“My work on A.I. really helped when creating the world of Blood Seekers. Players have never experienced this level of immersion with non-player characters before. These are real people in a virtual world, indistinguishable from the players who will log in and inhabit it. This is not the players’ world—they are simply guests.”

from a launch day interview with Kotaro Mizaguchi.

Finally, this game is starting to make some sense, I thought as I eagerly stepped forward. I extended a finger towards the sharp tip of the pin, then stopped, remembering how it felt when the Ravenous Beast tore into my flesh.

“Is this going to hurt?” I asked her. The Blood Princess smiled sweetly at me, like I was a naïve little boy, and I instantly felt humiliated.

“There is no growth without pain.”

I bit my lip and pressed my index finger against the pin. It did hurt, which was still strange, as all the other V.R. MMOs I’d played did not include actual pain.

It’s just a pin, you pansy, I reminded myself as a drop of blood formed on my finger tip. I looked down at the blank page and thought for a moment, then signed my name.

Rand

The Princess smiled and snapped the book closed. The iron latch clicked and she set it aside. “Thank you, Seeker.” I couldn’t help but feel as though she were pleased by my fealty.

“Now, the time has come to choose a path,” she explained, producing a long rolled up sheet of faded parchment. She broke the wax seal and let it unroll before her. “Choose.”

I looked down at it, and smiled as I realized what it was.

It’s time to choose a class!

I looked at the list and was shocked by the first thing I saw.

White Bread: You are the bland white breadt, an overcast day, a bored homebody. Nothing exception, but nothing terrible either. You do not like to commit to anything too soon.

Vitality: 11 HP = 253 Toughness:10 Strength: 12 Skill: 10 Viletaint: 9 Intellect: 8

White Bread? I thought, confused, but also amused. No mage, ranger or knight classes, just like I’d expected. But what the Hell is Viletaint?

I continued to read, and was again surprised.

Sole Survivor: You grew up hard and are even harder because of it. You rely on no one but yourself, and don’t play well for others.

Vitality: 14 HP = 322 Toughness: 11 Strength: 11 Skill: 10 Viletaint: 7 Intellect: 7

I guess Mizaguchi wasn’t kidding around when he said he wanted to reinvent the mechanics and assumptions of the MMO. Not only had the “tutorial” phase of Blood Seekers been so far nonexistent, but it appeared he’d also decided to completely shun the traditional classes gamers had come to expect over the years.

I kept reading.

Haunted Past: Your past haunts you, and as a result, you view the world as harsh, hollow and unyielding—something to be conquered. You rely on nothing but your strength.

Vitality: 9 HP = 207 Toughness: 12 Strength: 15 Skill: 7 Viletaint: 6 Intellect: 7

Heretic: You do not shun the new ways that others consider vile and tainted. You are the proud loner, the man with no name. You fear nothing. You’ve been everywhere. You’ve seen it all.

Vitality: 11 HP = 253 Toughness: 10 Strength: 9 Skill: 13 Viletaint: 13 Intellect: 6

Corrupted Erudite: You’re smart, but let’s face it, you’re a snob because of it. Those weirdos with their swords and knives do it all wrong. Just stand back and spray ‘em down with fireballs!

Vitality: 10 HP = 230 Toughness:12 Strength:7 Skill:9 Viletaint:7 Intellect:14

That one made me laugh. “Weirdos with their swords and knives!?” It was nice to see that even in a game as gothic and gloomy as this, there was still a little humor. Black humor, but humor just the same.

Fevered Carcass: You live on the edge of sanity, relishing in close quarters combat, watching the eyes of your enemy as they fall to your blade and you send them into the great beyond.

Vitality: 10 HP = 230 Toughness: 13 Strength: 8 Skill: 14 Viletaint: 7 Intellect: 6

The next, and final entry, I almost didn’t believe.

Meat Sack: You are weak—beyond weak. Almost useless. People feel bad when they see you, as they know you aren’t long for this world. You’d better just stay home, unless of course you like to die! Only for the hardest of the hardcore.

Vitality:5 HP = 105 Toughness:5 Strength:5 Skill:5 Viletaint:5 Intellect:5

What is this? I thought, re-examining the starting stats, just to make sure I hadn’t misread them. But I hadn’t. The Meat Sack was gimped beyond belief! Who in the world would pick a character like that and deliberately put themselves at a disadvantage?

Duh, you idiot. The game told you! “The hardest of the hardcore!”

As I didn’t know the game, part of me wanted to just pick the most average starter build so I could get the hang of things. Once I figured things out, I could always just come back and re-roll. But choosing the “White Bread” option just didn’t sit right with me. It was like the game was mocking me. As a die-hard Mizaguchi fan, was I really going to take the easy route?

But picking a gimped build, only for the hardest of the hardcore, was quite the decision to make in a new game that deliberately didn’t hold your hand, and whose marketing catch phrase was “You will die!”

Sole Survivor was probably the best build, as it had the highest starting vitality, which would make me harder to kill, but that would be taking the easy way out. That would be like moving from the steps when J.D. kicked my ankle with his expensive sneakers. Picking the Meat Sack would be standing up to him like I did, even if it meant things were going to be harder for me.

Besides, what would Mizaguchi think of me if I ever met him? I’d thought about it many times, and when I pictured myself shaking his hand and describing to him how I’d picked the hardest class in the game and had not only survived, but had flourished, I knew the decision I had to make.

“Fuck it,” I said out loud to the sweet, tranquil face of The Blood Princess. “I laugh in the face of adversity.”

Without another second of hesitation, I pressed the bloody tip of my index finger against the scroll, leaving a crimson fingerprint beside the words.

Meat Sack, I thought. Has a nice ring to it!