"It's going to snow."

John looked up from his menu. "You're right, Selene," he said. Indeed, the sky was overcast, even darker than the customary tint of the tainted lands. "Well, you're almost right: it's going to rain. We should take cover." John said, leading the group towards the distant hills.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Jodie asked as she followed.

"It rains even in the desert… occasionally."

"Some rain will be nice." Gram interjected. "It'll wash off the blood. Whoever designed this game is a sadist." After slaying many tainted rabbits, Helios, the only pure melee class, was cover in their blood and stench.

"You wouldn't want to get wet, it must be five or ten below zero," Jodie commented. She turned to John. "How can it even rain when it's this cold?"

"It's not water," John answered.

"What is it?"

John cleared his throat. "The locals have a tale regarding the tainted lands, one of those nonsensical stories they tell disobedient children at night," John explained, reciting a famous quest background dialogue. "Nature's retribution – her furious revenge against the unnatural who tore up the ancient earth, felled the great forests before our time and ran the rivers brown.

"In her fury, she itched and scratched, pulling out her hair to dislodge the lice. And the once youthful, full locks were ravaged by cat-like nails. All that remains is the cratered flesh below. That's the barren land before us… But, like any girl, any person even, a scalping will bring tenderness to the eyes, to her eyes which have already long been bleed red."

"You had that memorized?" Gram asked, cringing a bit.

"Yeah, haha," John laughed. "I did…"

"So, it's going to rain bloody tears," Jodie said, concerned.

"More so an acidic brine-like solution."

And, right on cue, fat droplets started falling. The sky opened up with a trickle of a clear, reddish liquid, making a horrible sizzling sound upon contact with skin or armor, despite it being cold enough to chill to the bone.

-1

The first drop touched down at the base of Gram's neck, causing him to jump with a jolt. "Shit, what's that, it stings!" he shrieked. The trickle became a cascade as visibility dropped even further and the group was bathed in acid.

-1

"We need to find shelter." John grimaced, as the rain splashed liberally. "Remove your armor items or it'll chew away the durability."

Wearables were generally categorized into armor and cosmetics. Armor items were gear with defensive capabilities and durability, serving combat and utility purposes, also including mage robes, thief combat garments and the like. Cosmetics, as the name suggested, were worn over or below armor, serving aesthetic purposes. They were indestructible too, allowing the game to preserve legality when armor broke. However, with some age checks and disclaimers, they helped certain users experience the VR industry's mature content.

Of course, at the beginning of the game, most only had access to the starter armor and cosmetics, the latter of which was rags and could barely qualify as summer wear.

"Hell no," Jodie yelled, over the splashing and sizzling. "It's freezing! And, these clothes are… thin."

-1

"I mean, it's your repair cost, not mine." John shrugged.

So, in that freezing rain, if one could look through the reddish wall of solution, they would see a trio of adventurers – all seemingly half naked, and two of them screaming – blindly running along the hills with periodic strings of minus ones streaming past.

John, however, knew perfectly well where he was going. During his second or third outing into the tainted lands, he had gotten caught in a similar freak rain. He had wandered through the endless bee stings, wearing the red acidic blindfold, before tumbling into a cave.

Now the same abrupt hole appeared below him. Just like before, the pouring crimson rain collected at the bottom, forming a bath of blood.

Gram slid to a halt beside John, hair and face dripping red with acid and blood. "What's down there?" he hollered over the din.

"That's shelter."

"I don't need a bath, I'm already soaked."

-1

"There's a cave underneath, just follow me!" John yelled as lightning cracked in the sky above. And he promptly dove in. With no other real choice, the other two jumped in as well.

If drops of acid were like a bed of pins, the cold sulfuric pool would be a bed of army ants. John's body temperature immediately plummeted as early frostbite symptoms set in. He forced his stinging limbs to push through the surprisingly thick solution.

Opening one's eyes in chlorinated water would hurt, but the same now would mean a blindness status. Twin thuds on the surface could be heard as John blindly swam towards the passage in his memories. A couple of cold hands grasped onto his shirt, trying to find their way.

In the past, the water level hadn't completely covered the tunnel, but now, John guided the two thrashing newbies deeper until the rocky face opened up into the fifteen-foot-long entrance.

When the frozen, blind adventurers, finally emerged from the pool, they collapsed on a rocky beach, exhausted.

"Start a fire," John said, spitting out the muck.

Selene equipped her staff and chanted some gibberish through blue lips. The beginner utility fire spell, Torch splattered onto the rocky ground forming a campfire. The group huddled before the meager flames to dispel the cold status procs.

"That's some awful shit," Gram commented, munching on biscuits. Out of combat regeneration in RISE was accomplished by snacking. Blood dripped down his face and over the food, but Gram couldn't care less.

"Now I know what it feels like to melt and freeze at the same time," Jodie muttered, as she reequipped her mage robes.

"Don't put your armor on yet, it'll get wet," John advised.

Jodie shot him an angry look and kept the robes on regardless, causing a chuckle from John.

"So where are we?" Gram asked as looked around and restored his health. "This can't be a natural cave: it's too regular."

John nodded. "This the home of a rabbit, the biggest rabbit hole you'll ever see."

"But is it home?"

"Probably," John shrugged. "They don't like the rain."

"So, is this safe…?"

"C'mon, man. I thought you were over these beefed-up rabbits," John laughed. "You gotta stand resolute when your girlfriend is here," he added under his breath.

This caused the older, but younger man's face to turn redder than when it was cover in blood. "I'm just worried about our levels and – "

"It's alright, don't worry, " John interrupted with a smile. He couldn't help but reminisce to his own past. "I'll go scout the area."

Without another word, John hopped to his feet and equipped the starter thief's leather jacket and heavy trousers. The pistol's barrel and dagger's edge lead the way into depths of the cave.

Truly, the cave felt unnatural, the path was straight with a complete lack of stalagmites. The occasional paw marks foreshadowed a violent encounter. As the lone thief left the firelight behind, the steps slowed as a vague memory and the occasional touch guided him.

John somewhat recalled the path ahead. The Giant Tainted Rabbit was a cunning beast despite its dimwitted appearance. Its home would be clustered with dead ends and pitfalls. For instance, a couple of hundred feet ahead, there would be a fork.

One of the branches would turn abruptly, and end within a couple of meters out of sight – a simple distraction. The real danger would be a cunning pitfall, just before the fork. People usually thought about the consequences of a choice but were too often focused when doing so.

But, like any RPG, thieves were those best suited and expected to deal with traps. John dropped to his knees after a couple of minutes and activated Thief's Wit, the beginner trap locating skill. It would enhance the observation ability of the player at the cost of some stamina over time. This only made it suitable for verifying suspicions at this low level. Ultimately though, it just gave a detailed picture and the user was still required to recognize the danger.

This pitfall, in particular, was fabricated by the saliva of the rabbit mixed with dust gravel created by rocks ground by the rabbit's monstrous teeth. This mud brick like compound was used to enhance the rabbit's home and as a thin layer to cover the huge pit. The color was indistinguishable from the rocky floor, but the faint residual smell was apparent under Thief's Wit and a light touch from John was sufficient to identify the trap without setting it off.

At this point, a faint grinding and scuffing could be detected by Thief's Wit in the left fork. John marked the trap with a line in the mud and, deactivated his skill as he crept along the passage. The path curved upwards after a turn: this kept the Giant Tainted Rabbit's lair dry and gave it a defensive advantage.

At the end of the ramp, the pale blue light of a magic stone could be faintly seen, one of the things the tainted rabbit collected along with shiny objects like weapons. John activated another basic thief skill Silent Steps, which was pretty self-explanatory. The rock narrowed into a sort of archway made of rabbit mud, which he positioned himself behind.

And there was beast itself grind its teeth against some rocks.

[Giant Tainted Rabbit] (Elite Monster)

Level: 2

HP: 500/500

John pulled up a communications chat. Chats would be restricted in some of the later regions, but for now, players could communicate freely.

John: Come on up but be quiet.

Helios: Is the rabbit there?

John: Yeah, he's holed up at the end of this tunnel and it'll be hard to kill him in there.

Helios: Any ideas?

There was a plan, but an evil one. John laughed silently as he sent the message.

John: I've left a mark on the ground. Position by it: Jodie behind the line, you in front. Just be ready when the big one comes down the left tunnel.

Gram: Alright.

Meanwhile, at the cave's entrance, the two adventurers were toasting their hands on the fire. Gram packed away his consumables as he sent his confirmation.

He rubbed his hands enjoying the warmth for one last time. "That feels great – damn near indistinguishable, even."

"So, what does he want us to do?" Jodie asked, dispersing the campfire with a wave of her hand.

"The rabbit's home. We are supposed to sneak down the passage and assume a formation at a mark on the ground."

The duo ventured down the tunnel with a dimmed [Torch] for the three hundred or so feet when they came to the fork. Jodie noticed the line on the ground.

"That it?" Jodie inquired softly.

"Must be," Gram shrugged before taking a step and disappearing from view.

…

John checked the in-game time on his menu. Five minutes had passed since Gram's acknowledgment. He yawned: John, even playing a thief, wasn't the most patient.

A great rumble and crash suddenly echoed up the tunnel's regular surface. A scream of surprise soon followed, that too, succeeded by a higher pitched scream of aggression as the mass of thick bristles in the den erupted into a dash.

John quickly activated the beginner thief's [Stealth], trying to conceal his laughter.

…

The ground was suddenly gone.

Gram's eyes, serious moments before, widened to comical dimensions, only second to the gaping abyss below him. His body, frozen in shock, seemed to hover for a moment before accelerating faster than a missile towards the darkness below.

…

The Giant Tainted Rabbit, clicked its tongue, emitting a clicking hiss-like sound. It charged past the concealed player and rampaged like a grizzly downhill. John doubled over in laughter as his teammate's cries followed.

…

Gram shrieked as he fell. Most grown men wouldn't be able to help it. The hole didn't seem to be too deep, only two stories or so, but the rushing air foretold Gram meeting impending pain.

-30

The bottom was surprisingly soft. The warrior landed on an odd mushy layer, sort of like dried mud. Feeling around, he could tell that it was once shaped like pellets.

…

The huge elite monster reached the bottom of the ramp and immediately saw the collapsed pitfall and a confused blonde mage. It hissed, prompting Jodie to retreated, and it ran to the edge of the hole peering inside it.

…

Gram spat out a mouthful of old rabbit stool and stood up cursing. The shit was all over him, covering his armor and bleeding into his clothes. He looked up in pain and disgust only to be greeted by a pair of crimson red eyes.

…

John was struggling to run under heavily irregular breathing. He stumbled into the scene just in time to hear a soul-piercing howl.

"John!!!"

The widest smile, one of pure joy, spread across John's face.

Yes, this was the beginnings of RISE alright - this innocent, carefree atmosphere of friends, all idiots, but friends, nonetheless, discovering a new game. This is what John missed: laughing with everyone, adventuring, and especially pranking the vulnerable.