"You gonna join today?"
The first message I get after I wake up. It was from my friend, Aaron. He's gotten the whole friend group on this new game called, "Mana-X." Some pvp fantasy setting game where there's few to no rules. There's not much known about it, it came out of nowhere and blew up instantly. Aaron told me we'll be joining a recently created server. Him and the others have already started their base on the server, but I haven't been feeling like joining.
"Come on. I know you're not gonna do anything else today. Trust me, this game is like nothing you've ever played before."
I roll my eyes but grin, he's right after all. After begrudgingly rolling out of bed, I make my way to the desk. I place my headset on and start the game console, I go to the game and press start. But right after I open the game, everything goes black.
I open my eyes and I'm standing in a dark room. The checker board pattern floor is illuminated but I can't find the light source above me. A cold chill runs down my spine, one second I was in my room but then was here. A cyan pop-up screen appears in front of me, with white letters it asks, "Welcome to Mana-X. A world outside of ours. Is your name Josh?" I pause and answer yes. "Are you aware of the 1 rule of this game?" I click no. "The one rule of Mana-X is there's no second tries. Once you're logged into a server, you only get to play in that server, and if you die in the game, then you'll be unable to play any more. Do you understand?" "Yes."
The pop-up screen asks, "Do you have a server invite?" I remember the password Aaron gave me and type it into the bar. The dark room begins to change shades, it grows brighter. The room soon becomes too bright, becoming unable to see. When the light dies, I open my eyes and see myself in a plain. "Hey stranger. Didn't think you were gonna show up." I turn around and see Aaron standing in front of a wooden house. He's wearing a brown western duster and matching hat, and across his face a black eye patch. "So, whatcha thinking?" I look at my clothes, the same as I was wearing before playing. "How is this real?" "I don't know. Super advanced technology though. Anywho, let's get you inside. We've been grinding at this for hours already."
I follow him inside and see everyone else. I recognize them from the times we've played together. There's three other players in the house. Pete, the oldest of the group, dressed up as a standard farmer. Fred and Jason, the duo of brothers of the group, they're always matching skins so I guess that's why they're in simple jeans and white shirts.
Aaron: "Let me break it down for you, Josh. We each have a role to keep this from getting bad. Jason and Fred are scavengers. They'll go out and gather materials so we can build. Pete stays here and watches over the base, while farming food for us. I'm basically the strongest fighter there is, right now. If there's anything that needs to be beaten down to the ground, I'm there."
Jason chimes in, "Well, we can handle our own but if it gets too tough then Aaron steps in."
Aaron: "Sounds about right. But we're still all getting used to the game. The twins need another hand gathering stuff. Also I'm gonna need you to sign up to our guild."
Josh: "Your guild?"
Aaron: "Yeah. There's other players on this game, no idea where, but it's a massive pvp style game. We haven't had any troubles with anyone yet. There's even a large group of players over the mountain who built a village called Darkwoods."
I get an invite to the guild, "Bipolar Bears", I click yes and everyone begins to shout in joy. Pete stands up, with a smile on his face, he hands me a box. I open it up and see a metal sword.
Pete: "No one here is unarmed.
As we all split up, I hold the sword in my hand. It's heavy, I can feel the weight of it as if I was actually wielding a blade. I notice what I'm still wearing. Just some purple sweats and a black tee. Instantly, a leather holster appears around my waist and my sword slides in. I walk outside, feeling the cool breeze on my face. I look to my left and see the mountain in the distance. I wonder what the other players are like in Darkwoods.
I watch as Jason grabs an axe and heads into the woods in the direction of the mountain. I walk around the house and see a large garden in the back. Pete's in there gathering vegetables from the ground. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and looks up to see me. I wave at him as he waves back.
I eventually go back inside and see Aaron writing in a book. He looks up and smiles, "So this is our humble abode. It's not much but it'll make do with what we have."
I look around and see five beds and a few chests. There's a backdoor that leads to Pete's garden, and a few windows.
Josh: "So I've been meaning to ask. How come you're the body guard of the group? Last time I checked, most of us are better at games than you."
Aaron sighs and points a finger gun at me, "Bam. And just like that this game of yours is over."
I look at him confusingly, "What does that mean?"
Aaron: "In this game, certain chests spawn in random areas. It could be in a cave, in a tree, even someone's bedroom. But what everyone already knows of this game. You want to find one as soon as possible. Each chest has a scroll in it, and with those scrolls you'll get a power. Players who read a scroll are called "Maxers". I found mine while I was exploring the mountain."
After that I walked off. The sun's coming down over the horizon. Fred mentions how Jason hasn't been back yet. He takes a torch and his sword and goes looking out for him in the woods. I decided to go out with him to see more of the world too. As we make our way towards the tree line, I see Pete in his garden still, and barely through the window, Aaron sits at the table.
If only I knew what would lay waiting for us in that forest.