Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

[The neural scan indicated that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account or transfer an account from another game? YES/NO.]

Seeing this message appear before him, Klaus smiled. He had read a few posts in online forums about this, but apparently, most new players just ignored this screen. All because most didn't understand what of a benefit of transferring an account was, and since most of the players were generally attached to their original game accounts.

"So it was true. If I am right about it, if I transfer an account I will get some bonuses on random class choice... Maybe I should try that?" Klaus Park spoke to himself and clicked YES.

His hopes were low of finding some of the old games he played among the available options, and he couldn't remember the login and password for most of his accounts.

The semi-transparent screen in front of him expanded when touched, displaying dozens of famous game companies, many of which Klaus Park didn't even recognize; after all, he had been away from the gaming world for seven years.

He just ran his eye over the screen quickly, and just as he was about to click the X at the top to close the window, he saw something familiar: a logo of a fist on fire. Klaus' eyes went wide, and he scratched them to ensure he wasn't hallucinating.

"No, it's definitely the Myth2 logo." His gaze turned grim, and the expression on his face serious. Immediately he clicked the flaming fist.

LOGIN and PASSWORD fields appeared for him to fill in. Klaus Park hesitantly filled them in, then clicked CONFIRM.

[MYTH2 game account transfer to RISE ONLINE has been completed.]

The man was dumbfounded that the account data was correct and that there really was an old game available for the account transfer, as well as stunned to hear the notice that authorized the transfer, confirming that it was not a bug.

[Do you wish to continue with the character name "Kaizen"?]

Kaizen is a word of Japanese origin meaning change for the better and continuous improvement. This was Klaus Mark's professional name in Myth2, which for him was like a way of reminding himself to always be evolving, becoming one percent better than the day before.

Klaus Park this time did not hesitate and replied: "Yes!"

[In Rise Online, there are one hundred races. You can choose from the ten primary races: human, Oni, Elf, Draconoid...]

"Human!" He didn't even wait for the voice to finish mentioning all the races.

[Select your gender between male and female.]

"Male!"

[You can customize your appearan...]

"I want it the way I am."

[The character "Kaizen" of the human race has been successfully created. In Rise Online you are free to evolve as you choose. Your attributes and Class will be determined as you play].

[Connecting to the world server, please wait...]

Rise Online was the first virtual reality game to successfully connect all players in the world in a single server, with an extraordinary data array connected by hundreds of satellites and built-in translation software for the world's most spoken languages. It was these kinds of details that excited Klaus Park so much that he came out of retirement from gaming, at least temporarily.

[Welcome to Rise Online! You have randomly appeared in the Starting City of Holinda].

Upon being warned by the voice in his head and the floating message in front of his chest, Klaus raised his head.

In front of him was a fountain that gushed crystal clear water upwards. The water was so realistic that Klaus could see no difference from reality. The way each drop that splashed from the fountain fell on top of the rest of the water and blended showed a graphic rendering ability far beyond anything Klaus Park had ever played in his life.

Not only the visuals but also the sound of the game was surreal. Klaus could hear a clatter of voices in the square where he spawned and the sound of the gushing fountain, the birds in the sky, the cool breeze of the sunny city, and everything around him.

"Ow!"

Klaus Park was faced with the sight of countless characters, users, and NPCs. For a moment, he thought he was in the middle of Times Square.

"This is amazing!"

Of course, Klaus Park was dumbfounded by what his eyes were seeing. The graphics of Rise Online were even more overwhelming in person than by Stream or videos.

Curious, he looked down at his legs, lifted his right foot, and stepped firmly onto the ground. Thus, he could feel his muscles twitching and the solidity of the ground.

The people passing by him in that busy square could not contain their laughter.

"Look, a Noob. The scenes of their arrivals are always so funny."

"I can bet he never played a VR game before."

"Hey, buddy! You can walk, you know! Hahaha!"

Several other people made mean comments about Klaus Park, but he didn't mind any of them. He grew up playing online games and was used to all kinds of behavior coming from players.

Klaus Park was adapting to the consistency of his senses using NeuroGear. Everything was exactly the same as reality; however, the city looked a little strange with most people wearing armor, but there were also those in casual clothes like Klaus, who was wearing only a black shirt and jeans.

*Slap*

Klaus Park suddenly slapped both hands hard on his cheeks, startling the people who were mocking him. "Okay, the graphics in this game are amazing, but what makes a game fun is not the graphics, but the gameplay. I have to test as much of the gameplay as possible before I make a refund."

As a newcomer to Rise Online, Klaus Park was stuck in this starting town until he reached level 3, the minimum level needed to ascend and gain a Random Class.

To level up, you need to get XP, and most newbies look for simple jobs to get this; after all, there are no monsters inside the cities. Some people take simple quests or dedicate themselves to learning some skill, such as fencing, archery, blacksmithing, cooking, and so on.

Rise Online prided itself on its flexibility and virtually unrestricted freedom.

The town squares were crowded with merchant users and many adventure-hungry groups being formed non-stop at every minute. Klaus Park was not interested in making friends yet, so he walked to the Training Center to test the battle gameplay.

Like every beginner, he was given a map of the initial city he was placed in so he didn't get lost. However, when Klaus Park got close enough to the Training Center, he noticed a large crowd of people, and suddenly the map screen turned into a warning screen.

[Caution! You have just entered an area where a story event is taking place].