May 17th, 2025, that was the date that a new game called "Dragon Sword Online" was released. There were only five thousand copies released, and I was a beta tester so I received a copy for free. It was for the newest console called the "Mind Gear" it looked like a motorcycle helmet but with wires and a usb. All you had to do was plug the usb port into the computer, load up the game, put on the futuristic looking helmet, lie down, and say start, which is exactly what I did. The Mind Gear transports your consciousness into the game so that nothing in the natural world could disturb you, but that's where everything went wrong.
I got into the world with my beta test avatar, longer brown hair parted to one side so it was partly covering one of my red eyes, dancer's build with tan shorts and a white shirt with a grey vest and brown fingerless gloves. "I'm back!" I said as I started to run through the spawn town. I guess a noob saw me running so he ran after me saying "Hey! Wait!" I stopped to talk to him. "Hey there! You look pretty at home here. Do you think you could show me the ropes?" He asked. "Sure. I could go for some grinding." I answered. "Cool! I'm Eric!" He said excitedly. "I'm Alex!"
I took him to the fields outside of the town and showed him a low level enemy and how to use his weapon. After a while of grinding, Eric pulled up the menu by waving his left hand down in the air. It was seven thirty. "It's getting late. I'm gonna log out and get some dinner." He said stretching. "Yeah, I'm gonna stay on for a bit longer. If you want we can do some quests tomorrow or..." I was cut off by Eric. "There's no logout option." "Yeah there is, under the player stats." I pulled up my menu and looked for the logout option. There wasn't one. Suddenly we were both teleported to the main square at spawn. It looked like all of the players in the game were there. Just then the sky lit up with what looked like red coding. Then a red liquid poured down from the code and created a giant figure that looked like a grim reaper but completely red.
Then it spoke. "I am the creator of this game. I'm sure you have all noticed by now that there is no logout option in the menu. This is not a glitch, I designed it this way. You are all safe just as long as you do not die in here. There is no respawn. If you die in here the mind gear will release an electric shock strong enough to kill a bear. Finish all one hundred levels and you all shall be released safely." Everyone started talking to each other. "Now if you all would look in your inventory," the figure continued, "there should be an item in there. Take it out." I opened my inventory, as did everyone else, and saw an item called "Mirror of Reveal." Everyone took it out of their inventory and looked into it, so did I. What is so special about it? I thought to myself, until I heard Eric scream. He was being surrounded by blue and white pixels. Everyone was being surrounded by blue and white pixels. Finally I was engulfed in the flurry of pixels.
When my vision cleared everyone looked different. "Alex?" I heard Eric's voice beside me. I turned to face him but I didn't see him, I saw a 20 something year old with a goatee. "Eric?" I said, "Your avatar changed!" He looked down to me. "So did yours!" he said surprised. I looked down into the mirror I had in my hands. I saw my face, not my avatars face with long hair and red eyes, my actual face, short black hair and blue eyes and I was my normal height of 5' 9". "How are we our normal selves?" I asked. "Hey, didn't the mind gear tell you to enter your height, age, and eye color into it before you entered the game? Then it also scans your face before entering too doesn't it?"
The creator spoke again, "There are no hidden faces in here. Only hidden names. Fight for your lives and survive in the world of Dragon Sword." The figure turned back into the red liquid and retreated back into the code and it all disappeared. Everyone started to scream and I grabbed Eric's hand and made a break for it. As we made it to an alleyway Eric stopped me. "What are you doing? We need to get out of here!" I yelled. "I know," he said quietly, "but I have other friends in here and they're probably freaking out! I have to go back for them!" "We need to get out of here, your friends will find you later but until then, I know a safe place to go through to the next town." I turned around, and he was gone. I started running through the alley and out of the spawn town, and just as I exited the town a wolf like creature spawned. I drew my dagger and ran towards it screaming, "This is my life now! Fight until I die!" I stabbed the wolf creature and it died in one hit.
That was the beginning of my new life. A life that I had always wished for, but with a cruel twist.