He appeared in a dark space. Orchestral music began to play, and scenes of different kingdoms were shown. A soundtrack was played.
“A long time ago, gods existed, Their powerful blessings led to brilliant kingdoms and a prosperous era”
Scenes of a desert kingdom surrounded by an oasis and shifting rain clouds all the time, a green elven kingdom in a snow-covered landscape, and finally a golden dwarven kingdom filled with lights underground.
But everything has a cost. Among gods, there existed evil ones. Whether good or evil, the cost of their actions was mortals’ blood,” as the voice became ominous. Scenes of the dead rising, a dwarven king turning to motes of light in a ceremony filled with the cries of the whole kingdom, an elven elder wearing a white robe turning into a tree, and a beautiful woman that became a snake-like monster played.
“God''s existence meant divine wars. They never exceeded the limits. However, for unknown reasons, an age of war began. It was an age of war unlike any other, for divine and mortal fought alike. Gods waged war against each other, mortals against mortals, and even mortals and the gods.” Scenes of clashes of giant figures, battlefields, and powerful weaponry were shown. Virtual reality made the scenes of the battlefield all the more brutal, and the climax of music made it epic.
The music reached its end and now a strangely tragic but soothing melody was being played. The name Holy Wars was displayed massively in golden letters as you appeared to fly above this world, and sounds of dragons and wars and flashes of lightning were heard occasionally. Thinking menu he opened it and maneuvered the menu to create his character.
The game was new so there was not much information he could find out usually it meant you should try your luck for class selection, however, it did not matter in this game. You could adjust your appearance however you wanted but it had little to no effect on the game. He changed his appearance a little bit so the character would not look like him in real life. The thing about VR games despite the protection of identity they offer, is that it would be better to change your appearance in the game. It was suggested because it would make sure you are more relaxed and helped separate the real life you and the game you. Plus it helped that a mirror version of you did not stare at you creepily, till you finally were done with character creation. He made his black hair longer to shoulder length and changed his eyes from brown to red. Edgy as hell, he knew, but he could not resist looking like a vampire. After a final check, he completed the creation of his character. The figure of his character vanished replaced by a mirror to show how he looked. This stage was mainly for those who adjusted their height and their body too much. In this stage, you could get used to how you look and move a little bit so you had some handle on this new body. He confirmed for a final time and he was ready to go.
Character creation in Philemon games was always a cumbersome process. It was the way it was because of the identity bound to the character. No one legally was allowed a second character and they were strict both technically and legally about enforcing this rule. They used this as a way to enhance the role-playing element and to make the game more immersive.
He could not wait for the tutorial to begin. As said before tutorial is the game''s first history quest and memory dungeon. Before that, he had to do one thing. Something enjoyable that every gamer instinctively does but also highly recommended. As suggested in all VRs especially immersive ones. The first thing is to open your status. This way you ensure to never make the mistake of blurring the lines of reality and games.
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Name</td>
<td>Nyarlathotep</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Titles</td>
<td>None</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Level</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Myth Tier</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Race</td>
<td>Divine Spirit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Divinities</td>
<td>None</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DP(Divine Power)</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DA(Divine Authority)</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DT(Divine Territory)</td>
<td>Tier 1 (1/10)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
He expected that by opening the menu he would see the overused regular stats model in every fantasy MMORPG game, the good old strength(STR), Agility(AGI), Intelligence, and Wisdom. That was why he was surprised by the strange status. There was no help or instructions on what the stats meant either.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The history tab blinked. Clicking on the history tab, an old book titled The Divine Chronicles Of Mythia appeared. The book began with an introduction. Supposedly the game world was called Mythia and this book contained records of every single deity ever in it. The book except for some basic game lore was inaccessible. Most pages had an interesting design of what appeared to be swirling darkness. He did not expect the history tab to be like this. This looked like reading a book on virtual lobby, his favorite hobby. This part of the menu even functioned like scrolling a virtual book. It divided the book into mythical lore, personal myth, and search. Personal myth blinked red. Checking the notification, the book opened to a fog-covered page.
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
The personal myth is where your history began and ended and where your current actions will be recorded. At Myth tier 0 you can unlock the chapter on how you rose to divinity. However, to do so you need to use the fog’s power to enter your memory. Place your hand on the page to be transported to the memory of how you attained divinity.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Before that, he began to read a little. He had little information. His searches on the official website and forums had only made him aware that this game would be different than other Philemon games. That players were gods and it had not only role-playing elements but strategy mattered and finally history played an important element. If the developers were to be believed this book played an important part.
Mythic was a land where gods rose. There was no mention of their powers or specific details however a few concepts could be inferred. The Chronicle was not exactly a history book. It was more like mythology. There were some battles recorded. In them some gods were praised for their divine might, others for their superior control of nature, and finally some for their never-ending army. Given the type of ability used by these gods, he guessed that DP(divine power) is more related to more physical abilities, and DA(divine authority) to more magical ones. DT stat seemed a little strange, it was like a summoning ability. You would think it would be unimportant but it was important. It was similar to a concept so prevalent in the fantasy genre, an angelic army. It was explicitly mentioned gods began as divine spirits. Elijah thought they were very glorified ghosts, which could by absorbing faith ascend to godhood.
It was time to begin for real. He entered the memory dungeon.
He appeared in the outskirts of a village. He was faced with a prompt.
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>As you have entered the memory of your ascension skill menu is unlocked. Fulfill the history and retain your memory.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
In the gaming hud below the golden bar of divinity, the mana of this game, the history quest had appeared.
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
History Quest(Ascension):
As a divine spirit, you need to spread your influence to ascend.
Hint: Reach level 1
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Checking his skill menu he saw several skills.
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Whisper (1/10)
Suggest a character to do something. The ability scales minor with DA and major DT.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Dream (1/10)
Make a character dream of something. The character must be asleep. The extent of your control over dream scales minor with DA and major DT.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Telekinesis(1/10)
Exercise control over objects scales majorly with both DA and DP.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The village was realistic. It felt strange. Once an NPC went through him completely.
He tried testing the two skills, he could use day time. Testing these skills consumed his divinity quite a bit but it seemed recovering. He discovered when people''s NPCs were emotional or praying they would recover faster. His telekinesis was his only means to touch objects but it drained divinity too fast. Fortunately, he did not have much need of it.
His ghost status had an exception when coming into contact with books for example opened a virtual reader. However, the realistic part made it that in this entire village, he had only found books in the village chief''s and the elderly medicine man''s houses. He had played his fair share of VR games, though none from Philemon. Usually, despite the AIs being able to generate game lore, it was second-rate. This was for the true AI. He wondered why there was such hype in the 21st century about AI when companies sold large language models as AIs. Some companies used second-rate authors with AIs but it still was full of flaws. Too bad it was not Lovecraftian.
Suddenly He had an idea. This idea brought a smile to his face. A true AI has to have decision-making capabilities. It was the judge for quest completion. He wanted to see the freedom of this game and how will AI judge this. The quest mentions influence, fear is also an influence. What if he played evil, what would happen?
He was curious to know.