World Online

Jake opened his eyes. He got up from the pod that he was on, and looked around.

His room was absolutely empty, with all of his stuff still unpacked.

But the first thing he did even though he was exhausted, was slump next to the computer and log on to the internet.

He needed to find out what happened at the end. An Update? The first update was supposed to happen a whole month after the world started. Not two weeks later! He was just not ready for what this update was supposed to bring.

But the moment he looked at the forums, all he saw was exactly that.

Everyone was talking about the sudden update that suddenly came when they logged out. And the others who were still in the game logged into the forums from there, and they were confused.

Why would they have to wait till they were logged out before the update started? That didn\'t make any sense.

Was this a glitch in the biggest virtual reality platform in the world?

And that was when it happened. One single post at the top of the forum caught Jake\'s attention.

[Mass Announcement in Gaia: Update in 6:00:00]

The forums went crazy. An update before people were even accustomed to the game? What would the newest features be? Nova was known to be one of the most secretive companies in the world, and even though they were the biggest, they certainly had a strict stronghold on everything that they were working on.

People didn\'t even know about World Online until it came out.

Jake shook his head.

"This must all be a dream. I need some rest. Maybe if I wake up, all of this will blow over." he thought to himself as he dragged his tired body from the desk to his bed.

The moment he fell on the bed, his eyes closed, and everything ceased to exist.

It was just him, and his beauty sleep.

---------------------------

"Jake!" a faint voice was calling him.

"JAKE!" the voice got louder.

And all of a sudden, Jake felt like he was in a tumultuous aircraft, and the turbulence was too much.

"Get up! Why are you still asleep?" the voice got louder and louder, and finally, Jake opened his eyes.

"Aargh!" the bright light in his room startled Jake, who closed his eyes and hissed.

"Why are all the lights on?" he asked, trying to get accustomed to the bright lighting.

"What do you mean? Why are you sleeping? Don\'t you know that we all have to log into the game? The military was here once again, and they were looking for our records. Do you know how much trouble we would have gotten into if they found out that you were sleeping?" Michael was standing right next to him, chewing on an apple.

"I spent enough time in the game alright. I need this rest. Wait, what\'s the time?"

"It\'s ten in the morning. Why would I ask you to wake up then? There is some weird update that just finished, and mom and dad were asking you about it. I came here to wake you up about it." Michael said.

"How long ago did the update finish?" Jake asked.

"About an hour ago."

"Wait, what?" Jake\'s face lost all of its drowsiness. He jumped up and looked at his watch.

[Missed Alarm]

[Missed Alarm]

[Mised Alarm]

"Damn it, I didn\'t know that I was this exhausted. Tell dad that I have to run. I will tell them both about the update a little later. I have to log in first." Jake said as he jumped to the pod.

Getting in, he closed the hatch and closed his eyes.

[Welcome to Nova]

A crisp voice said, the black that he was seeing suddenly changed. Color returned, and he was in the title screens, with the background all blurred, and a few notifications in front of him.

[Update Complete.]

[Do you wish to find out what the Update brought?]

"Yes! Of course I do!" Jake said.

The background suddenly changed, and the entire world that Jake could see became dark once more.

And then, at a distance, Jake could see just a tiny light.

[It was a dark time. The eastern continent was forced into war with the demons. And on the brink of defeat, help came from an unexpected ally.]

A deep voice started the narration.

Along with the narration, the scenes also changed. Jake could now see a world where mages, swordsmen, giants, paladins, classes and races of every type fighting against a singular army.

This was the demon race, and it was the main quest that would come into effect much later. Even the lowest of the demon race had levels in the triple digits.

If this storyline started now, then everything would fall apart, and this wouldn\'t be a game anymore, it would just be an ass-kicking for all players.

[This unexpected ally retreated as fast as they helped. But without them, the demons could never be sealed. While the demons were sealed in the abyss, the ally that helped retreated to where they came from.] the voice said, and the scene changed again.

They were now in an lush forest. This was the perfect scene, peaceful, tranquil, and had nothing wrong with it.

[The Western World]

A loud music played, and the credits rolled.

[Welcome to World Online, where you must embark on a new journey. It is the dawn of the guilds, and now, you must all go on expeditions to find the portal to the Western World that was forgotten during the third Demon War.]

The voice said, and then, the title of the game appeared.

[World Online: Dawn of the Western World]

"I can\'t believe it. Why would they bring this update so early?" Jake grumbled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

076205