It was August 2005. Indeed, a beautiful day it was in Lith Harbor of Victoria Island. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear and vibrant. I anxiously waited at the curb of a whitewashed stone house, waiting for the famous Game Masters to make an announcement.

I stood overwhelmed by a massive crowd of various professional Maplers and retards. The din of the retards’ shouting nearly deafened me, but I strained my ears to receive the GM’s announcement.

“The event map is now open. Please double-click the Event NPC to enter.”

The event had been opened. I quickly focused onto Martin, the event NPC of Lith Harbor, in a skateboarder outfit on a ledge high above the ground. Focusing my thoughts on clicking, the world went black as I was warped through one of the portals common to MapleStory.

A wave of disorientation assaulted me, but being so used to such waves, I merely shrugged it off and waited until I reached my destination.

Then suddenly, I was standing on a plain wooden platform, high above the city of Ellinia. Around me were around a hundred other Maplers, waiting for the GMs to begin the race.

On a small ledge overlooking the plain wooden platform, a GM, wearing the magnificent Wizet Suit, complete with a signature Invincible Hat, crossed her arms and waited for the Maplers to calm down. Her name escapes my memory at the moment, but I suspect she is long gone from Maple, fired when the vile Nexon usurped Wizet’s throne as the ruler of MapleStory.

After what seemed an eternity, the mob of excited Maplers finally became silent. The GM smiled beautifully, her eyes covered by a pair of black sunglasses. Waving her hand in an intricate pattern, she used her GM powers to grant each of us a Holy Symbol, greatly increasing the rate at which killing monsters empowered us.

Then, gesturing at a portal that had mysteriously appeared in the center of the platform, she fired a beam of mystical energy at it, shattering the magical barrier that prevented us from entering. The Maplers gleefully charged in, vanishing one-by-one and reappearing on another wooden platform above.

The name of the game was “Ola Ola”, one well-known to me, though I could never memorize the correct order of passage. It involved climbing ladders and entering portals, though some portals would bring the Mapler back to the entry point or do nothing at all. There was only one correct path, and since I did not feel like randomly guessing I simply followed a powerful Cleric that I noticed in the crowd.

Soon afterwards, I reached the end stage. The GM congratulated me herself and handed me two items : a blackened scroll bound by a red string, and a large trophy made of solid gold. Thanking her with a grin, and complimenting her beauty, I exited the event area using the return portal nearby, which transported me back to Lith Harbor.

I knew what the Scroll of Secrets’ purpose was. Unfolding a piece of reddish paper from my pocket, with a picture of a skull on it, I murmured “Sleepywood.” The scroll vanished, and I was teleported to the Dungeon town of Sleepywood. Walking over to Mr. Oh, I withdrew 10,000 mesos from my account, paying him 500 mesos for his kind attitude.

I then searched for the entrance to the Ant Tunnel. Finding it between two small, dead trees, I dived in, feeling a rush of cool air as I descended into the true Dungeon.

A horncap mushroom stood before me, glaring hatefully at me before it charged… into my Magic Claw. Groaning in pain, the creature collapsed and its body vanished, leaving behind a small amount of mesos and a strange red-yellow inflated circle of rubber. A Red Flowery Tube, I thought, thanking my luck that day. I continued on, deeper into the dungeon, encountering no other foes until I reached the second level.

There I began to slaughter the mushroom zombies, frying them with my magical flame arrows, but being careful not to destroy their charms. I collected around forty of them before using a return scroll, teleporting myself to Kerning City. There, I traveled to a construction site just outside the city, where a renowned swordsman, Chun Ji resided.

Handing him the blackened scroll and forty Undead Charms, he shuffled quietly into his house for a few minutes, before exiting the dark shack, an unknown item in hand. He handed me the Magic Box and informed me where I could get it unlocked before returning back inside his home, likely to continue studying the scroll.

With a shrug, I pocketed the box and returned to Kerning City. Inquiring about a certain locksmith to certain Maplers of repute, I finally found Mr. Pickall’s booth below the Kerning Pharmacy. “How much would it cost me to unlock this?” I asked, showing him the box.

Mr. Pickall took the box and began examining the lock with a small magnifying glass. “This is a strange lock indeed,” he replied, looking up to me as he sat on the cushioned concrete, “though I do now how to unlock it. However, it will require some exotic materials… if you give me those, I will do it for free. But otherwise, it will cost you in cash.” That strange accent of his was infuriating, but he was the best at his job. “Very well, what are my options?”

“You can either give me a refined Sapphire and five Slime Bubbles, or you can pay me 10,000 mesos.”

“I’ve got the mesos on me, so here.” Grinning widely, the short man pocketed the money and set to work on the box. Within a minute, it was open. “I believe there is something very special inside. Consider yourself lucky.” he murmured before turning to another Mapler behind me, who also held a similiar box.

I headed to the Pharmacy after that, entering and plopping myself down onto one of the wooden benches. Opening the box, I stared into its strange black depths, and slowly stuck my hand inside, feeling around for any item.

My hand closed on the hilt of a sword. Pulling it out cautiously, my eyes widened as I saw what it was. One of the legendary Sparta-class swords, almost unheard-of in those times! And its edge seemed more refined than normal, its balance greater. A perfect Sparta.

Grinning in glee, I reverently placed the sword into a scabbard that I summoned from my inventory, strapping it to my back. I headed to the weapons shop at the other side of the city, entering through the window and surprising a group of female Maplers who apparently were doing something naughty behind a metal screen. Shrugging helplessly, I leaped down into the main store, searching for Don Giovanni, the weapons expert.

I found him polishing the fish on a Fish Spear near the cashier. Showing him the sword, his eyes widened as he realized what it was. I asked him how much it was worth, and he stuttered in reply, “T-t-t-two h-h-hundr-ed-ed m-m-m-mesos.” My own eyes flew open. Two-hundred and thirty-thousand mesos! I myself only possessed about fifteen-thousand! “Deal!” I exclaimed, handing him the sword as he rummaged underneath the counter for a massive sack of mesos.

Satisfied with my sale, I headed out of the store and began my journey to Perion. On the way, I encountered a few greencap mushrooms and animated tree stumps, but those were easily dealt with by my flame arrows.

At Perion, I focused my thoughs on “changing channel.” I warped to another mirror of the world, landing on an extremely disgruntled beginner. Chuckling, I proceeded towards the Dungeon Path.

Then, a powerful-looking swordsman poked me in the spine, immediately grabbing my attention. His tone of voice was strangely polite considering how he greeted me. “Say, I heard you came into possession of a Sparta recently. Might you still have it?”

“No, I sold it to Don Giovanni at Kerning.”

“Darn, I was hoping to offer you eight million in mesos for it. Thanks anyway though.” he said before walking off, disappearing into a crowd that had mysteriously appeared while I was talking to him.

I stood there, attempting to digest the information. Then I suddenly realized…

[h]”F***!”[/h] I screamed.

Yes, this is a completely true story. T_T