The sales pitch was something like, “Roleplay the game in the game.”

Then some half ass rant about no more table tops, no more computer screens or tired hands, YOU WILL BE IN THE GAME.

The package had arrived in the morning, Jason’s flat mate had signed for it and placed it on the table to be easily found. Her one was sitting beside his with a note saying, “Start without me, I will jump on as soon as I get home from work.”

He looked at his watch, she was about one hour away. He considered waiting, then thought he would get a feel for it and guide her set up to speed her up.

He was hoping she would like it. While she showed little interest in him romantically, he had developed a crush on her.

A stupid school boy crush.

She just liked playing games on computers with him.

He opened the box, pulled everything out and was surprised at how basic the headset was. It was like a lightweight motorbike helmet with a short, solid antenna popping up on one side. There were no hand controllers, just the helmet.

It also came with basic instructions.

STEP ONE: Put on the headset.

STEP TWO: Adjust for comfort.

STEP THREE: Let the AI guide you through.

He checked to see if it needed charging or batteries but couldn’t find anything that helped. He did find the on button, pushed it, then some lights appeared.

He checked the instructions for information about powering it but found nothing. He thought, “No worries, I will play until it is drained and figure it out later.”

He sat down, put the headset on and waited. Within moments he felt a shift within his mind. The imagery lit up with extremely good graphics, sounds of forest and birds appeared, then a screen appeared.

Welcome to Cursed Earth

The screen appeared: Then a voice, a kind female voice as they always tend to be, said,

“Hello Jason, you are about to enter a roleplaying game unlike anything you have experienced before. But before we begin, let us sort out your character. Which race would you like to be?”

Dwarf

Elf

Gnome

Halfing

Half Elf

Half Orc

Human

He considered how he had been playing good types for quite a while, and that he had been stuck in spell casters for a couple of years. Then he decided to mix it up a bit and said, “Half Orc.”He thought “For a game that is unlike anything else, it sure looks familiar and archaic. Still, he decided to give it a go given he had paid well for the game.

"Which class would you like to be?"

Barbarian

Bard

Clerc

Druid

Fighter

Monk

Paladin

Ranger

Rogue

Sorcerer

Wizard

Jason ignored spell casters and consider the others. It would be funny to have a Half Orc Paladin, but they are too good. Rogue is too sneaky. Maybe a ranger or barbarian.

He considered barbarian but wondered if he was being too cliché about that. Then he thought, “What the fuck, cliché it up.”

“Barbarian.”

“Good choice. Now I will roll for your stats and adjust them with the modifiers.”

Strength: 18

Dexerity: 14

Constitution: 16

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 11

Charisma: 9

After thirty minutes of character building, Jason had his character organized as follows.The kind voice kept talking to Jason as they went through the process of character building. It was a lot of talking, selections, short explanations.

Half Orc Barbarian

Age: 17 years

Level 1

Strength: 18 +4 Dexterity: 14 +2 Constitution: 16 +3 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 11 Charisma: 9 -1

Maximum Hit Points: 10

Current: 10

Armor Class

15

Attack

Base +1 Bastard Sword: 1d8 damage (+6 to hit, +4 to damage)

Defense

Hide Armor: +3 to AC

Feats

Weapon Focus: +2 attack

Skill ranks

Climb: 1 Craft: 1 Handle animal: 1 Intimidate: 2 Jump: 1 Listen: 2 Ride: 1 Survival: 1 Swim: 1 Disguise: 1 Move silently: 2 Spot: 2 Use rope: 1

Class Features.

Proficient in all small weapons Fast movement Illiterate Rage

Race features

Dark vision Common language Orc language.

Saving Throws

Fortitude: 2 Reflex: 0 Will: 0

Equipment

Gold: 3 Winter blanket Rope Tent Torches: 5 Backpack Ale Good rations: 3 days

The kind voice said,

“Now we can determine what kind of game and world you want to be in.”

Jason looked at the screen and thought it was okay. Too much work, not enough play, he just wanted to get stuck into the game.

Develop your own

Random and knowing the world

Random and learn as you go

The voice said, “Thank you for that, the game can now begin.” Given it was is first game, he figured random and learn as you go would be a fun way to start.

Jason felt an uneasy intrusion into his brain, it unsettled him so much that he went to take the headset off, but it remained firm.

The friendly voice said, “Please do not remove the headset while the game is loading.”

He tried to pull the headset off but couldn’t. It was fixed to his head. He pulled harder then everything became blank and empty for a few moments.

He stopped trying to remove the headset, lay back into his chair as he felt he was falling and didn’t want to hurt himself. Then it was as if his eyes were switched back on.

He was in a room, solid wooden walls, thatch roof, a basic table and chair with a meal ready to eat. The graphics were unbelievably real, yet the more surprising feature was he could smell the room. It was clean smelling, with a lot of pine in the air. Everything was fresh, clean and breathable as only deep forest air can be.

When he stood up, he could feel his virtual legs doing the work. He looked at his large, dark green hands and opened and closed them. Every movement could be felt, he could almost be convinced he was the half orc.

For fun, he slapped himself in the face and it hurt.

That was when he had the first realization that this game may not be fun in a fighting situation. How much would he feel?

He asked the friendly voice, “Why am I feeling pain?”

She answered, “The Cursed World experience is so real, you will feel like you are really there. Pain is one of the features of the game.”

Jason asked, “Please turn it off.”

There was a momentary silence before she answered, “That is not an option. Cursed World prides itself in realism.”

Jason said to himself, “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

She answered, “It is a very real experience.”

“Fair enough, I would like to leave the game now, I need to read the instructions or something.”

She answered, “That is not possible until you reach the save point.”

“Then tell me where the closest save point is.”

She said, in her friendly voice, “I am unable to tell you as you selected the Discovery option. You need to find the save location without support.”

Jason had a sinking feeling.

He asked, “About this pain feature, how far does it go?”

She replied, “You feel what the character feels, it is as if you are really the character. You will not be able to tell the difference between the game pain and real pain.”

“Shit. Okay. Fine. So, what happens if I die in the game?”

She answered flatly, “You die in real life. A game is the most realistic role-playing game ever designed.”

He thought that it can’t be like that, it is a game. He asked, “I am not talking figurative death here, I mean, my character dies, what happens from there? Do I respawn, the game ends, what happens to me?”

She answered, “You really die. You are fully connected to the character. For the real experience, you need to make decisions that have real consequences. Bear in mind, the game is designed to match your level, but as your power increases, so do the challenges and death becomes more likely.”

He wasn’t sure he understood properly, or whether the AI was misunderstanding him.

Then the AI kept talking. “Please understand that it is best not to test the death feature. It is real. There is a built-in function in the headset that will kill you if you die in the game.”

Shit. I just wanted to play a good game with Maree.

Jason sat down. He was about to ask the AI where he was, but given the Learn As You Go option.

He asked, “How long does the average person take to reach the first save location?”

She answered, “Six game weeks. Each week represents one hour in real time.”

“What percentage of people make it to the first save location alive?”

“9.4%”

Jason felt sick.

But he kept his calm. Firstly, this is a game, he wasn’t really going to die in it. In saying that, he wasn’t going to take the risk either, and six hours of playing is not a huge deal.

He looked at his half-orc hands. Considered the bastard sword on his hip and his equipment. He knew he had the basics in that regard.

Maybe he should go outside to see where he was, practice using the body, figure out how to use the skills and feats, and see if there were any clues on which direction to take.

He stood up, opened the door, then walked out.