Fantasy World Online I: New Roads

New Roads! Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

An entire week has passed since New Roads! announcement. The specialized magazine's sites and channels had been buzzing themselves to gather and diffuse the maximum amount of intel.

As for me, I had screened the Official website, in search of any useful piece of information.

The list of The Path players who would receive the Golden packs had been published at the promised time, my avatar registered as the Varrand Guild Leader had been one of them. When I connected myself to my "The Path" account I found a message from the GM (Game Master), in other words, RetroGame Corporation, inviting me to pass by their firm's building to set up my account and receive my Golden Pack.

Today was the day I was supposed to go get it. I excitedly left the office and drove to a building surrounded by cameras and journalists. As soon as I approached the front gate they started questioning me about New Roads. I then presented myself to a muscular man in a black suit. After announcing my online game name and providing my identity through a printed version of the invitation mail I was allowed to enter the hall. A woman of approximately my age came to me and asked me to follow her I was led to an upper floor room filled with the same metallic coffin. There I was given a box slightly bigger than a football. As I opened it I found an onyx and gold colored helmet a small New Roads! game cartridge and a second one with the words Golden Pack written on it. Following the women's instructions, I inserted the game on the left side of the helmet and the pack on the right linked the helmet to the inside of the coffins via the connection cable and lied down in the rectangular metallic box.

"New Roads! Connect!"

The sensations in my body went numb as I was floating in a totally blank dimension. In front of me, sensory checks approvals flashed than a login window popped up.
I just had to think of creating a new account for the window to change, four avatars showed in front of me each of them similar in their facial appearance. One was a Human. The second a tall Elf making the dwarf next to it seem even smaller. At the last one was a Beastman.
Without hesitating he choose the Human, then a myriad of adjustments was proposed to him. The color of his skin, eyes, hair, size of his nose, eyebrows, facial hair, lips and eye shapes, haircut, cheeks.

At the end of his avatar was an average height man with waist long ebony hair tied in a tress, dark eyes, no beard, and thin delicate eyebrows. His skin was tanned, a few scars marking his arms and toned torso. His lips were slightly curved to look like he was smiling and his eyes looked like he was intensely looking ahead.

All in all his character looked like a man in his twenties who had to spend most of his life under the sun doing physical labor.

I then chose his online name, Ben Varrand, his starting point as the Braeen Kingdom and validated his avatar.
An information window popped up as the character faded away.

"You are in the possession of a Golden Pack, would you like to install it? Warning this pack can only be used once and will only affect your avatar stats."
I didn't wait to accept the installation and soon I was done with my character creation and automatically logged out.
As I got out I once again saw the woman from earlier.

"Congratulation on creating your avatar. From now on as long as you use this game cartridge you will be able to play. You will be playing for free during the three months of starting your first connection, after this, you will have to pay $19.99 of the monthly fee. The extra stats and items from the pack will already be distributed at the start of your game. Do you have any questions?"

I quickly said no and we both went back to the lobby, the helmet in the black box in my hands. I left the building rapidly and went home directly. As soon as I arrived I started reading the game manual, memorizing every little information.