“Welcome, registered user.” A soft female voice echoed throughout the white chamber. I was going to take this new world of FEAR by storm. “You are in your atrium, this place is your link to all VR programs. Do you want me to upload your programs and settings from your previous capsule?”

“Yes, upload everything.” The white room faded away to an ornate tower chamber. It had taken quite a long time to craft a perfect atrium, but the results had been worth it. A single tower standing on top of a large snowcapped mountain. Soft lighting and ornate furniture decorated the entire place. I ran a hand over the bed, I never realized it was this rough. I will have to fix that, but it was a low priority at the moment.

“New program Fate: Experience Acute Realism has been detected, do you wish to upload?”

“Upload program, place in empty portal location one-one.” I began to make my way down the central spiraling staircase of my tower.

“Affirmative, will be completed in thirty seven seconds, please stand by.” I passed the library, the torture room, the information center, the training room, and my editing center on my way down. With a time dilation of five to one, it was far more efficient to stay in virtual reality, known as VR, than in the real world. With the new capsules, only the underprivileged were left out. Weak pitiful beings hoping for handouts, they would be crushed in the days to come, the few that managed to enter FEAR. Glory, fame, and wealth were there for the taking if one was bold enough.

I entered the portal room, which was on the second floor. I had already deleted all other portals to other games and hobbies that I used to distract myself with. I had kept the training programs as part of my atrium. Sword swinging was a must have skill now a days. The online videos might have helped pay the bills, but that was just a bonus to show casing my brilliance. The stone staircase spiraled around a large obsidian doorway that was filled with a grey mist. “Upload complete, please be aware that the game will not start for another seventy two hours, fifteen minutes, and eight seconds.”

I ignored the voice and stepped through the portal. There was a lot one could learn from character customization and I planned to take advantage. I was once again standing in a white room. There was a woman standing in front of me. Her white dress was a pearl color which offset it just enough from the background white to discern her lithe figure. Her face and chest were slightly plain, but perfectly symmetrical. Things like that were very important; everything should had a proper place and design even appearance.

“Welcome to the starting chamber. You do realize the world will not open for quite a while?”

“Yes, but let us start with what I can do.”

“Very well, we will begin with your avatar.” A perfect naked duplicate of myself appeared slightly off to the side.

“Limitations on what I can alter?”

“Some in terms of height, weight, and proportions. If there is an issue I will inform you.”

“Hmmm, what about other races, a tail?”

“Only the race of human is possible.” I cursed at the lack of information on the game. There was almost nothing out there but rampant speculation and I was going in blind. I was the tip of the spear and needed to figure out everything first hand.

“What about muscle mass? Will my appearance change with training?”

“Your stats are the driving factor behind abilities. Your appearance will change depending on the choices you make. If you are injured you will scar and so on.”

“Reduce height to five feet. Remove all hair. Slightly more endowed. Less fat, and muscle. Whitest skin tone possible. Increase bone density.”

“That last request is not possible, internal features cannot be altered.” I let out a sigh and got to work on the face. It was simple enough to make the nose and mouth small with shallow cheekbones. I changed the eye color to red. In the end I looked like a small, hairless, albino child slash demon. All the better to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies.

"Give me the standard local outfit." I wanted to blend in.

"There is no standard. Please specify your outfit. If there is an issue I will inform you." That was annoying. I considered going with something fancy, but that would draw unwanted attention.

For my starting wardrobe I chose a large straw hat and simple grey robes with a rope belt. I took roman style sandals for my foot ware. No stupid flip flops or anything else that was silly, functional yet simple was my credo. With stats being the primary driver for abilities, my size didn’t matter. It would be easier to blend in and be under estimated by being smaller. It may make me less intimidating but I would soon be legend enough. It was a tough balancing act between making people afraid or blending in. I hoped to straddle the line between the two play styles.

"Can I get a pin with a rain drop?"

"No metal objects or anything that can be used as a weapon will be given." So much for that work around. Stabbing people in the eye with a sharp pointy needle was always exciting.

Once I was done the avatar faded away and I felt my body change to what I had selected. That was really weird, like hundreds of bugs all crawling over me. I spent a minute moving around, getting used to my new size before returning to the female guide.

“Your character selection is complete. Do you wish to do the tutorial?” The lady in white asked.

“I was hoping you might answer a few questions. How do the stats work?” I asked. Her expression did not change as the silence stretched out.

“Very well, there are nine stats, of which you may increase eight of them. Constitution affects your HP. Strength affects your carrying capacity, HP, and damage. Dexterity affects your speed, and reaction time. Endurance affects your SP. Wisdom affects your decision making and MP. Intelligence affects your learning rate and MP. Charisma affects your attractiveness and ability to convince people. Luck affects things of chance. Finally Fate which you cannot alter affects events.”

“Can you tell me the math behind the stats?” They were probably weighted differently since Endurance would increase SP more than Dexterity most likely.

“No, that is something you will have to discover.” I cursed to myself at the lack of information.

“How are you affecting how fast I learn or my decisions?”

“I shall pose a demonstration that shall explain this.” A red rubber ball appeared in her hand and she flung it at me. I tried to dodge to the side but it curved and smacked me in the forehead. “Constitution would determine how much damage you could take. My strength determined maximum throwing power. Your dexterity was too low to react in time. Endurance would determine how long you could dodge or I could throw balls at you. You made a poor decision dodging in that direction while I made a good decision to throw that way. I would learn to throw faster with a high intelligence. Charisma might make me hesitate to attack you if you fit my perception of beauty. Luck, well luck affects things. Fate allowed this discussion to occur.”

“If my Wisdom tripled, how would I make better decisions?”

“The technical explanation is that the signals that are sent to your brain are slightly altered. Your perception would change very slowly with higher stats.” That made a bit more sense. “Now would you like to do the tutorial?” The lady in white asked.

“How does magic work?” I asked her, ignoring her earlier question. I needed information not stupid hand holding experience.

“No, that is something you will have to discover.” I gave a small shrug and then charged forward attempting to attack her, my punches kept missing as she swayed out of the way.

“You cannot hurt me.” My point wasn’t to hurt, but to push the game. “If you continue I will retaliate.” Perfect, I was getting a reaction. A bolt of lightning shot from her eyes and speared my small body. I convulsed and collapsed to the floor smoking. Not perfect. That hurt, oh my god that hurt so much. I had done pain training on the old capsule, but oh my god this hurt so much. Half a minute later my body came back to perfect health and the damage was erased. I forced myself to stand and attacked again. I was burned, stabbed, pierced, bitten by snakes, ripped apart by suddenly appearing boars, but I kept charging at the lady in white again and again.

Finally I lay in pool of my own blood, my body refusing to die as it slowly healed itself. Scars and wounds disappeared. “Will you please do the tutorial?” She had responded which gave me the upper hand.

“No, give me an advantage. Something that no other player would have.”

“This world is built on balance and order. You cannot destroy it, no matter how willful you are.”

“I plan to do far worse things in your world. I shall bring a wave of despair and darkness to all who enter. What is a little pain now for an advantage?” There was a long moment of silence.

“No.” With that metal bars sprung up between me and the lady in white. Oh well, it had been worth a shot, but that was way too painful.

“Very well, let’s do the tutorial.” I grumbled out. Even though her expression didn’t change I could tell she was smirking.

“Please select a first and last name.”

“Rain of Blood.”

“That name is not acceptable, please choose another.” I let out a long breath and calmed myself down.

“God Hackz, with a z.”

“That name is not acceptable, please choose another.”

“Let’s go with Shadow of Darkness.”

“That name is not acceptable, please choose another.”

“Luke Skywalker.”

“That name is not acceptable, please choose another.” Dammit, that would have been hilarious.

“Sauron.”

“That name is not acceptable, please choose another.” I really wanted to try and take another shot at the lady in white. My eyes drifted to the red ball she had thrown earlier. I kept listing off stupid names while I went and picked it up. I smeared some of the still wet blood from my clothes onto it. I then threw it at the lady in white.

For a second I thought she would dodge but it struck in the middle of her dress leaving a large red stain as it rolled down her dress. “That was unwise.” She hissed out. I then felt my body explode. You know what it feels like to have your body explode, not pleasant. I had nothing to compare it to, except that if a papercut is one on the pain scale and getting bitten by snakes is a seven, then exploding in a maelstrom of fire and blood again and again is a million.

After what seemed an eternity the attacks finally stopped and I was standing in the white chamber once again. I quickly collapsed to my knees despite my effort to remain standing. The lady in white was all cleaned off but now there was a clear pane of glass between us.

“Just pick an acceptable name already.” That was when I started singing as terribly as I could. I figured I was never going to get to come to this place again unless I died, which wasn't going to happen, so I might as well try everything possible. The singing was so terrible even I could tell how terrible it was. Suddenly my voice stopped working. “You may annoy me, but you will not get anything out of it.”

I got my voice back. “Give me a suggestion on the name then since you don’t like my choices.”

“Bob Schmelling.”

“Hell no.”

“Joe Rory.”

“No, more action and darkness.”

“Kenji Shadowen.”

“Perfect, I accept.” She probably lined up the first two just to get me to lower my expectations.

“Now to assign stats.” A screen suddenly appeared before me.

STATUSNameKenji ShadowenLevel0Constitution0Strength0Dexterity0Endurance0Wisdom0Intelligence0Charisma0Luck0Fate0Remaining Points40

I reached out and began quickly tapping away. Speed was the key, strength meant nothing if you couldn’t hit your target. I was almost tempted to be a luck based character, but that would have been really annoying telling what my luck was actually affecting. With the last point used the bottom line disappeared.

STATUSNameKenji ShadowenLevel0Constitution5Strength5Dexterity25Endurance5Wisdom0Intelligence0Charisma0Luck0Fate0

Completely unbalanced, but I planned to dump almost all future stat points into Dexterity. Playing balanced was a great way to fail at everything and all my past experience made me believe that. I was going for speed, insane speed. My mind was my own so the other stats did not seem that useful. I would be zipping through my opponents so fast they wouldn’t realize.

I only added points to constitution and strength just to have some ability to lift things and HP. Area of effect or AOE attacks would be my primary concern. The window snapped shut.

“It has been…an experience Kenji Shadowen. Enjoy the tutorial.”

“Thanks, I will try to avoid getting hit. Maybe we can have a rematch some time?”

“We shall see.” Everything faded away and I was in a small office with a balding man across from me.

“Hello, I am Bob. I represent the Omnitrek legal department. This meeting is being recorded. I will be taking you through the terms and conditions of Fate: Experience Acute Realism. If at any time you have questions you may interrupt. You may be asked questions to confirm your comprehension of the terms and conditions involved. This will take approximately thirty in game minutes. Please bear with me. Section one part one, use of software…”

I leapt out of my chair and smashed Bob’s head on the desk multiple times. Leaving a messy bloody pulp of his face. Everything faded away and then it was back to how it appeared when I was in this door less and windowless room less than a minute ago.

“Every time, I am interrupted from an action that is not a question we will start from the beginning. Hello, I am Bob…” I let out a groan and Bob paused. He then started once I looked at him again. Ahhhhh, so tedious. Despite that I paid attention. This was pain of a far worse and different sort than the lady in white.

“…event of pain, suffering, or mental trauma the Provider may not be held responsible.”

“Wait, question time. The lady in white caused me a lot of pain. I mean a lot. So how are you going to compensate me since I haven’t agreed to all of this yet?”

“One moment while I process your question.” We sat there in silence for over a minute. A man in a suit appeared next to Bob.

“I am Senior Legal Advisor Tanaki Kurasmi of Omnitrek. That event was a mistake and has been corrected.” He gave me a small bow.

“Stuff it, lady in white caused me pain and I didn’t sign anything to get blown apart multiple times before the game even starts. I want compensation.” Tanaki just gave me a look and I pressed on. “I want an approved broadcaster license.” The terms and conditions were strict enough that only approved broadcasters could post things online without getting into trouble. Even then they were limited in the types of information that was allowed to go up. That was my main source of income and I hadn’t gotten approval from the standard application. That might have had to do with my most famous video, Rain of Blood. A ten minute video of me performing terrible things on NPCs and my teammates in Dungeons of Ramunir.

“We could ban you from using the 2.0 VR Capsule and all other Omnitrek products during the litigation process.”

“True, but that is lose, lose. One broad caster license and I will waive all legal mumbo jumbo.” Another round of silence.

“Very well, command override Tanaki one seven six three. Broadcaster license to active customer and legal paperwork packet one through eighteen.”

The standard capsule female voice spoke up, “License has been granted. Paperwork has been sent.” A pile of papers appeared on Bob’s deck. After that there were more documents to review and I had to finish the lecture with Bob. It was almost impossible to keep the shit eating grin off my face. I had my license, but there were content rules. Fortunately that was only for public videos, I sent my videos out through my own private channel. Uncensored violence was my signature and I wasn’t about to let go of it.

At the end of the legal suffering I was transported away once more. I appeared in a large training hall. There was a large obstacle course off to one side with moving logs, spikes, and lots of other wicked instruments. I saw a dueling ring surrounded by a number of people chatting and a weapons rack nearby. There was an archery range as well.

A large man came up to me. “Hello, I am trainer Bob.” He looked like a hulked out version of legal Bob. Probably some ones idea of a joke. “Welcome to the training hall. When you first start off you are welcome to visit here.”

“Do I get any starting bonuses if I beat the course or someone in the dueling ring?” I asked.

“Nope, this area is to get used to simulate violent situations only and get a feel for bladed weapons.” I let out a small sigh. I looked around but the walls were thick stone with no doors and the windows were at least three stories up. I ignored what Bob was saying and went over to the weapons rack. I took a short sword and a bunch of daggers, sticking them in my rope belt.

I then walked over to the shooting range and grabbed a bow and a quiver. I tested a number of bows until I found one I could use. I placed the bow on the stand next to me and picked up my sword. Trainer Bob had unwisely decided to follow me. “Trainer Bob can you come here a second?” He walked over. As he opened his mouth I shoved my sword through his mouth and out the back of his head in a spray of blood and brains. He shook for a moment and tried to bring his arms up but his body went limp in under a second.

Tilting my sword down, I slid the fresh corpse off of my blade. The twenty people at the dueling ring had not noticed what I had done. I set the short sword on the arrow rack and picked up the bow I had chosen. I let loose an arrow that sunk into the back of one of the people at the dueling pit. The rest turned to look at me as they all drew their weapons.

I was able to get off another two arrows before I had put the bow over my shoulder and start running. As I ran I threw my daggers as people got closer and closer. After two people went down they all began to spread out in an attempt to corner me. That was when I reversed directions. The man behind me had a look of shock on his face as I leapt onto his chest and drove both daggers I was holding into him. He let out a sequel like a stuck pig, annoying but not important. Not pausing for a moment I retreated again at a slow walk while keeping an eye on my opponents.

I then pulled my bow off my shoulder and let loose an arrow at anyone getting too close. All the people with shields moved up front to block my arrows while the shield less hung back and spread out even more to flank me.

Once I ran out of arrows, I cast the bow aside and went back to my daggers. They were all individual fighters not a unit which was what made this sort of tactic possible. If they had all kept rushing me like they had been at the start they would have eventually gotten me. Apparently most of them realized the same thing as well and they began to advance quickly towards me as a group.

I ran into the obstacle course. I dived to the ground just in time to avoid a swinging log that smashed the person behind me. His entire body was flung away as a bloody smear across the stones. Two of them had taken bows from the shooting range while the rest pushed into the obstacle course. Men and women were ripped apart from the various contraptions as they attempted to reach me. I focused on darting from spot to spot that were less intensive in the number of death traps while ready to intercept anyone who was getting too close and avoiding pot shots.

In the end I somehow succeeded. I had lost my right arm after I had let an attacker get too close. I had closed off the wound with a turnakit. It was merely a matter of getting a circular piece of cloth around my arm and then using an arrow shaft to twist the cloth tight and tuck one end of the shaft under the cloth to stop from bleeding out. First aid program in my atrium had actually been worth the purchase. My pain resistance training allowed me to ignore the wound for the most part.

At least it hurt less than being exploded by a vengeful lady in white. With everyone dead I picked a corpse. I cut off all the clothes. Nothing unexpected found. I then began cutting into the body. While I had used and trained with various medical programs it was a nice refresher and I confirmed that all the organs and internal structure was the same. If people in this game had their hearts in their pelvis area or their brains in their arms, it would make me change my targeting priority.

I heard some noise and saw one of the wounded ones trying to crawl away. I didn’t know where they were crawling to since there was no exit from the training hall. I watched for a bit but it quickly became obvious they were trying to escape from me. I walked over to half dead woman with an arrow going through her gut.

I jumped on top of her and stabbed a dagger into her neck. With a quick yank there was a small pulse of blood out of the wound and she stilled. I cut away a piece of cloth over her arm and then proceeded to rip pieces off her forearm with my teeth. Blood went everywhere but I chewed the raw flesh ignoring the mess that I had just made. Raw meat was nasty but I chewed anyways. “Delicious.” My view count would triple from that alone.

Nothing happened after that so I stabbed myself in the heart and died. I then respawned once again in the training hall pre-massacre with trainer Bob once again. “…visit here.”

“Question trainer Bob. Will you take off all your clothes so I can have sex with you?”

“What are you talking about you sick freak! Die!” Trainer Bob was a lot stronger than the others and he soon removed my head, another experience I did not want to repeat. For the third time around I took off all my clothes and walked up to one of the female fighters and asked the same question I did Bob. I was stabbed brutally and died painfully. For the fourth time I went on a massacre again and was killed. Fifth time I succeeded and had managed to incapacitate one of the female fighters while killing the rest off.

"Tell me everything you know or else." I dug the tip of the dagger into her and slowly twisted it.

"Never!" She shouted and bit off her tongue. I then began moving all the corpses and equipment to the wall to make a ramp up to the windows. I finally reached them and looked out. There was nothing but white. I tried breaking the windows, but I couldn't even scratch them. I wanted to find some hidden secrets, but it appeared there weren't any.

There didn’t seem to be anything left to do before the game started so I returned to my atrium to work on video editing before the game would start. I made a living from posting blood thirsty in game videos. My goal was to break the system with a rain of blood, pain, and depraved acts. So far FEAR had held up fairly well. I also needed some time to shake off the pain from all the times I was mutilated. While I had a fairly high pain tolerance after pushing myself on the last VR capsule, this 100% experience had been something else. The moment my video was posted my view count was shooting up along with my ad revenue.

Minutes before the game launched I stepped through the portal once more. Everything faded away and I was standing at a dirt cross roads. I looked around and saw farms in every direction, and what looked like a city in the distance. The other way showed a forest. The sun was high in the sky, making it impossible to get a sense of direction. I saw some farmers working in the fields, and some birds overhead.

That was when it really hit me. The heat of the sun, the sounds, the smell of natural fertilizer. It was all so real. I had nothing except my clothes. “Options” I called out. Reading the manual beforehand on all the basic commands was important, no need to waste time on trivial details.

OPTIONSOrientationTransperanecyDisplayNotifications

I set all windows to full display outside of combat after five minutes. I really wish there was some sort of bar or number to indicate my HP or even SP, but this game was all about realism and making things difficult. Information was the most important thing, then weapons, then mayhem.

Quest-EasyTalking to LocalsTalk to villagers to gather information+10 EXPAccept (Yes/No)

I smirked at the quest. I accepted it, but I wasn’t going to do it in the way it was envisioned. There would be blood. Lots of blood.

I scanned the fields until I saw one farmer off by herself. A younger woman, who looked worn and well-tanned. The ridge created by the road along with the distance between the others should be more than enough. I found a large branch lying nearby laying on the side of the road. I picked it up and quickly began making my way over. The woman was too focused on the weeds to not notice my approach. I swung the branch and struck her over the head.

She collapsed on the ground and I gave into the need for a feral smile. I quickly straddled her with both my legs going under her shoulders to prevent her from moving once she woke up. I picked up a rock and set it on the back of her neck. I then slapped her a couple of times and she let out a moan.

“If you behave I will let you go.” I said.

“Do…don’t hurt me....” She mumbled out into the dirt. I removed the rock from the back of her neck allowing her to get some air.

“Time to answer some questions and everything will be fine. Do you know what Dexterity is?”

“Noooo…” she groaned out. So NPCs didn’t have access to the various screens. Good to know.

“Who rules this area?”

“Lord Brackley of Brackley Bay.” She said.

“Don’t think about trying anything, otherwise you are dead. Next question, magic?”

“I don’t know.” I was tempted to kill her right then and there but I figured there were a couple of more questions I could ask.

“Are there swords?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about money.”

“I don’t have any.”

“I don’t care about that, how much are things worth?”

“Hundred coppers to a silver and twenty silvers to a gold piece. Depends which lord made them.”

“How much is a sword, or a horse?”

“Sword is about a silver and a horse five silvers for a working breed.” I then smashed her head with a rock sending her brains everywhere. I licked some of the blood splatter off my hand and smiled at the salty taste. I got up and began walking back to the road. From there I turned and began making my way towards a house a short distance away. Some of the farmers gave me looks but they ignored me for now, that was going to change.

“Display all screens.” This would bring up all the waiting pop-ups.

Blunt Weapons-1A bat, club, all the sameLvL 1: You understand the basics of blunt weapons

Torture-1Noooooo!LvL 1: You understand the basics of torture

Murderer-1Your soul is tainted+1 Fate per LvL

Depraved-1Your are a demon in human flesh+1 Fate per LvL

Experience+60001+10 LvLYou are level 3

Quest Complete-EasyTalking to Locals+10 EXP

Quest-EasyStart of JourneyGo to the city of Brackley Bay+10 EXPAccept (Yes/No)

I should definitely start killing more people. If that was how things were going to work. I accepted the quest and I closed the screens as I made my way to the small cluster of houses that that road ran right past. They were small wooden huts with stone chimneys. I saw a larger building off to the side, probably a barn. I held the branch from before in my hand. I knocked on the door to the house. I heard movement. An older lady opened the door.

I slammed the branch into her face. She stumbled back. I repeated the attack again and again. In seconds I was out of breath and the woman’s head was smashed in. The small house was dark, with only the ambient light leaking in. Poor stupid peasants couldn’t afford windows. It was a simple matter to begin searching the place. I found a sack and stuffed three fresh loaves of bread in while munching on the forth.

The biggest find was a cutting knife and an iron fire poker. Not great, but good enough for starting weapons. I quickly got to work cutting up the corpse. Everything was the same as the other NPCs from the training hall, which was good. I went to the barn next. There were two horses, this was more than perfect. I had studied how to put on a saddle before starting. It was slow going but I managed it, making sure all the straps were secure on both horses. Something I would need to practice more in my atrium. I mounted a horse and I led exited the barn while bringing the second along with a rope and continued my journey down the road.

Riding-1Yee Haw!LvL: You understand the basics of riding

Biology-1Blood is goodLvL: You understand the basics of biology

Murderer-2Your soul is tainted+1 Fate per LvL

Experience+60001+10 LvLYou are level 5

I opened up my status menu. "Status."

STATUSNameKenji ShadowenLevel5Constitution5Strength5Dexterity25Endurance5Wisdom0Intelligence0Charisma0Luck0Fate3Remaining Points15

Three points per level, that was not that much. Also no points for actions taken either, which was a disappointment. I placed five into wisdom, intelligence, and dexterity. I figured some MP would be useful if there was any magic out here.

Things were going great and there were more people to kill.

***

Jacksaw821: Did you see the video that went up?

Ticklebot: Holy crap that was intense

Ramponator: No mercy, just the way I like it

UltimataSecret: I know he likes to push things, but damn, never pissing off the lady in white

Ticklebot: Note, do not get stains on her dress

Hellzor37: I tried killing everyone at a farm but they overwhelmed me

Ramponator: That is why the Lord of Blood makes it rain red and not you

MysticSage: All those farmers don’t stand a chance

Lord’s Disciple: Make it rain!