A soft thrumming permeated the silence. The upbeat music accompanied the vibrating gadget, alerting of an incoming call. A door opened and a lanky man came out, only wearing his boxers. He had a towel draped over his shoulders, his left hand using it to wipe the excess water from his hair.

"Hello?" Came the baritone voice.

Silence.

"...It's okay." He answered in a controlled tone. 'Not really...' Yet his inner voice begged to differ.

Another brief pause as the guy listened to the caller.

"No need to apologize. I was about to call and say I wouldn't be able to make it anyway...Yeah, I'm busy..." 'No you're not. You've been anticipating this day for a long time...'

He moved on to his bed and fell on it with the phone still held to his ear.

"It's alright. See you soon..." 'Yeah...maybe next year.'

Lucas ended the call. For a minute, he remained still. Then he sat up with a swift movement, the hand holding the phone raised up and poised to throw the phone against the wall.

'...'

'Nevermind...' Phones aren't cheap nowadays, destroying one so he could vent wouldn't be worth it.

So instead, he settled with the next best thing. He stood up and kicked the side of the bed.

A loud bang resounded as his foot connected with it.

Something he regretted immediately as he hopped in place, his hand clutching his injured foot.

A few minutes and some curse words later, Lucas found himself seated on the bed. His gaze fell on his clock.

The green indicator flashed on 7:56 p.m.

There's still time. Instead of focusing on his throbbing toe, he opened his phone and messaged his friends.

"Hey...took a rain check. Turns out I can play with you guys after all."

He looked at the bottom of his phone and saw his friends' avatar's move down. An indicator with round buttons appeared in an instant.

OtakuGirlXX, ArcticMonkey, Spartacus are typing...

" ✺◟(∗❛ัᴗ❛ั∗)◞✺ Yayy~!!"

"Great! See you there Luke!"

"The gang is complete!"

His friends' reply came in succession. Their reactions made a smile appear on his face. Atleast some people were excited to see him. He completely forgot his recent pains, both emotional and physical.

The online game, Infinitia Online was about to go live. He wasn't supposed to make it. This day was his birthday after all. If things went the way he planned, he'd be in a restaurant with his family. But as per usual, the schedule changed. He should've learned by now. And yet, he kept hoping.

'Is it really wrong to hope to be with my family during my birthday?'

Lucas shook his head to clear it out. Pity parties aside, he needed to get something to wear. Otherwise, he'd risk getting a cold. He went to the cabinet and took out clothes he can get comfortable in. Performing a body check before he immersed himself in the game, he realized he wasn't that hungry. He'll check things out with his friends, maybe finish a quest or two then if he gets hungry, he'll just log out.

He looked at his laptop, situated on his bedside table. A browser was opened to the Infinitia website.

The site didn't have a lot of information. It was quite straightforward, actually. It only had the name of the game on top and a timer with a simple instruction that sat below it.

'Plug in your Virtual Reality Console while staying on this page. Press the Play button once the countdown reaches zero.'

Great reviews about the game have spread through the entire gaming community. Gaming and reaction videos from alpha and beta tests of the game spread through the internet like wildfire. Naturally, his gaming buddies knew about it and two of them even participated in the tests.

Game popularity is usually dictated by the innovations it presented. It had to offer something new compared to the other VRMMORPG's in the market.

In the case of Infinitia Online, there wasn't much hype about it in the beginning. Only that an unknown company created and produced the game. Other top games had the backing of well-known companies. So it was only natural that people ignored it.

It all started with a game teaser in its official website. The caption read, “Would you like to live in a world separate from your own? One where magic exists and you get to play the hero?” which at the time seemed too common for a catch phrase. The publicity didn't work. The game didn't gain a following and after a time, the developers went silent. A few months later, the underestimated game made a comeback with a gameplay video to boot.

The game brought new meaning to the word virtual reality. The former could be disregarded as the latter gave it more emphasis. The graphics was too genuine. As if it was a movie shot in real life and polished with awesome effects. At first, debates and speculations ran wild about its authenticity. Some people remarked that it must have been a short movie opening to promote the game. Whilst others hoped that it was the real thing.

The whole conflict reached its conclusion as they released gameplay videos and more details. Suffice to say, the reaction and attention it gathered was more than overwhelming. Some game elements and features were also revealed.

There were some features that were the same as most games. They dulled the pain sensation to avoid detrimental effects on the body. They also imitated some human biological conditions to make things realistic. But the pervasive truth was that the "graphics" were beyond its years. "It’s like I got transported to a different world and wore helmets and swung swords!” "It's so real that I could actually feel the fine hairs on my avatars skin when I ran my hand through it!" "I actually perspired after I did some monster hunting!" were some of the reactions posted through different sites.

Because of these reasons, and coupled with peer pressure, Lucas finally caved in. He got roped in by his friends to try out the game.

“Well here goes nothing!” After sending a message to his friends that he would be logging in, Lucas placed the Virtual Reality Gear on. He felt as if his body got sucked into a vacuum and after a few seconds, everything went black.

~*~

When Lucas came to, he found himself standing in a dark room. “Wow, the developers did good...” he murmured to himself.

“…”

“What am I standing on?” he observed when he felt a wet sensation on his feet.

“Water?! Am I standing on water?! Hmmm…” His gaze went up as light flashed a few steps from where he stood. It was a floating crystal shard, hovering up and down. The object seemed to beckon him.

“I guess that’s the log-in panel. Might as well get through with this.”

Reaching out to the crystal, he heard a voice echo inside his head. “Hi! I’m Tir! Thank you for responding to our cry for help! What’s your name?” a soft female voice said coupled with a flash of silvery white light.

After the blinding light show faded, a girl about the size of a twelve year old floated in front of Lucas. She wore lacy white vestments and her face radiated with an expectant smile. On her head was a white beret with a feather design.

“I’m Luca—wait a minute! If she’s asking for my name then she must mean my character name right?” Lucas started to say but the rest turned to mumbling as his right hand went up to rub his chin. He wasn’t really good with names. Usually, he settled with names of actors he liked. This time, it took a while before a name of a certain actor crossed his mind. Well, not really. More like the character that the actor portrayed in the movie. He was about to say his new name when he hesitated.

His eyes had a deadpan look. Remembering the times when his friend Mikhail had used “pet” names. Just because his friend found it hard to pronounce the names he chose.

“Oh…Leonardo Di Caprio this time? I’ll call you Leo.”

“You got that from Robin Williams this time I presume? Meh, will call you Rob!”

“Now it’s Johnny Depp? Too wordy, Jon will be okay!”

Those memories made him cringe. So instead of using the real character name Ulrich, he chose to change how it was spelt. Alric. Yes, that would suffice.

Upon reaching a decision he looked at the waiting girl who had her head tilted to the side “I’m Alric! It's spelled as A-l-r-i-c! Nice to meet you!”

Yes, he didn’t choose a jester’s name. That would be too hard to live down. Yes, the character and portrayal was great. But he didn't have what it took to carry that name.

The girl chuckled, “Hello Alric! Before you enter our world, may I ask you a few questions?” and as she did she floated towards him.

“Ummm…sure! She might be asking about my character…”

The girl twirled around and shouted with glee “Yaaay!”

“First things first, what will be your race?” She asked her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Oh! Asking that all of a sudden huh? There isn’t even a choice? Well…an elf would be nice--woah!” He yelled when small particles of light engulfed his whole body.

When the light faded, the first thing he noticed was that he wore different clothes. It was mostly made of leather and cloth and had a green and yellow theme. Apart from that, he noticed something felt a little different.

He raised his arms and observed them. He seemed more slender than his usual build.

‘I wonder if I look any different’ and just when he thought of it, a floating mirror appeared in front of him.

“Whoa! I take back what I said! I look nothing like before!” That was putting it lightly. In actuality, Lucas' appearance became more feminine and refined. The word androgynous popped into his head as the more apt description. For a more common term, he seemed to have transformed into a “beautiful” man. However, the most noticeable difference was that he had pointed ears.

He did different poses in the mirror. Imitating the models in the commercial ads he had seen. “Wow! I definitely look like an elf! Complete with the pointed ears. Not to mention the green eyes! This is awesome!" He got a little bit sidetracked, excited at the level of detail. Gone were the days that you looked at a monitor and used sliders to change your avatar's appearance.

"But I’m curious, let’s see…how about an orc?” This time he wasn’t that surprised, well not enough to elicit a yell and embarrass himself.

First, he noticed was his height and built. He was a bit taller than his elven form and his build a little bulkier. Complexion-wise, it was light green and he had tattered clothes on. He looked like an orc alright, complete with two canines sticking out of his lips.

With a huge smile plastered on his face, Alric tried different races. From a vampire to a werewolf, a demi-human and every single race he could think of. Most of them were available but there were some he tried that seemed to be nonexistent in the game. The NPC beside him remained patient, awaiting for him to settle on his final choice.

“To have so many choices at my disposal, and this is the first question. This is hard…”

“I guess I’d go for a human?” He said and finally returned into his normal appearance. The only difference this time was his eyes which looked bigger than his small squinty ones. Bigger than his usual European Asian eyes.

“Are you satisfied with the way you look?” The girl asked which made Alric look at the mirror. He always had unruly hair in the real world and he didn’t want to have that problem within the game.

“I was wondering if I could have easy to style hair?? One that isn’t...like mine?” He said with a sheepish look. With a flurry of lights, his hair changed to a shorter and cleaner look.

“Will that do?” Tir asked afterwards.

Lucas' hand went up and ruffled his hair. True to his request, his hair didn't get messed up. After his hand left his head, his hair had turned back to its "fixed" form. He wasn't the vain type of person. The only reason he requested it was because he disliked fixing his hair if he had to go somewhere important.

"Yeah. This'll do. Thanks!" He answered as he turned back to Tir.

“Are you more inclined to using magic in a battle or fighting with a weapon?” The little girl asked, her face taking on a more serious look.

“Well, I would say I’m a mixture of both? I like to be able to attack my enemies with a weapon. But I also want to use magic when the need arises.” He explained. In the games he played, he usually played a hybrid character. He played the role of mid-vanguard, he stayed in the middle of the formation. He did this to protect the mages and healers at the back while dishing out damage as well.

“Wow! What a unique class! I wonder how you’ll turn out to be? That will be it! Enjoy your stay in our world!” The NPC answered which kind of confused Lucas.

He didn’t know that she was asking about a class. Before he was able to react, the NPC twirled around and burst into bright lights. He covered his eyes not knowing what to expect next.

The sudden noise reached Lucas' ears, prompting him to open his eyes.

"Wait...you're not Lucas here. You're Alric! You have to start referring to yourself as Alric from now on." Alric said to himself.

To avoid being the victim of the stampede of people, Alric started walking. The ruckus came from incoming players ported from the character creation screen. Previous experiences from games told him that this must have been the Beginner Town. The place where newly created characters first appear.

“The developers really deserve an award for this game.” Alric said, his eyes roaming around to look at the infrastructures and things in front of him. What he saw made his eyes shine with wonder as a medieval looking town appeared before his eyes. He saw other players talking to the local NPC's, some with user interfaces out.

“Let’s see if we can access the menu somehow.” Once he thought about it, a glowing round button appeared in front of him. “Hmmm not even a tutorial? It’s worth a try I guess.” He said pressing the button.

A window appeared in front of him. The menu looked like the stereotypical ones you usually see in MMORPGS. The categories that appeared were the usual. From Character Status, Inventory, Traits, Abilities, Friends List and more. He clicked the first button and his Character Status screen popped up. It showed him the usual status with detailed stats.

“Let’s see. My character name is… right…Alric. And my race is human. But my class...why is it greyed out and has question marks?” He asked himself upon seeing ‘???????’ on his class window.

“Maybe my class isn't finalized yet?” He said skipping the class part and checking his stats. What appeared to him was a spiderweb-type diagram. Most MMORPG's had numbers to quantify stats. Infinitia Online, in its quest to be unique, only provided a web diagram.

“My strength and magic is balanced but it’s not that high. I have normal agility and above average dexterity. And of course, it’s up to me to have low luck. I wonder how they calculate these things…not much player choice eh?” He scratched his head in confusion.

He was about to check his weapons tab when a button appeared in front of him. It had a phone design complete with the face of a person that somehow looked familiar to him.

“Yo Lucas! Where are you?! We’re here at the beginner’s hall, come here and go get your starter pack!”

“I’ll head over there now. Geez Mikhail, you’re as impatient as always.” Upon hanging up, Alric followed the troves of new adventurers.

After passing by a few buildings, a large structure appeared before Alric. It covered about a whole street and it looked more like a city hall. In front of its steps, a guy with a large build was waving at him.

“Mikhail?” Alric trailed off as he was unsure if the person waving was his friend. To a certain extent, he expected different races. He knew that there would be different avatar appearances but he didn’t expect his friend to go this far.

“Oi! Lucas! Come quick! We’ve all been waiting for you!” Alric's large friend confirmed who he was with a grin. The smile revealed sharp incisors, more so than normal humans, underneath his lips. They had about the same height in real life but his friend looked more like a brute with his body size in the game. What more, his skin seemed to have a light reddish hue. If that wasn't enough, he had horns on each side of his head.

“Call me Alric here, anyway what’s up with that?” Alric intoned, pointing at the horns on his friend's head.

“Alric huh? I was half expecting you to name yourself from actors again. Well, it’s easy to remember since it’s a German name. My cousin’s name is Alric!”

Alric had a sarcastic smile on. He would rather die before he let Mikhail know the name was indeed from an actor’s character in a movie.

And with that Mikhail gestured on a panel invisible to Alric. In the end, a small button with his friends smiling face appeared in front of him.

“Thor is trying to add you as a friend!”

YES

NO

“Thor? Really?” Alric said with a raised eyebrow. Maybe it was time for him to get back at his friend.

The burly man scratched his head. “Well…I couldn’t come up with a name that fit my character.” Then he shrugged.

Well, that was a let down. Alric didn’t even have a chance to snipe at his friend for choosing a goofy name. It was a God’s name. But it didn’t automatically make it sound cool. In fact, it sounded goofy.

Alric pressed the yes button and after doing that the panel disappeared.

“Kind of expected you to be this plain. You didn’t choose to be a human did you? Didn’t I tell you that the Human race doesn’t have very beneficial racial skills?” His friend had said as they walked through the large hallway.

“There were too many to choose from and I didn’t know which one would benefit my ideal class. I’ll just wing it. How about you? What race did you choose? And where are Jessie and Reina?” Alric asked absentmindedly as his eyes wandered all over the place.

“I chose to be a Dragonkin Demi-Human! It has great advantage when it comes to stamina and defense which is perfect for the Guardian class I’m aiming for. Jess and Reina are up ahead and checking out the beginner equipment you can receive.” His friend Thor had answered but everything he said fell on deaf ears. Alric stood transfixed at a scene in one of the doors in the hallway that lead outside the building.

A girl stood there, her long white robes covering her from head to foot. She stood amongst the crowd, yet she seemed to stand out above the rest. The way that she awkwardly scanned her surroundings fascinated Alric. How the hood of her robe fell on her shoulders as she moved which revealed hair the color of the clear blue sky. No…it seemed like it was more of the color of sapphire…or was it…the color of the blue sea? Her hair color must have been changing by the way it caught the light from outside.

“Alric! Are you listening!” Seeing that he didn’t respond, Thor’s eyes followed what he was looking at and whistled upon seeing the girl.

“Don’t fall for those types! You know that this is the online world. Although we can’t change genders we can always change the way we look.” Thor chided dragging his friend by the collar of his clothing.

“Hey! Wait! Thor! You don’t have to drag me around!” Alric intoned and his eyes automatically went back to where the girl stood but she wasn’t there anymore.

“Yeah, she must have been an elf…from the way she looked.” He murmured only to himself, not intending for his friend to hear.

“There they are! Jessie! Reina-chan! Alric has arrived! And look at what our plain friend chose for a race!” Thor teased as he gave Alric a whack on the back.

Thor stressed his name so that the two would immediately pick up on his character's name. Basic online gaming etiquette dictates that real world names weren't allowed. The character name used by a player is as good as the real name. It replaced the one the player had in real life. It was a way for players to protect their privacy. Some even use it to cosplay a character they liked. There aren't any laws restricting real name usage. It's still the player's prerogative whether they would use their real names for games.

Even if it was a joke, the hit still stung a little. Maybe because his stats did not have enough Vitality to begin with. He caressed his stinging shoulder and turned to the side where Thor acknowledged the women. “Sup Jessie! Reina-san!” Alric said absentmindedly, not really knowing where among the crowd their friends are. In response to them, two women turned in their direction.

A stunning scene unfolded in Alric's eyes.

The two beautiful women who stood in front of them had totally different appearances. Yes, he knew their real appearances in the real world thanks to social media. But with the level of realism this games’ graphic engine had, it was still a sight to behold. If you add the fact that their race also seemed unique when compared to his.

The first one named Jessie had short green hair up to her shoulders. She wore beginner equipment but what stood out were the two things that seemed to protrude…or come out of her back. They were a pair of wings, which even at a state wherein it was folded, already reached below her buttocks area.

In contrast, Reina donned a yukata and had a more natural look. Her black hair tied on the back that reached below her shoulders. The typical appearance of a Japanese woman. It fit because she is Japanese in real life. It was also the reason why they added -chan and -san after her name. She didn’t stand out that much compared to the former. Well, if not for the light blue ball of fire hovering above her head.

“Hey Alric! Call me Jess here! And glad to see you’ve finally arrived!” said the rather tomboyish Jessie whilst Reina bowed awkwardly

“H-hello Al-Alric-kun!” The black haired girl blushed from her stuttering. Reina wasn't usually like this in the games they played. Well, not the virtual reality ones at least. This game had that effect. It would be easier to say that they got transported to a different world instead. Everything screamed reality.

But not quite. A friend invite icon also appeared in front of Alric as the two women worked on their panel. This was what made it a game. Floating icons, user interfaces and menus don't appear in real life. Not like this anyway. Maybe if you were in a science fiction movie.

“Hello, sorry for being late. By the way, can I ask you something?” Alric said after accepting their invitation. His sudden shift in topic made the two girls look at each other.

“What race did you choose? Jess, are you perhaps a…harpy?” Alric asked, his eyebrows knitted in curiosity. Upon finishing the sentence, Thor burst out laughing. Though it was short lived as Jess conked him in the head.

Thor swayed with eyes like swirls, before he fell face first on the ground.

Jess cleared her throat and answered Alric's question as if nothing happened. “I’m one of the Featherfolk Demi-human races. I chose it because it’s very agile and of course because of their innate skills!” She said, unfurling her wings which surprised some of the people around.

“Jessie-chan! Put your wings down. S-Sorry Alric-kun, Jessie-chan is too happy with her race.” Reina said trying to calm the laughing Jess.

“Eh…it’s alright Reina-san. How about you? What’s your race?” Alric studied how Reina looked. But nothing in her appearance clued him in on what her chosen race was.

Feeling as if she was being observed on a microscope, Reina lowered her head down in shame. Her face flushing red.

Thor laughed even harder upon Alric’s question. During the time Alric asked Reina, he was already standing next to them. As if he didn't face plant earlier on the floor.

Jess was quick on her feet, her agile foot connecting with Thor's body. The burly guy flew across the room and destroyed the wall on the side. Dust covered the area and people looked on at the ensuing scene.

“Amazing! Even the environment and the objects within this game can be destroyed or manipulated too. The level of detail.” Alric didn't even react to Thor and Jess' antics. Not even how what happened was impossible if Physics was involved. This was a game after all, and it even had a fantasy setting too. Though he somehow questioned Thor's capabilities as a Tank. If you consider that one kick from Reina's slender legs would send him flying.

Mentally shrugging at the lack of common sense, Alric casually returned his gaze to Reina. By now, their group was already used to Thor and Jess acting like that. The four of them have known each other for a while now. Alric and Reina weren’t strangers to this comedic strip from Thor and Jess. Especially since the latter two knew each other, far longer than Reina and Alric did.

“Umm…I’m a yo-…yokai…” Reina answered in a small voice that Alric had to make sure he heard her right. Seeing Alric stare at him, Reina’s face colored even more. Among the four, Reina had the more vibrant imagination. Actually, one can even say that she’s the one with the most otaku tendencies. It could be attributed to the fact that she had exposure to the culture since she grew up in Japan.

“Oh! That’s…quite unique Reina-san! I’ve never heard of that kind of race in any VMMORPG before!” He tried to brighten up the atmosphere to pacify Reina whose face was about to burst in flames. He could almost see smoke rising from her flushed face.

Alric didn't even need to ask Reina what a Yokai was. He was a bit of an otaku himself. That's why he knew Yokai were ghosts and supernatural creatures in Japanese Folklore.

“E-ehh! Th-thank you Alric-kun!” Reina answered not minding the ruckus happening in the background. As usual, Jess and Thor were in another one of their spats.

“Damn woman! I told you to stop being violent!”

“I’ll stop being violent if you stop being a dickhead!”

“By the way, what’s your class Reina-san?” Alric continued, focusing instead on his conversation with Reina. One thing he learned to master while being friends with Thor and Jess was to tune out unnecessary noise. Right now, they were the source.

“Oh…I don’t know as of yet…it hasn’t been ‘discovered’ yet as I haven’t met the system requirements for my class to appear. I do have the basic skills of a caster so that should mean my class is a magic type one. How about you?”

One of the things that made Infinitia Online popular was that classes weren't determined upon character creation. Yes, you're given a choice whether to play a ‘Melee’ or ‘Caster’ type. The developers made it that way to determine whether you’re inclined to using weapons or magic. That was the reason why some people at the beginning had question marks on their class window.

But recent guides stated that the questions at character creation influenced it. If answered specifically, you can get a higher percentage on a desired class of your choice. So one can say that they prefer to fight using weapons at a long range to end up being an archer. Or they prefer to use magic to heal and support comrades to end up as a healer.

Even so, these roles are never generic in the sense that there are only a few people who have the same. According to rumors, the chosen race and fighting preference affects this. But there might still be a hidden factor to calculate what your class will be.

Aside from the “base” type you start off with, you can ‘discover’ your first class as you play the game. By that they meant, by selecting skills, gaining experience and exploring. Rumors mill about an advanced class which happens after a ‘revelation’. You get higher bonuses to stats and get better skills. And yet, no one has been able to prove this.

The possibilities were endless. The classes discovered include Wizard, Sage, Necromancer, Bishop, Saint, Bard and Gypsy from the common magical types. The common physical types include Brawler, Berserker, Samurai, Warrior, Ranger and Sniper. Others reported to have attained rare ones such as War Chieftain, Warlock, Soul Reaper, Puppeteer and more. That was the main reason why Infinitia Online was dubbed as an otaku’s dream world.

“Oh, so that’s why. I haven’t discovered mine too. I mean, I seem to have access to the basic magic skill tree. And the fighter skill tree as well so I’m not sure what class I am inclined to.” Jess and Thor must have heard the conversation and returned with pouts on their faces.

“Really? That’s kind of risky Alric! Hybrid characters are quite rare because they usually end up falling short by the end. As per your class discovery, don’t worry about it. You can go about your way and level up and choose the skills you want. You don’t even have to worry about it. Jess here already got her base class discovery and changed to it.” Reina pointed to Jess who gave him a peace sign while doing her proud stance once more.

“Really?! Then what is your class Jess?” He asked, very curious about how this class change happened. Up to what he has read in guides and walkthroughs, he still can’t picture how class changes exactly happen.

“I’m a Ranger! Well, I got the discovery when I spent my skill points on archer class skills and when I picked a bow for a starter weapon. A system message appeared asking if I wanted to go on with the class advancement. I guess my choices and race altered the common Archer and made me into Ranger.”

Alric had a look that said “Oooh!” on his face which seemed to make Jess smile wider. 'So that’s how it worked! By spending your skill points and choosing your weapon you can discover your class!'

Alric had lots of questions crossing in his mind. Like which path should he focus on. Especially since he had both branches open for him. He also wondered whether his weapon choice would affect it somehow. Another good point he had was if changing weapons affected class.

‘Hmmm…that’s an interesting thought’

“Well, why don’t you finish choosing your weapons Reina-chan and Alric! We’ll wait by the entrance for you two!” Before Alric could even ask about Thor’s class, the two had already disappeared and left him and Reina alone.