Spell 00 : The Beginning

'Have you guys heard? It's finally out!'

'Yeah! I mean, it was kinda in the Beta mode, and there were rumors going around it was gonna be released next year...'

'I gained 5 levels last night!'

'Only 5? I got 10!'

School began this morning with almost everyone shouting excitedly, at the top of their voices, about the new game, RoyalRoad, that was just released yesterday. To play the game, you can't just play it on your computer. You have got to purchase a capsule, REPLACE your own body inside it and basically make yourself asleep... And vulnerable to anyone who decides to rape you or something.

I wasn't really keen on the idea. Though a professional gamer in all kinds of games (why yes, I'm proud to call myself that), the idea of letting some advanced technology screwing around with my brainwaves puts me off totally. I mean, come on, it's gotta be some sort of conspiracy right? Those big corporations are definitely prying into our privacy with these capsules. So I made my mind. I was never gonna touch that RoyalRoad. Well that was until I heard that SHE was playing the game.

'Hey! Vanessa! You're coming for today's dance rehearsal right?'

'Nah, sorry, Laine. I'm kinda busy today... Tell the others for me, yeah?'

'Oh yeah, I forgot. You gotta play that RoyalGate or something right? And on your father's orders too, huh!'

'Yeah... And it's RoyalRoad, not RoyalGate. I'm really sorry, Laine. I'll be sure to attend Thursday's rehearsal! See ya!'

'Sure. See you on Thursday then! Bye!'

I was packing up my bag, getting ready to leave the lecture hall when I overheard the conversation. And dropped all my paper notes on the floor when I realised who were the two having the conversation.

'Hey, look! Guys, it's Julius being a retard again! He dropped all his notes! What an idiot!'

Typical Tidus. Always laughing at the misfortunes of everybody. Face red, I immediately bent down and started scooping up my notes. I caught a whiff of lavender as someone presented my notes to me. I looked up, hardly believing my luck. Vanessa, who managed to pick up the rest of my notes, handed them to me.

'Here you are! Be more careful next time, okay?' She smiled, and said.

'Thanks.' That was all I could mutter, utterly smitten with her charming smile.

Holding onto the notes, I watched her climb up the steps and left the lecture hall, still bewildered at what just happened. I couldn't believe that the school's belle, Vanessa, didn't laugh at me like most of the others would and even took it upon her to help me with my troubles.

Now that the fun was over, everyone was slowly shuffling out of the lecture hall. Tidus, sensing nothing was going to happen, left too. My usual group of friends came up to me, all chatting excitedly.

'Hey Julius! Oh my GOD! Did you j-just talked to Vanessa?! THE Vanessa?' Jay burst.

'Oh man, you have to thank all the Gods of luck today! Like burn them hell gold or something. Or get on your knees and pray for the whole night or something I don't know. You Christian or Buddhist?' Benedict laughed.

'Yeah, I mean, someone like her, talking to nobodies like all of you. Man, if it were me, she would have pitied me and given me her number. I mean, c'mon. Everyone knows I'm the most han-' Keith never got to finish his sentence; Jay slapped his mouth shut.

'It was just... Nothing, guys. Calm down. Come on, let's go home. I wanna play some Dota before I start with today's assignments.' I said to them, picking up my bag and walking towards the exit. They too, followed me out of the hall.

On the way home, I started thinking about a lot of things. A million things must have went through my mind that afternoon. But the most shocking thing of all to me was that Vanessa was playing RoyalRoad! This could be my only chance to talk to her and engage with her. I know I have nothing to prove to her in reality. I haven't got the looks, the athleticism, the grades nor the talents that all the popular people in my school had. But I know I have got one thing that most people do not have. I have the gamer blood in me. I can play any game, be it action, sports or even dress-up Barbie, and easily top the rankings. So this was it. As I got off the bus, I took out my phone, and Googled the website of Unicorn Inc. ...

School carried on as per usual for the next two days. Then during recess, I was eating with Benedict when Keith joined our table, saying he had some interesting news.

'Good day to you fags. Listen, I heard some pretty interesting things. Wanna hear?' said Keith, as he sat down.

'Yeah, good day to you too, idiot. C'mon, what is it you heard?' I replied.

'Y'know the other day when Julius jizzed the moment he heard about Vanessa playing RoyalRoad? Well, for a favour to an old friend, I decided to do some snooping. Apparently, her dad's in Unicorn Inc. And he's one of the co-founders of the game. Here's the part you won't believe. You all think that she spends her free time studying to death at home right? Well, guess what? She's been playing that game at home all the time since the game was made Beta!' he finished, with a dramatic bite out of his chicken wing.

I was dumbfounded at that. Here I was thinking that I could create a new account in the game, level up a bit more, then look for Vanessa's avatar in the game so that we go partying together and show her what a man was all about in a game. Now I realised, she's probably a high level character in the game and extremely powerful. Nothing I can show off to her then...

I went home that day, feeling disappointed. When I got home, my mum told me a package arrived for me earlier that day. She sounded pissed, and I knew why. I paid for the subscription of RoyalRoad using her credit card. I went up to my room, feeling a sense of dread. I opened the door, and whistled lowly. It really was a big capsule. And it looked like it didn't need a plug too either. Looking at it, I shook my head. I made a promise to myself. No more being a useless guy in school. No more being the fool for Tidus. I have got to make something happen between me and Vanessa. I opened the capsule, and stepped into it. I sensed drowsiness immediately, and closed my eyes, feeling the familiar sense of falling asleep...

Almost immediately, a message appeared in the darkness.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][col colspan=4 valign=middle width=100% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][pc]Connect to Royal Road?[/pc][/col][col colspan=2 valign=middle width=50% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][pc]Yes.[/pc][/col][col colspan=2 valign=middle width=50% bordercolor=#202020 bgcolor=#f5f5f5][pc]No.[/pc][/col][/box]

With all my resolve, I shouted.

'YES!'

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