The Ether

Seiko awoke to a tiny pinhole of sunlight hitting him like a laser in the eye. His blackout curtains needed a serious patch job. Empty plastic bottles scattered as he rolled out of bed. “Lights 30%. Monitor 1 to 3, on.” Dimmed bulbs overhead and large screens activated at the sound of his voice. 

Seiko, wrapped in a blanket burrito stumbled out of bed and curled up in a ratty office chair. The soft blue LEDs illuminated a tired face covered by bangs that some would call impractically long. Email notifications from the previous night filled the screen as well as some ads for energy drinks, new gaming software and... enhancement pills. He scrolled through his inbox by waving his hand through holographic images. His landlord had sent four messages this week all labeled URGENT. He was probably wondering where last month’s rent was. 

Seiko cracked open a can of Blast energy drink. His session tonight should yield enough to pay the bill. Next, he saw the lawyer that managed his father’s estate had sent the same correspondence he did every few months to ask Seiko how he planned to allocate the large sum of money. He gave the same response he always did.

[Please direct funds to the Billing Department of West Isle Mental Facility].

The dark silence of the musty apartment buffered against the young man. Seiko’s spine cracked and popped as he stretched out his limbs. It was time to get to work. The NueroGuide Headset perched on top of a speaker was his ticket to making money without having to leave his place. The technology for fully immersive Virtual Reality had been around for a few years now. It was like being in a dream. Everything in VR felt real to the point that most couldn’t tell the difference between it and the real world. People used it for business, exotic vacations to impossible places, therapy, sexual fantasy and of course what Seiko primarily used it for. Gaming. 

Specifically, he played The Ether. The game that had the last word in VRMMORPG, or (virtual reality massively multiplayer online role playing games). Created by UmbraCyber Publishing, Inc, the experience was like nothing ever seen before. Hyper-realistic graphics, perfect synaptic feedback, full muscle stimulation, taste simulation (which was exceedingly difficult to get right), and an expansive fantasy map that had so many epic adventures, even the most seasoned veterans of the game hadn’t completed every quest. The tagline of The Ether was “Limitless possibilities. Boundless Adventure.” and it definitely lived up to that expectation. While the game had rules and mechanics in place, they were extremely flexible. 

Players could play however they wanted and be infinitely creative with the items, skills and magic available to them. Additionally, The Ether had a trading hall where resources and rare magic items could be bought and sold in exchange for real money. Seiko was one of many individuals that used this as their source of income. It was not the most lucrative job, especially when you weren’t part of a guild, but he found that it was enough for him to get by.

The helmet thrummed to life as he put it on. The UI slid across the visor. [please remain still and seated. Dive begins in 3... 2... 1...]. Seiko felt a slight shock in the base of his skull and then everything went black. Slowly, out of the silence and darkness, shape, color and light started to fall into place like tiles on a puzzle board. He blinked a couple times to adjust his vision and inhaled the cold crisp air of the forest where he had logged out last night. Sunlight filtered through the branches of tall pines. Birds chirped. A nearby creek bubbled quietly. 

Seiko flexed his virtual muscles. His leather armor creaked with the movement. A holographic map materialized in front of him, and he checked where he was in reference to the waypoint, he had set. There were still a few miles to go before he reached his objective. Without wasting time, Seiko headed toward the marker on his UI. Based on some merchant blogs, The Gold-Tooth mine was supposed to be jam-packed with rare+ gems, black iron ore and veins of golden aetherium. All of these resources were in high demand by the artisan guilds. Players could craft special magical items with the materials and sell them for profit. Seiko set out with hopes that he would score big for a profit of his own.

The first couple miles passed quickly. As a ranger class, Seiko had improved movement speed in wilderness zones. He ran swiftly through the trees and passed over the rocky terrain with ease. Suddenly, a foul scent caught his attention. The smell of blood and rotting meat. Orcs possibly. Sliding to a halt and hiding himself in the brush, Seiko tried to pinpoint their location. He followed the smell until he could see their camp. Sure enough, in a small clearing, the ranger saw the large green skinned creatures swarming over a meal. These were orcs. 

The Ether had many monsters, and these humanoid hostile mobs were a nightmare for whoever they came across. They consisted of nomadic tribes that raided and pillaged any town they felt wasn’t well fortified. Seiko recognized this tribe. Their tusks were black, and they wore the fur of bears. This was a dead giveaway. They were Kolborne orcs. Being highly aggressive and ranking as a mid-tier threat in small groups, it was best to avoid these orcs if traveling alone. Seiko planned on doing just that. He backed away slowly, not wishing to be killed by the marauders since it meant he would respawn all the way back at Night town. That would add another 12 hours to his trip. Luckily the orcs were oblivious to the adventurer lurking in the bushes. They seemed to be more occupied with ripping into a poor elk they had hunted. 

Seiko was just about to turn around to run when he heard a grunt. He froze. He didn’t even dare breathe. In his peripheral, he saw one of the Kolborne heading back to his comrades, but it was walking his way. There was nowhere to hide that the orc wouldn’t notice. If it saw him and alerted the tribe, there was almost no chance he could make it out alive. The only option was to kill it before that happened. Seiko drew his short sword from its scabbard and crouched low. His free hand glowed as a purple glyph emblazoned on his palm. He waited patiently in the shrubbery for his foe to enter his range. As soon as it did, Seiko jammed the glowing hand directly into its throat, casting a silence spell on it. 

It choked and sputtered, trying to roar but no sound escaped its maw. It reached for the axe on its back furiously, but Seiko was faster. He brought the short sword up in a wide arc. The blade slashed through the tendons in the orcs arm causing it to fall limp at its side. Spinning around the hulking creature, he made several more cuts, severing the ligaments in its legs. It stumbled forward in pain. Seiko saw an opening as the back of its neck became exposed. His sword thrust downwards with deadly intent but at the last moment, the orc dodged instinctively. It rolled to the side and slammed a huge meaty fist into Seiko’s ribs. The game didn’t allow players to feel any major pain past a certain threshold but even still, that one hurt. 

The blow threw the ranger into a tree trunk like a ragdoll. Before he could scramble to his feet, the Orc was on top of him with axe in hand. The blade came down with a flash aimed at his head. He was barely able to raise his sword in time. The axe glanced off of it at angle that caused sparks to fly. It buried into the tree by the momentum of the Orcs swing. With a rush of adrenaline, Seiko pushed off the ground with all his might, stabbing upward into the creature through the chest. Purplish blood began to ooze from the wound. When the orc didn’t immediately fall, he jammed the blade in further and twisted the hilt. The orc grasped its opponent’s hands. Its eyes were wide and full of hate but the savage strength it relied on was gone. 

The life faded from the creature as the blade split its heart. Seiko pulled his blade free, wiping it on his sleeve as a small chime sounded in his ear. A pop up appeared on his Ui in front of him that showed the XP he’d been awarded for slaying the Kolborne. New items were also added to his inventory. A black Orc’s tusk and 40 gold pieces. He wasted no more time there, dashing off through the brush and shadows.