The Stubborn Light of a Dying Flame

Rayna floated in a vast white space, unable to move or look around. She felt neither cold nor hot. In fact, she felt nothing at all.

Am I dead?

At least it didn’t hurt. She had expected death to be more painful. Besides the strangeness of not having any sensations, the white world wasn’t so bad.

She wasn’t sure how long she floated there, just contemplating the concept of death, before words appeared in front of her.

Welcome to the System.

Rayna would have frowned if she could feel her mouth. What System? Was she not dead? Or did the afterlife mimic a cheesy web novel? The words in front of her changed.

Initializing Character Sheet…

Retrieving name…

Retrieval failed. Please input your name.

Rayna, she tried to say, but of course, it didn’t work. That didn’t seem to be a problem for the System, however.

Name designation: Rayna.

Please select a Class:

[Warrior] or [Mage] or [Healer].

This was starting to feel an awful lot like making a character in a game. Rayna hadn’t played many RPGs before, but she had a general grasp of the basic concepts. Still, she wasn’t sure what was going on. Should she play along? Should she try to find a way out of the white world? But how was she going to do that when she couldn’t even move?

Please choose a Class within the next 30 seconds or a Class will be randomly assigned.

Play along, it is.

Rayna’s mind raced. Which should she pick?

Healer was always a good choice for keeping yourself alive, but Emma once told Rayna about a game where the Healer’s spells only worked on other people. Mages were usually squishy and easy to kill, but they could hit the enemies from farther away, which would probably help with survivability. Warriors were tanky, but the trade-off was that they didn’t have many ranged attacks, meaning they had to confront the enemy head on. Rayna wasn’t sure she wanted to fight at close range.

The clock was ticking, and Rayna didn’t have a clue which one to pick so she just went with the one that seemed to have the most survivability. She hoped she could change her Class later if it turned out that she picked the wrong one.

You have chosen [Warrior].

Species Designation: Lerian.

Retrieving age information…

Retrieval failed. Please input your age in Earth years.

Twenty-seven, Rayna thought.

Your age has been registered.

Please wait while the System finishes initialization…

As if I have a choice, Rayna thought crossly.

She floated in the white expanse for several minutes—or perhaps several hours, Rayna wasn’t sure—trying to remember how exactly she got there. She had been in a warehouse with Emma and the other players. Everyone else had disappeared.

That man had shown up, hadn’t he; the small one with the curly white hair. She had asked to be sent to Emma, and he touched Rayna’s forehead.

Did he kill me?!

Anger flared in Rayna’s chest. What did she ever do to him? If this stupid white space didn’t lead to Emma, she was going to find that little man and wring his scrawny neck. She would—

Her inner rant was cut off by another line of text.

Character initialization complete. Transferring to the tutorial.

Suddenly, Rayna was falling. The wind whistled past her ear, feeling and sound returning in a disorienting rush. She flailed her arms, a scream ripping from her throat as the world went black once again.

* * *

Rayna sat bolt upright, her scream cutting off as she realized she was no longer falling. Had it been a dream?

She groaned, rubbing her head. It was like someone was driving a nail into her temples. She had woken up in what appeared to be the lobby of some large company, except instead of the usual elevator bay, there was a set of dressing rooms and several pieces of clothing hung up for perusal. The sign above the area read ‘Please change into your starting gear’.

The room was full of people, all gathered in groups and chatting excitedly. No one seemed to notice Rayna on the floor.

“Emma,” she croaked, swallowing against the dryness in her throat. “Emma!” she called louder, pushing herself to her feet. “Emma, are you in here?”

“My name is Emma,” came a familiar voice from behind Rayna.

She spun around, crying out in relief as she saw that Emma was alive and unharmed. She ran to her friend and hugged her.

Emma stiffened. “Um… do I know you?”

Rayna pulled away, her brows knitting together. “It’s me, Rayna.”

When had Emma gotten so tall?

Emma squinted at something above Rayna’s head. “Rayna? What the hell happened to you?” She held Rayna out at arm’s length, looking her up and down.

“What are you talking about?” Rayna asked, moving to push Emma away, but she paused when she got a glimpse of her arm.

“I need a mirror,” she said aloud, rushing toward the changing area she had seen earlier.

She stared at herself in the mirror and a complete stranger stared back. Her skin was black as coal, as if someone had rubbed soot all over her body and her vivid green eyes stood out in contrast to her dark face. Her previously brown curls had turned into straight platinum blonde hair that fell all the way to her waist and the floor length dress she was wearing was made of a thin opalescent fabric that glittered and changed color when she moved.

Strangest of all, she had turned into a child. Rayna touched her face, trying to reconcile this alien pre-teen with the human twenty-seven year old she knew herself to be.

“Is there a special race change system in this game?” Emma asked, sounding excited. “Also, why do you look so young? None of us got to pick our ages, it was based on how old we are in real life.”

“I told the System I was twenty-seven! What is this?” She shoved her hair in the air. “I look like someone used an oreo as a color palette!”

“I think you look awesome,” Emma said with an amused chuckle.

“Can you please take this seriously?” Rayna snapped.

“Oh, calm down,” Emma said. “Check your Character Sheet, I bet it has some clues about this.”

“My Character Sheet? Where am I supposed to find that?” Rayna tucked her hair behind her ears, finding to her annoyance that they were pointed like an elf.

“Just try thinking about it. The System responds to thoughts just like Ember Online.”

“I never played Ember Online,” Rayna reminded her.

“Just try it,” Emma insisted.

Rayna didn’t think it would work since she didn’t have the chip, but when she thought about her Character Sheet, it actually popped up in front of her.

“That little asshole put a chip in my head?” Rayna shouted, drawing the attention of several players in the room.

“I mean, how else would you be here?” Emma asked, her brows squishing together in confusion. “We’ve been waiting almost a day. I thought you changed your mind and got the chip while we were waiting.”

“How the hell would I have gotten the chip in a day? There’s a six month waiting list, remember?”

“Right…” Emma tilted her head. “How did you get here then?”

Rayna growled as she imagined all the ways she was going to torture the curly haired half-pint that had kidnapped her friend and turned her into her current state.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Hold on.”

She glanced at her Character Sheet, hoping it held some answers.

Name: Rayna

Level 1 (Exp: 0/50)

Class: Warrior (Initial)

Race: Lerian

HP: 1300/1300

MP: 500/500

Stat Points

Str: 10

Dex: 55

End: 15

Vit: 130

Int: 50

Wis: 50

Luck: 10

[Free Points: 0]

Spells

Basic Heal — Proficiency: 0%

[Spell Choices: 0]

Skills

Rage — Proficiency: 0%

[Skill Choices: 0]

Titles

Volunteer — [+10 to all stats]

Quests

None

Special Traits

Immunity to Poison [Species Trait]

Immunity to Paralysis [Species Trait]

Immunity to Confusion [Species Trait]

Rayna read the information aloud to Emma.

“130 Vitality right off the bat?” Emma whistled. “It must be a race thing. Usually everyone starts with fifty.”

“What even is a Lerian?” Rayna asked. “And why am I that instead of human.” She raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Also, why did you just take my word for it when I said I was Rayna? I look nothing like myself. You need to work on your gullibility.”

“It’s not gullible if it’s true,” Emma said, crossing her arms. “Besides, you have a name tag. It’s not like your name is that common.”

“Ah.” Rayna blushed, noticing for the first time that every person in the room had a name and level above their head. She had been so freaked out when she woke up that she hadn’t been very aware of her surroundings.

“So, has the little criminal given us any information?” Rayna asked. “And where can I find his office? He needs to fix…” She waved her hands up and down, indicating her current state.

“Why?” someone nearby asked.

Rayna glanced at his name tag.

[Kennith Parker — Level 1]

“It looks to me like you won the jackpot.” Kennith said. “The rest of us weren’t given a chance to pick our race.”

“Neither was I,” Rayna snapped. “Are none of you freaked out by this? We’ve all been kidnapped and teleported god-knows-where and you’re all acting like nothing happened!”

A woman named Greta shrugged. “We knew it was deep dive technology, though I wish they had given us a heads up. They’re going to end up with a few lawsuits when everyone wakes up.”

Rayna finally realized why she was the only one panicking. They all thought they were asleep; that this was some simulated world that they were the first to experience through their brain chips.

“It’s not deep dive,” she said. “This is all real. You all disappeared from the warehouse and that swindler…” What? Killed her? Rayna didn’t actually know if that was true, but he had done something to her. “… turned me into this,” she finished lamely.

Kennith rolled his eyes. “Quit trolling. The game just used the chip to tap into the dream centers of our brain.”

“Rayna didn’t have a chip,” Emma said slowly, worry finally starting to show on her face.

“Exactly!” Rayna said, waving her hand to emphasize Emma’s point.

A few others seemed to believe them as the excited whispers in the room took on a nervous edge.

“Come on, guys. It’s not funny.” Kennith sounded less sure than he had a few seconds ago.

What can I do to convince them?

“Emma, they can’t show any blood in Ember Online, right?”

“Yeah,” Emma confirmed. “They were worried that people would confuse in game injuries with real world injuries. That’s why there’s no pain simulation either.”

“Then here goes nothing.” Rayna braced herself for pain and bit down on her arm.

The people closest to Rayna gasped, backing up as if she was a rabid animal.

Rayna released her arm and spat several times to clear her mouth of the taste of blood. That had been way easier than she had expected. She checked the mirror again and found that her teeth were a lot sharper than a human’s.

Well, it made my point more vividly, she thought, grimacing at the deep puncture wound on her arm.

“See?” she said, raising her arm as proof. Blood trickled over her skin, staining the sleeve of her dress.

“So, they changed the regulations a bit,” Kennith said, his voice rising in pitch. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

Rayna shook her head. “Emma come on; we’re finding a way out of here.” She walked a few paces before she swayed a little, leaning against the wall for support.

A message popped up in front of her.

Your HP has dropped below 10%. It is recommended that you seek out a Healer immediately.

Rayna frowned. “What does it mean my HP is below ten percent?” she asked, trying to think through the sudden fogginess in her brain.

“What?!” Emma grabbed her arm and held a hand above the wound.

Rayna was going to ask what she was doing but she figured it out a second later. A green light shone from Emma’s palms and the wound on Rayna’s arm closed.

“What is your HP now?” Emma asked.

“What?”

“Your HP. Tell me what it’s at?” Her tone was urgent, and Rayna forced her confused brain to check her stat sheet.

HP: 100/1300

A moment later it rose to 101. She reported the number to Emma.

Emma shook her head. “You have a heal spell, don’t you? Cast it on yourself.”

“How do I do that?” Rayna asked.

“Just think about doing it,” she said. “It works like everything else in the game.”

“This isn’t a game,” Rayna said, her words slurring a bit.

“I know. I get it. Just please cast the spell, okay? Heal yourself as many times as you can.” Emma sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Rayna cast Basic Heal on herself.

Her HP shot up to 201 and her head started to clear. With the sudden clarity came a stab of fear as she realized how low her Health had been. She cast the spell eleven more times in quick succession, bringing her Health back up to full.

“It’s real, isn’t it?” Kennith asked, his eyes wide with fear. “She almost died just now.”

Rayna swallowed, unsettled by how plainly he had mentioned her near death.

“How do I opt out?” a woman shouted at the ceiling. “I don’t want to play!”

“Me too!” another person said. “I want to go home.”

The room devolved into chaos as most of the players expressed their desire to leave the ‘game’. Rayna and Emma retreated toward the dressing area as the crowd pushed and shoved their way toward the door of the lobby. The exits were locked, only adding to the panic that suffocated the room like a heavy blanket.

“Maybe telling everyone wasn’t the best idea.” Emma had to shout to be heard over the din.

“Was I just supposed to let everyone think they were in a game?” Rayna shouted back. “This is serious!”

“I mean, I get that it’s serious, but all you did was nearly get yourself killed and throw everyone into a panic!”

“I wasn’t—” Rayna cut herself off as her voice echoed in the sudden silence. She looked around in confusion as everyone else stood frozen, their eyes darting around the room.

A notification popped up in front of her.

Paralysis resisted due to your special trait.

“Paralysis?” she said aloud, looking over at Emma. Her friend was in the same state as the others, looking back at Rayna with only her eyes.

“Welcome initiates,” said a voice that made Rayna’s blood boil.

She turned around to find the man who was the cause of all this floating several feet above the ground, his face a mask of disapproval.

“It appears that something has caused some amount of distress in this tutorial group, so I have inflicted a temporary paralysis to help you all calm down.”

Rayna grabbed the item closest to her hand—a brown boot—and chucked it at the man’s head. It sailed right through him, smacking into the wall with a dull thud.

“What is wrong with you?” she shouted, throwing a heavy metal gauntlet that clattered to the floor next to the boot.

The man seemed taken aback by the steady stream of curses that flowed out of Rayna’s mouth, as well as the many clothing items soaring through his projection.

“I know this is a bit disconcerting for you, but if you would calm down and listen to my orientation message, I think you will find the answer to most of your questions.”

Rayna paused halfway through raising a hairbrush. She hesitated for a moment then said, “Release the paralysis and I’ll stop throwing things.”

The man nodded his head. “I will, on the condition that everyone calms down. Those who do not will continue to be restrained.”

Rayna lowered the hairbrush as most of the room unfroze. Emma stumbled forward a step and Rayna caught her and helped her back to her feet.

“Are you okay?” she asked, checking Emma up and down for injuries. Just in case, she cast Basic Heal on her, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.

Emma nodded. “I’m fine. That was… unpleasant, but it didn’t affect my HP bar. By the way, I think you were right about the opening. We should have left.”

Rayna laughed despite herself, relief making her giddy. Unfortunately, the man’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Much better. Now for those of you who are still paralyzed, just let me know when you are ready to calm down and I will release you then. As for the rest of you, if you would gather around, we will begin orientation.”