God, she was so hot. I wished I could be that pretty—long hair never fell that gracefully on me no matter how much time I spent on it. I stared at the elf girl, with her perfect ivory skin and long silver hair.
'The new quest NPC Perona Aerel makes an appearance with the launch of Lucidia Online VR!' the screen read. I just stared, halted in front of the massive LED display on the side of the skyscraper.
It was late at night now, in Forest Brooke City. Honestly, the name itself was kind of ironic, since there was no forest nor brook within 35 miles of Forest Brooke.
Windows winked like flashlights being turned off, while massive neon screen displays advertised brands, games and all sorts of things like magical lights in a mystical forest of steel and glass.
The myriad of lights reflected on my blouse and hair. I tugged my medical coat tighter around my chest, suddenly aware of how thin the blouse felt against my skin.
Most businesses in Forest Brooke ran 24/7 and the city was constantly alight—the late-night work culture here was crazy.
Again, I stared at the animated elvish woman sitting down on a forest log. Her clothes were simple; just a white lace-up shirt with frills and black trousers, while leather armour hugged her frame. A black cloak hung around her shoulders. An osprey stared at her curiously as she held it by the talons with her falconry glove.
The shirt was left lazily unlaced, only half done up.
I almost fell to tears. If Perona were an idol in real life, I'd stan her to no end.
Such a goddess. I sighed.
The game being advertised was Lucidia Online, one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world. It had quickly evolved from a small niche to an overwhelming phenom.
It was based in a fantasy medieval period with monsters, swords, and magic, typical of what you'd see from any regular MMORPG. It had epic quests, dungeons, raids, guilds... everything that you could want out of something like it.
However, Lucidia Online shot high above its massive pool of competitors with its absurdly high quality—everything was so well made that it simply drowned out others in its field.
That didn't stop haters from hating, of course, but the game came pretty darn close to perfect reviews.
I hadn't had much experience playing, and what experience I did have was limited to when I used to play on and off the PC version so many years ago.
Now? I barely had enough time to eat and go home from work. So many days I just stayed at work outright instead of going home. My makeup bag had practically become part of my locker at this point. The stress, the burnout… it all made me want to scream.
I sighed and admired Perona's figure as well as the graphics of the game. Not only was Perona beautiful, the forest and everything was animated amazingly well, almost to the point of uncanny realism.
I could almost feel the forest breeze through the screen, hear the whispering of the leaves and hear Perona's graceful laugh…
I wonder… would playing a game again take some of the weight off of my shoulders? It'd been high time for me to take a break from work. I'd saved up enough of my paid leave days, and I could easily get a month off.
It might be worth it to pick Lucidia Online back up, especially since it's launching in VR, along with its new update, which was supposedly its best one yet. Besides, a girl deserved at least some indulgence after months of killing herself at work.
The experience would be so much richer and fresher than what I'd had fun with on PC—besides, if I got to see Perona and beauties like her, it'd all be worth. They were launching a new update with tons of new content and reworks as well.
I nodded, thinking it over. Maybe I should take a break off from work. A neuralink headset for the VR launch of Lucidia wouldn't be cheap, but it wasn't like I couldn't afford one.
As the thoughts scrolled in my head, Perona on screen leaned forwards, pointing at the viewer with one, delicate hand before she blew a kiss, smiled, winked, and settled back on to the log.
I almost choked. Goddamn.
Whoever came up with that animation 100% knew what they were doing.
I swallowed.
It's settled. I would take my leave from work to play a VR MMORPG and see a hot 2-D woman on a screen move in 3-D. Who knows—perhaps I'd be able to become someone special to her?
- - -
[The next day]
The next few days were hard. I had handed in my intent of leave to my superior at the hospital. I just had a couple of days left until my leave days and until my order of the neuralink VR headset arrived at my place.
Oh—that's right. I forgot to introduce myself.
Hi!
My name is Hiyomi Asuna. I'm a woman, single, 23 years old, and generally what someone would call a genius. I graduated early from high school as the valedictorian, then breezed through my undergrad, followed by my MD (Master of Medicine Degree).
Now I work as an all-round practitioner at Forest Brooke General Hospital. ER, surgery, infectious diseases, everything down to their subcategories of medicine: I can do all of that at the same level as a specialist.
Sitting down on the couch, I fiddled with the tab of an opened canned coffee, trying to go to sleep. This was my… what, sixth can already? Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a doctor. I should know better.
See, here's the thing: knowing better doesn't necessarily mean that I want to do better.
Honestly, life as a doctor wasn't anything like I imagined.
I practically ran on caffeine day in and day out, with almost permanent black bags under my eyes. Now, I only went home once per couple of days—if I was lucky.
At least the pay was good.
Going into this, I didn't know what my plan was. People looked at me with mistrust because of my age, and the work just kept piling up and up and up and up, not to mention combined with the stress of saving peoples' lives.
Cryge.
Note to self: don't be a super-young doctor. At least, not in Forest Brooke. People hate you and never trust you, even though you're clearly smarter and more capable than them. Experience is a whole other topic, but the whole 'sit down, young woman, and watch the professionals do this' bit had gotten wayyyyy out of hand.
Whatever. I just needed to make it through a couple more days. Just a couple more! Then I'd be on leave, and I could find a waifu in game to dote over and relax with.
Hehe~ just the thought of it made me excited.
"Dr. Asuna!"
I jolted. It was my assistant, Nurse Yun. She was a bit older than me, though luckily for me, she treated me the same way she did the others. She was probably the only person that I could trust to see me as a capable doctor and nothing less.
"Yes, Ms. Yun?"
"ER needs you." Yun held open the door to the office I'd been resting in. I'd turned off the lights and was just about to try and catch a nap, but that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
Fuck. "Alright, I'll be right there."
I chugged the rest of the sweet coffee before tossing out the can and moving as fast as I could down the hallway to our massive ER hall. I slapped on blue operating gloves before pulling on a surgical mask and doing up my hair.
Gaming and waifus could wait…for now.
First, I had to save some people.
Saving people is what we doctors do, after all.
- - -
[5 Days later]
Not one day into my paid leave and my neuralink VR headset had arrived. I received the notification on my phone the moment I woke up.
I got up from my bed half-naked and dragged myself to the front door. Thinking back, almost flashing the entire neighborhood just to get to a VR headset a couple of seconds earlier than going back and changing probably wasn't the best decision.
But hey—I had my oversized tee practically blanketing me.
No one'd be able to see anything… right?
Taking the package inside, I admired the headset before reading the instructions manual. It seemed pretty simple. Rechargeable battery, make sure you're lying down in a comfortable and safe position, neuralink pads mold to your thoughts, contract and legal safety agreements…
I was excited, to say the least. It had been a while since I'd really done anything for myself other than work.
I settled down on my bed and lay down. The headset was fully charged. I slipped underneath my blankets before sliding the headset over my head.
A cool and soft pad moulded around the shape of my skull as the headset closed around my eyes with a soft hiss.
Then, I felt my body go limp as it flickered on with a hum.
Welcome to Lucidia Online Neuralink V.1!
Login recognized… Synchronizing with account… Hiyomi, Asuna.
Loading…
Please enter your user details.
I had been transported to a 360 cinematic bird's eye view of a forest somewhere high above the world of Lucidia online. A castle's flags snapped in the wind off in the distance far below me as forest-going birds chirped, flitting from branch to branch, tree to tree underneath my bare feet.
The logo of Lucidia Online—a large, green "LO" in a smooth fantasy font—hovered in front of me, next to a blue holographic keyboard. Another small screen floated off to the side, titled 'User Card,' with blank fields I presumably needed to fill in.
I looked myself over as strength returned to my muscles—I could move again, though this time inside the game. The headset worked flawlessly, intercepting my brain signals so that every step, every motion, felt just like moving my real body.
I flexed my hands, stretched my arms and legs, even crouched, jumped, and lay down. The movements were seamless and absolutely perfect.
That's when I noticed: my avatar was dressed exactly like me in real life… which meant my bare legs were on full display. No shorts, no leggings, nothing.
My face went hot, and I buried it in my palm.
Some genius I am..
Maybe I should've changed before logging in. Not that there's much to gawk at anyway…
I do agree that my thighs and legs were pretty, though. I gave them a squish. They were smooth and soft to the touch.
Hehe~
At least that was one part of me that wasn't burnt out like a lightstick or unhealthily fueled by caffeine.
I shook my head and turned my attention back to the screen. Enough distractions.
First up was my username. This was simple enough. I used the same name that I'd used so many years ago, just when I was starting my MD.
[HA_MDwastaken]
Username is available. Confirm this is your choice?
From the screen appeared a pop-up. I clicked on the [Yes] option.
Welcome to Lucidia Online, HA_MDwastaken.
Opening Avatar Customization…
Another screen appeared, displaying a 3-D render of a blank avatar. Along the side was a panel packed with customization tools—sliders, color pickers, swipe-to-select menus—covering everything from body shape and hair to freckles and even nails.
I blinked at the sheer number of options, unsure where to start. I'd assumed the avatar would just match my real body by default… In the end, I gave my avatar my own features—long black hair, brown almond eyes with a touch of black eye bags underneath, and an average height. I left most of the features I didn't understand set to default.
I flicked the [Finish customization and load into game] hovering at the bottom of the screen and waited to be transported into the game.
Unexpectedly, instead of teleporting me, a warning flashed in front of my eyes.
Not safe for work clothing detected. Unable to log in to Lucidia Online until TOS standards are met. [Save and log out to change] [Log in with game generated clothing]
"…"
I took a deep breath and screamed into the forest in embarrassment. If there was a table nearby, I would have banged my head against it.
Even this game thinks that I'm shameless…
I almost cried as I imagined how people would think of me if I loaded in as-is. 'HA_MD, the exhibitionist…' I shuddered and selected [Log in with game generated clothing], ignoring my flushed cheeks and closing my eyes.
Thank god that the game saved me from that scenario... Soon, I felt the whir of my body being transported into Lucidia Online.
Thank you for complying with our TOS.
Loading…
Teleporting: Tutorial Grounds.
Welcome to Lucidia Online, HA_MDwastaken.