Somewhere along the line of countless advancements, the novelty of novelty perished. Each month there seems to be another breakthrough. Another achievement. A new victory for the human race. Another war. Another disaster. Another loss for all of humanity.
Nothing matters anymore. All the gears of this needlessly complex machine we call civilization simply spin, day in, day out, until their cogs grind smooth, and they bid farewell to the pointlessness of all the choices they made.
So, imagine the euphoria only hope can bring, when presented the chance to start life anew. Enter a world as real as you'll allow it to be. Rediscover what it means to live, on a journey to the top and beyond.
With these words, a thousand players were invited to test ArchSpire, the first fully immersive VRMMORPG.
---
Ruoxing was excited, but knew not to expect too much. After all, there have probably been a dozen, if not more, VRMMORPGs who have claimed to have solved the "4+1 Problems of Immersion" [4+1PoI].
The moment a player steps into the virtual realm of a new "ground breaking" game, they realise it's no different from any of the regular systems. But Ruoxing enjoyed them anyway.
The 4+1PoI are nearly impossible to solve after all. The consensus is that it'll take another couple centuries of the entire world working together before we can get there. "Perfect immersion..." Ruoxing thought. "What if ArchSpire actually did it..."
The 4+1PoI are problems which must be solved before a system can truly claim to be "Perfect Immersion": a world where body and mind can accept it to be completely real. A digital world equal to our own.
The problems are:
- Infinity - within the alternate reality, we must reach at least the state of infinite possibilities our current reality has. The end should never reach our scope.
- Eternity - the alternate reality must run on sustainable energy, for its existence must be preserved for as long as the current reality will. Man must live like they will live forever.
- Evolution - the alternate reality must be able to grow beyond our comprehension. Our current reality is an ever-growing mystery, so must the new one be.
- Autonomy - the alternate reality must be able to create and host beings with free will and intelligence. We humans were placed here by forces beyond our comprehension, without our permission. There shall be no exception.
Within the science of computer programming and engineering, these were the four problems limiting the creation of alternate reality and perfect immersion.
But there was another problem.
A problem no programmer or engineer could dream to solve.
+1. The Human Problem: man must accept the alternate reality as genuine and allow it to be real - detach themselves completely and embrace a world within a world.
But these aren't Ruoxing's problems. He popped a capsule that came with the game - the first time a VRMMORPG had come with medication. "Neural Privilege Enhancer," it read, in silver subtexts beneath it "doubtless a dream". He felt the goosebumps surge through his body after swallowing it, then geared up and entered ArchSpire.
—
There was no light, and then there was too much.
The world blinked into existence in a burst of white. Ruoxing stood barefoot in a blank, endless space, as if he'd been dropped into his own sleeping mind.
No walls, no ceiling, just the sound of his own breathing.
|Welcome, player. Please enter your username.|
The words hung in the air in front of him, soft silver glyphs.
Ruoxing didn't hesitate.
He typed:
Impo★
It shimmered slightly as he confirmed it. The name looked perfect to him. It was cool and cosmic, like something from a galaxy-themed comic book he used to read when he was younger. Impossible Star, that's what it stood for in his head. Something unreachable, but bright. Something people looked up to.
His sisters would've laughed. His brothers might have called it stupid. But they weren't here. None of them were.
He adjusted his stance out of habit and stared into the blankness, waiting for the next prompt.
|Choose your class.|
Pedestals rose silently from the floor, each with a hovering projection. The choices flickered like living sigils, showcasing the flavours that would paint ArchSpire. Many would gravitate toward the Rogue, chasing the thrill of stealth and lethality. Others would prefer the Ranger, knowing the importance of spacing and scouting.
But Ruoxing already knew what he wanted.
|You have chosen: Fighter.|
Ruoxing did his homework. 25 unique floors awaited him, so he had to value versatility and independence above all. Archspire already informed him magic would be restricted. There were to be no players as wizards, sorcerers or warlocks in this game.
|Now choose your weapon.|
An armory unfolded around him. Walls of white space replaced by racks of ghostly images: swords, axes, polearms, bows, knives. He wandered the rows slowly.
Then he saw them.
A pair of meteor hammers.
Twin orbs of iron tethered by long black chains, spinning slowly in the simulated air, beautiful, alien, and wild. He would even be able to switch out the heads for sharp ones rather than blunt ones.
He reached out.
The moment he touched them, the cold chains coiled up his forearms like serpents, long, but elegant. The chains jingled softly with each tentative movement. The weighted metal made his arms sag. He dreamt of the callous forming on his palms with each swing. He grinned. Something about this weapon sang to him. A spark of exhilaration surged.
"Wow," he whispered.
He could already imagine himself on the battlefield, hammers whirling, people watching from afar and whispering his name. Impo★. The impossible star. The one who did things no one else dared to. "This is going to be so much fun!"
A full mirror bloomed before him.
His real face stared back at him: nineteen, Chinese, average build. Medium-length black hair, plain features, a bit of a slouch in the shoulders. He didn't look like much. And unlike other VRMMOs, there was no appearance editor. No sliders, no presets, no ways to change the nose, or the jawline, or the eyes that looked like they were always on the verge of apologizing.
Just him.
Ruoxing.
It wasn't what he expected from a VRMMORPG this hyped. Archspire was supposed to be the next frontier. Full-dive tech, true immersion, one thousand chosen testers… and yet here he was, still… himself.
If his father saw this, he'd say it was a waste of time.
The thought chilled him. For a second, his mind flickered back to their last conversation, the silence, and the way the door had closed behind him with finality.
He blinked the memory away. He wouldn't think about that right now. He wouldn't think about him.
Instead, he thought about home, real home. He thought of summer rain on tile rooftops and the way his mother used to sing when she didn't think anyone was listening.
He missed all of it.
But not enough to go back.
|Initialization complete. Preparing for world entry.|
The white space began to dissolve, pixel by pixel.
Ruoxing closed his eyes.
When they opened again, he was no longer Ruoxing.
He was Impo★.
A new world was waiting.
------
Impo awoke to the wind.
It rustled the grass beneath him, cool and fragrant with some unplaceable wildflower. He sat up slowly, blinking against the sharpness of sunlight that cut across the open green field. Everything was too vivid. The sound of birdsong in the distance wasn't ambient… it was directional. The weight on his shoulders wasn't imagined. The leather of his tunic creaked when he moved.
The heat of his chest radiated to his palm as he touched it. His heart was racing. "Archspire…" he thought. "I can't believe it!"
Around him stretched a verdant green field, sunlit and wide, broken only by a small village up ahead. Thatched rooftops, wooden fences, cobblestone paths, smoke curling from chimneys - all was surreal. Off in the distance, rising like a watchful guardian, stood a cathedral with spires white as ivory.
There were others, scattered across the field like freshly-spawned pawns. A thousand, maybe more. Some stood alone, some already in loose groups, most still disoriented. Above each player's head hovered a name tag: flickering glyphs, player-chosen aliases. He looked up at his own hands and opened the system interface.
A silver outline hovered briefly in the corner of his eye:
Name: Impo★
Class: Fighter
Location: Floor 1 – Field of Beginnings
Going through the interface, he soon found out: "No option to exit?Probably just a tutorial limitation."
No settings either. "Figures…"
There was no server chat, but there was a simple party menu. Before Impo could open it, however, he felt a firm hand grip his shoulder. Impo turned.
"Unbelievable isn't it!"
Tall and imposing, the speaker's broad shoulders filled out heavy armor that glimmered in the sun. His skin carried a rich, dark tone, his head was cleanly shaven, and a well-kept goatee framed his mouth. His name tag read Potux. Impo didn't expect to meet a man his father's age in Archspire.
"Uh… Yeah," Impo replied, wondering why this old man came up to him of all people. As if able to read his mind, Potux exclaimed:
"The name's Potux, we're in the same party! That is unless there's another Impo…"
Impo quickly opened his party menu.
Party Members: Potux, Ruler, D.K.
Three strangers. "Pre-made parties… We're testing the game, so it's not too surprising. I hope the system takes classes into account," Impo thought.
"I don't think duplicate names are allowed, so I guess we are!" he replied, shaking Potux's hand. Calloused, worn, much like his gardner Yuze. The same warmth was emitting from Potux's eyes and in an instant his heart accepted the man as less a stranger.
"Nice to meet you," Impo said, eyes on the man's armor. The breastplate sat heavy on the man's chest, its surface marked by faint hammer lines, spaulders rested over the shoulders, the gauntlets were articulated and fingered. "Where did you get that armor?"
"Paladin starter set," Potux replied. "It weighs me down, but if I am to protect my teammates, I must be able to take a hit! Tanking they call it, right? You'll be safe with me, Impo."
The words flowed gently, with a tone like honey. And the confidence with which he spoke convinced Impo that Potux would be a valuable ally. But there was something oddly polished about the man, and it wasn't just his armor. His voice had a kind of cadence that sounded… rehearsed.
"Feels like the first day of school," Impo said, glancing at the crowd.
It was like standing at the edge of a cliff over a sea, unaware of the depth or what may lie beneath. Everything inside him was loud, and it felt like the world around him hummed in a language he didn't quite understand. The air was thick with anticipation, pressing against his ribs and he felt visible and invisible, all at once.
So he was thankful someone approached him to break the ice. And wished to soon see a friend in Potux.
They continued their chat for another ten minutes, but then noticed that the crowd had significantly thinned. It seemed many decided they should move on. Ruler and D.K had not shown up. "Did they spawn somewhere else?" Impo thought.
As if noticing Impo's growing restlessness Potux spoke up: "Let's go into town. I'm sure they thought the same thing. Worst case, we'll grab a bite. I wonder how accurate the barbecue ribs will taste."
To their surprise, both began to salivate. "They really thought about everything!" Impo thought.
They started walking toward the village together, trading quiet glances at the other players who wandered nearby. A few examined stalls, others tested their abilities, sparring or swinging weapons at training dummies.
An odd thought crept up in Impo's mind. He had never been in a fight before. He had played a lot of combat oriented video games, but never in a world like ArchSpire. He put his attention on his limbs as he continued walking. "A lot of things will be a first for me here."
He remembered how his sister Yue told him you can't prepare for your first real fight. "You can build your body to endure," she had said. "You can spar, of course - but you can't prepare yourself for the adrenaline, the anger, the disbelief a real fight brings. You simply have to live that."
"So," Impo ventured, "You... uh, you play a lot of these?"
Potux chuckled. "Used to, but not so much these days."
"What made you come back?"
Potux paused, then simply said: "Sometimes you need a new start."
Impo knew not to pry, so pointed at the cathedral. "It stands out above all the other buildings. Needless to say, but we probably should go in at some point."
Impo noticed Potux was no longer next to him. He turned around and saw the man staring at two children on the other side of the road. When he laid eyes on them, he understood why. The older of the two, a young boy who couldn't be above the age of fifteen, sat with his hands in his hair. Sweat boiled out of his pores. In stark contrast, the little girl beside him jumped around frantically. Their name tags read Yuri and Tanya.
"Th–."
Acting before Impo could even start his sentence, Potux marched toward the two. Yuri lifted his head as the man's shadow enveloped him. The sun shining behind his bald head, he spoke: "A shared worry is half a worry. What's with the bleak look, son. The game just started!"
Yuri stood up. "Do you know how to log out, sir?" he said, there was a clear Russian accent to his words.
The thought of logging out hadn't crossed Potux's mind yet. He turned to Impo, who made his way to them. "I'm not sure. I think we can't because the tutorial isn't finished?"
Potux frowned. "Some game design… They lock this poor boy up so they can gather his data? Ridiculous. I can't even contact the GM–" Potux stopped, seeing the look on Yuri's face.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be fixed soon," he said, placing his hand on Yuri's shoulder.
"I wanted to try Archspire so bad… It's late at night where we are from. I don't want my parents to get angry at me, especially since I let Tanya join…"
Tanya, the little girl beside him, was enamoured by Potux. Unable to understand the language her brother and the man spoke, she tried to make sense of the novelty before her eyes. It was the first time she saw a man with such a dark complexion. Her hands reached for his face outside of her control. Noticing this, Potux squatted. "Pleased to meet you, miss. My name is Potux."
A smile blossomed on her face. She understood the gesture as Potux presented his hand, so she shook it, then stared at her hand. Yuri took her to his side.
"You should head to the cathedral," Impo said. "I'm certain you'll make progress on the tutorial there."
Yuri nodded, and holding Tanya's hand, did as he was advised.
Not even an hour in and Impo had met a man three times his age and a girl less than half. "I wonder if the invitations were at random or if there was a certain selection process…"
Potux contemplated joining Yuri and Tanya, but a whiff of a stall not too far away drew him in.
"Meat?" Potux said, cheekily smiling at Impo.
"Meat." Impo replied.
They upped the pace. The gentle giant shoved aside the crowd. Politeness couldn't get in the way of his roaring stomach. Impo had little trouble following the paved way. When they reached the stall, the meat reached Potux before Potux reached the meat, as a piece of bone in ribeye smacked against his face, caught by Impo before it hit the floor.
"We agreed to split the bill, didn't we!?" shouted a gangly man with a patchy stubble and a few stubborn gray hairs streaking through his neatly waxed, light-brown hair. He had a bow slung over one shoulder and an oversized furred cub clinging to his leg. By the size of its bloated stomach, it seemed to be enjoying its fourth steak.
"Hah, fat chance! I didn't agree to feed that wormhole you call a bear. Pay for your own pet, sly bastard," a woman with dyed-blonde shoulder-length hair retorted. Although hard to spot, Impo heard the tinge of her Korean accent slip.
Potux wiped the sauce off his face. "Let's go order, Impo. I feel sorry for whoever is a part of their party."
Impo read their name-tags. D.K. and Ruler.
"That would be us…"
END OF CHAPTER 1