I went down to the basement with the briefcase in my hand. It used to be a biochemical laboratory that I often came down here to watch my mom and dad working. As time passed, it was modified for technological reverse engineering uses.

I stood in front of the door, waiting for the identification process.

Upon hearing a beep sound, the door opened following by loud noises generated by large cooling fans. It was a good thing the noise cancellation was installed, or else it would be hard for me to stay focused.

When the lab lighted up, I entered a sterilization chamber. Although I hadn't done jobs related to the chemical field much, I didn't shut this room down. I loved this nostalgic feeling.

After placing the sphere inside the vacuum chamber of the bosons scanner, I turned the computer on to start working.

It shouldn't be hard.

After 3 hours of running analysis, I found myself in despair putting my head on the desk.

Nothing... It was a solid obsidian sphere with a small percentage of magnetite.

There shouldn't have anything wrong with my speculation. The mass, particle arrangement, photo-scatterophy, and everything— everything was telling me that this thing was just pure solid fucking obsidian!

Fuck it. I should do this again some other time.

'Pochi, open Lime' I ordered Pochi to open a chat application.

[Understood.]

A transparent panel appeared in front of me. I tapped on the first group chat on the list.

3 Good Citizens and 1 Criminal (Group)

Canary: Hey guys! I'll start playing GGQ soon ^^

Peter: Isn't it too late? We almost reach this patch level cap

Remy: Yay... congrats.  ( ´_`)

Walter: If you're going to ask for help dream it noob.

Were they really my friends? And since when the group name was changed.

Canary: B-but I'm a newbieeee~ I haven't played a Full-dive VR game before. Can you guys help me?

Remy: Soz, my schedule is full.

Canary: @Remy What are you talking about? The game can be played while sleeping, right?

Peter: She's a celebrity in the game too.

Peter: Walter's and my guild are busy preparing for the tournament. I'll be able to help you in the next 2 months, around 2 years in-game time.

Canary: Wow, isn't the game that was released before has like, 8 times acceleration? 

Walter: WTF CANARY! LMAO! Where have you been?

Canary: I should read more news.

Canary: Also, fuck you, Walter. I'll go to sleep. ( #` ￢´#)

After sending a pouting kaomoji, I swiped the chat window away and it disappeared afterward.

I met them on the freshman drinking day. We weren't in the same major, but the seniors wanted everyone to sit next to a stranger.

At the time that everyone was drunk, Peter started talking about money. The conversation escalated into a bet. Betting who was going to earn the most during 4 years of university life. Of course in the second and third year, I was in the first place. After that? My life went downhill. Maybe it was karma, even though I didn't believe in it.

The day after tomorrow would be a holiday. I would be able to play the game to my heart content.

***

Finally, today's work had ended.

While I was working, I looked at new player guides on the internet— mainly NewTube and Raddish. Honestly, it wasn't much different from doing an all-nighter before taking an exam. Although I like doing research, this was too much. In the end, I only remembered general information about the game.

Gaia Grand Quest wasn't a typical MMORPG— no class system, no combat assistance, no inventory system, and no status allocation system. To summarize, the developers tried to meet halfway between the real world and virtual reality.

Players were free to choose what they want to be, and there was no limit to how many occupations they could be.— Without combat assistance, players had to execute their actions correctly to use a skill. On the other hand, it allowed players to create their own skills.

Because of this, player builds were diverse and unique, but the game was also unforgiving for casual players. 

It was hard to use skills and make a character strong. No wonder that GGQ pro players were rich. They weren't much different from MMA fighters and GGQ pro players.

Spica66

For readers to understand what's going on in-combat, I'll use "Skill Name" when someone says out loud, and <Skill Name> when someone uses a skill that the protagonist recognizes/notices or when she uses a skill herself. If there's no skill name, it means Canary doesn't know or recognize the skill.

Ping ping ping!

I got a call from Gaia Delivery Service.

"Hello?"

[Hello, Miss Canary. We've arrived. I rang a bell but no one's in the house.]

Ah shit! I forgot that delivery and installation were today. It seemed they arrived early.

"Oh! Sorry. I just got off work. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

[Okay]

I hang up the call and quickly headed home.

***

Umu! Everything looked great!

After I loaded several types of liquid, plus oxygen into the machine, it was ready to be used. Those liquids are water, fructose, body chemical and neural stabilizer, sterilizer for cleaning capsule chamber and syringe's needles, antibiotic, tranquilizer,  and morphine. 

This thing is basically a Full-dive VR capsule combined with the medical emergency capsule. Users didn't have to worry much in case of an emergency. I was a little concerned about morphine. To what extent did it has to use opioid?

After I double-checked if I put those liquids in the right places, it was time to head into the game.

I changed into a nightshirt. It would be better to wear something more comfortable. Then I inserted the ID card, turned the switch on.

The LED light changed to green meant the device was ready to use. I hopped into the capsule. Inside was more comfortable than I thought.

The capsule closed. 

[Welcome. This is your first time using Hyper-realistic Virtual Reality. Please stay still and close your eyes while the system scans your body]

The synthetic voice echoed in the chamber. I followed its instruction. I could feel the heat and light on my entire body. 

[Scanning complete. Miss Canary Rota, do you want to bind ID card A14482? Gaia ID cannot be unbound after the change.]

"Alright."

It knew my name. Probably linked with a citizen database or something.

[Binding completed. Do you wish to enter the game?]

"Yes."

[Soon you will enter the REMS state. The next time you use HRVR, please say "login" to start playing the game.]

The consciousness is fading. There was no doubt it was caused by a tranquilizer. This was my first time that I was forced to sleep. My eyelids were trying hard to fight against drowsines. Eventually, I lost in the end.

***

I woke up in the white room and see a naked girl standing in front of me. She has black long hair and a pair of amber eyes. The overall face structure wasn't half bad, but her eyes looked a bit fierce and unfriendly with dark circles around them and high outer rims. Yep, that was me in the mirror.

Even though the raccoon eyes weren't that dark, it was considered noticeable. Had I slept too little? I should get rid of these in real life. Any skin-lightening would do, I thought.

I touched the dark circle on my lower eyelid instinctively.

There was no difference between touching in real life and in-game.  

[This is the character creation process. You can freely adjust your hairstyle. Other parameters are limited to 20% different from the original appearance.]

And what did it mean by 20%?  I should forget about it.

Three system panels appeared in front of me. I guessed this was similar to a beauty app, but I wasn't a fan of it. Even though I used cosmetics, I only applied them moderately to make me look less zombie.

Let's get it done.

I only removed raccoon eyes and made my hair shorter. I always wanted to try shorter hair. At first, I was hesitating about how short it should be. At last, I chose medium length bob with my bangs remained the same.

It would be weird to adjust the height and body build. It would feel like I was using someone else body.

After that, I pressed proceed on the panel.

[Please choose your outfit.]

***

Geez. I was happy for a moment. I thought that there would be cool or cute looking clothes. But all of them! Literally, thousand were similar and plain.

Right now I looked like a weak huntress in a fantasy world. This was the best I could find. There were ones that made you looked like a beggar, old villager, farmer's daughter, or poor merchant. Who designed these clothes!?

[Please agree to Gaia Grand Quest's terms of service, privacy policy, and end-user license agreement. They will be sent to your UPD.]

New panels popped up. The things most people would skip.

I tried to skim over. However, after I saw how long it took to finish, I gave up. What could go wrong with ignoring these things, right? Of course, I will skip and read them later. For now, I should play the game first.

Accepted all and confirmed~.

[Please enter your character name. The name doesn't have to be unique.]

Without thinking, I typed "Pandora".

It was cringe and sounded chuuni, but I didn't have any better name at the moment. At the time that I started making Shenzhen products, my eight-grader syndrome was at the peak. The inspiration behind the alias was actually because I felt like reverse engineering was pretty much the same as opening Pandora's box. 

[Your name is registered as Pandora. Before you start, do you have any inquiries regarding Gaia Grand Quest?]

"I do. GGQ has only one global server, do players have a communication barrier because of languages? Are they using English as a primary language?"

[You're an outlander who traveled to Gaia.— All languages on Earth will be translated into the native language, Gaian.]

Translated or not, there wouldn't be a problem. After the third world war, almost every non-English speaking country changed their language to English, leaving their native language as an official language used by their governments. 

Actually, there might be a problem when they talked back in their native.

The system stayed silent. I guessed it waited for me to ask more questions.

"I'm done. Send me into the game."

[Character creation completed]

[Welcome to Gaia Grand Quest. I hope you have a wonderful adventure in Gaia Grand Quest—]

***

The view shifted to an open sky. I was standing on a stone altar in the middle of some kind of military camp. 

Welcome to Outlander's Training Camp!

Right in front of the altar, there was a banner with a big welcome message.

I looked at the top left corner of my sight. There was a health bar floating.

Pandora

HP: 7/7

"Greeting outlander! I am Senior knight Viktor Selvanite. We have received a mission to train new outlanders. Here we have combat and magic training! We will allow you to leave once you complete either of these."

Yep, he had the same energy as the banner.

At glance, Viktor looked like a rowdy old knight with a huge body.

[You received a quest]

___

Happy Training Camp! (Tutorial Quest)

Difficulty: F-D

Clear Condition:

• Complete a quest combat training or magic training. (0/1)
• Reach LVL 5. (1/5)

Or

• Escape

Or

• Win a duel with senior knight Viktor.

Minimum rewards:

• Training: 100 exp, 50 Copper, and 1 Normal Weapon
• Escape: 20 exp.
• Duel: 100 exp.

Failure:

• Training: -
• Escape: Increasing surveillance.
• Duel: Death and increasing surveillance.

The Alfedel Kingdom sent their troop to train outlanders, to increase outlanders' chance of survival in this cruel world. Once the player completes the training they can leave this place.

You have options to escape or fight with them. On death, you will respawn in the training camp and the knights and squires will keep an eye on you.

___

As the knight approached, he gave me a quest.

There were multiple ways to clear the quest. Also, the word "Happy" was quite suspicious. 

"What do you think missy? Are you interested in swordsmanship? magic? archery?" 

"... Can I look around first?"

"Hahaha! Sure, sure.—  Don't think of running away!"

Was that a threat? I quickly walked away from Viktor. His voice was loud enough to be heard from 30 meters away.

I didn't have a reason to escape. Training is also beneficial, more importantly, you would get more rewards from completing the quest from training.

The camp was divided into two areas— combat training, and magic training. I was most likely going for magic training, but I wanted to take a look at the combat training first.

Spica66

 

Terms you may not know:

• MMA: Mixed martial arts.
• REMS: Not a blue hair maid. REMS stands for rapid eye movement sleep. It's a sleeping stage where dreams occur.
• Shenzhen Products: Chinese copy product, no offense.
• Chuunibyou: “So our paths have finally crossed at last.”,
  "Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark,
  I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson.
  The time of awakening cometh.
  Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary,
  appear now as an intangible distortion!
  I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force:
  a destructive force without equal!
  Return all creation to cinders,
  and come from the abyss!
  Explosion!"
  Yep... Those kinds of delusions.