1 Chapter 1: Log in

"So you are up for being the healer? Jimmy loves to play tank, and I love to be the DPS…"

A handsome blond man was talking on the phone inside his tiny apartment. It had only a few things inside, so empty that whenever he spoke, the voice would echo inside the room.

"But I like to be a DPS too, you know that, Carl."

"Please?"

Sebastian tapped his fingers on his wooden desk, finally giving up. "Fine, I can be the healer."

"I knew I could count on you!"

"So, did the game arrive for you? I have mine right here," Sebastian said through the phone, staring at a massive box.

"Yes, Jimmy is ready too. We can talk inside the game, look at the watch," Carl said.

"What was your nickname again?"

"Zagarath, the strongest Necromancer you will ever see!"

"You know the Necromancer class only unlocks at level twenty, right? The initial one is just mage—"

"Shut up and let me daydream about this, okay? Anyway, add me once you are inside the game."

Sebastian tossed the phone on the bed after finishing the call.

'I wish to be a DPS too.'

He had always played being a damage dealer, so a healer differed completely from what he had in mind before playing the game, but if Sebastian wanted to play with his friends, that was a necessary evil.

The hour on the cloak hit 5:45 pm, meaning it was almost time for the launch of the most awaited game ever, 'Aether Online.'

'It launches 6 pm, so I have time to eat something and unbox these things.'

Sebastian was eager to play the game, so he ate a toast — quick and delicious.

The money saving aspect was also nice. His life had not been easy since the death of his parents two years prior, but he was getting through it. Someone who made his life a little easier was his little sister, who lived with him, but did not want to play the game.

'Maybe one day I can make her play it. Right, what was the initial village we would choose?' Sebastian thought.

He ate his toast with one hand, and texted Carl with the other, ensuring all of them would start in the same village.

After eating, he unpacked the massive box near his bed which contained not only the game, Aether Online, but a game helmet, a necessary item if one wanted to play the game.

Sebastian set everything up as fast as he could, wearing the game helmet, laying on his bed as he waited for finally launching the game.

Many people around the globe were doing the same thing, and when the cloak hit 6 pm, Sebastian fell asleep as he entered the game.

The first thing awaiting him was a white room with nothing more than a mirror. There, in the mirror, laid many options of which Sebastian could choose from, like altering his appearance, choosing his name and race.

'I think I will change only enough so that people don't recognize me IRL.'

Sebastian wanted to look similar to his actual appearance, but not identical, as others from the game might recognize him IRL, and that was not what he wanted.

So he changed some features like the nose, the hairstyle — the color was still the same as the one he had IRL — and some other minor adjustments.

The other part was the race, and there were only three available at the start: humans, elves, and dwarves. Most people would choose humans, as it was more like them. Sebastian chose it too as each race had their starting villages, and he wanted to play with his friends, who were from humans too!

A fairy came out of nowhere, flying near Sebastian. The moment he saw it, he could not believe it.

'This game is as real as real life! What the fuck? How did this company created something like this?'

Sebastian was already impressed by his own appearance within the game, yet once he saw the fairy, it was just too much.

'My nickname… maybe Lore Master? I think it suits me.'

'Accept.'

<Please, choose your initial class.>

There were five initial classes for one to pick: Warrior, Archer, Mage, Priest, and Rogue. Each one of these classes would turn into other ones of the player's choosing once they reached a certain level, like Sebastian's friend, who would start as a mage and turn into a Necromancer later on.

Of course, the players did not know how to upgrade their classes, how the quests worked, or any other thing related to the game. The company behind the game shared a few pieces of information, only enough to make the players want to play the game and explore it by themselves.

'Priest.'

Sebastian chose the Priest as his class and chose the Maple Tree Village as his starting point — the same village his two friends would choose.

After choosing everything, his mind blurred and Sebastian was no longer inside the white room but inside a small village with many other players, with unique looks and classes.

"Whoa! This is even more realistic than the trailers and gameplay footage showed us!"

"I cannot wait to explore this world."

"Look what I can do," another player said, doing some acrobatics, catching the attention of the surrounding players.

Everyone was shocked to see how real the world was, Sebastian included. He looked down at his hands, closing his fists, holding them, and opening them again.

'It feels so real.'

After moving his body a little, trying to adjust it to the new world, Sebastian opened his friend's tab, and added Carl, who had the nickname of Zagarath.

<Yo, Sebastian. Where are you? I am here with Jimmy.>

They exchanged some texts, and Sebastian followed the instructions, meeting with his friends not too long afterward.

"Is that you? You look a little different," Zagarath said.

"You two look the same."

"Hey, do you have any spells? I started with the mage class and got none."

Only after Carl said that, Sebastian checked, and sure enough, he did not have any spells, but had a small tome called <Minor Healing Tome>

"I think we have to learn it. Come, let's sit somewhere to learn a spell first before questing. The developers said it's not that hard to learn, at least not a basic spell," Zagarath said.

Jimmy, aka Sunrader, had no word in it, and only followed them. It was a funny scene, as Jimmy almost had two meters of height and was muscular while Sebastian and Carl were 1,80m and somewhat skinny.

They walked through the village, trying to find a quiet spot to read the tomes. That was a hard task considering the amount of players there crowing Maple Tree Village, but many of them went outside to test the combat, so they found a place to read the tomes, with no one getting on their way.

Sebastian took out from his inventory, making it appear right before him, and was eager to try it out. He did not know, but soon his life would turn into a nightmare, momentarily.

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