Joey quickly began to work on customizing his avatar. His appearance is mostly in normal clothing with a slight tint of futurism put into it, with some armor showing off from his chest, shoulders and knees. Once he was finished, he selected the Warrior class, then he would proceed to spawn into Kimura City. His eyes slowly widened, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Kimura City was a breathtaking blend of traditional Japanese architecture and cutting-edge technology. Neon signs flashed and buzzed above bustling streets filled with NPCs and players. Towering skyscrapers loomed overhead, their reflective surfaces glinting in the artificial light. Joey took a deep breath, taking in the vibrant cityscape around him. "Wow," he whispered, awestruck by the sheer scale and detail of the virtual metropolis.
"Joey! Over here!" a voice called out. Joey turned to see Dallas waving at him from across the street. Dallas's avatar was sleek and agile, perfect for his Rogue class. He wore dark, stealthy clothing that allowed him to blend into the shadows effortlessly.
"Dallas! Man, this place is incredible. Can you believe it?" He asked his friend.
"I know, right? It’s like stepping into a different world. Let’s explore a bit while we wait for Jr and Zane." Joey nodded his head in agreement as the two began to wonder through the vibrant streets of Kimura City.
The two friends began to wander through the streets of Kimura City, marveling at the sights and sounds. They passed by bustling markets, street performers, and holographic advertisements. The market district was alive with activity. Vendors shouted out their wares, from exotic pets to high-tech gadgets. Street performers entertained the crowd with acrobatic displays and holographic light shows. Joey went over to one of the vendors, seeing all sorts of items in the market.
"Look at all these items!" Joey looked over at Dallas, "I can’t wait to start earning some currency and buy some cool gear for my avatar!"
"Yeah, we should definitely hit up some quests and earn some Credits," Dallas suggested to his friend,"I heard there are some rare items you can only get from specific shops."
As they continued exploring, a holographic display appeared before them, detailing the basic controls and mechanics of the game. It explained how to accept quests, manage their inventory, and interact with other players and NPCs.
"This is pretty straightforward. Let’s see if we can find a quest to get us started," Joey suggested.
Dallas lightly nodded his head, "Agreed. How about we check out that quest board over there?" He pointed at the board right across from them near the park. Joey nodded his head and they began to walk to the board.
The quest board was a digital screen filled with different missions and tasks. Each quest had a brief description, along with rewards and difficulty ratings. "Here’s one that looks interesting. ‘Help the merchant in the market district fend off some thugs.’ It’s a beginner-level quest with decent rewards."
"Sounds perfect. Let’s accept it and get started." Joey smiled as Dallas began to accept the quest.
In a dimly lit alley, a group of Yakuza thugs surrounded a trembling merchant. Their menacing tattoos and sharp suits made them stand out against the bustling market backdrop.
Joey: "Hey! Leave him alone!" He called out to the Yakuza thugs. The leader turned to the two and scoffed a bit,"This is none of your business, kid."
"Think again. We’re making it our business." Dallas said before he quickly slipped into the shadows. Some of the guys began to look around, trying to find him, "Damn it! Where did he go?!" One of the thugs yelled out.
Joey would pull out his katana as some of the thugs began to charge at him. He would engage the thugs head-on, blocking and countering their attacks with skill and strength.
With the Yakuza defeated, the grateful merchant handed them a pouch of Credits and a rare item. "Thank you so much! Please, take this as a token of my gratitude." Said the Merchant.
"No problem! Glad we could help!" Joey said before he and Dallas left the alleyway.
Jr and Zane appeared at the entrance of the market district, their avatars looking ready for action. Jr's robes flowed with magical energy, while Zane’s armor gleamed under the city lights. Dallas and Joey quickly jogged over to them, "What took you guys?" Dallas asked them
"Sorry we’re late. Had a bit of trouble with the login." Jr explained
"But we’re here now. Ready to kick some more ass?" Zane asked them, to which Joey and Dallas nodded their heads. After doing a few more quests and fighting off Yakuza, they decided to head to the nearest shop to see if they could purchase anything. They headed to a nearby shop, where the walls were lined with gear and apparel. Holographic displays showcased the latest items, and NPC vendors were eager to make sales.
"I’ve been saving up for these daggers. They have an amazing critical hit rate!" Dallas looked at a set of daggers before buying them.
"These robes will increase my mana regeneration. Totally worth it." Jr says as he buys his new robes. He would immediately equip them, "So freaking cool!"
"This shield has better defense stats than anything I’ve seen so far. Gotta have it." Zane says as he went to buy it. The vendor would tell him he doesn't have enough Credits, "Damn it! I'm only under 100!"
Joey would walk outside after buying a new pair of chest armor The city lights began to dim, signaling the end of the in-game day. Joey’s HUD flashed a reminder: ‘Time to log off.’"
"Joey! Dinner's ready!" His mother called out to him. Joey turned to his friends, who were walking out of the store, "I'm sorry guys, I gotta log off and eat. I'll play with you guys later!"
Joey saved his progress and logged out. He took off the headset, the vibrant colors of Kimura City fading into the dim light of his bedroom. He sat the headset and controllers on his bed, amazed by what he had just played
That was awesome! I can’t wait to get back in and explore more of the game, Joey thought to himself. Joey stepped out of his room and headed towards the dining room. As he passed by his closet, something caught his eye. His backpack was neatly hung up, not tossed on the floor where he distinctly remembered leaving it.
That's weird...I don't remember hanging up my backpack..he thought to himself, confused to why it was hung up. He started to get a feeling that made him unease. He would shrug it off as he made it downstairs. Eh, mom probably hung it up..
As Joey took his seat at the table, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. But for now, he pushed it aside and tried to focus on dinner.
FUN FACTS:
Jr - honestly the most underrated character of the group. He's honestly my favorite character out of the group. He's always confident on what he does and he always manage to be cheerful on any situation, even if it's something like being trapped in a game where he could die at any moment. Trust me, you get to see some really cool shit with him later on. You'll see how powerful this guy can get as a Sage. Jr is Joey's closest friend and they like to talk about whatever (hence on why he asked Jr what class Evey could be back in Chapter 2). Jr mostly plays any game he gets his hands on, but he does like healers in games like Overwatch.
Jr in real life is more like a clone of Joey in real life. A fun dude to play with and really funny.
Kimura City - I originally had the game world exclusively at Kimura, but I decided to make it bigger and created the game world with more locations. The city is heavily inspired by movies, comics/manga and games where it is set in a futuristic setting. So things like Blade Runner, Cyberpunk 2077, No Guns Life, Nueva York from Spider-Man 2099, and many more were big inspirations for it. As for the Japanese style, I decided to add it because of No Guns Life (GO READ THAT SERIES ITS SO FREAKING GOOD). Kimura City has the most NPCs out of any location in the game, with the streets literally being crowded by people. It also has a few enemies types, like the Yakuza you saw in this chapter, some corrupt Police, and a special type of enemy you'll see later on named the Enhanced (also inspired by No Guns Life).
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Lifecode Zero: When the Game Becomes Reality
ActionA group of teen gamers were excited for a new VR game released by the most popular video game company in the world, SUMMIT. Although it seemed like a fun VR RPG with a large open world, Joey would slowly realize that something was off. After figurin...
