New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

***Another Player POV, one week before game launch***

Hóngsè Rì-Chū was a young Chinese living in Beijing. He was in high school in his senior year and loved video games.

When he saw the new game from Evo-Gaming coming out, he begged his parents to buy him the new VR helmets. His family was well off, so they agreed, as long as his grades stayed good.

He was ecstatic, but he made sure to never let go of his studies. When the release date was finally upon him, he reminded his parents and they did as promised.

With the new game installed on his helmet, he felt overexcited, but couldn’t play until he had done his studies and homework.

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Hóngsè was mad about his tardiness, but he guessed there was still a chance for him to catch up. He created his character and was amazed by the range of choices for races.

The svelte Elven man at character creation guided him through the races, and Hóngsè eventually picked Elf as his starting race. The NPC was overjoyed, and quickly guided him through the available starting classes.

Hóngsè picked Druid, as the prospect of casting magic enticed him greatly. Who hadn’t thought once in their life about using magic?

After picking his race and class, the game prompted him to pick a name. Hóngsè was a fan of old languages and therefore used Latin in his character’s name.

He thought for a while about his name, not sure what he would go for. He eventually thought about something that made him chuckle.

Since he wouldn’t be able to play as much as most people, due to school, he called himself I’die Ad-Tempus. That translated into one day at a time, from Latin to English.

The Elven man praised him on his out-of-the-box name and sent him on his way into the game.

After a maelstrom of colors, and a flight over forests and mountains, pulled straight out of a fantasy game, he appeared in a city built of trees.

Everyone around him had long hair, in shades of silver, brown, and blonde. They also had a pointed characteristic of elves from all fantasies, long ears.

From a quick glance, he couldn’t see who was a player and who was an NPC. No names showed up over anyone’s head, and nothing differentiated the two either.

It took him a lot of time and focus to find what he wanted. After gazing at someone for a couple of seconds, a screen appeared in front of his eyes.

The screen had Status Screen, written at the top, and showed some stats about the person.

Status Screen:

*Jay Yescyne/Fisherman*

Level: 24

Race: Elf

Health: 550/550 Mana: 420/420

“Ahh. So I can scan people.” I’die Ad-Tempus thought to himself.

He then went around for a while, scanning everyone he met. He couldn’t differentiate players at first, but it changed when he noticed that most NPCs had higher levels compared to them.

After finding that difference, I’die thought he should hunt some monsters. So he walked to an NPC to ask the direction to exit the city.

The NPC looked at him weirdly before pointing to the southeast. I’die thanked him before traveling in the direction they showed him.

It took him a few minutes to reach the city gate, which was formed by two massive trees intertwining to form an arch.

The city walls were formed by huge monoliths of rock, tied together with thick roots, joining everything together to make a nigh impenetrable barrier.

The sight of it all took his breath away. This now really looked like an elven city.

There were very few handmade structures, or at least it seemed like it. Every building, house, or shop seemed like it had grown out of a tree.

After admiring the structures for a couple of minutes, I’die finally remembered why he was going to the city gates.

He shook his head, getting his bearings back, and kept walking towards the gate. While he was crossing the portcullis, he noticed people were getting stopped before going in, but not as they went out.

He imagined it was some kind of security measure, but he found it weird for a game to simulate that.

‘So realistic!’ He thought.

He walked out of the city and into a majestic forest. The trees all climbed high into the sunny sky, with trunks thick as modern skyscrapers.

The sun pierced through the thick foliage of the canopy in a feat that we could describe as magic.

The forest was well-lit, completely disregarding the fact that most of it was covered by the umbrella of leaves overhead.

I’die walked further and further away from the city, eventually crossing some low-level monsters. They were some small boars, ranging from level one to three.

He played it safe and attacked a level one boar, pulling its aggro and kiting it away from the rest of them.

His beginner gear gave him some druid robes and a basic training quarterstaff. All he could do for now was throw ranged attacks since he had no skills yet.

He tried kiting it to the best of his ability, but he was only hitting so often. Since the boar was moving erratically and I’die’s aim was not that good, he missed most of his shots.

After kiting it for a few minutes, and hitting the boar only twice, dealing only ten damage points, he finally made a misstep and got rammed by the animal.

*-5*

This hit, which would seem small to higher-level players, cost him half his health bar. He instantly went into panic mode, firing his attacks left and right, hoping to fell the monster before it felled him.

It only took the boar a few seconds to come back charging. Most of I’die’s shots missed the monster by either a small amount or sizable gaps.

When it was only a few feet away from finally colliding with him again, I’die closed his eyes.

‘What a crappy death.’ He thought.

Then he heard words and a thud to his left.

“Impact Shot!”

*Thud*

I’die waited a few seconds, waiting for his impending death, but nothing happened. He eventually opened one eye, looking for the boar, only to find it sprawled a few feet to the side.

It had a part of its head caved in, like a hammer had smacked it hard.

I’die got up, dusting his robe and looking around, trying to see where the voice had come from.

“Up here!” He heard, coming from the branches over his head.

When he raised his head, he saw a humanoid shape drop from the branches and land squarely in front of him.

It was another elf, but this one, he was pretty sure, was a player. When he scanned the elf, their level showed level four.

“Thank you!” I’die yelled, bowing at ninety degrees.

“Hey man, don’t bow. I was just helping a player in need!” The other elf replied, trying to lift I’die to his feet.

I’die hadn’t assumed by the voice, but now that he was looking straight at the other player, he noticed the distinct forms of a woman.

“The name’s Athena Woodland.” She said, shoving her hand into his and shaking it.

“Uh… I’die Ad-Tempus.” He replied, his meek shoulder following the shaking hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, I’die!” Athena exclaimed, still shaking his hand.

“Uh… Can I… Have my hand back? Please?” I’die said, scratching the back of his head with his other hand.

“Ahh! Yes! Sorry about that.” Athena said, letting go of the hand.

“Um… do you want the loot? Since you killed it and all.” I’die said, looking at the boar on the ground.

“Huh? Oh! No. It’s yours. I was just helping.” Athena said, shaking her hands in front of her.

“Okay. Thank you.” I’die replied.

He walked up to the boar and touched it, prompting a loot menu. In it were a boar tusk and a boar hide.

He grabbed both and sent them to his inventory, happy he got something from this ordeal.

He also got a notification of the monster’s death. It was still flashing to the side of his vision.

*You have helped in killing a Young Boar (Lvl 1). 1 Exp awarded for contribution (40% damage done) (Rounded up to the highest digit)*

“Sheesh, the Exp is so meager.” I’die said, frowning.

“It gets better, the higher the level of the monster you kill. I heard that monsters over level ten give tons of Exp!” Athena exclaimed, almost gushing in envy.

“Since you are still here, do you want to form a party?” I’die asked, scratching the back of his head again.

He wasn’t socially adept with strangers, but he guessed since this was a game, why not try a different approach?

“I was wondering when you would ask!” Athena said, launching the party invite instantly.

And so both of the elves started hunting in a pair, taking on progressively harder monsters.