Revenants Rise

L

Laggy Lagiacrus

Guest
Original poster
The description on the back of the box had promised the thrill of a lifetime. It had taken quite a while, but the first virtual reality headset had been developed, and it was an extraordinary piece of kit. Similar to a biker helmet wired up to a console, the awkwardly-named A.N.I.S. (Advanced Nerve Integration System) had sold out, and was continuing to do so all around the world, trumping even PCs in terms of gaming. And, as it just so happened, Overture Gaming had just perfected and finished their zombie-survival game, Revenants Rise.

With his helmet strapped on, and mind ready to accept the system, the preliminary setup process was initiated. The standard menu and save file creation screens were waded through, the character customisation completed, and the introductory movie witnessed. It was nothing special – just your typical tale of a virus outbreak, and how the survivors are now fending off hordes or the undead. In order to stop things becoming complicated later on, the game only allowed players to progress into the next stage (in this case, the tutorial level) when at least one more person joined the lobby.

And so, he waited. The only thing keeping him company in the tutorial lobby was his screen name, and even that didn’t seem like much. ‘Sentinel’ was the name displayed above him, white and bold, his avatar hidden for the time being. The room itself was pretty depressing, even though it was so void of any sort of decoration. That was, quite possibly, what made it so depressing.

The room was essentially a box of white-tiled walls, each square of blank ceramic uniform in its shape, size and how far it was from the others. Metal chairs lined two parallel walls, four on each side – enough for eight players to register that they were there. As the person who had set up the group, Sentinel held responsibility for when the group left. If there was one, of course.

((Sentinel))
 
Bill Nike had just gotten off school, purchasing the A.N.I.S. the day before. He planned to play it right after school. He threw his back in his room and then threw on his headset, his world changing into a new one. One of Revenants Rise. He looked at the title screen and tried to join the first open game. It just so happened that the first game he joined was Sentinel's. His avatar's name "LonelyBoy" popped up in the lobby. He gave a quick hello and he got ready to start the game.
 
Wei ran into his room right after school and walked into his room, just to be "surprised" with the A.N.I.S. His mom was supposed to surprise him with it, just because she could. It was his birthday. His dad HAD to let him know. He couldn't keep it a secret much longer.

Wei immediately put on the helmet and his world changed. He was no longer in South Korea. He was now in a new world. He immediately joined the first open game. He couldn't wait. He noticed the two other names at the corner of his eye, right above dat_ninja, which was Wei's username. He sat down with a smile on his face. He waited for the game to start.
 
Imogen had always loved video games, so when Overture announced the new A.N.I.S., she was immediately in the queue to buy one, along with the Revenants Rise game.

Today was her day off, and she planned to stay in and horse around with the game. She sat in her living room and attached the headset, hurriedly running herself through the tutorial and instructions once she was online. Her screen name was, "ImogenThis," a shoddy attempt at a stupid pun..

The room quickly changed to the blank white walls, and she noticed two players already in, their screen names reading LonelyBoy and Sentinal. She nodded in acknowledgement and gave them a smile each, excited to get started.
 
A second-long tone alerted Sentinel to the current developments, though he already knew they were there - he had nodded his welcome to each of them, too busy fooling around with audio and visual displays to give them a proper greeting. He deemed for enough of a number to get through the early stages, provided they had any clue whatsoever as to what they were doing - after all, that was what the purpose of the tutorial level. Speaking of which...
"WELCOME TO THE TUTORIAL LEVEL!"
A garishly manly voice of indeterminate accent (most likely a bad attempt at Australian) blasted at the group over the intercom, having responded to Sentinel pressing the 'Mission Start' button on the group leader's control panel. A door opened at the far end of the room, sliding open with a faint hiss, to reveal yet more steel walls, still sterile, though the fact that it was designed for combat training meant that how clean the area was was of little concern. The voice blared out again, beginning to explain the basic game mechanics. "You have been selected to fight the hordes, and make your way to a safe area. But to do that, you miserable runts will have to learn about the situation you're in! So listen up! See that green bar running across the top of your screen?! That's your health bar! The infected will attack you, and when that bar reaches zero, you're dead! So don't die! Now, proceed to the firing range!"
Though put off slightly by the out-of-place voice, Sentinel shrugged, and headed straight out of the door. There was no need for conversation yet - that could be done when they had grasped the game's mechanics.
 
Hunter Gray plugged in his new A.N.I.S. and loaded Revenants Rise. He'd pre-ordered the bundle that included them both, so he was one of the first to get it, just two days ago. But being the first, there was hardly anyone to play with until now. The first server on the list was some guy's named Sentinel. He joined the server, which said it was "Waiting for Players" but when it loaded, four other players were already heading into the tutorial area. A large white banner floated above his head with his username, hunter_moon.

"Hey!" he called out, but no one acknowledged him. Connection errors sucked. Why did he have to have the slowest, least reliable internet connection out of all his friends? Sighing, he ran to catch up with the other players.
 
While Bill was waiting in the tutorial room he had started to meditate. Sitting there he had a dream thinking they were going to get in a massive situation. Sitting there he had gotten up and started to follow Sentinel. Knowing everything he dreamed he decided to keep a secret but he knows he needs to tell Sentinel but doesn't know when.
 
The firing range was your run-of-the-mill,open space, with various targets lined up at different points. On the counter lay an assortment of pistols, each one's stats varying slightly to cope with different playstyles. Obviously, more weapons would become available as progress was made, but for now, a mere pistol was the only firearm that was to be held. Sentinel, having nodded as a passing acknowledgement of Hunter's existence, proceeded to the range, as instructed by the voice ringing out around them. Had he known that Bill was meditating, he would have questioned how - obviously, despite there being nothing in the instruction booklet expressing it was possible, sleep - or, a sleep-like state - seemed to be something he was capable of.

"Lesson one!" came the next order, barked from the speakers. "Weapons! Real men should fight their bare hands, but apparently, you pansies can get overwhelmed by hordes of enemies! So, despite my protests, you all get guns. Now, you need to be taught how to use them!
First off, pick your weapon. Your pistol will always be at your belt, and has an infinite supply of ammo, and reloads quickly - keep in mind, however, that it's weaker than your granny's lemon tea. You will not be able to change which pistol you have in the middle of a level - however, you are free to at armoury points, and in the Hub.
Reloading is simple - slam the butt of the pistol onto your palm, and wait for the shots to reload. Always keep your weapon loaded! Zombies take no prisoners! Now, aim at those targets, and pull the trigger! When you feel comfortable with that gun in your hands, we can move on!"

In response to this, Sentinel looked over the variety of handguns available to him. Each weapon's stats were displayed as his hand hovered over them, each one portrayed by a number rating it. There was no cap on the numbers for weapon stats, but no pistol on the table exceeded fifteen, in any stat. While the numbers were ratings, the exception was the clip size - it simply showed how much ammo one clip could hold. Obviously, the guns available only have much use against training targets and low-level zombies. Eventually, his hand settled over a weapon he liked, and the gun was picked up.

NEW WEAPON ACQUIRED!
[SPOILI]
250px-Pretty_Boy's_Pocket_Pistol.png

Pocket Pistol

Power Per Shot: 5
Clip Size: 7
Accuracy: 7.5
Range:5
Reload Speed: 12.5
Fire Rate:Semi-Automatic
[/SPOILI]

Evidently, he much preferred his weapon to be ready at all times, even if it meant sacrificing its other stats' levels. His pistol was to become a secondary weapon, to be used when his primary was unavailable. Thus, he figured he could rely on his team to support him, until he got his hands on a more powerful gun.

((All right, weapon time! Squeeze off a few rounds at the range, and what-have-you. Now, I'll ask this of you lot: please, for the love of God, try and be varied. I don't want four people walking about the first stage with high clip sizes, but abysmal reload speed and whatnot. Use what parts of your imagination you're allowed to!
Oh, and by the way, I'll let you have revolvers. However, due to their high power (not exceeding fifteen), I request that their reload speed be abysmal. Any questions, come and ask me.))
 
Hunter ran into the next room to catch up with the others, the last one through the door. Ahead, he saw them standing at a counter, examining handguns. "These must be the default guns," he thought to himself. It looked like a fairly good variety of options. Pistols of various sizes, including a tiny pocket pistol that Sentinel was examining closely. Hunter guessed that Sentinel was the kind of person who prefers to pick up lots of other weapons than rely on his default. But Hunter didn't share that sentiment. Instead, he preferred a handgun that he could count on to be useful when he needed it.

A revolver with a long barrel caught his eye. He picked it up, and its stats instantly materialized above the gun. The annoying voice said that if he chose this, he'd be stuck with it until he reached the next armory, so it had to be perfect. Suddenly, Hunter swung around and fired a shot at one of the far off targets. It landed. Not a bulls-eye, but he hit the target. With a little practice, this would be a perfect long-range handgun.

NEW WEAPON ACQUIRED!
GAG_ES-0212142.jpg
Long Range Revolver

Power Per Shot: 8.5
Clip Size: 6
Accuracy: 14
Range: 10
Reload Speed: 2
Fire Rate: Slow



Hunter ran out into the firing range and began shooting at targets at various distances. Slowly, he brought his precision with his new toy up at farther and farther distances, until he was roughly 100 yards away and still hitting accurately. "This'll be good," he thought. "I'll be able to hang back and still be useful." Hunter rarely played on the front lines, preferring to stay back or hide and fire accurate shots. "Hopefully there'll be some decent rifles in this game," he muttered under his breath. A good sniper rifle was becoming hard to find these days.
 

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