Why does this town seem so familiar? I swear I have seen it somewhere before. But where? Those were but a few of the thoughts that ran through my head as I tried to understand where I was.
The town look amazing. Although it was a bit overcrowded, the atmosphere was magnificent. Most of the people were kind and polite yet there was always those few who were either too arrogant or to self-involved that they didn't care about those around them.
The area of the town where I awoke must have been a town center of some sorts. It was large and in a circular shape. In the middle was a small, maybe one meter radius, floating circle structure that rotated clockwise continuously. Upon the circle were strange symbols that reminded me of Celtic runes of sorts. Within the circle was a sphere, the size of a basketball, of a vibrant blue energy that rippled every so often.
Now that looks familiar. It couldn't be, could it? I thought as I glanced around me once more finally understanding why everything seemed so familiar. This was Guild Stronghold. But how is it possible that I am here? I never signed in. The last thing I remember is jumping off the roof. Why is this happening?
I looked down, wondering what I would be wearing in this world and found a very basic set of clothes. I didn't even have any armor. Just a white tunic shirt laced at the top loosely. A pair of dull grey trousers and dark brown sneakers. Why didn't I have any armor?
Noticing the strap across my chest I reached behind me to find the handle of a thick short sword with a gold plated handle and hilt. I tried to unsheathe it but as soon as I tried a notification appeared in front of me within a floating cloud bubble stating:
Town Limitations
Sword Use: Disabled
Wow. I thought. Maybe it's because this is the beginner town so the reason it is disabled is to allow the beginners and novices a chance to survive within this new world. Smart. Every other game that involved player killing consisted of the spawn killers that camped outside the spawn areas.
I began to walk around until I had finally managed to exit the city. I was expecting lush green grass and a vast mountainous region in the distance. I mean, why couldn't it be like that game anime I once saw. But no, it had to be deep within the mountain region where the game began.
It was dull and bleak and the caverns and cliff faces gave off a dangerous aura making me wary of travelling to close. I unsheathed my sword and noticed a quick ping near the top right of my vision:
Iron Sword: Equipped
That was when I noticed the Health, Mana, and Stamina bars in the top left of my vision. If I focused on an enemy or some spot in front of me, I found that I could zone out the status bars to allow me to focus on the matter at hand. Of course they never actually disappeared and if I needed I could just glance up to see my current statuses.
I tried finding the skill window but nothing I tried worked. Nothing happened. Not even a notification stating that it was disabled or a Hint notification showing how to access it. I did, however, manage to open the menu which I appreciated greatly.
The menu appear within the bottom middle section of my vision and moved as my head did. It consisted of five rectangles with a dull green glow outline of each option. The options included:
Continue, Inventory, Skills (which was disabled and made me realize why all my previous attempts to access it failed), Friends, and Log Out (which was also disabled).
Why was the Log Out option disabled? Is this a bug? Is it meant to be like this? Movement ahead of me caused me to look up. I spotted two other players who were travelling back to the town. One had a bulky looking metal set of armor that gave off the aura of power, but any gamer would know that its stats weren't that high.
The other had a tight fitting navy blue long sleeve robe with gold trimming. He had long blonde hair well his bulky associate had short black spiky hair.
I looked above there heads and noticed their names and levels that showed. The bulky man was named KnightDemon with a level of 4, with 96/96 health and the man with the long blonde hair was named Jack with a level of 6 with 138/140 health.
"I think I am going to call it a day. We have been playing all night." KnightDemon said as they came to a stop. "I will see you later this afternoon back in A'Baro up ahead."
"Shot. No problem. See you then." Jack replied as I noticed him look down before his entire body began to shimmer and as a faint blueish glow overtook him, he disappeared. Apparently you can log out, so why can't I? What makes me so different?
I was lost in thought that I didn't even realize that KnightDemon had made his way over to me.
"Hey kid. You look familiar." He said with a deep voice and a concentrated expression on his face.
"I'm not sure why. I have never seen you before and I am not even sure this is your real look." I replied as I managed to close the menu.
"Haha." He laughed. "This isn't my true visage. And no, we have never met before. But I think I know where I know you from."
"Really? And where is that?" I asked wondering how this person might know. I was so intrigued that I completely skipped over the fact that my current image might in fact be my what I look like in real life.
"I've seen you in the news." He replied and suddenly his demeanor change slightly. He seemed a little uncomfortable.
"I don't understand. Why would I be in the news? I'm just a kid in school." I replied with a soft chuckle. This man must be missing a few screws in his head to think that someone like me could have been on the news.
"No. I'm right. You're the kid who jumped off the roof of his school and fell into a coma." He said as his smile faded.
"Coma?" I asked as my face showed just how shocked I really was. Is what this man saying, the truth? I am I really in a coma? But that shouldn't be possible, right?
"Yeah, you're currently in a coma dude." He replied as he shuffled his feet slightly.
"But how am I here then?" I asked trying to find out any more information he could offer.
"Travent Corp Gaming are basically using you as a guinea pig as to whether or not they could successfully transfer the consciousness of a coma patient into the game using their software and hardware." He replied as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Apparently they could. Quite amazing actually."
"This can't be happening." I said as a feeling of a tear run down my cheek which I knew wasn't true as you couldn't cry in a game. I fell backwards and sat with my head hung low and my arms with my knees in the crooks of my elbows.
"Cheer up, mate." KnightDemon said with a half-hearted chuckle. "At least you get to play one hell of a game."
"You don't get it." I said as dropped my gaze lower.
"And what don't I get?" He asked in a defensive manner.
"I was suppose to die that day. That is what I wanted." I began lifting my gaze to look him in the eye. "I had nothing in the real world. My parents ignored me, teachers despised me, my own twin brother pretends I don't exist, and the only friend I ever had now thinks I am useless. How would a simple game make up for that?"
"Wow." He said with a whistle. "That's harsh dude."
"And the best thing is, I can't log out." I said with a defeated smile. "I am stuck in this world and now I will never know the benefits of reality. The benefits of being with a woman that I love. Everything that life away from my current existence could offer. I am stuck in a game that is only superficial and could only offer me some form of friendship and nothing else. How is that living?"
"Damn." He replied with a sigh unable to answer my question. "Listen dude, the best I can do is get some more information on your situation back in reality and let the guys involved in your case know what is going on and what could happen. I can't promise anything but it may help."
"Thanks." I said defeated.
"In the meantime, I suggest you start leveling." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Once you hit level one, you can change your appearance and an AI (Artificial Intelligence) will assist with setting up your character's skills. I suggest going south down this road. It is a great experience farming location."
"Thanks." I said again as I slowly stood up.
"Listen, once you hit level one, send me a friend request. That way we can converse a little more easily."
"You don't know what this means to me." I said with a soft smile.
"No worries, mate." He replied with a smile of his own. "I need to get going now, but I hope to see you later when we can sort a few things out."