《Reality Virtual: ReLife》 Prologue: Pre-Game A virtual reality game so realistic that it is practically indistinguishable from reality. It had been critically acclaimed by many newspapers and articles and was the biggest headline in internet history to date. There was only one game. It was the first of its kind and decades ahead of its time. Its name was Reality Virtual: ReLife. Inside a modest and tidy apartment, there were two people who dwelled there: a brother and sister. They were putting on their shoes, just about to head outside to purchase the game and gear. ¡°Ulima, don¡¯t forget¡­ our face¡­.¡± ¡°I know, Adam.¡± Ulima and Adam, the girl and the boy, both put on their masks. Ulima sighed. ¡°It¡¯s almost like we¡¯re vampires. How long has it been since the sun touched our face?¡± Adam opened the door and waited for Ulima to step outside. ¡°I mean, we don¡¯t exactly have a choice, do we.¡± It was a sizzling hot day, and the heat mirages radiated off the urban street like hell was just a few feet under. Yet the streets were bustling with more people than ever before, and that was due to the release of the new virtual reality game. The excitement was warranted, however. It gave a chance at a new life and to escape the mundane--who wouldn¡¯t get excited! Adam and Ulima had to walk just two blocks down to reach the store that sold the gear and game, yet those two blocks felt like an eternity with the amount of stares and attention the two received. The people started murmuring. ¡°What¡¯s with the mask?¡± ¡°Are they hideous or something?¡± ¡°They¡¯re hella sus.¡± ¡°I¡¯m dialing 9-1--¡± ¡°-Wait, I don¡¯t think you have to go that far.¡± ¡°Bah,¡± Adam snorted. ¡°At least it¡¯s better compared to without the mask on, but I could still do without the attention any day.¡± When they finally walked the two blocks enduring the gazes, they reached the end of the long line of people waiting to get their taste at the VR game. Tragically, it was burning outside, and there was an ice cream dispenser right beside them. That was even more tragic. ¡°Adam, that thing¡­. It¡¯s calling for me¡­.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Adam grimaced. ¡°I feel you.¡± It was the void¡¯s calling--except the thing doing the calling was the ice cream. There was the temptation to just take off the mask and bite into the juicy and seductively cold piece of-- ¡°--Oh hey, I forgot to mention. What username will you pick?¡± Ulima asked. ¡°After all, you won¡¯t be able to change your name once you register.¡± ¡°Hm, how about¡­ Adam.¡± Awkward silence ensued. ¡°H-how innovative.¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡± Soon enough, it was Adam and Ulima¡¯s turn to purchase their game and gear. They entered the store, and as soon as they stepped in, the clerk at frontdesk, noticing the mask on the two¡¯s face, jerked back just a millimeter in surprise and then quickly regained her composure, smiling like the radiant sun. Indeed, she maintained her professionalism despite the suspicion the masks would typically induce. ¡°Hi, I suppose you two are here to purchase the new game?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± answered Adam. ¡°Alright, then please stand on the identity scanner for just a moment. This is just to enforce the one account per person rule and to establish the character appearance inside the game. Make sure to take off your mask when you¡¯re being scanned. You can close the sliding door if you desire privacy.¡± While Adam stepped up to the identity scanner, Ulima took the time to look at the gear. It was just a small black circular-shaped device worn like a crown around a person¡¯s head. It was a technological marvel, and only one game was compatible with the gear, and the creator of the game was the creator of the gear itself, monopolizing the entire industry. Adam finally stepped down and Ulima stepped up to take Adam¡¯s place. Soon they were done. ¡°Alright, I finished updating your gears, so here they are. The server opens at 3pm, so be there or be square. Thank you for visiting and have a fantastic day.¡± Adam and Ulima left the shop. ¡°That was surprisingly quick,¡± Ulima commented. Adam, being unable to disagree, gave a grunt to affirm. The two of them headed back home and finally made it to their living room couch, collapsing with a sigh. They took off their mask, feeling a sense of relief and release. Adam sat up. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s eat lunch. What do you want?¡± Ulima brightened up instantly. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re going to cook today? What about spaghetti? It has a lot of carbs, and hopefully it¡¯ll keep us running while we¡¯re in the game.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll cook just enough so the food coma doesn¡¯t hit us today.¡± ¡°Alright, that sounds good!¡± While Ulima grinned away happily, Adam retreated to the kitchen and started boiling the water. He reminisced the past, invoking the memories of Ulima and him receiving an order to establish power within the game, along with the other memories of pain and hardship. Adam¡¯s heart turned cold and muttered, ¡°for the great change.¡± Adam smiled and called to Ulima. ¡°Di¡­ Lunch is ready!¡± ¡°Sweet! I¡¯ll go get some ice cold lemonade for us to drink!¡± Adam and Ulima ate and drank, and soon it was time to dive into the VR world and create their character. Chapter 1: Character Creation There was not much known about the game other than that there would be more than ten-thousand starting villages to accommodate the entire world. One could either choose the default village or a random village. Since it was impossible to add friends before coming into contact with the player in the game, the default village setting would be a certain block in the physical world that corresponded to a starting village, allowing people in real life to collaborate while preventing overpopulation rather than reducing latency. Latency was already resolved by reading the brain waves directly and delaying the action globally on the game to the speed of the user¡¯s processing and reaction speed. This implicated many things, and of course it did not escape the scrutiny of Adam and Ulima. It would mean some physical advantages in the real world would carry over to the virtual world. Of course, fluidity of action could only be gained through practice, but neural plasticity and biological processing and reaction speed would definitely contribute to game skill. ¡°I¡¯ll go and create my account now.¡± Adam put on the gear around his head and lied down. As he closed his eyes, a white world came into his vision. The surroundings were white and a slightly transparent form came into view. As he read the form, his brain would automatically fill out the form according to his intentions. Player Name: _____ Adam paused and considered for a moment. He needed a name that would be memorable. He swallowed the urge to pick cheesy names like ¡°Hu¡± or ¡°Watt¡± or even ¡°Wai.¡± That would make for an interesting experience if he actually did so. In the end, he decided on a name. Player Name: Adam. The screen disappeared and a character creation screen came up. In order to simulate reality as much as possible, character design did not exist. Rather, a player would use their actual physical appearance. Instead, for privacy, one could obtain a mask from completing the first quest, which actually was not that difficult of a task. This screen, however, may need some time to contemplate.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Attribute Talent: (Maximum Allotted Points: 12) (Remaining Points: 12) Strength: 0 Vitality: 0 Dexterity: 0 Intelligence: 0 Innate Gift: (Maximum per Stat: 100) (Remaining Rerolls: 2) Charisma: 100 Luck: 50 This one was a toughie. Rerolling his innate stats seemed like a ridiculous idea when there was a one out of one hundred chance to get a full hundred on anything. As for his attributes, Adam was stumped. Strength was pretty straightforward. It would give physical attack damage. One could not ignore this as it could affect the ability to wield tools and equipment. As for vitality, it most likely referred to hit points. Dexterity would refer to movement speed and or or dodge chance and intelligence typically had to do with magic damage and perhaps skill obtainment. But there was something Adam noticed and needed to be wary of. Because it said attribute talent, any small difference would probably be huge in the late game due to either scaling or affinity. If any of those statistics were left on zero, it would mean no talent whatsoever and with that, the scaling could be at zero, making gaining strength a practical impossibility. As such, he decided. Five points to dexterity, five to strength, one to vitality, and one to intelligence. He needed to capitalize on dexterity, as he already had a reaction time and calculation speed that deviated far right from the average mean for one, and with dexterity, he would be able to afford to have low hit points. After all, who needs health when they can just dodge. As for strength, it would compliment his dexterity extremely well. He needed to win fights--not just dodge. As for intelligence, it would defy the purpose of having high dexterity, as most spells (at least from what he knew from games he had seen) required a charge-up time that required the player to stand still. And vitality? Pfft, he already had dexterity. With that, he finished up creating his character. All that was left for him to do was wait for the server to come live.