I'm not trying to get emotional, but my eyes are stinging on their own. My heart's pounding. Am I really witnessing history unfold before me?
Players were spawning rapidly at the starting town. The place quickly filled with chatter and laughter, so much that it felt like a festival.
I've been waiting for a game that I can play for the rest of my life. I think, this is it.
Ahh...
Im so happy that even my sparkling tears have smiley faces on them. I just hope no one that i know sees me right now.
"Are you crying, Yor?" A yellow-haired guy walked towards him.
He couldn't make out the face—his eyes were too blurry with tears—but the voice gave it away.
He quickly wiped his tears and cleared his throat.
"I was," Yor replied, his face expressionless and his tone dry.
Damn. This guy always shows up at the most awkward times.
"Wait—why are you even here, Ludwig? You said you weren't playing," Yor asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I mean, this is the first-ever VMMORPG to exist, with graphics so realistic you can't even tell if we're on Earth. Nobody wants to miss out on this. This game is being live-streamed on social media. It's even on the news right now. I even saw you—I swear I saw you on TV before I logged in. You were crying while looking at the sky, like this is some sort of a—"
"Don't," Yor said firmly, cutting off Ludwig's blabbering.
"I know you're the kind of player who skips cutscenes, doesn't read quests, and skips tutorials just to get ahead of others quickly."
Yor gently turned Ludwig's head with his palms, guiding it to look around.
As Ludwig wandered his eyes around, he saw that some people were crying while roaming their eyes over their hands and bodies.
They might be thinking, "I can't believe this! Is this real?" Honestly, the game actually looks like real life—except that it's fantasy and stuff. I heard it was created using a newly developed game engine called Rtech. Cool. They scan your entire body when you log in, and then—voila! I wonder if they included the mole on my groin.
"This isn't just another MMORPG you play. This is another reality—another life. You've gotta enjoy it, man!"
Yor noticed a grin forming on Ludwig's lips. He let out a deep sigh, seeing Ludwig was lost in his thoughts and wasn't interested in anything he was saying.
I should've known better. Ludwig always likes to compete. That's how he enjoys the game.
A sudden uproar caught Yor and Ludwig's attention.
"What's happening?" asked Ludwig.
Players were pointing their fingers at the ripples forming in the sky. The center of the ripple gradually opened, revealing a void. From that void, a star emerged. It fell toward the town, and as it was falling, cracks were forming. Rays of light were peeking through the cracks.
Everybody was thrilled and excited about what was going to happen. Some were silent, and some were shouting as their reaction to it.
Before the star hit the ground, it cracked open, revealing this very charming girl mounted on her broom, afloat. She had shoulder-length, pin-straight cyan hair and sparkly eyes that seemed like stars. They matched her lively personality. She was wearing a flowy witch costume that was all black, accessorized with gold earrings and bracelets.
"Im literally star-struck." Ludwig's eyes widened. He immediately went near the girl to take a closer look.
"Hey, hey! We can still see her here." Yor tried stopping him.
"Im gonna take a closer look." Ludwig forcefully made his way to the crowd.
Disgusting. He just positioned himself below her so he could see her panties.
Yor scoffed.
"Fwaa! Good day! Ladies and gentlemen. I am Winter, one of the humble team that developed this game. I am here to break down a bad news, we are shutting down the game... Just kidding! Actually you're still in the customization screen if that makes sense, because there's no screen." A booming voice echoed throughout the town, silencing the crowd.
Ludwig came back beside Yor, with a sullen look.
He must've seen something, except panties.
Yor smirked.
"The real reason I'm here is because you will pick your starting region at random. The choice of your starting region primarily influences the difficulty of your quests. Each difficulty is represented by how many stars that region has. Seven stars is the maximum, and one star is, of course, the minimum. A seven-star difficulty will obviously give you a very, very hard time, but your progress will be faster, whereas a one-star, the lowest difficulty, will be easier but slower in progression." Winter explained briefly. She then snapped her fingers and a flying slot machine popped up in front of every player.
As tension filled the air, the players fell into silence. Everyone had mixed emotions about it. However, Winter broke the silence and lightened the mood.
"By the way, your lives don't depend on this. Why you guys so troubled?" Winter said with a teasing smile, resting her fingers on her chin.
A guy in the crowd raised his hand, catching Winter's attention.
"Yes? The guy with the ginger beard." Winter beamed a smile.
"Why don't we get to choose? Why does it have to be random?" the guy asked.
"Before I answer your question, I wanna ask you first: What did you feel about it?" Winter tilted her head still keeping her sweet smile. Some players started mumbling, and Yor overheard some of it.
"What a waste of time." A girl spoke in a low voice as she rolled her eyes.
"The majority voted for it. In case that ginger guy didn't know." They both shook their heads, clearly irritated.
The ginger guy raised his hands to show his soaking wet palms.
"Nervous. My palms are sweating right now. I really want an easy to medium difficulty, ya know, so can I please be an exception?" His tone slightly desperate and his face showing a plea for an answer."
Winter's smile faded. Her starry eyes became slightly dull as she crossed her legs.
"Fuu... The unknown is what keeps us awake. Don't you agree? It's thrilling, it's exciting, it's nerve-wracking. That's what the majority of players want, according to the survey. Just think about it, if a lot of players choose a seven-star region, then we can't divide the population evenly, right? Some regions would have little to no income due to lack of players, and as a result, NPCs might migrate, seeking better opportunities elsewhere, or even cause crimes. Poor NPCs..."
"T-That's reasonable, but I—"
"Ahh! Bro, she already answered your question. Can't we just get on with this? I want to start already, man!" Ludwig shouted, scratching his head in irritation.
Yor lowered his head and let out a sigh.
"No! It's my right—"
"Dude, shut up!" Everyone near the ginger guy was shouting at him in anger for wasting time. No one wanted to wait. Their hands were itching for the adventure that awaited.
As they were grilling the ginger guy, Winter rummaged through her pocket for a pendant watch, ignoring the racket in the background. She had 20 seconds before she automatically turned to ash.
"Alright, everybody! Eyes this way, please!"
Winter snapped her fingers, and upbeat music filled the air. In the blink of an eye, the quiet town transformed into a dazzling casino. Neon lights flashed in sync with the beat, while flying slot machines twinkled and chimed in perfect harmony.
Winter was twirling around on her broom as she glittered like a disco ball.
"Ayee! The moment you've been waiting for is here, ladies and gentlemen! You only have 10 seconds to pull the lever. Everybody! PULL!"
Her last word "Pull" echoed loudly that it evoked a sense of urgency among the players.
Others didn't hesitate to pull the lever right after Winter told them to. Others held on to the belief, that if they hold hands while pulling the lever, they will be teleported to the same region.
Yor stroked his chin, deep in thought.
So, the stars represent the difficulty of a region. If that's the case, I'd prefer 2-3 stars. I don't mind if my progress is slow — after all, I'm here to have fun. With that in mind, I think the advantage of being in a low-starred region is that progress is steady, unlike in high-starred regions where it might be faster but less consistent.
He stared blankly at the slot machine in front of him as its reels spun wildly.
"Hah!"
Ludwig grinned like he was ready to take on the world. He slowly pulled the lever, and the machine clicked and whirred. After a few seconds, the reels slowed one by one. He held his breath as each reel clattered into place. The first two stars appeared, then three more, and finally, the last two glowing stars clicked in.
"Jackpot!" Ludwig shouted, fists clenched tightly at his sides. He burst into a triumphant laugh as the slot machine blared music and flickered lights.
"I win!" he added, turning his eyes to Yor. Ludwig's jaw dropped when he realized Yor also had seven stars. They looked at each other in shock—so did everyone nearby.
"Oh shit." Ludwig grinned, and then they turned to ash.