"8.15am... Right on time." I muttered to myself as i made my way up the familiar flight of stairs.

Cheers of jubilation could be heard from everywhere as the high volume of chatter in the classrooms around me proved that this was a special day. It was the last day of school for the term.

"SUP JINXXX!" And that was my clique. It was made up of 3 guys, Anthony, Joe and Zack. Anthony was the class clown and for good reason. There was never a dull moment with him and it was like he was born to joke around. Even the teachers had to seek him for entertainment once in awhile. Joe was the typical good looking guy all the girls would fawn over but sadly for them, he seemed to love games more than girls. Zack is the typical smartass who actually studies for his tests! But he was a genuinely nice guy with his share of epic moments sometime so it's good he's not just a complete nerd. I would like to think of myself as the sporty guy and the jack of all trades in the group but i shouldn't comment on myself. It just doesn't feel right.

Today was an even more special day for the 4 of us. Not only was it the last day of school but also the date we agreed upon to embark on an epic journey together. Royal Road. RR is a new VMMORPG (Virtual Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) which was released about a year ago. Since its release it has been shattering record after record. There are 1 billion + unique player accounts in the game. The economy of the game was stronger than some countries in real life. The sheer size of the map is about as big as one quarter of Earth and there was room for boundless increase due to events or updates. Unicorn Inc. was the company who started RR and now, it has a net worth of 500 billion dollars, making the CEO of Unicorn Inc. the richest man in the world by a long shot. (Bill Gates has a net worth of about 80 billion dollars.) It was every gamer's dream to play a game this large, with 29 races and over 100 classes with more hidden only to be revealed by fulfilling certain secret requirements. Today was the day that we finally got to play this epic game.

Moving on to reality, the last day of school is never about lessons. Our tutors would come in and just share stories about the past year, how they have seen us grown and mature and sentimental stuff like that. It was really quite touching as the tutors themselves have been through quarrels, late nights, happy moments and epic moments with us as well so it was very relatable. However Anthony being Anthony had better plans and this sentimental mood was not suited for one like him. Our last lesson of the day was English by Mrs Maggie, a jovial woman who was a bit plump.

"So class. This has been one heck of year and we made it through. I'm so proud of everyo- Yes Anthony?"

"Mrs Maggie you have something on your chin."

"Where?" asked Mrs Maggie trying to find the object.

"Not that chin. The other one!" Anthony beamed while finishing the punchline.

This was approved with an uproar of laughter and applause joined in even by good natured Mrs Maggie herself.

"If only you were as ingenious with your work as your jokes. However i do get the message you're trying to tell me and i suppose i should just give it to you. Sentimental time is over. Class dismissed go knock yourselves out this holiday." Mrs Maggie winked.

"HELLLLLLLLYEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

If all hell broke loose it would probably be close to what was happening now. All of us scrambled out of the door with our backpacks and especially the four of us as we knew what was in stall for us at home. On the way back, i opened up our whatsapp chat to finalise a few of the things we decided a few days prior upon doing our research.

"Remember guys our starting city is the Capital of Junad do not screw up the character creation process."

"Yeah and no alteration to our appearances! Unless Joe wants to be uglier that is always welcome."

"Go away. But seriously remember once we enter and register as friends, we should spend the one month confinement in town independently. This would make it more interesting once we regroup after one month."

"Agreed. Let's meet at 2pm in game. Don't be late. Especially you Anthony!"

"You would make such a great mom Jinx."

"Shut up."

I reached home, took a quick shower and ate my lunch. Going into my room, at one corner stood the newly installed, gleaming shining silver capsule. I had it installed 3 days ago and it took every inch of my willpower not to log in first to see the world I nearly went crazy. However now the time was neigh and we were going to make this journey legendary. Trembling with excitement, I nestled myself in the capsule and followed the instructions..

Connect to Royal Road?

Yes|No

"Yes."

End of Chapter 1