A Starting Journey

"Oh sweet! My Full Dive VR gear arrived!" A guy exclaimed. The guy picked up a box and walked over to a table, then put it down. He went over to the kitchen and grabbed scissors, then cut open the box.

Fumbling around inside all the foam and plastic, he felt a cold touch on his hands. Grinning, he grabbed onto it and pulled it out of the box. A helmet was now in the guy's hands. "This looks way better than in the advertisement! I can't wait!" The guy almost had stars in his eyes.

The guy who is being talked about is called Grey. Grey is 21 years old and lives on his own in an apartment. What he is holding is a full dive VR headset, made by Alram Productions. The headset does not have an official name, so the internet officially dubbed it "Diver Helmet". Grey isn't using that name because it's a really dumb name.

Alram Productions was a relatively small company 10 years ago, however, they suddenly announced the Diver Helmet, which made the internet explode. Nothing of the sorts had been seen anywhere, and they basically had monopoly on this technology. After that, they soared to the top of the gaming industry, taking over big companies like Mintendo and Nicrosoft, getting a net worth estimated at about $502.21 Billion. Grey saw the Diver Helmet, and decided to pre-order it.

Grey has a very boring life. An average office job, a couple of friends he sometimes goes to the bar with, and playing video games at home as a hobby. The only somewhat interesting thing about Grey is that he is level 60 in WoW. He is also a virgin, if you couldn't guess yourself. To satisfy his hobby, Grey decided to buy the Diver Helmet after seeing an advertisement while on YouTube.

"Alright, there's a couple of minutes until Alion Is released. I should get this set up." Grey mumbled to himself while picking up the Diver Helmet. The thing Grey was talking about, Alion Online, is the first and only game that is available for the Diver Helmet. You might be thinking that buying a console for one game only is absurd, but Alion is a game like no other. Created jointly by over 50 of the biggest game companies in the world, over 100 million pre-orders have been purchased before it has even been released.

After Grey fumbles around with the Diver Helmet for 2-3 minutes, almost dropping it in the process, he finally gets the whole setup completed. Sweating, he looks at his makeshift gaming room on his bed and smiles. He hasn't read anything about the game because he wants to experience it with his own eyes. Not like there is any information considering, well, it's not out.

Grey gets in his bed and puts on the Diver Helmet. A blue screen pops up in front of him, saying, "Connect?".

Grey doesn't hesitate and says, "Yes!". All of a sudden all his senses fade away, almost like he was never in his room to begin with. Instead, he is in a white room with a timer in front.

2:52, it states. The minutes and seconds seem to tick by so fast until it finally reaches zero. Beneath his feet grass suddenly begins to appear, along with dirt and gravel.

Gray's mouth widens a little bit, shocked at the scene in front of him. Now, he was in a town. More of a village, but it's good enough for Gray.

A blue screen, like the one at the start pops up in front of him.

" Please select a class:

Swordsman

Ranger

Magician

Healer

"

Grey looks at the screen and contemplates. "I don't exactly want to be a healer, since that'll require me to make friends. Magician could be good, but I feel like it would be difficult to take on monsters by myself. Ranger is a better option, but I really wanna fight with swords…" Grey massages his temple, frustrated. Finally, he clicks the screen.

"Swordsman has been selected. Starter kit has been added to the inventory. Enjoy the game." A voice said. Where, only God knows. Grey looks around for a bit before remembering something he read in the manual. Grey takes a deep breath.

"Menu."

*Ding!*

A blue, transparent screen pops up in front of him. A couple of options are presented.

[Status, Inventory, Quests, Exit]

"Huh, convenient!" Grey exclaims. He examines the options before clicking on inventory. The screen fades away before another one pops up. This time showing his items. A rusty sword and leather armor is presented.

[Rusty Sword. An old rusty sword. You should probably get a better one fast, but for now it does the job. +1 Strength]

[Leather Armor. This armor works against slimes. Anything stronger and it'll go through. +2 Vitality]

"It's good enough to start with, I suppose…" Grey sighs. Of course the starter kit wouldn't be good. Grey presses the items in the inventory, and presses equip. A shortsword that has rusted and some old leather armor materialized in front of his very eyes. "What the fuck!?" Grey was visibly startled by the items appearing out of thin air. "This… is my equipment?" Grey examines the two items. "The sword is so rusted!? It'll probably crack if I hit a wall or something…"

'No use crying over it.' Grey thinks to himself. He picks up the sword and puts on the armor. 'A little uncomfortable, but it fits. I should go find something to do now.'

"Um, excuse me!" A voice called out right behind him. Turning around, Grey saw a woman, about 17 years old, looking hesitantly at him. 'Did I scare her by pulling out a sword? Wait, before that, is she an NPC or a player? I can't tell the difference at all!' Grey looked at the woman, and was about to ask her if she was a player when the woman continued,

"Are you an adventurer?"

Grey paused what he was about to say. 'Guess that confirms it. Does that mean players are called adventurers in this world? Maybe that's what defines NPC's and players. I should note that down.' Grey thought to himself and jotted it down in his mind. "Yeah, I am." He answered.

He saw the woman's eyes shine for a few seconds before she asked him, "Could you please help me with something?! I'll pay you, I promise!"

Grey was surprised. 'My first quest, just like that? Nice, I'll level up in no time! But I haven't battled before, and what if it's a higher level quest? Maybe let's get some information first.'

"What exactly do you need help with?"

*Ding!*

[Shara has issued you a quest!

Eradicate the slimes raiding her family's farm.

Slimes killed: 0/5

Reward: 12 copper coins, 45 XP]

A simple beginner quest. Grey pumped his fist in the air and smiled. 'This is something I can do!' Now all he needed to do is get to the farm.

"Can you show me the way?"

"Of course adventurer! Follow me!"

The woman, or rather Shara, turned around and began sprinting towards the city gate. Well, at least he thought it was the city gate, because it was so rundown it might as well not be there. Any human would easily be able to get through, not to mention monsters. Two guards were stationed outside, however their gear was about on par with his own. 'I wonder how my stats are? I should probably check them…'

While following Shara, Grey went into the menu and pressed on the 'Status' button. A screen popped up in front of him that said the following.

Name: Grey Arfield (Level 1)

XP: 0/100

Subclasses: N/A

HP: 10/10

MP: 10/10

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 5

Willpower: 5

Charisma: 0

Luck: 10

Skills: N/A

Items: Rusty Sword (+1 Str), Leather Armor (+2 Vit)

Money:

"Wait?! Why is my charisma so low?"

Grey exclaimed. Although all his other stats were at the normal level, with luck being slightly higher, his charisma was exactly zero.

"I'm not that ugly…" Grey quietly sulked to himself. 'No matter. That may be the biggest slap in the face, but I will not be deterred!'

"We're here mister!"

Grey looked up from the screen and saw a farm. The land outside the farm was like any other, with a bunch of wheat planted as far as the eye could see. The farm itself however, looked like it could fall apart from a light breeze. The old, wooden boards were painted red, but it was extremely hard to see as the paint had peeled off pretty much everywhere. A giant hole could be seen in the roof of the farm house, and the windows were so cracked you couldn't even see through them.

Not that he was interested in the house, all he was here for were the slimes. It didn't take much looking around to notice them. A giant patch of land right behind the house revealed them eating parts of the fence. 'They're eating the fence? I guess slimes really can eat everything, huh.'

"Alright, I'll take care of this. You stand back, alright?"

"Of course adventurer, good luck!"

Grey looked at Shara for a couple of seconds before nodding his head. 'Alright, let's do this!' Slowly he took out the sword from his scabbard and placed it between him and the slimes. The slimes didn't seem to have noticed him, continuing to eat the fence. This was fine for Grey, as he could sneak up on the slimes. Inching closer, sweat began gathering on his back as he closed in. He hadn't ever handled a sword before, but it shouldn't be so difficult, right?

Finally, as he was right behind one of the slimes, the other ones seemed to notice him as they turned towards him. Grey raised his sword above his head and swung down towards the slime. A gurgling noise was heard as the slime split into two. The green substance slowly leaking out, like a water balloon being popped.

[Slime killed. +5 XP]

A blue screen popped up in front of Grey but he didn't have time to read it as the other four slimes began closing in on him. Grey picked up his sword from the very much dead slime and began running towards another one. This one however, didn't want to go down without a fight. The slime made a weird motion where it pressed itself down into the ground and spat out a weird substance that almost looked like it's insides. Unable to change the direction he was running in time Grey ran directly into the substance. Almost immediately his leather armour began melting where the substance had landed. Quickly the liquid made its way through his armour and touched his shoulder. A burning sensation could be felt.

[You have been poisoned! Get an antidote or just sit through the pain. -0.5 HP / second]

'Poisonous slimes?' Grey thought to himself as he held his shoulder. It hurt like hell, and his pain setting was still set as 20%, which was the lowest allowed. He didn't have time to worry about this however, as he attacked the slime that he was right in front of. The slime seemed to have anticipated this as it dodged to the side, evading his sword. Grey still wanted some damage so he raised his foot and stepped on the slime. This didn't do much. In fact, now his foot was stuck inside the slime. It seemed to have decided to hold him in place. A smart move, as the other slimes were closing in on his position.

Grey shook his foot but the slime didn't let go. He picked up his sword and stabbed it. This seemed to do the trick, as the slime made a gurgling noise and deflated.

[Slime killed. +5 XP]

Spinning around quickly, Grey noticed the 3 other slimes were right behind him. 2 of the slimes began pressing themselves down into the ground while one of them closed in. The poisonous substance got spat out, but now that Grey knew what it was, he had time to react. He ducked down as fast as possible. The substance flew right over his head with a *whoosh!*.

While this was going on, the last slime got close enough to bite at him. Now that he was ducking, he couldn't really move that easily. The slime jumped at him with its mouth open, and bit down on his arm.

[You have been bitten! -2 HP]

It hurt like hell, but Grey was too focused on grabbing his sword to notice. He sliced the slime cleanly in half, and ran towards the two others. He jumped towards the one on the left, making a vertical slash. It easily sliced through the slime.

[Slime killed x2. +10 XP]

'Just have to get this last one!' Grey gritted his teeth, the poison was affecting his movement, and his vision was becoming blurry. 'This is really realistic for a video-game…' Even making his vision blurry would be difficult to make for any game company, and yet this game even has that feature?

Grey reached out to pick up the sword, however when he tried to, a weird sound was heard. A metallic *clang*, rang into his ears, and with it a blue screen popped up in front of him.

[Rusty Sword (+1 Str) has broken! You can fix it at a blacksmith, or try your hand at it yourself!]

"Are you kidding me!? This is not the time for my sword to break!"

Grey was furious. 'Why did it have to be now?! How am I supposed to defeat this last slime without a weapon?' He looked around the farm anxiously for anything that could even be considered close to sharp. Finally, he rested his eyes on something. A rake, leaning up against a bunch of haystacks. He then looked in front of the haystacks. The slime sat there, looking right at him.

Grey narrowed his eyes. 'It's like it knows I don't have a weapon. Does it not think I'm a threat anymore?' Grey focused his eyes on the rake again. 'I have to sprint faster than it can react…'

'Now!' Grey ran as fast as his legs could muster. Sprinting right past the slime, he looked at it, standing next to him, looking almost baffled. If a slime could speak, it would definitely say, 'What the f#ck happened?! How come you are suddenly so fast? This is cheating!' Grey made a satisfying grin, then turned his head back to the rake. Grabbing out towards it, a blue screen popped up in front of him.

[Farmer's Rake. Why would you even use this?]

'Screw you blue screen! I don't have anything else.' Grey wanted to cry. Now even the game was bullying him!? Grey just wanted this to be over, so he spun around and focused on the slime, still stunned from his sudden boost in speed. He ran at it desperately, wildly swinging the rake. Holding a sword and a rake is too different, and he didn't have time to adjust to it. This resulted in his posture being completely off. In a moment of confusion, he accidently stepped forward with the same foot twice, falling toward the slime. During the fall, his grip on the rake loosened. The last thing he saw was the slime right in front of his face, before a massive amount of notifications appeared in front of him.

[Slime killed. +5 XP]

[You have completed Shara's quest, "Farm Invasion"! +45 XP and +12 copper coins has been handed to you as a reward!]

[Your health has reached 0. You have died.]

[Logging off…]