More than a Dream

[I_Eat_Children]

The door swung shut behind Benen as he threw his school bag into one of the many chairs that cluttered the small living room. This was his way of compensating for the lack of sofa. He continued down the short hall and into the adjacent kitchen. From the fridge he pulled a carton of milk and began to drink.

"You really should use a glass, Benen," his cousin's voice rang out of the bedroom.

He put the carton back in the fridge before replying. "And who are you to tell me what I should do in my own apartment, Paisley?" He walked into the room. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to wish you a happy belated birthday and watch you set up your New Life game. I know it's not set up yet because your parents dragged you out to dinner last night, so don't try to tell me it's already set up."

"You do realise that you can't actually watch me set it up. It'll be all in my mind," he attempted to counter.

"That's why I thought I'd get here early and hit a few reference points before you get going," she smiled.

"Reference points?"

"Yes, reference points. Now if you want to meet a cute girl in the game you need a cute avatar. I suggest you use a demon bard. Girls love bards, but they love demons even better. Kind of like a cute bad guy," she explained.

"Whoa, who said anything about meeting girls? I'm perfectly fine without them. Besides, a demon bard is lame. I'm going to be an archer."

"Oh Ben, you really should reconsider. A girl is just what this place needs. You're already in college and you've never been on a date!"

"Please just leave. I don't need a little high schooler's advice about dating." He plopped himself down in the computer chair and peeled off the thin plastic lining on the New Life game box. It came with a set of complimentary headphones and the game card.

Paisley slipped a piece of paper into her jean's pocket. "If you say so," she sighed and walked out of the bedroom and through the front door. It's a good thing I got the account number before he got home, if he doesn't follow my advice, I'll just have my GM friend make sure he doesn't have a choice in the matter, she smiled at the thought.

Benen slipped the game card into the headset and put it on. Following the instructions on the box he flipped the little switch on the side of the headset. When he opened his eyes he was standing in a large grey room. At least he assumed he was standing because he had no physical body at all. A voice cut through the silence.

"Please choose a form," it announced. It's voice was that of a young woman's. Very pleasing.

A line of bodies popped up before him. One for each race that could be chosen. A human, elf, dwarf, beast-man, demon, and angel. "I would like to be a human," Benen said.

"Human: Processing," the voice replied. Before his eyes a human form materialized beneath him wearing a pair of the starter clothes for the game. "Processing: Complete."

"Please choose a profession," the woman said. Benen was no longer in the grey room, he now stood in an open grassy plain. Tents scattered the area. Above each tent read the profession you could choose. Thief, mage, warrior, barrier master, those were just a few. He looked around until he found archer's tent. There were a few people already in there, but not a huge crowd. He stepped inside and a man in the booth helped him understand the basic skills of the archer and the game. He would learn more as he went. Then the woman's voice rang out again, "Welcome to New Life."

Before he had time to wonder if anyone else had heard her he was transported to a small town area. There was a weapons dealer, a pub, an armoury, and several more buildings scattered about selling an assortment of goods that might be needed throughout the game. A blue crystal was glowing at the corner of the of the pub, next to what Benen assumed was the missions board. He remembered the man at the tent saying that these were save crystals and that you could log out from there. A few people walked up, touched the crystal and disappeared. The thought of the homework he had been assigned that day became fresh in his mind. He had at least gotten the game set up and tomorrow was Friday so he would have plenty of time to figure out how it worked then. He walked up to the crystal and touched it. A window appeared asking if he would like to save, or save and logout. He poked the second option with his finger.

He opened his eyes and was back in his bedroom. What a crazy device. It was so realistic. Benen grabbed his bag from the living room and started on that night's work. The memory of the game was so vivid in his mind. He couldn't wait to get back in there and explore the entire village.

 

[EquinoxSol]

"Right, so you put this in, and..."

"Yep, that'll do it."

"Cool."

"I know right?"

"'Kay, so you put this on," Jenna said, handing Kelan the headset. He did as she said, letting her turn on the game box while he put the gamecard into the headset. "Man, I wish I could see you..."

Kelan scoffed. "Only 'cause you wanna see my chari," he responded with, grinning anyways.

"And? It's the only reason you wanted me and my modding powers here!" she retorted, laughing to herself.

Shaking his head, he switched on the headset.

Finding himself in the grey room, he didn't have to wait long for the prompt to choose which race he'd like to be. "Elf," he had answered almost immediately. He and a group of friends had been surfing the web, eager for more information on New Life before any of them had actually played the game. Several weeks ago, they had all decided what race and professions they would want their characters to be. He would be the first to play the game, and was certain that tomorrow everyone would be bursting with questions about it.

Watching as his new form appeared, he grinned to himself, liking it all very much. As the world opened up in front of him, he could hardly keep the amazement off of his face. They had been told it would be realistic, but nothing this cool! Choosing necromancer as his profession, he let the man inside the tent teach him about the skills he had and what he would be able to do, thinking the entire thing interesting.

Once he was in the town, he spent easily forty-five minutes exploring it, looking in every single building and trying to find everything he could.

After a while, he remembered a test he had tomorrow, one which he hadn't studied for in the slightest. Knowing he wouldn't pass unless he crammed half the night, he forced himself to log out, though he had thoroughly enjoyed the exploring, the game, and even the feel of it all. It was all so real...

Pulling off his headset when he opened his eyes again, he turned to Jenna. "Woah, that was amazing."

"Glad you liked it so much, though I don't know whether you're talking about your chari or the game itself. Anyways, Kelan, I've got to go. Mean old Mr Bossman is having a meeting tonight that I'm probably late for, so I've got to go, but I'll see you later, yeah?" she smiled, standing up from her chair. She had been talking about her other job, the desk one she constantly complained about but couldn't get out of.

Hearing her let herself out, Kelan, too, stood up, going to his desk and taking out his notes from the past week, determined one passing. However, his mind kept traveling to the game, and he felt excitement fill him as he thought about logging on again.

 

[I_Eat_Children]

Benen's classes seemed exceptionally dull the next day. He struggled to concentrate on the words his professors were saying. His mind wandered to his new body in the game world. Paisley had told him that there was a special building where not only clothes could be bought, but hairstyles, eye colour, and physical build of the character could be altered as well. Apparently you needed to finish a certain mission to be able to get into this shop, otherwise the physical attributes of the character were based off of your own. It's not that he hated his own attributes. Many women found him quite attractive. But he wanted this game to truly be a "New Life" and that wasn't possible if everyone knew who he was.

The day eventually ended and gave way to the ever merciful weekend. Benen hurried home. The game ever clear in his thoughts now absorbing his very being with it's need to be played. He threw his backpack on the same chair as the day before, but instead of passing through the kitchen he went straight through the living room and to the bedroom. Music could be heard from inside. He stopped before opening the door.

"Paisley, what are you doing here?" he called through the door.

She opened the door looking out at him with her green eyes. "I was waiting for you. I brought my game today so I can show you around a bit," she smiled.

"Will this 'showing around' involve any of the reference points from yesterday?" Benen asked in a weary tone.

"No, I just thought you might want help getting started on some missions, and since you're only a level 1 you'll die really easily. I have a group that's going to meet us in there. They want to meet you," she explained.

"Does this group contain any women?"

"Well, only one, but she's kind of.....You'll see. Not really the dating type." Paisley went and plopped down on Benen's bed. "Come on now, are you ready?"

Benen went over to his desk and grabbed the headset. Paisley already had hers on. He slid it on, his dark brown curls fighting the intrusion of metal on his head. "How will I know where to find you in the game?" he asked Paisley.

"Don't worry, I'll handle that. Now sit down before you turn the headset on or it will be painful when you leave the game," she told him

Benen went to the bed and sat down next to his cousin. "Let's do this then." He flipped the switch and the pub appeared once again. A beautiful female warrior stood next to him. "Uh, hello?" he tried.

The female warrior smiled, "You must be Azriel. Your cousin told me to meet you here."

"Azriel? My name's not..." Benen attempted to explain before the woman cut him off.

"Your in game name is Azriel. We don't use our outside names. It's okay, you'll catch on soon enough," she countered.

"But I never chose that as my inside name. Where did that name come from?" he asked

"Your cousin had a mod do some work on your account. Look down," she smirked. Watching his reaction was all she really needed.

"NO! She can't do this to me! She needs to change it back!"

"Why? Your avatar is quite the lady killer," she laughed.

Benen's avatar had been modified into nothing other than a demon bard. More than that his attributes had been modified to be, well, drop dead gorgeous. Sinking down to his knees he cried out in despair. "Isn't there any way to change it back?" he begged.

"Afraid not, that was a one time deal sort of thing and I had to do something very horrific to get it. So you're going to love it whether you want to or not!" Paisley had finally appeared. She was an elven thief.

"You're really not lying, are you?"

"No, no I'm not," Paisley replied.

After admitting defeat Benen and the two girls found their way to the mission board. If Benen's account hadn't been tampered with this is where he would have registered his username. Under that name his missions would be recorded. They picked a small monster to start with.

"I don't even know how to attack as a bard," Benen complained.

"Check your left pocket, Azriel," the warrior told him.

He dipped his hand into the soft leather of his pocket. A small book lay within. He pulled it out. The front cover had the word Bard scribed in swirled gold lettering. Inside it contained an assortment of songs and the spells that would be cast when the song is sung.

"The numbers in the corner indicate the level you need to be to perform them," Paisley explained as they walked to the city exit.

"Great. I have a question though, what's your name in the game?" Azriel asked his cousin.

"I'm called the Shadow Thief. Generally people just call me Shadow though," she grinned.

They left the city and entered a wooded area. The trees stained the ground as the sun attempted entrance onto the dirt path. A small furred creature scurried across their path. The two girls lifted their weapons. Before Azriel had time to ask what was wrong the small creature grew into a short hairy man with several daggers around his belt. He ran at them. In a moment a swift sword cut into the throat of the hairy man and he disappeared. The warrior woman glowed blue for a moment.

"That's how you kill a monster. Nothing in these woods is safe, remember that," she told him.