Ren Taylor opened his eyes and was immediately confused. He was lying on a soft bed inside a world of pure white. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a shirt and pair of pants that matched the color of the room. He slowly pushed himself up off the bed and looked around. All around him was a world of pure white devoid of anything but the single bed he was currently lying on. Ren swung his legs over side of the bed and stood up, stretching a little before walking around the room. At first it was a little difficult and he had a hard time keeping his balance but after some time walking it began to feel normal again. Ren began pacing around the room, not wanting to sit. After what could have been minutes, or hours, someone else appeared in the room. The newcomer was an old man wearing a knee-length white coat, carrying a clipboard, and with a stethoscope draped around his neck. The old man just stood there watching Ren, who just kept walking around while looking at him, for a few minutes before speaking.

"My name is Dr. Avery, You are currently in the Paradise Valley Medical Center. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Ren stopped walking and thought for a moment before speaking

"I’m Ren Taylor, nice to meet you." He said

"Good, good. Now can you tell me what you last remember?" Dr. Avery asked

Ren thought for a moment, his expression one of confused concentration. He knew he had memories, a lifetime’s worth, but he just couldn't seem to reach any but the basic ones, like his name. He continued reaching out to the rest, feeling that they were there but just out of reach. Every time he thought he had them they slipped out of his grasp. He kept reaching out to grab it over and over again until finally, he caught them. The moment he grasped them, memories flooded into Ren. First he was waking up and getting ready for school. Then he was leaving his house to start his walk to his high school. Next he remembered taking a short cut through an alley near his house. He remembered seeing a little kid run out into the street to retrieve this brightly colored ball they were playing with. He remembered seeing a truck, moving way too fast for the area it was driving through. He remembered dropping his school bag running towards the kid, faster than he had ever run before. He remembered shoving the kid out of the way and looking up the see the truck right in his face, it’s horn blaring and brakes screeching and then...nothing. Ren walked over and sat down on the bed.

Dr. Avery saw the change in Ren's face, saw Ren’s skin pale and body start to tremble. He reached out a strong, comforting hand, placed it on Ren’s shoulder, and spoke.

"You’re not dead if that’s what you’re worried about, though it was a very near thing.” Dr. Avery crouched down to Ren’s level. “You’re a hero son. Witnesses say they saw you dash out from an alley like an Olympic sprinter and practically tackle the kid out of the way. The kid his parents came by earlier to thank you, though you were still unconscious at the time, and offered to help with your medical bills, though theirs was no need for that but I’ll explain more about that in a minute. The kid even left his ball here hoping that it’ll help you recover.” Dr. Avery laughed a little at that and Ren gave a small smile.

The Dr. Avery then went on and explained to Ren that he is currently inside a small virtual reality world and that he was hit by a runaway truck. Amazingly he didn't suffer all that much external damage but truck had thrown Ren several feet down the road and he had hit his head on the ground several times, fracturing his spine and causing him to become completely paralyzed from the neck down. The bouncing had also damaged his optical cortex, the sight center of the brain, and damaged the nerves connected to his ear, causing him to become blind and deaf. The doctor explained that they had confidence that they could restore at least some function to his sight and there were some promising trials going on right now to restore movement to the paralyzed, though they were a least a few years away from human trials. As for his hearing, unless something came along that would allow them to repair the nerves, there was nothing they could do.

Ren placed his head in his hands and did he best to try and process everything he was told but it was just too much too fast and he was having a hard time coming to terms with how much his life was going to change

"There is one thing you might find interesting," the Dr. Avery said after a few minutes, "Have you heard of the upcoming game Second Awakening?"

Ren lifts his head at this. Who hasn't heard of it? The most advanced vrmmorpg. A place where it's said you can do almost anything. It supposed to be coming out in just a few days. Seeing that he had Ren's interest the Dr. Avery continued

"The company, Moonlight Arts, owns the truck that hit you and volunteered to pay your medical bills and would like to give you a copy of their game. The pod you’re in right now is also from them. When they hear of the accident and the damaged it caused they had their engineers modify one for your use here in the hospital. They know that it’s not nearly enough to compensate you for what happened but they said they’re going to try and make things right.” Dr. Avery paused to let Ren digest what he said. “This place we're in right now is a sort of rest area, in case you want to take a break from the game. It your own world, you can customize it however you want. The pod also came loaded with hundreds of books, movies, and other games and you can always request more if you want. Second Awakening unofficially starts in six days to warm-up the servers and work out any last bugs in the system. The Official game launch is in a week so you can be the first player in the game if you want.”

The doctor stops talking when he sees Ren deep in thought. After several minuets Ren lifts his head and announces

“I want to play Second Awakening”

_______________________________________________________________________________

*Six days later Ren’s POV*

It's been six days since the accident. Over those days I've spent my time customizing my room, giving myself dark blue walls, a bookshelf on one wall, a large flat-screen TV above the bookshelf, a couch and some posters scattered around my room. I also spoke to my family through a video chat system in the VR pod. It was good to see and speak with them and it help me come to terms with my situation. The family of the kid I saved also came by again. His parents alternated between thanking me and apologizing. I told them that it’s nowhere near their fault and I would do it again in a heartbeat, and I do actually mean that. Everybody left, the kid and his parents had things to do and my family knows that I don’t want them just hanging around the hospital. Now I’m just waiting for the green light to enter Second Awakening, what will be where I spend the majority of my time, my new reality, for the foreseeable future. As the timer I set hit zero an arched doorway appeared along one wall with the words 'Second Awakening' carved above it. Taking a deep breath, I open the door and step through.

At first there is only a black void. This only last for a few moments before there was flash of light. When the light passed and I opened my eyes I found myself standing in a large, semi-circular, stone hall. In the hall were seven alcoves lit by torches. Inside each of the alcoves was a statue. There was one statue for each of the six different races in the game (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Halflings, and Draconian) and one that keeps changing that represents the different half breeds available to players. Every player starts with the same number of stat points, that they can distribute themselves or at random, and he same equipment so players can choose what race they want instead of which one is the strongest.

Please pick a race.

The voice is female but sounds too robotic to be natural. After a few moments of thinking I pick human, since I’ll be spending all of my time in the game I might as well pick something I’m comfortable with.

The default appearance is how you currently look. Would you like to change it?

"No"

Would you like to allocate your stat point yourself or have them assigned at random?

"Random"

Please pick a name

"Krono"

Are you sure you want your name to be Krono? It cannot be change later.

"Yes"

Please choose your starting location

A map of the starting continent appears in front of me with glowing dots at the places where the starting town are located. I see one town near the frontier in the kingdom of Eroven. It looks interesting so I decide to go with that one.

"I choose the village of Jona in the kingdom of Eroven"

Are you sure you with to start in Jona Village?

"Yes"

Transferring you to Jona Village in 5...4...3...2...1

There's a flash of light and I appear in the middle of a village.

I look around me and take everything in. The level of detail is just mind blowing. If I didn't know better I would think that I was transported to a completely different world instead of being inside a video game. Not only does it look real I can smell the scent of fresh bread coming from the backers shop, the sound of the blacksmith in the forge, taste the sweetness of fresh, unpolluted air. I just stand there taking it all in for a several minutes before moving on.

"I should take a look at my stats"

Status Window Name Krono Alignment Neutral Gender Male Race Human Level 1 Class None Sub-Class None Fame 0 Titles None

Health 110 Mana 160 Stamina 110 Defense 1 Strength 17 Endurance 11 Agility 6 Dexterity 16 Intelligence 9 Wisdom 16 Charisma 13 Luck 7

Status Effects

None

Skills Active

Passive

Life Skills

Elemental Affinities None

[/b] Elemental Resistance [/b]

None

"Nothing all that exciting. What about my inventory?" Ren searches his inventory "Let's see, a sword, clothes, 10 bread, and 10 copper. Again nothing all that exciting. I guess I should look around a bit"

Ren started walking around the village, thinking about what he should do. Since the game runs five time faster than the real world Ren has a little under five days until the official launch and more players start showing up. As he walked around Ren thought about how he wanted to do with his life in the game. Ren split his potential options into four categories: Combat, Support, Specialist, and manufacturing. Combat would include anything that focused on fighting, whether it was melee combat, ranged combat, or magic. Support would be the ones that don’t take an active part in combat but still contribute to their side’s success. They would be the healers, the priests, and the shamans. The specialists are the ones that, though they could also fall under the combat or support categories, have another skill set that they work around. They would be the rouges, spies, and thieves. Manufacturing includes the people that support everyone else with the equipment, food, and potions that they need to stay alive. They are the craftsmen, merchants, and gatherers. Ren thought as he wandered around the village. Picking a combat role would be the easiest to do and he could play in a party or go solo but fighting endless waves of monsters didn’t really appeal to him. While Ren was determined to not become a weak player he really didn’t want fighting to be his focus. As for support, Ren barely even thought about it. Support players were basically locked into playing with a party because they had almost no combat skills. That means that if their party ever abandons them or gets wiped out their screwed. Specialists were interesting and could greatly help a party or make a decent living by themselves but it took a certain type of person to play one effectively and Ren knew that he would probably be only average at best. That left manufacturing. Thinking about what he could do as a craftsmen in a high-fantasy setting got Ren’s blood boiling. For as long as he could remember Ren loved making thing. When he was three he was given his first Lego kit, a simple castle kit. It only him about an hour to put it together and he loved every minute of it. By age five Ren had moved on to the more advanced kits, things like architectural models and replica vehicles. His mother also started teaching him to sew. At ten his parents introduced him to a master carpenter one of their friends knew when he expressed interest in it. Ren learned from him until he entered high school and his instructor moved to a different state. While Ren was disappointed he found something else to occupy hid free time.

Robotics.

His high school had competitive robotics team. He was introduced to it by his science teacher who also acted as the coach. Throughout his high school career he made his way through all of the various positions on the team, from just a normal builder to lead designer to programmer to lead programmer. Now entering his senior year, Ren was gunning for team captain and he probably would have gotten it too if he hadn’t been in the accident. Now Ren was trapped inside his own body but thanks to virtual reality he could still continue to do what he loved and even try new things. Ren smiled as he walked. He had found what he was going to do.

After about another half hour of wandering around Ren found himself in front of the village tailor’s workshop. Ren thought that it was kind of funny that the first real skill he learned in real life was also the first one that he found a potential trainer for. Ren opened the door and walked into the small store. There's a counter at the back with some shelves holding different pieces of clothing and leather armor placed along the walls and shelves of various materials placed around the shop. Ren walked to the counter and rang a small bell.

"Just a minute" Ren heard from the back. After a few moments a bearded old man wearing a plain leather apron walked out from the workshop in the back of the store. He walked up to the counter and looked Ren over for a moment before speaking.

"I haven't seen you around before so you must be new right? My name’s Jason. I take care of all of this villages clothing and soft armor needs and am the owner of this fine establishment. If it’s related to clothe, leather, or sewing I’m your man. So what can I help you with?" the old man, Jason, asked

“Nice to meet you, I go by the name Krono. I actually came here wondering if you could teach me tailoring.” Ren said.

"Polite fellow aren’t you?” Jason said, stocking he beard in thought. “How about this” he said after a moment “if you bring me 10 rabbit pelts and 10 fox pelts I’ll teach tailoring."

Ding!

System Message You've received a quest!

Jason the tailor has asked you retrieve rabbit pelts x10 and fox pelts x10

Difficulty - F

Reward - Jason teaches you tailoring

Time Limit - None

Failure - None

Will you except(y/n)?

"I’ll get the pelts for you"

Ding!

System MessageQuest Accepted!