Why won't the menu screen pop up?
I tried, and failed yet again, to access the menu. Without it, I struggled to perform any of the more important actions of the game. Contacting the administrators and customer service, for instance, over the extension of the game server shutdown. Inquiring about the now more realistic features. That sort of thing.
VR may have existed for over a century, but to be able to create such accurate imagery (not to say the frame rate was bad before, just seemed to have increased tenfold to a point you can't tell that everything is made of pixels anymore), compiling an actual sense of touch despite my headgear in no way connected to my nervous system, formulate a sense of smell without needing my naval system... Everything about the situation was rather unnerving, to say the least.
Panic would do me no good here. I need to rationally think about this.
If I'm stuck here, should I treat the game like reality? I'm sure it won't be too bad, seeing how the area is meant to be self-serving. Just take care of the NPCs, tamed monsters, and other animals around here, tend to the small farm, draw water from the river, and I'll be able to survive. I could use magic to solve problems, too, except boredom.
In any case, I shouldn't get too attached. There are friends out there. My family. On top of that, I have education and romance to worry about as well. Finding a job that pays well, too, or being sucessfully self employed. It really isn't worth losing all that for... this.
I sighed, now giving up on any further attempts to reach [Help]. I'm currently trapped in this game because of some bugs which won't let me send any messages to anybody. Great.
Sure, everything gets to feel more real. That's nice and all, but it's midnight and I need to finish my report on the influence of the asteroid mining industry. It's due in 8 hours and I haven't even started, too busy between my obsessive gaming and maintaining a decent relationship with my girlfriend. My univeristy life when it comes to education though, sucks - it's hard to sit for an hour and just listen to lecture after lecture, okay?
I have a life outside my games, surprisingly enough. I have a goal, too. I was going - or at least, aiming to - gain influence in the flow of currency of the world. The global economy currently totals nearly 120 trillion, and I wanted to be the world's first official multi-trillionare. Not because I like to hog money, just because if I'm the richest person in the world with the most influence on world economics, I can live life however the heck I want.
Helping out the orphans in Japan, for example. Even after all thse years, the foster care system is still horrible. I was a lucky orphan who somehow managed to get taken into a kind, forgien family, so it hurts to see others still suffering in the same system I was in. Or maybe put an end to contaminated water in Africa and some regions of South America. Just throw some billion dollars at someone and let them handle it. All I want to do is live comfortably for the rest of my life, and help out some people with whatever extra money I have, why not?
...I don't have any of the finer details planned out... that's why I'm in Uni.
Ending that depressing trail of thought, my avatar's body dropped down into the comfy chair. I could feel the enchanted wood absorbing some of my natural body heat as I leaned back. My human skin felt chilly, and would've shivered if not for the permanent effects I had placed on my in-game character.
My mind began to wander again. This time, I thought of the guild.
Our guild was small; 4 players, from all over Japan. A swordman (woman, I guess; she happened to be the only female of our team, but we later found out she was a he posing as a female character), a magician, a merchant, a thief. In case you didn't figure it out yet, I'm the magician of Azure Crystals. Azure Crystals were a small, tight-knit group who didn't make it quite as far in a short period of time as some of the more hardcore players who were around for longer did.
I clenched my fists as memories resurfaced. The DMMORPG had a lot of player freedom, which was good. Problem was, that freedom was easy to abuse. The players, and specifically the ones who were lazy jerks or trolls, would repeatedly attack and PK all the newbies, ransacking their loot as they exited dungeons. Made it hard for honest players like the Azure Crystals to work to full potential.
Originally, we had all been non-humans. Dragons, all of us. The strongest species in the game, started off rather weak and gained power over progression. Other players didn't like that, not being human, so we got PKed more, to a point where after a few weeks of nonsense we all got fed up and just changed classes to human so they'd stop terrorizing us. Didn't work, though we did die and loss loot a lot less often.
Due to the decline in activity in the past three years, we all finally managed to max out our stats. Then we all left the game. We'd come back every once in a while, for small events, then continue with life outside the game. Play different games, even.
Reiji, the real-life name of our bandit, would send us messages on Steam sometimes to play multi-player shooting games together occasionally. The swordsman, who was actually named Yasunna, spent a good chunk of his time with us on MMORPGs, heavily favoring ARs. The merchant never did reveal his name, instead silently PMing us around once a month to join him on a server in a lesser well-known (and always great quality, 4 star at least) game. It was always a different game with him.
The feeling in my heart twisted. Of course, none of them could make it for this last goodbye to Yggdrasil. Those three weren't like me, and needed a good eight hours of sleep a day compared to my usual two or three aided by coffee. In fact, Reiji was still a student, it'd be seriously unreasonable to even consider asking him to stay up for such a selfish reason.
Betrayal is what this feels like, but it isn't, not really. They haven't promised me anything, so the reason why I feel as they have betrayed me is illogical beyond reason. I shake my head, my hand raised to my forehead, and let out a breath of frustration.
Right, how do I exit the game?
I have no way of properly leaving without a [Exit Game, and since the server is down I can't even try the loophole from [Save Game]. Not that this matters, seeing how the menu still. Won't. Show. Up.
Maybe I could try sleeping in game instead, then "wake up"? Seeing how my body is that of a human's now (one with paticularly abnormal features, as purposely chosen from charater designs), sleep was a fundamental part of daily functioning if I truly am stuck here. On the chance I do happen to awaken in the real world, I'll be sure to share what I've experienced with my guildmates and get that report done.
Decision made, I accended upwards the house to the third floor, where I resided. The house was five stories tall with a bunker deep in the Earth, on a grassy hill surrounded by a forest of wood in which I had helped set up an entire magical circle around as a precaution of protection against even some of the top players. The only one who could disspell it was me and my unnamed merchant friend, since we coded the barrier into the very game itself.
Yes, we hacked the server. Correction: merchant man hacked and coded, I gave instructions for an outline of the barrier and how it'd work. For a two kilometer radius in all directions, which covered all of the forest and a bit more, the land was guarded. The barrier relies on natural mana from the planet's system, so no personal MP neccessary.
I grew fond of this game, over these past five years. Started playing when I could finally afford a headset, and I remember being an enthusiastic teenage boy. It was fun back then. Still is a little fun now, if not accounting for the constant nostalgic longing.
Upon entering my in-game bedroom, I glanced around. Everything was as it had been left, with a staff hovering in a defensive case in the middle of the room, a closet filled with armor in the corner, a large desk and a pull-out chair near the bed, then bookshelves covering the rest of the walls stacked high with grimores, manuals, or other such readings for my specific class.
My bed was directly adjacent to the entrance with the staff cased right in front of it. A closed curtain window was hanging over three fluffy, white pillows. The many automated stuffed animals, which I had magicked a replication of life into, all were sleeping peacefully under the covers. I smiled.
It's night time, and I should rest, even if I just so happen to have to do so while stuck in this game.
With a yawn, I crawled under the sheets and slept soundly.