Yocantes Online [Hiatus/Discontinued?)

Chapter 3 - False Dawn

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Trevor’s house was dead quiet which gave me the impression of a shack inhabited by unknowns. The wooden plasters were falling off from the rotten confinement. Huge strings of vines locked and twisted its way around the sunken terrace.

They’d never been rich. In fact, his family was lesser than mediocre. A frustrated painter, his dad works in small galleries; sketching random things for low pays while his idiot-of-a-mom left him when he was six. Whenever we talk, he was always evasive about the topic and would always try to divert my attention. But that doesn’t stop me from accepting him as my friend. Who cares about status, actually?

Upon seeing the gate open, I went in without any hesitation. Trev and I had been hanging out in here before, playing psps. 

Tug-dug. My footsteps halted. Beads of icy cold sweat began to trickle down my face. Tug-dug. There it was again.These crazy heartbeats were sincerely loud but scarce. I've never been nervous about the house before. It was like a haven of comfort and fun to us. But not now. It felt so, so…dead. An unknown force, something brutal and severe was tempting to suck me in―clear that it would not let me out. Though scared, I still managed to brush the uncomfortable feeling off.

Reducing my voice to the sound of a bass, I called. No answer. For a few more rounds of yelling and asking, absolute silence was only garnered. I might be talking with the wrong house.

I wanted to go home but my curiosity prevailed over courtesy. Why is Trevor not in his house? He rarely goes out as far as I know. There was only one way to discover the answer; go inside.You’re his friend, don’t worry. He’ll understand. I assured myself.

Like a morning thief, my toes tippity-toed on the cemented floor to the door, hoping not to make the smallest of sounds. Opening the door was the worst mistake in my whole life.

Typhoons and calamities must have wrecked the whole place!  Toppled objects crammed the living room. Everything was in shambles. Turned over was the couch, its sheets ripped off. Glittering pieces of splinters were scattered on the floor, a broken vase lied on the center.The curtains were torn apart. A gaping hole bore the time-peeled tv screen.What the actual fuck happened in here?

My body warbled, nervous with fear.It was an undersized explanation to Trevor’s disappearance. Suddenly, a shrill bleeping sound emerged upstairs. I was startled, scared but not chickening out. Swift as the wind, I rushed above.

Before I burst into Trev’s room, I expected to see a horrible sight; something gruesome and disgusting. But to my surprise, the room was pretty neat and arranged, unlike the havoc below. Trevor was not to be found but his computer was on, beeping annoyingly.

Some game was displaying on the dirty monitor. I approached the unit while adding caution to my every step. I couldn’t explain it but the screen appeared like it wanted to swallow me.Thousands of nerve cells working inside my brain scanned for a possibility. Thankfully, there was none.

I hovered through the log-in screen. In all fairness, the graphics were exceptional. Someone would confuse it with six dimensional vision.

In the background lay a beautiful stretch of verdant plains. Drifting above were huge floating islands. The elegant trees dotted the far end of the prairie. Dazzling shimmers of sunshine veiled the vast lush bed of grasses. All of it was pristine. So beautiful, so flawless, so exquisite.The entire scenery was vivid and picturesque. It seemed so real I thought I could enter. Simply ... mesmerizing.

“It's nothing Leonne," sanity whispered, fetching me back to my senses. "Just a game, 3D at its finest."

A fairy in green toga fluttered excitedly around and offered instructions.

"Greetings! Welcome to the Magical World of Yocantes!" Please provide a username and password. This is an auto-register MMO. There’s No need to sign up anymore!"

Did I just saw a smear of mischief in the fairy's eyes? Nah, probably my mind playing tricks on me. Stupid brain.

Username: Leonhart

Password: ***********

"Congratulations, we are now logging you in!" the fairy smiled like a freaking psychopath..

I was sent to the character creation screen. A default elven-looking avatar was standing on the left side of the monitor. Text fields and data input were located on the right.

"Please provide a name for your character."

Irritation pushed me to slam down the mouse. I wanted to claw this small pixie’s throat.

"Idiot I know what I'm doing. Instructions are for noobs," I said, frowning at her. "Sorry but you’re not getting my attention."

Character Name: Leonhart

I was asked to choose my character's race. There were four options to choose from: Elves, Vampires, Cyborgs, and Humans. All of them proposed appealing stats. Decent enough to flavor a gamer’s taste.

Without further notice, I proceeded to deductions. The Elven race had a relevant edge on agility and attack speed which was a damn, good thing. But based on my experience, characters with high agility stats tend to be weak in offense due to minimal damage.

Humans were just too ordinary and weak that I didn't find anything special about them. To reach higher levels, Cyborgs were my undoubtedly my best bet because of the defense but no, I didn’t want to be too OP. The challenge of odds would be at stake. I was left with the Vampires.

Next, I was asked to select the class of my character. This was my favorite part in character creating. There were eight  classes: Shielder, Assassin, Brawler, Archer, Templar, Magician Mage, Healer Mage, and Summoner.

It was a difficult time picking. Each of the classes held quality abilities and excellent stats. But since I had chosen the Vampire race, the Assassin’s offense-based nature seemed the most compatible pair. Moments later, the course was complete.

Processing character generation ...

Congratulations! You character has been created. Welcome to hell!

"Welcome to what the fucking he‒.

A sudden flash of intense light blazed across my room. Then I felt a tugging sensation in my stomach. Arggghhh.My insides were being frayed into pieces,my limbs torn, ligaments pulled apart. The hurt, it was killing me. I couldn't take it anymore. No, I'm going to die. No I‒ and the light faded into silent darkness.

****

I woke up with a fuzzy vision. I squinted about the milieu. Grassy plains painted the landscape. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon.

An unbearable pain shot out from my right side when I tried to stand up. My ears twitched, stimulated by a fluttering sound that vibrated through the cold air. When I turned to where the sound is coming from, my heart jumped out of my rib cage.

Floating in front of me was a girl clad in a green toga. She was very pretty. Her eyes were as lush as the grass around and like a polished emerald. Am I dead? Coz' if not, am I staring at a goddess? Jesus, she's so perfect. Her long chestnut hair flawlessly flowed into wavy curls. Her skin was white like porcelain. The rays of sunshine were adding a striking effect as it illuminated her. What was more intriguing was the glossy transparent wing that was beating rapidly on her back.

"Where am I?" I asked in a low voice.

"Welcome," her voice was harmonious and soft, far melodious than an angel. "to Yocantrus."

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