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No idea how I’d managed to miss all that hoo-hah. My fingers trembled as I kept digging deeper and deeper into the Internet. Cigarette butts floated in empty coffee cups after I’d rummaged the cupboards for a long-forsaken pack of Camel.

I met the morning by the open kitchen window, drawing on the last cigarette. My eyes watered. The coffee I’d drunk was now churning in my stomach. But everything inside me cheered at the news. This was it. This didn’t involve paying a king’s ransom for being deep-frozen like a drumstick. This was an honest-to-God hole to escape into giving the Grim Reaper the finger.

I still had a lot to do. There were technicalities to consider: which capsule would allow me to bypass the preinstalled timer restricting immersion type and duration? Numerous freshly-baked perma forum gurus recommended aiming for a week or two of full immersion, but how was I supposed to last all that time without food, water and medication? Lots of people had successfully answered those questions for themselves: all I had to do was dig for more info and process it wisely choosing the solutions that suited my particular situation. A dozen manuals and video guides were already downloading. The links to several dodgy sites that sold FIVR jailbreak chips were already sitting in my Favorites. Open browser tabs glinted with scary-looking pictures of multi-stage IV drips and saline canisters. Things had begun to cook. The technicalities proved doable, after all.

I still had to choose the world to go to. I had to decide who to play and how to do it. I had tons of sites and forums to peruse. If you set aside two weeks for the attempt itself, it left me with five to seven days to do the research. Way not enough. It was hit or miss. Time to bet on zero!

* * *

From Wikipedia:

AlterWorld is an MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) first released in May 203X.

Number of players: 48,000,000, with an increase of 1,400,000 new players each month.

Connection type: 2/3D FIVR capsule. Immersion types: full/restricted.

World size: 552,126 square miles, with an increase of 4,633 square miles each month.

New territories, NPCs, mobs and quests are generated by an AI group controlled by AI Ray31.

World administrator: AI Crimson9

Deposit and withdrawal of real funds and virtual property sales topping $42 billion a year.

The cooler fans whirred. Massage rollers stirred. With a hum, the seat heating kicked in. The FIVR capsule was waking up from sleep mode. The initial checks flashed before my eyes. Self-test. Operator connected. A 3D Desktop menu unfolded in front of me.

I mentally knocked on wood and started
 
AlterWorld’s game client. A second’s delay as it ran an automatic upgrade. I fed my credit card information into the registration form and, ignoring the endless scroll of the world’s description, headed straight for the character generation menu.

Choose character.

"High Elf."

For your information: High Elves are recommended for experienced players only. The High Elves’ religion of Gods of Light makes them a legitimate prey for all the supporters of the Fallen One. Furthermore, the City of Light which is their capital and start location borders on the Dark Lands. Although the city itself is well-fortified against the Fallen One and his henchmen, the neighboring locations can already bring encounters with beings of the Dark. Are you sure you want to choose this race?

"Confirm."

Congratulations! You receive +1% racial bonus to Intellect at each level.

This what might seem like a negligible bonus had compelled me to choose an Elf. An extra 100% Intellect could tip the scales in my favor already at level 100. Even though it definitely complicated my way to the top levels, it stood to reason that the time spent leveling up was nothing compared to top-level playing. The end reward was large and quite tangible, worth every bit of the creators’ pain in the butt. Because, let me tell you, the top levels do not end the game. This is only where it starts.

Choose class.

"Warlock."

For your information: Warlocks are the Fallen One’s secret worshipers and are attracted to the Dark forces. Other Light races tend to shun them. Certain NPC characters may refuse to interact with you. Quite a few vendors might jack up their prices when dealing with you.

On reaching level 10, a Warlock will have to decide on a specialization. You will
 
be asked to choose between Necromancer and Death Knight. Both are despised by the Powers of Light. Many quests and locations will be closed to you. If you still want to play for the above classes, we suggest you choose a Dark or neutral race.

"No way!" I shouted at the interface. "Necro is my favorite toon since the day I was born! I don’t want to be the umpteenth Archer Elf. I don’t give a toss about your politically correct standards.
 
‘We advise, we suggest, you had better...’
 
Yeah, right. I’m going to screw your template. I’ll be the first Dark Elf among your cute-and-cuddly Paladins.
 
Confirm
!"

Congratulations! You receive +1% class bonus to Intellect and +1 to Spirit at each level.

Choose your starting characteristics. You have 25 points. Use them wisely. Once the character is created, no further changes are possible.

The descriptions of the five basic attributes hovered before my eyes.

Strength: increases attack power and the chances to block and parry. Controls the amount of weight a character can carry. Weight overload may lead to speed loss.

Intellect: increases the character’s ability to learn non-combat and magic skills. Increases spell power and mana pool (1 Intellect point gives 10 mana points). Boosts mana regeneration.

Agility: increases movement accuracy, improves evasion and chances to score a critical hit in both close and long-range combat.

Spirit: boosts Life/mana regeneration.

Constitution: gives hit points (1 Constitution point gives 10 Life points).

A miserable chain of
 
zeros glowed against all of the above characteristics. Oh well. Every junkie knows that the preparation process is just as sacred as the shooting up. Off we go, then. The dumb housewife solution would be to set all the parameters to five and enjoy the perfect balance. Won’t do. Specialization is the key. Better to be the best in one area than average in everything. I much preferred a surgeon’s knife of specialization to the Jack-of-all-trades’ monkey wrench.

So. What is our ultimate goal? Who is a Necro? He’s a caster: a character with the ability to cast spells as his preferred method of attack. He can also summon various forms of the undead, such as skeletons, zombies, demons and so on and so forth. Virtually a small group consisting of a mage and his pet tank.

All the damage is done by casting spells at long range, no hand-to-hand combat, no risk of the opponent delivering direct blows. Which means that Strength, Agility and Constitution are secondary to the part.

Now the Spirit is vital, even though you don't regen much mana in the course of the combat. All the meditation only starts once it is over. Sure it’s a pain wasting three full minutes sitting on your backside, but not as bad as running out of mana in the middle of a fight. All right, that little was clear. Let’s start from the end:

Agility, 0

I just hoped I wouldn’t be all thumbs. Zero agility wasn’t for that, anyway. It only meant that I wasn't getting any racial bonuses.

Strength, 3

I needed some to lug around my gear and the loot dropped by monsters. It wouldn’t be cool to rush to the store every time I got myself a dagger or some ore.

Constitution, 5

I didn’t want them to blow me over with a feather. So I went for it, even though it meant having a hard time parting with every point.

Spirit, 6

I needed every drop of mana I could get. My life would be hanging by a thread thousands of times, depending on whether I had enough mana for that one final spell.

Intellect, 11

I splurged every remaining point on it. You just couldn't have enough mana. It was either not enough or more than you could handle.

Accept new characteristics. Are you sure?

"Confirm."

Congratulations! Welcome to the character visualization menu. Choose your avatar’s appearance.

The figure of an Elf turned slowly before my eyes. It was male by default which saved you a couple of unpleasant surprises in the process of virtual sex.

I played with the scroll boxes choosing a build similar to my own. Okay, so I did add a bit of muscle here and there and made the six-pack more pronounced. Who wouldn’t? With any luck,
 
I'd end up living in this body happily ever after.

I turned to the facial options. The avatar had my face—also by default. These days even pocket calculators came with cameras so I shouldn’t have been surprised to have found one inside the capsule. The menu offered a lengthy choice of premade portraits in various stages of cuteness or brutality. I ticked a few and started clicking the randomizer. Surprisingly, I liked one of the resulting images. It was a rougher version of myself: a rugged soldier with a seen-it-all air about him. I pushed the slider closer to the virtual thirty years old, added a few gray strands for believability and saved the character.

Choose a name.

Good question. Wouldn’t be nice to walk around a fantasy world with Max as a moniker. I clicked through the name generator until I decided on Laith. In Elven,
 
La
 
stands for "night" and
 
Ith
 
means "a child". Child of Night. I had to take my character seriously. The deeper the immersion, the higher the chances of going perma.

"Laith."

Welcome to AlterWorld, Laith. You’re facing an eternity's worth of infinite possibilities.

While I tried to fathom out that last bit, the virtuality faded, enveloping me in thick darkness. I waggled my head peering into nothing.

Sounds came first. The trees rustled. A grasshopper chirped. A bird whistled. Then the world gained light and color, smothering me with its beauty. A forest breathed around me. No; not just any old forest:
 
the forest
. Have you ever been to an Elven forest? I hadn’t. But you’ll know it the moment you see it. A little brook murmured nearby; butterflies fluttered their wings amid sunrays dancing in the foliage. The depth and intensity of the image left you speechless. I crouched and ran my hand across the carpet of flowers and grass.

"Hi there, new world," I whispered. "I’m afraid we’re stuck here together for a long time."

A long-eared hare sprang out into the opening. As I stared at it, a
 
prompt popped up:

A young rabbit. Level 1.

Okay, a rabbit, not hare. Same difference. Enjoy your freedom, buddy, while I’m in a good mood and have better things to do with my time.

Only then I noticed the game interface. Semi-transparent chat boxes; the life, mana and experience bars; the belt with
 
quick spell access slots empty as yet. I played with the transparency levels and shuffled the icons around. I had plenty of time to adjust it all to suit my own needs.

Talking about myself. My rags were just about that—rags. A light-colored canvas shirt and a pair of gray canvas pants. As far as Elves went, I was a bum. Never mind. Just give me some time to level up a bit, and I’ll be wearing Versace tights, or whatever they crave here.

I opened the character menu and saw that my clothing was purely decorative. It didn’t offer any extra stats or even armor points. I opened my shoulder bag and discovered a water flask and a piece of bread. Another
 
prompt popped up:

Food plays an important role in the AlterWorld territories. A hungry character’s ability to restore life and mana may dwindle to a stop. Keep an eye on your avatar’s satiety levels. Some food and drink may bring extra boost bonuses. In order to be able to make your own food, you need to practice the cooking skill. See Wiki for more details on bonuses and skills.

For a second, I regretted letting the rabbit go unscathed. A roast is always better than a moldy roll. Never mind. There had to be more game out there.

My eye was caught by a blinking FIVR connection icon. I opened the menu and grinned with delight.

Ping: 3 milliseconds. Packet loss: 0%. Connection type: 3D. FIVR time restrictions: none."

Yess! It worked. Deep inside, I'd had a nagging feeling that either the chip or the patch would let me down despite all the testing, throwing me out of FIVR four hours later. That would be the end. Bye, world. Hello, tombstone.

The next thing I saw was the lit-up pictogram of the quest tab. I switched over to it and discovered a new quest.

Greetings, young Warlock! A long and hard road lies in front of you. Few have mastered it. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You’re about to make this first step. There is a cave not far from the place where you first arrived in this world. Old Grym lives there, a hermit. Local peasants think he’s mad and shy away from his company. But Grym is still the Fallen One's faithful servant. He will help you. Follow the deer trail to go east. It will take you to your destination.