Monday, April 18th 2024
Steve got his VR helmet a day after the keynote through one of his contacts who was working for NExT, and waited for the game to launch while staring at it. This was the final product he contributed to, a metal and plastic helmet directly coming out of a SF movie.
H - 2 hours. The helmet suddenly let out small noises and lights and the control tablet announced the opening of the character creation menu.
“Seems they made a killer job at making the components fit for mass producing.” He let out a small smile, so much hours spent on just a tiny module he thought was priceless and unique... he let out a long sigh and put the VR helmet on.
It was a really weird first impression, too heavy to bear he had to lie down on the bed, but fairly comfortable. He turned the connectionon, closed his eyes, and smoothly faded into virtual reality.
“Holy Fuck !” he screamed in surprise as he was awakening in an environment with no gravity, no one, nothing, all blank… except his nude self. He could feel the cold of being naked within this weird white place and was watching his hands when out of nowhere, awoman in her mid-20s wearing a black suit and a pair of sunglassesappeared in front of him. She looked very serious, and watching her float, moving so skillfully as if she was born here made Steve question the nature of his reality for a second.
“Hello, my name is Karina, I’ll be assisting you through the character creation process.”
“Hi” he said.
“So, what is your name ?” she asked.
“My name is Grey Wolf.”
“Woaa that is a seriously cool name !! I am supposed to ask you to choose your race now. Here are your options.” She took off her glasses to reveal two beautiful green eyes.
This IA seemed to be a complete nerd, her serious outfit was probably the result of a bug.
A ''window'' unexpectedlypopped in front of him. This looked like an usual RPG quest/description window, except it wasn''t on a screen this time but literally in the middle of his vision field.
<table><tbody><tr><td>Race</td><td>Description</td></tr><tr><td>Humans</td><td>Humans are the most common race of the Central Continent. Despite not being the smartests, the most agile, or the strongests, they are the most adaptable ones.
Bonus: +5% resistance to climate changes and +8 free stat points to start the adventure.</td></tr><tr><td>Elves</td><td>Elves are known for their talent for magic arts and their amazing agility, especially in the woods.
Bonus: +5% faster experience gain to all magic related skills and +10% agility in the woods.</td></tr><tr><td>Dwarves</td><td>Dwarves are the best craftsmen of the Central Continent, and the most cunning traders as well.
Bonus: +5% faster experience gain to all craft related skills and +5% gold earned when selling items or establishing trade contracts.</td></tr><tr><td>Beastmen</td><td>Beastmen are a mysterious race whose origin is still a mystery to all. They have always been fight for their independence and are natural fighters.
Bonus: +5% faster experience gain to all fighting related skills and +1 stat point in strength, agility and endurance.</td></tr></tbody></table>
Since Steve''s plan was to single handedly crush 62 pro-gamers, he would need real firepower. Humans seemed to be the best for whoever wants to level up faster and build a strong foundation for his character, and the Elves'' agility boost in forests could also certainly make leveling easier. Last time he played an MMORPG, he had to give up the front lines, but he spent his youth playing area-DPS types, such as Paladins and Warlocks. This time, considering the rumored active skill generation system and his thirst for blood, the choice felt simple.
“I choose the Beastmen.”
The outline of a smile appeared on her face as she let out a small laugh.
“Hehe I expected it with such a name of yours. Let’s personalize your character now.”
A copy of himself appeared in front of him. He was around 6ft tall and had relatively average physique. He had a week-oldbeard and messy blond-brown hair, his blue eyes were the exact same ones he had in reality, the irregular white storm pattern in his pupils was also there. He was quite handsome. The only - very - disturbing thing he could see was the pair of rabbit ears over his head.
“Can you change those ears to wolf ears ? And make them gray ?” he asked, trying to contain himself.
“Right away, this is what I call getting really deep into character” she was amused by his attempt to keep his seriousness.
“Can you make me a little more muscular as well ? And, you know, erase the less sexy scars.”
Karina nodded and transformed the ears. The copy of hisbody slowly started changing, developingbroader shoulders, abs, and overall musculature. A relatively long queue appeared on his back too, though the best was to see his scars slowly fading away, being replaced by a little more body hair. He noticed his slightly bigger feet and hands, as well astheir nails who looked almost like claws.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"You satisfied ? I made a great job !"
“I’m satisfied with my character” he said, with a very solemn tone.
He suddenly fused with thee body standing before him and tripped on his left foot when the gravity kicked in. Karina couldn''t contain her laugh. He looked at her, laughing herself to death, and she realised how unprofessional she was being... after two good minutes. He rose up and moved his wrists and ankles,seems he would have to get used to be a Beastman. She took a deep breath, and asked him the following question:
“Now you have to make a choice, are you going to play Hardcore or Normal ?”
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Hardcore</td>
<td>Normal</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>The hardcore mode is reserved to adult players who want to experience the game in its entirety and to full capacity. Death is the end of your character and the pain ratio is upped to 80%. You can own land and you are given the chance to leave your mark in the world of Transcendence. However you do not possess an active combat HUD.</td>
<td>In the normal mode, players can experience the game while not having to worry about death or pain, which is kept to a 10% Real-to-Virtual ratio. However they do not have access to S+ rank quests and can only own houses and guild castles. You are also provided an active HUD to help you monitoring your health, stamina, and mana during combat.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Steve was startled. He did not expect this, but the game was suddenly getting more interesting. Knowing how his old friends and new ennemies, it seemed obvious that they would all go for the Hardcore mode. Plus, a little bit of difficulty never killed anyone...yet, and he loved it.
“I choose the Hardcore mode, if I am to beat this game, I will do it the hard way.”
“I like your spirit !” said Karina, she was starting to really like this newcomer.
“Thank you, you are very kind” said Steve, smiling at her, hoping to grasp some good points with the IA.
“You’re too nice, it’s just my job” She was blushing.
“So you are not an IA ?” he asked, suddenly .
“I am an IA, and a very smart one.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Okay I am not. I am here because of our Welcoming IA had some issue with the huge amount of new players connecting even though the game opens in only 2 hours. You got me” She admitted.
“Well it was nice to meet you and don’t worry, I’ll keep this between us.” Steve admired her dedication to work, considering going through thousands of character creation must be what hell feels like for MMO players.
Atable appeared between then and a set of two dices.
“Your score will determine your startingstats, you can allocate them as you wishafter you throw the dices.” She explained. “You and all players are giventhe following stats to begin with, you might earn or develop new ones on your journey.”
Another window appeared in front of him.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>STATS</td>
<td>Description</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strength (STR)</td>
<td>Strength determines the damage you deal with weapons or bare-handed. It also affects your ability to interact with your environment (crushing objects, unlocking old levers,...)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Agility (AGI)</td>
<td>Agility determines the speed of your attacks as well as their accuracy. It also affects your ability to interact with your environment (jumping, climbing,...)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Endurance (END)</td>
<td>Endurance determines your maximum health and your maximum stamina. It also affects their regeneration rate and the maximum weight you can carry.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intelligence (INT)</td>
<td>Intelligence determines the damage you deal with magic, and your maximum mana. It also affects your ability to learn skills and gain experience during your journey.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wisdon (WIS)</td>
<td>Wisdom determines your mana regeneration rate as well as your casting speed. It also affects your capacity to create elaborate strategies and to understand the mysteries of Altherea.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“I got it.”
First throw …. 10.
“Let’s put that in intelligence.”
Second throw …. 12.
“Good, this one goes into wisdom”
“Wait, why are you doing this ? You seem to have chosen a warrior archetype by creating a beastman. Why wisdom ?” Karina asked.
He made his most serious face before starting to talk.
“Well, I have no idea how to raise my stats in game so I am grabbing the maximum I can in the stats that might end up being secondary to me though I don’t know why you would think I want to make a warrior. I want to be a priest.”
“Whaaaat ?”
She did not expect this.
“Just kiddin’ !” Steve was laughing “I don’t want to be a priest.”
Karina’s face was red.
“You got me, I’ll admit I did believe you for a second.”
Third throw …. 8
“Goes in Agility !”
Fourth throw…. 10
“Endurance”
Fifth throw … 12
“Strength”
“You are a seriously lucky guy. You’re the first player I met who scored two 12.”
“That was unexpected”
Steve was really happy about his debutstats.
“So now you’ll have to wait for the game to open, I think you have a little less than an hour to wait.” she said.
“Would you mind waiting with me ?” he asked.
“Well I would love to but I gotta keep working, Before I leave, I have a little gift for you because I like you.”
Karina approached him and kissed him on the cheek. Hewas the one to blush this time.
Then she disappeared into thin air and Steve was now waiting in front of a big digital countdown.
He decided to log out to grab something to eat before playing.