Entrapped Terror

[Geoffrey St John 175]

I welcome any critisisms you have so please comment. this is a new story I decided to write after reading an old creation from some time ago. I hope you read this and support the continuation of it.

 

The Prologue:

In the year 2025 A new game company named Virtual tech was formed and their debut product was a game with new state of the art virtual reality gear. The game was called “Tower of terror” which is an adventure game that is set inside a giant tower with any different worlds built into one. The game  has been approved for release but due to the large scale server required to run it only 100,000 copies are being sold. The locations where the games are being sold is secret to all except the few who solve the three riddles on the website. That takes us to where the story begins.

In a small bedroom in central London a shy pale boy logged onto the website of Virtual Tech in hope of finding out where the game will be sold. After he logged in a pop up appeared saying “f you want to get Tower of terror then answer the following three riddles correctly to get a location and a secret code to be able to purchase a copy.” The boy simply gulped and pressed begin. The first riddle said “If you have me then you keep me, if you share me then you no longer have me. What am I?” The boy thought for a second then typed in “A Secret” then a pop up appeared and it said “Correct” The second riddle appeared on screen and it said “ I am dry but I get wetter the more I dry. What am I?” The boy didn’t waste a second and typed in “A Towel” and another pop up appeared saying “Correct” The boy was now on the third and final riddle. He was nervous as the third riddle appeared on his screen. This riddle was longer than the others but as he read it, his nerves began to fade away. The riddle said “It ca not be seen, cannot be felt. Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills. And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after. Ends life, kills laughter.” Without delay the boy typed in “Darkness” and the third and final correct pop up appeared and he got an email from the website.

The email said “Congratulations on answering the three riddles correctly. You are the first resident of the UK to do this so as a reward we have decided to grant you a discount on the game and gear. The shop “Gamerzone” on Shaftesbury Avenue will stock the products on the Friday the 13th of March. If you give them the code “Hidden darkfire” you will be able to purchase the items you desire but be warned this code is one use only so do not share it with your friends otherwise you may miss out. Thank you for your desire to play our product. Hirojima Jinzuku of Virtual Tech”.  The boy was over the moon that he was successful that he cheered very loudly and his older brother came into his room. “What is with the screaming bro?” asked the brother as the boy turned around with a smile on his face.
“Bro I did it! I attempted the riddles and I got all three right! They just sent me the location to get the game! It is going to be sold at your store on the 13th of March!” declared the boy which caused the older brother to smile and fold his arms. “Well done bro! I would have told you myself but I had to sign a none disclosure agreement. I will hold a copy back for you when I get to wo.. Oh hold on I just got an email!’ said the older brother. The emails just received by the older brother said “This is Hirojima Jinzuku of Virtual Tech. I am writing this email to you to reveal that on the day you will stock or products a customer should come in and state the password “Hidden Darkfire” when they do you are to give them the virtual reality gear for free. I will see to it personally that your company is not out of pocket.” Upon reading the email the older brother just laughed and said “Lucky bugger”

The boy was puzzled and asked his brother “What do you mean lucky bugger bro?” to which the older brother remained silent for a second and thought “I guess I can tell him because he won’t tell anyone else” The older brother took a breath and said “virtual tech just emailed me to tell me that I am meant to give away free virtual reality gear to the bearer of a certain password. That person is going to be in for a good shock.” The boy laughed and nodded in agreement when his brother sat down on the bed and asked “So what is your password? You may as well tell me since you will have to tell me when you pick up the stuff anyway” The boy thought for a minute and decided he may as well. “My password in Hidden darkfire bro” which caused the older brother to stand up in shock and yell “YOU’RE KIDDING!?” The sudden yell caused both the boy and the father down the hall to jump in shock.

The father ran into the room and asked “What is going on in here!?” The older brother calmed down ad turned to the father. The younger brother gleefully declared “I did it dad! I know where to get the game! And get this! It will be at his shop!” The father then looked at his older son and smiled “That is great so how much is this going to set me back?” asked the father to which the older brother took a deep breath. “Not as much as you think. The company emailed me and told me to give away free gear to the bearer of a certain password and that password was Hidden darkfire” said the older brother which caused the boy to stand up and yell “THAT IS MY PASSWORD!”

The trio took a few seconds to gather themselves and the three each laughed. “So my wallet will only be slightly effected. That is great and I am sure your other will be just as happy for you. When will the game be out?” asked the father which the older brother said “The weekend of Your anniversary”  Which caused the boy to frown but the father quickly replied “In that case could you cover the price for us and I will pay you back when we get back on the Monday?” The older brother was quick to nod and just as quickly received a hug from his little brother. It was then a loud “Dinner could be heard and the three went down to eat.

For the next few weeks life went on as normal until Thursday the 12th when the two boys saw their mother and father off and the younger one rushed to bed early so he could be one step closer to the new game. As the day arrived the boy quickly rushed to the store where he was greeted by a policeman asking him "why aren’t you in school boy?” The boy looked at the officer and quickly replied, “I am home schooled Officer and my parents are away for their wedding anniversary. You can ask my older brother if you want. He works at the Gamerzone” The officer nodded and walked with the boy to the Gamerzone where he was quickly approached by the boy’s older brother. “Hello officer is my little brother in trouble?” asked the older brother to which the officer looked at the boy then the brother.

“No he is not if you can confirm what he told me about why he was not in school” said the officer to which the older brother quickly responded by saying “ He is home schooled like I was and our parents are away this weekend for their wedding anniversary” The officer just nodded and left the boy to it. The boy quickly rushed to the counter and his brother called over his colleague.  “Hey Gary, my little bro wants to purchase the new Tower of Terror game. Since I am the one paying I can’t run the purchase so you have to. You know what to do right?” asked the older brother to which Gary just nodded then looked at the boy and asked “what is your password?” The boy gleefully declared “Hidden darkfire” when Gary inserted the password a pop up appeared saying “award this customer the bundle.” Gary looked at the older brother who nodded and went to get the bundle which he scanned. Once the purchase was complete the boy simply waved to his brother and rushed home with his new stuff ready to play.

[Thire 121]

I must say, interesting so far.

[Geoffrey St John 175]

Chapter One: Welcome to Terror

The boy took about 45 minutes to set up his new gear and install the game. He quickly signed up an account and logged into the game server. Within five minutes the boy’s consciousness faded and he “woke up” in a room of 1s and 0s. The room was silent until he heard a voice, “Welcome to the character creation room. Please approach the small pedestal before you” said the voice. The boy followed the instructions and spent about twenty minutes designing his avatar for the game. Once he was finished he heard the voice once more. “Now you are finished step onto the circle behind you and begin your adventure my new warrior” The boy just smiled and ran onto the circle which he slowly began to sink into. Just before his head sunk into the ground he saw the words “Welcome to The Tower of Terror”

Everything was black for the boy for a few minutes until he realised his eyes were closed so he opened them. He found himself in a small flower garden outside a city. The boy made his way into the city admiring the scenery as he explored every part of it that he could. He saw weapon shops, medical supply stores, food stores and so many more businesses he never knew could exist. It all seemed so unbelievable until he reached the armour store and became frozen in place when he saw his own reflection in a mirror just inside the store. He slowly walked towards the mirror with amazement at his new discovery.

His hair was slightly long reaching the bottom of his neck. The fringe was a dark red while the rest was a dark purple. His eyes were hazel and his skin was a normal shade of pink. His body was fit and healthy. He was about 5 foot 3. He was wearing a  black tank top made of leather. On his hands were a pair of black fingerless gloves made of the same material as his top.  His trousers were made of a brown leather and his shoes were made of a kind of plastic. Around his waist was a plastic scabbard which held a broadsword made of iron. He was amazed to see the very character he designed was the body he was walking inside of at that very moment.

The boy’s amazement was ended when the store clerk approached him, “Hello there, is there something I can help you with?” asked the store owner. The boy looked the store owner and said “Oh sorry I am new in the area and got a little mixed up. Is there anywhere here where I can learn the way things work around here?” asked the boy which caused the store owner to laugh and pick up a leaflet. The leaflet advertised the Information centre which had a picture. He recognised the building from his exploration earlier. He waved to the store owner and made his way  to the info centre.

Once he reached his destination he was greeted by a guard who scanned the boy and let him enter. Once inside  he saw several other people in the room and there was a man on the stage showing everyone how to open their menus to access their inventory and stats. After spending about half an hour there, he had learned all he needed to know including how to log off. He went to leave the centre but was stopped by one of the people who was on the stage. “Hold on, you were the one who was given the special password, correct?” asked the man. The boy nodded and the man invited him into the office on the left of the centre. The boy followed the man and the man shut the door once they were both in the room.

“Right first of all allow me to identify myself, I am Hirojima Jinzuku, I am glad you were able to join us here so quickly. I see you have learned how to control your menu but you have not registered a character name yet. Once you have registered a name then it will be possible to communicate with other players. They will also be able to see your name unless you have the anonymous setting active on your status page on your menu. Go on and register a name while you are in here with me” said the man which caused the boy to open his menu.

The boy opened his status menu and found the option to register a name. He thought about it for several minutes until he had a eureka moment and typed in the name he wanted. To his delight he had a pop up saying “That name is available, are sure you ant to register this name?” Without a second delay he clicked yes and his new name was officially registered. Hirojima smirked and asked “So what name did you register? I am controlling this Non-playable character to communicate with you so I can not see your profile until I log out of this avatar.” The boy just laughed and turned to the  door. “Thank you for all your help, I am going to explore he city a bit more” said the boy as he opened the door. He walked through the door and said “Keep an eye out for your future legendary player. The legend that is me Pyrious Dark” said the boy as he closed the door and left.