Rob awoke face down on his bed about ten minutes before he was supposed to meet Juno and Sam, so he ran into the kitchen to grab a snack and then to the bathroom to splash a little water on his face before logging back into the Nexus.

He planned to meet them at the Berkeley central plaza at seven, and then they would watch the live launch at eight. He wasn’t sure what logging in for the first time would look like, but it excited him at the prospect of adventuring with his friends in the unknown world. So far, it had been so much more immersive than any other game he’d ever played. That was just his experience in the character creation and tutorial interface. He couldn’t wait until the actual thing.

He logged back in at exactly seven and materialized in the last place he’d been inside the Nexus, next to a terminal bank in the central plaza. He looked around, but there were so many people milling about that he had little chance of finding anyone. Luckily, he could locate both Juno and Sam via the area map rather than searching through the crowd.

When he found them, they were sitting on a bench near one of the fountains talking animatedly about Elysium Online.

Sam furiously moved his hands and said, “It was amazing. I’ve never been in a game that felt so real. I’m almost afraid of what the tournament system will be like.”

As Robert approached, they both smiled in his direction, and Juno was the first to say, “Good morning, Rob.”

“Good morning. Sorry if I kept you waiting. I had a bit of a rushed morning.”

Sam said, “You were probably in the training area until the last minute.”

“Almost, but not quite. I got a brief nap in before coming here. Were you just talking about Elysium?”

Juno gave Sam an elbow to the ribs. “Sam was just telling me about his experiences in his training city and how it all felt so real.”

Sam had a spark in his eyes. “It was amazing. The sights, sounds, and tastes were so incredible. I started in the Dwarven city of Din Tarum. Oh yeah, I’m a Dwarven Warrior in the game. Anyway, it was deep in the mountains, and I actually never saw the outside in the game.”

Sam went on for some time, talking about the training he got. They all shared stories about their time over the last few days, learning new skills and meeting the different NPCs in the tutorial. It amazed Robert at how different their experiences were. Sam started as a prisoner in a convoy of slaves being moved from one place to another by a war band of Orcs. The group came under attack by a scouting party, and they were returned to the city after the Orcs were wiped out. Sam was so confused by the situation that he didn’t do much during the escape. He made up for it later in defending the city against an attack, though.

Juno was a little more reserved about her character creation scenario. She let them know she was classed as a Druid and had trained in healing, quarterstaff, and could eventually summon a wolf companion. She’d not been able to level her wolf ability at all, but she’d gained nine levels in quarterstaff combat and a few levels in her healing spell.

She explained that the healing spells in Elysium were a little different from other games she’d played. While she could gain new spells at higher levels, she could also improve lower-level spells to be more effective. They capped the maximum effectiveness of a spell at the mid-tier of the next level spell of the same type. It was all a little confusing, but she could heal a single person for three hit points per second for a maximum of eight seconds. It cost her a significant portion of her mana pool to do it, but that would improve with leveling her character and the skill.

Robert had spent no time looking at magical options but assumed there were some skills he could learn. Both Juno and Sam were amazed at the experience he had during his character creation. They also agreed that the Ranger class was an excellent match for him. He told them about his training and all the skills he’d learned. Apparently, neither of them had been given as much access as he had. The only reason Juno had leveled her skills to this point was she volunteered at an infirmary for free to gain experience.

Sam gained five levels in battle-ax from the battle against the Orcs but had learned little in terms of class-specific skills or spells. He admitted that he only had a small amount of time to train in Elysium since he was still in the running for the tournament league and needed to practice there.

A few minutes before eight, they all stood and pulled up their Elysium online interfaces and found a new option on the menu. It was a slowly pulsating golden button that said Begin Your Adventure in bold letters. They exchanged glances and pushed it.

A door appeared before each of them that looked like a pool of shimmering water. Robert was the first to step forward, putting his hand into the pool. It made his skin tingle slightly, but other than that, there was no other sensation.

He smiled and looked at his friends. “See you on the other side.” And he stepped through the portal.