Warrior's Rise

Chapter 1: Logged In

Curtains shut. Water kettle on. Popcorn popped. Computer powered up. Didn't work until Monday. It was going to be a good weekend.

Even though I showered, I could still smell the grease that had soaked into my hands from work. I was a waitress at a small restaurant and every Friday we had a deal for fish and chips. The smell of it permeated both my skin and uniform and the grease that was left on the tables behind customers didn't come off no matter how much I scrubbed. There was an older woman that worked with me that somehow got the tables to shine and her hands too but even after a year of working together, I still didn't know her secret. She was beyond stubborn but damn if she couldn't drink. We shared a few adult beverages in the alley behind our workplace every now and then. Everyone seemed like a heavy drinker next to me though. I could handle maybe a beer and a half before I began feeling the effects of the alcohol. She didn't judge though. She said it made the night cheaper for her.

'Hey, U getting on???'

I rolled my eyes at my phone and texted back a quick response. It was one of my online friends. I had the opportunities to be more outgoing with my real life friends but being reclusive suited me just fine. It was a hell of a lot easier to ignore stupid things online. Not impossible, but easier.

I played an MMO with friends often. World of Abomination. It was as straight forward as it got. Magic, quests, monsters, online people. It was one hell of a good time. I had my guild, my usual squad I quested with. One of them was the guy who texted me. Damian. We met a few years back when I just started high school and was playing a different online game. He showed me the ropes on that one then when WoA came out, we both started together. He was a couple years older than me with a live-in girlfriend who sometimes went online with us when she wasn't out partying. I liked her well enough. It took some time to get her to realize I wasn't after her boyfriend just because we chatted online.

While waiting for the game to update, I launched Skype and sent Damian an invite. My game was updating on one of my dual screens and Damian's grinning face popped up on the other.

"Hey, what's taking you so long? Not in the mood to raid? Never expected you to give up an EXP boost." He popped a brown lump of something into his mouth and causally tried to play off the disgust on his face.

"Had my power go out while I was at work so I need to wait for it to update. I had been hoping it would have been done by now." Seeing Damian pop another thing in his mouth, I had to ask. "Alright, what'd you make this time?"

"Found a recipe for cheese stuffed hash brown balls."

"Okay, and how'd you screw them up?"

"Turns out one cup of pepper isn't the same as one tablespoon... Who would have thought."

"You didn't... Oh my god, you dumb-ass!" I couldn't help but laugh at him. I had over peppered things before. It took a while to get the memory of it from my head. But I never screwed up that bad.

"Laugh all you want, I'm still eating them. I'm man enough to power through it." As if to rub it in my face, Damian shoved three into his mouth at once. Crumbs stuck to his red stubble and I heard the audible gag he tried to hold in.

"Alright, good job, tough guy." Rolling my eyes, I began clicking through the internet. I had quite a bit of time before WoA was done updating. I hated the big ones and did my best to take care of them when I wasn't wanting to get on, like when I was asleep or working. I wasn't exactly the most patient woman.

We chatted about nothing while we waited for me to get on. His day, my day. His girlfriend, my new cactus that they had sent me when my seventeen other plants died. Apparently if I managed to kill this one, they were sending me a rock. I called him a jackass which made him laugh. This was our friendship. We gamed, chatted about nonsense, and gently insulted one another. In the years we had been friends we never had a fight. If our conversations got a little tense then it was easy to just log off until we felt better. We spoke about more serious things sometimes but we were both fairly withdrawn from deep emotions. And that was just fine with us.

I checked a few online forums about WoA just to see what the new update brought. New mounts, an entirely new class that I couldn't wait to check out and some area glitches fixed among all servers. I hoped it would help me to progress with some quests.

"Hmm?" Something on the screen caught my eye and I couldn't help but voice a bit of interest.

"What's up, Pen?" Looking away from his gaming screen to check on me, Damian raised one of his eyebrows at me.

"New game. I think. Give me a sec." One of the links on the forum simply said 'Better than WoA' and I couldn't help but get a little curious. It was a bold claim after all. WoA was recognized around the world for its graphics, community, quest line and writing. To say there was a better game out there was one hell of a marketing technique.

"Seriously? What's the name? I'll download it if you do." Already eager for a new challenge, Damian was grinning at me. Him switching out the pepper balls didn't escape my eye, especially when I saw the bright orange Cheeto dust lightening his already red stubble.

"I said give me a sec." Without a second thought, I muted him. Wasn't the first time but he knew when I did it. I could see him making a weird spectacle on the screen out of the corner of my eye. Arms swinging wildly, dramatic fake sobbing, complete with a tissue to dab his eyes with. When he began miming what I thought was lion taming though, that was when I finally ignored him.

The link brought me to a screen. Beyond Reborn. Another MMORPG that I couldn't help but already be interested in. The art for it was beautifully done, almost realistic. A number of the normal classes for a game like this and supposedly it had an extensive world to explore filled with challenging beasts. Free to download made it even better.

I had a lot of games just like it already on my PC but I couldn't help but want another to add to the collection. Knowing it would slow down the update of my already favorite game, I clicked the large download button on the screen.

"Alright, I'm downloading it. Gotta check it out." Unmuting Damian, I let him know the name of the game and sent him the download link. He took no issue in adding it to his own collection as well.

"Can't find anything about it in any forums. Other than its information page, there's not much internet presence for it. Must be really new." Both cautious of downloading something that no one has confirmed as legit or not and excited to have something new to mess around with, Damian was clicking through something on his end.

"Eh, we'll start our own forum for it then. Gotta give it a try... first... Holy shit."

"What's wrong? You good?"

"The download is done. WoA isn't even finished its update yet. Fuck... don't tell me it's a dud." It was free and didn't seem to take up much space so that much didn't matter, but if it was a dud then maybe it was only meant to give my PC a virus. WoA barely had the update percentage change in the time it took Beyond Reborn, BR, to completely download.

I could fix my computer if needed if there was actually a virus. So I clicked on the button to launch the game, curious to see what I just downloaded.

A gentle yet compelling song played as soon as the colorful illustrations filled my screen. It was all beautifully done so far and it seemed like an ordinary game.

Damian's game had also downloaded completely and he launched it too. He said something about how it's fun starting a new game with someone who doesn't know more about it than him. He liked learning the ropes with someone and I was thankful to have his company if this game worked out.

It didn't take an email to sign up. The screen only showed a place to input a username and a bit of other information. Age, birthday, location, and name. Nothing super incriminating and I had played games that wanted more. Like a credit card. I didn't mind putting in the required information. Used my usual username. LuckyPenny. Got it from my grandmother when I was a kid and it stuck for really everything that I needed a nickname for.

"Detailed customization. Not bad," Damian voiced his appreciation for the screen that I too was looking at. There were a bunch of different classes but I was drawn to my go-to. An elven mage. I preferred playing as something comfortable when starting a new game until I got the hang of it. Then I'd check out the other ones.

Like Damian said, it was extremely detailed. Height, freckles, hair thickness, even dimples. I tried making her as close to me as possible while trying to stick close to the elf stereotype. Long black hair, not too curvy- unlike me- blue eyes, freckles and short. I tried not to exaggerated any features too much. I got finicky with my characters, unlike Damian who was whining at me to hurry up before he started his game up. He had his usual name on it and I was sure his usual human build. So long as he was able to be a human with a sword, the man was good. He didn't understand my desire to make things look pretty but he could also go f**k himself.

I adjust the bust until I was satisfied and even modified the feet and hands. It was easy to admit I was having fun with it. I just hoped it would look good during game-play.

"I'm launching it. See you in there." Sending me a wink, Damian gave a sharp tap on his mouse and seemed giddy.

"Yeah, give me a sec." Giving her one more look over, I too clicked to enter the game.

'Are you prepared to be reborn in a way not thought possible? Your choices will have consequences in this land. You will not have another opportunity to turn back.'

I clicked yes on the agreement again and waited. Wasn't one for reading

"So, you in yet?" My screen seemed to be frozen so I decided to ask my buddy.

"Yes? I don't know, just looking at a white scre-" His voice cut off and I turned to look at the Skype screen just in time to see the white light of the screen dimming on his empty computer chair.

"Next time finish your sentence before you go to take a piss." Not too bothered by his sudden disappearance, I idly stared at my screen until I got my own white light. "Finally!"

I expected a screen change when I entered the game but I didn't expect the light to get so bright. Within a few seconds it had grown so bright that I needed to cover my eyes. Then nothing.

It was weird. I didn't remember standing up from my chair but it didn't feel like I was sitting anymore. There was also a weird breeze blowing around me and I knew for a fact that I had shut my windows to keep out the outside noise.

"Hey! Open your eyes!" Without warning my body was grabbed and I began shaking violently until my eyes snapped open.

"What the actual hell..."

Was I in my room? Nope. Was I even in my crappy apartment? Nope again. Did I somehow teleport to work? Thank god that answer was still nope.

"Do you know where I am?! Answer me!" The man in front of me shook me again with urgency and all I could do was stare at him. Pointed ears, very twiggy build and a bow on his back with a quiver of arrows poking up over his shoulder. He was an elf dude. Amazing cosplay. His ears matched the rest of his skin tone and his clothing looked as thin and tight and I expected an elf would wear it. Didn't know how he got in front of me though.

"No, not a clue. Why?" I was too focused on his appearance to understand his question fully.

"Have you even looked around, you f*****g i***t!? Damn it, you're useless!" Pissed off, the guy shoved me away and began storming to yet another elfy looking person.

Now I took a look around. It looked like a small village that I'd expect to see in some medieval movie or a game...

"Holy shit..." The urge to throw up came before I could stop it and that's exactly what I did directly on the grass I stood on. That was when I saw the flowing fabric by my feet. It was thin and white, weaving around my body the higher up it got. It showed a lot of skin, just like female armor in games. It matched what the other elf guy wore but he was obviously more covered.

Reaching up slowly, I cautiously brought my hands to my ears and felt the point they made. That alone made me throw up all over again.

This isn't real. This is not real. I need to wake up. Please let me wake up.

Collapsing next to my vomit, I held myself. I felt cold even to me. My hands were shaking as I rubbed them on my bare arms. Pinching myself didn't work. Willing myself to stop sleeping did just as little. I knew this wasn't real but I couldn't get myself to wake up.

"Are you alright?" Again my body was touched but this time it was more gentle. A woman, elf again, peered at me with a worried yet somewhat amused look. "Let me guess, you just logged in?"

"Logged... in?" Her words sounded foreign even though I knew they weren't.

"Yeah. You know, logged in. To the game? Beyond Reborn? Ringing any bells or are you in shock?"

"I um... I guess I.. just got here then..." It took everything I had to stay on my feet even with her steadying me.

She let out a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, it'll take some getting used to. But it's nice to meet you..." Patting me down, she reached into one of the small sacks attached to the thin silver belt around my waist and pulled out something that really should not have fit in it. A roll of thick paper. It wasn't big by any stretch but there was no way it should have fit in the tiny pouch without a wrinkle. "LuckyPenny. Cute! Although, I bet that name feels a bit ironic now, huh? You know, with being stuck in the game and all."

"How did you..." I stared at the paper when she handed it back to me and there it was. My username. Class. There was even a level on there although it said one.

"All elves start the same way. I always wondered how packs actually work in games. You know, you'll see your character just walking about and then you'll pull out a rocket launcher or something out of nowhere. Like come on! Where does it come from?! At least this game adds a bit of information on that front. Kind of like that whole Harry Potter thing in the last movie. You know when-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I got what you mean. I need to ask you something. How the hell are you so calm? How the hell did I get here? Are we actually in the game? How do we get out?" Now I gripped her shoulders and shook her the best I could.

"That's a few somethings you're asking." The woman grinned but shrugged. "Been here about two weeks now so I did all my freaking out a while ago. You got here the same way everyone else did. By downloading the fun new game, Beyond Reborn. And yup. We're in the game. Got monsters and everything here. Not as much fun as you would think but more fun than you'd expect by actually being here. And how do we get out? No clue. Haven't figured that part out yet. Not like I'm in that big of a hurry or anything either."

She shrugged. f*****g shrugged. Like she didn't have a care in the goddamn world.

"How can you not be trying to get out of here!? This. Is. Not. Normal!" I screamed at her so loudly that I was sure my neighbor's dog heard me outside my computer.

"Think about it. This whole thing could be fake in our heads. We could have been hypnotized and not even know it. All I know is that I want to enjoy this opportunity the best I can. So, you can either get over it and join me in this cool f*****g situation or you can keep crying in your sad little ball." She raised her eyebrow and shrugged again before turning on her heel.

"Wait!" I practically lunged at her but she didn't even wobble. I wasn't sure if it was because elves were supposed to have good balance or due to her... customization. She made her character as short as I was sure she could and maxed out the width on everything. Except her head. She looked like a very short snowman with pink hair. Somehow still elfy though.

"Figured you say that." She chuckled and began leading me to the giant tree that stood in the center of the village. Crystals hung suspended by the branches and and some just hovered in the air. Each a different color, all seeming to cast light on the area. Platforms scattered the body of the tree, small wooden houses placed on them. There was a large pool of water in the center of the tree, so clear that it was basically a mirror. A huge wooden staircase spiraled up the inside of the tree, leading somewhere I couldn't see. The entire area had a magical feel to it, mystical and exactly how I'd imagine an elf village to look.

I figured she was right. I thought of myself as a fairly chill person. Freaking out wasn't something I regularly did. If I thought of it as an opportunity to be in a game then I'd be able to figure out how to get out. Maybe I needed to get to the end of the game, wherever that was, or maybe I needed to die to get out. And since I wasn't eager to kill myself, even in a game, getting to the end was my goal. My first quest.

"What's your name?" I did my best to make normal conversation with her.

Reaching into her own pouch, she handed me an identical piece of paper as the one she took from me earlier. Same information and she was a mage too. GucciMoth. Her name was GucciMoth. Level four. It was something else alright. And just like that she took the paper back and slipped it into her pouch.

"You can just call me Gucci. I mean, I would." She was obviously very happy with all her choices so far and who was I to judge? We were both stuck in the same situation. Better find some fun in it.

"Is there more people? Besides elves?" It took me a while but I finally remembered that Damian might be in the game too. I had no idea how he'd be handling this if he was.

"What? Like other classes? Sure, but you won't find any newbies here. Every species class starts in its own area. You can leave it if you're looking for someone but... I'd level up first. Further out you get from the starting area, the more the beasties bite." Stopping for a minute, Gucci thought to herself then began leading me in another direction where a giant billboard was. "Someone pointed this out to me when I got here. It's basically world chat. You write a note or whatever and put it here and it shows up on every board across the game."

"So if I write something down and put it here then the other beginning areas will see it too? And they could put something up themselves?" I was already looking through the hundreds of papers that were attached to the huge board. I knew Damian's username and he knew mine. But there was no mention of either. I didn't know what that meant but I felt a little helpless.

"Yup. I'm betting people are going to attempt sexting on here before long. That'll be fun. Come on, let's get you your welcome kit."

⚔??‍♀️⚔

The welcome kit was more than what I typically received in games but I wasn't about to turn down a free house. And that's exactly what I got. The small houses I saw on the platforms were meant for players. Inside was a bed, a chest that I was guessing was just as endless as the pouches and a wardrobe. A desk, small table and even a stove. That made sense. Eventually I'd need to eat here. Gucci said that there was a player in the city we started in that just hunted close to the starting area and gave the meat away. It was an extremely slow way to level but the helpfulness wasn't wasted I was sure.

I couldn't stop staring at myself in the mirror. My skin was absent of the ghostly acne scars I had on my chin and was beyond perfect. It was the color of porcelain. Dewey but not oily. Even my eyebrows were shaped. Wasn't ready to check myself naked yet.

I received a new set of armor from a welcome quest where I had to run around meeting different variations of craftsmen around the city. I say armor but it really wasn't. Not for a woman. My t**s were mostly out. There was a slit up near the top of my thigh and a lot of it was transparent. Yep. This would protect me. At least it wasn't high heels. I was given almost gladiator type sandals that I had to twine up my thighs. The patterns looked like very thin branches with small purple flowers on them. Elfy.

The paper in my pouch gained heat whenever something new was added to it. After the first basic quest of finding my way around the city, I gained a level. It was a weird feeling, almost like a warmed up egg yolk trickling down my neck. Now the paper showed a quest list. A f*****g quest list as if this was all just a damn game. I wouldn't be completing any of them though. The only ones on it said that I needed to kill some monsters. That was a quick way to get myself killed. I wasn't a fighter. Not in real life but a pretty good one online. But this was a mixture of the two so maybe I was mediocre at best? Didn't want to test that theory.

Dawn Hallow was the name of the city I was in. According to the map I found in my pouch, there were about eleven other main cities. It took some asking around before I finally found someone who had been here long enough to answer my question. Oakengrasp was hopefully where Damian ended up. It wasn't the furthest city from where I was but it wasn't close either. I needed to get to there but the risk was too big. I felt terrible thinking that was but it was true. Maybe that meant I was a bad friend. But I hoped he was doing the same thing and staying as safe as he could.

"Coming in." Without warning the door to my little home opened and in came my new friend. As much as I would have laughed at her customization on the screen, in reality it looked so... natural? Well, not natural but close enough. She kind of looked like an attractive Danny DeVito, but with bigger t**s.

"Is knocking not a thing here?" I hadn't been doing anything important, just internally freaking out about my situation so she didn't interrupt anything.

"Come on, let's go eat." Not caring about the fact that I was busy wallowing, Gucci grabbed my hand and pulled me off my bed.

"Look, I don't want to be rude but I don't want to eat anything from this place. I'm somehow guessing they don't have real normal animals." I felt my stomach tighten at the thought of food.

"Well you can watch me eat then. Come on." I was led down the twining branch covered stairs to the ground. We walked towards a large building on the outside of the city where a number of other people seemed to be headed. "Going to be a full pub tonight. Excellent!"

A few people shouted a friendly greeting to Gucci when we entered. I was able to see a whole variety of elven customizations when I looked around. Some looked normal and others were more out there. One man had a smaller head than Gucci on normal a sized body but his ears had been expanded to the largest possible setting to the point they rivaled Dumbo's. Some looked terrified, others had swollen and red eyes from crying. Some were still crying. And then there were some who were laughing and talking casually with plates of food on the tables in front of them. Even in the dark building, the atmosphere was almost normal. I wanted so badly for it to be a dream but I knew it wasn't.

Gucci sat us down at a small table nearby a few others but still off to the side enough that we wouldn't be center of attention. She left me alone while she went to the pub owner behind the bar and got us food. The entire transaction was finished quickly and she quickly came back to me with a large tray of food. A bowl of something and a plate of something else. The bowl she put in front of me was maybe a soup but it looked like watery milk with tiny white balls in it. On the plate was a leg of some sort of meat. If meat was grape purple.

"Eat up. Food here is always good." Smiling widely, Gucci was already shoveling the soup into her mouth, the contents spilling onto the pale blue of her dress.

Knowing I probably wouldn't like the answer, I didn't bother asking what the food was and instead lifted my small wooden spoon. The white ball sat in the middle of the liquid, shining in the light of the candle in the middle of the table. It didn't have much of a smell but what it did have wasn't unpleasant. The taste was something else. Almost like the ginger I'd get with sushi but there was something savory about it too. Couldn't place any of the flavors for sure but no one else seemed to be having a problem eating it and neither was I. The purple meat was like turkey but the inside texture was that of raw fish. The first few bites almost made me gag. Not because of the taste, that was good, but because of the unnaturalness of it.

The sounds I heard were so clear. The inhale when someone nearby was about to take a bite. The exhale through their nose as they chewed. The muttered swearing under their breath. I even heard when they tried to make their farts silent. All of it sounded like it was in my ear. I guessed it was an elf thing and did my best to not look around but I doubted I looked casual. There were others making their looking more obvious.

"Hey everyone. How're you all doing tonight? See a lot of new faces here." A friendly voice spoke up over the rest of the noise and addressed everyone in the pub. Gucci and I turned towards the wall closest to us where a small wooden stage was. On top stood a man dressed in strong looking armor for an elf, a large golden bow on his back. His long light blond hair was tied back and he wore a gentle smile.

"Who's that?" I nudged Gucci with my foot, eyeing the guy up.

"Listen and you'll find out." Snatching the bread roll from my plate, my new friend barely turned her attention to the stage. It was clear she'd heard what the guy had said many times before.

I hoped that what he had to say would lead to me getting back to my normal life.