Fantasy World Online I: New Roads

New Roads! Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My name is Benoit Maximilian de Verand. I know, it's a mouthful. My friends call me Ben. 

I'm a twenty-two single guy who spends half it's waking time working in an office and the rest playing online games. No girlfriend. A little sister in university and divorced parents. My father got remarried and is now living with his new family. My mother is retired and likes spending her time gardening, painting and/or reading. She lives an hour away by car in a small town. My sister, Annie, moved in with me about a year ago when she started Uni (university). Needless to say that since I learned to keep my apartment clean and started to actually cook.

Usually, my day starts with her, we share breakfast, I drop her at school, go to work, and spend 7 hours in front of a computer, verifying data logs about insurance complaints about an actual insurance company. I once got a bonus for managing a way to find a way to counter a client's claim allowing a company to avoid paying a billion dollars to a poor guy.

Yes, life is a joke.

But that's not important what is important is what I do back home. Once I made sure Annie's day was fine and that she has dinner, I lock myself in my room and start playing.

I love games. When I was a kid I used to play all sorts of games then I tried an MMORPG. That's when I got hooked. From then on I tried them all. Shifting from one to another. 

In 2023, the RetroGame corporation launched their own platform called "The Path." It was a futuristic open world of the size of Australia where players had to battle invading aliens and bandits. Throughout the game, your actions would lead you to become the leader of a fighting squad, the owner of the land, an outlaw, a spy or a simple soldier.

Needless to say, it was the biggest platform ever online. The game quickly became the most played in the world. I was instantly charmed and awed by that world and started dedicating myself to this sole game. When I started the game I was sweet 17. I created several accounts, one for each class of character and made them all join the same guild, mine. Slowly but steadily I raised them. My sister would sometimes help me, borrowing one of my avatars. A few friends would too.

Without my knowledge, people started considering my guild, The Verand, an elite group of players that rarely came together and were shrouded in mystery. This impression, re-enforced by my constant refusal of new members except for my friends and some high-level players I would sometimes team up with, was totally oblivious to me as I only played for fun and didn't pay attention to the blogs and sites related to the game.

When I became major I started selling my unneeded loot on an online auction site. That's how I became a professional gamer. Simple right? Still, it was not enough to pay my half of the rent hence the crappy job.

But that's not the story. No, the story is that two weeks ago RetroGame Corps announced that they would be presenting their brand new game that utilizes a brand new technology in a live television show. It is the first one they launched since The Path so the entire game world is holding its breath. Including me.

It is now the last Friday of January, 19H25 (19:25 military time - 7:25 PM) and I am waiting in front of my TV with my sister for the interview to start. The star presenter of the game specialized channel is talking to a gamer that has tested the game. The guy is around 30 and has black hair.

"So, tell us Jeremy, this new game, how is it?"

"To say it simply it's unlike any other game I've played so far. The platform is the size of the Earth divided into several continents and lands. Each has its own history and culture, clothes, food architectures, hierarchy system, climate, flora, and fauna... it changes every time."