This story is not properly edited, only the Prologue and chapter one is edited, please feel free to comment on mistakes. English is my second language, the first being Swedish.

The stone walls of the cave grew taller as he shrank, his senses growing sharper, his body twisted as it took on a new form, his new paws rested upon the cold, damp, and uneven floor as he shifted his focus onto getting out of the cave. He turned around, the smell of fresh air from the hole above him, the one he had fallen from an hour ago, grabbing his attention. His name was Hiro Gustavsson, and he was an 18 year old high school student.

Hiro was five feet and nine inches tall, had short messy black hair that barely reached past his ears, crystal blue eyes, and a plain face. He was the type of person that acted studious, but on the inside, was a true gamer. He lived with his little sister, Kira, and his parents. His mother was Japanese, and lovingly called Sakura by friends and family, while his father was Swedish and went by Henrik. He had lived in Japan until he turned 16, when he then moved to Gothenburg, Sweden. As a result, he was fluent in both Japanese and Swedish. In Japan, everyone thought he had a weird last name, but he didn’t get bullied because of it, in fact, he was actually quite popular because of it.

It was 2027, and the first virtual reality gear had been released. People could finally talk to each other face-to-face without having to travel long distances. The gaming industry exploded, with games being made left and right, but the most popular was the first, Imagine Online. Players are given a unique freedom, with any build or class possible, with the amazing bonus of custom magic. Skills could be shared through skill scrolls, with no default ones in existence, players were forced to become creative. The only things players can’t do was edit the terrain, create an NPC, create a new race, or change the pain awareness past 70%. Unlike older 3D and 2D games, there was no background music, focusing more on realism.

Hiro had been standing in front of the gaming store in his neighborhood, with his wallet securely in his right hand. The Swedish summer was perfect for standing in line, and also perfect in that the game was released on his summer holiday. It was about 20 minutes before he could enter the store to get his new virtual gear and Imagine Online. It being almost noon, and the Swedish servers would open in roughly two hours, together with the international servers. So far, there had only been servers open in Japan, Korea, China, and North America.

Hiro had researched the game beforehand and knew the basics, but it wouldn’t affect his gameplay. He knew that there was seven races in total: humans, beasts, elemental spirits, elves, fairies, dwarfs and celestians. There was only one type of humans, elves, fairies, or dwarfs, while there was different species for the others. Beasts could range from vampires to werewolves, elemental spirits varied depending on the element, and celestians differed based on what god they served.

The world in Imagine Online took place in Almeria, and was split into two continents, the North and the South. It had five countries: Mior, Lativase, Pestrick, Loin, and Shion. Mior was the land of the dwarfs, Lativase was home to the elves, Pestrick gave birth to the beasts, Loin belonged to the humans, and Shion housed the celestials, elemental spirits, and the fairies. Even though each race was based in their own country, it was possible to start in any country’s capital.

Hiro arrived at the counter 30 minutes later and bought his virtual gear, after stepping aside to an odd changing room. He was then asked take off his clothes, so that they could do a full body scan. Embarrassed, he stood there, nude, while being scanned by a camera. Afterwards, as he stepped out onto the sidewalk with his clothes back on of course, he suddenly felt very hungry and hurriedly made his way home.

It was near two o’clock when he was finally was able to start up Imagine Online. It gave him a notification, stating that the servers would open at exactly 2:00 p.m. He started up the gear and simply said, “Imagine.”

His world turned white.

Big credit to Scyanicat from Wattpad who edited this for me. If she ever start to publish her own story on wattpad please give her alot of support!

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