3 Reality or Fantasy?

Kurai stared at the message until it faded, not really comprehending what he just read. Guide? Contract? He didn't sign any…wait, did Lin sign something when she created her character? He knew she had a bad habit of not reading things through whenever she found a new game, so it wouldn't be strange for that to be the case.

He sighed, "What have you gotten me into this time?"

He looked at the other options on the menu but didn't see anything about the contract, so he clicked on the inventory option, but the inventory was empty. Finally, he glanced toward the pouch on the table and reached for it.

It was a normal draw-string pouch that barely weighed anything, but when he opened it, he saw a few miniaturized items floating around in a strange sort of sub-space, and he hesitated as it finally hit him that he was playing his first game and that it felt so real.

But then again, he only had Lin's earlier enthusiasm about the realism of it to go on; for all he knew, games were usually created to this standard despite not being VR.

He didn't usually stay to watch Lin play because of the amount of work he had to do daily, but the glimpses he caught here and there seemed pretty good.

He tried turning the pouch around to dump the contents out, but nothing happened, so he finally decided to simply stick his hand in to see what would happen, only for the entire pouch to disappear. The lack of logic in this game was going to drive him insane!

He blinked down at his hands in confusion before a 'ding' sounded out next to him, making him jump before he realized that he still had his inventory tab open and that it was now filled with several items, including a scroll labeled 'Contract' and a book named 'Races of Seradeihn'.

Kurai quickly tapped on the scroll, and it immediately unfolded before him while floating in the air. He didn't bother to read through the entire contract because he only wanted to know why he couldn't leave the game, so he skipped directly to Section 14, Point 3, as the previous message had instructed, but the more he read, the more confused he became so he tried reading through the entire scroll, which didn't help either because he was sure Lin hadn't qualified for any of the requirements when she bought the headset.

In short, the scroll spoke about a contract between the user of the headset and the military, as well as the gaming company Zenomitec and stated that it would ensure that the user's body would be preserved in cryo until a cure is found for the user's illness.

In return, the user is expected to act as a test subject for the new tech that has been developed, and they would send feedback to their guide once their consciousness has been uploaded into the game during the initial login phase. Their body would fall into a coma once the consciousness is uploaded, hence the cryo.

The contract warned that the military and Zenomitec were still working on the technology to download the user's consciousness back into their body and that the user was expected to reach the 100th floor of Seradeihn before they would be able to leave.

Kurai read through the contract again, just to be sure that he understood it correctly, but, unfortunately, he hadn't been mistaken. Somehow his consciousness had been uploaded into Lin's game, and he was under no illusion that she wouldn't have been the better candidate.

Another problem was that the contract had spoken about a guide, but he was sure that there had been a mix-up at one of the companies, so he didn't expect a guide to miraculously show themself.

For now, he was on his own, but he was nothing if not determined.

An idea struck him as he remembered the 499 other public players that would also be in the beta. The military and Zenomitec might be able to keep everything under wraps if only their own personnel were influenced, but they wouldn't be able to ignore it if 500 of their public players suddenly fell into a coma, so they would have to work faster to develop the technology to set things right.

Kurai stood and looked at his inventory once more. Other than the scroll and the book, there was also a sword and a shield, a single-use resurrection stone, a small bag of coins, a set of basic armor, and 20 HP and Mana potions. He also found a silver necklace with black and blue tags, which he equipped immediately after seeing that it would boost his health and mana regeneration by 5%.

The coins seemed like it was enough, but the introduction stated that it was only enough to last him a week, so he needed to get an idea of how much things cost, and to do that, he would need to leave the safety of the room.

He wondered whether it would be strange if he equipped the armor immediately but then decided that he didn't care. He knew what a resurrection stone was meant for, and the single-use was bothering him quite a bit. He doubted that they made the game so easy that no one would die.

After equipping the armor, he tapped on the sword and shield, but the combined weight of it all, paired with the body that was not entirely his own, easily made him lose his balance, and he glared at the offending items as he caught himself on the side table.

'How the hell am I supposed to walk, never mind fight, in these? I'm more muscled than usual, so why can't I wear these?'

Eventually, he decided to leave the helm, chest plate, gauntlets, and shield in his inventory, and although he still felt weighed down, he was able to move much easier. It was only then that he noticed that there was a strength requirement for most of the gear.

He glanced at the mirror and tried to fix the wayward brunet strands that were sticking up in all directions. For some reason, Lin had designed the character's hair to be short on the sides above his ears, which looked neat, but the top half was a different story as it didn't seem to want to lay flat no matter what he did.

Finally, he managed to style it so that it semi-covered his hazel eyes like his usual style before he glanced around the room to make sure that he had everything.

He knew the room was a part of the game package after reading the introduction, but he didn't know when he would return, and he didn't like the idea of leaving anything behind in case the game glitched and he lost it.

He slowly opened the door and hesitated, but it almost seemed as if the apartment was part of a normal complex, so he tried to make it look as natural as possible as he left the apartment and walked out the front door, only to stop and gape at the scenery around him.

The developers of the game seemed to have taken many different histories and combined them together to form the basic architecture of the game, although each of the histories made up different sections of the city that he was in.

A short tour showed that there were different kinds of races in the game, and Kurai made a mental note to take a look at the book in his inventory when he got the chance.

It also revealed that each of the historical territories held certain specializations. For example, knights, paladins, and other warrior classes would be allocated to the Castle quarters, while alchemists, mages, architects, and builders were allocated to the Egyptian Quarters. There were also other quarters, such as the Roman, Babylonian, and Aztec quarters, and so on, but Kurai wasn't able to enter them because the areas were still locked.

The Eastern quarters that Kurai found himself in held those that specialized in medicine, engineering, assassination, and technology, and he found that many of the people looked at him strangely when they saw that he was wearing a mix of normal and warrior gear.

His tour slowly wound down, and he soon found himself at an inn called Waterlily. He was hungry and decided to grab something to eat. It seemed to be quite busy, so many of the people turned to look at him in confusion as he entered and walked up to the bar. He saw many different races as he walked, and some were more surprising than others, but he didn't allow his eyes to linger longer than a mere glance.

The barman, a blond-haired, blue-eyed human, glanced at him before setting down the mug he held, "Welcome. Unfortunately, this inn is reserved for residents of the Eastern district only. You will find an inn named The Anvil in the Castle district, which caters to warriors such as yourself."

Kurai frowned, "I am a resident of the Eastern district. I have an apartment here."

The barman threw his head back and laughed, "Don't make jokes like that. Even if you are too lazy to walk to the Castle district at the moment, the rules of the city are clear. You aren't the first person to try and take such chances in another district."

Kurai glanced around and found that quite a few people were amused by the exchange, "Why is there such a rule, and is there a way that I can prove that I really do live here?"

The barman lifted a brow in surprise, "It seems you are new here. It is simply a way to avoid unnecessary fights, as some classes don't get along very well. As for your proof, well, you would have received a set of identification tags when you arrived. The first color would reveal the district you occupy; blue represents the Eastern district, and the second would reveal your rank within the district. The ranks range from white to different shades of gray and then black. Once equipped, the tags can only be removed by certain members of the royal family who are the only ones who are allowed to wear golden tags."

Kurai nodded and revealed his tags, "Like this?"

The barman nodded before he froze, and Kurai frowned in confusion as the man suddenly became several shades paler, "I-y-yes, l-like that."

The man quickly bowed, and Kurai was surprised to find that the man was suddenly extremely nervous, "I'm sorry, I was unaware that a clan head would be visiting our establishment. I am Lee Kim, the owner of Waterlily. Please, may I show the esteemed clan head to our private rooms?"

Kurai nodded as he heard whispers erupt from the rest of the inn, and Lee quickly motioned for one of his employees to take over before he led Kurai to a well-lit room on the second floor of the inn.

Lee quickly motioned for him to sit before disappearing once more. He returned with a tray laden with food, and another employee quickly deposited a tray with tea in front of him before taking a swift bow and leaving.

Kurai doubted that he would be able to make his money last for as long as possible if he had to pay for everything, and he glanced at Lee to decline, but the man started rambling nervously, "Is the food not to your liking? I can fetch something else. On the house, of course! I deeply apologize for my words earlier. I was unaware-!"

Lee fell silent the moment Kurai lifted his hand, and it made the brunet wonder just what the clan heads did to inspire such fear and respect.

He wasn't going to let the chance pass him by, though, so he settled back into his seat after pulling the tray closer. Luckily he'd attended many dinners with his parents' wealthier connections, so it was easy to imitate their actions as he ate.

He let the tension build as he ate a bit before he motioned for the other man to sit while he dabbed his mouth with a napkin. Lee sat stiffly as he waited for him to speak, and Kunai almost felt sorry for the man as he stayed silent for a moment longer to prepare a cup of tea for himself before sitting back with the saucer in one hand and the cup in the other.

He lifted the cup and glanced at the man over its rim, "The food was good. You should commend your cook."

He took a sip of the hot tea as Lee bowed his head slightly, "Thank you, I shall do so. Is there anything else I can do?"

Kurai nodded, "There is. As you have mentioned before, I am new to this city, and I was wondering where one would have to go to receive quests and gather information. Please speak plainly. I have a lot to do today."

Lee blinked for a moment or two at the easy request before he placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly, "Information can be requested from the inn owner of the client's residential district or the inn in the travelers' district on the outskirts of the city. Normally there is a price, but to make up for my behavior earlier, I can grant you one piece of information free of charge or point you to an individual that would be able to assist you."

Kurai nodded his head in thanks, "And the quests?"

Lee turned and pointed toward a tall building in the center of the city, "The Guilds Hall is the only place that is authorized to distribute quests, although you would need to become a member of one of their factions to do so. May I ask why you are dressed as a warrior when you are a part of the Eastern district?"

For a moment, Kurai didn't know what to say, but then he remembered the mix-up with Lin's Avatar and the weight requirement of the gear he'd been given, "You may. It had been a last-minute decision due to an emergency, and as such, there was a mix-up with my gear."

'Yeah, right. The only emergency was that the snacks were in danger of burning, but I'd never tell that to another living soul, never mind a well-crafted NPC in a game.'

Lee looked worried as he glanced at Kurai's current gear once more, but then he seemed to have an idea because he quickly left the room and returned moments later with a case, "This was made by my family, but we've never found anyone worthy enough to use it. It may not be as flashy as you are used to, but it was made from good-quality materials."

Kurai set down his tea before he opened the case and allowed his hand to reverently brush over the fabric. Somehow they had managed to fuse the silver metal details to the black and red fabric in the most crucial areas while still allowing for maximum movability, and he found that the fabric also weighed very little as he lifted it.

'Not flashy enough, he says. This is practically a work of art! Why the hell would he simply hand it over to a stranger in mismatched clothes? Even if I am apparently a noble.'

He frowned as he glanced at Lee, "Why are you really going so far?"

Lee seemed startled for a moment before he glanced down, "I-I am simply apologizing for my earlier behavior. I-"

His words cut off as Kurai carefully placed the chest piece down and crossed his arms. He almost wanted to rest a hand on his sword, but threatening the person that would be one of his few sources of information was never a good idea.

He waited for a bit, and the man finally seemed to crack as he stepped forward and lifted one of the hidden metal plates to reveal a symbol that was similar to the one that had been etched on Kurai's black tag.

He quietly spoke as if to ensure that no one but Kurai would hear his next words, "I was originally from a side branch of the Tachi clan before they were massacred, and I recognized the symbol on your tags. There can only be one reason for you to enter this city, and that would be to fulfill the clan head initiation quest. You are the only candidate left from what I heard, and if you fail to take up the title, the clan will cease to exist."

Kurai calmly glanced down at the symbol etched on the plating of the chest piece, but in reality, his mind was a mess.

Was this the questline that every player received? If so, why did it feel so personalized? Did Lee have a thousand of the gear sets lying around in the back room, or was it something that a player only had the chance to receive once? And was it just a coincidence that the name of the clan matched his own surname?

He decided to try and ignore it for now. After all, he was bound to discover other players and he was sure that he would receive his answers then, but for now, "I take it that means that you know about the information I am looking for?"

Lee's expression turned grave and he nodded before removing a small scroll from his pocket, "This has been passed down with the hope that a clan head candidate would come this far and retrieve it. My family has kept the oath and refrained from reading it, so I hope that it would bear the answers you seek, or at least guide you to a source that can."