Maree was in a rush to get home. Jason had called her earlier to inform her the new game had arrived and that he couldn’t wait for her.

Sure, he would get the basics done, help her rush through the beginning, but she rather enjoyed no having to rush. Now she would have to rush even more.

She pulled the car into the drive, leapt from the car, through the open door (closing it behind her) and into the gaming room. She saw Jason sitting on the couch with the head set on his head, and her one sitting on the table nearby.

“You could have waited.” She told him. He just sat there, he was deep into the game, which was a very good sign. She said, “Let me get something to eat and drink.” And she rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a frozen meal, threw it into the microwave and punched in five minutes. It was an okay lasagna for a frozen, premade meal.

From there is grabbed her soft drink from the fridge, opened it while saying to herself, “Caffeine.” Then drank from the bottle. She decided there was time to change clothes, so she got out of her work clothes and threw on seat pants and her most comfortable shirt.

Bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth and hands just in time to hear the microwave announce that the meal was ready.

Back to the kitchen, open the meal, eat the meal which was as cardboard tasting as she had expected, back to the gaming room and sat down beside Jason.

He hadn’t moved.

“Any tips, Sweet Cheeks?”

Jason just sat there, engulfed in the game. This made her more excited. She unpacked the headset, did the usual checks and was about to put it on when she said, “Hey Jason, any tips?”

Jason said, “Hey, you are here.”

Maree smiled to herself, “Yeah, I am about to join you, any tips?”

Jason said, in a slightly odd tone, “Yeah, get on, join my game and be a half orc cleric. I have preset the game and the character is premade. It is only the first game, we can make a proper character next time.”

Maree put the headset on while asking, “What is the name of the game?”

“Grarl.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. That is the name of my character. Hurry up, we are on the way to getting you now.”

“Alright then, not be so impatient.”

The screen popped up.

Welcome to Cursed World

Then a friendly woman said, “Jason has already started the game and requested a pre-made character for you that will fit into the current game. Here is your character. If you are unhappy with this character, we can make another one for.”

Another screen appeared showing her the character Jason had deemed appropriate.

Half Orc Cleric

Name: Saver

Age: 17 years

Level 1

XP: 0

XP for Next Level: 1000

Strength: 16 +3 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 13 +1 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 18 +4 Charisma: 13 +1

Maximum Hit Points: 8

Current: 8

Armor Class

11

Attack

Base +1 No weapon

Defense

No armor

GOD: Obad-Hai – God of Nature

Domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water

Spells

Domain Spell

Chain lightning: 1d6/level damage then second target (1 per level) get half damage

Zero: 3

Light Create water Purify food and water

First: 5

Cure light wounds: cures 1d8+1 damage Cure light wounds

Undead

4 times a day

Turn or rebuke

Feats

Alertness: +2 on listen and spot checks

Skill ranks

Concentrate: 1 Craft: 1 Diplomacy: 1 Disguise: 3 Heal: 1 Knowledge Arcana: 1 Knowledge History: 1 Knowledge Religion: 1 Knowledge the Planes: 1 Open lock: 3 Profession: 1 Spell craft: 1 Swim: 1

Class Features.

Proficient in all small weapons

Race features

Dark vision Common language Orc language.

Saving Throws

Fortitude: 2 Reflex: 0 Will: 2

Equipment

Gold: 21 Winter blanket Rope Tent Torches: 5 Backpack Ale Good rations: 3 days

Maree quickly read the character then said to Jason, “Seriously? A half orc?”

The kindly woman said, “Jason has returned into the game and is unable to hear you. Soon, you will begin your game in the world that Jason is playing in. Are you ready to proceed?”

Maree had a sudden feeling that something wasn’t quite right. That Jason being unable to hear her or talk to her outside the game seemed out of place. But, in her eagerness to start, and her curiosity to know what kind of game was so immersive, she ran over the little warning walking through her brain while saying, “We can proceed. I am a kick ass half orc with magic. Bring it on.”

The friendly voice said, “Thank you, the game can now begin. You will feel a moment of uneasiness, this is normal.”

Maree was wondering what that meant when she suddenly felt it. Something was intruding into her mind, like imaginary fingers prodding her from within her thinking mind. She had the urge to rip the headset off but given the sensation was predictable, she didn’t.

Then she had a sensation of falling backwards even though she was in a chair, everything went blank and slightly dizzy.

Before she could fully resister the disappearance of her sight, it came back. She was lying down on a hard bed. More like a blank of wood. She was surprised to even be feeling it. She lifted herself into a sitting position to look at her surroundings.

She was unsure what to think.

She was in a jail cell with four men. All of them sitting against the opposite wall, nervous looking and attempting to be small. Their fear was clear to her.

Not knowing what was causing it, she stood up quickly, turning around to see what was causing the problem only to see a wall. She looked back at the men who were quickly shuffling themselves into the corner, staring wide eyed at her as if she was a terror.”

“Oh, she said, you are scared of me.” then laughed. She looked at her unfamiliar hands, they were huge. Taking a look up her arms revealed extremely solid looking limbs full of power. She had never been a strong person, but the tightness of her arm muscles amazed her.

She thought, “What kind of virtual reality is this? No wonder Jason was amazed.”

“The game is designed to be as real as possible. You are the character, you feel the pain, the body, everything will be as real as your own experience in your world.

As a warning, please be aware that you will feel pain as real as in your own body, and death in this game means death in your world.”

Out loud, she said, “Excuse me?”

“The terms of the game are explained. You had the opportunity to read the terms, but you requested we begin as quickly as possible.”

She answered, “I don’t think so, if that is how it works, I will leave the game now.”

“You can only leave the game at designated save points. Due to the options Jason selected for this world where people “Learn As They Go”, the save points are hidden from the players in the game.”

A sudden feeling of dread overwhelmed her. She was thinking that this is a joke, or a trick to increase the appearance of the real experience. But when she looked around her new experience, the clarity of the visuals was so good as to be indistinguishable from real life.

As far as her brain was concerned, this was real. When she moved her body, she felt the muscles, understood the movement, she was in a real body.

As she looked at the scared men in the room with her, there was no way of telling they were animated. They were real.

She had a feeling, the same one she had just before she entered the game, that the kind woman was telling the truth. In a very short space of time, Maree had gone from excited to play to understanding this new world could kill her.

She said, “How can I talk to Jason in the game?”

“There are no functions to communicate with other players unless you talk to them directly in the game.”

“So, basically this game has hijacked me and can kill me.”

“You elected to play the game without reading the terms and conditions.”

She thought, “This can’t be legal.”

“The owners of the game have done everything legally.”

She thought, “Can you read my mind?”

“I am able to communicate with you within your mind.”

“Well, I want that to stop right now. You are not to read my mind, only when I talk to you. Understand?”

“Done. From this point on, if you need to communicate with me, you need to speak and say, “Anna” at the beginning of the sentence. So that you are aware, there is a severe punishment for divulging your player status to players and non-playing characters. But you will know which character Jason’s is”

Maree was fuming. She thought, “I am going to kill Jason when I see him. For fucks sake, he could have told me before I came on.”

Then she said, “Anna, how often do people die in this game?”

“91% of people playing this game die.”

Yeah, she was going to kill Jason.

She stood up, when she did, the first thing she noticed was how tall she was. She was a head taller than her human self, heavier and more muscular. She liked it.

Them men were in the corner, attempting to look small.

She said, “And why are a bunch of men in the same call as a half orc woman?”

The man at the back answered, fear in his eyes and voice, “Why are you asking us. You know we tried to kill you. Our punishment is three days in the same cell as you.”

She said, “That seems like a strange punishment. Why put you in the same cell as the one you attacked?”

The men were unsure what to say so the bravest one said, “Because three days in a cell with a pissed off half orc normally ends in death. We would rather not die.”

She said, “Four grown men against one lady half orc. That seems like a fight you would win.”

“We thought so too. But we were wrong, and just as you were about to bludgeon us with that mace of yours, the guards turned up.”

She sat back down, wondering what she was capable of if she could beat four men at once. She said, “If you treat me like a princess for the next few days, I will let you live.”

“Okay.” The brave man said.

Saver said, “I think you meant to say, Yes, Princess.”

He said, “Yes, Princess.”

“All of you say it.”

In unison, they said, “Yes Princess.”

She said, “That’s better.”

She took a closer look around the cell. It wasn’t big, enough room for four bunk beds and some standing room in the middle. Three walls were solid stone, one wall was iron bars from top to bottom.

She had no idea where she was.

“Okay boys, you are now going to explain a few things to me.”

“Okay.”

She reminded them “Yes, Princess.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Better. Now, first thing I need to know is, where are we?”