I am not too sure about the next sequence of events as it happened long long ago...

After falling asleep in the pod, I wake up and to find myself facing a line-up of various “creatures” possibly better to call them “slime monsters”? It reminded me of what one would witness in a police line-up. Maybe it was a police line-up as all the monsters were caged and cuffed.

“WELCOMEEEE TO RULER OF RULES!!!!!” Boomed a loud annoying voice. It was loud enough to make me go momentarily deaf.

“Ouch” I meekly cried out as I stuck my finger in my ears in pain.

“Oh sorry about that…Let me tone this down…”

“WELLLLLCOME TO RULER OF RULES!!!!!” This time the volume had been turned down.“I can see that you are a new player.”

I searched around for the source of the voice and found a small cricket speaking into a mike…it looked like the Disney character…identical in appearance….I am sure this game will be sued by Disney if word ever got out…maybe this is why they don't want anyone to remember those who play this game....to prevent being sued.

“I am Jiminy Cricket!” The cricket introduced himself.

So totally going to get sued; that’s copy right infringement right there.

While these thoughts are amusing my mind is trying to delve into the deeper meaning of having such a character introduce the game. I am no genius but right now my mind is running on over-drive. There could be a riddle here or some clue...I need to keep my eyes peeled.

If memory serves me right, in the Pinocchio, Jiminy served as a guide…he was the official conscience of Pinocchio, wise and optimistic….also Jiminy Cricket(s)!" was originally a polite expletive euphemism for Jesus Christ…if I were to look at it like this… the underlying meaning could mean the guide who will teach me the rules set out by the God (game creator) of this world?… It could also be a joke… but whatever for now I plan to just listen everything he has to say.

“Hi…I am Enma Ikeda” I lied.

Jiminy frowned. “It is a terrible thing to lie…Sora-chan…” The cricket gloated in Enma’s voice.

Rage built up inside me quickly. I am not sure how they learnt my real-life nick-name but speaking in Enma’s voice was taking a joke too far.

“My name is Sora-chan.” I spoke with my teeth clenched; holding myself back from stomping the little bug to death. Haven't we all been taught never to share our real life details on the internet? Like hell I am going to give away my real name.

“Still no good…but I guess this will have to do…” The cricket muttered. “Well that settles your in-game name…”

“Wait a second! You didn’t say anything about in game name!” Sora-chan is a ridiculous in game name….absolutely the worst. I did not know this....but this name would be scorned and laughed upon a lot in the coming future. Imagine the name SoraChan for a heavy weight boxer.... not cool. This is the second time I have been christened with a terrible name in a virtual reality game.

“True…but liars are always punished.” The cricket spoke with a devilish smile. I bet his is enjoying this.

I am so going to stomp on this bug when we are done. I hate Jiminy Cricket and his damned self-righteousness.

“Anyways…moving on to other things of interest. Have you ever played a virtual reality game before?”

“Yes.”

“Really! Which one?”

“Royal Road…”

“Oh…” he seemed kind of let down. “We get many of those there but that’s alright. I am your host for now to help you adjust to this game and answer any question you may have…”

“Enma came here? Didn’t he?” I interrupted at the first chance I got.

The cricket forced a smile and continued, “I meant questions about the game….however I am willing to make an exception and answer other questions you may have for a price….”

“The price being?” I asked slowly.

“One fairness point for each question asked not pertaining to the game…”

“What’s a fairness point?”

“See that’s a good question. It’s about the game. So I am not going to deduct any points for that.”

“I see..” Thought I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Let me introduce you to the first rule of this game. The Rule of Fairness. Some call it the Law of Fairness but let me assure you that it refers to the same thing.”

“…”

“At the start of this game I will give you 100 fairness points.”

The moment he finished that sentence a window popped up in front of me and it had a glowing number on it reading:

100FP

“Do you see it?” He asked excitedly.

I simply nodded.

“This is a measure for fairness….everything in this world is governed by this rule…and some others which you will have to discover on your own….it wouldn’t be fun if I told you all of them…”

“I see…not that I am very clear what this game is about though…”

The cricket was frowning again….somehow when he frowned in the movie it was cute…here it reminded me of my mom who was constantly disappointed with me…

“Right I completely forgot…you did interrupt me at the most crucial part….” He began talking to himself again.“Alright…. WELCOME TO RULER OF RULES…”

Not this again…

“This is a game where you create your rules! Create your own body! Create your own powers! Create your own rules! There is no limit to what you can or cannot do!” The cricket sipped a little water from a tiny glass. I notice there is also a tiny water dispenser next to him.

“…” I stayed silent. This game was beginning to sound lame and boring. I accidentally yawned, my body is mentally believing it is still early morning. I am not used to getting up so early.

I think I struck a nerve there. The cricket's nerve.

The cricket paused. “You think this is boring?” He asked in an exceedingly threatening manner.

“Yes.” I replied back in complete honesty. “A game where you can customize everything? That’s too easy…No limits? Where’s the challenge?”

The cricket smiled. “Ah…if it’s only that much then don’t worry…remember I talked about the Rule of Fairness?”

I nodded again.

“See you can create any power, species or universal law….as long as it is fair.” He spoke the last bit with a wicked smile.

“So there is a limit.” I interjected just to annoy him.

“…moving on!” He recovered surprisingly quick. “I will introduce to one more feature of this game and my role here is done..”

I see why he was quick to move on. He just wanted to finish this and get away from me.

I wonder if this is an NPC or a real person. It feels like I am talking to a real person, with all the melodrama etc. I wonder.

“The 100 fairness points are something you receive only at the start of the game. You won’t be seeing them ever again.”

“What are they for then?”

“This is the start of the game…the absolute start…think of this as your initial bank deposit. You must now wisely spend these points in choosing your guardian, species and starting power!”

“I see…so these 100 points must be split in each category ….”

The cricket nodded away. “You understand …you understand! Now let me introduce you to the Guardians!”

The cricket presented me to the line-up of cuffed creatures.

“These are the Guardians. Think of them as your guides and allies in the game.”

I looked at the creatures ahead of me; a slime.

A “Display more details” option apred and I clicked it.

Species: Slime

Sub species: Electric Slime

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 50

Level: 6

Cost: 1 FP

“Cricket…can this slime speak to me, if I make it my guardian?”

“Unfortunately not, it’s intelligence is too low. However, if you raise its intelligence there is a chance it will speak.”

“This slime is supposed to a player’s guide about the game, right? It won’t be much of a guide if it can’t talk about the game…”

“Well I did say choose wisely…also these aren’t just guides…they are your Guardians…they are your allies who will fight alongside you.”

“Got it.” My eyes look around. I ask my next question, “How many guardians are there?”

“If you move your hand side ways like this…” Cricket moves his hand left to right as if he were moving an invisible panel. “You can see more guardians.”

I copied his action; this panel only had slimes of different colors. Those wondering…slimes were cuffed on their antenna and other places….

Species: Slime

Sub species: Acid Slime

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 30

Level: 5

Cost: 1 FP

Species: Slime

Sub species: None

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 10

Level: 1

Cost: 1 FP

Species: Slime

Sub species: Poisonous Slime

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 25

Level: 1

Cost: 1 FP

Species: Slime

Sub species: Fire Slime

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 50

Level: 10

Cost: 2 FP

Species: Slime

Sub species: Mimic Slime

Age: ????

Intelligence: 1

STR: 5

Level: 1

Cost: 3 FP

Interesting...but I wanted to see more....and hopefully select one that could speak to me.

The next panel got me really excited; dragons of different colors!