"Let's go!" Eric cried as the door that could only be described as a magic portal opened right before them. It started as a simple light, but in a matter of seconds, it stretched into a sort of hole with a black center large enough for a horse to pass through. Eric went through it without hesitation, but Jenny paused as she trembled in fear.
This door would lead to a new life in a new land where time and decay meant nothing. Still, it was a one-way trip, and despite weeks of classes, counseling, and lengthy debates, she hesitated. Once she stepped through, there was no coming back and no way to undo her choices.
The time had come, and if she didn't do it now, she would have to wait three years and apply again. That meant three years of struggle and strife trying to pay back student loans while working three jobs. It also meant Eric being alone for three years, wondering what had happened to her. She couldn't bear the thought of abandoning him, and with one final look at the world of cell phones, traffic, and spiraling debt, she ran through.
There was no sensation of time or any sort of transition. A thousand years could have passed for all she knew, but eventually, she blinked her eyes and looked up at a sky that seemed too blue to be real.
She at up in a field of perfectly green grass, rolling in waves like water under a breeze. The air was so pure it was almost sweet, and she filled her lungs with a deep inhale. Slowly she clambered to her feet, still unable to believe what she was seeing. Everything seemed perfect, as if created just for her and set aside to be her playground.
"Am I still sick?" she asked and looked at herself, noting the shape before holding up her hands.
"I'm thin!" she cried and let out a staggered gasp. Spinning around, she could see that she was no longer overweight or had horrible short hair. Instead, she was perfectly healthy in every way, with a tall thin well-endowed body that curved in all the right places.
"This is amazing!" she cried and touched her face, still unable to believe it. "I'm video game beautiful!" The fear and depression she had carried with her for years started to melt away as the new reality sunk in. She knew this new body was perfect and free from the curse her old one carried. She could finally live free from all the burdens society placed on her, and the thought was humbling.
She started to tear up as the full weight of what she had done came crashing down. She was in New Eden, a world created by a race of aliens known as the visitors. Six years ago, they arrived at the earth, orbiting the world in silence as scientists picked up strange radiation. They never left orbit or set foot on the planet, and scientists eventually realized the radiation was them trying to communicate.
Initially, people panicked, but two years later, the visitors had done nothing but try to talk, and the fear began to die. What followed was a sort of golden age where governments worldwide began to work together to try and answer. Hundreds of methods were tried, but nothing seemed to bridge the gap.
The visitors were so alien to us that language wasn't a viable way to speak. Instead, mathematics proved more successful, and eventually, some vague conversations were held in math. During this time, the visitors discovered our internet by tapping into satellites and learning about our games.
Then it started to happen. The first messages appeared in MMOs and other multiplayer games. They crashed servers and overloaded networks in their initial efforts, but eventually, they managed to say. "We come to learn. We use your games."
Nobody knew what this meant, but it all became clear when the pods started to drop a month later. They landed all around the world, often picking empty areas where people wouldn't be threatened. The pods were the size of an average bus and folded out into a building with an external ring. Inside every building were a dozen computer-like terminals that interfaced into something amazing.
It was a new world dubbed by the people of earth as new Eden. Where it actually existed was up for debate, but the purpose of the terminals was obvious. It was an invitation to come into their created world and interact so they could grow in their understanding of us.
They looked at our games, and through the terminal, a person could create an avatar choosing from hundreds of races and thousands of classes. The visitors borrowed from every game they could find, repeating the same theme many times. Then, they set about crafting a world as full of variations as possible.
First, you picked your race from a list so long most people never fully explored it. Then came the classes modeled on every fantasy game they could find. Thus many of them overlapped and shared many similar features. Something as common as a wizard might have dozens of variations and alternate builds, leading to no two wizards being quite the same. It was similar for all the typical tropes with a hundred varieties of warrior, barbarian, priest, and rogue. Then there were the unusual classes, like madam or noble lady. Classes that revolved around social play as opposed to combat or feats of strength.
Players were divided into two groups, hero or monster, primarily divided by race, but a few races like orc could be either. They chose two classes, one as the primary and the other a less useful subclass. The one exception was if you played as a human who could choose two primary classes as if encouraging people to pick them. Most monster races acted as the primary class, but they were allowed to pick a second primary to go along with it by giving up the subclass.
Jenny liked the idea of having two classes but chose a monster race called a morphic. It was a fluid creature that could change its shape, appearing as anyone she wanted to be. If she leveled up high enough, she could evolve into a mimic who could appear as objects as well, but that was a long way away. Right now, she could alter her form to look like any other humanoid of about the same size and gender. The form she currently wore was her default image, but she could change anything she wanted with but a thought. To test the idea, she took a handful of her hair and concentrated, smiling as it turned red, then golden blond, then deep blue. She let the change go, and it turned a deep black.
With another thought, an orange display appeared before her face, and she was ready to begin her adventure as she poked at her character sheet. She was a level 1 morphic seductress. This was a social class, with powers to temp and charm while healing with a kiss. She could level up just by interacting with people and using her seductive powers to entice them.
"Not much use in the wilds, but all I have to do is find a city, and anything I want will be mine," she said and tapped at the air, selecting the next page of her sheet to see skills.
[Change appearance, Seductive smile, erotic dance, healing kiss, claws, fluid form]
"Not much use in combat," she said with a laugh.
Tapping at the air, she winked the display away and looked at her outfit. It was a simple dress with a low top to help highlight her ample chest and add to her alluring appearance. There was a small dagger at one hip and a large pouch on the other. Inside she found basic gear, food, and some personal items.
"I wonder where Roric is?" she said and looked around the space. It was a windswept hill full of short grass and tiny white flowers. The only object of note was a large stone to one side that she took a moment to run her hand over.
"It feels so real," she exclaimed as the texture passed beneath her fingers. "Maybe it is real?" she questioned and laughed as there was no way to tell real from fantasy in this place. Some people said it was a digital simulation, others an actual world someplace else. None of that mattered to the people inside to whom reality was simply what it was.
"There you are!" came a voice that sounded almost like a growl. "I have been looking at every spawn in the area," She turned to see a tall creature with a very canine-looking face. It had short blue fur spotted with gray patches and a bushy mohawk running down its head and back. The long snout ended in a black nose that twitched as he sniffed at the air. He had short, pointed ears and rich yellow eyes as he gazed down on her with an animal-like lust.
"Eric?" she dared to ask as the beast strode right up to her.
"Roric," he reminded with a funny smile. "And you are my pet Jaina."
She smiled and blushed as he used her new name and reminded her of her role in their new relationship. Roric now played as a gnoll conqueror and tweaked his character to be all combat. He wore his starting armor of metal rings and plates and carried a sizeable bladed spear in one hand. His only other equipment was a stout backpack he had slung over one shoulder.
Jaina walked to his chest and ran a hand over one of his muscular arms, not believing this was the scrawny man she came in herewith.
"We finally did it," he said with a toothy smile. "We made it to New Eden."
"Oh, Roric, I can't believe we did this," she said in a trembling voice and put a hand to her head. "You realize we can never go back?"
"We won't ever want to," he replied and took her hands. "Look at us. We're perfect in every way. You're beautiful, and I am strong enough to care for us both."
"But we won't ever see our families again," she pressed.
"Why would you be questioning that now?" he asked. "They must have told us that a hundred times in processing; besides, some of us consider that a plus," he added with a laugh and pulled her into his warm arms. "All I need is you at my side."
"So, you still think you can protect me from all danger?" she asked and continued to rub his warm fur, savoring the taught muscle beneath.
"A few levels, and I can start recruiting a pack, then we won't have any trouble," he assured her. "Besides, I have all sorts of skills, and I can track by scent. Now that I know your scent, I bet I could find you anywhere you went."
"Is that so?" she said with a little smile.
He smiled back as his hands came to her side, looking her new body up and down.
"You are so hot and sexy," he said with a slight pant. "I can't wait to give you a good banging."
"Well, we seem to be alone," she said and gave him a seductive smile, trying out her skills.
"You little tease, are you using your seductive power on me?" he laughed and rubbed her sides. "Don't you think we should at least leave the spawn first?"
"I suppose," she said with a toss of her dark hair. "I wouldn't want people spawning in while we were in the heat of the moment."
