《Time frame》


 Chapter 1

    <div>


    The last school bell of the day rang, announcing that it was 3:30 pm and that we students had earned our freedom back. That alone was cause enough to celebrate but I was even more exited since today was Friday. I had a full weekend of playing games to look forward to. Best part was that I had finished my current game last Sunday so I had to go shop for a new one.


    I left my classroom and zigzagged my way trough the herd of loud, pimply teens towards the school¡¯s exit as efficiently as I could like I was doing a speedrun.


    ¡°No running in the hallways, Mr. Winters,¡± I heard the hall monitor shout at me but didn¡¯t slow down; I was a man on a quest. Once out, I snatched my bike from the rack and raced towards Geekvania, an independent store that catered to and sold geek products to geeky people. I was very much one of those.


    I put my skinny gamer legs to work as I pedaled like a madman through the quiet neighborhood, taking the same route I had used countless times before. I knew all the little hidden passages that shortened the trip, like using the hole in the fence at the other end of Leland park.


    On the last stretch of the journey was Elemental hill. It was really just a huge slope on Crescent Street but my friends and I renamed it when we were kids because apparently, back then, we thought that everything that seemed cool would even more awesome with a fantasy name. I still do.


    I entered the slope from the top as fast as I could and then let gravity and physics take over. I loved this part. The thrill of the speed. The way the wind hit my face and made my shirt billow. I always imagined that this is how it would feel to ride a dragon or a magic broom or other similar magical modes of transportation.


    Recently though, I¡¯ve also been thinking what would happen if rolling downhill this fast would loosen the bolt holding the front wheel, sending me face first onto the pavement, promptly riping it off. I guess living 16 years on this planet starts to instill fear in you as you learn that reality can be randomly cruel and no one is safe from it. But heck, what is life without a dash of adventure spicing it up.


    Down the hill and a few turns later, I arrived at the store. I left my bike leaning against the wall and stormed in.


    ¡°Hi, Mr. Peterson¡±, I said to the owner who just smiled and waved as he was busy talking trading cards with another customer.


    ¡°Jordan, my man,¡±said the only other employee in the store, who was stocking shelves.


    ¡°Hey, Eric,¡±I replied, reciprocating his fist bump. I¡¯d been coming here since I was a kid and knew everyone. I could go to a chain store and get slightly better prices and more selections but I liked the atmosphere here best. We chatted briefly, me telling him what I was up to and him telling me what new items they¡¯d received and giving me some suggestions on what to play next. I then made my way to the back wall where the vrmmorpg games were displayed and began scrutinizing each one. To be honest, we were in a dry season for new releases. Only a few seemed worthy to pick up but they all had a fantasy theme which I was getting bored of. Still, I wanted to play something this weekend. I walked up and down the aisle, narrowing down my choices until there were two contenders left.


    I had both cases in my hand, looking for reasons why one one be better then the other when a customer walked by. I was partially blocking the path so I took a step back and bump against the metal basket acting as the bargain bin. I glanced down absentmindedly, waiting for the man to pass but then did a double take. I could swear I saw the word vrmmorpg mixed in with the pile of sub-standard console games.


    I moved these ¡°gems¡± aside until I found what I was looking for. It was indeed a vrmmorpg game. I¡¯d never seen one in the bin-o-crap before. It was called Mesozoic wars. The cover showed an action shot of a caveman jumping towards a armor clad humanoid reptile while holding a big rock over his head. Surprisingly, I knew nothing about this one, which was rare as I keep myself well informed on everything game related.


    I took out my phone and did a quick search. The game was made in Canada by now defunct studio ¡°Slick Pixels¡± and released four years ago. It didn''t do well in the North American market and quickly faded in obscurity but found a dedicated player base in Asia. The servers were saved from being shut down when a South-Korean publisher bought the intellectual property.


    The reviews were polarized, with half of them mostly lamenting the difficulty and the locked story progression while the other half saying they loved their experience for the same reasons. I looked up a gameplay video and it actually looked fun to me. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything off with the graphics or the game design and the audio was on point.


    I finally looked at the blurb on the back of the game case. ¡°Join Mesozoic wars and discover an alternate Earth were the meteorite that caused an extinction level event millions of years ago instead shattered into shards while entering the atmosphere. Journey through a land ruled by reptilian overlords and find meteor fragments that hold hidden powers. Grow stronger and survive encounters against dinosaurs which have further evolved into bigger, stronger and stranger beasts.


    You are a proto-human, member of a fledgling race, born to one of five distinct societies. The odds are stacked against you but with perseverance, you will thrive in this hostile environment."


    Below the blurb were bullet points with additional information.


    -Realistic survival conditions: Avoid death by exposure to extreme weather or environmental hazards; Eat and drink regularly or pay the consequences.


    -Advanced weather system affects the world: Stat boosts or reductions based on current weather, state of the terrain and your characters stats and equipment. E.g., Speed and stamina decrease when running on muddy roads, stronger ice magic in snowy areas, etc.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    -Story-lock?: Deep main campaign story, meaningful side-quests and plentiful end-game content only accessible when the community unlocks them by fulfilling secret triggers, solving mysteries scattered throughout the land or by completing hidden quests that changes the world on a grand scale.


    I was stunned. This game sounded amazing, and challenging by the looks of it, which was fine by me. Current mmo¡¯s were too simple and easy for my taste. Seems like players needed to keep and eye on the environment and use their head. And I never heard of this story-lock thing before. If I understood correctly, the story only advances for everyone in the game when the locks are lifted. So for example, a party could find a secret cave, clear it, which let¡¯s say accidentally unleashes a demon, then the story would move forward as that demon was necessary for the scenario further down the road. This meant that all important plot points were in fact part of a series of massive treasure-hunts.


    That blurb had gotten me giddy with excitement. There was additional information such as install size and Synapse-boost compatibility but I already made up my mind. Add to that a 9,99$ price tag and it seemed like a steal. Yup, I was getting this game.


    I made my way back home, newly purchased game in tow.


    "Hi mom¡±, I yelled as I barged in the house, then ran up to the second floor were my room was without waiting for an answer. I had a decently sized rectangular space to call my own with the usual bed, dresser and study desk combo that most kids have.


    This left me with one corner which I had transformed into a dedicated console gaming zone. I had newer consoles hooked up to a 8k 3d tv, and retro consoles-my dad¡¯s when he was a kid-hooked up to a old crt tv. I had a few shelves adorned with statues and weapon replicas from collector edition box sets I¡¯d purchased over the years and I had slapped gaming posters and stickers all over the walls.


    My favorite gaming memorabilia though, was the life-size cardboard cut-out of a game character I love. Geekvania had run a promo for the newest installment in the series and I was given it afterwards. There were motion sensors in the eyes. If someone passed in front, it would activate and would belt out a quote from the game. I had always loved the character¡¯s quips so always left it on.


    ¡°Can''t go wrong with more guns¡± it said as I put my backpack on my desk, hung my green and gold tri-force hat on my cap rack and switched out of my good school shirt and into my ¡°Sabin train supplex¡± one. Sure, it was faded and had gained a few holes over the years but nothing was as comfy and this is what I wore for long game sessions.


    My vr console, which looked like a large obsidian pc tower, sat between my bed and dresser, with the helmet connected to it hung over my headboard for easy reach. I booted it up and waited for the faint, white, pulsating power indicator light bars across the sides to become solid.


    I set the helmet down on my bed then inserted the game, which was just a small cartridge with an unlock code on it, inside the slot in the back. I could''ve bought the game online and received a download code instead if i wanted to but I liked owning physical cases and was brought up in an household that believed in helping local businesses.


    I turned on the wireless controller connected to the console via bluetooth then donned the helmet. By default, it loaded a basic display mode which allowed users to access the main menu without needing to go in full-dive vr. The first thing that appeared was the live feed of my room, projected on my screen via a camera located on the front of my headgear. Then a basic menu was overlaid on top as if I had on a pair of augmented reality glasses. That way, I could do things like browse through my favorite apps while keeping an eye out for a mischievous sibling trying to sneak up on me.


    Once in the menu, I logged in my account ¡°BehelitYell¡± which I had created a few years ago when I first got my vr rig. The name was based on my favorite manga series Berserk. I clicked on the ¡°Meso wars¡± game icon and the code unlocked the full game. I could then begin the three terabyte download needed-the process bar said it would take around four hours.


    My father once told me that back in the day, you just had to pop the games in and could begin playing immediately, no download or update patches necessary. Sadly, that was unheard of nowadays.


    While the game was installing, I set up the recurring monthly subscription payments using my mom¡¯s credit card info. She let me use it since I always did chores around the house and paid her back whenever I got money from odd jobs or selling old games I wasn¡¯t playing with anymore.


    With nothing else to do for the time being, I went back downstairs to hang with my family. I had a nice meal with my dad, mom and eleven year old sister, and since we were all in the mood, we broke out our old monopoly set and played a game. I got my ass handed to me by both my sister who owned way too many buildings and my dad who had become a evil tycoon, holding all train tracks and utilities and cackling like a maniac every time one of us fell on his turf.


    Even with all that, I still had an hour to wait. Oh how I hated the wait. I decided to head back to my room to get my weekend homework done now instead of waiting for Sunday and then rushing to complete it in time. I put on a 24/7 cyberpunk/retrowave music livestream on my phone, then got to work.


    I was midway through my calculus assignment when the telltale jingle that announced that all the updates were done chimed. Huzzah, time to wreck some dinos. I put my homework away then walked over to my bed. As I was crossing my room, I heard a noise that sounded like a strangled whimper coming from my sister¡¯s room. I stopped for a moment and listened intently but heard nothing else. I shrugged, guessing that my sister had just sneezed weirdly or something then hopped on my bed.


    I put the helmet on and laid down comfortably under my covers, making sure that my neck and body weren''t under strain-nothing worse then exiting a vr session with a headache and a nasty kink in your neck. Once all snuggled in and finally ready to begin, I switched to full-dive vr mode.


    First came the paralysis as neural networks were created and the signals that my brain sent to my limbs were being digitized and rerouted, so that I could control my avatar as if it were my own body.


    It was then that I noticed, through the live feed, my bedroom door opening slowly. Who was that? Sara? It had to be my sister. Since I was a teen, my parents knew better then to come in without knocking. It was kind of late for her to be barging in my room tho. The door swung all the way but after a moment passed, no one was coming in. It had to be my sister trying to play a dumb prank.


    I sighed internally. I wanted to tell her to get lost but I couldn¡¯t speak right now. Dammit, I was going to have to go through the entire loading process only to have to log back out to deal with her. I was getting angry when I saw a sight that chilled my to the core and made my stomach drop. A face I didn''t recognize peeked at me from behind the door jamb. A stranger, a man with dark sunken eyes and the haggard look of someone mentally unstable peering back at me. His smile, which didn¡¯t reach his eyes, was predatory.


    Fear gripped me, my instincts kicking in, every fiber of my being screaming at me to jump out of bed and run away somehow but I couldn''t move due to the paralysis effect. The last thing I saw before my consciousness was transferred into my avatar was this stranger taking his first step into my room.

 Chapter 2

    I materialized on the roof of a high-rise building, panicking internally at what I had seen. I wanted to scream and freak out but was momentarily stuck in a frozen state due to my neural networks still configuring. Being unable to act out on the fear I felt forced me to calm down, salvaging my sanity while I finished loading. At first, the sights and sounds I perceived were out-of-focus and I felt out-of-sync with my digital body, then the process completed and everything snapped into place.


    I was now fully merged with my avatar, which looked like me except for the facial modification I had unlocked by beating a vampire game called "Bloodpact" on the highest difficulty. It gave me fangs and Amber eyes that shone through a perpetually shadowed visage. The mismatched clothes I wore-a ripped superhero cape, a volcano hat that puffed smoke, metallic overalls and hover boots-also came from the various games I¡¯ve played over the years.


    With my mobility restored, I sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop. Part of me wanted to believe that there was nothing wrong, that it must have been my mind playing tricks on me or perhaps some sort of elaborate prank orchestrated by my family, so I headed to the one place in here where I could get a better handle on the situation. The cold knot in my churning stomach told me I already knew what to expect but I wasn¡¯t listening.


    I reached the ledge, which overlooked a bustling metropolis after dark. I was surrounded by tall buildings and the streets below were populated with cars and pedestrians, although they looked like ants from this height. There were lights coming from neon signs, digital ad screens, street lamps and thousands of headlights, giving the city the feeling that it was lived-in.


    When I first bought the vr console, the full-dive mode''s homescreen was pre-set to a sterile, minimalistic white room with a large floating orb in the middle of it through which you could access all the options. You could also paint on the walls how you wanted. A later update gave us the ability to download custom menus. The company gave Modders the open source codes and the community went crazy with it, creating menus that ranged from abstract and psychedelic to realistic-looking and everything in between. I had seen a museum themed one were you touched paintings and statues representing the options and settings you wanted to access. Some imitated fan favorite sets like the meth superlab in Breaking Bad or the upside down world from Stranger Things. I had chosen a cityscape at night.


    The design of each building varied, from gothic to needlessly complex avant-guarde architectural designs. There were a few skyscrappers I could interact with and those all had one thing in common; countless office windows that were dark except for specific ones, which spelled words. What I was interested in right now was the unique needle-like tower on the left. Camera settings was written vertically from top to bottom. I reached for it with my hand and a menu appeared in front of me.


    Travel to?


    I confirmed and was immediately teleported to the flying-saucer like observation deck on top. I appeared in a rounded hallway with glass floor and outer-wall offering a full panorama of the city. I approached the nearest telescope and peered into it, giving me the same view as the one from the frontal camera, like before.


    My world shattered when I saw the intruder again, his cold lifeless eyes locked on me. I had held a glimmer of hope, telling myself that everything was fine but now I had no more excuses to lean on. The man was a few steps inside my room now. Because connection to a digital body required the brain to perform faster at a constant rate, basically kicking it into overdrive, it created a small time dilation effect which turned one second out there in the real world into roughly a minute in here. The man was moving in slow motion but still inching ever closer, and in his right hand, I noticed that he held a hunting knife.


    <div>


    ¡°No, no, no, noooo¡± I screamed, having lost any semblance of composure. I ran to another telescope, then the one after but saw the same thing every time.


    I could indistinctly feel terror wrecking havoc on my my real body, making me want to piss and shit myself. My bpm was going through the roof and my breaths came quick and shallow. I was hit with nausea, profuse sweating, uncontrollable shaking and muscle spasms from my body trying to shrug of the vr paralysis. I knew it was happening, but apart from the mental anguish, the physical stuff wasn''t really reaching me in here. It was a strange, unpleasant feeling, as if I was dissociated from it all. I was actually grateful for that as it mitigated the worst sensations. If I was back in the real world right now, I would be a complete mess, unable to function properly to save my life.


    I began pacing frantically, trying to think of what I should do but couldn¡¯t come up with an idea. The only thing running through my head were erratic thoughts and scenarios in which I saw myself being killed the second I logged out.


    ¡°What if I reasoned with him?¡± I said aloud, in a cracking voice. Maybe the guy was just off his meds and was mentally distressed. I could try to talk him out of whatever he was thinking of doing. I looked at the outside world again, into the face of my would-be-attacker and saw nothing there that seemed human or capable of reason.


    ¡°Stupid fucking idiot, think,¡± I cursed at myself, hitting the side of my head in frustration as if it would jog an idea loose, but my mind remained blank. Dammit, If I could just get more time to think. Time¡­


    That was it. I knew a way to buy more time. I went to the nearest window, found the ¡°System settings¡± building in the distance and traveled to it.


    I appeared in a data center¡¯s server room. The large rectangular space was filled with them and the white noise they generated. The ambient air was chilled to keep them from overheating. Fortunately, my avatar wasn¡¯t affected by it.Stolen novel; please report.


    I made my way to the master terminal and accessed it. I was greeted by another box containing all the settings options for the vr rig itself. I scrolled down the list until I got to the one I needed.


    Enable synapse boost?


    I confirmed and immediately felt a change in my mental state. A tiredness, the same you get when you strain your brain doing various, complex task all day, crept over me. Just like the name implied, the synapse boost(SB) option allowed the vr system to make the player¡¯s brain compute faster for a limited time. If the brain was like a computer, this was the equivalent of overclocking it. Doing this improved immersion and stability, but the real reason people used it was the tremendous time dilation effect it gave. With it on, one second in real-life became one week in-game.


    The amount of time a player could use the setting was limited to one minute, which equated to a little over a year inside. Apparently, five minutes was doable but brain damage could start occurring past that threshold, so the hardware company had given themselves some leeway as to avoid potential lawsuits. Another downside was the mental fatigue, which worsened as time went on. Not that it mattered as only the craziest players would attempt and succeed at surpassing the one minute mark.


    I had used the function once before, the prospect of spending what seemed like months inside a vrmmorpg too compelling to pass up. I¡¯d only managed to use it for twenty seconds before giving up, then sleept for 20 hours straight, feeling utterly drained mentally. Afterwards, I had vowed never to do it again. As they say, too much of a good thing is bad.


    A semi-transparent box, separated in three sections-one large rectangle on top and two smaller squares of equal sizes underneath, appeared in the upper right of my field of vision. The big one showed the synapse boost usage history graph, updating in realtime. If I did something that made the vr console have to work harder, the SB would take a dip in performance, thus reducing the effect of time dilation. The bottom left box showed 1s=7d, which was the current time dilation ratio. The last box depicted the SB¡¯s remaining activation time, which was now 1/60. At his rate, it would take a week for the number to change.


    I made my way back to the observation deck to check on the intruder again. He wasn¡¯t moving slowly anymore but rather, was still as if frozen. My idea had worked.


    Now having more time to breathe, I felt the oppressive weight on my shoulders lighten some and I could think a bit clearer. I thought about what I should do next and decided to contact the authorities somehow. I knew that in real life, I was moments away from being killed, but If I was going down, I wanted someone to know what had happened. I also wanted to bring him with me if possible. And who knows, there was still a tiny chance of making it out alive somehow. If that was the case, I¡¯d need help.


    That¡¯s what I told myself but how could I do this? I couldn''t log out, obviously, which meant I couldn¡¯t talk to the police directly. I could get in contact with a rep from the hardware company, either by video chat or by sending an email.


    I interacted with the help icon, which was a question mark poster slapped on one wall of every building for easy reach. A menu appeared and I rifled through the contacts page for the customer service links.


    The video option only worked in real-time so it couldn''t be used. I did however take a few minutes to craft an email and sent it. It would take hours if not days for someone to see it, so it wont do much good but anything was better then nothing. I then thought about getting in touch with people from my friends list.


    I traveled to another building, the one that acted as the console¡¯s social hub, teleporting right in the middle of the living room of my luxurious high-rise penthouse. Every player had one and you could invite friends over or go to their place to hang out. You could also furnish the place with furniture that you got either for free, paid for or earned in a game.


    My setup used to be steam-punkish, with gears and valves everywhere but I had changed it for a cyberpunk look since I had been into that style and music recently. There was a digital wavelength air hockey table in one corner and a few arcade machines in another. I had changed the lighting to UV and splashed fluorescent paints of various colors everywhere. There was even a pool out on the terrace.


    I approached the large screen on one of the walls and a box appeared containing all the friends in my contact list. Not a single one of them was online. I wasn¡¯t surprised, as I didn¡¯t have that many to begin with, it was late and it was a Friday night. Most kids my age would be hanging out somewhere and if not, they¡¯d be sleeping. I mass messaged everyone on the list with the same content I had written in my email, for whatever it was worth. They¡¯d probably all think it was a dumb joke.


    I walked over to the couch, the base of which was made from ammo cases, and plopped down.


    Was there something else I could do? I thought, leaning forward, hands clasped tightly together. One of my leg began shaking up and down due to stress. If not, should I just stay in this room for weeks until I inevitably have to log out? I got up, letting out a frustrated growl and began pacing as despair took hold of me again. Perhaps if I looked at the situation from another angle, I¡¯d find a way to make this go away quickly and painlessly. The immediate realization that I was kidding myself made me tear up.


    I would have to fight him eventually. I was a 170 pounds, 16 year old kid while the intruder looked like he was in his late 20¡¯s and over 6 feet tall. There was no way I could manage to physically overtake him. Reality could seriously suck. If it was a game, I¡¯d fuck his shit up.


    Thinking of games made me realize something. There are other players in vrmmorpg¡¯s I could contact. I could log in and persuade them to call the authorities on my behalf. I couldn¡¯t think of anything better to do so went with it. Beats waiting in this room twiddling my thumbs.


    I jumped back to the roof I had originally spawned on. There was a big spotlight near the center that projected light on the night sky like in Batman. Users could choose which design was lit up. I had chosen an ironic image-Joker¡¯s smile-which seemed in poor taste now. What I was looking for though, was the nearby advertisement billboard, which always showed an image of both the last game I played and the most recently installed one. I was prompted with a choice box when I got close enough:


    Start ¡°Mesozoic wars¡±


    Launch ¡°RS:O¡±


    Browse¡­


    If I was still subscribed to RS:O, I would''ve went in there as I had played it for many months and knew people inside but I couldn¡¯t do it now. There was no other option then getting in my newly acquired game. Fortunately, it was synapse-boost compatible.


    Starting a game was usually fun, a moment filled with joyous anticipation but not this time. I chose Mezo wars and the world around me faded to black as it booted up. I hoped it wouldn¡¯t be the last one I played.

 Chapter 3

    <div>


    Company logos and warnings about epilepsy, claustrophobia and such flashed on-screen before transitioning into the opening cinematic.


    ¡°Skip,¡± I shouted three notes into what probably would have been a rousing symphony, and the movie cut off, plunging me into a black loading screen. I wasn''t interested in playing the game, which was a first for me. I had to get inside and get in touch with other players asap.


    The next thing I saw was a map of Earth separated into the three main gaming zones; The Americas, Asia and Europe. A message appeared, saying the game was looking at my settings and closest server locations. Normally, a list of all accessible servers based on my fibre-optic speed would pop up and I would get to choose where I wanted to play but since there was only one SB-enabled server in the world, I was immediately paired with it.


    Once loaded, the game gradually resolved itself and I was greeted to a view of a wide mosaic mural. It depicted temples, cities, mountains and various clans of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, such as human-sized, bi-pedal sauropods and appeared to be a portrait of a thriving civilization led by evolved dinos. I didn¡¯t see any humans, however. The thing that drew my eyes the most was a large building situated dead center of the art piece. It was surrounded by turtles, some of whom seemingly in meditation while others read and wrote. They must play an important role. Normally, I would''ve kept staring at it for an hour, trying to coax out details and meanings about this world but I needed to get going.


    I tried to move but my feet were stuck in place; All I could do swivel my head and move my arms. The reaction time was a 1:1 ratio, as if I was moving my physical body normally.


    I held a torch in my left hand, and as I twisted and bent my limbs to get a feel for them, I saw a blotch on my inner right wrist, which looked like mud. As I tried to wipe it away, I received a message.


    Cannot open main menu at this time.


    I then peered to my left and saw a large bronze door-a strange sight in a game supposedly about stone-age cavemen. It must have been made by master craftsmen judging by the intricate relief pattern on it. On my right, the hallway I was in opened up into a larger space. I could see the silhouette of a colossal shape in there but it was hard to make out from here.


    Finally, I noticed a plaque with runes underneath the mosaic. Most of it looked like an assortment of squiggly lines and random symbols that meant nothing, but a few words written in English stood out.


    New game


    Configuration


    Exit


    I reached out, pressing New game and elements appeared on my hud, opaque enough not to obstruct my vision. On the upper right was the same group of boxes with details on my synapse boost, which ran steady without any dips in performance, but below that I could now see quest info.


    -THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE


    Explore the ruins and complete the rite of passage.


    -DEFENSELESS


    You lost your weapon climbing the temple. Find a replacement.


    Hp, mp and stamina bars, along with a fourth one whose purpose I wasn¡¯t clear on, appeared on the upper left.


    I heard sounds, a mix between chirps and growls, and tiny footsteps coming from the larger area on the right. I guessed it was the game¡¯s way of letting me know where I should go. Now free to move, I walked in that direction, my steps echoing in the large empty complex. Whatever small creatures had made the noise fled as I approached the large shape which ended up being a crudely built statue of a turtle nurturing a sapling. It looked like a peaceful and benevolent race. Unlike the doors, this screamed a lack of craftsmanship experience, yet it was a center piece for some reason.


    I jogged around the circular room and saw three exits, all of them caved in. So whatever I had to do here was probably linked to the turtle. I went back to it, studied the backside and notice hundreds of hand stencil paintings on it¡¯s shell.


    The quest log changed.


    -THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE


    You are more adventurous then your tribe-mates. Put your mark on the highest point of the statue.


    A tutorial box then popped into view.


    You can access your inventory through the main menu or directly by touching the pouch on your left hip. The main menu cannot be accessed at this time.


    This game uses eye-tracking technology. To dismiss tutorial boxes, look at the upper left corner and blink twice consecutively.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I blinked the messages away then touched the leather pouch hanging on my side. A window opened, taking most of the view on the left side. There was only one item in my inventory, a small reddish sphere called a ¡°pigment ball¡±.


    Chew and spray over your hand to create a hand painting.


    I sighed, not wanting to waste my time doing this. I first climbed on the statue¡¯s pedestal then up the shell, using cracks in the aging sculpture as finger-holds. Having reached the turtle¡¯s bald head, I took out the pigment ball by double tapping the icon and followed the instruction, chewing and spitting a brown liquid over my hand stencil. Due to this being a full-dive experience, I could taste the earthy substance to some degree and it sucked. When I removed my hand from the stone, I could see the print I had left but then I heard a loud cracking noise. The head snapped off the statue and we both tumbled towards the floor.


    The boulder smashed through the ancient temple¡¯s floor, creating a gaping hole that I tumbled in. I felt pressure and a subdued feeling similar to pain when my back hit the bottom. Roughly 25% of my hp bar was gone with that.


    I sat up, shook my head clear and looked around the area where I had landed. A bit of light shone down on me from my torch which I had dropped on the upper floor but everything outside its radius was bathed in darkness, making it hard to make out anything. Seemed like I was in another hallway. I did spot a object in the distance giving off an eerie blue glow.


    The quest log changed to a vague ¡°find your way out¡± description and since the rubble from the collapse blocked off the section of the hall behind me and there was no way I could climb out as the ceiling was too high, I hugged the wall and began moving towards it until I had passed a threshold into another large room.


    With no more wall to hold on too, I took baby steps, hands in front of me to avoid walking into an unseen obstacle. I still managed to trip on something littering the ground that made a rattling sound when I crashed into it. The telltale sign of a pile of bones being disturbed¡­ not good.


    I jumped back up and stood in a defensive position, anticipating a potential trap or attack but nothing came. I dismissed it for now and crossed the remaining space to the glowing orb thing, which was the obvious objective.


    When I got to it, I noticed that it was a crystal the size of a basketball and that the glow seemed magical in nature. Inside, they¡¯re were random burst of light blue particles that rippled all over. I stared for a moment, mesmerized then noticed something interesting. It kinda felt like these bursts were communicating with each other, that they were alive or something. Couldn¡¯t be certain tho, and honestly it didn¡¯t matter, I had to keep moving.


    I touched the stone and felt an energy shoot up my arm with a numbing snap, like when your body discharges static electricity. It traveled to my core where it radiated everywhere else. I gasped, the energy shocking my system like being drenched in ice cold water. Or at least, the vr rig made it seem like that. It faded away a moment later.


    Received a forced evolution skill:


    Prying eyes (passive)


    Your eyes can now see what few others can. Allows passive ability to see in the dark, harvestable resources, target stats and mana apparitions.


    As if someone had turned on the lights, I could now see my surroundings clearly, albeit with a hazy blue-ish tint that made me think of being in a spiritual world. My gaze then fell on a grizzly scene.


    The floor was riddled with a few dozen skeletons as if there had been a battle here long ago. Most of them were human but there were a handful of bigger ones near the entrance were I had just passed, which seemed reptilian in nature. All of those were geared up in metal armors and I spotted metal weapons near their remains. In contrast, most human fighters had cheap leather tunics and sharpened sticks. I bent down and examined a human skull. It was split nearly in half.


    If my guess was correct, these¡­ creatures, whatever they were, broke in and killed everyone. It had been more a massacre then a fight.


    But the strangest thing in the room were the spirits of five individuals floating near each other at the back. They must be the so called mana apparitions that my newly acquired skill allowed me to perceive. I approached these ethereal forms slowly, studying them.


    There were four men and one woman, whose physical features varied from each other. For example, one was taller and larger by a good measure and another had dark skin. They were all decked out in better gear then the rest of their peers. What they had wasn''t made of metal, rather it looked like it had been crafted with animal parts such as bones, scales and such. And some of it had glowing lines on them as if it was higher tier magical equipment. The stoic, tough-as-nails demeanor they gave off, coupled with what they wore made me think they were the leaders.


    The ghosts were located where the fighting seemed to have been the heaviest judging by the pile of corpses here. There was a hallway leading out of the room behind them. I couldn''t help but get the impression that they had been protecting that passage. This had been their last stand.


    As I stepped closer to them, their forms flared up, became more tangible and detailed. In the same breath, the game pinned me in place so that I couldn''t move from this spot. The words ¡°Clan selection¡±, written in a ghostly bluish font like the apparitions, appeared above them and a box popped into view.


    Five proto-human clans survived the Saurian cleansing. Each live in hiding in their own territories, scattered throughout the continent. Each have a unique Taxon trait, a genetic ability developed from centuries of living in their specific environment. Choose which clan you belong to.


    (Look at the crystal symbol above the head of each clan representative to display detailed information)


    I dismissed the box and stared at the symbol over the nearest character which unveiled background info on that particular race. I didn''t bother to read any of it, instead immediately blinking at the accept button at the bottom of the text. The race I chose wasn''t important, I just had to finish this damn tutorial/character creation level.