Prologue — A Day Like No Other
The first part of my new serialized novel, wherein the 3 protagonists find themselves trapped in an VRMMORPG.
Most people were all about the grind, the dungeons, and the raids in this game. Vallens personally preferred the fetch quests, gathering, and crafting. Sometimes ve even roleplayed, a popular pastime among many.
Ve were, by no means, a social player. A solo player through and through, Vallens completed most of the main story and side quests alone, because ve only had vemself to rely on. In the past, back when ve had friends and bothered with guilds, there was the ever persistent fear of straggling behind the group, or going too far ahead of them. Mostly, ve just liked to immerse vemself in the game and act out fun little scenarios with NPCs. Or pretend to be a legit fisherman, a skilled chef, or a roving miner always on the lookout for an unexplored gold vein.
That kind of stuff.
But every now and then, ve had someone who completely ruined ver immersion. Like a player named “Xgongiveit Toya,” hopping around and spamming emojis at his friends.
This had very little impact on the fish ve was trying to hook; they were virtual, after all. But ve demanded him, in a hushed tone, to quiet down before he scared off all the fish.
The player’s avatar, a teenage boy with dark blue hair and cat ears, stopped a few feet away. He was smirking, his hands rested on his hips, pelvis lazily thrust in ver direction. “Or you’ll do what?”
“Please go away,” Vallens said through clenched teeth. Ve just wanted to fish in peace; it was tedious to some, but ve found it to be quite relaxing. Ve could zone out with ease, for hours at a time.
The boy, along with one of his friends, leaped into the water. Both of them were catboys. Both of them were rowdy, splashing in the water and scaring off the fish. The boys laughed and jostled each other around while the rest of their group chatted on the bank, out of reach but only a shout away.
“I’m going to smite you,” Vallens said, reeling in ver empty line.
“Smite me!” The first boy laughed as he spun around, heels kicking so hard that water sprayed around him. Sprayed on vem. “You haven’t got the stones—”
The screams of the second boy drew alarmed looks from his friends, who quickly identified Vallens as the source of Toya’s decimation.
When Vallens said ve would smite him, ve did not say so in jest. Ve didn’t know what level the boy was, but based on how quickly he went down from a simple Lava Bolt, ve could tell it wasn’t very high. Ve’d damn near one-shot him, and that wasn’t even ver highest skill! From laughing and dancing to a molten and blackening blob, he was now only a prone figure, lazily drifting in the water. His name went from a vivid green to a faded gray, health bar empty depleted he either revived at his last home port, or a friendly healer rezzed him.
Vallens, who had a revival skill, was neither friendly nor concerned with human players. And besides, ver skills and class better served the dead and non-player characters.
Toya’s friends rallied around the digital corpse, retreating from the public chat to convene among themselves. None seemed too eager to confront Vallens, who took this time to make ver escape.
Or so was the plan, anyway. Logging out wasn’t ver intention; the day was still early, and returning to the dull life outside was far less appealing. There was little to do in the real world, now that climate change firmly had its hooks in the citizens of the world.
Vallens was one of the lucky few who had a high paying job and the better living conditions that came with it, but most of the action took place online. Online, one didn’t have to wear a mask to avoid the smog or communicable diseases. The virtual gardens were easier on the eyes and neverending. One could truly lose themself here, if not in the designated gaming areas, then in the common areas that mimicked international cities and smaller hubs.
There were days where ve didn’t unplug at all, kept alive via a feeding tube and with their trusted AI to manage ver levels, ready to detach vem the second ver vitals sounded the alarm. Vallens was often guilty of doing the very same thing ve accused the VR junkies of.
Unlike the junkies, Vallens primarily plugged in to conduct business. Gaming was just ver way of relaxing. But at this very moment, ve needed to jump to a less stressful environment. A private booth in ver favorite cafe was an option. By the time ve calmed down with a warm beverage, the boys would be onto the next thing, and ve could return to fish in peace. Or pursue a breezy quest.
[ UNAUTHORIZED ] the alert said, when ve tried to teleport out.
Unauthorized? Frowning, Vallens simply retried…only to be rebuffed again. Never had ve encountered such a prompt. But no matter what ve tried, the results were the same.
Was there an unannounced update? Or an outage somewhere?
Vallens clenched ver jaw as ve scanned the faces of other places. No one seemed to notice the change. Surely ve couldn’t be the only one affected, but ve were opposed to asking for help. Not when there were still other avenues to explore…
‘McCoy? Is there something wrong with the system? I can’t move from my location.’
Silence.
‘McCoy!’
Ver AI was normally quick on the update, but today it refused to answer. No…was it unable?
A sense of panic set in. For the first time in years, ve were alone with ver thoughts. Forgetting about the boys, Vallens stumbled off on foot, scrolling through the global chat.
Similar concerns appeared among the chatter of in-game events, trade requests, and boss spawns. Questions such as:
“Why can’t I log out?”
“Is the system down?”
“Can anyone reach their AI?”
No, no, no!
What the hell was going on? Ve had no time to be locked in a game! Ve still had a business to run, stocks to manage! And two cats to feed and look after. Pebbles was deaf, and Calamity needed special eye drops to stave off total blindness.
The autofeeder and water fountain could keep the cats fed and watered for a short time, but Vallens hadn’t scheduled a sitter. What was going to happen to ver cats if this outage was extended?
No, no, no!
If ve couldn’t teleport, ve could always find transport to the neighboring business district. Yes, from there, Vallens could find some information and hopefully unplug.
Thanks for reading! The first three chapters are free to read. Subsequent chapters will be subscribers only, for $3 a month. Subscribers will also receive new chapters directly via email!
Sienna Eggler
