-Day 1-
I wake to the feeling of a cool but refreshing breeze on my face.
The sound of the wind passing around me is soothing and relaxing.
I roll over, stretching out my arm searching for the covers so I can doze off for another 10 minutes, but they are nowhere to be found.
Instead, I can feel something quite different. The cold, hard feeling of wood on my hand, not my mattress or duvet cover.
I open my eyes, and I am greeted with the vision of wooden planks in an alternating pattern. I am lying on some kind of wooden floor.
My rundown apartment does not have a wooden floor, so what is going on here?
I sit up, taking in the sights around me. To my left is a tall wooden pole. I follow the direction of the wood grain vertically, and I see large beige sails with ropes running out in all different directions.
Behind me, a wooden cabin with wide windows, which I know to be the bridge of this small vessel.
'This is some kind of ship.'
I stand up, my suspicions that I recognise the ship continue to grow. I walk to the port side and peer over the chest-high wooden railing.
Below, I see nothing but vast empty sky. Fluffy white clouds float in and out of my vision, and further below that, a maelstrom of grey and black mist, flashing with thunderclouds in the distance. I also check my surroundings to see if there is anything noticeable, but I only see empty expanse.
'Is this a Skyrunner?'
Skyrunner: the small class transport ship in the open-world MMORPG 'Sky Buccaneers'. Everybody in the game starts with one of these, but as I look to the front of the ship, I realize something.
'This is my Skyrunner!'
The standard Skyrunner is a basic ship without weaponry or upgrades. My Skyrunner in the game was different. Before the servers were closed over 5 years ago, I customized my sky runner with a rotating mana turret, high-velocity Aethercore propulsion system, and a medium mana shield.
I know that this is specifically my Skyrunner because as I look to the front of the ship, I can clearly see that there is a rotating mana turret exactly like the one I selected.
'This isn't a dream. Have I been transported into the game?'
Nothing strange happened to me yesterday. I wasn't hit by a car or stabbed by a slasher. I finished work, went to the gym, ate a light dinner, played some games, and slept. So why have I been transported to another world?
Well, it is what it is. If I have been transported into the game I used to play, I may as well make the most of it!
Ding!
[Initializing Sky Sovereign System]
[Connecting to host's Soul]
[Connection completed]
[Character Information]
[Name: ???]
[Race: Sky Sovereign]
[Level: 1. XP 0/100]
[Primary Class: Resident lv 1]
[Secondary Class
-
- ]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 80/80]
[Strength: 10]
[Vitality: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Wisdom: 8]
[Unused Skill Points: 0]
[Unused Attribute Points: 0]
This system is exactly as I remember the status screen from when I played the game, with 2 exceptions. First, the race section, and secondly, the class section. From my memory, the game never had a sky sovereign race, and classes were determined by your loadout.
I am also nameless, so I guess I should select something. Maybe my old name from the game will work.
'My name will be Leon Maxwell!'
[Name: ??? --> Leon Maxwell]
Ok, perfect, also, what is this Sky sovereign race?
[Sky Sovereign - A being born to rule the skies. Sky sovereigns do not possess the growth limitations of lower-level beings. - EXP x 3, Access to unique classes, 2 Subclasses, Ability to switch classes at will.]
3 x EXP? In the beginning, I am just a scrub like every other person here, but I will grow much faster than other people, so I can reach higher levels quickly. I am essentially a late-game menace!
The idea of sub-classes and being able to switch at will also means that I can tailor my class and skills to what suits me best.
After checking my status screen, I make my way to the bridge of the ship, determined to confirm all of my suspicions.
For some reason, despite floating in the literal air in a boat, I am not panicked. I don't feel upset or angry. I feel a little confused, but more than anything, I feel at home!
I have been awake for less than 5 minutes on a skyship from an old MMO I haven't played in 5 years, and I feel more at home here than I ever did in my crappy apartment.
As I enter the bridge of the ship, my head begins to ache. I feel dizzy and need to grab the doorframe to prevent myself from toppling over.
The sensation passes within 30 seconds, and when I fully regain my faculties, everything in this wooden cabin makes sense to me.
The bridge of the ship has 3 seats. In front of each of the seats, there is a wooden console with various levers, buttons, and sections of glass covering what I innately understand to be mana displays.
I step fully onto the bridge and sit in the central captain's seat. In front of me is a metal helm that reminds me of the detachable steering wheels used in motor racing. It is covered with buttons and triggers, and moves around on a ball joint system resting on a metal stand.
In front of me and diagonally to my left sits the gunner's seat. 2 mana screens, each with its own joystick and trigger assembly for a dedicated gunner to take control of the forward mana cannon, and the rear harpoon towing setup.
Diagonally in front and to my right is the navigator/communication seat. Here, a dedicated crewmember can use the inbuilt mana map to plot a course for the ship to follow, and use the communication crystal to connect with other nearby ships or ports for communication.
The communicator can also log interactions with other ships, such as communications or battle data. Ships tagged as pirate vessels can also be identified using this crystal, and when they are destroyed, the data can be sent to port authorities so bounties can be confirmed and collected.
All of these functions can be performed by the captain alone, but having dedicated crewmates to perform the actions gives buffs within the game.
I place my hands on the helm of the ship, and thanks to my innate knowledge telling me the procedure, I link my internal mana with the ship's controls, allowing me to pilot it.