“How much longer, Benjamin?!” Yeshua asked his older brother, the excitement from his voice could not be concealed.”We’re almost home, Yeshua. Patience is a virtue!” Yeshua and his brother were driving home from a trip to Septemberes in the Entertainment District, having just picked up one of the last copies of Grand Quest Offline the mall had available. It was nothing short of a miracle that he’d been able to get his hands on the treasured new game, even though it’d been out for months already. Yeshua had vowed that he would play the game the minute it was announced. Soon, he would be able to achieve that vow. If only there weren’t so many red lights!

A grin appeared on Yeshua’s lips as he spotted the familiar pet store that they always passed on their way home. Based upon that landmark, Yeshua determined that it would take upwards of five more minutes to reach their house. [i] Gah, I can’t wait! [/i] he thought as their sizeable and expensive car darted through the street.”Can’t you drive any faster?! I’ve waited wayyy too long for this day to get stuck in traffic.” Yeshua nearly shouted, his anticipation bubbling over.”It’s going to take even longer to get home if I get pulled over, Yeshua. Just calm down, we’re nearly there.” Benjamin retorted, the beginnings of a smile plastered on his face at his younger brother’s antics. He was a few years away from being eighteen, yet he still acted the same way he did when he was twelve.”Alright, alright. I can wait. I can totally wait.” Yeshua muttered, his breathing noticeably slower and more deliberate.

As soon as the car pulled to a stop in the driveway, Yeshua’s door flew open and he darted out of the passenger side seat and towards the door to the place he called home.”The door’s locked!” he called back to his brother as he tested the doorknob. Benjamin tossed the keys to his brother as he closed the door to the car. Yeshua struggled for a moment to unlock the door, his excitement making it hard to focus on keeping his hands steady enough to put the key in the door.”Grrr..” He growled as he struggled. Benjamin calmly took the keys from his brother and easily slid in the proper key and opened the locked door.”You’re way too excited about this.” He commented as Yeshua dashed inside and downstairs to his room.

The Israeli boy screeched to a halt as he slid into his room. He spun around and shut the door, before bouncing around on one foot in an attempt to pull one of his shoes off. Once the issue of unnecessary layers of clothing was dealt with and swept under the bed (literally), Yeshua grabbed his RGG and slid it onto his head, before plopping in the game and jumping onto his bed. After getting comfortable, Yeshua shut his eyes and turned the device on, letting the familiar feeling of vertigo from starting up virtual reality come over him like a wave.

Once he awoke, Yeshua found things to be like they usually were in these Virtual Reality MMOs. He was in some sort of character creation room. Rubbing his hands together, Yeshua set to work designing a character. He brought up a mental list of all the classes he plays in other similar games. After a minute or two of thinking, he decided to build a ranger, since he hadn’t done such a thing in some time. Yeshua set to work designing the perfect ranged class. It took a bit longer than he expected, but Yeshua was happy with the results when he was finished. There was only one more thing his creation required: A name; a name that Yeshua would be known by for as long as he played this game, which he suspected would be quite awhile. A name that he hoped would be forever immortalized in the history of Grand Quest Online. So Yeshua typed in a name he found would suite that goal nicely: Messiah. After hitting Accept, Yeshua felt the embrace of unconsciousness wash over his mind once more.

When Messiah awoke, he felt the strangest sensations. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings, and instantly all the hype the game had received was confirmed ten times over. Everything looked and felt so…real! So very real! The feelings of the grass between his fingers, the wind on his skin: it was all so breathe taking, Messiah almost forget that he had a game to play. He was pulled back into focus by the sound of a booming voice. Now where was [i] that [/i] coming from? Messiah spun around and noticed that he was not alone in that expanse of green field. There were four others with him, yet none of them appeared to be the one speaking. So, Messiah assumed that the voice was some sort of automated greeting. While he was looking around, he noticed a door sitting out in the middle of the field. Now wasn’t that interesting? Messiah decided to walk towards the door, while also paying attention to the voice from the sky. The voice’s message was an ominous one, though Messiah felt only a small amount of apprehension as he approached the door. It was obviously just there to set the mood, right?

The sudden appearance of a window popping up caused Messiah to quite literally jump. He always hated pop ups. What it said was a little on the weird side, though. He could decline the beginning quest? Perhaps that was just there for veteran players looking to skip the tutorial for their new character. With a shrug, Messiah pressed the Yes button. Messiah didn’t jump this next time a window popped up. He had been expecting it this time. Messiah looked away from the window as the other players began to converse. It looked as if they would all be going in together. He toyed with the idea of going it alone, but decided against it. He’d much rather play with these other people than by himself. Clearing his throat, Messiah introduced himself.”Hello all, I am M-“ Yeshua stopped speaking and facepalmed. He had started off in Hebrew instead of Japanese. Gah, living in a different country sucked.”Excuse me. What I meant to say was, hello everyone. I am Messiah, and I would like to join your party.”