---
In the Metropolis City of the Metropolitan Alliance, one of the major alliances located close to the center of the world. A magnificent skyscraper stood towering in the middle of the city, reflecting the setting sun.
This was the headquarters of Drenstar Corp.
In a large hall located at the upper part of the building, monitors and other technological components occupied majority of the hall space. The clacking sounds of keyboard filled the air as every individual was busy with something.
It couldn't be helped, as today was the day of launch, nothing is allowed to go wrong.
In the middle of the room, a burly man in suit stood, arms crossed looking at the large monitors at the forefront.
He was clean-shaven, hair in low cut and a stern expression, giving him a military vibe. As he calmly watched the bustle, an employee suddenly turned towards him.
"Sir, A.I Nora has directly established connection to your office's communication system." The young man said.
"Thank you Andrew" the man replied in a deep voice and immediately entered an elevator, heading upwards.
"Why would they contact me on the first day of launch? Could there have been a problem somewhere?" Standing in the rising elevator, the man pondered silently.
Ding!
The elevator's arrival chime jolted him back and he stepped out.
The whole floor was actually a single office with different compartments, like a bar, pool lawn and even a gym.
Not wasting time, he immediately picked up a remote and pushed a button. Dark blinds descended and covered the whole office plunging it into darkness.
However, a dim lighting quickly alleviated the darkness and then a holographic figure appeared in the room.
"Greetings lady Nora" the man immediately greeted with a bow.
Surprisingly, it was the same elf from the council of elder gods.
"Sorry to bother you Grayson, but there is something we need you to do" Nora replied, her white sclera staring calmly.
"It's no bother at all, what does the council want me to do" the burly man called Grayson spoke calmly.
"We need you to monitor a player, his in-game name is 'Aegis Kaelos'. Just watch him and inform us if anything out of the ordinary happens. Do not interfere with his gameplay" Nora instructed in a calm tone.
"Understood" Grayson only gave a simple reply.
"And try to look into his information, family members, past, everything about him" she continued.
"I'll do that as soon as possible" Grayson replied to which Nora nodded and then disappeared.
"To think someone actually caught their attention on first login" Grayson mumbled as he deactivated the blinds.
"Aegis Kaelos is it, I look forward to seeing you." He said as he sat on a sofa and lit himself a cigar.
---
Meanwhile, in the vast digital expanse, a player by that name was about to experience the games spawning sequence in a rather.... unconventional way.
Disappearing from the council of elder gods, Freddy found himself free-falling from the sky.
A vast continent appeared in his view which he plunged headfirst towards.
"Really devs, dropping people out of the sky on a whim, really great and no f*cking parachutes too." he yelled in at no one in frustration.
Gazing at the fast approaching ground panic began to set in. He raised his arms before him, closed his eyes and braced himself for impact.
However, instead of the resounding and painful impact he was expecting, Freddy actually phased through the ground before slowly rising back out like on the gods floating platform.
"Very funny devs, I'm laughing." He thought sarcastically.
Raising his head to look around, he found himself in a medieval-style town.
The ground covered in cobblestone, buildings made of woods and stone and a fantasy vibe overall.
He was currently standing in the town square where all the new players respawn.
"Though I'm pissed, I must say the devs did a bloody good job on the realism" he thought in awe.
Feeling the wind caress his skin, Freddy closed his eyes and fell into deep thoughts.
"I wonder what that A.I Nora meant by those words? Is it a trick to get us to take the game more seriously? And that other One, sending me away in a hurry, as if they was something he didn't want me to know."
Bam!
However, his train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by someone violently bumping into his shoulders.
"Why don't you watch where you're going you little...." The other person who wasn't even looking at him immediately turned to scold Freddy but stopped halfway.
"It's you, you f*cking little piece of trash" the opponent shouted in surprise.
"Indeed, enemies do have a higher chance of meeting. I mean what are the odds?" Freddy muttered and sighed in sudden exhaustion and frustration.
Cause standing before him, was the green-haired young man from the store incident earlier.
He was with two other people, an assassin and a berserker. Above his character, his name, class and level were on display in green letters.
[Lord Awesomness
Level: 1
Class: Swordsman]
"You know him" the scrawny-looking assassin who went by the name of Double son asked in surprise.
Not bothering to answer his teammate, he immediately drew his rusty beginner sword "Great, I can now teach you the lesson you deserve."
"What do you think you're doing? put that away before the guard sees you, this is a safe zone." The chubby berserker, Grizzler, hurriedly spoke.
Freddy had already retreated some distance and took up a fighting stance.
As a gladiator, he was not allocated any starting weapon, except for some hand wraps wrapped around his hands from his fist up to his mid-forearm.
As if on cue, one of the guards at the side of the square immediately approached them.
"Fighting inside the town is prohibited, please wait until you are outside the town before fighting." The armored NPC guard spoke in a gruff voice.
Freddy immediately stood up straight to show his co-operation with the guard.
However, Lord Awesomness actually didn't withdraw and even took a step forward ready to attack.
"Return your sword to its sheath sir or I'll have to use force." The guard spoke in a threatening tone, his hand grabbing the hilt of his sword.
"Shut up, you piece of computer code." Lord Awesomness yelled at the guard and raised his sword to strike.
Sching! Clang!!
However to everyone's shock, the NPC in one smooth motion drew his sword and sent a horizontal slash at Lord Awesomness. Their swords collided and..
Whoosh! Booom!
Lord Awesomness was sent flying into a nearby wall.
Both Freddy and Lord Awesomness friends were shocked. It was then that they inspected the guard, and the result terrified them all.
[Hillburry Town Guard
Level: 15]