Open - A Game that made her Reality

It was merely a story, a whisper in the wind...
That was what Flowing Willowwhistle, or Haley as she is known in the real world, thought. Sometimes while she was out buying the latest console game, or getting the crazy sales on Steam, the girl would hear a murmur, hushed talked about a game called Terrasphere. Initially Flowing laughed at the idea, it was a neat way of saying Earth is round and not flat, which somehow people in year 2027 still believed.
Flowing was never a fan of Virtual Reality Games(VRGs) no matter how amazing they got. Friends had tried to get to her to play the latest VRGs but to be shot down by half-hearted excuses like her glasses getting in the way or something. Flowing felt somewhat guilty, and sometimes left out of conversations whenever they delved into VR. However today was the day that, she experienced VR.
Walking into the store, she hears the murmurs again, and heads to the VR section, where the head gears are found to experience a world beyond your own. The girl had saved up, did part time work to earn this, and so she did, bring it over to the counter and then purchasing it. However the person working recognized her, seeing how she frequents the place and brought up some small talk.
"Hey kid, you bought the VR Head Gear but no games to go along? I mean there is plenty available here right now in stock!" The clerk points to the section. Flowing looked at her price tag, and then her cash on hand. The girl realized she brought more than she actually needed and she has no reason not to get one. Browsing through the isles, only to be disappointed. Returning to the clerk stationed, she politely asks, "Is there any game I can... Lose myself in? Like forget my troubles and experience the life of an adventurer and stuff like that?"
A raised eyebrow, but then a grin. The clerk reached into his pocket as if to grab something, but pulls nothing but a closed fist. Looking back at Flowing, he nods apologetically.
"Sorry kid tough luck, with the way of how games are these days with the lack of immersion stuff due to health concerns by the higher ups in the government, there is sadly no such available one like that," The clerk hands her purchase to her in a bag. Feeling more disappointed, the girl silently leaves with a wave goodbye.

Always take things with a grain of salt...
Flowing was surprised to see a thumb drive inside. There was no note or anything. Flowing guessed it was a freebie secretly given by the clerk as an apology. However the surprise came when she inserted it into her laptop. There was a file inside, an exe. file, with the name "Terrasphere" on it. Flowing could not believe it. The girl did not question it however. Luckily for her, her parents were too busy to give her any attention other than sending money to pay for her housing and living expenses. With a sigh, she slips the head gear on, and lays on her bed, ready to experience Terrasphere.

And thus Flowing Willowwhistle came to be...
Flowing found herself spawned in the forest, with the sound of activity nearby. After her whole character creation which, seemed all to real, she finds herself looking exactly like the avatar she made in the dark grey room. A gasp as she touched her hair and basically did a body survey. The clothes felt real and it was insane. Getting up, she sees a mark on her palm and it immediately projects an mirror for her to look at herself. It felt like an out of body kind of experience. The mirror disappears and she looks around.
"Where now..."​

 

Shit, shit, shit, this wasn't good!

Alric was running as fast as his legs could carry him through the forest without really thinking. Were they still chasing him? Judging from the howls that were growing louder by the second he didn't wanna check. He just had to keep moving.

Often he couldn't help but wonder how he'd end up in situations like this. Always chasing this rumor and that story he had heard at the local tavern, it should've been easy to see why he was always in danger. Danger was just something that came with the territory of living in this world. At least he had the luxury of being able to log out though. Maybe that's why he took more risks here; for him and so many others this was just a game. For this world’s inhabitants though everything was real. So when he had heard about a nearby village that was being tormented by a group of beasts in the area he gladly volunteered to help. Sure, the pack dire wolves chasing him could tear his body to shreds if they managed to catch up, but he'd just respawn at the altar afterward. The same couldn't be said for the NPCs who had to risk permanent death in the face of these kinds of threats.

Maybe this was a mistake though. The wolves weren't particularly strong, but there were enough of them to make it a problem for one person who stumbles into their den. For now he'd just have to settle for leading them away.

---​

Ahead he could see a woman standing on the path. Someone he couldn't just leave seeing as how he was the one who led the monster's right to her. Skidding to a stop in front of her, he bent down to rest his hands on both knees. His breathing was heavy now, but he still managed to compose himself enough to try and get the point across.

“It's… Not safe… We have to move.”

In the distance he could hear the howls start up again. Seemed they wouldn't be giving up any time soon. Alric grit his teeth as he looked in the sound’s direction, knowing he couldn't stay here for much longer.

 

Flowing inspected herself more thoroughly in the silence, till she got her bearings right, the girl is not leaving this spot. Everything she wants from the character creation was on point, the nice hat, beautiful soft hair, and the fancy outfit which gave both a fancy and formal look of a prince, maintained the femininity and grace of a princess and kept it suitable for battle like a duelist. Flowing then noticed things she did not, like a tambourine on her waist, and a sheathed blade. Before she could take the blade out however, a man appeared before her.

Flowing wanted to question how is he and why he looks like he ran a marathon, however she was silenced by how he mentioned it being not safe and that they needed to move. The urgency was emphasized by the howls in the distance. He was probably the sound of activity from before. Looking back at the panting man, Flowing had only one thing in her head. This was probably an NPC(Non-Playable Character) and that this was all a tutorial. Flowing rubbed the guy's back and took her blade out.

"Hey, rest up... If anything, two fighters are better than one right?" Flowing smiled before pulling her blade out, and pointed it towards the sounds. It was a simple sword, the blade shines in the light of the forest. Somehow she felt rather okay doing such an action, she watched enough shows to wield a blade, and observed video games. How hard can it be? Then she saw something, it was Assist or Free mode. The girl had no time to make such a decision, and just went for Free Mode. The sword's weight sudden became apparently, but it was no deterrence to her right now, right now she had to fight along side this man, whoever he may actually be. Flowing hoped he agreed to fight, or she is going to struggle.​

 

Did he hear her correctly; what kind of person would react like that in this kind of situation? A dumbfounded stare was plastered across his face for a moment while his brain tried to process what was going on. It would be just his luck he'd run into the one player in this game who had a death wish.

“Um… What part of that sounded like I was looking for a fight-?”

But before she could answer it was too late. Three wolves converged on their location and formed a triangle around the pair. It looked like he didn't have much of a choice now. Unsheathing his own sword he dropped into a defensive stance; his eyes scanning all of the monster's movements. When one finally lunged at him he used the blade to catch a set of chomping jaws before knocking the beast away and following up to cut through its neck. It fell to the ground in a puddle of blood and without hesitation Alric moved on to engage the next one. He only spared a quick glance at the woman and offered a few words.

“Hope you can handle one on your own!”