《Cryo-Scape 2052》 Book 1 Ch 1: New Player Slave Post-apocalyptic video games are my thing. At least I liked to produce content regarding them, and I¡¯ve played them all my life. Ever since I picked a book and looked at the genre it hooked me. One day my dream became true, and I ended up in a post-apocalyptic video game. I was meant to be the main player, all equipped with weapons, armour, and a vehicle. I was going to have a cool back-story as well. I was going to be a cyber-enhanced soldier. Frozen in time and ready to rebuild civilisation. But it didn¡¯t quite go according to plan. This is my story. The whole mess started when I was sitting at home running through a new game that I paid access to as an advance release. One of the best MMO Companies on Belphus were offering exclusive first trials for experienced players and there I was. A standard post-apocalyptic game, exciting for me and I was looking forward to trying it out as an early tester, mostly because of the difficulty level. The story designers for those games usually followed a similar plot. A huge disaster struck a planet such as a meteorite hitting the earth, escaped grey goo nano-plague or a nuclear war that had caused massive disruption to society. A planet turns into a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of monsters, mutants and people deciding to dress up and fight in different outfits. Cannabalism, chaos and basically a total lack of civilisation. Then a lone survivor or group wakes up and tries to take control of things. You fight your way through a series of bosses before you¡¯re then able to change the face of the world or take it over. I had just hit the start button for the newly purchased game and began the process of creating a new character when a glowing line of red words appeared before my eyes. [Do you want to accept this opportunity before you? Touch the confirm or deny button in front of you. Crypo-Scape 2052 offers you the opportunity to realise your true potential. This message is being broadcast across the world. Out off all of them will you be the one to win?] A blue text box appeared before my eyes. In it were two words highlighted in red and green. Confirm or deny. The screen seemed to have been filled with a special type of energy from a higher level of existence. My reality was about to take a complete shift into a new realm of possibilities. At least that was what I considered at that particular moment. ¡®I¡¯m being given the chance to enter a video game for real. Well, I¡¯m sure I know my stuff about post-apocalyptic video games. Let¡¯s take the chance to try out my skills and knowledge.¡¯ I said aloud to an empty room. I¡¯m starting to talk to myself again... Spending a great deal of time on video games meant that I had become used to talking to myself to work things out. It wasn¡¯t the healthiest approach, but it wasn¡¯t as though the video game was going to be solitary, I should have other players to play with or a combat squad to join. I pressed the floating button. Let¡¯s take a chance and see how this plays out. All my equipment was provided and I was plugged in and good to go for at least a few days without taking a break. [You have pressed the confirm button. The game intro will now begin. Welcome to Cryo-Scape 2052 Player XXX.] A video game-style cut scene played itself in front of me. It showed a peaceful world that turned into a war-torn environment. A natural disaster struck the world initially and caused global chaos and uncertainty. War broke out between rival countries as they sought to claim more resources to deal with the situation. Tensions became stronger and finally snapped. Military and rogue groups alike used biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in cities with rival organisations and began to plan for the future development and eventual rebuilding of human society. Private companies formed armed enclaves building up supplies of food, weapons, and medical supplies. One organisation decided to move to a space station and wait out the conflict before moving back to the planet and taking over. Then the disaster hit the planet. You see cities where the infrastructure system fails, and chaos begins. One country uses biological weapons on its people to reduce the population, so starvation doesn¡¯t become an option. Rods from god dropped from space onto residential centres to further reduce the demand from the regional population. Then blue-tinted words flashed on the visual screen. [¡®After having been cryogenically frozen for more than a hundred years it¡¯s finally time to awaken. You are part of a secret organisation that was meant to awaken and rebuild society. Your mission is to wake up with your fellow squad members, secure your weapons, nano pack armour, fuel and medical cache and recon with your pre-prepared and secured military vehicles. Further orders will arrive for you from ¡®Peak Prime HQ.¡¯ Congratulations Cadet. The past has led to destruction and the present has known war. But you are now part of the future. The AIDWS (A.I Device Wakening System) will provide specialised equipment, special powers and character points will upon your awakening. Due to the cryogenic process, your body has been bio-mechanically adapted to survive in the world beyond. Your implants will activate upon leaving the cryo-suite and your P.E.S ¨C personal energy shield will begin recharging. Welcome to the collaborator -ERROR - -error-----error ¨C priority safety disconnect in place. Your player status will be ¨CERROR-- to the next available non-standard NPC. Preparing transmigration protocol.¡¯ -Error- Protocol sequence disrupted. Initiating player introduction stage¡­. alternate initial tutorial mode enabled.] That¡¯s how I woke up in-game. My eyes were watering before I managed to force them open to awaken inside a darkened room. Why was this place so dark anyway? Did I just wake up in a cryogenic freezing chamber in my designated secret hidden bunker far beneath the surface of the planet? Regardless of the circumstances, this was going to turn out to be an exciting adventure. The small amount of lighting was flickering slightly, and I looked to find myself in a darkened room. I looked down and I was sitting on a wooden chair with a metallic table in front of me. Was this an interrogation room? Hope not¡­ Then a haggard-looking late-middle-aged woman walked in front of me smiling at me holding out a scrappy-looking book that looked like it had been constructed by hand along with a large piece of charcoal that a person had then carved into the form of a pen or pencil. It was shaping out like I was going to answer a series of questions about my present circumstances. I¡¯m guessing that a bunch of raiders broke into the cryo-chamber that I was residing in and took me prisoner or wanted to strip all the advanced tech out of my body. Where was my squad if I was a military cadet? Did they know that I was alive, and would they be coming to rescue me? It was then that the woman opened her voice and softly asked ¡®Honey? Do you like it? We saved all the scrap paper we could find, and your father bound it himself!¡¯ This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. My consciousness had still not fully kicked back in, it wanted to awaken from a dream where you can remember parts of the dream but not the whole thing. I was going to be a cryogenically frozen bio-mechanical enhanced super-soldier. Right?? I closed my eyes tight to see if this was a dream. It would be time to wake up and my daily alarm would ring for my usual 4 am wake-up. My body feels really weak right now. Somewhat lighter than normal. Did I smell burning before? Did my hair catch fire? Nah. That¡¯d be crazy. Or was the woman in front of me just larger than normal? Then a voice at the back of my mind shoved its way forward to grab my attention. [Player XXX. You are designated as a level 0 beginner. Please select your character strengths and abilities. Body points can be allocated during this time. The basic level tutorial initial mode has now been enabled, there will be temporary restrictions until the mode has ended.] ¡®Honey? Don¡¯t you like your birthday present? We worked hard to prepare it for you. The Elders provided us with the paper.¡¯ The woman asked me again, I heard a moment of hesitation and uncertainty in her voice like she was worried if I was feeling upset. I finally opened my eyes again to see a middle-aged tired-looking woman looking at me. Her clothing looked worn out. Like someone had repaired and repatched it a dozen times over. Behind her, a man wearing similar clothing and age was smiling at me. ¡®¡­. wow. It¡¯s great. Thank you so much¡­Mum¡­Dad?¡¯ I reached out with my hands and took the scrappy stack of papers that had formed into the form of a book. I left the stick of charcoal in the woman¡¯s hand for a quick moment before I reached out for it and took it. It could be a quest item if I stored it in my inventory and an * sign appeared next to it. You never knew with game systems that for which the designers had planned. It looked a little bit weak to be a weapon though, I guess I could record my thoughts in the rough paper book. [You just gained five points in radiation sickness. Due to the basic tutorial initial mode, this is current negated. Roddy Radiation says Rad to the Max isn¡¯t healthy!] An image of a bouncing yellow and black radiation sign came bouncing into my mind. Roddy? Radiation sickness? The birthday present is heavily irradiated? Worst birthdays present ever. ¡®The boy should be pleased with his birthday present. Thank the Sky Gods for that. Old enough to be a diligent worker, he needs to understand how to give back to his community. The Sky Gods who dwell in the Above World demand our service in exchange for their protection.¡¯ I looked up and saw a man with a beard, wearing a robe but it looked clean, and a slightly faded red. He looked like an old-time western monk who had grown old enough to become wiser, except for his eyes. They looked fierce like a predator looking down at a decent meal. ¡®Boy, your time will be coming soon. The Gods need their Servants to provide. Bless them for their protection and kindness. Do you not feel bad already for taking and not giving back?¡¯ Boy yourself old man. I thought to myself. ¡®It¡¯ll be his time for his daily task allocation soon enough. Just¡­just let him remain a child for a bit longer. Please, just let him have a little time. Just for today.¡¯ the woman who appeared to be my mother in-game replied. This is the point as a player I say goodbye to her before starting on my adventure. I should be receiving a player starter pack at least. Backpack, clothing, medicine, and a weapon, which was standard in a video game tutorial mode, along with the advice to keep wearing clean underwear daily. Yes, I would like my starter pack please and out of this dump full of weird old priests and people who like to give me radioactive birthday presents. C¡¯mon video game setting, show me what you got! Then the player support kicked in with another notification and the same electronic voice appeared in my head. This time I accepted it wholeheartedly rather than trying to block it out and pay better attention to my surroundings. [Player XXX. You are asked to select your character strengths and abilities. Body points can be allocated at this time. Other appearances and gender customisation are currently disabled when Basic level Tutorial Mode was enabled. You can use your PUI or Personal User Interface by raising your right hand. Do you want further hints during Tutorial Mode? Yes, no, or close?] I raised my right hand and said yes as fast as I possibly could. Once I had moved my arm though I realised what had happened to my previous strength compared to my brief time in the opening cryogenic chamber scenario. My body has gotten smaller and lighter. I had turned into a child, I held up my hand and looked at it. No way that was an adult-sized hand, it wasn¡¯t that the woman was larger than normal, but I was smaller than I initially expected. Were the designers of this game trying to turn this into super challenge mode? My hand? What? It shrank! They changed my character build. Ah right, level zero beginner. That doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m meant to be a kid though! ¡®Honey? Are you well? Why did you raise your arm like that? Do you have a question for the Elder about your birthday present?¡¯ my Mum asked me hesitantly. ¡®Mom, I¡¯m just overwhelmed by the present, especially on my birthday. I need to thank the gods for their kindness.¡¯ ¡®Well, your father and I think that your eighth birthday should be a special occasion. Your father has something special to give you as well.¡¯ The man who appeared a similar age to my mother talked. ¡®Yes, you need something special for today. Time will pass fast, and you might even be helping me out soon in maintenance. My hair is getting greyer and I¡¯m getting a little older so assistance would be much appreciated for my daily duties.¡¯ His clothing was the same as my mother though just a larger size for his build. ¡®Son, I know that you like sweet things. Here¡¯s something to share with your friends.¡¯ He passed me a small cloth bag with a tiny bit of weight to it. I took a look inside and saw around six wrapped packets. [Player XXX your starting age for the Basic Level Tutorial has been set to eight years old. Do you wish to skip this stage and move on to the Intermediate Tutorial set for eighteen years old? Hints will be active in-game. Please be aware that you will only receive the minimum standard of experience points if you choose to skip. Your experience points will also be set to a complete minimum for all starter missions. Confirm choice yes, or no?] Yeah, If I was stuck in a game situation then there was no way that I was going to lose out on experience points. And what was meant by neutral? Seemed like there was a chance of getting a different alignment depending on my choices. Evil, Super Evil and Demonic. Or good. Nah. Time to make a choice. I raised my right hand again and said ¡®no.¡¯ ¡®What?? Do you mean that you don¡¯t like to share with your friends? Well, you are getting a bit older now it¡¯s true¡­¡¯ ¡®Sorry Dad, I meant no I¡¯d like to share some with my family as well.¡¯ ¡®You see dear? He takes his kindness from me and his good heart from you. He¡¯s happy to share his eighth birthday present with his family. He¡¯s a good, good boy.¡¯ The older man standing next to my father coughed. Does everyone living here suffer from radiation effects? I¡¯m lucky this is a tutorial setting. Otherwise, I¡¯d be dead in a week. Also, do not cough near my Dad. ¡®He¡¯ll make a fine Servant for the Sky Gods. I¡¯ll take my leave soon, but first I need to give you something for him.¡¯ said the old man. Yeah. No. Unless you''re giving me my Starter Pack then no thanks. I needed to get my In-Game Bonuses as fast as possible. Book 1 Ch 2: The Old Man and the Drugs The old man in the robe paused and brushed off some non-existent dust from his clothes before he stopped. Judging from his body under the clothes this guy didn¡¯t look thin at all. I was sure that I could see the hint of a beer belly poking out there. I guessed that priests got to eat better than we did. ¡®Remember, the Gods who live in the Above have provided and their servant¡¯s support. I give my blessing for this boy¡¯s birthday. As a present, I¡¯ve been permitted to allow your family an additional dose of the cure. May it stop the curse from entering too deep into your bones.¡¯ He then handed over a small medical-style case to my father. ¡®Thank you so much for the gift. We will use it to help us work even harder on behalf of the gods. Please. Thank you again.¡¯ ¡®You are most welcome. Diligence and industry are good signs for a servant.¡¯ Good riddance old monk. Did he just give my parents drugs as a gift? What kind of world is this? My parents turned and my father reached out and touched the man¡¯s arm lightly before he left our living quarters. ¡®Please wait a moment. Just one moment. We need to thank you Minor Herald for attending the birthday of our son and giving us your blessing of the gods. May he have additional time today for enjoying his birthday?¡¯ asked my father. ¡®He may have the time until the next sleep cycle. But you both have duties to fulfil do you not? I recall water pipes that need welding and fixing. Your wife may assist or tend to her duties regarding the animal supplies. Be thankful that you both belong to the maintenance caste and not the waste caste.¡¯ [Game Hint: You can choose to subvocalise character choices into internal thought mode. Do you want to change to this game interface mode? Affirm yes or no as a thought pattern to make this choice.] Seems like the hint section comes in handy. I made the thought yes in my mind. To keep raising my right arm and talking aloud was going to get me in trouble eventually with a potentially hostile NPC. The best option it seemed was to work out a degree of basic information about what was going on with my local environment and build a rapport with my in-game parents. [Player XXX please select your character strengths and abilities. Body points can be allocated at this point. Your User Interface is ready for your use. Do wish to build your character profile at this point?] That¡¯s going to be a hard no I thought. Rather than being allowed to design my character and assign points before the tutorial started, it looked like I was going to have to find the spare time to do so. Luckily, as, a kid I should have enough spare time. Then the voice of my mother brought me back to in-game reality. ¡®Cough, cough¡¯. She doesn¡¯t look too well. Too much hard work and not enough rest? ¡®Honey, have you seen your brother around? He seemed a little upset. And your father is missing one of his gardening tools. I know that today is a special day, but we¡¯d appreciate your help with small chores. You can have another tasty sweet as a reward!¡¯ [Game Hint: Interaction with NPCs will unlock new quests and missions. Top-level rewards await those who side with Peak Prime HQ or their rivals. Remember to have fun playing!] Then a quest interface appeared in front of my eyes. . . My father joined in. ¡®Yes son, I¡¯ve somehow mislaid one of my gardening tools. I would appreciate your help in finding it for me. I need to get back to work soon as my next shift will be starting shortly. Oh, and your friend Cathy also said that her mother hasn¡¯t been feeling well and she wanted more medicine.¡¯ My Mum spoke out with a harsher tone for a moment ¡®Her medicine? She doesn¡¯t deserve a larger allowance than anyone else. The Gods judge us all fairly and provide according to our needs.¡¯ The Elder looked at her before glancing back at me. ¡®It¡¯s a good lesson for the boy to learn to respect the will of the gods. That¡¯s what the Herald has provided us with.¡¯ I thought for a moment about activating my character system. ¡®Can you provide me with my rough age system?¡¯ [Your actual age cannot be determined at this time as data is lacking. Your eighth year of life is today.] So as an eight-year-old child I should have a great deal more leniency and less responsibility than a teenager or an adult. That would mean I should accumulate experience during this tutorial stage. ¡®AIDWS.¡¯ I thought again. ¡®Am I able to put points into pickpocket? And are there further stages during this tutorial or will I immediately start as a full character?¡¯ [Full character build will not be accessible until the tutorial stage has finished. To make it simpler you cannot have the strength and ability of a grown adult in a child¡¯s body. That would be in-game cheating.] ¡®Son, are you going to look for my gardening tool after all? Or see if you can help your friend Cathy? And your mother did want you to check on your younger brother as well.¡¯ [Game Hint: Family and friends require less charisma to offer quests! Don¡¯t annoy them or they may not be so helpful though!] I sighed. ¡®Sorry, Dad. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll hunt down your gardening tool! It can be the first adventure that I record in my new book. Do you remember where you had it last time?¡¯ ¡®Just¡­. just give me a moment to think about it ok. Work has been pretty busy for the last few sleep cycles. Sorry, son. You don¡¯t need to hear that on your birthday, my special boy.¡¯ Sigh. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sigh He was mid-twenties, but the style of his clothes and his appearance made him look at least a dozen years older. ¡®I know that I had it yesterday when I left the Garden of Happiness. Oh, I stopped off at the Physician yesterday. I was feeling a bit sick from the ground sickness, but I¡¯m only allowed another dose of medicine in five more-day cycles. Praise the Sky Gods for their kindness.¡¯ I jumped up. ¡®Great! A Doctor, that¡¯s a fine clue for me to start.¡¯ ¡®Honey, I don¡¯t understand what you just said. What was that word again?¡¯ ¡®Sorry Mum, you know that kids like to make up new names for things. I and Cathy produced it. It¡¯s like another word for physician. But we made it up.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not sure if the Gods appreciate you using different names than we¡¯re told by the Heralds.¡¯ Replied my father. ¡®They provide for us with shelter, food, and medicine. It¡¯s important to remember.¡¯ ¡®Cough, Cough¡¯. He¡¯s also feeling sick¡­my poor parents. In-game parents. Then my mother chimed in. ¡®Don¡¯t forget the protectors that watch over us as well.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Mum. Do you know where my brother is?¡¯ I said. ¡®He should be playing with his special collection of rocks. You know how he finds all sorts of different shapes and types.¡¯ she replied. ¡®I¡¯ll go and find him then then.¡¯ I said. My father reminded me ¡®Don¡¯t forget about my gardening tool and to check up on your friend Cathy.¡¯ ¡®I will.¡¯ ¡®Take care now Honey and don¡¯t forget your charcoal stylus as well. You¡¯ll need it to record all your great adventures in your book.¡¯ ¡®Yes, I will!¡¯ ¡®¡­are you sure you¡¯re feeling ok honey? You seem a little bit off today.¡¯ [Player XXX gains one point in radiation sickness. Due to the basic tutorial initial mode, this is current negated. Rads don¡¯t count for good health!] Stupid system! Turn off survival mode! I want an easy setting. Easy! I¡¯m getting radiation points just from talking to my mum. A slap to the face from an adult might build up enough radiation to melt me at this rate I decided to take the time to run off and find a quieter place where I would be able to take my time to check out the system interface and also examine my character build. Given my interest in post-apocalyptic games, I wanted to see if I could make an optimal build. ¡®I¡¯m just going to take a walk just to take a moment to write something in my book. Thanks so much for my present again. Um, where is our homeroom again in case I get lost walking around?¡¯ My Dad replied. ¡®Just through those curtains. We live in block 3, room 8. Are you sure you¡¯re feeling ok son? You seem more distracted today than usual¡­¡¯ ¡®Um, thank you. Sorry, it¡¯s just such an exciting day. I¡¯ll make sure that I do my chores today as well.¡¯ [Game Hint: Your family and friends interact differently with you than other NPCs. Be kind to them!] I looked for the right place that was our home dwelling and found it through a pair of dusty-looking grey curtains. Was that the whole style for this place? Grey clothes and grey curtains? I checked my underpants under my trousers. Yes, they were grey as well. I decided to take a bit of time to look around the current area that was now my new home. Two words came to mind. Run-down and downcast. My home itself was old-looking metal beds with two large curtains that seemed to function as entrances. The walls were bare thick concrete with shelves that held household items. Next to the bottom of the beds were large metal trunks. ¡®I can¡¯t believe this place doesn¡¯t even have any doors or windows. Am I underground or is this a repurposed prison?¡¯ A concrete paradise. Even the floor was concrete with no wood or any other flooring in sight. I walked to one of the beds to take a seat and saw that someone had bolted to the ground. There were five beds in total. My parents had managed to rig up a curtain that separated two of the beds to create a makeshift bedroom. Taking a look at the shelves I wanted to see if there was any loot I could grab. Or anything useful. In any video game, you always wanted to make sure that you could grab anything that you could sell or trade. [Game Hint: Searching for things to sell is always an innovative idea. If no one wants to buy it then you can craft, it into new equipment.] ¡®Yeah, thanks for the advice system. I¡¯m not a total beginner here. Still, it¡¯s going to take me a while to get everything. Are there any penalties for taking loot or belongings from others or can I just be a murder hobo and just walk into people¡¯s houses and take whatever is available?¡¯ [Game Hint: In-game characters don¡¯t like thieves. Would you like to lose a hand?] ¡®That¡¯s not funny. Not funny at all. Do you have a sense of humour system?¡¯ [Player XXX: In-Game Hints are for the benefit of players of Cryo 2052] Realistically, taking time out always to build skills was always a decent idea. The best option would be to find a place, and hole up for months with a steady supply of food and water while slowly building up key skills and strengths that would let me take out the more dangerous enemies. Most players in games would try and take everything they could. For me, it was all about resources. You needed to upgrade your equipment as fast as possible for a chance of survival. That took currency. Looking through a can on the shelf I found a rusty screwdriver. It was something at least. But nothing flashed up on the interface when I picked it up. It wasn¡¯t a quest-related item then. [Game Hint: Important in-game quest items will have a * sign next to them. Look out for those special items that you can trade to important quest-giving NPCs] After hearing that I forgot the most important part of being in a video game. The inventory. That magic space that appeared when you decided to grab things. The inventory. ¡®System, can you explain the inventory interface for me? Do I have a storage subspace and what is the capacity?¡¯ [Your inventory in theory has unlimited holding but not carrying capacity. You can store items as you wish but there is a limiting factor. Your physical or mechanical skills determine the carrying amount]. ¡®Right, does that mean that my overall carrying capacity is limited to the strong build of my character?¡¯ [Correct, that is true for the initial stages of this game. You can choose to upgrade your strength or choose a character-boosting weight allowance which will in turn boost your storage capacity and limit.] ¡®System, how much in terms of weight can I currently carry or store at this time?¡¯ [Maximum weight allowance of 15kg at present time. Carrying more than this will mean an enforced overweight condition. You will suffer a character penalty.] ¡®Fine, how do I stick stuff into my inventory then?¡¯ [Virtual Inventory is viewable through your virtual interface. You can activate this at any time including when in combat.] I threw the rusty screwdriver into my inventory slot. Best to grab items that I could sell for in-game currency or use as a craftable, looking further through the shelf I found a tin can, a metal screw, and a broken comb. After throwing these into the inventory I came to a sudden realisation. This was an extremely poor location to find loot. Who would want to buy a broken comb? I didn¡¯t even know if anyone here actually used whatever passed for in-game currency. Could even be a barter or trading system. I wish I were Stig of the Dump. He had great crafting skills. Ok, so it made sense to choose a character build that would be able to carry more. Then I could grab the loot and sell it to a merchant NPC to gain whatever in-game currency was available. There could be a choice of set characters that I could choose and modify such as a rogue with a focus on stealth and stealing or a melee combat tank who could soak up damage. If magic was chosen that would help as well. It depended on what this setting offered. Going so far it looked like it was going to be resource deprived. But weren¡¯t all starting locations like this? Book 1 Ch 3: Starter Level Zero You had to complete quests to attain better weapons and gear. Even a vehicle. But given the system introduction at the beginning, I should have started this game fully equipped with a support team and an organisation for backup along with an enemy to target. It depended on the types of weapons that would be available in-game would be. From my memory of these types of games, you started with a melee weapon. Then you would be able to progress to something slightly better. It depended on what type of game this was. I remember playing one game years back where you started with an axe. Just a single axe. The first guns that you could find were single-shot only and you had to reload each time. I had to pick a fight with gang members selling drugs just to get hold of a normal 9mm handgun. Died six times during my first attempts before I was able to recruit a melee companion and beat them one by one to grab the gun. That save and load function saved me in the end. Scum save be my friend. Given my current circumstances, it was unlikely that I would be able to pick up a military-grade rifle. At least not given the current conditions. That damn in-game error had caused all of this. [Player XXX gains one point in radiation sickness. Due to the basic tutorial initial mode, this is current negated. Raddy radiation says to take your medicine to feel better!] Raddy radiation? Is that a mascot? Wasn¡¯t the purpose of playing a video game to be some kind of superhuman who could just gun down bandits and had recoverable health bars or a rechargeable protective suit? How about self-healing nano-bots? It would be worth a try just to prick my finger with a blade to check my healing rate. The damage would be minimal and even if I didn¡¯t heal it would be worth it. I could find a way to force enter a combat situation, and then loot two opposing forces when they fought each other to the death. ¡®System, what¡¯s my current level at right now?¡¯ [Player XXX you are currently level 0. You can accumulate XP but access to full character build and skills is only accessible once the initial tutorial has ended. The system allows limited-combat functionality]. ¡®I¡¯m level zero and an eight-year-old child. Not that much compared to a well-trained and equipped soldier with an organisation backing me up. But it¡¯s a start. What skills can I access during this time?¡¯ [System Skill choices are limited for initial tutorial mode. Non-combat available skills: Pickpocketing, stealth, persuasion, empathy, mechanical learning. Do you want to activate a skill?] ¡®No combat skills available...did I enter a thief-style game instead?¡¯ I asked the system. [Player XXX''s combat skills are limited by the system for self-protection of the player for the initial tutorial mode. Do you want to activate a skill?] ¡®What a pushy game system. I want to access my User Interface; how do I do that? Even at level 0, I should have basic stats for my character. [Your User Interface takes the form of a virtual interface. List of your class, attributes, and skills viewable. Only you will be able to see and access it.] I breathed out in relief. ¡®At least that¡¯s some good news and about my level?¡¯ [That will also be viewable through your interface. Please be aware that other players will be able to see your level and job class.] ¡®Great, so my level will be¡­ what do you mean other players?¡¯ I needed to take a moment to process what was going on. [Cryo-Scape 2052 is trending to become an extremely popular game. You are playing the pre-launch beta version.] ¡®Right, so I¡¯m not playing the game then I am living inside it. Why am I being classified as a player?¡¯ [Player XXX, you chose to enter the game so have the opportunity to become a player before the game servers become open to the general public. This is the closed beta version.] I took a deep breath after hearing that. ¡®Ok, let¡¯s narrow it down. I have questions to complete, and this is still in the initial tutorial stages. And my character build still needs development. There should be something here to give me an initial edge over other players. Pre-launch version, right? That means that it¡¯s more than likely that I¡¯m not going to meet any players yet¡­but it will surely get busier. Is this a separate server and are there other servers with different players from different regions of the world?¡¯ different regions of the world?¡¯ [Pre-launch version contains bugs, only select individuals chosen for this early version. Additional content from the developer will appear in future updates. There are no in-game testers presently.] ¡®Future updates? I¡¯m in a game that the developer hasn¡¯t gotten entirely working yet. I guess that one of those bugs affected my character choice then, seems like the updated content could be different factions or areas to explore then. Worth being a kid then as no adults have come to chase me to finish my job for the day yet.¡¯ [Game Hint: In-game quests don¡¯t last forever! NPCs have their own lives as well¡­] I felt then that I would need to make the correct choices here. There was no point in wasting experience points just because I wanted to explore the setting. Hot cooked food didn¡¯t wait to keep being tasty, it just cooled down and lost the flavour. The same effect would happen for the NPCs in this setting, I didn¡¯t expect the level of realism that was on offer. In my experience quests in an MMO were usually rinse and repeat with the same scope of quests available in a game. There would be fetch quests, hunt quests, escort quests and boss fights. Each NPC would just repeat the same thing over and over to every player who happened to come along looking for XP or items. That could be the main reason for the popularity of this game Cryo-Scape 2052, a truly adaptive MMO with artificial intelligence giving an organic development to the game. Either that or they tapped into an alternative world and just managed to insert players somehow. All of this philosophical thinking didn¡¯t change my actual situation though. In any video game, a new player who didn¡¯t know the rules or lacked equipment or experience in gameplay was usually a dead player. I didn¡¯t yet know if there was going to be a save and reload function or not, or even if the system allowed it. So, if I made mistakes then I wouldn¡¯t lose the game, I might just stop existing, which meant it was time to start learning about what was on offer. May as well see what my starting class was and then build on my foundations. ¡®System, how can I access my interface? Does it have to be through physical, or vocal activation or are other options available?¡¯ [Can access through non-verbal thought. Think about it!] I thought about the interface and a large blue virtual panel appeared in front of me. On the bottom right there were different icons. Rather than touch them I instead thought about my current status and job title. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. [User XXX Current Status: Undernourished, minor radiation sickness, temporary low health penalty, temporary development penalty, temporary growth rate penalty.] -Job Title: -Level 0: Young Slave of Tartarus, Imprisoned One, Non-Believer of the Gods] ¡®¡­. Young Slave of Tartarus? Imprisoned One?¡¯ I didn¡¯t like the look of my current status though; it looked like my current job title had directly affected my health. That reflected my circumstances though, that old guy with the beard and robe talked about the gods. My parents and surroundings looked pretty poor and ill-equipped as well, so my title was to be a slave. Wait, what was the deal with radiation sickness? I took a look around me, it looked dingy, grey and a bit dark. Didn¡¯t appear to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland to my eyes, I knew that the genre was a popular one and the introduction to my previous character set showed me that nuclear war had already occurred. The main issue is that I didn¡¯t have a concept of the amount of time that had passed since then. All of those notifications about radiation points that were blocked¡­ Wow, I was so lucky. Seriously, dead in a week unless there was a medicine to help me find a cure. Blood transfusion? Lead-lined suit? Magic medical nanobots that cured you of the illness. I wondered how many other slaves were suffering from the same problem. Radioactive fallout wasn¡¯t something that I wanted to deal with, I remembered that it was meant to pass away over time but then video games weren¡¯t the same as reality. [Player XXX gains one point in radiation sickness. Due to the basic tutorial initial mode, this is current negated. Raddy radiation says to take your medicine to feel better!] Throwing those thoughts to the back of my mind I decided to focus on my skills. It would have been better to have a starting kit and decent character build, even a fixed build could be adapted over time. One useful skill for a slave would be something like the ability to avoid a beaten or to take more physical punishment. My endurance would be higher at the cost of my strength, a skill that related to living a lifetime of enduring the pain and humiliation that built up my willpower. That wasn¡¯t fair at all. I guess though that most video games spoilt the characters, to begin with, imagine starting a new game where you started with nothing. Even a weapon and a special ability were given, or a chance to work towards further abilities. Why couldn¡¯t I begin the game as a reborn vampire with a cool sword and a nice catchphrase like woe to the conquered of something? Every single character had something special that happened to them though, I would get my magic sword or gene enhancement medicine later that would give me an edge over the rest of the players. Otherwise, the game would be boring¡­ Time to focus on available skills, I changed my thoughts to in-game skills and the interface changed to a different screen. This time it had a green tint. Another screen appeared in front of my eyes.