expression. "I'm fine," she said curtly. "Watch where you're going, okay? You could have seriously depleted my HP." Reluctantly, Elia held out a hand and helped him to his feet.

"I'm guessing you realized what the virus means, and you were heading to the citadel for some answers," Elia deduced. "Just warning you, it's pretty crowded in there, and the mass panic is starting to settle in. Honestly, it's probably not the safest place to be right now."

She watched his face for his reaction. He had chin-length dark hair, a shadow of scruff, and startlingly blue eyes. If she wasn't so preoccupied with the possibility of being stuck in this virtual reality forever, she might have thought he was pretty attractive.

"I'm Elia, by the way," she said, by way of introduction. "And I'm going to find a way out of here."

"Uh... wah? Citadel?" Rhys babbled incoherently for s moment before he managed an intelligible word. "W-w-What citadel? I just logged in this morning, I've never played this game before."

He shook his head roughly for a second and closed his eyes, taking a deep, calming breath. It didn't do much but when he looked at her again he straightened up, squaring his shoulders and looked her over quickly, hoping it didn't come off like he was checking her out.

She was equipped with armor and weaponry indicative of an experienced player. She at least had to be a higher level player than he was. The armor hid her figure well, but it was obvious she was a beautiful woman with dark skin and hard, determined eyes.

"I'm Rhys," he said, finally. "Rhys Devereux. Like I said I'm new to the game, and I know we just met, but do you think I could tag along with you for a bit? At least until I can level up some? There's something wrong with my health bar and I'm not sure how well I'll survive on my own in here." He winced mentally at how desperate he sounded but it couldn't be helped. She seemed nice enough and if they could help each other out, mores the better.

Great. A noob. Elia squinted at Rhys for a moment, sizing him up. The last thing she needed was a green player following her around and getting in her way while she tried to beat the game and get back to the real world. However, there was strength in numbers... Maybe she could help him level up. It was a good sign already that he was more level-headed than most of the surrounding players, who were either stampeding in panic or staring at each other in a daze.

"Hm. I guess we could try it out," Elia said hesitantly. "But we've got to get you some good equipment. You won't make it halfway past a pack of wolves with what you've got. There's a decent armor and weaponry shop the next town over," she said. Her game knowledge from the days when she used to play all the time was rushing back into her head. "Please tell me you've at least played a VMMORPG before. That'd help us move things a lot faster."

Rhys almost sagged in relief when he got a positive response out of her. Help would be a serious benefit right at the moment and he was sure he could help her out too, once he'd leveled up a bit more.

"I've played a couple of the older ones," he said in response to her question. "Not one of the FIVR games though, this is a new experience. I've been holding up well enough against a few wolves I ran into on my way into town but I've only hit level two so far. Early leveling is pretty quick though in most RPG's, right?"

He opened his menu with a swipe of his hand and started going through his inventory. A few starting potions, health and skill both, A simple one handed long sword but his secondary weapon didn't look like it would be a blade. The icon was faded and difficult for him to see but it looked like a pistol, or something similar.

"Does this weapons shop that you know of sell guns?" he asked and turned to stand next to her so she could see his menu. "I selected the Duel Wielder class, but it kind of changed just as I was selecting it. I remember reading about the new patch for the fifth anniversary supposedly including some pistols and such but I hadn't planned on working with them myself. Looks like I might not have a choice in the matter though."

Elia raised her eyebrows. At the very least, he seemed to know a fair amount about VMMORPGs, even if he didn't have any experience with this one. Elia waited patiently while Rhys flipped through his menu, picking through the inventory to see what it held.

"Guns?" Elia repeated, referring to his last question. She racked her brains, trying to remember the last time she'd been to this weapons shop. "I can't say that I've ever seen any guns there. I think those might only be available in a few of the farther off towns. They're harder to get to if you're not a high level." She glanced over, appraising him with a glance. Not many people she'd played with had mastered the Dual Wielding skills if they selected it; and she hadn't even realized that having a pistol as one of your dual weapons was a possibility. Elia supposed she hadn't read too much about the fifth anniversary patch, and was now definitely regretting it. But then, she hadn't expected to get stuck in the game without being able to find time to brush up on new game info, so it wasn't exactly her fault.

"Guess you'll just have to make do with what you have for now," Elia told him. "Come on, let's head this way." She gestured away from the crowds and towards the road, which threaded through a field and headed into a deep forest that was a little farther than it looked. "The town's on the other side of the forest."

Rhys shrugged. "The long sword's served me well so far," he said. For the last ten minutes or so, he thought but declined to voice aloud. He fell into step as she started walking toward the next town and resisted the urge to harass her with question after question. Instead he just focused on the world around him, and his own body.

It was incredible! Now that he was a little calmer, perhaps a little less panicked, he was more acutely aware than ever of jus how realistic this world felt. He could smell the grass and trees, feel a cool breeze against his face, and the sun on his back as the traveled West. He could feel the road beneath his boots, the weight of his clothing, armor, and weapons as they hung off of his body. Before he could think to stop himself he lifted one hand and slapped himself across the face.

"Ow," he muttered in a quiet deadpan as one hit point vanished from his health bar. "That is just amazing." The sensation was surreal. The slap hadn't exactly hurt in so many words. But it had definitely been somewhat uncomfortable, and he'd reacted instinctively as if it had been to pain. He glanced at Elia out of the corner of his eye, hoping he wasn't acting too weird, didn't want to scare his new friend off before they even really got going.

"So," he said, after ten minutes of silence. "What do you think about that letter that went out? Think it's a hoax or are we really in some trouble here?" He sighed. "Even if it is a hoax and we don't really die if our HP hits zero, who's going to chance it just in case they don't really die? And then they wouldn't be able to tell us about it after either cause no one appears to be able to log in anymore..." He trailed off and fell silent, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked. Shut up stupid, he thought. You're just gonna bug her and she'll leave you to fend for yourself.