FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

October 12, 2014: The credit is late, but I hope anyone still reading this will appreciate his work. My friend, Phenrir

His body came alive again as he re-entered the physical form that is his character. The full moon illuminated the sky, revealing the small village around him. He was standing in the center of the gravel road that separated the two sections of the village. The side of the village to his left was packed full of crude housing, while the section to his right contained an abundance of small shops and marketplaces. His limbs felt stiff as they always do upon entering the game. He turned to his right and approached the marketplace, which was run-down with rotted pine wood and faded auburn paint. Still, the nicely dressed NPCs, or non-player characters, stood in the 5 small stalls behind their counters, standing idly until their help is needed.

Hunter stepped into line in his character's form. He had selected all the components for his character during his character creation to best reflect how he would like to look in life. His character had blue eyes, layered brown hair and pale white skin. He was tall and well-built, however, his clothes didn't match his figure. He was wearing a tattered shirt and jacket with rough pants that had many holes in them. He had not been fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family, but the chances were slim in the first place. His character took on the name Dagex. With everyone on earth playing the game, he was fortunate enough to get an original name as he spent hours thinking of one.

After some time he stepped forward and it was finally his turn in line. The male NPC in an expensive suit behind the counter spoke in their usual overly happy tone.

"Hello! How may I help you?"

"I need to access my pending sales," as Hunter spoke the man seemed to have no reaction, remaining expressionless.

"Very well. Just a moment!" small code appeared in luminescent green holographs in front of the man, indicating that he was working. As Hunter waited he noticed a familiar ringing in his ears.

"Hey! What's up?!" Hunter recognized the voice as his friend Jake, who was directly behind him now.

"Just checking something before I get off," Hunter turned to face his friend and looked down to notice the large leather bag in his hand. Jake was one of his old friends that he had known since his childhood. He was short, stocky and somewhat awkward, or at least, until Hunter got to know him well.

"You're never going to guess what I found!" Quickly untying the thin rope around the top of the leather bag, Jake revealed the detailed gold coins hidden inside.

"Whoa! Where the hell did you find that?!"

"I found a large cave belonging to a dragon and..." the marketplace pending sales window appeared digitally in front of Hunter, cutting his friend off. Hunter wanted to finish up quickly as he was exhausted, however he didn't want to dismiss his friend so suddenly.

"Oh, sorry, maybe we can continue this tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Sure thing! I'm going to tell the others!" Jake said as he retied the bag and ran off with excitement giving color to his face.

Hunter turned his focus to the holographic screen in front of him and navigated to the pending sales section. He frowned when he saw that the skeleton bones he had listed had not sold yet. It had been almost a month after all, just waiting for them to sell. He thought it was odd, but he brushed it off and closed the window in front of him, again revealing the poor village with many NPCs and human players alike walking about. He stepped out of the stall to allow others to use it, then decided to unclip.

As he began to unclip through his thoughts, he felt Dagex's body shut down. He instantly awoke encased in the enclosing used for entering the game, World. He detached the large cables that protruded from his forearms, thighs and temples. The enclosing was much like a coffin, but with glass surrounding him. He began to force open the large door, requiring some effort to come free. When he sat up he revealed his dark room. To his left was his one small window which was concealed by metallic blinds. His floor and walls are composed of dark blue painted wood that had begun to rot, much like the type the game contained in its many poor villages. The computer screen in the far left corner of the room next to his bed was still glowing in the darkness. In the far right corner was his small open closet full of dirty clothes.

He attempted to step out of the dusty glass encasing, but he staggered when he realized he was extremely stiff. He took a minute to let himself recover, then glanced up at the clock. The clock read 1:05 AM. He had been clipped up for over 7 hours! Much longer and he could have suffered physical injuries...

Attempting again to step out he met no resistance. He walked to the computer screen and had an eerie feeling. He could have sworn he left it off, but he resolved with a shrug that one of his family members must have turned it on. He turned the computer off and walked around his bed to his closet. He changed his clothes into his dirty night apparel and decided to try to sleep.

He climbed into bed and was shocked as he immediately collapsed, as it suddenly hit him how exhausted he was. With a sigh he lay in the same position, unmoving, and drifted off to sleep.