UPDATES
So far guys, this is all I have for now. I'll continue to update the OP, so stay tuned! Feel free to comment, suggest, and express you ideas in the thread! No good though is left underappreciated!
So far guys, this is all I have for now. I'll continue to update the OP, so stay tuned! Feel free to comment, suggest, and express you ideas in the thread! No good though is left underappreciated!
Prologue Chapter - A Familiar Place
The goblin made an ear-splitting screech as Rien’s sword slashes across its chest, and its body seemed to shatter like glass. Where its body should’ve been, there was instead a small black marble which Rien picked up. The words “level up” flashed briefly across his screen before he swiped it away and opened up his character profile.
“Wow, this is unreal! Or I guess it’s…too real? I mean, everything is so realistic!” Blue exclaimed beside him. By now had been playing online games with her for almost three years, and had grown accustomed to her excitable personality. Weird personality aside, Rien had to admit that she was a lot better looking than he had expected. Unlike other games, AO did not allow players to fully customize their avatar appearance, as the LexNav headgear that was used to play the game utilized a facial recognition scan making characters mimic their player’s real life appearance. Rien ignored Blue’s commentating and scrolled through his level up window.
“Unspent stat points…three. Only three per level? All this time and they still haven’t changed it…Lexis is as stingy as usual I guess.” Rien complained out loud. Though he wouldn’t admit it, Rien had been waiting with unbridled anticipations for this game’s release since it was announced a year before. Elements Online was his first ever online game, and he had only fond memories of it from his childhood. Though back then he was able to work around the game’s age limit security, he had heard that Lexis had made that impossible for this game.
And nostalgia aside, the game was well worth the wait. Rien watched as another goblin charged at Blue. It was fast, the AI in AO was a vast improvement over its predecessor, which made a good accompaniment for the game’s other realistic features. Blue was faster, though and clubbed the goblin on its forehead with the rim of her shield. He made their signature screeching sound and chopped at her again, but she ducked his cleaver, swept her sword low and caught him full in the calf, just below his ragged shirt’s flapping hem. This time, the blow was enough and the goblin’s body shattered into dust.
“Ahaha, come face me you ugly green ballon headed freaks!” She yelled at them. There were no other players around, so Rien took it upon himself to be embarrassed for her.
It took the duo about half an hour to finish the beginner’s quest. Rien’s sword slashed through the final goblin’s neck and he reached out and grab the black marble it left behind. “Alright, we finished. Let’s hurry back to Sanctuary and receive our reward before all the monster zones become occupied-“
Rien’s words were cut short as the ‘sky’ above him darkened to a blood red color. A large screen appeared over head, and on it was a man wearing a dark cloak, his face hidden behind a dark hood.
“Greetings adventurers, I am the Dark Lord!” the figure on the screen’s deep voice echoed across the server.
“Pffft. Did you hear that Rien? He called himself a Dark Lord? Hahaha!” Blue tittered next to him.
“What’s this, some sort of launch day event?” Rien asked her. She shrugged and shook her head.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to your new home. Some of you may have noticed by now that you are unable to log out of the game. This is not a bug…”
“Tch, what like some anime? What a lame joke,” Rien frowned.
“But don’t be scared, dear adventurers! Think of this like a new beginning! A way to escape from that wretched old world forever!”
“Rien…” Blue tugged at his sleeve. “Look at the game menu!”
“What are you-“ but it was obvious what she was trying to show him. Just as the hooded man claimed, the log out button was greyed out. He tried pressing it several times, but nothing happened.
“Until we meet again, my friends!” the man’s final words echoed across the world before the video feed was cut and the sky returned to normal.
“Rien…what do we do now?”
“I…” Rien looked at her eyes. She was scared and confused, and not really trying to hide it. “I don’t know.”
Premise
Aether Online
Character Sheet
