Jordan sighed, logging onto his computer after a day at school. He looked at the new headset with amazement and wonder. Could this really work? He thought to himself. Could this game be legit? I have the hardware for it... Time to test it out! He put on the headgear. It was sleek and gray, with streaks of white. It was a simple design, but Jordan knew it was complex on the inside. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how it might work. The face mask was transparent, so he could see through it. He opened the shortcut on his home page and logged in. As he pressed the Enter key, something came up telling him to close his eyes. He closed them, and then a minute or two later, began to hear something around him. Low voices? He opened his eyes. He was lying on his back on a marble floor. He got up slowly.
"Where am I...?" He said to himself. He walked towards a pedestal in the middle of the room, and a sort of rectangle appeared on it. It was blue, and hovering in mid-air. It looked like one of those things you often saw in science-fiction games, those floating, transparent screens. On it it said "Create your username" and there was a keypad below. He thought for a moment. This was going to be his permanent username. He had to pick it carefully. He looked around him at the marble pillars through the small, circular room. He looked down at himself. He appeared odd. This was not how he looked. He shrugged, assuming it was part of the game. After all, it couldn't actually know what he looked like, so it had to create an avatar. He typed in a name, finally deciding on one: Dreadwolf. He nodded, satisfied, and pressed the circle icon. Another blue menu thing appeared next to the first. It said Are you sure you wish for this to be your name? He pressed the circle icon on that one too. Both menus vanished, and another one took their place. Choose your avatar, it said. He nodded, and picked the basic build that looked best: A dark-haired boy in traveler's clothes. His eyes were a bright green. Jordan decided he rather liked that avatar. As he tapped the circle icon on both menus, he looked down at himself, and he began... Glowing? The glow subsided, and he saw himself as his new avatar. He looked at his hands. They were the same skin color, exactly the same. Not too unusual... I guess? He thought to himself. He saw a mirror against the wall. He looked into it, looking at himself. Wow, he looked amazing. His avatar was rather attractive in his opinion. Bright green eyes and pale skin, dark hair and simple medieval traveler's clothes. He saw a doorway appear, part of the wall just fading, revealing a hallway. He walked down it, stunned by this new virtual world. This was virtual reality. He was actually using virtual reality. And his real body didn't even move. It was still sitting in his computer chair. He walked down the hallway. At the end of it was a beaming light. He walked slowly toward it, hearing his footsteps on the pure white floor. He stepped into the light. He had made the choice. He had entered the game for the first time.
     He found himself in a town square. There was a large fountain in the center. He had another menu in front of him. It said Pick your starting equipment: Sword, Mage Staff, dagger, or bow and arrows? He selected the staff. Immediately the menu disappeared, and a staff appeared in his hand, the shape glowing for an instant before it solidified into a carved oak staff, with a spherical blue gem on the top. A spellbook was in a pouch at his right, but when he opened it, most of the pages were blank, except for the first. There were a few incantations in a language he did not know, and after the incantations were descriptions of what each spell did when done correctly. This is so epic... I can actually cast spells??? He thought, amazed. He stood taller, the bottom of his staff against the ground like a walking stick. He walked forward, exploring the town.
Hmm... How do I open the main menu... He thought to himself. He looked in his pouch at his side. There was another book in there... Its title was "Instructions for beginners".
     He opened the book. Inside was a beginner's guide. It had a description of what MMORPGs were, and some instructions on how to level. He mentally laughed and flipped through a few more pages, then found what he was looking for.
     To open the main menu, speak "Kazana menu" This is, of course, only the simplest method. There are other ways to do it, but let's just go with this one for now.
    Jordan--No, Dreadwolf when he was online-- nodded, and said softly "Kazana Menu". Immediately, a blue rectangle thing appeared in front of him. It appeared rather like thin, colored blue glass. It floated in front of him. He saw a list of options, including "Inventory", "Settings", and "Logout", along with a couple others. He tapped "Logout". He had to log out of the game for now. But only for a few minutes. He found himself back in his room as he closed his eyes. He pulled off the headset, going downstairs. His mother was sitting on the couch, reading a book.
"How'd it go? Did it actually work? Or was it fake?" She asked.
"Mother... It wouldn't be fake. It's advertised in magazines at this point. And it went really well, by the way. Fantasy. MMORPG. My kind of thing."
"Oh. I see." She said, but really she didn't understand at all. She had little knowledge of video games. Jordan walked back upstairs. He had to try out more of this game, figure out all the features. This was epic.