Virtual reality had long been on a lot of people's minds. And not only as a gaming world for entertainment purposes, but also as a place where you could live quite a rewarding life: take a break from boring reality, make money and do business, even date someone. The difference in perception between Noria and reality was said to be seamless. It had become available thanks to the Life Corporation, which managed to insure a great impetus forthe development of virtuality. Virtual helmets faded into oblivion long ago, and for the last five years, the industry was dominated by Life's patented full-immersion capsules.

In essence, 'Noria' is just a game, created by just another company. It was originally created for virtual helmets and occupied the bottom of the world ranks of virtuality, due to a seeming lack of foresight and a ton of in-game bugs that the players hated. It initially yielded the corporation only losses. But, due to the company's innovative developers and their release of the first Virtcapsules, 'Noria' became a sort of exclusive, on which the new technologies of full immersion were tested. And, surprising all their critics, both the game and the new capsule technology perfectly complemented each other. In the current version, used in the Virtcapsule, the bugs and errors that were present in the helmet version are long gone. It was a huge leap over the technological abyss that had been unable to sufficiently realize an extremely complex and realistic fantasy world of swords and magic.

To no one's surprise, Life Corporation will not be releasing the exact formula that makes their Virtcapsule tick. It's often been speculated that due to its complexity very few, if any, know its precise compilation. Quantum computers, neural interfaces, biocrystals, and artificial intelligence are at the core of the machine—the machine which has given us all the opportunity to live two lives at once!

An excerpt from the journal 'Science and Technology' at the end of the 22nd century

* * *

Darkness...

'Whether I open my eyes or not, makes no difference. Am I blind?' I tried to move, but couldn't. 'Am I paralyzed?...'

'By the way, where am I? If I am at the hospital, how can I call a nurse if I can't even see or move? I want to send a message to my father, and… to Kiera. I am sure they are worried sick about me.'

Creation of a new account - Successful.

User identification - Successful.

Medical data validation - Error (№13Q24-16W48 - sent to the administration of the game world).

Medical data re-validation - Successful.

Birth of a character ...

'Creation... identification... validation…? - Hmm, something seemed very familiar here. 'Birth of a character... Am I in the game??? How did I get here, and what's going on?...'

'Okay, let's look at this 'birth.' I mentally scrolled through the text.

'Stop!' 'The World of Noria' is a game, owned by 'Life' Corporation, where my father works. 'Okay.' The information was accepted for consideration.

'Yes, yes.' I looked through the text. I already knew almost everything to do with this game! 'Please, do this faster. I wish I could go out into the world and contact my father via the gaming administration there. I hope he can explain all of this.'

Choose your character's name.

'Kraven,' the name came to me quickly, and I wrote it without any superfluous consideration. It was a nickname I had received during childhood and I'd been known by it my whole life.

Choose a race

'It doesn't really matter... let it be a 'human.'

Choose an appearance

Without even looking at the proposed options, I agreed to the default selection.

Choose a place of birth

'The Empire of Nazhar or the Empire of Gavrtol—why only these two countries? Where were the rest? Okay, 'Nazhar."

The world of Noria welcomes you, immortal!

Character characteristics:

Main...

Later! ...

I felt like I was being dragged into an infinite void and...

'Hurray! Let there be light! Oh... and why is it so bright?' I shielded my eyes from the sun's blistering rays that were shining directly on my face with my hand

"Look out!" I heard a loud cry from behind me, then felt a strong push that launched me forward and I ended up falling to the ground.

Ow! That really hurt!

Taken physical damage 7 points. Life 3.

"Forgive me, sir." Someone's hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up into a standing position. "When you walk along the road, be more careful." He followed the departing cart with his eyes. "You're lucky that I managed to push you out the way, or you would have been killed!"

"Yeah... Thank you very much." I glanced at the tall, portly man in a blacksmith's apron, who was a head taller than me. He nodded and then went on his way.

"Where am I... I… have no clue."

In front of me, there was a narrow stone pavement, passing between wooden two-story houses. I walked up to and stood near one of them. Somewhere in the distance, I could see the spire of a tall, cylindrical tower-like building. About a dozen steps to the left, there was a signboard with a painted hammer and anvil on it. The blacksmith who had rescued me went in that direction.

'And now,' my mind began to assess my surroundings, and get its bearings, 'what do we have on the global map?' I mentally asked Noria's system.

Nothing! There was fog in all directions from the one lonely point on the map—my character. I zoomed in. 'Hmmm, useless!' I could only make out a schematically sketched street and houses along the edges. So, it only showed the road and the two houses I had just seen.

I entered the full game interface. 'Where is the 'Help' tab? I mean, communication with the administration or something.'

"Hmmm…" I was surprised at the system's message I got in reply.

'Help'—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

"Maybe, this one?!"

'Forum'—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

'Mail'—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

"Damn! What a limited interface this is! What about this one…"

'Exit'—an error has occurred, the function is inactive, contact the administration of the game world.

'Damn…'

Slipping into the pit of despair and struggling to hold back my tears, I grabbed my head in fear and panic to think about what I knew about the game and how I could use it in my current situation.