[color=turquoise]It had been nearly three hours, now, since Kayaba had made his announcement. Being a beta tester, Cinera had known better than to stick around and wait for the chaos to ensue. Instead, she had hurried her way to the next town over, holding her composure until she found herself safely within its walls. [i]Is this... Is this really happening...?[/i] Her delicate hands trembled at the thought. Molly had always considered herself a hardcore gamer, but this was unusual for her. Honestly, most games she played were old-school controller-based ones whose combat consisted of repeatedly clicking 'x' on a controller. Virtual reality was a completely different idea with completely different gameplay. She had only even done the beta test so that she could brag about being one of the first to play to her gamer friends; they were into VR games, so she thought it was worth a shot. Now she might never see them, again.

Running through the gates of this new town, she immediately collapsed onto the pavement and began to cry uncontrollably. This was a nightmare. During the beta test, she had only gotten to the third floor. In a normal game, she would be at the fiftieth level within an hour. Why had she even bothered to give this game a chance? She had always known that VR was stupid. After all, who would want to do something physically straining? VR games weren't even that creative. Molly loved games for their [i]stories[/i], not for their shiny graphics. It had been nothing but a whim - peer pressure and her attempt to spite them - that would end her life. How incredibly sad.

But more sad than anything was the idea of her parents, finding her unconscious in her room. What would they think? Would they be devastated? Her parents were away on a business trip, that month... She hadn't seen them for weeks, and it was a few weeks before they were even set to return. Would they come home early when they saw the news? Would they be crying, or shaking their heads at their disappointment of a daughter who never had a knack for anything but games?

Sniffling, she rose to her feet and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. [i]This world is cold...[/i] She didn't want to stay there forever. Molly wanted to show her parents that she could be more than just Cinera, her online avatar with the Elvish ears and long locks of soft, green hair. Of course, she was back to looking like plain, old Molly now, with her tangled, orange, matted mess of hair and her normal human ears. And she sure did feel like it. [i]I don't know what to do... If I try to fight my way to the top, I'll definitely die. But I can't stay here forever! I could join a group... but nobody would want me. Even being a beta tester, I have the skills of a newbie...[/i] She sighed as everything just seemed hopeless, now.[/color]