USER REGISTERED: RAES BASTION.

‘How’d it know my name?’ I dismissed that thought after wondering for a moment. ‘Doesn’t matter anyway.’

WELCOME TO AWAKENING

I saw the words appear in my vision, and then dissolve into mist. Everything turned black.

….

I feel something hard against my face and open my eyes. Dirt. I just see a lot of dirt, earth and grass near me.

Everything is shrouded in mist.

I try to see things around me, but the mist is too thick. I can’t even see my hand in front of my face, even though I know that it’s right there.

‘This is it? I can’t believe this is the top VR game out there. Not very scenic, but I have to admit that it feels pretty real.’

The mist seeped into my clothes as I walked around, looking for something that was solid. The only thing I could actually feel was the ground under my feet, aside from the cold.

5 minutes later and I was still looking for a way out of this freaking mist!

The clothes I had on were already soaked from the mist that it trapped inside its fibers, my body was shivering, my teeth were clattering, and I think that I might have gotten hypothermia (again) if I hadn’t seen blurred shapes in the distance. I probably should have been more cautious, but after wandering around literally being lost in a cloud, I saw something that wasn’t mist and I ran towards it.

The ground flew past me as I sprinted towards the shapes in the distance. At first it was easy. I was back in top shape (or at least the best shape I’d ever been in), and sprinting long distances was nothing to me. I took deep breaths in through my nose and slowly exhaled out of my mouth, controlling my breathing so that it would be easier to keep the pace I had. Time flew by, just like the ground I’d covered. The things I’d seen in the distance had gotten somewhat closer, but it wasn’t enough to make anyone excited about it. They’d gone from a blurry figure in the distance about the size of an ant, to something about the size of a cat.

My chest was already starting to burn with all the effort that it took to keep going. With nothing else around me that I could see, I knew that I couldn’t stop. What was the point in stopping after I’d gotten this far? Sure, I didn’t think that I had gotten a lot closer to whatever it was in the distance, but it’s not like I had any other choice.

It was either keep running towards that thing in the distance, or stop now and still have to run towards it later on. ‘I can’t waste time in this game. This is just the first step towards getting back everything I lost.’

In the 6 months before the results of the contest had been announced, I’d thought over what exactly it was that I wanted to do with my life. If you’d have the Raes Bastion from when he was 17, he probably would’ve just laughed at you for even considering something like that. To him, every moment was supposed to be spontaneous. Even though he had a wife, even though he had a daughter on the way, nothing could’ve made him sit down and actually plan out the future. Not the long-term future anyway. If it was about what you wanted to do the following week, or the following month, he would’ve told you a bunch of events that he’d already planned to go, and many things to do. But asking him what he wanted to do with his life? Forget it. You were better off trying to asking a cat to explain to you what cold fusion was.

And the cat probably would’ve given you an answer faster too.

That Raes Bastion was still a kid. A kid playing a game at being an adult. Even though he had a wife and a baby on the way, he hadn’t had that moment of clarity that a person has when they first start to mature.

And when he finally did get that moment of clarity at his daughter’s birth, he wouldn’t have long to dwell on it either. He’d be shipped off to a trial and wrongfully imprisoned soon afterwards.

I’m not that person anymore though. That guy is long gone.

It took me almost the entire 6 months before the results had come out, but after thinking for so long I finally knew what I wanted to do.

I decided that I couldn’t care less about being rich. I’d had all that money once before, and it had never actually helped me out at all. In fact, you could almost say that money and power were the things that had gotten me in this situation in the first place. If I’d just been an average person with a normal amount of money, when I met Sarah I could’ve swept her off her feet sooner. I could’ve started a family sooner. I could’ve been a better person.

Instead, I’d been an arrogant asshole that had to do a complete 180 and go through all the romantic gestures known to man before I even got the girl of my dreams to look at me. I’d lost everything I had because people hated and envied me because of how rich, famous and powerful I was.

No, I didn’t care about money or power any more. What I finally found out was something incredibly simple. I just wanted

my family back.

I couldn’t do that as just another random hobo on the street though. I had to have enough money to at least support all of us once we became a family again. I couldn’t even get near them though if I was still a criminal. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I have to find a way to get revenge on the people who did this to me and prove I’m innocent.

As far as the order goes on that, I’ll make up my mind when I get there.

But to do that, I needed money. It all came back to money. I don’t want to involve Caesar in this, since even I don’t know the things that I might do when I finally get the chance to decide between revenge and justice. So in the end, what I wanted out of life added up to become a 3-step program.

Make money. Get vengeance and/or prove my innocence. Make my family whole again.

Shaking my head to clear it of old memories, I tried to concentrate on the task at hand. The sound of my foot striking the ground echoed everywhere. Each step that I took became slower and slower, not because I’d stopped trying to sprint as hard as I could, but because the mist got thicker and thicker. As the shapes in the distance got closer and became more defined, the mist became thicker and thicker, to the point that it was like trying to run through jelly. If anyone had seen me through right then, I probably would’ve died from embarrassment. I’d slowed down to the point where I wasn’t even close to walking speed, even though I was still pushing my body to its limits. It was almost like I was posing for the front of a sports magazine, pretending to run.

Sweat ran down my face in streams, mixing in with the mist that my clothes had trapped. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. The mist had become so thick that when I tried breathing, it swirled into my throat choking me.

So I stopped breathing.

The edges of my vision were already turning black, but I somehow knew that I was close. Alert after alert flashed in front of me, but I ignored them all and pushed them to the side. There was something else that was more important.

‘It’s right there! I can see it!!’ The blurred shapes looked like they’d literally moved up in the world, or more accurately it had probably always been there. It just looked like it was close to the ground since I was far away, but now that I was closer I could see that it was on top of some kind of mound.

‘Is that… a tree?!’ With a POOF I burst out from that mist, a half-crazed look on my face with sweat flying everywhere, screaming out in pain. The first thing I saw was a massive tree with leaves of every color of the rainbow on top of a grassy knoll. What I saw right after that were the patches of dirt between each blade of grass, because I’d collapsed then and there. Every muscle fiber in my arms and legs felt like they’d been torn, blood was pouring out from the places where my skin had ripped open, and parts of my body had turned blue from the intense freezing that the mist had subjected it to.

My loud screaming drew something to me, and I heard the word [HEAL] shouted out. A comforting warmness washed over me, and I sighed with relief. Miraculously all the dried blood that had been on my clothes and skin were gone, my skin was back to its normal shade. My clothes were still slightly wet but they weren’t cold anymore. Steam was coming out from them, and they were getting drier by the second.

‘And everything magically worked out fine.’ I grinned at the thought.

I slowly stood up, almost groaning with joy at the absence of pain, when I realized that a girl had been standing in front of me with a worried look the entire time.

‘Is she the one who healed me?’ The girl couldn’t have been more than 9, with black hair and dark skin. She didn’t even reach my chest, but there was something about her that warned me that I shouldn’t take her lightly. She was in a white dress with floral designs, and her green eyes still had a worried look in them, so I struck a pose to show her that I was alright.

She giggled and her eyes lit up as she shouted, “Mister, you’re okay!”

Smiling at how fast she changed, I thought ‘Always did want to try “that” out on Talia. Might as well try it out now and see if it works.’

Still in my pose (fists on my hips just like the old “man of steel” movies), I said “Of course I’m ok. I’m Batman!” (*Because even Superman wants to be Batman*)

Her eyes widened in awe and she asked, “Wow, is your name really Batman?”

Confirm. Create Player with the name “Batman”?YesNo

‘Oh shit! No, no, no, no, no!’

I coughed to cover my embarrassment. ‘Is this the part where I create my character? Have to be careful with what I say then.’

I relaxed and dropped the ridiculous pose.

“No, I’m just joking. My name isn’t actually Batman.”

I let out a sigh of relief as the window asking me to confirm my character’s name as Batman disappeared.

The girl’s face fell. “Aww. So what is your name then mister?”

I was thunderstruck! ‘Crud, did I really forget to think up a name for myself?’ Thoughts racing, I quickly thought of something that would be perfect. The Arabic name for a monster, the thing that they’d all turned me into.

“My name is Wahshi.”

She scrunched up her face. “Huh? Is your name really Washy?”

Confirm. Create Player with the name “Washy”?YesNo

“No, my name is Wahshi.”

“Washy?”

“No, Wahshi!” I groaned inwardly. Somehow, I knew this wouldn’t be the last time I would have to deal with this kind of thing. “It’s Wahshi. W-A-H-S-H-I.”

It was like a lightbulb turned on in her mind. “Oh! I get it, I get it!” She said excited and proud.

Confirm. Create Player with the name “Wahshi”?YesNo

‘Whew! Thank god she actually got it right. I DEFINITELY don’t want to be walking around as Washy.’

I whispered “yes” under my breath, and the window confirmed that he had chosen the name “Wahshi” as his character.

“Mister…mister!!”

Wahshi looked back at the little girl bouncing up and down trying to get his attention.

“What were you looking at Mr. Wahshi?” She asked with a quizzical look on her face.

“Oh, uh, nothing.”

‘Man, even though I know they’re NPC’s, I can’t stop thinking that they’re almost like real people. I probably shouldn’t mention anything game-like to them, like status screens and system confirmations.’

“Oh, I almost forgot. What’s your name little girl?”

Her cheeks puffed out, and she made a cute “Hmph!” sound.

“I’m not little!” She stomped the ground with her little foot.

I held my hands up in what I hoped was a sign of peace.

“Whoa! Ok, I get it. You’re not a little girl. I can’t just keep calling you ‘girl’ right? I just wanted to know what I can call you.”

Faster than you could snap your fingers, she had already forgiven me and was smiling again. “My name is Gaia, nice to meet you!” Gaia held out her hand for him to shake.

Taking her hand in his, Wahshi said “Nice to meet you too.”

Dropping her hand and looking around he realized that there was no one else around except for Gaia and himself. “Hey Gaia, do you live here alone by any chance?”

“Mmhm!” She nodded. “I’ve always been here. I don’t know why, but it feels like I’ve been waiting for someone.” Turning from side to side like little girls do when they’re nervous, she hesitatingly asked, “Umm, Mr. Wahshi, if you don’t mind me asking…. What are you?”

As she asked that, an image of himself appeared in his mind. Three words were stacked one on top of the other next to the image of himself in the clothes that he wore when he lay down in the capsule. A man with average height, a wiry build, and flexible muscles in his late 30’s stared at him with brown eyes. His dark black hair had been close-cropped, and it showed on this new character.

Human. Elf. Werebeast.

These were the words that were stacked on top of each other next to him.

‘Ah, so this must be the part where I actually pick out my race and appearance.’

Since I had planned for this part in advance, I already knew what I wanted. I mentally selected Human from the list and made a few changes to the image of himself in his mind.

‘Let’s see… make the face look a few years older, like a person in his early 40’s.’

The man in his mind slowly aged, and he had a far-off look on his face.

‘The eyes should change to match my emotions, and make the skin a few shades lighter.’

The game acquiesced, and a lightly tanned man in his early forties stared straight at him (or at least where he thought he was in his own mind). The eyes flickered every few seconds to become different colors, which I’m guessing would reflect the different emotions that the character was going through.

‘It’s too bad I can only change my appearance and not my height. I always wanted to be a little taller.’

The company that made Awakening had realized early on that there were too many problems that came with letting players change certain aspects of themselves. It’s why they were never allowed the option of changing their size and gender when creating their characters. If people became even a little unaccustomed to their bodies in real life, it could cause major physical and mental problems that would ultimately rack up lawsuits against the company.

‘I guess these changes will have to do. It’d be a disaster if somebody saw that the infamous Raes Bastion was playing Awakening.’

Wahshi mentally confirmed his race choice and his new appearance, and immediately felt the changes occur. Realizing that Gaia had been biting her lip and waiting for him to say something for a while now, he let her know of his race choice.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, but I think I’m a human.”

He didn’t know it, but his eyes had changed to become a lively green, reflecting his joking mood.

The little girl’s eyes widened. “Cool! Your eyes just turned green!”

I grinned. ‘She’s just too cute! Almost like how I’d imagine Tal-‘ Knowing that my thoughts were headed someplace I didn’t want it to, I shook my head to shake off the depressing feelings that had almost bubbled up to the surface.

“Hey Mr. Wahshi, I almost forgot to tell you something.” She tugged on the hem of my shirt and motioned for me to get closer to her.

Humoring her, I sunk down to her level. She put her mouth close to my ear and whispered, “Congratulations. You’re the first person to make it out of the Mist of Souls!”

FEAT ACCOMPLISHED: I WAS BORN RUNNING

REQUIREMENTS: DISCOVER A WAY OUT OF THE MIST OF SOULS, DISCOVER THE TREE OF LIFE AT THE HEART OF THE MIST, ACCOMPLISH THE ABOVE BEFORE CREATING YOUR CHARACTER IN THE GAME

REWARD: SPECIAL SKILL “SOUL ORIGIN”

TITLE “MISTBORN”

FAME +50

FEAT ACCOMPLISHED: GAIA’S FIRST FRIEND

REQUIREMENTS: BE THE FIRST TO ACCOMPLISH THE FEAT “I WAS BORN RUNNING”, BEFRIEND GAIA

REWARD: TITLE “MISTBORN” -> UNIQUE TITLE “FIRST-BORN OF THE MIST”

FAME +50

Gaia ran off giggling happily, leaving me completely confused.

‘What just happened? The game has been out for years…. Is this not what normally happens when you try to create a character?’

Deciding that it would be easier to ask Gaia these questions instead of trying to figure them out on my own, I ran towards the tree to catch up with her.

I managed to catch up to her, but before I could ask any questions she took me by the hand and dragged me over to a pool of water near the tree.

“Sorry Mr. Wahshi. I wish you could stay longer, but I have this feeling that you need to go somewhere else now. Jump into that pool and you’ll be able to get to where it is you need to go.”

I turned back to look at her. I opened my mouth to object, but when I thought it about it, she was just an npc. No matter what I said or did, if this was what she was programmed to do, then asking too many questions would probably get me nowhere. Still…

“Alright, but I don’t feel good leaving you here by yourself though. Why don’t you come with me?”

She shook her head. “I can’t, I’m still waiting for someone. But you should definitely come visit! And when I do find meet the person I’m waiting for, we’ll go and visit you too!”

She must have seen that I was still hesitating to leave her alone out here, because the next thing I knew I was falling backwards towards the pool. Gaia was waving goodbye, but my eyes were drawn to the tree behind her. I could’ve sworn that I’d seen it before too. A massive tree that spread its branches proudly. It might’ve been my imagination, but it almost seemed like there was light coming from a crack in the middle of the tree.

I felt water splash against my back, and everything went dark.

*****

“Oof!”

I’m not sure how, but I landed on my front, and it knocked all the wind out of me. Getting up, I saw that I was in a typical “grassy plains” type area with a forest behind me and a city in front. There were people everywhere, fighting off all kinds of weird creatures. The strange thing though was that they didn’t look like new players. Most of them had on fancy armors and had strong looking weapons. Looking down at myself, I saw that I had on what looked like a drab-brown tunic with matching leggings.

Thinking that it would probably be better to get to somewhere safe first before doing anything else, I headed in the direction of the city walls. I made sure not to get in the aggro zone for any of the monsters, and I was paid extra attention to the players, making sure I didn’t get in their way.

‘Alright, this should be far enough away.’

I was far enough away from the monsters that I wouldn’t be attacked, but there were still a lot of other people around. I didn’t exactly know which ones were players and which were npc’s since there’s nothing to show that aside from their behavior, but I could take a guess. Lucky for me everyone was far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to hear me check my stats. For now it was probably better if I kept everyone wondering if I was an NPC. I’d gotten more than a few weird looks on the way here. Whenever I passed by, people would start talking to each other while they were in battle. I’d say that it’s possible they were talking about something other than me, but when it happens after you pass anyone, you realize that they actually are talking about you.

“Status Window!”

STATUS WINDOWNAMEWAHSHILEVEL1RACEHUMANGENDERMALECLASSNONEMONEY0G 1S 0CTITLEFIRST-BORN OF THE MISTHEALTH110MANA110STRENGTH28INTELLIGENCE20DEXTERITY20WILLPOWER12VITALITY20CHARISMA10AGILITY20LUCK17FAME100PASSIVE SKILLSPERSEVERE: YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH INCREDIBLE PAINS TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL

WHEN HEALTH IS LESS THAN 50%, PAIN DECREASES 1% PER ADDITIONAL PERCENT OF HEALTH LOSTELDEST: YOU ARE THE OLDEST CHILD OF YOUR CLAN, AND THEREFORE THE STRONGEST. +1 TO ALL STATS FOR EVERY MISTBORN IN THE WORLD, EXCLUDING YOURSELF (CURRENT NUMBER OF MISTBORN: 1 [YOURSELF])ACTIVE SKILLSSOUL ORIGIN: YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A FEAT FEW WOULD KNOW ABOUT, AND DISCOVERED THE BIRTHPLACE OF YOUR SOUL. TRAVEL TO THE MIST OF SOULS IS NOW POSSIBLE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, IF THE COST IS PAID.

ACTIVATION REQUIREMENTS: ??? ACTIVATION COSTS: ???

What’s going on? Looking at my status solved the question of what my [SOUL ORIGIN] skill did, but it left me with even more questions than it answered. I couldn’t even activate the only skill I had, since I didn’t know what conditions I had to be in, and what the cost was!

Even more puzzling was the fact that I had just made my character but I was already stronger than anyone else my level!

‘Why are my stats this high when I’ve just started?’

I noticed a flashing icon at the bottom right corner of my vision. Mentally choosing to view it, it expanded and I saw that it was a list of the system alerts I’d decided to ignore back when I was trying to get out of the mist.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

FOR PUSHING THROUGH AGAINST INCREASING DIFFICULTIES, THE WILLPOWER STAT HAS BEEN CREATED. ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

WILLPOWER+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

STRENGTH+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

WILLPOWER+1: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH INCREDIBLE PAINS TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL. PERSEVERE (PASSIVE) SKILL ACQUIRED. ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

YOU HAVE BET YOUR LIFE THAT YOU WOULD REACH YOUR GOAL BEFORE DYING AND WON THE GAMBLE.

LUCK+5: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

YOU HAVE BEEN HEALED OF FATAL INJURIES BY A RANDOM PERSON, LUCKY YOU!

LUCK+2: ERROR. CHARACTER NOT CREATED. CHANGES WILL BE APPLIED AFTER CHARACTER CREATION.

So my strength increased by 8, my willpower by 2 and my luck by 7. That doesn’t add up at all! From what I knew about the game, it seems like the base number was 10 for each stat.

‘Does willpower do what the forums say it does?’

“Help: Willpower Stat”

WILLPOWER: DETERMINES WHETHER OR NOT A STATUS EFFECT WILL TAKE HOLD. DEBUFFING AN ENEMY REQUIRES HIGHER WPR THAN THEM, AND VICE VERSA FIGHTING OFF A POSSIBLE STATUS DEBUFF REQUIRES A HIGHER WPR THAN THE CASTER.

ALSO CREATES A SKILL WHEN WILLPOWER IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 100.

Well, looks like it does everything I thought it would. Once it reaches 100, the stat should create the passive skill [MAGICAL RESISTANCE], which would help out a lot. Until then, I’m on my own though.

‘Alright, saved the best for last. Time to find out what my title gets me.’

“Help: Current Title”

FIRST-BORN OF THE MIST

A UNIQUE TITLE GIVEN ONLY TO THE FIRST PERSON TO ACCOMPLISH THE FEAT “I WAS BORN RUNNING”, AND EVEN THEN ONLY IF THEY MANAGE TO BEFRIEND GAIA.

GRANTS: +10 TO ALL STATS, ACCESS TO MISTBORN ABILITIES WHEN DISCOVERED, ACCESS TO UNIQUE ABILITIES GIVEN ONLY TO THE HOLDER OF THIS TITLE (IF DISCOVERED), PASSIVE SKILL “ELDEST”

‘Well that explains it.’

Looks like most of my stat bonuses were from the title I got right after I created my character. Closing the windows, I looked around and realized that there was a group of people headed towards me.

One of them was obviously a warrior-type. He had a muscular build and was over 6 feet tall, with steel armor and shield. His sword was a rather plain-looking iron sword, which was the only thing that didn’t match with what he was wearing.

Another looked like she was the rogue-type, dressed in leather armor while the other was definitely a mage. She only had cloth armor equipped and was walking around with a staff.

All 3 of them gave off the vibe that they knew what they were doing. Even though they didn’t seem like experts in their fields, I knew that they were definitely more experienced than someone like me who had just started.

The warrior led the group, and the women followed behind him side-by-side. I got the feeling that the man was sizing me up, but when I looked him in the eyes, it seemed like he had already come to a conclusion.

“Greetings good sir. You do not seem to be of these parts, and are obviously distressed. My party and I are experienced Travelers, and are always more than happy to help people in need. Please tell us, what is it that ails you?”

Surprise colored my face, but I made sure that it was gone as soon as it showed. ‘What’s wrong with this guy? Does everyone here speak like this?’ I sighed inwardly. ‘I’ve got questions that need answering, but is it really worth sounding like this idiot? Ah crud. Well, when in Rome…’

“I am not sure where to begin, stranger. Before I tell you anything though, I must ask, what is a Traveler?”

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