Kingdom of Aquaria (Elicoor II)

Max saw as people looked at the log out option and noticed it was in grey font, like it wasn't an option. People were questioning it like crazy, and some looked slightly panicked on their faces.

Then he saw a feather folk player character across the street from him. The man shouted "What the hell is going on!!!!!". Poor girl..or was it a guy? Hard to tell. He found the fact it was hard to tell creepy, so he pitied the person quietly, while ignoring them. He then saw another person, a woman crying. Max walked up to her.


"What's wrong?" he stated. This reminded him that his voice was that of Jessica's. Maybe a girl would be more willing to talk about her problems with a girl, so he decided not to tell her he was a boy.

"I was outside of town just now. Me and my friend Melony were fighting some Nobleman enemies. Weak and we thought 'no big deal'. Melony was a new player, so she didn't know how to play properly. Then when we fought, the enemy attacks actually hurt us! We could feel every attack like it was real! Well, when her character hit zero hp, she screamed out in pain. Melody is my best friend in real life. She's no actor..that scream was genuine. Then when her character died, she didn't log back in! I can't explain it but...I feel like she's actually died. I-I can't tell you how I know it just...I know she did. How is that possible?!"

Max was left without words. So in his kindest voice he said,"I don't know..I just don't know. I tell you what though..stay in Town. Nobody can be killed in Towns, so your safe here in Aquios for now."

Then suddenly a message appeared in their private message inbox's at the same time. He opened the message and read it allowed.

"From: Unknown.
Subject: Welcome to the Real Game
Message: Hello boys and girls, this is Day 1 of the real Star Ocean Online. First I'll tell you that yes, I am the one who disabled your log off feature. But I did much more than that...your souls are trapped within your characters. So don't try taking off your helmets, as your souls are not even within your own bodies! However, it's also in your best interests not to do so as well..as you can't return to a body someday that isn't there! Now we get to the fun part: yes, you feel pain now. Furthermore, if your HP reaches zero...you can die. I've decided to be generous. Revives still work..but only for a short time. If you do not revive in time..the death becomes permanent for your character..and you will die for real. The goal? Oh its simple really. The Beta Testers have reached Diablo before..just barely, but they did. I want you to do more than that..I want you to become strong enough not only to go to Diablo, but to defeat the Daemon leader. That is the goal I give you, if you want to ever leave this game. Also, I reserve the right to change the goals at any time I want for fun! Ciao!"

Max sat in silence. "What kind of twisted fuck does something like that?" Suddenly he realized something. His voice had just now changed. It was his own! He received another PM, from unknown again.

He opened it.

"From: Unknown
Subject: I noticed that some choose to hide their identities from others.
Message: Boo on you! I do find your characters you spent SO much time on to be beautiful however, so here's my compromise. You will still LOOK like your characters. But your voice will sound like your real actual voices from now on! Enjoy!"

The girl next to him seemed a little nervous of him. "So you're a guy in real life huh?" She looked at him with untrusting eyes.

Max looked back at her,"Hey don't look at me like that! I never said I wasn't! I-I just can't handle seeing a girl crying and I wanted to help! Not my fault my character is a Female..." Hell, he was comforted by the fact he'd still have a sexy body to look at in the mirror, even if that was a small comfort. But now what?

He thought it over for a minute as the girl he'd been talking to was walking away. He decided to let her do that. If she wanted to judge him, that was her business. He'd made a male alt-character before, but he just found himself enjoying playing as a woman most up until now. He headed for a shop and spent his gold on blackberries. 1000 Gold. That's the amount he had now. So apparently everyone's gold reset to the amount new players start with as well. He'd chosen healing as his level 1 starter spell last time, and from his menu he could see it was still his spell now. Blackberries restored MP, and that's all he needed to have since he had healing still.

He pulled out a blackberry to try eating one. Maybe he could taste things in the game now too? Eck. They tasted terrible. He spat it onto the ground and they vanished when they touched the ground. Yep...still just a video game. Still..back home he hated his life. He'd gotten out of high school a few years ago and was currently unemployed and living with his parents. He still had some money but all the same, he had no friends because he'd moved recently and making friends was hard when you were jobless and no school to go to. Maybe that's why he enjoyed this game so much? He sighed and got up. He'd made a decision. If defeating the Daemon leader was the goal, somebody had to do it. And he couldn't bare with being a level 1 in this game forever anyways. Still..daemon weren't common in Elicoor II and were way too strong for level 1's to fight. He'd have to fight lower level monsters to reach a level capable of fighting them, let alone reaching Klaus III and eventually Diablo itself. He better get started now, before he changes his mind.

Ark continued stealthily down a winding path, looking over his shoulder every few feet before whisking his way into an alley. The ally was dark and narrow, but void of life which came as a relief to the young player. The commotion which was going on in the main square had all, but silenced behind him. He was far enough to where he could barely hear it. As for his pursuers it seemed for the moment that he's lost them. He slumped against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the cobble stone floor of the alley and ran his fingers through his hair. It's texture was soft against the skin of his fingers. It felt so real. He stared at his open palm, holding up towards the sky. "What...is this?" That's when he received a message.

After reading the message, he jumped up in anger. "What kind of prank is this!?" he yelled with his fist balled tightly. "What kind of person would do this to innocent people!?" he argued to himself. "This can't be real..." That's when he received another message.

From: Unknown
Subject: Wanted/
Message: Greetings Ark Euhndr, your reputation throughout the worlds proceeds you. The high feat of betraying the guild you created and hunting them down like pitiful dogs has gotten you noticed. Lucky you. You have been locked in this game, but I've taken pity on you. So, that you wouldn't feel lonely I ensured that at least one hundred members of your former guild were online when I initiated the wide-spread "Lock In". I've given them fifty thousand gold in order to aid them in their pursuit to keep you company and added you to their mini maps so they can always find you when you are near them. Have fun!

He could only stare at the message with his jaw hanging open. Words escaped him. His lips moved, but no sound came out. You've got the wrong guy, he mouthed. You've got the wrong guy... As he was about to reply to the message he heard the pounding of footsteps from the other end of the alley. He looked up. It was his pursuers and they were closing in. He cursed and turned to flee, but was met by a fist to his face. He was knocked back to the ground. The others caught up and together they rushed him, stomping him, kicking him, laughing madly.

"Alright enough of the games!" The leader yelled to the others. "Let's drag him out of the area so that we can do to him what he did to us." The other guild members howled in agreement.

The beating hadn't depleted his health at all. Each kick felt like he was being pelted by intense pressures of air. Not true pain, but close to it. He was yanked to his feet then dragged through the town and out to the fields. "No!" The thought hit him. He was "trapped" in the game. What happened to his real body? If he died in Second Life, how would that affect his body in Real Life. Would that cause an automatic log out? Would he be returned to his life? Or would he die in real life as well? "Please, don't kill me!" he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I don't want to die! Please, don't do this! You'll be murderers!" He struggled against them, but he was held in place by his captors who had each of his arms restrained.

"Shut the fuck up!" The Leader yelled annoyed. "When your health points reach zero, we'll use a revive to bring you back." An eerie smile spread across his lips and then he spoke darkly. "Then we'll kill you again. Revive you again then kill you. Revive. Kill. Revive. Kill. Until you've died as many times as the number of people you've killed from our guild. vengeance, Ark. That's what this is."

They tossed Ark into a field and surrounded him. He counted fifteen people. His chances of escape were slim. Their weapons reappeared. He rationalized that they couldn't use their weapons in the town and now that they were outside the safe zone.

He was at their mercy.

Claudette was in the middle of crafting the next powerful Katana she could use with the posibilities of lucky upgrades when the reset happend. Right before her eyes - its like she blinked if not blacked out for a minute to see she was no longer crafting or even had the recipe for it. Not only that but she could see her gear changing and oddly enough feel the fabric of the new gear set for level 1's. Immediately after noticing even her katana changed, Stella pulled up her UI infront her scrolling through to the statistics. "Level 1 Samurai" it said even all the stats were equivalent to such a rank. She exited the section moving onward to her gear and indeed it was definately the beginning gear. She was silent but obviously looking concerned. As she swore under her breath she exited the section turning to her crafting statistics until suddenly hearing yell in panic a little ways away. "What the fuck?!" the unknown voice said. Just then, the Samurai made her way towards it.

"I can't log out!" a person said and just as Claudette herself began to check it, suddenly a message came in. Interesting - rarely if not ever, no one has messaged her because she didn't know any players... Who could it had been from - a server message came in not too long ago. She immediately checked it.


"From: Unknown.
Subject: Welcome to the Real Game
Message: Hello boys and girls, this is Day 1 of the real Star Ocean Online. First I'll tell you that yes, I am the one who disabled your log off feature. But I did much more than that...your souls are trapped within your characters. So don't try taking off your helmets, as your souls are not even within your own bodies! However, it's also in your best interests not to do so as well..as you can't return to a body someday that isn't there! Now we get to the fun part: yes, you feel pain now. Furthermore, if your HP reaches zero...you can die. I've decided to be generous. Revives still work..but only for a short time. If you do not revive in time..the death becomes permanent for your character..and you will die for real. The goal? Oh its simple really. The Beta Testers have reached Diablo before..just barely, but they did. I want you to do more than that..I want you to become strong enough not only to go to Diablo, but to defeat the Daemon leader. That is the goal I give you, if you want to ever leave this game. Also, I reserve the right to change the goals at any time I want for fun! Ciao!"

While skimming through it, her eyes looked quite shocked, her arms fell to her side in awe. To her, there was just no way the developer would get away with this. Claudette's eyes wandered seeing and hearing many people freak out during this moment. Especially after reading such a twisted message. Immediately the woman closed her interface already accepting the fact she was closed. She figured it wouldn't help talking to people in their current state - not thinking of those who actually may follow her but alas what do you think of someone who solos. Finally as she felt a breeze go by her she spoke gently even to her suprise hearing her mature voice.

"So be it.. I will find my way out ..." She said with confidence.

Just as she made her way out of the safezone she received another message and glared a little annoyed as she looked through her interface towards it.

From: Unknown.
Subject:Lady of Mercy or Death
Message: Well well well - As much as I'd love to give you "mercy" from being trapped - I just can't do that. You're to powerful to let go - getting that high alone was nearly amazing but most of all was your brutal preformance when it came to pvp and best of all you gave them mercy and revived them. See someone with your reputation of being a skilled murderer yet showing those mercy can't be ignored... Now... how would it be if I were to give you the chance to save someone and kill without showing any mercy...?

"What the hell...?" She thought to herself. She didn't even know she was called a lady of mercy but possibly through that message she could've been called a lady of death if she were to actually cruely kill other players which she did only if those had the intentions of killing. None the less she closed her interface making her way from the safezone until she noticed the boy nearly surrounded by thugs. All from the same guild most likely.

"A player killer guild...?" Claudette thought but none the less began to walk closer drawing her blade slowly. She still had two good skills that could take some of them but still chances were slim if not none at all once engaged. Yet to her, she only figured it could've meant what the message said, yet she could be terribly wrong. The boy was in danger and Stella didn't want to sit idly by as someone got murdered. Especially when the developer of this game gives such a sick function.

With Claudette's blade completely draw and over her shoulder, she stood ready to "Dash Strike" since it may be the quickest way to engage before they kill the unknown boy.

Ark blushed a little and hid his face by trying to keep a couple paces ahead of Gabriel. He wasn't used to conversing with a female, except his sister who he would hardly consider a woman. Despite his current appearance which had him standing at nearly six feet, on the inside he was still a short fifteen year old nerd. He cleared his throat as they continued walking through the snowy fields. "I'm glad to have you along as well." He looked back to the spot where the boy turned down their party request. The stakes have risen, he said. That much was true. Perhaps the boy was a fool for traveling alone, maybe he'd considered the possibility of betrayal. Or maybe he too smart to travel with someone who was being hunted. Either way, Ark didn't care. His only concern was his own survival. He needed to find somewhere to go into hiding.

Ark opened up his menu screen right before him, a small white square. There was number in the top right corner which was gradually rising. "I think a few deaths...may have already occurred." he said cryptically. They were heading towards Peterny. Ark wanted to get there before the small town was swarmed by all the other players. He remembered it was an important place for item creation from the guide book. "I completely understand if you would like to go separate ways at the next town." he told Gabriel. "I am being hunted...I'm sure they'll go after anyone that assists me as well. You would be putting yourself into unnecessary danger...by traveling with me-" Ark was cut off as he'd stepped on something squishy. He looked down, he'd stepped on a slime. It groaned and evaporated as it died. "Oops?" Ark scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders then began to continue walking when he felt a rumbling under the earth. "Whats going on now?" he said unsettled. The ground before him exploded. An unfathomable number of slime monsters burst upward in a geyser and rained down angry at the murder of their brother.

The boy screamed and ran with his head over his head. "It was an accident!" he exclaimed."I didn't mean to kill him!" Gabriel sprinted after him. The slimes didn't stop chasing the pair util they reached the town of Peterny.