[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6XZ2nT4.png[/img]
[h2][b]Eternia[/b][/h2][/center]

Shai had been eagerly setting up for the launch of the new Duel Monsters VR game. She had locked her doors, and given the house staff strict instructions that she was not to be bothered. There were plenty of snacks and drinks at the ready... there was no telling how starved she'd be when she finally came back to the real world.

The character creation was unusually invasive - boasting the ability to use your real appearance in-game, and even to scan your brain for potential card matches. Perhaps that was to be expected with a next generation game, but Ms. Gillespie felt a bit worried about the brain scan. Her paranoia was acting up at the mere mention of it. Besides, she liked to pick her own cards, anyways. There were so many cards to look through, so it took her quite a while to get her small starting deck together. She mostly stuck to a demonic theme. She grabbed a few monsters that suited her style, almost on a whim. But she made sure to get some decent spells and traps to support them.

Once all was said and done, Eternia entered the Terminus - the landing zone for new players. It was smooth and cybernetic all over - so it didn't quite feel realistic yet. The dark-haired girl tried to maintain a detached cynicism, but the full-dive technology was quite remarkable. There were hundreds of other platforms in the distance. The draw distance alone was insane. [i]'Thank goodness they didn't overdo it with the bloom,'[/i] she thought. Above her stood the majestic Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Given that there were only a few copies of that thing in the real world, she wondered just how exclusive it would end up being here.

She sat through the introduction from the tour guide, smiling like a child at one of her favorite monsters in the flesh. The rules still seemed a bit vague to her, but it was good that they were changing things up. A straightforward stat comparison wouldn't make for very fun combat. Itching to get started, she went over to the portal area and decided to join a party. If this was like an old-school rpg, going solo at the beginning wouldn't work out too well. She sent an invite to the first person she saw advertising in the chat: "Minimax". She wasn't sure that they'd get on together, so her first message tried to establish a safe distance between them without being too cold.

[b]"This will be my first run. I can't promise I'll stay in this group forever, but if you're useful then I'll stick around. I'll probably be playing all night. I'm excited to see what they have in store for us."[/b]

Eternia tracked this person down among the crowd. Minimax was a nice-looking woman with colors in her bangs and an interesting ponytail. Shai's character was very different, with her intense style and monochromatic black attire. She wondered what cards Minimax would be bringing along.