In a second, literally, Ethan felt real, rushing wind hit his face like a physical force. Almost in shock, his eyes opened wide and he stumbled forward, nearly losing his balance.
"What the—"
Perhaps the next thing he noticed was the ground, not just the regular feeling of standing like in the game, but real texture of the cobblestone road, pressing against the soles of his shabby sandals that let the full sensation through. He could see the usual half-timbered buildings all around him, their dark wooden beams overlapping white plaster walls like ancient art. Looking up, he could see the pall too perfect blue sky, with the sun suspended at the perfect height of late morning hours.
'What's going on here?'
It some dozen seconds for his brain to grasp all that was happening around him. He could spot different NPCs walking all around and attending to each of their business, but not one player could be spotted. If there was a player, their in-game name would display above their head, but no one had such a thing hanging above them. Perhaps, that wasn't the worst and greatest surprise of it all… The greatest shock were the decorations colouring the streets and buildings, and the performers dancing about with music being played behind them, with a huge banner raising boldly written words.
-Salt Fish Town Annual Festival-
Reading those words, Ethan really couldn't believe his eyes. 'No—no, no, no, no, no, no, no… Isn't this.'
It was, the annual festival that was supposed to be a special event that only ran on launch day—the very first day Lost World Online went live, around 15 years ago. The event had lasted twelve real-world hours, which translated to a full in-game. The ratio of game day time to real world time was later changed, but that was beside the point.
He was one of the first thousand players to log in, back when he was still in his twenties. He'd spent that entire day grinding, rushing through quests, trying to get ahead of the curve… But that was 15 whole years ago!
This festival never repeated. Once it ended, it was gone forever. The developers had been very clear about that—it was a one-time celebration of the game's launch.
So why was it here now? Why was he seeing it again?
Unless...
"Unless this is a prank," Ethan whispered to himself as his heart began to pound. It was possible. His account disappearing just like that, the devs acting like he wasn't their top player. He was the top player after all, so perhaps this was all some staged event to celebrate his time with the game? It had to be… right?
"This... there's no way this is day one. Launch day. Right?"
He tried to calm himself, but it was useless. His hands moved on their own as he pulled up the system interface. Immediately, a translucent blue menu materialized before his eyes.
[Status]
[Inventory]
[Skills]
[Map]
He instinctively jabbed at where the settings option should have been, but quickly found out the problem, since there was nothing there, even the friends option was not there!
Under all normal circumstances, the submenu should have opened, showing graphics options, audio options, control configurations, and the logout button… But there was no settings button to begin with!
He closed the menu and reopened it, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him, then checked every other menu tab, searching frantically for any way to exit, to disconnect, to wake up… Nothing.
"This is wrong," Ethan said aloud, his voice tight. "This is all wrong. What about the opening cutscene? Why didn't I see the tutorial sequence?" he processes everything… "Hey, hey, hey… This is just a dream, right?"
'No way I isekai'd or anything like that… right? Not like those thing are possible… right?!'
He couldn't bring himself to the fact that he was in a day that should be long past, in a body that felt more real than anything he'd experienced in months, and an environment fresher than his bedroom.
Ethan looked down at his hands—no longer his pale, thin fingers that spent too much time on a keyboard. These were strong hands, tan and… calloused?—they certainly belonged to someone who'd at least done a measure of manual labour before, not to talk about the height difference as he looked down at NPCs that should be eye-level with the real him.
"If this is a prank, you guys got me… this isn't Japan, guys? Hahaha, very funny, now, let me out." He said, his voice dropping towards the end as the NPCs passing by looked at him curiously and suspiciously.
Just then, somewhere in the festival crowd, a bell chimed, and a cheerful NPC voice rang out: "Welcome, travelers, to out Salt Fish Town! Please, enjoy yourself and see what the market has in store for you!"
"That… that's not right." Ethan said to himself. It was supposed to be, "Welcome, brave adventurers, to the world of Lost World Online! Your legendary journey begins today!" That was the welcome message in that festival! but this…
Ethan stood frozen in the middle of the street, unable to process anything going on.
"You've gotta be shitting me."