Have you ever read one of those books where people play an awesome VR game, and then they are locked inside without a logout ability? Their bodies in the real world, still and inert while they scramble for a way to get out of this insanely cool virtual world, all the while unsure they even want to go back?

Well, part of that happened to me. Except for the world being awesome... Oh, and I sure as hell want to get out. And did I explain yet that an NPC took control over my body and another one that of my girlfriend? Who is also in this world, by the way.

Probably not. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

My name is Mitchel, a standard old-school nerd. Sci-fi, fantasy, D&D, gaming. If it's anything related to any of those, you name it; I've done it. Most of my time goes into VR games, of course, but not as much as it used to. With all the rules that banned earning real-world currency, I have to waste a great deal of my precious time on work.

How I managed to get a girlfriend? Well, it's not the nineties anymore, man! There's plenty of girls who game as much as I do. Sandra was one of them. I met her in college while playing one of those location-based collection games that were the hype back then. We hit it off right away.

Anyway, we've been together for two years now, and for my twenty-fifth birthday, she was planning something big. As these things go, another game would be arriving around my birthday. It was one of the running gags in our friends-club. What will the Mitchel-day Game be this year? Usually, they weren't that good. Cash-grabs or time-sinks, you barely wanted clogging up the precious space on your VR implant.

But not this time! This time it was going to be bloody awesome! An immersive VR game from a famous Russian company known to be at the front of everything new. With state of the art, super-realistic graphics, true physics, and a periodic table augmented with awesome goodies like Planetanium and Mithril, it was rumored to have everything a geek could wish for, and more. Besides that, they would bring a new Cerebrussian VR implant with it. An easy, hot-swap with their previous model. Of course, it only worked if you had that one, but like most people nowadays, I did.

Anyway, Sandra had gotten us both into the early access, which would give us a first peek into the world. A two-week head start! The fact that we had no idea what type of world they had created, if it was going to be fantasy or sci-fi, just made it all the better. Many ideas were spooking around the Internet, many based on the periodic tables and some other little titbits that had been teased, but nobody really knew.

So, a few hours before the drone delivery was slated to arrive, we were pacing through the house as if we wanted to walk an indoor marathon. The neighbors in the micro-home below ours must think we had all our friends over.

Sandra kept tugging her pants up, glowering at me to say something. I wasn't that crazy. If she wanted to keep her wardrobe after losing all that weight, it was her party. Besides, with the way her circumference ping-ponged between my hip and shoulder size, there was some logic to her decision.

"Stop looking, jackass!" Her soft, purring voice made me smile. It was the thing that had attracted me to her right off the bat, even before I'd seen her curvaceous Latin body.

"Yes, Jack!" Throwing her my best attempt at a winning grin, she puffed her cheeks before smiling sweetly. I always won that one!

A soft whirring sound came from the window, and I rushed towards it. An obnoxious tone wailed through the room, letting me know that I had once again been too slow. Yanking the window open, the wail stopped.

A white drone with a red logo on it hung before the window. Almost the size of a small car; it barely produced any wind, and when the mechanical arm held a package in front of me, I easily grabbed it. When the hand didn't let go, I frowned.

"Please be advised. The seller of this product would like to let you know they can't be held responsible for any loss of physical or mental things. If you agree, state your name and birthday."

Well, that wasn't ominous at all, and vague to boot. Had I known what I know now, I wouldn't have agreed. The stupid drone could have taken the package and shoved it up someone else's ass. But without the valuable intel I learned later, I did as I always had.

"Mitchel Brewcanon, sixth of November twenty twenty-eight."

Yeah, my dad changed his name when he was twenty and never earned the cash to change it back. Thanks, dad.

The arm let go, and I quickly hauled my prize inside.

"Thank you, and have a beautiful life."

I really should have listened to the stupid thing and realized there had never been a delivery robot with such a stupid speech. But I only had eyes for the book-sized package in my hand. I closed the window and tore at the bamboo wrapped packaging. I hated the material; you always cut your fingers on the sharp lines.

"Careful! If you snap it, you can sleep at your parent's place for the next month!"

"Yeah, yeah, stop worrying."

I gently pulled the two palm-sized VR implants from the package and handed her one. The game was pre-installed, and all we had to do was plug the new implant in and wait for the rest of the worldwide delivery to finish. It shouldn't be that long, perhaps ten minutes.

"Let's get this puppy inside me!" I grinned at my own great pun and looked up.

Sandra just stared at me, shaking her head. Then, like me, she pulled back her sleeve.

On my arm, a small jet black finger-length screen blinked alive. I quickly scrolled through the menu and found the eject button. An opening appeared from which a long, thin black and silver stick popped out. I removed it and got my small box. An almost similar one was inside, and I felt a bit letdown. Why didn't it have another color? Then my pragmatic self called me a fool as I knew I wouldn't see it again until I removed it for the next iteration.

Gently pushing it inside, I closed the panel and waited for a row of blinking blue lights to appear.

"Ready?" Sandra was already lying down on our bed. It dominated half of our single room. Not because the bed was so big, but because the entire room was three by five.

"Definitely! And guapa? This is the best gift I've ever had!"

"You tell me that every year! Either the gifts keep getting better, or you need to get another alzheimer's shot."

Squeezing her hand, I saw the familiar blinking dot at the bottom of my vision.

"Let's go in!"

I would never have guessed that was the last time we touched each other or held hands in the real world.

As I used the negative feedback brain interface to open up the virtual overlay, I was greeted with a full-width welcome animation. It showed me a dim, forested area with a tall moss-covered tower. On top of it was a blazing beacon with a figure next to it.

"Cool, it's old-school!"

My voice didn't get any response, and I sniggered. Of course, it wouldn't. How dense could I be? This thing was fully immersive; no outside sounds could come in. That was if I had actually moved my lips to talk, which I hadn't.

My so far invisible avatar floated forward into the screen, and with a smooth transition, the wind rushed along my face. The temperature lowered a bit, or at least that's how it felt. Nothing really changed, of course. I was still cozy on my bed with the heater at a comfortable twenty-two degrees.

I couldn't look around yet, my gaze fixed forward, and I frowned. I hated it when they limited my ability to look around, even if the reason was that I had yet to pick an avatar! I closed in on the tower and saw a young, well-built man stand next to the blazing fire. He was warming his hands while muttering to himself. When I was almost on him, he must have heard something because his gaze snapped up.

Two intensely black eyes set in a sharp face stared at me. The welcome NPC seemed human, which was kind of a letdown. I loved playing odd things, my favorite character in the previous game being a walking tree from some classical movie.

"So, there you are." His voice was cold and uncaring and barely louder than the soft crackling of the fire. Taking a step back, he sniffed. "Alright, so what will it be?

Staring at the welcome npc, my mood increased again. This was a whole lot different from some overly welcome pixy that kept yapping at you. Knowing my way around these things, I was ready to see the first options.

"Show me the races."

I got another uncaring gaze before the man raised his hand and wriggled his fingers in a pattern that reminded me of someone playing the piano.

The fire roared to life, and the faint figure of a humanoid showed up, more of an outlining than a high definition image. I wondered if I would get to see it better after I chose. Not that I wanted to see this one. It was smaller than the npc and skinny and wholly too uninteresting, so I shook my head.

"What else."

Another finger-movement and the image changed to another human. This one was big and burly with enormously muscled arms.

"Next"

Something like a minotaur, even more muscular than the previous.

"Next!"

Pointy ears and long hair.

"Next!"

The npc turned towards me with an annoyed frown. "How about you tell me what you're looking for before we have to go through the whole list."

Damn, these guys made some good AI. He was so annoying I wanted to pummel him already. Thinking for a second, I came up with some ideas.

"Anything not wholly human. Something plant-like or undead perhaps."

Grouch, as I planned to call him, sniffed and shook his head. "What are you, an idiot? Those are monsters! You can't get a monster's body, and if you could, you would be dead within a day."

Say what? What the hell did I get myself into now? Did this yahoo mean I was going to have to play as a human or something close enough to it? I had my own body for that!

Ahh, if only I had seen the irony in those thoughts and knew more. Perhaps I would have cried.

"What are the least human-like things I can choose from."

The NPC shook his head and waved at the fire. A four-armed humanoid showed up. It wasn't as muscled as the previous ones, but it still seemed to enjoy tossing weights around. Before I could say anything, a finger snipped, and the image changed to a short, stocky thing with six legs, barely the size of a toddler. It was followed by a lightly built human with a horn in the middle of it's head.

"Those and the minotaur you didn't like. All other things are human. Now take your pick so I can get out of here!"

Wishing I could close my eyes or look around to focus better, I made do by listening to the soft crackling of the fire and the howling wind. I almost got distracted when I realized I felt the wind and the temperature without having an avatar body yet. Probably some glitch.

"That thing with the horn, can I get a clearer image of it?"

I was hoping for it to resemble some demonic entity, although with the previous comments on not playing monsters, that would probably be too much to hope for. Sandra must be laughing her ass off by now. She always played things resembling elves and hated the fact I didn't just pick something that fit nicely with what she had picked.

"This is as clear as I can make it for you. But with your personality, it wouldn't be a bad choice."

The sharp eyes narrowed, but I detected some hope in them. Probably hoping he could go back home, wherever that might be.

Feeling a bit sorry for him, which I thought was a fabulous sign as it showed how good the AI was, I almost agreed. Then another idea popped into my head.

"You waving your fingers around is the way people do magic in this world?"

With a long, annoyed sigh, he nodded.

"And can any race use magic?"

Another nod.

"Are some races better at magic?"

The discussion about magic seemed to annoy the NPC less than the previous one about races, and he shrugged. The uncaring look faded a bit.

"Yes and no. There are many types of magic, and not everyone can use the same types. My race, the first humans you so easily skipped over, are best in Illusion magic."

"Ah, yes, well. I didn't mean anything bad by it, but I am already a human. I like experiencing something different for a change, you understand?"

Why was I explaining myself to a bloody npc? No matter, it was a good thing, I convinced myself, again. There must be some sophisticated neural networks running these AI. Probably independent hardware for every npc. Or so I deluded myself.

The NPC didn't seem placated, but he looked at me with a weary expectancy. He must have realized I had more questions.

"Err… right. So, those three you just showed me? What magic are they good at?"

He thought for a while; his thin sharp eyebrows almost scrunched together.

"The Grablons, those with four arms, are good at augmentation type magics. The second ones, Graz, use destruction, and the Unicornions, are jacks of all trade. They don't excel at anything, really."

I barely heard the jack of all trades thing as I started nodding. Ok, besides the ridiculous names, that would do.

"Fine. I'll pick the four-armed one."

If I needed to wag my hands around to do magic, having four instead of two seemed like the best idea. Besides, Sandra was bound to pick some amazon class. Anything I could do to keep her alive would be good.

The npc seemed a bit surprised and was about to say something when he swallowed it back.

"Good, good! No going back then!"

Before I could wonder about his odd remark, I dropped to the ground. In a reflex, I looked down, just in time to see my two bare and stubby-toed feet hit the rock. A wave of dizziness washed over me as I waved my hands around to try and steady myself.

The four responses I got gave me an instant splitting headache. What the hell? Feeling the migraine intensify as I tried to make sense of the extra feedback, I hurriedly ignored half of the impulses.

With a solid slap, two hands struck against my bare legs, and I was finally able to calm down. Looking at the two thin arms hanging down my sides I had to suppress the instinct to move them. A soft thudding headache showed I was barely in time.

A soft chuckle drew my attention. With chagrin, I looked at the NPC and saw the smirk slowly disappear from his face. Bastard think's he's funny?

"I've changed my mind. I want to pick the third race." I hissed, staring at him.

"Sorry, no going back. Your choice is final."

Fine. Whatever. I'd just die and start over! At least I'd know what to pick next time. Stepping to the ledge, a phantom hand shoved me back.

"Err, I wouldn't do that. You only have one life. If you lose it, you will have to repurchase another entry point."

I looked at him, feeling the cold sweat seep on my head as I recalled how close to the edge I had been. What the serious fuck? One life? Since when was that a thing!

The NPC scraped his throat and looked at me with a little bit of regret in his eyes. "Don't worry. You will get used to the extra arms in a few days."

Bastard.

"Fine. What classes can I pick?"

He didn't respond right away as he looked at me with a frown. He probably saw my anger rise, and he quickly began talking.

"I don't know anything about that. But next, you choose your starting area. You can learn some skills there, different ones for each area." He seemed to think for a second before he continued as if in hindsight. "Be careful, though; only the first two skills are for free."

I sat down, barely noticing the perfect response of my body and the sensations that were impossible to distinguish from real.

"Fine. What starting areas are there that teach magic."

As soon as I saw his pitying headshake, I wanted to throttle him.

"None of the starter area's teach magic," he said, glimpsing at my body in distaste.

Fuck him. I narrowed my eyes, wondering for a second what I looked like. "How do I learn magic?"

He seemed to finally take pity on me and turned back to the campfire to think. That or he was laughing. Seeing his shaking shoulders made me want to push him forward into the fire.

"You learn it from a master magician, of course. To become an apprentice is a great honor!"

Of course. Staring at his back, I began thinking for a second. So if I couldn't start out a mage, that was ok. I could just learn later. What would be useful for a mage with four arms to learn?

"What is the race I am now known for? What are they good at?"

"Juggling." This time the mirth wasn't hidden, and I stomped on the ground as he broke out into laughter. Seriously? Perhaps I should just buy another entry.

"What type of starter areas are there?" I spat at him.

After a few seconds, he finally stopped laughing enough to reply. "The guard area, the herbalist area, and the crafters area."

"Ok. The crafters' area it is."

I knew I'd probably made another mistake when he quickly nodded and swished his fingers.

"Done, and no going back!"

Fuck him! What idiot game designer thought up this retarded starting npc? Was it random or something?

"So, what's the next step?"

"Nothing. You're done. I'll send you to the starting area in a moment."

I frowned. No stat allocation or explanation of things like strength and intelligence?

"How do I become stronger?" I blurted out.

He looked at me with such contempt I knew I had to find out later if everyone had to deal with this scumbag.

"By doing things?" He said in a voice that matched his face.

Done with being goaded, I ignored him for now. "So if I run, my stamina goes up, and if I carry things, I become stronger?"

He nodded, and I saw a shimmer appear in the air behind him. Shit! I had to hurry!

"Ok, and how do I see my statistics?"

He shook his head, even the contempt gone now, replaced by the resignation that he was dealing with a complete and utter idiot.

"By calling up your status window."

Of course. "And how do I do that?"

"You are one incredible fool, aren't you? How did you even manage to get an entry pass? You say `status window'!"

The shimmering behind the NPC now covered the fire and changed into a blueish swirling portal.

Two phantom hands grabbed me and raised me from the ground. I tried struggling, but it was in vain, and they drew me towards the portal.

The last thing I heard before I was tossed in were the mocking words of the NPC.

"Good luck during the tutorial. You will need it."