Age of Gods - A VRMMO Story

After being dismissed by the AI, Darren once again found himself in a pitch black and silent environment looking at yet another goddamn countdown clock. If he had a body he would undoubtedly be tapping his foot impatiently. Of course, given that Karonite claimed to have gotten several million pre-orders for AoG it made sense that there would be a bit of a log in queue. That didn't make it any less annoying though!

Finally, after a little less than a five-minute wait, the darkness changed to bright white. When the white light faded Darren finally found himself inside of the game! He was standing in the middle of a massive circular room. The walls, floor, ceiling and Greco-Roman columns surrounding the room were all made of white marble. Carved into the floor beneath him was a massive magic circle that was lightly glowing blue and slowly fading away.

Also in the room with him were another nine people, all wearing the exact same clothes as him. Simple tan linen shirts and pants along with thin brown leather shoes. Darren looked around for a moment before a voice spoke from behind the group of ten, "Ahem! Welcome summoned heroes."

Darren turned around to face the voice, along with the rest of the players with him, and saw a middle-aged man wearing a scruffy looking breastplate. The man was resting his left hand on the handle of the longsword hanging from his waist, "Originally we only intended to summon one hero in each of the ten countries but it seems something has gone wrong and the summoning circles seem to be continuously summoning group after group of you."

The man sounded almost bored as he explained something he'd probably had to explain multiple times before, like one of those people working a ride in a theme park. Some of the other players began to whisper among themselves but Darren ignored them and focused on the man since he seemed to be in charge right now. The man continued, "In a moment we'll escort you into the next room where we need you to write down your name in our records. After that, we'll give you a small package to help you get started on your journey in this world. Unfortunately, since there are so many of you we can't give as much aid as we would have if there was only one of you. Ah, well, that doesn't matter." He coughed into his fist to clear his throat, "Welcome to the country of Reykhoten, you're currently in the city of Ulvstad and will be considered honorary citizens of Reykhoten from this point forward. Follow me."

With that, he turned his back on the group of players and walked through a large doorway leading into the next room. Darren and the rest followed, some of the other players still whispering among themselves. Darren grinned and made his way into the next room while marveling at the creative way the developers had decided to introduce the players to the NPC's. It seemed like the AI before was right though, the lead developer did have some unique tastes. In the large room was a row of tables with other men wearing breastplates sitting in chairs behind them. The guard that spoke before spoke once again, "Pick a table and simply write your name in the book. The guard behind the table will give you your welcome package. After that, I will explain a few things you should know."

Darren couldn't help but smirk a little while thinking to himself, "So this is what the AI meant about naming my character." He moved to an empty table and gave the guard a greeting nod before picking up the quill, dipping it in some ink and writing the only name he'd ever used in games into the book. The guard watched and when Darren was done he nodded, "Welcome to Reykhoten, Thomas Darkrose."