Chapter 1

John appeared in a simple white room with several cabinets and a desk on one side and on the other what looked like a spinning laundromat wheel with different characters hanging from it (AN: like what is in lego batman, where lego robin puts on all the different costumes, don’t judge me for the reference). A bright light startled John from his thoughts and he spun around to see a figure masked with light introducing itself,

“Welcome to your Home Space John, I am responsible for introducing you to the basic functions of your Chrysalis, and answering questions pertaining to its operation. First off this is your Home Space where you can use the internet, rest, and enter the Game world. Upgrades are purchasable with both in-game and real life currency, do you have any questions?”

“Nope”

“Good, we will begin character creation now, what will be your name inside Forever Online”

“Umm, okay, how about Jon, wait no, Gareth”

“Very well, Gareth, what race you would like to play?”

“Human”

The wheel of characters shrunk dramatically

“Very well, would you like to change your character's appearance?”

“Yes”

After selecting options on all aspects of the character, John ended up with a trim male figure over 6' tall, with short black hair and a beard, dressed in the plain grey started clothes. After confirming his choices, a door opened up replacing the character wheel. While a flaming green banner reading Forever Online unfolded across the top of the door.

Flashing lights and bursts of noise, drowned Johns senses, until finally he appeared in a town square as Gareth. Looking around the square, and up at the sky, reveling in the fresh air, which had been denied to him, Gareth let out a loud laugh. Only to find that his outburst had caused almost all the surrounding players to look his way, smiling sheepishly, Gareth quietly walked towards a gate at the edge of the square and called up his status page.

Character Status

Health: 20

Stamina: 50

Name: Gareth

Level: 0(0/50)

Class: N/A

Race: Human

Constitution: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Perception: 10

Intelligence: 10

Defense: 10

Inventory(2/20 Slots)

1 Rusty Iron Sword

10 Bread

Aside with a button to logout, everything else was either blank or greyed out, aside from a small settings button, no information on any attributes was given, and with nothing else to do, Gareth equipped his sword, and began to wander around the square. A veteran of many online games, he was quite familiar with the usual process of progression in RPGs, despite never having played a virtual reality game before.

Gareth slowly made his way towards an man standing beside the gate leading outside of the village, the man was standing in front of a stall covered with scrolls, and large stacks of writing utensils and papers. The man turned towards Gareth and his eyes lit up as a sly look passed over his face.

“Hello there young adventurer, I see your off to slay some monsters, before you go may I suggest purchasing a map?You never know when you might get lost, and I am offering you a limited time deal, bring me 10 rabbit pelts, and a rabbit foot, and you will receive a quality map of the surrounding area, How about it?”

*quest offered - collect 10 rabbits pelts(adequate) and one rabbit’s foot(fine) - reward 1 map piece and 10 xp*

“Sure, where are the rabbits?”

The man shook his head and laughed before pointing out the gate and towards a path leading away from the town, with several dusty players coming and going. Gareth’s cheeks flushed red as he mumbled a thank you and began walking. Once he was gone several nearby players began laughing uncontrollably, the man walked away from the stall and began joking with the players,

-

“Did you see that scrub, he totally thought I was an NPC”

“I know, has he been living under a rock or something, there is an introduction to the game online, jeez”

“Wait till he realizes that path leads to a level 15 area”

“Alright let’s go, my stamina is back to full, we need to get to level 10 soon so we can attend that event”

-

Shaking off his embarrassment, Gareth began to wonder at his surroundings as he walked along the path, giant evergreens cut back several meters, towered over the path, and a cheery breeze whipped through the branches accompanied by birdsong. The travelers he passed seemed relieved to have the town in sight, though to Gareth, this environment was much more soothing than the stuffy medieval like town.

Soon he began to think about how he should develop his character, and decided that since he usually played as a frontline DPS, and he already had a sword he would try and become a swordsman. From rumors he had heard while playing others games, it was possible to gain skills just by trying new things, so to pursue his plan he began to swing his sword about, fruitlessly, for 20 minutes. Finally with a scream of frustration he threw his sword at a nearby tree,

*1 damage dealt to innocent tree

*-1 durability

*Skill gained Toss - able to throw objects

“YES, wait… that’s it? Godammit!!”

Even more angry now Gareth picked up his sword and began bashing the tree, only stopping once he heard a ding.

*1 damage dealt to innocent tree

*1 damage dealt to innocent tree

*1 damage dealt to innocent tree

*1 damage dealt to innocent tree

*-2 durability

*Skill gained - Beginner Sword Holding- Somewhat able to hold a sword.

*Title gained -Twig Bender - Bullying Trees is bad, especially when you are a bad bully.

Spent after his attack on the tree, Gareth pulled up his status, and disabled the Twig Breaker title, before continuing on the path.

Character Status

Health: 20

Stamina: 45/50

Name: Gareth

Level: 0(0/50)

Class: N/A

Race: Human

Titles: Twig breaker(Inactive)

Constitution: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Perception: 10

Intelligence: 10

Defense: 10

Inventory

1 Rusty Iron Sword(Attack 5, Durability 10/15)

10 Bread(restores 10 stamina over 10 min, worth 10 copper)

Skills

Beginner Sword Holding - Somewhat able to hold a sword

Toss - able to throw objects