MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

Two weeks have passed...

I still vividly remember telling my parents that I bought a 3,000 Dollars VR Pod. Surprisingly enough, they weren't mad, my father even encouraged me to find the game I like.

In my previous lifetime I had low to none motivation to do anything. I usually spent my days lying in the bed and scrolling through the internet or trying to shake off the boredom by exercising. Seeing me buy something for myself made my parents happy.

And today, after two weeks, [ Fragmental ] will finally be launched.

Dressing up I left my room and went straight to the kitchen. Taking a seat on one of the chairs I started quickly eating the breakfast, I had about an hour before the game's release.

" Leo, Is everything alright ? Nobody is going to steal your food, slow down "

My mother chuckled seeing me eat as if there is no tomorrow.

Lowering my head I tried to hide my reddened cheeks receiving another chuckle from my dad. Slowing down the eating pace I finished the meal and bid my parents farewell before quickly dashing to my room.

" I haven't seen him this excited for years "

My mother smiled seeing my enthusiasm. A week ago I told my parents about the Pod purchase and I also mentioned that I bought it to play a new game I really like.

Agreeing with mother, my dad also nodded his head and once again indulged himself in the newspaper.

~~~~

Entering my room I climbed into the VR Pod and closed its door. My heartbeat was beating faster and faster with every second.

Putting on the headgear I quickly navigated myself towards the new game section.

[ Fragmental < Download Now > ]

Using my trembling hands I managed to download the game.

[ Do you want to launch < Fragmental > ? ]

[ < Yes > / < No > ]

Pressing the Yes button I felt my consciousness slip before everything around me turned dark.

Blink... Blink...

I was conscious again.

Looking around I noticed that I was levitating in the nothingness. The only thing in the empty and black space was a blue hologram hovering before my eyes.

< Choose your Race >

~ Human

~ Orc

~ Elf

~ Fairy

~ Dwarf

~ Demon

These races were the main ones. Later on, one can evolve his race, but that is only a few years later after the game's update.

In [ Fragmental ] once you choose your race there is no going back. If you want to change your race you'll need to delete your account and start from the beginning. A lot of players choose their race without batting an eye and are forced to delete their accounts later on in the game.

Every race has its unique starting points, different NPCs and quests. Some races can't interact with NPCs from another race. For example demons:

They were regarded as the worst race, because they couldn't interact with most of the NPCs from the other races. Their starting point was harsh and full of powerful enemies. Most players recreated their Demon accounts, because of a rough start the race had.

In my previous life the most popular race was Elves, because they had the most quests and a pretty easy starting point. They also had one of the strongest Sub-class in the game - Lightning Mage. In my previous lifetime the strongest player was a Lightning Mage who could use lightning bolts to toast her enemies.

Humans were regarded as the second strongest race, because of how many hidden quests they had.

Completing a hidden quest or defeating a hidden boss could grant you an item, skill or a spell that is exclusively for you.

All the players have a limited capacity of 10 Passive Skills, 10 Active Skills and 10 Spells. A player can't have more than that or else it would be a clusterfuck.

Fairies have an easy start and a relaxing gameplay. Their race is considered a support race and fairies are usually Healers.

Orcs are similar to humans, but they have a rougher starting point. They are very strong in the mid game, but they are easily defeated in the early stages of the game.

Dwarfs are usually picked by people that want to gather wealth fast. They become blacksmiths and quickly gain wealth by making weapons.

Thinking about all the options, I smirked and chose the Demon race.

" They don't even know "

Some races have Unique Sub-classes that are not revealed until someone discovers them. I remember seeing a Forum post about the Unique demon Sub-class which was accidentally discovered by a rotten water. The post showcased the class's Stats and its exclusive skills. I still remember shedding tears seeing how powerful the class was.

Unique class is a class that only one player can have. Unfair, but broken!

In my past life I was a demon as well. I was forced to choose the Devourer class that exceeds in speed and stealth. It was good for collecting information and moving from place to place quickly Unfortunately it was boring as hell.

< Choose your Class >

~ Mage

~ Devourer

Clicking on the Mage class another set of options appeared.

< Choose your Sub-class >

→ Dark Mage

→ Dark Priest

Dark mage Sub-class has weak physical defense, but has decent Magical Damage and Mana.

Dark Priest is a Sub-class that specializes in curses. It lacks Magical and Physical defense in return for the strong Magical Damage.

Player can try to balance his Stats, but it's not recommended, because it's not efficient.

Levitating above the nothingness I didn't move my hand. To get the hidden class one has to be a Demon Mage and have no Sub-class. After a minute of waiting another hologram appeared.

< Warning ! >

< You haven't chosen your Sub-class >

< Are you sure you want to Proceed ? >

< Yes > / < No >

Pressing < Yes > everything around me turned white.

< Welcome to Fragmental >

A robotic voice echoed in my head before I appeared in the middle of a spooky village.

====

[ Fragmental ] is a game built around the Level Up system. Leveling up gives you SP ( Status Points ) which you can use to enhance your Stats.

The game also has death penalties.

If you die you'll lose 2 Levels. If your account isn't above Level 3 you'll have to create a new account. Dying while fighting against another player will result in you dropping 50 % of your Inventory.

Starting villages are the safe zones in which people can't attack each other. In other cities you are allowed to attack another player, but if an NPC sees you, you'll be jailed.