I would love to say that Dawn and I are roommates, but I suppose I'm not that lucky. However, she did get the room next door, 754, so that's just as good in my book. "Don't forget," she reminds me as she opens her door, "We're all taking a mandatory twelve hour break after seven days. Maybe we can hang out?"

"I'd really like that," I reply, rubbing the back of my head.

"I use my real name, too," she informs me, "I always thought it sounded more RPG than anything I could come up with. Good night!"

"Have a good night, see you in game. Hopefully?"

"Well, if you bring dragons on a first date I'd certainly be more impressed than with flowers!"

We both laugh and go into our respective rooms. Smooth. Like, gravel road smooth. I shake my head and sigh. Anyway, I look around my room in wonder. It's like the rooms here were designed for FIVR capsules and basic living needs.

There's two capsules, one already occupied by my room mate, divided off from the rest of the room by heavy, dark curtains in, I guess you would call it the bedroom area. There's two bathrooms so we won't have to wait for each other when those pods open up on day eight. There's a kitchen with a stove and fridge. I'm assuming pots, pans, and any utensils we will need are in the cabinets and drawers. I open the fridge and find it half full of bottles of water. I grab one and take a drink. Setting it down on the counter I open the pantry and find it full of long term staples like a bag of rice, canned meat, canned soup, dry pasta, and the like. It makes sense since we'll be spending days on end in the capsules. Anything else would spoil. Fortunately, on the counter is a list of numbers to all the places that deliver in a five mile radius. The living room consists of a block U shaped sectional and a large flat TV on the wall.

It turns on by itself and I'm greeted on the screen by a woman dressed like a nurse in scrubs, "Good evening! Welcome to the Ele-Quince FIVR Living Quarters. Please lie down in your pod so we may begin the login process. Character creation will begin in about three hours and you can use the time to acclimate yourself to the system and get to know the game a little better. If you need instructions to plug into the machine, say 'Proceed' and we will assist you. If not, please say 'Skip' and we'll wait for you to finish."

"Skip," I say.

Although it's been a while, I still know how to jump into the pod and I get myself comfortable. I strip down to my boxer briefs and put on the FIVR "pajamas", a footie onesie that goes up to the neck. It sucks in to conform to my body and I lay down in the pod. I put on the "crown", an electronic ring that helps in the transference of brainwaves and data, and I can feel the nodes attach to my back. It starts to close as the bottom half fills its bladder-like insides with a cool gel. I close my eyes and feel the pinch of a needle at my neck, knowing the nanites are flooding my system. They're going to help keep my body from deteriorating and a few other things from happening while I'm under. My consiousness feels my body seemingly float away and I feel that familiar, odd drop, as if I miscounted the steps going downstairs and find air instead of the ground.

[Connected. Please state real name]

I flutter open my in-game eyes and look around, "Ardacen Winters." I'm in an all white space with gray floors, I guess so we can tell where our feet go and we can move about without disorientation.

[Confirmed. Would you like a moment to get used to your current space Y/N?]

"No thanks."

[Confirmed. Would you like to view preview gallery Y/N?]

"Sure."

[Confirmed. Please select from:

[>-History of Ele-Quince

[-The Making of Arc the Game

[-History in the Making]

"History of Ele-Quince."

The white all around me transforms into a bustling office setting. I'm treated to a detailed history of the company as well as a better understanding of the enigmatic Gerard Quince. The Making of Arc the Game is similar in scope. I did, however, learn that they really used Pangaea as a benchmark and they took a lot of inspiration from all kinds of games, including some old pen and paper ones. Also, the sponsors and the show will be the ones covering a lot of the costs and some of the prizes.

In History in the Making, they reveal that the reason it took so long to release the game was simultaneously simple and complex. The game was completed years ago but what they did was design a magical world and let it live without human interference for several hundred in-game years. This was achieved by very slowly speeding up the in game time perception so that one month IRL was equivalent to about ten years in game. Then they very gently slowed back down to close to normal, stopping at one day being the same as three in game. That is going to be weird but with everyone feeling it there shouldn't be any problems. I think.

[Character creation commensing in 5 minutes]

Oh boy, here we go. I can feel my virtual palms sweating, a detail that was so strange that it actually caught my attention. That's a lot of detail I'm sensing; the condensation of sweat in my palms, rapidly cooling when the sweat evaporated. "How high are all of the sensors and can I possibly turn them down?"

[Sensory settings are all current at 80%]

That is a little unsettling and I didn't hear the prompt to turn it down. I used to play on games that did something similar but never that high. It meant you'd feel a majority of the pain inflicted upon your character, definately going to have to avoid getting hit as much as possible.

“Any advice before going in?"

[Choices in Arc are significant enough to alter the world. Do not make them lightly.]

Before I could expand on my line of questioning, the white room became ominously dark and fills with tempestuous clouds. I feel the ground beneath me shift and see that I'm now standing on a marble alter. A choir of imposing figures materialize before me, each with a pair of glowing eyes of differing colors.

A soft but authoritative gender neutral voice echoed all around me, "Greetings, traveler, and welcome to the world of Arc. Before you is the Pantheon, the gods who helped shape this world."

From one of the videos I learned that the Pantheon was created as a type of in-game administrators. I guess they were serious about having as little human interaction with this world as possible. The Pantheon acts as a system of checks and balances to each other and any rising powers in the game. The video explained how there used to be heroes, avatars of each god or goddess, but for some reason they ended up taking opposing sides and causing a horrific war that literally changed the landscape. Ever since then, NPCs were no longer allowed to wield so much power. Instead, the travelers would earn the right to slowly gain those powers.

"Please," the voice spoke again, "tell us about yourself." Before I could list off my likes and dislikes a screen popped up in my vision.

[Character creation menu]

Oh, that's what it meant. I click on the menu with my mind. Its pretty extensive, and I can tell there are going to be multiple pages to fill in.

[Basic Info: Ardacen Winters

[Race | Subrace: Undecided

[Height/Weight: 5'9/165lbs

[Level | Class | Subclass: 1 | Novice 1

[Experience: 0/100

[Multiclass | Subclass:

[Artisan Job Classes:

[Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum: 25/0/0/0

[HP/MP/Stamina Regen Delay: 8sec/8/sec/8sec

[HP/HPMax/Regen Per Second: 7/7/1

[MP/MPMax/RPS: 1/1/1

[Stamina/StamMax/RPS: 4/4/1

[Combat Modifiers

[Strength: 1

[Dexterity: 1

[Arcane: 1

[Faith: 1

[Agility: 1

[Defense: 0

[Willpower: 0]

I’m given +10 points to put into the following stats: Strength, Dexterity, Arcane, Faith, Agility, and the HP/MP/Stam regens. They all start at one.

Dexterity affects Agility, the value of my dodging ability, as well as the damage I deal with long range and Finesse type weapons. Both Strength and Dexterity affect Stamina Points, which are needed to activate Skills, and Health Points, which is how much damage I can take before dying.

Arcane and Faith affect Willpower, defense against magic; Mana Points, which are needed to cast Spells; and they partially effect Health Points as well. That way a purely Arcane or Faith based build would gain some HP instead of none.

It appears as though things like Charisma, a Stat used for social situations, and Perception, a Stat that helps one notice small details around them, were left up to the player to pull off making it something you are either good at or not.

I decide not to wait for any other factors and put 9 points into Dexterity and 1 into Arcane.

[DecaStat reached. +1 Dex Skill]

[Choose skill now or later?]

It seems every tenth stat point players are rewarded with a new Ability. I decide to wait for now and I mentally click the next page. Another menu appears in front of me and asks me to choose from a list of starting Artisan kits: Cook, Blacksmith, Alchemist, Leatherworker, and Farmer. I pick Cook and watch my level go up on the basic menu.

[Level up! Cook +1]

A bracelet appears out of no where on my left wrist.

[Equipped: Basic Storage Bracelet]

The bracelet works like a Backpack of Holding but much, much smaller, containing a 3x3x3 foot cube of extradimensional space. I access the bracelet and find my Travel Cook's Kit, a Waterskin, and 3 Plain Rations.The Cook's Kit includes a cast iron pan, a wooden spoon, and a pouch of salt. All of the items are organized neatly to save as much space as possible for more items.

The next menu that appears is Race, a veritable zoo of the kinds of races ranging from the different varieties of Elves, Dwarves, and humans to Faunus (different species of bestial anthromorphs), Infernus/Celestial, and different monster races. Each one has a feat tied to their lineage; an Infernus might start with Darkvision and a low level fire spell, a Halfling or lupine Faunus would gain a bonus to Agility. Humans have some too, but not as pronounced. The one thing they have is flexibilty and that's what I'm looking for. Subrace is just as crazy, since they offer a minor bonus based on the sub race option chosen. There's half versions of everything and at the very end of the extensive list is the one I'm looking for.

Custom.

It didn't offer any leveling stat bonuses, but it gives me an extra Feat to choose. Feats are basically titles/bonuses that help you characterize better, allowing you to fit the role you imagine yourself to be. Sometimes they're rewards for great acts. Being able to choose an extra one will either be a wasted effort or a game changer.

[+2 beginning Equipment/Spell/Skill options]

[+1 Human Stat/Spell/Skill/Feat]

[+1 Agility Skill]

[+1 Custom Feat]

I feel as though I have too many options at this point, and I can't help but chuckle to myself.

"So," I ask aloud after temporarily forgetting the dozens of dieties standing before me, "Will I be required to eat and drink in this world?"

Some games did and they usually imposed a penalty if you didn't do so in a timely manner.

"If you choose to refrain from doing so, your health, magic, and stamina will not recover properly," came the low yet thunderous reply.

Figures. When I chose Cook, I was hoping food just imparted a bonus. I suppose later on it will, but for now it is practically a necessity.

The next menu shows my starting weapons, armor, and accessories. There are also several drop down menus in many spaces. I feel strangely naked all of a sudden, but then a plain, worn out tunic, pants, and leather boots pop onto me with bubbles of magic.

[Equipped: Simple Cloth Tunic]

[Equipped: Simple Cloth Pants]

[Equipped: Simple Leather Boots]

I could see they only add +3 to my Armor, but I was hoping my 10 Agility will help me dodge attacks better. I select the drop down option for Main Hand and choose a dagger.

[Equipped: Simple Iron Dagger]

It only deals 2 base damage, but it added my Dex so it actually deals 12 slashing/piercing damage. I don't think I need any more than that for what I plan on doing.

I move forward with up to 3 option points for Spells and Skills and 1 for a Feat, or 2 and 2 if I so choose.

Let's see. It looks like the options are very limited. It makes sense, you wouldn't want to make people too strong from the get go. I spend one of my points on a Skill.

[You learned a Skill! Minor Survival Craft I!]

[Minor Survival Craft I (2MP+2SP) Requires at least one free hand.

[Touch/ Heal 2HP

[Create small, non-damage dealing sparks of fire.

[Purify up to 2 quarts of water or 3 pieces of meat.

[Produce a bedroll and pad that lasts up to 8 hours/dismissed/or destroyed.

[Produce up to 25 feet of hempen rope, lasts 24 hours]

[Next Upgrade at Level 5]

It looks crazy useful and in this game where no one really knows what to expect I want to be ready for anything. I use my Agi decastat point to obtain an attack Skill.

[You learned a skill! Critical Stab I!]

[Critical Stab I (10SP)

[Requirement: A piercing or slashing weapon.

[Melee/ Deals weapon base + 2*Dex Total]

Usually that Skill would be reserved specifically for rogue types but I wasn't sure what path I would take. All I know is it blends well with my stats and my weapon so far. All that leaves is my Human point and the Custom Feat. I decide to spend my Feat point first and an extensive list appears.

I scroll through it with great interest: Battle Caster, Shield Expert, Throwables Expert, Half Shadow, Perfect Palatte, Adaptibility… Adaptibility sounds like it will mesh well with Survival Craft, but then I take a good look at it.

[Adaptiblity: Minute chance of obtaining a spell, skill, or feat from a defeated foe. Chance increases every time you are affected by the spell or skill. Chance increases if you are a higher level than your foe.]

It sounds like a great way to get free Abilities but the odds are unfavorable. Not only that, but in this race against 1999 other people it would be a waste of time grinding lower level creatures. Besides, intentionally getting hit comes with the risk of dying. Unfortunately for my virtual body’s future safety, the idea of possibly gaining unique and varied Abilities is too strong of an allure for someone like me, who places a premium on versatility.

[You achieved a Feat! Adaptibility!]

I check the in game clock and discover there is only a few minutes left before the game starts. I can't believe I spent almost three hours with this character! It must have been from reading all of the descriptions…

I keep my looks on default, my normal appearance scanned by the FIVR unit and exchanged my Human point for 5 stat points. I shove them all on Arcane for later and go over my Character Sheet once more.

[Basic Info: Ardacen Winters

[Race | Subrace: Human | Custom

[Height/Weight: 5'9/165lbs

[Novice | Class | Subclass: 1 | Novice 1

[Experience: 0 | 100

[Multiclass | Subclass:

[Artisan Job Classes: Cook 1 | |

[Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum: 25/0/0/0

[HP/MP/Stamina Regen Delay: 8sec/8/sec/8sec

[HP/Max/RegenPerSec: 16/16/1

[MP/Max/RPS: 16/16/1

[Stamina/Max/RPS: 13/13/1

[Combat Modifier:

[Strength: 1

[Dexterity: 10

[Arcane: 7

[Faith: 1

[Agility: 10

[Armor: 3

[Willpower: 2]

[Main Hand: Simple Iron Dagger

[Durability: 80/80

[Type/Range/Ammo: Dexterity/Melee,Throwable/1

[Base/Modified Damage: 2/12]

[BodyUnder: Simple Cloth Tunic

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1

[Legs: Simple Cloth Pants

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1

[Feet: Simple Leather Boots

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1]

[Wrist Left: Simple Bracelet of Storage]

[3x3x3ft extradmensional space

[Spells:]

[Skills: Minor Survival Craft I (2MP+2SP)

[Critical Stab I (10SP)]

[Feats: Adaptibility]

[Major Quests: none

[Minor Quests: none]

The voice comes rolling back like approaching thunder, "Curious. It is rare, even in this world, to find someone willing to walk the path of a Blue Mage. We shall see if one shall finally succeed." I recall that job class from an old console game from back in the day. Before it said anything, I was sure I might end up as a kind of magical rogue, but I guess Adaptibility is a much more job specific Feat than I thought.

"We shall transport you to Arc momentarily."

"Can I get a hint on where I'll end up?"

"It was chosen for you the moment you logged in. The city of Kes Rentas. Strong military presence, renowned magical school, and one of the largest thieves guild in Arc."

Right, so densely populated and highly competitive. No thanks. In a moment, however, the clouds swirl around me and I disappear in a flash of magic.