‘A wild wind blows through the forest hitting your face as you walk past it, oceans stretching as far as eyes could see, watch as the towers and castles pierce the heavens themselves! Experience the world of Mechana in this new installment of the best-selling series Araenia II: Mechana!’ I read. This sounded garbage enough to know that it was indeed garbage.

“Eh, boring.” I can’t find anything good...

“Bro just buy it.” said Hen.

“Nah, these aren’t that good.”

“Then just buy Markis already!”

“You KNOW I can’t buy that game, my dad would kill me if he saw that price tag man.”

“Bro it’s just seventy bucks!”

“Just seventy bucks for you, sure, for me man that’s legit a fortune.”

“Ugh.. Fine, I’ll buy it. It’s on me, but you better play this one.”

“Sure, Sure, I’ll play it, I’ll play it.”

The machine’s audible cha-ching signalled that Hen had officially paid for my game. Ah man... Now I actually have to play this. I didn’t think he’d buy it. I mean it is NEAR-REALITY, so I guess it could be fun.

Although I don’t know how good NR-Games would even look, it’s supposed to be like VR but it connects through neural transmission or something, they spouted a bunch of BS, but it was enough to convince me to buy it, and watching movies in it was pretty nice. Although Hen was the one who told me to buy it because of Markis, I bought it for watching por- I mean, movies.

Well it was exclusively developed for Markis, and the tech itself was done a few years ago, but they only started to release it because the game had so many delays. Apparently Miyamoto didn’t want the game to be released unless everything was perfect, and by perfect, he means PERFECT.

Even though I didn’t play any of his other games, I did watch a lot of his movies, and I can definitely see why he wants to do that. He’s received so many awards at this point, I don’t even know.

Once I was back home, I set up my NR again and slept. This was how the NR intercepted your brain, apparently doing it while you’re conscious can be fatal, which is why the NR headset doesn’t activate while you’re awake.

“Welcome to your PHANTOM world.”

“Please enter your Log-In credentials to continue.”

Username: DeepBluu97

Password: ********

“Successfully connected to PHANTOM servers.”

Alright let’s start the game!

“Downloading... 15%”

SERIOUSLY?! Man... They really HAD to download a game when I HAVE the physical COPY?! This is BS, I call BS. Ugh... Whatever, I guess I’ll chat for a bit, I bet he’s suffering too. I mean he does have the slowest wifi.

DeepBluu97: playing the game yet??

Neh320: broo... it’s downloading mann... this shit boring af...

DeepBluu97: lololol imagine having slow wifi

DeepBluu97: couldn’t be me

Neh320: man fck off dickhead

DeepBluu97: aight aight, calm down bro

Neh320: ima whoop yo ass dawg

DeepBluu97: sus shit lemme tell ya

Neh320: hell nah, i aint gay for your ugly ass lmao

DeepBluu97: wow thanks man, appreciate it :’(

Neh320: lol cry

DeepBluu97: aight bro I think the game installed

DeepBluu97: youll be there ye?

Neh320: ye for sure, ill join your world once it installs

DeepBluu97: cool cya

“Loading MARKIS...”

“MARKIS server authentication: Success!”

“Logged in as: DeepBluu97”

“Choose a nickname: ---”

I guess I’ll go with just Bluu.

“Game profile [Bluu] has now been created.”

“Due to launch-day privileges you will be given a special class.”

Oh ho~ I’ll have to thank Hen for this one. Let’s see what this class is about...

[CLASS: (∞)]

Strength: 0/10

Agility: 0/10

Mana: 0/10

Intelligence: 0/10

Health: 15/100

CLASS SPECIALTY: A special class only given to those who bought the game on launch-day. This class is only for those who want a hardcore game experience, only meant for advanced users. However, this class has potential.

CLASS INCLUDED ITEMS: Old Robe, Broken Thief's Knife, Wraith’s Helmet, Old Shirt, Old Pants, Torn Leather Boots.

Well, the class looks like crap even I know that... But I really wanna know what this is about... ‘potential’ huh? I don’t think I’m gonna choose it, yeah no, I am NOT gonna grind in this game.

...

I ended up choosing it. Ah man, I’m an idiot, I have to be stupid, I just HAVE to be.

Alright I loaded in, let’s see...

Woah... That’s so wild what the hell... How is my computer even handling this... It looks so real, it’s actually like I’m here, I even feel the cold leather boots... I’ve never felt this before, even my hands feel like they’re freezing from the cold... I guess I didn’t get gloves with the uh- class, that’s gonna be a pain... Oh yeah! I can just turn down how it feels.

Wait.. How do I open the main menu? Uhh let’s see... “Mainmenu open!”

Woah! It’s the main me... Wait no, it’s a panel, and it has instructions for... OPENING A MAIN MENU?! REALLY?! You just had to make the main menu function open something that ISN’T the main menu.

[How to use the MAIN MENU.]

Put your hand out, make a fist and pull back. This will open the main menu, once open you can then use the different submenus by tapping on them with your finger. Be careful: Opening the main menu will not pause the game.

Alright... Makes sense, I guess? I then made a fist and pulled back, and magically in front of me was a menu.

Wow.. I can feel my finger pressing up against it... This is nothing compared to VR, this actually feels real.

Hmm.. That’s weird, where’s the inventory? Oh well, let’s see.. Settings! Okay, now what do I gotta change? Uh... I think it was sensitivity? Right yeah, ‘Adjusts the sensitivity of the STIMULI you receive,’ that’s the right one, I’m sure.

Okay, let’s decrease that... Wow, now I feel absolutely nothing, it adds that much of a difference huh? I guess I’ll set it up to 75% for now.

Alright let’s see... I haven’t seen where I’m even at...

Bluu exited out of his menu to look at the world around him. It was a dark desolate pathway leading to light, he was in a cave it seemed.

Walking out he felt the wind sweeping past him, “Woah,” rubbing his hands together, he walked a bit forward, and noticed that this was a cliff leading right down to the depths of the water.

Although he couldn’t help but be fazed by the view he saw, it was a beautiful sunset. Turning around he saw a path leading down with broken stairs. Slowly walking down, he looked around to see great ranges and mountains that seemed to endlessly rise into the skies.

He tripped on a rock which sent him spiraling down the stairs, “Ah... My back.. My back..” he said once he got up. It was surreal to him, even the pain of falling down the stairs was simulated.

Continuing to walk down another set of stairs, he could finally see some houses... Or rather houses that were broken down, he could see barely any people walking over there, all he could see were a few NPCs walking, although they eerily looked real. Some of them were even having conversations.

Walking up to one of the men that were having a conversation, he asked “Uhm.. What should I do?”

He had absolutely no idea about what to do, after all this was the first time he had played one of Miyamoto’s games, which were said to be notoriously hard to play. They’d barely explain anything and throw the player into the world.

The man clicking his tongue in anger said, “One of you Infected... Go to the priestess over there, and don’t ask me shit.”

“O-oh okay...” Bluu for the first time in life had felt bad for talking to a NPC.

‘I feel bad man...’ is the only thought that appeared in his mind.

Bluu, feeling a bit down, walked up to a woman in a white dress. He guessed that she must be the priestess that the NPC must have mentioned.

Once he showed up in front of him, she said “My child... You’ve come here without a speck of knowing what this world was. But I shall grant you the strength to live through this hell.”

A panel showed up in front of me, ‘The priestess is someone who will help you borrow strength in this world. To borrow strength you will have to earn MARKIS by fighting through hell. MARKIS is used as currency for power. Note: You must pray to the priestess to borrow strength.’

Is that why they named it markis? Hm... Makes sense I guess. But I have to pray? Okay...

I kneeled down, clasped my hands, and closed my eyes, and suddenly I felt a hand on top of my head... is this her hand? It feels so real but also so comforting unlike a real hand... And suddenly her voice echoed in my head. “Oh you poor soul...”

And when I opened my eyes, I saw a panel with different stats on it.

[STATUS UPGRADE]

[Current]

Strength: 0/10

Agility: 0/10

Mana: 0/10

Intelligence: 0/10

Health: 15/100

[UPGRADE]

Vitality: Lvl. 0 → Lvl. 1

Health: 2 ↑

Strength: 1 ↑

Versatility: Lvl. 0 → Lvl. 1

Agility: 2 ↑

Intelligence: 1 ↑

Capacity: Lvl. 0 → Lvl. 1

Mana: 1 ↑

Intelligence: 1 ↑

Reputation: Lvl. 0 → Lvl. 1

Stance: Infected → Infected (+2 rep)

“You currently have [0] MARKIS. Earn more MARKIS to UPGRADE.”

Oh, I guess I didn’t do anything in the game yet. Wait, how do I exit?

Ah. There’s a cross-button right there, who would’ve thought. Dammit Miyamoto, you just had to over complicate everything but then make this simple?!

Once I tapped on the cross, it was as though I immediately came back from a dream.

I stood up and noticed a main road leading away from where I stood, which seemed like a run down church. There were people inside praying but it was clear to see that this town was on its last legs, then the priestess spoke, “My child, I bid you farewell. I shall wait for your return.”

I walked through the main road of the town, as I walked I could only see the broken buildings, smoke drifted into the sky from nearby campfires, where the NPCs were cooking.

It almost felt like I was walking through a broken town, even the clothes I wore weren’t ideal, the cold air slipped through the old robe, it almost felt like I was freezing.

Once I saw a board saying, ‘Stonegate of Revenge.’ I realised that this was most probably the place I’d have to go through, right as I was about to walk through a panel popped up on my screen.

It said, “[Nei] would like to join your game.” I tapped on okay, since I knew it was Hen, since he was the only one who I added. Once he loaded in, I could see his player model, it had the same face as him in real life, looking as average as ever, he had the suit of a knight on, he had a long sword and a shield on his back. Did he choose the knight class?

“Eyy bro, look who’s back, back, back... back again, again, again... Shady’s-”

“Stop the eminem reference bro, you sound so stupid.”

“Fine... Anyway, you’re only at Stonegate?”

“Yeah..?”

“Bro... You realise there’s already a few people that have started to challenge the first secret boss, right?”

“The what?”

“The secret boss that’s in- You know what, nevermind, also what class did you choose.. WAIT. No way, you chose the special launch day class, LOL.”

“Uh... because I wanted to...”

“Well it’s fine, we can deal with it, so let’s go hunting, yeah?”

“Sure, so like what do we gotta do?”

“So, if I remember correctly, this place is supposed to be like where the last knight of this kingdom is supposed to live, basically he was like a badass knight and shit right? But then shit went down and he was the only one left, but supposedly he was so sad that he became a demon or some shit I don’t know.”

“Damn, that’s wild, so like that's why it’s called Stonegate of Revenge?”

“Yeah, yeah. But I haven't checked the forums yet, but they should have it... Huh...”

“Wassup?”

“Nah bro, it’s just I’m not able to log in to my accou-” Suddenly Hen disappeared.

“Hen, wha-!”

And suddenly everything became dark. By the time I opened my eyes, the light was so bright that I just had to close them again.

When I opened them yet again, what I saw before me was a white room, filled with 1000s of people. And in front of me was a projection of a man, his eyes stared down at us from a great height. It was like he was seeing into our souls.

Hen stood next to me, yet he was just as shocked as me, only staring at what was in front of us. No one seemed to have any idea of what happened.

And suddenly he said, “Welcome my players! Welcome to the embodiment of hell! Welcome to a world where there lies no limitations! A world with infinite possibilities!”

“Wait.. isn’t that Miyamoto’s voice...?” a nearby person said.

“Ah yes, I am Miyamoto Takezo, the creator of MARKIS. However, that detail is quite a bit irrelevant, seeing as you all have no choice but to listen to me, and so I shall be muting all of you.”

“And. There. We. Go.”

I tried talking, but I couldn’t talk, it felt like my mouth was stitched together, it was an unpleasant feeling.

He then continued to speak, “Regardless, there are no mincing words for this one, you lot are trapped in this game for the foreseeable future, some of you may have already noticed that there isn’t a menu anymore,” he paused for a moment, he smiled and said, “Afterall reality doesn’t have a menu, does it?”

“You may think ‘Oh, my family will most definitely remove me from NR, will they not?’ How pitiful, if they do, and I mean, if at all they do, remove you, I’m sorry to say, your consciousness has now been linked to the NR headset, removing it essentially means that your consciousness will be deleted, that is to say, it is death. Without the mind, the vessel is merely a corpse. Without purpose. Without life. Without you.”

“But if you want to get back to your once happy and loved life, then you will need to finish this game. Every single crevice of this world must be explored by all of you. To win, you will face pain, sadness, happiness, rage, lust, greed, and betrayal. You who surpass these will be the ones to free the rest. For this world is harsher than the world you have all lived in. For that is the mission that I have given you. Survive, survive and reach newer heights, reached by no one else.”

“And... this is the number of you all who are still alive.” Suddenly the number started increasing from zero, it went on and on, until it reached twenty-five-thousand.

He then continued, “Dying here will result in the deletion of your consciousness.” And right from where we were standing, the world slowly came to be, forming from the ground, the trees, the mountains, the skies, everything coming to being right in front of us, it was the creation of a world. And then we could talk, “H-hen... What just happened..?”

“I don’t know bro... What did he mean that we’ll die for real..?”

“I don’t know either...”