After they finished both their meals and the fourth round of drinks, Gab and co decided pay their tab and leave the establishment, as they didn’t want to be completely cooked before starting the game.

 

So, with their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders and distinctively rosey blushes on their cheeks, they headed off up the street towards their university accommodations.

 

“Hey, Gab,”, Maria suddenly piped up with a thoughtful expression on her face, “how much do you know about the game’s Character Creation options?”.

 

“Not much, I’m afraid,”, Gab admitted with a sigh, “the amount of accounts one can use was the first and last thing I checked before deciding it wasn’t even worth the hassle of buying an Opertis.”.

 

“Really?!”, Amalia asked in a surprised tone, “It’s not like you of all people to not even take a glance at the Class options that’re in store for players.”.

 

Gab simply gave a defeated chuckle over how well her friends knew her before answering. “What can I say, if I saw all the options whilst knowing I can only pick, I would probably shed tears of blood at the unfairness of it all.”.

 

“As strangely precious as that sounds,”, Elina laughed, “I think you can manage.”.

 

“…exactly how do you suppose I can “manage”, considering I can only choose between ,at least, seven classes ?”, Gab asked her friend with no small amount of skepticism.

 

Elina wiggled her eyebrows at her pouting friend in a way that screamed “I know something you don’t know.”.

 

“What if we told you that the direction you take isn’t determined only by Character Classes, but also by the specific Style you choose at the start?”.

 

“Style?”, Gab repeated slowly, not missing the capitalisation of that particular word, “What do you mean by that? As in “Play-style”?”.

 

Elina simply gave a smirk in response.

“That’s for us and the rest of the players to know, and for you to find out once you begin Character Creation.”.

 

“…you do know I can just simply find the answer to that dubious hint on the game forums right now, don’t you?”, Gab replied in kind.

 

“You’ve had months to check the forums and official sites for info on the game mechanics,”, Amalia succinctly pointed out, causing Gab to flinch, “At this point, what’s wrong with jumping in blind?”.

 

Before Gab can point out the many problems with going into the biggest online game of the century without any preliminary knowledge, Maria jumped into the conversation.

 

“Gab, whenever we play a campaign, does Doug ever give us solid information that we can use to plan ahead?”.

 

“No,” Gab said with zero hesitation, “that bastard only gives us the bare minimum amount of info, before springing a boss on us that requires very specific methods to defeat!”.

 

“But have we ever lost a single party member despite that?”.

 

Gab’s lips twitched, seeing where the curvaceous raven was going with this. “No, even though we got through those battles by the skin of our teeth.”.

 

“Exactly!”, Maria exclaimed whilst conveniently not hearing the last part, “Whilst preparation is usually key, you can still make do without it, especially in the early stages of a game. Plus, it’s not like you’re the type to plan on getting the top spot on all the leaderboards.”

 

At that last bit, Gab gave a little cough, considering Maria, and by extension Amalia and Elina, knew full well that she’s not typically a hyper competitive gamer. She’s just an RPG player that enjoys seeing how far she can the limits of both her character and the Class/es she’s using at any given time. 

 

Hell, one of the key factors in the defeat of Doug’s “jump scare” bosses was precisely this trait of hers.

 

“You know what, fuck it! I’ll jump into Arbitrium with a blindfold on,” she agreed, before wagging both of her index fingers at her friends, “but if I get KO’ed within the first two hours of the game because of something that is on the first page of the official site, all three of you owe me a drink each tomorrow.”.

 

“””Deal!”””, all three of her friends shouted affirmatively.

 

“Oh, speaking of the official site’s first page,” Amalia said, seeming to remember something important, “you have to make sure you’re fully clothed when you put your Causa on for the first time.”.

 

“Fully clothed?”, Gab asked, completely blindsided by this strange requirement.

 

“Oh yeah, that confused a lot of players, but they haven’t given a specific reason for that.”, Elina added, “Only that the consequences will be entirely on us if we don’t follow such a simple instruction.”.

 

“Don’t be undressed when putting your device on for the first time? Well, I suppose that’s all I really need to know before I start!” Gab laughed, with her friends joining in uproariously as they walk towards their near future.

 

Location: The Regiment Building, Darlington

 

It didn’t take long for Gab, Amalia, Elina and Maria to arrive at their place of residence for the duration of their time at USYD.

 

Despite the implications of its name, the building is a piece of highly modern architecture shaped in the form of a relatively narrow and jagged right-angled triangle, with dark metal and colourful sandstone seamlessly blending together.

 

It costs $338AUD p/w to stay, but considering the overall quality of the building and it’s proximity to several key locations such as Newtown, Redfern, Broadway and the university’s various faculties, it was well worth the price of admission.

 

None of the girls were stay on the same floor as each other, so they separated for the time being in favour of going to bed early that night. But not before promising to meet up for lunch tomorrow to share their stories and notes from their first eight hours of game time.

 

Even though Gab practically (actually) begged her friends to, at the very least, tell her what Player IDs and Classes they’ll be using IG, the three bastards simply smiled and refused to give her even that!

 

Then again, she has played enough D&D with all three of them to know that, unlike her, they each have a Class they’re dedicated to playing, even when they chose to multiclass.

 

So in the end, she simply choose to wait till the next day to see if her predictions are correct.

 

Considering she already had four beers and a heaped burger and chips late in the afternoon, Gab opted to skip going to the communal kitchen in favour of going straight to her room to finally crack open her early birthday gift in its entirety.

 

Normally, she would’ve long opened it by now, but her friends recommended that she wait until she was in the comfort of her own room before revealing all the staff and customers at the hotel that she was in possession of a gaming device worth over a hundred grand. Since she only tore open the topmost section of gift wrapping, it was still somewhat obscured.

 

But now, she finally has the chance to see all the goodies that came with the white box with black lettering.

 

After taking her keycard out of her worn leather wallet and inserting into the card reader, Gab finally re-entered her personal dorm room.

 

Like the other 619 rooms in the this particular student accommodation, it was a simple 10x10m single person room with a wardrobe cupboard, a mini fridge, desk and chair, a double bed and a single overhead shelf that is currently holding a few of her textbooks.

 

As well as a few thick notebooks containing at least 25% of her homebrew class ideas (the other 75% being contained on both her laptop’s hard drive and several 1 terabyte external hard drives).

 

After placing her backpack on the back of her chair, Gab sat down at the head of her bed, with with her Causa’s case in front of her.

 

As she was about to open it, Gab desperately hoped that her friends used their collective knowledge of her to have the most expensive birthday gift she’s ever received made in a way that suits her tastes, as opposed to something that’s specifically designed to make her vomit blood!

 

When she lifted up the lid, however, Gab couldn’t help but give a massive sigh of relief.

 

“Hah,” Gab laughed in amusement, before pulling the device out, “turns out those three bastards really do know what I like.”.

 

Given that Gab has a penchant for leather, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her Causa took the form of a black leather gauntlet, which included what looked like tightly coiled leather belts at each end with shiny silver buckles.

As if the engineers wanted to dissuade their customer from confusing the device with a similar accessory, there was an inbuilt touchscreen that was currently off.

Basically, it was an iPhone wristband’s sturdier and exponentially more advanced cousin.

 

Ok, so far so good, but how do I activate it?, Gab though as she took out a thin instruction manual that was originally lying underneath her gauntlet Causa.

 

“Hmm, what are these?”, she asked aloud as she noticed two cylinder-shaped metal containers imbedded in the final layer of the box, each with different coloured lids. The first container had a wheat yellow lid, whilst the other was more of an ocean blue.

 

Giving them both a quick shake, she heard the telltale sound of tablets being shaken in the containers interiors.

 

Noticing a label stuck on each on each container, she gave each of them a quick read, starting with the container with the wheat lid.

 

When she was finished reading, she was shocked.

 

“Wow, so these are some of the benefits that come with being a Causa user.”, Gab said quietly, giving them another read over to make sure that she didn’t misread the labels:

 

Name: Triticum Armiger (Wheat Bearer)

Tablet Type: Nutrient Supplement 

Description:

-Designed to ensure that our prized customers do not need to worry about maintaining their IRL meal consumption whilst focusing on achieving set objectives IG, the Triticium Armiger contains many necessary vitamins and minerals that will metabolise in accordance to the inputted time in which to user wishes to stay online.

-Although you may wish to to spend a maximum of 8-10 hours IG, we strongly advise that you take at least one tablet due to the Causa’s function of stimulating your physical body based on your physical activities IG, which necessitates a good amount of nutrients to acquire the best results.

Dosage: One pill for for every 24 hours IG

Amount per container: 50

Notice:

-These tablets are tailor made for the user of this device based in the DNA samples provided, so there is no chance suffering an allergic reaction.

-When there are less than 10 tablets remaining, please contact your local Novae Terrae representative to get a refill on your prescription.

 

Name: Aquariolus (Water Bearer)

Tablet Type: Hydration Supplement 

Description:

-To make sure that our prized customers maintain optimum hydration levels whilst IG, the Aquarilos tablet contains many fluids such as purified water, glucose, saline and various types of electrolytes that will metabolise in accordance to the inputted time in which to user wishes to stay online.

-Although you may wish to to spend a maximum of 8-10 hours IG, we strongly advise that you take at least one tablet due to the Causa’s function of stimulating your physical body based on your physical activities IG, which can potentially cause severe dehydration based on the activities performed.

Dosage: One pill for for every 24 hours IG

Amount per container: 50

Notice:

-These tablets are tailor made for the user of this device based in the DNA samples provided, so there is no chance suffering an allergic reaction.

-When there are less than 10 tablets remaining, please contact your local Novae Terrae representative to get a refill on your prescription.

 

Whilst quietly asking herself how much even on such tablet would cost in the common market, Gab carefully placed the obviously expensive tablet back in the box before quickly perusing the instruction manual.

 

“Really, I just need to slip it on my watch arm and viola, it’s on?”.

 

Remarking on the simplicity of the Causa’s activation method, Gab opted to just start the Causa up now as opposed to after she takes a shower.

 

After all, she has a distinct feeling that Novae Terrae wouldn’t put such an instruction on its official website simply for shock value.

 

Despite it appearing to be made almost entirely out of leather, Gab managed to easily slip her forearm into her Causa gauntlet without any sort of resistance.

 

As brought it up to eye level to get a closer look at the leather material, she was startled when the touchscreen suddenly booted up.

 

Even more so when she started to hear a robotic voice speaking directly into her fucking ear!

 

<NTGD-Causa #436c6173732043726166746572>

 

<Status: Activated>

 

<Unknown user detected>

 

<Initiating rudimentary biometric scan>

 

<Cross referencing user’s biometric signature with core DNA sequence>

 

<Calculating response: please wait>

 

<. . . . .>

 

<Result: DNA 100% match>

 

<User ID: Wander, Gabriella>

 

<Player ID: TBA>

 

<Player Server Region: Oceania>

 

<Welcome User>

 

<The servers for VRMMORPG [Arbitrium] will be opened at 00:00 AEST>

 

<Before server opening, you are allowed to initiate Character Creation for your IG avatar>

 

<Do you wish to use Character Creation?>

 

<Y/N>

 

Staring agape at the simplified “Yes or No” on her gauntlet’s inbuilt screen, she simply slipped it off without answering before letting out a breath that she was unknowingly holding.

 

“Holy fuck, I really need to give the developers’ customer service a call tomorrow to find out how in the fuck that just happened!”, Gab said under her breath, before shaking her head and grabbing her toiletries.

 

As much as she wants to see what the Character Creation has in store for her, she at least wanted have a nice, hot soak in the shower before then.

 

After spending a good amount of time fulfilling several hygiene obligations in the female communal bathroom, Gab came back to her bedroom almost fully recharged, ready to find out what single path the game has in store for her.

 

Checking to see if her blinds were completely covering her single window, Gab finally let her towel drop to the floor, showing what her tomboyish attire was hiding.

 

For the most part, Gab’s bare body could be described as “tight”. With a lean abdomen, lightly defined limb muscles and a tight arse, it gives the impression that whilst she’s not a gym junkie, she does at least exercise on a regular basis.

Her breasts, on the other hand, are a little more than a handful. 

A more than decent cup size of D, she has the second largest chest of her group, with Amalia and Elina’s respective cup sizes of CC and B+ coming close behind her.

However, her most distinctive feature whilst in a state of undress is a tattoo above her crotch that depicts a black and blue d20 die, an image that is synonymous with Dungeons and Dragons.

 

When her friends saw this particular tattoo when they used to get together for more “carnal” activities, they usually joked that Gab needs to constantly make Constitution saving throws whenever her partner at the time starts to pay attention to her lady parts.

 

Both Gab and her friends then found out firsthand exactly how true that was!

 

As she was putting on her jammies, noticed a bit of stubble growing around her vagina, which consequently reminded her how her friends managed to get her DNA!

 

“I need to get a specialised groomer for this, so shenanigans like that don’t happen again!”, Gab growled in annoyance.

 

Shaking the embarrassing incident from the forefront of her mind, Gab laid down on her bed in her cotton tank top and black boxers before slipping on her Causa.

 

After reading the instruction manual, “bedtime” and “game time” become the same as a result of Novae Terrae’s “deep dive” technology.

The device achieves this by transmitting an electric signal to the parts of the brain that governs sleep and dreaming via the central nervous system.

That way, instead of having the brain operating at full capacity and keeping the body in a state of stasis, it’s more akin to experiencing a lucid dream whilst the body is in a state of rest.

This has the additional benefit of letting the user wake up fully refreshed, as if they only experienced an ordinary REM sleep.

 

Remembering the two tablet containers in the Causa’s case, Gab quickly opened them and took out one of each tablet.

On the surface, her nutrient and hydration tablets looked like ordinary gel capsules, each having the same colour as the lids that kept them sealed up.

 

Since I skipped dinner and drank a fair bit earlier, I may as well take them anyway as a precaution, Gab thought to herself.

 

Before she chucked them in her mouth, she forlornly glanced up to look at her homebrew class notes, feeling slightly miserable that she can only choose a single path (class) to take into the game proper.

 

“Fucking hell, enough stalling Gab!”, she scolded herself whilst looking at the time, which reads 21:45pm, “You already made your choice to go into the game, so you may as well woman up and choose where to go from here on out.”.

 

Taping her Causa’s screen, she set the finish time for 07:00am the next morning. Nodding to herself, she then washed down her supplements with a glass of water that was sitting on her bedside table.

 

Lying down on her bed, Gab finally gave her Causa a single voice command, one that’ll signal the start of her online journey:

 

“Execute: Arbitrium!”.

 

<Acknowledged: Transferring Wander, Gabriella to Character Creation>

 

<Good luck, and may you not regret your choices>

 

Then there was darkness.

 

And then there was light.

 

As she started to open her eyes, Gab couldn’t help but marvel at how seamless the transfer before she finally fully took in the first space all players must go through before taking their first steps into the world of Arbitrium.

 

“…last time I checked, I was connected to a Novae Terrae Causa, not an Abstergo Animus!”.

 

Whilst that statement might give other players the impression that she’s insane for comparing Character Creation space to something out of an older video game franchise, and cause the developers to cough up profuse amounts of blood at the inference that they ripped off said franchise after all the work they have done, it was understandable for her to be momentarily confused.

 

Instead of either a monochromatic void or a mystical office area, what laid before her was a deathly still sea that glowed an inflorescent cyan, underneath a cloudy dark sky that seemed to burst with random flickers of colour, seemingly without any pre-set path.

 

Looking down to where she was currently lying, Gab jolted to her feet when she realised that she was directly on top of the said ocean.

 

And yet, her back felt completely dry, and the ocean seemed to have a similar consistency as an area covered with sand. Gab had a feeling that she could sink into this strange sea if she so wishes, but for now, it was holding her up.

 

After circling, only to find that there no distinctive structure or silhouette that she could walk towards, Gab took a moment to look down at her body, only to realise that it was covered in a strange, inky black smog that completely obscured her features, including the hands she brought up to her face.

 

After confirming that at the very least her vision wasn’t affected by said smog, Gab heaved a loud sigh.

 

“Well, I guess since I haven’t created my character yet, I technically don’t exist as of yet.”, Gab theorised as she gave the strange oceanic expanse another geez with the same result.

 

“But seriously, isn’t there supposed to be some cute fairy guide that’ll help me rectify my technical nonexistent?”.

 

~Weeellll, I myself am not a fairy, nor would I like to be called someone as asinine as “cute”, but I AM here to guide you~

 

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?”, Gab yelled, shocked by the playful, feminine voice that came seemingly out of nowhere!

 

~Me, of course.~

 

As soon as this mysterious entity gave Gab that non-answer, she started to feel something on her back that she only realised at that moment she hadn’t felt from the moment she found herself on top of this strange sea.

 

Wind.

 

Soft, gentle wind.

 

Glancing over her shoulder, Gab’s heart came to an abrupt stop.

 

“…wow, simply calling her “cute” actually would be an asinine thing to say.”, she murmured to herself.

 

Indeed it would be, for behind her was a beautiful woman who was seemingly floating above the very sea Gab herself stood on!

 

Even though she looked quite petite, and was wearing a large, green cloak with golden inlays that look like flowing winds that covered everything from the neck down, Gab could tell from the impressions that she was very curvaceous.

 

But, for now at least, that paled in comparison to the face that particular body belongs to.

Narrow yet soft facial bones that are covered by pale skin that seems to shimmer at certain points, a cute little button nose with what looks like a green jade nose stud embedded on her left nostril and long, vibrant neon green hair that seems to flow past her feet, strangely not flowing despite the sudden breeze.

But her strangest feature was the slightly familiar symbol that laid on her forehead just above her still closed eyes, which looked like two solid lines on top of a split line.

 

It was at that moment that this floating woman opened her eyes, solid green with no discernible iris or pupils that Gab could perceive.

 

Then, suddenly flashing a 1000 watt smile, the neon green-haired woman rose higher into the air, spreading her arms out in the process.

 

~Hello, Gabriella Wander, I am Aurula: The Facilitator of Air, the one tasked with guiding the Players from the Oceania Battle Zone.~

 

~And I am here to help facilitate your path. So, ready to make your choice?~a