Sera checked her preparations, going all over them once more, just in case. She had positioned the nanopod in her living room, in front of the glass windows which were tinted so people couldn’t look in but she could still look out. It had been fully loaded with enough vials of nanites suspended in Aquavivo—an enhanced mix of fluids that would nourish her body while supporting her immersion—for at least four weeks. Her home security settings were updated to her prefences and she had linked her console notifications to her Elysium account so she could handle anything in-game if she needed to.

Taking a deep breath, Sera climbed into the nanopod. It looked like a cryopod with a sleek fiberglass surface except that it was much larger and rounder and had segmented arm, leg and body brackets that would mold to key sections of her limbs to allow for actual movements. Whatever actions she made in game would be performed by her own body within reason, so that her muscles would not waste away while she was immersed. The pod was even lined and cushioned with a plush bamboo fiber interior that would mold to comfortably support her body when she chose to lie down and sleep. Beneath all the visible mechanical equipment were more high-tech installations like sensors and nanopatches that would serve to monitor her health in real life while boosting her in-game sensations by stimulating the various nerve clusters on her body. It was all so luxurious and expensive that Sera was in awe.

A little robot wheeled up to her.

“Sera, would you require anything before your immersion?” Perry asked. She gazed at her Butler’s new body. She had indulged in it when she realised she might need help if something went wrong with the pod. It was white and sleek and expandable to a full human size, though at the moment Perry was in his compressed physical mode. “Perhaps a drink of water or a snack?”

She thought for a while. There were a few implements in the nanopod that were designed to be as innocuous as possible that the brochure had explained would automatically activate without needing her input to help her with bathroom needs. But she had been warned not to eat anything for twenty four hours before immersion and though she was hungry, she shook her head. “No thanks, Perry. Are you clear on your instructions while I am under?”

“Yes, ma’am. No visitors allowed. Camera and audio recording at all times. Health and location monitoring activated. You have also hooked me up to the nanopod so that I may share the data on your brain activity. If critical arousal or health impediment occurs, I will initiate shut down procedure or if required, terminate the nanopod’s energy input. Emergency contacts are….”

Sera listened carefully as Perry continued through his list of orders. It hadn’t been referenced in the brochure, but Sera was not going to put all her trust into Elysium’s technology to keep her safe. She had invested in a top of the range Butler and was going to make sure to make the best possible use of him.

“Sounds good, Perry,” she replied when he was done. She took a final look around the room and in particular at the sun which she could see rising in the distance, then shed her clothes and stepped into the pod. She lay down into the dim interior and pulled the cover down. The nanopod’s mechanism hummed slightly as it came to life and the machine tipped forward and up, orienting her into an upright mode. Perry wheeled himself to the front of the pod so she could see him through the visor. He gave her a mechanical thumbs up to indicate all was well and a green, pixelated smile spread across his interface screen. Sera smiled back, unable to help herself. What would she do without Perry?

Probably die and wither away in the apartment without anyone noticing. She didn’t even have cats to help dispose of her body. Sera shook her head to dispel the gruesome thoughts, and reminded herself that she had backed Perry up on multiple servers and ordered an extra body for him in case this one got spoiled and he needed one to get her out of the pod. All contingencies were prepared for.

With the serenity of someone who was going to delve for a month into a violent and uncertain virtual world they had only visited once before, Sera closed her eyes and tapped the button that began the initialisation sequence. The bracket closed about her hands and the implements… did unmentionable things to her body that made her jump and her eyes fly wide open. Then the nanopatch attached to the back of her neck and all the minute physical sensations seeped away.

She was back in the circular room, staring at a password prompt. Her biometric data was already synced. Sera had barely begun to think of ducks, ramekins and a few notes of Mozart’s famous piece when she felt herself transition into Elysia.

***

She dropped down onto Hearthwilde’s main street, jostling a plump woman who had a basketful of clothes balanced on top her head. The washerwoman squawked in surprise and jiggled about, trying to keep the basket stable while she stared at Sera with wide eyes. Sera reached up to help her and saw the remnants of a web of light on her arms. Beam me down, Scotty.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Sera said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.” She looked at the woman curiously, wondering why she looked so familiar, then realised she had been one of the washerwomen who’d beckoned to Sera at the fountain.

“Oh, it’s all right, my dear,” the woman said once she had her basket securely balanced again. She looked Sera up and down. “You must be one of those vagabonds. Are you on the way to the market?”

“Why, yes,” Sera said, looking up the road. The market square was just opening for the day. “I’m hoping to sell some herbs and mushrooms that I gathered.”

“Any wild meat?” the washerwoman asked, a hungry look on her face. “Not many hunt hereabouts these days.”

“Oh, sorry, I don’t have any.” If she had managed to kill at least one Razortusk she might have some, Sera thought ruefully. Unfortunately they had done a better job of killing her than she had done them. Absently she wondered if Razortasks knew to harvest player meat, then decided that the concept was ridiculous.

“A pity,” the woman said, shaking her head. “I haven’t had a decent game pie in ages.” She raised her hand in farewell, then continued walking down the slope. “Let me know if you do go hunting, my husband is a butcher, but he’s no hunter. We’d be happy to buy some meat off of you. I’ll be at the fountain square if you want to find me. If you’re too worried about jumping right into it, you could visit the training grounds first.”

Quest Alert!

Level: >= 1

‘I want wild meat! The bloodier the better!’ says Arleen the washerwoman. “My butcher husband can carve them up with the best of ‘em but put him in front of a wild animal and his knees turn to jelly. I can’t believe I married that man!’

You have spoken to Arleen and discovered that behind her peaceful and motherly persona lies a rapacious hunger for game meat. Fulfill Arleen’s request (and save her poor husband from his woes) by hunting the pesky jackalopes near Farmer Jonston’s farm and bringing her 10 jackalope hind legs for their dinner.

Reward: Her husband’s old cleaver and eternal gratitude, 5 coppers and 100 experience points. Accept/Decline.

“Huh,” Sera said, watching as the quest bubble followed Arleen as she walked down the street. Who knew the woman had such an insatiable side. And who knew, that the NPCs around her had quests just waiting for her to take up. Oh wait… this sounded like something Gilbert had told her about. Sera sighed, realising that this was why the women at the fountain had been smiling and waving to her when she’d popped into the game the first time around. If she had actually stopped to talk to them she might have been given an easy quest to help her transition into the game. For a moment, she wanted to run after the woman and accept the quest. But the lure of the market and her heavy, full bag made up her mind for her. She had something else to get done.

Sera climbed the sloping road to the marketplace and began to browse the stalls. It was set up like a farmer’s market with brightly striped tents to block the sun and fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses laid out on tables and stands. Cooked food sizzled on grills and hot plates and buskers and performers entertained the crowd. She approached someone selling vegetables and offered to sell her pickings.

“Oh! You’ve got wild sage, silky chamomile, leprechaun’s bane, and a handful of golden fans!” the man exclaimed when she produced what she’d picked. Not very good condition, you’ve squashed them quite badly— you’ve got to do more training to get better quality herbs next time—but considering what slim pickings we’ve been having these days… tell you what, I’ll give you 50 coppers for the lot!”

Sera blinked in surprise. That was a little over what the herbs were worth at full price. She quickly accepted the money with a hasty nod. “Thanks so much! Here, have this too, it’s free as lagniappe,” she said, handing him the last of her common mushrooms. She had only five of them after all, that was as much as she had been able to squeeze into the final slot in her bag.

“Thanks!” the man said.

He looked surprised, so Sera smiled sweetly at him and said, “My pleasure. I should be thanking you for wanting to buy them actually, since the herbs aren’t in good condition. If you don’t mind me asking,” she continued as she pocketed the money, why are you willing to pay so much for these? I remember them being a little cheaper when I picked them just a few days ago.”

The man gazed at her with increased astonishment, then looked around at the other vendors. He leaned in and gestured for her to lean in too.

“I’m just saying this, because you look very… uhm… new. But there aren’t many of your kind around here, given the war that’s just been announced. Everyone but the locals have hit the road to get in on the action. The ones that stay just come to explore our catacombs, or dungeons as they like to call them. They don’t do much harvesting around here, and we locals don’t wander in the wilderness like you folk do. So prices for wild herbs and game meat are going up and up on the local market in Hearthwilde. If you were a savvy kind of journeywoman, you could make a fine business selling your pickings here. Especially the rarer ones. Of course that won’t work on the auction, since that’s worldwide and run by and for your kind of people.”

He leaned back and gave her a wink.

Sera took her time taking it all in. Players were scarce in these parts. There were two types of markets, a local market for NPCs and players, and auctions which was just for players. And…. “A war?”

“Oh yeah,” he said in a casual tone as if wars broke out every other day. “Haven’t you heard? Glasspear has finally declared war on us. The High King is calling in all his warriors and recruiting as many journeymen and -women as he can from his vassal states to join his cause. Our small towns are emptying because you lot are going to Glenwark.” He shook his head ruefully. “Everyone wants to be a hero.”

“But… why a war?”

“Sorry, ma’am, I’m just a fruits and vegetables farmer. Can’t tell you more than that. All I know is they’re always fighting over something. One day it’s shards, the next day it’s territory and the week after that it’s princesses. If you want to find out more about our history, you should head to the library and check out the Archives.” He gave her a wry smile then turned away to attend to a customer.

Sera nodded back at him and turned away. A slew of notifications appeared in front of her.

You have formed a relationship with the Farmer’s Guild!

Since you were kind in giving away some of your goods to Jorah, the fruit and vegetable seller at Hearthwilde’s marketplace, you have gained +10 goodwill points among the Farmer’s Guild. This awards you with +1% possibility of discounts when buying produce.

A Pleasing Countenance!

Your giving and honest nature has been noticed by the locals. Your persona has taken on a pleasing countenance and you have gained +1 point for Charisma.

You have completed a transaction!

Congratulations on learning to trade! You’ve taken the first step towards being an Elysian tycoon! Be wary of carrying too much money on your person, however, as it will fall as loot should you succumb to death. For security, you may choose to store what you earn in your local bank, which is accessible from any town in Elysia.

Sera could skip for joy. This game was becoming a breeze. She sailed away with her coppers in hand, looking for things to buy. She skimmed over the food since she did not feel hungry and headed straight to the section on clothes. She had spotted some interesting and brightly coloured designs from several stalls and she was dying to see what was on offer.

On her way, she paused at a tent that looked a little odd. Instead of racks of fresh meat or vegetables, it contained several tall banner stands with images of houses and rooms. A couple looked like they were advertising whole villages.

“Hello, hello, hello!” a woman popped up beside her, speaking in a gushing voice that made her words were barely understandable. “Are you looking to buy your own home? Can’t stand renting at an inn anymore? We have the loveliest accommodations a journeywoman like—” her words died on her lips as she looked Sera up and down, noting her plain brown tunic—blood splattered, full of holes and muddy—her lack of shiny weapons, and her worn out boots.

“What was that?” Sera asked with interest. “Are you selling houses?”

“Uhm, well… only if you can afford it.” The woman gave her a queasy smile. All her sparkle drained away and she looked at Sera as if she were something she had found sticking to her shoe. “It’s expensive to buy your own, but a lot safer than questing for it. Not that you’re in danger of doing either…” she said, whispering the last sentence from a corner of her mouth, her eyes almost bugging out as she turned to look away from Sera.

“Excuse me?” Sera said, shocked at the blatant rudeness. “What makes you think I don’t have the money?”

The woman looked pointedly at the coppers Sera held in her fist with raised brows, then reached a hand out to smoothen the banner for a lovely, rustic cottage on the outskirts of Hearthwilde. Sera felt her face heat up. She stared at the woman, noting her lovely creamy green dress and carefully curled hair. She looked like the proprietress of a well-to-do business. As she stared, the woman angled her body away from Sera as if by ignoring her existence, Sera might very well disappear.

“No matter how I might look, I do have a lot of money. I could buy this house right here on the spot!” Sera said, studying the picture of the cottage. It did look quite lovely, with neat rose bushes and a curving stone path that led right up to the front door. It was sort of true… if she converted her money in real life to Elysium coins she could definitely afford the house.

“You must think I’m a fool,” the woman scoffed loudly. She held out a dainty hand—every finger had a ring, some of them even had two—and pointed out a gold ring with a little green gem in it to Sera. “This is charmed to detect lies. Stop wasting my time or I’ll call my guards.”

“How dare you,” Sera began, annoyance bleeding into her voice, “I’m a journeywoman, and I have a lot more resources than you may be able to see on me at the moment. And how can you speak like that to me… aren’t you just an NPC?”

The woman’s eyes widened in outrage, but before she could say anything, hands closed about Sera’s shoulders, and the shadow of a very tall person fell across the proprietress. The woman looked up, her mouth falling open in awe and her eyes taking on a delighted sheen.

“Beg pardon,” a deep voice said. “Miss… Delora, is that right? It’s a pleasure to make your very lovely acquaintance. I’m sorry if my friend here is bothering you. She’s just starting out and knows absolutely nothing of our world. You understand don’t you? You seem like a very kind and understanding sort of woman.”

Sera whirled around in time to see the player behind her give the proprietress a wink and a smile.He was tall and pale, with glowing purple eyes and spiky blond hair that fell about his face in artful locks. He was clad in a dark crimson jacket with a high collar and silver buckles running down its length. The jacket hugged a muscular V-shaped torso and ran down in long panels to overlay leather pants and heavily buckled boots. Spiky steel gray epaulets with swirling crimson centers capped his shoulders, helping to secure a long black shadowy cloak that swirled behind him. One of his gauntleted hands gripped a long black staff capped with a shrunken head and the other reached out over Sera’s shoulder’s to take the proprietresses’s hand. As he bent to press a kiss against it, Sera got a good view of the vertical halo over head. It glowed a toxic purple and was made of runic symbols that seemed to shift and fade from one symbol to another. The player reeked of power and strength, and the lopsided smile he gave the proprietress appeared strangely charming considering his lips were a corpse-like blue.

“Who the hell are you?” Sera blurted out. She didn’t like being apologised for.

“I’m your only friend at the moment,” the player whispered to her as he straightened. The proprietress giggled as she drew back her hand.

“I’m sorry my lady, but we have to take our leave now.” He pulled Sera away from the front of the stall.

“Come back any time,” she called out. She placed a hand on a hip, jutted it out at an angle and waved at him seductively, making sure to use her left hand which unlike her heavily laden right hand, had absolutely no rings on it.

“What is she doing? She looks ridiculous!” Sera ground out when they were several feet away. “And I don’t know you, so stop pretending!” She held her hand up to cover his torso, and a label popped up revealing his player name.

“Incinderfella! What kind of name is that?” Though it did sounded vaguely familiar.

“It’s not polite to call them NPCs to their face. It’s like a bad word. Any more provocation and she might have called her guards. You’re lucky my charisma is quite high,” the warlock replied with a frown. “And Incinderfella is a perfectly good name! It’s a pun, don’t you get it?”

“Oh, I get it,” Sera replied. “Sounds like someone has a princess complex,” she mumbled to herself.

“Anyway,” she said more loudly, “Who are you, and what did you think you were doing, sticking your nose into my conversation?” Oddly enough, being anonymous in the game helped release Sera’s inhibitions. In real life she would probably have not been quite so upfront and rude herself.

“Saving your butt! I’m Jordan, Monica’s nephew. She sent me here to look after you, and I came just in time, didn’t I? A minute later and you would have been trounced by Miss Delora’s guards!”

And there went her anonymity. It flew out the window, along with her peace of mind.

“What?” Sera spat. “Monica’s what?”

“Ne—phew,” Jordan said loudly and slowly as if she were hard of hearing. “Her sister’s son. That’s me.”

“And she sent you here to… check up on me?” Sera spluttered. How could her friend do that? She felt almost betrayed. Why did Monica have to be such a busybody!

“Hey, don’t take it out on me,” Jordan said. “I have better things to do with my time, believe me.”

“Then go,” Sera retorted. “I don’t need a kid looking out for me.”

“No can do, I owe her a favour and I’m obliged to follow through on this. I promised her I’d stick around for your first ten levels. And I’m not a kid, I’m in college.”

“Don’t I get a say in this? I came here to relax, not deal with people I know in real life!” Sera began to storm through the market. She reached a clothing stall and began to rifle through the garments after giving the owner a quick smile. He looked curiously at Jordan and her but didn’t say anything to Sera’s relief.

“Technically, I don’t know you in real life,” Jordan said. “And you do need some help from what I’ve seen.”

“And what is that?” Sera ground out. She quickly picked out a nicer, more form-fitting tunic that was a pleasing blue in colour (common cerulean tunic, rough spun linen, level 1, +3 armour, binds when equipped) and some brown leather pants (novice trousers, common leather, level 1, +4 armour, binds when equipped). She handed the merchant some coppers and thanked him.

“Well, you almost got yourself beaten up just now. The only non-PvP zones in the game are personal accommodations and inns, though official dueling needs to be done in an arena. And you just wasted your hard-earned money buying clothes.”

“I’m not wasting money,” Sera said indignantly, as she equipped herself with the new clothes using her user interface. They immediately appeared on her figure and she studied herself in the nearby mirror. Not bad. At least there was no more blood on her. She dropped her old clothes to the floor, not wanting to keep them in her inventory, and they faded away, like the horse droppings she had seen occasionally left behind on the street. They never stayed more than a second or two after exiting a horse’s bowels, thank goodness. “That woman looked at me like I was a beggar. I obviously need to dress better.”

“She looked at you like you’re a Level 1 newbie, with no weapons, no money, and hardly any charisma,” Jordan sighed. “If I were dressed in rags and had no weapons she would still be hanging off of me hoping to get me to propose to her because I have money in the bank and a very charming personality. Of course if I wanted to, I could tweak what stats she’s allowed to see. The algorithm looks at several things, not just your appearance. Buying clothes with lousy stats at your level is a common mistake that someone like you—a newbie—keeps making until someone enlightens them or they figure it out themselves after wasting tons of time and money.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that charming personality,” Sera huffed. How many times had he called her a newbie in that sentence? She hadn’t counted, but she didn’t like it. Though what the boy had said was true, in retrospect. She probably should have invested her money in a weapon or something, especially since she’d lost her sword.

Jordan quirked an eyebrow at her silence and she found herself smiling at him despite herself. It was kind of funny to see that expression on what looked like a powerful undead corpse. “Are you using that charisma on me? Shut it off!”

“Charisma doesn’t have an effect on players,” Jordan replied, breaking into laughter. “Wow, you’re such a newbie! You really haven’t a clue about anything, do you?”

Sera rolled her eyes and sighed.

***

Jordan studied Sera as he listened to what she had done so far in the game. She had been a little hesitant at first, but when she realised he wouldn’t judge her, or at least, show that he was judging her, she began to reveal all that she had done so far. He gave her as much advice as he could think of, especially regarding combat. She didn’t seem to know that all the text notifications could be turned off so they wouldn’t distract her while fighting.

It was also an eye-opener to hear that she had died so many times already after just trying the game once, and had done so without even turning the pain threshold lower than 80% after the first time. Most players only played with the setting set to 60%. He re-assessed her, taking note of her small stature and delicate looking figure. It also looked like she had used a custom setting for her character. That was a new game feature and something he had been meaning to try out though he hadn’t been ready to start a new character yet.

“Anyway, it sounds like you had a sword with very low durability. You should have taken note of its condition before going out to fight.”

Sera’s eyes widened and she turned to stare at him. “You know what? You’re absolutely right. I remember it did look quite pathetic. I should have read the description more carefully.” She smacked her forehead. “Oh, I just walked right into that didn’t I?”

Jordan smiled when she sighed heavily. “Well, do you still have some money leftover?”

“Yeah,” she replied guardedly. “Why?”

“Let’s get you some weapons.” He led them towards a stall with an anvil out front and racks upon racks of swords and other weapons. It was just a stall but Jordan knew that the vendor would be able to produce all the merchandise from his shop.

To his surprise, Sera refused vehemently when Jordan offered to transfer coins to her account so that they could get her a good weapon.

“Absolutely not,” Sera said. “That’s not how I want to go through the game.” She glared at him as if he had offered something vile and despicable to her.

Jordan blinked. “Oh well… you can hardly afford much with what you have left, right?”

Sera emptied her pockets. She had just thirty coppers.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get something cheap.” Sera moved to speak to the merchant herself and began to negotiate with him.

Jordan shrugged and stepped aside. He himself had no interest in what the vendor had to sell. All his equipment were dropped from monsters during dungeon raids or quests. He hardly ever bought any weapons and had started the game using what he’d received when he’d chosen his class. But because Sera hadn’t chosen a character class or finished her training, she had not been given any weapons at all. It was a poor start, but it couldn’t be helped. She should have done the training.

“Done!” Sera said, coming back to him. In her hands were a set of daggers and a set of bow and arrows.

Jordan gave them a cursory look. Both daggers had the same label: Solingen dirk, Level 1-5, one-hand, 1-5 damage, durability of 30. There were more stats on the damage per second, speed and even some lore behind it—belonged to a retired officer from the highlands, etc. but he ignored those for now, Sera could learn about them later. The bow and arrows were ‘Huntsman’s Shortbow, Level 2-6, range, 3-10 damage, with durability of 40’.

He explained what each description meant to Sera who listened patiently, though she probably could figure them out herself. It was all quite self-explanatory.

“You’re not going to be able to use that set until you’re a level 2,” he told her, pointing at the bow and arrows. “You can keep them till then.” Inwardly he felt a bit annoyed with himself. It would have been better if he’d helped her buy them, because the bow and arrows would have been easier for her to start with instead of a dagger. She could have even gotten a sword instead which she had at least used once before. Now just reaching the next level was going to take time. Jordan sighed.

“Hey, you really don’t have to stick around, you know,” Sera said, reading his expression. “I’ll tell Monica you helped. You’ve already taught me more than I could have learned in a week by myself.”

Jordan hesitated, tempted to take her up on the offer, but then he looked more closely at her. If she had really used her custom face, then Sera didn’t look all that much older than he did, even taking to account the game’s graphic representations. She also had a sweet and good-natured smile which she used quite often though there was an air of sadness and endurance about her that reminded Jordan that she had just lost someone close. He took in a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks as he let it out. A twinge of amusement crossed her eyes when she turned to look at him.

“You look like an undead pufferfish when you do that,” Sera said with quick grin. Jordan rolled his eyes. The undead were cool, damnit.

“You know what,” he said, before he could help himself. “I don’t think I’m going about this the right way. I’m too strong at the moment, so I’m not going to think of all the little things you need to do unless I have to do them myself too. Some details just won’t occur to me otherwise.”

Sera raised her brows in surprise. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I’m going to create a new character and travel with you. It’s the only way I’ll know how to show you stuff.” The moment he said it, Jordan felt sure it was the right thing to do.

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” Sera replied slowly. “It might take me quite a long time to level up. Don’t you need to study?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a heavy schedule this semester,” Jordan said, pushing his studies to the back of his mind. He could worry about his tests later. “Tell you what, we give it a go for a days. I’ll turn up for an hour or so each day and you can spend the rest of your time by yourself. If it turns out you don’t really need or want my help, I’ll tell Monica. She’ll have to back off, it’s your game and your time in here after all.”

Sera opened her mouth to say something and Jordan continued. “I’m willing to do this because I owe my aunt a favour but of course, if this turns out to suck really bad for either of us, I’ll be gone before you know it.”

“Fair enough,” Sera said with a shrug. “I’m all right with that.”

“Good,” Jordan held his hand out and they shook on it.