Chapter 1: Before The Storm

There was barely any sun, and the mist-covered anything away from 6 feet, as the clouds, fogged the earth away from the sun, putting everyone's hearts in despair, but for Emi, it was a blessing from the gods.

Emi was the eleventh grader just a few days ago, but due to the virus spreading across the world, the school was canceled making summer break four months longer, which never even bothered Emi.

She had a full plan of getting the new full-dive VR MMORPG, that was coming out on February 12, 2034, and luckily, she wouldn't be behind everyone else if the school was canceled early, which leads her here, waiting outside her local gaming shop, hoping to buy the game, and only the game.

Her mission was easier than most of the people here, she had already purchased the gloves and headgear, as well as three PCs for maximum gameplay, it was truly impressive, and for a teen to be this dedicated to a game, but it was quite worrying for her parents.

Although Emi was a beauty, she often didn't interact with students, her family, friends, the only thing that mattered was playing games, and getting good grades, nothing more nothing less, and due to this, she developed a habit of competitiveness, as well as a deep understanding of complex systems.

Emi was simply waiting outside, inside her tent, while others had chairs and blankets, some just coming by as the time was 11:55 am, the time the shop would open and sell out on every single gaming card for the new full dive MMORPG, Divine Rift, a fantasy MMORPG with over 100 races, customization options, unlimited items, unlimited areas to explore, and a dungeon system that can be infinite for high-level players.

It was truly beautiful to see the landscaping and design of the game and is what truly hooked Emi into getting Divine Rift. The realism, the scenery, and the fact that you could feel the sun on your skin, it was perfect…

DING!

Emi quickly got out of her tent, as she was one of the first 4 people in line, but due to her recklessness and rushed mindset she tripped out of the tent right after opening it, scraping her knee on the sidewalk that led to even more stores that all had a brick layout.

"Shit!" Emi screeched, getting up seeing the store about to open, she pulled down the sweatpants that had a new hole and was doing her best to cover her pale skin.

While her sweater and hat combo along with her bangs covering her sharp violet eyes, often causing attention she never wanted, nor did she need.

"Attention everyone, only 5 people may enter at a time, due to safety reasons of this rising pandemic!" There was an announcer on the speakers above the shop door, it was loud, but all that Emi cared about was getting Divine Rift, as soon as possible, so she could experience the opening event.

"The first 5 people please enter…" The announcer said, before cutting the microphone, as Emi was the 4th person in line, right behind her was another high school student who she did speak to but only exchanging names.

"I'm surprised you were able to wait this long." The boy behind her said, his name being Han, and a fellow high school student and the all-boys school which was weird since Emi's school was a public all-gender to school.

"Well you did share some pizza with me, so I owe you a lot," Emi said before the doors would finally open, as the doorbell would ring.

"I couldn't help but admire your effort, I mean waiting 24 hours in a tent for a video game, I couldn't help but want to do the same," Han said, before they entered the shop, the copies of Divine Rift displayed, with a poster of an avatar one of the devs created.

The poster was a girl with pink hair, cat ears, a pink tail, and beginner clothing with a small dagger and 2 potions. Along with a necklace that caught Emi's attention.

'What a pretty necklace…' Emi thought while she grabbed the case for Divine Rift, opening it to see the chip with a picture of a sword and staff crossing.

"Looks like the real deal," Han said, as he was the first to buy Divine Rift and exit immediately, and Emi followed, as the live event would start in only 2 hours so only giving her one hour to explore the map before everyone could start earning experience and leveling up.

When Emi walked out the door she already saw Han getting ready to pack everything into his friend's car, so she quickly walked up to him.

"Hey Han, could I have your number? I was thinking when the game starts we could party up." Emi said, handing her phone out.

After exchanging numbers, Han and his friend had already left, while Emii had already packed most of her stuff, waiting for her mother to arrive to pick her up.

-1 hour later…-

Emi's father was already starting to put the packed-up tent and car in the garage, while Emi was already upstairs connecting the game chip to the headgear, and changing into pajamas to feel as comfortable as possible.

Her parents were busy with work today, so Emi didn't have to worry about them all of a sudden pulling the plug to the pc and headgear. Which could cause problems and Emi had reminded them over and over that it's extremely dangerous to just pull the plug.

'Finally, I can live in the beautiful world of Divine Rift…' Emi thought as she was connecting the headgear which just looks like a more modern astronaut helmet.

She finally finished connecting everything, as she placed the headgear, she looked at the gloves seeing a warning on them.

[ONE TIME USE!]

Emi was confused by what it meant but after reading the instructions it said to take off your clothes and touch your whole body with the gloves.

Emi didn't want to ruin the experience of DIvine Rift so she followed the instructions, touching every inch of her body, even lifting her bangs to reveal a quite petite and cute face paired with her extremely rare eyes that shined like amethysts.

'I wonder what this is for…' Emi thought before she put the headgear on again, seeing it charge up and slightly glow while she would begin to lay on her bed, in a comfortable position.

'What was the word I had to use to start the game again…' Emi didn't want to get back up, so she would continue to think until the words finally came out her mouth.

"Oh! Rift Transport."

All of a sudden a bunch of flashing lights, like crystals on a sunset, flashing over and over, the lights feeling as if you were in heaven.

Emi would blink once, before being in a central part of the beginner's town, where there were stands, shops, vendors, people enjoying their time to explore before the live event would start.

(I'm new to making Novels so PLEASE ignore my grammar mistakes and storytelling, I truly am just doing this to put my story out in the world, and if you like it please comment or message me on discord!)

Discord: 🌸AlmondMilkVibes🌸#6223