Alice's eyes, which had adapted to the darkness of her room long ago, were briefly blinded by the bright yellow hallway lights.
She moved forward with shaky legs as she shuffled down the corridor. Making eye contact with the elevator, she quickly sprint-walked into its cabin. For a moment, she thought she was safe, before she lifted her head.
Down the corridor, a group of three women walked toward the elevator. She let out a squeal as her fingers repeatedly slammed into the "close doors" button.
Thankfully, the doors had shut before any eye contact was made. Otherwise, she would have to share an elevator with others.
"Speaking of small spaces… When's the last time I showered?" She lifted an arm and sniffed. Noting that nothing was out of the usual, she dropped the thought and waited for the elevator doors to open again.
Walking out into the main foyer, she quickly scanned the area. At the main desk sat a man, fast asleep. Through the glass doors, she could see the delivery drone hovering with a box in its mechanical arms.
"Jackpot!" She whispered before quietly shuffling to the door.
She fished through her pockets for the key only to realize something: She had forgotten it in her room!"Code red I gotta run baaaaack..!" She whipped around only to be face-to-face with one of the three women from before.
"Let me get that for you." The strange woman said plainly, only to be met with a feral shriek of surprise.
"Imgonnadieimgonnadie…" Alice fell to her knees, froth coming from the sides of her mouth as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
"You scared the wit out of her Laura!" A second woman grabbed the shoulder of the first. This one had long, curly ginger hair.
"I was just having some fun!" The first woman, now identified as Laura dismissed the red-headed woman's remark with a giggle.
Turning back to Alice, Laura spoke once more "You okay, sweetie? Didn't mean to startle you"
"We paid for 8 hours. If we don't leave now we will be wasting it." The last woman of the trio said. She had long black hair with an aloof expression on her face. Stepping over the now comatose Alice on the floor she opened the front door with her key and walked towards the parking lot. The ginger one followed her but not before giving Alice a quick bow of apology.
"Sorry bout that, I'll just... leave this right here for you. She took the package from the delivery drone and placed it atop Alice's corpse before following her friends out to the parking lot.
"..."
"..!" The zombie shot up from the ground, the package now lying in her lap. She sat there for a moment piecing together the past 30 seconds before being knocked out of her stupor by the sound of the receptionist stirring.
She quickly made her way back to her apartment, this time with no hiccups. Reaching her bedroom she immediately jumped into the bed.
"I wont leave you again Mr. Bed" She said through sobs as she quickly snuggled in.
"Oh wait, not going homeless." She sat up again, leaving the warm comfort of her bed to unbox her package.
"They weren't lying... This is really beat up..." She lifted the helmet out of the box to be greeted with missing paneling and exposed wiring that was carelessly wrapped with electrical tape. She plugged it into the outlet and it let out a loud sigh before the fans shot dust out of the exposed holes.
"Cough! Cough!" She covered her nose & mouth with the collar of her shirt. A worried expression appearing on her face.
After a couple more seconds of strange sounds the device seemed to stabilize.
With an audible gulp she placed the helmet atop her head and pushed the button on the side.
-WARNING: Severe hardware damage detected. We cannot guarantee your safety while this VR Helmet is in use. Continue anyways? Y/N-
A flashing red holographic screen appeared in front of her. Ignoring the warning, she tapped her finger against the "Yes" option and took a deep breath in.
Her vision became fuzzy before narrowing and eventually turning black. Moments later she found herself standing atop a fluffy white surface. As she looked up she saw endless stars, galaxies and other celestial bodies.
A woman slowly descended from the cosmos, she had long golden hair and multiple pairs of wings coming from her back. Her emerald green eyes met the girl's and her face lit up.
"Welcome, hero. To my world." Her voice boomed from every direction all at once.
"My world is currently in turmoil as an ancient evil seeks to cover it with chaos... That is why I have summoned your kind." A globe appears in her hand. "If he succeeds in this goal, there may be no way to reverse his actions." The globe floating a few inches above her hand suddenly ignites and burns for a few short moments before turning to ash.
"If you agree to aid my children in staving off this crisis, I shall lend you my power. If you agree to these terms, state your name." She holds her hand out and blue particles release from her palm. Said blue particles float towards Alice stopping right in front of her to form a blue screen. And inside that screen was a singular text box.
"S-so I just enter my name in this?" She stuttered.
"That would be correct, child."
After thinking for a second she entered the name "Alissa." It was her username since middle school, a combination of her first and last name; Alice Saame.
After confirming her name, a nude 3D model of her body appeared on the screen. Without genitalia of course.
"Though you can technically change anything you want, it is recommended that you keep the same facial and body structure to avoid dizziness and confusion while in this world." The Goddess hovered over Alice's shoulder.
After a brief conversation, Alice eventually decided on an appearance; A dark elf with long pastel purple hair and vibrant green eyes. Feeling quite proud of her character she moved on to the most vital part; her class.
Hundreds of weapons floated around her in a circle. Swords, bows, shields, staffs, even cooking utensils... But one thing caught her eye. A black and purple tome with an upside down cross on the front.
Picking up the book, a window appeared in front of her;
-Dark Priest: Uses divinity to cast spells that de-buff and deal damage-
"This..." She could picture it clearly, chains made of darkness coming from her shadow and wrapping around her opponent. She stood above their helpless body as a ball of dark energy gathered in her hand...
"I chose this!"
"A-are you sure? Judging from what I've seen of your personality I don't thi-" She attempted to convince Her, but before she could even finish her sentence, Alice was already pressing confirm.
"Wait!" She shouted moments before Alice disappeared from her spot.
"... Poor kid, she's going to have a rough time with that one isn't she?" She sighed into the now empty void
"Ah! My shift is over!" She navigated through a blue window before pressing a button and disappearing.