Natalia considered getting a Centaur because they always looked cool to her, but she had to consider that the game is a war game. He needed to think beyond the box. He saw a doppelgänger and thought it looked cool, but when she read the description: doppelgänger (German for "double-goer") is a ghostly double or exact replica of a living person, traditionally seen as a supernatural omen of bad luck or impending death, She said, "Nope not on my watch satan." She kept scrolling until she saw the outline of a human figure with the race titled Human, but the description said, the human body cannot be transported to the realm. Race not available.
Back in the real world there were reports of people falling unconscious and taken to the hospital. There was traffic headed to the nearby hospitals. Then an evening news broadcast was aired on the radio and television with the President announcing, "People, do not fear or panic. We are aware of the situation that has been reported. It is a global phenomenon. The military is being dispatched to collect all people affected by it and to keep them safe. They will be monitored and kept alive while we find a solution. There is investigation of what could have caused this. Anyone who hasn't reported their relative or neighbor to the authorities, I ask you to do it as soon as possible. We take every citizen affected by this seriously." Then it ended with another person stepping up and saying, "the President is not taking any questions at the moment. Please wait for further instructions."
There was a figure of a tall man walking by a store of Televisions playing the broadcast over. He was wearing a hoodie and had his head down to cover the top half of his face. His hands were in the pockets of his hoodie. He saw unmarked black vans driving past him. Then the man walked into an alley. He jumped up the fire escape 18 feet from the ground. He kept going up until he got to the 7th floor and climbed in through the window of an apartment. The sound of the TV was still going. It appeared no one was home. He walked to the bedroom and found the young woman, Natalia, collapsed on the ground with her phone still on the supposed game app. The hooded man picked her up and placed her on the bed. Natalia lived alone, which is why no one had reported her missing yet. She wasn't due for a shift for another two days.
The unknown man took her phone and scrolled through the contacts. Then he texted Natalia's mother, "I'm not feeling well. Please come over and take care of me, but under no circumstances let the government know or tell anyone else about me. Keep your prayers going, they will help me." Then the man took his hoodie off and a pair of large wings emerged from his back. He tilted his head back and whispered. Then a glowing light grew from his forehead that quickly showered his body. His wings began to get smaller until they were gone. Then he went through Natalia's phone again and got back to the game app. It was still on the screen "travel to your city." With the Enter button in the middle half. The unknown man tapped it, but instead of collapsing, he was sucked into the screen.
Natalia was still looking at the Human option wondering why it was there in the first place if you can't select it. Then the screen glitched a little and the option to select Human was available. Natalia furrowed her brows in confusion and decided to select it anyway because she could use someone that looked human to talk to and bounce ideas from. As soon as she selected enter rays from a small circle that appeared to look like a camera emitted. It began to scan the area and when it was done. A man began to generate in front of Natalia, staring back at her. Natalia looked at him with amazement at the resemblance. Then she heard the robotic voice say, "You may rename your guide once" Natalia placed her thumb and index figure on her chin and thought of her best friend. "Uriel, I will rename you Uriel." The robotic voice said,
"Uriel, is now your guide's name. Are there any more changes you wish to make before finalizing your change? You may change the wardrobe, facial features, gender, skin, hair color, language."
Natalia said "Change hair color to dark midnight blue, eyes to gold and a similar armor suit to mine," she was thinking they can be the ultimate tag team.
"Changes completed" said the robotic voice. Uriel's changes happened as fast as one can blink after responding.
Natalia examined the changes and smiled. Then sees a few flickering lights in the sky slowly descending from a far distance.
"What are those?" Natalia asked while still watching the flickering lights appear all over.
"Those are more arrivals like yourself from other parts of the earth." Uriel replied.
Natali looked at her guide – now Uriel – and was excited to know he can talk without being prompt. "What do you mean? What is this place?" asked Natalia as she turned around.
"You are actually in a different realm called Evansly. When you accepted the invitation your soul was pulled here and given a body that is capable of respawning after getting killed because it is just a vessel. You are currently faster, lighter and durable, but there are rules to this place you must follow such as stamina consumption and you can still feel pain. This was on the info icon on the top right before submitting your desired avatar. It was the letter "i" in gold." Natalia's mouth dropped, "my soul! How is that even possible?" Uriel looked at Natalia straight in the eyes and asked, "are you certain you don't have an idea?" Natalia thought about her books she sometimes read, some of them spoke of astroprojecting. There were even movies about it. Natalia then asked, "So you're saying someone found a way to transport souls here? But does that mean I'm dead?" Uriel looked at the arrivals still coming from afar and responded, "I assure you that you are not dead. Remember your teachings, there is a war ahead of you."
Natalia recalled seeing the "i" and thought it was something all the games have when signing up for a new application. She asked, "Can I take a look at the info?"
A scroll appeared on the palm of Uriel's hand and handed it to Natalia. It had the disclosure and clauses as a normal app until you reached section XXVI which stated transportation to this realm will happen after selecting the avatar. Avatar will show generic attire upon arrival to the realm, the user will appear as they do in real life. To transform into a fictional avatar, the user must command their guide to enable skin. Skins of different characters are sold in the market of each city. The user will have a free skin of the image he or she chose before entering in their arsenal. Then in the following section XXVII, time moves differently on the realm, a mimic will fill in for the user while in the realm. Mimics will respond to the user's real identity and the user will be known as the kingdom name that was chosen. To change names use a passport pass that can be bought in the market. In the event a task is asked of the mimic that it cannot perform without consent, then the user will telepathically connect until the task is confirmed.
Natalia furrowed her eyes and looked at Uriel. " Does that mean I am called Great Eden now? And something ungodly has taken my place in the real world" Uriel replied, "Yes, you are now known as Great Eden, but a mimic will not take your place as long as you are not reported. Then Uriel opened a digital passport with Natalia's picture and the name Great Eden in the description.
"The passport is used to identify yourself to make purchases, enter in competition, claim rewards and show your power level." Uriel said while pointing at the different features.
"What about the features that show a lock and are darkened out? Why can't I see the information for them?" asked Natalia as she flipped through the book.
"They are locked because you have not met the requirements. If you tap on the key icon and go to unlock new, you can select any darken one. Then it will pop up the list of requirements needed and tell you if you met them or not." answered Uriel while looking up at the sky.
The sun was setting and there were still more portals popping off at a distance.
"Okay, what's the goal of this all?" asked Natalia, with a confused look.
Uriel replied "This is a game devised by dark forces. There are quests like a role playing game to complete and unlock levels, buffs and attributes. You have an army to build and castle"
"I have an army to begin with?" replied Natalia questioningly, then asked,
"How do I leave this place?" Uriel responded, "You must meet the requirements; take the throne, complete major boss quest, form or be part of an alliance, complete portal quest, But most importantly you need to find the key to unlock the way out" replied Uriel, but he did not mention the details for every requirement. "What about the time change here? Would I go hungry in the real world and die?" asked Eden. Uriel responded, "After tonight, the server time will reset and time will shift. An hour in the real world could be one month here." Eden frowned because it would feel like an eternity if it was only a few days in the real world.
Back in the real world there were other people still navigating their phones as they heard reports. A lady was sitting in her living room placing tarot cards on the desk. She placed three cards, chaos, devil and finally a suit of sword. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then downloaded the app, Throne War. After signing up she too was knocked out unconscious.
In a different building there was a man who was in deep prayer and he began to cry uncontrollably. His wife and daughter ran inside and his daughter asked "are you okay father?" He said, "yes, I'm going to go take a nap. Please don't wake me if it takes too long. It's needed." Then he too was unconscious in his bed with the phone later that night.
By the end of the night there were groups that were setting up group communities to give emotional support to people who had family that had experienced the phenomenon. No one understood that each person affected had just entered a war that has been going for years in the spiritual realm. There was barely any talk about seers or any form of spiritual gift since the age of enlightenment which is when science took the front seat.