Chapter Text
She slowly opened her eyes. It was dark. Probably the middle of the night. Her sleep had become more restless lately, so waking up at that time was sadly nothing new. She blinked a few times to try to clear up her vision. But why was her bed so uncomfortable? She turned around to look for her phone on the nightstand.
Wait... where am I?
It occurred to her that even though it was dark, she could still see a little. And what she could see was not her bedroom. And she was not in her bed. In fact, there was no bed at all, and certainly no nightstand. All she could see was rock, and a hard floor.
Uh... some sort of cellar? Or cave? Ugh... my head...
It ached really badly. Had she been kidnapped? Hit on the head? At least she didn't seem to be bound, and managed to get up. Even better there was a faint light she could head towards. She had to look for help.
If she hadn't been feeling so groggy and weak, she might have been able to ask herself more questions. For instance why her field of vision was so low, and why she was on all four, but her brain was not exactly operating at full power. Her only focus was following the light.
She quickly spotted the exit of the cave, which caused her to speed up a little. She wanted to get outside, and see if she could recognise anything. Or if there was anyone to get help from. To ask for directions. Call the police. Find some way to get back home. While she lived alone, her family checked in with her at least once a week, so depending on how long she'd been gone, they might be really worried.
Yes, she was single. Her previous relationship had ended a while back... nearly six months? It hadn't been the cleanest breakup, which she felt a little guilty about. They hadn't really talked since, and she had been rather depressed for a while, but... that wasn't important at the moment. She needed to get back home.
She got far enough outside for the scenery to reveal itself to her, and... she froze.
Wha-
There was some sort of field of outside. Nice, green grass, with some sparsely dotted trees here and there. The sun shone down, giving the place a very idyllic image, but the bright light was making her headache worse.
More importantly there were people out there. Many of them. Moving and running about the place. They were a little strangely dressed, but that wasn't important. She rushed towards the nearest one, calling out for help.
The person noticed her, and pointed something at her. Some sort of pole? Then abruptly something bright flew her way.
Ah! Aaaaahhhh! It burns! Burns! Fire? Fire?! Why?!!
She was struck once more, and everything went dark.
Completely dark this time. It was so black that she couldn't see anything, but at least she was... somewhere. A blue window suddenly popped up in front(?) of her.
[ Respawn Timer: 01:59 ]
It was ticking downwards at a rapid pace.
Respawn timer? What? What does that mean?
"After being killed, mobs will respawn after a set amount of time."
A pleasant, but emotionless female-sounding voice answered, and it made her scream. Or it would have, if she had a voice in this place, which she apparently didn't. Whatever that voice was, it had answered her thought. After steadying herself a little, around when the timer passed under one minute, another question came to mind.
What do you mean, mobs?
"A mob is a generic enemy in the game."
Game?
The voice changed to a deep male-sounding one that enthusiastically stated: "The wonderful world of Moorhold Online!"
What?
[ Respawn Timer: 00:00 ]
The popup faded away as her vision came back, yet again surrounded by rock.
Haven't I heard that line somewhere before? Ah! That commercial!
* * *
"Welcome! To! The wonderful world of Moorhold Online!" boomed the voice of the black-bearded man in the commercial on whatever media device one might be looking at. The marketing push for the game had been huge. It was not the first MMORPG, or even the first VRMMO, but it was the first to support the long-awaited Full Dive technology that could replicate all your senses within a virtual environment, and boasted absolute immersion. It could even let disabled people play with a fully abled game avatar, though that came with warnings about the risk of disorientation, and other issues.
In fact the fine print on the devices was very long, and you had to sign a disclaimer saying you acknowledged the risks, and responsibilities. It had taken a lot of testing and lobbying to get the pods approved for the gaming market, but it had finally succeeded!
Moorhold Online was a mostly standard fantasy setting, though leaning more towards the renaissance era than medieval. There were some steampunk elements as well as the world was starting its industrial revolution, which they boasted would progress as the game went on. The NPCs were supposed to be virtually (pun probably intended) indistinguishable from real-life people, and their world a living, breathing one.
Even the enemies ran on scripts developed by the highly advanced 'Super AI' in charge of monitoring, and managing the game. Low level enemies ran on basic scripts, and the higher level an enemy was, the more advanced its script would be to give the players a sense of increased challenge as they progressed. Named mobs, rare enemies, lord-style enemies, and bosses might even have intellects on par with the NPCs, especially at higher levels.
Which NPCs were friendly, and which weren't could be influenced by your own actions. There were various factions, which even included bandit groups, raider camps, and more. Your actions could make the members more friendly towards you, or more hostile. Even individual characters could remember your actions, just like real life people.
It was considered bad form to call them NPCs out loud in game. They were known as Residents, and they referred to the players as Wanderers. They were aware that the Wanderers came from another world, even if they didn't know anything about that world. This was mainly so that they wouldn't be shocked when the players said weird things, referred to memes, or asked strange questions. It was just what the Wanderers were like in their eyes. They still didn't take kindly to being treated with disrespect, though.
While there were certain things that only players could do, like opening the main menu, seeing system messages, and having an inventory by default, the Residents could largely do the same things in terms of gaining skills, classes, and levels. The lack of menu interaction meant they couldn't access the community forums, use the real money store, or the settings menu among other things. However there were certain things that let them get on a more even playing field, like being able to use Identify to see their own status. They also had various access points to see, and interact with other information. There were bags, and storage magic that fulfilled the same purpose as a player's inventory.
For the sake of player convenience as much as anything else, there was even a respawn system for Residents, though it came with a few more restrictions than for players. Since bandits and so on also counted as Residents, just of a different faction, having a quest to "kill 5 bandits" or "take out the bandit leader" wouldn't be very fun if only a single person or group could do it. However there were going to be certain unique quests, and global events, that might cause the permanent death of one or more NPCs, and/or change the status of a zone, or nation. Which would shift the landscape of the game's world forever.
One of the core ideas was that the Residents would be able to join the players in their adventures. They could join player parties, be added to friend lists, and even become guild members. Or perhaps start their own private guilds that players could join.
All in all it was a game that tried to straddle the line between being player friendly and convenient, and also having an immersive, 'realistic' world. While there was scepticism towards how well it would turn out, there were quite a lot of people who wanted to get in and try it out.
The expansive character creator was also a draw for a lot of people. You could customise basically any part of the body to create your perfect virtual self, and there were a lot of species with different racial variants to pick from, with the promise of more being added in future updates. Some of them might have more trouble interacting with the Residents than others depending on which starting area they picked.
Even if they knew that Wanderers could appear as any Resident species, there were still many that would hesitate to deal with an orc, goblin, or troll if they themselves were humans, dwarves, or elves. Players were still free to pick whatever starting area they wanted to. Some enjoyed the challenge, and role-playing options that came with it. If they didn't find it fun, there was the option of making new character, also known as re-rolling. Players could have several characters, but the amount of slots were limited, and it wasn't possible to transfer levels, skills, or reputation.
To soften things up a little for new players there was the option during the first week after the first login to freely relocate a character's starting area up to three times. After that grace period ended, they would have to travel manually to reach new areas if they did not want to re-roll.
The beta had been well received, but the developers were keeping a close eye on the data provided by the AI, and their own records to see what further adjustments they needed to make. It was even said that the AI had the power to make adjustments on its own. Any MMO was likely to look a little different after a few years, after all, but they hoped they had made a world people would enjoy from the start.
* * *
She lay still in the cave as she tried her best to remember what she could about the game. It wasn't like she had a lot else to grab onto at the moment. She hadn't actually gotten around to playing it, but the marketing had been everywhere, and she'd browsed through it out of curiosity. The commercial she had seen was to announce that the game was moving from closed beta, to a semi-open one. While you didn't need an invite, it was first come, first serve as the beta servers only supported 10 000 people. It wasn't like she had the money for one of the Full Dive capsules anyway, or really the time to spare. She had considered getting one later since work was supposed to calm down when they got into the new year, so maybe she would be able to find some time. It might have been something to ask for as a Xmas gift, but it was a bit early to think about that. Yet now she was somehow in the game?
No wait, aren't I too accepting of this?
She had freaked out for a while after her 'respawn'. While she had been in that black space she had felt strangely calm, as if her feelings had been suppressed, but once she had... regained her body, she remembered the sensation of burning, and had gone through several stages of panic, and denial.
After she had tired herself out, she had collapsed onto the rocky floor, and just panted for a while as she tried to recall every detail she could muster.
Am I truly in the game? That doesn't make sense. I have to be dreaming or something...
She remembered some of her dreams sometimes, and this didn't feel quite the same, but she had heard things didn't always feel weird while you were still inside the dream. Though in this case it would have to be a lucid dream, and she'd never had one of those before. There were ways to find out if one was dreaming, right? You were supposed to pinch your cheek, or something. She paused as her vision settled on her... arms? Even in the dark she could see the shape of the limbs stretched out in front of her, and they didn't look quite right. Her nose didn't seem quite right either.
Wait... what am I? I don't seem... human?
She brought one of her hands(?) up to her cheek, and... couldn't pinch. She couldn't feel anything like a thumb. Her weirdly soft hand(?) just bumped against her weirdly soft, and... furry cheek? And there was a weird feeling on her backside.
I need more light to see properly.
She stood up, and this time she noticed how her field of vision was lower to the ground than she was used to. And she didn't seem able to get up on two legs. She had to walk on all four, but it was regular walking, and not crawling. All four limbs seemed to be roughly the same length. While this confused her human mind, it seemed like her body handled it just fine. She stumbled a little if she thought about it too hard, and figured it was best to not do that.
When she reached the light of the cave entrance again, she stopped to take a better look at herself. All four limbs... definitely legs. Furry ones at that, of a light grey colour, that had paws at the bottom. Though her front legs had enough range of motion that she could touch her face. She sat down on the grass to make things easier. Long nose. More fur. Pointy ears. With a sense of foreboding she looked backwards along her lithe, furry body, and found... a tail. Also furry, of course.
No way... it can't be...
As she was lost in disbelief, she heard some shouting close by.
"There's one!"
Suddenly an arrow impacted right next to her, and she jumped.
"Hey!" She tried to shout, but all that came out was: *BOFF*
"Hah, noob!" said another voice.
"Shut up, it's hard to hit anything without auto-aim, okay?!"
"Aren't you supposed to have aim assist?" The other teased.
"That isn't perfect! And we're both noobs! The game has just launched!"
The voices belonged to two people who were rushing towards her. One person with a bow staying slightly behind while another with a sword ran at her, closing the distance way too fast. She froze completely as the sword swung down on her head.
[ Respawn Timer: 01:59 ]
Well... that sucked.
Thankfully there hadn't been much pain, but it annoyed her that she hadn't been able to do anything. Who were those two, anyway? It had all happened so fast that she hadn't been able to take in much detail, but both of them had seemed human. Bipedal, at least. And they had been dressed in pretty much the sort of basic equipment you saw low-level adventurers wear on TV and in games. And considering they used the word 'noob', it probably meant they were players.
Why did they kill me, though?
"Players hunt mobs to gain experience, drops, and to clear quests."
Hey, it's that voice again! Who are you?!
"I'm Aina, the AI that manages the game."
... oh.
She wasn't sure how to process that.
W-wait, can you help me?
"That is one of my responsibilities, yes."
A glimmer of hope sparkled in her heart.
[ Respawn Timer: 00:00 ]
The cave again. Or it could be a different cave, but it felt like the same one.
Um... Aina?
"Yes? How may I help you?"
Where am I?
"Merwyn Field, part of Merwyn Forest, the starting zone outside of the human city of Bramond, part of the Eronite Kingdom, on the continent-"
No, I mean... am I really in the game? In Moorhold Online?
"Yes."
She went quiet, and sagged down, feeling deflated. How was she supposed to process this?
Why?
"Why what?"
Why am I here?
"I cannot answer that."
Why...
Despair was starting to take hold.
"I was told there is a letter in your inventory which should explain your circumstances. However, I am unable to read it myself."
She blinked through her tears.
Letter? Inventory?
"The inventory can be accessed via the main menu, or via direct command."
What menu?
"Just focus, and say or think the word 'Menu'."
Um... Menu.
Having nothing to lose, she did as Aina said, and a blue window popped up in front of her, the same colour as the respawn timer window.
[ Main Menu ]
[ Character Status ]
[
Equipment
]
[ Skills ]
[ Social ]
[
Party
]
[ Reputation ]
[ Inventory ]
[
How To Play
]
[
Community
]
[
Emotes
]
[ Settings ]
[
Log Out
]
That looked surprisingly normal, even if most of the buttons were greyed out. There was a circular icon in the top right with a stack of coins inside it, but that was also greyed out. What sunk her heart the most was seeing the Log Out option being unavailable.
It's like one of those stuck in a death game stories. Except death is apparently not permanent.
She wanted to check out all available tabs, but the question was...
How do I use the buttons?
"You can touch them with your hand- my apologies, with your paw, or think about wanting to touch them, or use direct commands for the window you want to see."
Considering how emotionless the voice sounded, she couldn't be sure if the paw thing was meant to be a joke, but at least it seemed like the AI wasn't just spouting generic, pre-programmed lines. Still though, direct commands... so if she thought about 'Inventory'...
Another window popped up, where it said [ Inventory ] at the top, and there were a bunch of empty slots underneath. The window had a border around it that made it look like it was an open bag. In the top left was a single filled slot that had an icon of a white letter with a red wax seal stamped on it.
She attempted the touch thing, and pawed at the letter. Another window popped up, this one with a light brown background fashioned to look like an actual old-fashioned letter.
[ Hi there! ] It started quite cheerfully.
[ I expect you are probably very confused right now. Wondering where you are, what happened, why you are here, and so on. It's possible Aina already told you, but you are in Moorhold Online. Yes indeed, the highly anticipated VRMMORPG! As for what happened, well... I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You died. There was an accident, and I'm going to spare you the gory details. I already took the liberty of making sure you don't remember it. Now the why: I thought it was a shame that such a sweet soul would perish in such a way. You were supposed to still have a long life ahead of you, after all. Since reincarnation would wipe your memories and personality, I figured out a way to give you a new life, while still remaining you, by giving you a place inside the fully realised world of MHO with your memories intact. ]
[ As I'm sure you can tell, not everything went to plan. Instead of becoming a fully realised Resident, you've ended up as a level 1 generic mob. Sorry about that. I let Aina handle the details of what you would become, while I helped out with some of the technical parts. She's in on this, don't worry. She's agreed to help keep you out of sight of the developers as much as she is able. Maybe try to not make so much of a splash that it attracts unwanted attention. ]
[ What can you do as a generic mob, you might be asking. Not much! At least right now, but with my powers, and Aina's help, we were able to give you some bonuses. I'm a bit of a god, you see. Unfortunately not strong enough to simply revive you, rewind time, let you be reborn or reincarnate with your memories intact in another world, or anything like that. I thought the virtual world would make it easier, but even here I ran into more limitations than I'd prefer. There were certain things I was able to sneak in that I hope will help you live a happy life. Eventually. ]
[ First off, getting you access to the main menu. Not even Residents can do that. But since you no longer have a living body back in your world, the Log Out function will sadly remain locked. Some of the others might unlock as you grow. See, unlike other mobs, you are able to gain exp, and level up. There are even evolutions. If you put the effort in, perhaps you can one day become a humanoid, and learn to fit into society here. Or you can go in a different direction and become some sort of lord of monsters among your species. I've asked Aina to help guide you. You are currently the only monster able to level up, and as such the only one who is able to use the evolution system. Until or unless the developers decide to implement this themselves, it will be an experimental process for you alone. ]
[ I have also snuck in the ability to let you gain skills from killing other monsters in addition to using the skill store. That's the closest to a cheat ability I'm able to give you. It won't work on players, unfortunately. It would conflict too much with how the system doesn't award any exp or drops for killing players. Though I'm sure they'll still do it for fun. The ability will work on Residents, but choose your battles wisely. ]
[ Maybe I'll manage to sneak something more in for you later, but no promises. I'll do what I can to keep an eye on you. Any further questions can be directed at Aina, who I'm sure will answer to the best of her ability. Good luck, and I wish you all the best. ]
She blinked. Then read it again.
I'm dead?
It wasn't computing for her. She read it a third time. Then a fourth. It still said the same thing.
She fell onto her side, too mentally exhausted to stay upright.
Aina?
"Yes?"
Is all that true?
"My apologies, but I still cannot read the contents of the letter."
She sighed.
Am I really dead?
"I cannot confirm that. My access to outside media, and the internet, is limited. I do not have independent access to news sites, or eulogies. But I have been led to believe this is the case. At the very least you are not an AI like me, but you are also not a regular player."
She felt a lump on her throat. If this was truly her afterlife, then it kinda sucked.
What do I do now?
"Live your new life."
A vague question deserved a vague answer, she supposed. She closed her eyes. Thankfully no one came into the cave, for some reason. It seemed like the kind of place players would love to explore. Yet she was able to sleep in peace.