《The Lost Cosmos》 Prologue Prologue During late 2138 a small company named Rising Phoenix revealed that they were going to release a Full-Dive Virtual Reality game called The Lost Cosmos on March 23rd, 2139. When they announced, as they were still a small company, they did something that would allow them to be able to gain reputation, thus they released a beta at the very beginning of 2139 only allowing 100 participants to play the game. Everyone was still skeptical about the game, but when the beta finished they were a little more convinced based off of what the players of the beta said. Although the first thing they said was that they can¡¯t reveal too much of the game, they would be able to tell everyone some of it. They spoke on how realistic the game was, they spoke of the vast number of playable races and classes there would be. They didn¡¯t give a specific number, but they did say that there were possibly hundreds of races and classes that one could play. The thing that attracted the most attention was the mention of space travel. People were excited about this because even though it was 2139, no one had access or ability to go to space freely. This is all because of what happened in 2053, it was later dubbed ¡®The Great Calamity.¡¯ During ¡®The Great Calamity¡¯ the world fell to anarchy. Meteors fell from the stars, and Australia collapsed. These events caused great decimation the population, leaving it with only 500 million people left at the end in 2076. Luckily the human race survived and overcame the devastation it had caused. Humanity is still not back to normal even after 63 years, but the population had bloomed into the 3 billion people today. People had many different theories on why it happened, but the one that stood out the most was the death of Li Xunren, an influential martial artist and poet that had changed the views of many, but this theory was rejected as it was not logical.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Many things had changed since ¡®The Great Calamity¡¯ cities were erected over the fallen ones, items were reinvented, society changed as we know it, and many deep bunkers were made in the case that this would happen again. People had great motivation in the first years, but like all things, it faded with time leading to the creation of some video games in 2094. Rising Phoenix was created during that time, and they spent over 40 years working on a game. That game is The Lost Cosmos. The fact that they could work for that long on a single project amazed people to the extreme. After the remarks the beta players made, people started feeling great anticipation for the days to come. Then out of the blue, Rising Phoenix released a lottery for anyone and everyone they could reach, the winners of the lottery would be able to have the very first edition when they released the game to the public. Each person could only enter it once. Rising Phoenix would only release 5,000 copies in the first wave, and 10,000 the second. There would only be 1,000 winners out of everyone who signed up. Leaving the rest to be first-come-first-serve. The game would come with a pod capsule, which was the thing that allowed people to enter the game. Over a billion people signed up for it, showing the popularity and anticipation of the game. The finishing of it happened without any grandeur. No one knew who won, all people knew was that game pods suddenly showed up across the world as well as Rising Phoenix allowing for the purchase of the remaining 4,000 pods, which sold out the same day. The people who did get the pod registered after they got it, leading to the feeling of anticipation and the agony of waiting. Eventually, it happened, the servers were released causing everyone to login and create their very own character. Among them were people from a different age, gender, country, religion, and more. Chapter 1.1 The Winds of Vengeance Among the few lucky lottery winners, was a young man. This young man¡¯s name was Xian Luyu, a 16 year old Martial Artist. Despite the fact that he was a teenager he still came on top of many fights, including his triumph over his own father, a renowned figure in the martial arts world who held strength and persistence beyond any normal person. He was raised in a martial arts school, run by his parents, where he trained almost every day since the tender age of 5. He lived a normal life, albeit with the constant challenges a martial artist must face. Then, just two weeks before the release of The Lost Cosmos, he died in the middle of a martial arts competition. After that fight though, if anyone was looking at the victor, they would see an evil smile. No one knew he was killed, instead, they all thought he was just unconscious because when they checked his pulse, it was still beating. This is because a stray soul had made it into his body.
¡°Lei Feiyun, stay behind me. Lin Qin is more powerful than you think, be careful.¡± Yan Luyu warned. Yan Luyu drew his sword and pointed at a figure in the distance, ¡°Lin Qin! I have finally found you! ¡°Luyu! Why must you chase me to the ends of the earth! Must you not give me a road for survival!¡± screamed Lin Qin. ¡°You should have said that when you killed my family for a measly 500 gold bars! Lin Qin! Today is the day of your death! Now face my sword!!!¡± screamed Yan Luyu, eyes red with anger.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Yan Luyu then flicked his sword and attacked, ¡°13 Verse Sword, Tipping Leaf in the Spring!!!¡± Flash Drip drip drip On the blade of Yan Luyu¡¯s sword were drops of blood. ¡°You!¡± grunted Lin Qin as he grabbed his blood-stained chest. ¡°Hehe...hehehe¡­...HahaHAAHAAA!!¡± As blood drips from his mouth, Lin Qin started cackling and laughing hysterically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but today is the day you will die. Now!¡± His words caused Yan Luyu to look around in confusion and thought to himself There is no one else here except me, Lin Qin, and Lei Feiyun. Is he trying to fool me? ¡°Your words won¡¯t work on me.¡± Twang Ping Phhhfft Yan Luyu looked down in horror at the arrow sticking out of his heart, and then at the one who shot it, Lei Feiyun. ¡°How.. Could.. You..!?¡± he grunts out, reaching out towards her. She stares at him coldly, going over to stand with Lin Qin, before he said ¡°She was never on your side, she was always on mine. Hahahahahaha!¡± ¡°The Heavens will...not¡­..forgive¡­¡­¡­..you!¡± Yan Luyu spat out with his dying breath eyes filled with hatred and fell still. Unbeknownst to him, his soul when proceeding to the heavens was interfered with causing it to go off in the wrong direction, possessing the body of a youth who had just died. Chapter 1.2 The Heavens Always Leaves an Open Path Quickly Yan Luyu woke and rubbed his eyes, in front of him was an unfamiliar place. He was confused by everything he saw, the rectangular black box, the blue cloths over something made of an invisible material. He saw people in front of him, this caused him to think Where am I, who are they? Then, suddenly, he felt an intense pain in his head, and unfamiliar memories entered his head. It showed the life of a young man, a life filled with thoughts of training to become the best fighter in the world to impress his family, it showed the struggles he went through to get as far as he did. It was a life that was far different from Yan Luyu¡¯s own life, which was full of tragedy and betrayal. ¡°Hahaha! Lin Qin! Lei Feiyun! The Heavens have not abandoned me! I shall one day return and take my revenge!¡± he laughed out crazily. ¡°Big brother, are you ok?¡± a young girl who seemed to be 5 years younger than him, rushed to his side and asked worriedly. He turned to look at her after calming down a little and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine Yuyu, I just had a weird dream.¡± This girl was his younger sister Xian Jinyu. An older woman, presumably his mother ¡°Are you sure? You just suddenly fainted yesterday.¡± she questions. I was unconscious for an entire day? He squinted his eyes and frowned ¡°I¡¯m sure. It was just a sparring match done a little too roughly.¡± What happened to Xian Luyu, this matter is not simple. Xian Luyu¡¯s father, a big burly man, who just walked in the room, said ¡°Son, should I go beat up the person that did this?¡± he cracked his knuckles.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Before Yan Luyu could respond, his mother exclaimed ¡°Dear, you¡¯re thinking too little, let¡¯s beat up their entire family!¡± she had a maniacal grin on her face. His little sister sighed. Interrupting the previous body¡¯s father who was just about to answer her ¡°No, this matter is not as simple as one would think. Someone might be after me if this wasn¡¯t an accident.¡± ¡°Who would dare!¡± Xian Luyu¡¯s father roars, seething in anger at the mere thought of it being on purpose. But before Yan Luyu could respond a knock is heard at the door to the room, and then the door opens showing a man dressed in white, ¡°I heard that the patient has awoken. I would kindly ask the family of the patient to leave.¡± Upon seeing their unwillingness to part with Yan Luyu, he quickly said ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just want to do a few tests before he can go.¡± His words finally made them leave, albeit reluctantly, shutting the door behind him. After they had left the room, Yan Luyu spoke ¡°Who are you? What do you want with me?.¡± His words caused the man to pause his steps, ¡°Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Doctor Zhou, and, like I told your family, I¡¯m just going to do a few tests, such as a blood test and a memory test.¡± he resumed his moving, grabbing a syringe, and a swab. ¡°Now this might sting a little¡± he speaks and wipes a spot clean on Yan Luyu¡¯s arm, and then pokes it with the syringe, taking a blood sample Yan Luyu frowned thinking This doctor¡¯s acupuncture technique is so unprofessional. His attention is brought back when he hears the doctor say ¡°Time for a memory test. What is your name?¡± ¡°Ya-, I mean Xian Luyu,¡± he says nearly catching himself ¡°How old are you?¡± This time he doesn¡¯t make the same mistake ¡°16¡± The test continued on for a while longer before the doctor finally said ¡°The blood test came back normal and there is no sense of amnesia, you are free to go.¡± He then helped Yan Luyu up and to the door. Yan Luyu leaves the hospital with the help of his new family. Chapter 2.1 A Sharp Mind, A Sharp Sword As Yan Luyu left the hospital, he thought of his betrayal, and anger rose again, until he heard the voice of his new younger sister. Her voice caused him to snap out of his trance, calming down. ¡°Big brother, you¡¯re spacing out again.¡± ¡°Sorry, I was just thinking of something.¡± As they were returning home, his father and sister started talking about a new revolutionary game. Ignoring them on the way home, he worked on finishing the sorting of his new memories. Reaching the house, his father calls out to him, ¡°Son, a package arrived in the mail yesterday for you. I put it in your room¡± ¡°What is it?¡± he says curiously, wondering who could possibly be sending him a package. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t look inside, but it was quite large, but it didn¡¯t weigh that much.¡± His father says shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out¡± he responds curtly heading for his bedroom on the next floor. Reaching his room he sees a simple room containing a small bed in the center, a punching bag in one of the corners of the room along with a small basket of wooden weapons, a small bookshelf holding a number of books that would help his training, and a rather new addition. Laying across from the punching bag lays a dark wood box. Going over to the wooden box, thinking this must be his new package, and on top of it there is a note that read: Dear Participant,This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. We are happy to inform you that you are one of the lucky winners, lucky winner #968 to be exact, of one of the very first versions of The Lost Cosmos! ~Phoenix Rising Reading the note, he thinks of how Phoenix Rising, a very mysterious and eccentric game company, did things. Their secrecy, their boastfulness, and their seriousness all paint a rather strange picture. It seemed that despite their actions, they aren¡¯t that inconspicuous. Setting down the note he returned his attention to the box he opened it. Inside the box was a sleek silver capsule that was large enough to fit him inside. The capsule had the words ¡®Phoenix Rising¡¯ on it. An instruction manual was also inside. He started looking through the manual to see how to set the system up. It consists of a 13-step process and a large warning label on it. This was because after ¡®The Great Calamity¡¯, all companies were required to have large warning labels on their products to keep people from causing a mass genocide by accident. The steps were rather simple to finish, so it didn¡¯t take that long for him to get everything ready. Reading further into the manual, he saw that the game, The Lost Cosmos, was already installed on the capsule. Seeing that there were two weeks before he could really do anything with the capsule, he ignored it for the time being. Thinking about the game further, he decided that he would play it for one reason, it would be able to grant a more profound combat experience as he would not need to worry about death. It would also be able to help him stabilize his foundation for internal qi. As it would take a long time to regain his internal qi, he started practicing with his sword again. Going over to the punching bag, he picked up a wooden sword. He then closed his eyes and started breathing slowing. It was like he was becoming one with the sword. If someone was in the room at this time, they would have sensed that the air inside was unnaturally still and quiet. His eyes then suddenly snapped open and for an instant, the room was filled with an extremely sharp and cold intent. It as though a treasure sword was ripped out of its sheath to show the world its sharp blade. Flash Rip And then the atmosphere returned to its previous calm nature. As if nothing had ever happened. But if one were to look at the punching bag, they would have found a terrifying large gash on the center of it. Yan Luyu then looked back at his sword with a thoughtful expression. As the wooden sword was used for training it didn¡¯t have an edge. ¡°It seems I have lost a lot of control with this new body.¡± he thought to himself as he sighed. ¡°And as the sages have once said that without control a sword is nothing but a crude axe. Thus I must start training again.¡± For the next 13 days, he continued to practice his internal qi and his sword control. Until finally the day comes where The Lost Cosmos has it¡¯s servers open. Chapter 2.2 Through the path of Samsara, a new journey begins Chapter 2 Part 2 On the day of the opening of The Lost Cosmos¡¯s servers, thousands of people were waiting impatiently. Some were even staying up long after they should¡¯ve gone to sleep, others waking up so early it was still dark. While the last group of people were just normally living out their day. Among those who were living normally was Yan Luyu. After he had awoken, he went downstairs to grab something to eat, seeing as he still had a few hours before the servers open. Hearing his little sister remark ¡°Big Brother is so lucky, he gets to play The Lost Cosmos.¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯ll have your chance¡± he says passing by. ¡°Hey!¡± She jumps a little ¡°Don¡¯t surprise me like that!¡± Ignoring her, he grabs an apple, and bites into it. Savoring the apple for a little, he quickly finished the rest. He then returned back upstairs as he ignored his sister¡¯s complaints. Entering his room, he continued to cultivate his inner qi as he waited for servers to open. ¡°I guess there isn¡¯t any other to cultivate the sword, I can¡¯t slaughter thousands of villains in this world,¡± he thought. ¡° How has a Sword Grandmaster degraded,¡± his mouth twitched. In just a minute, the servers will officially be opened. Knowing this, Yan Luyu released his breath and paused his cultivation. He then grabbed a towel to wipe his body free of the sweat from cultivating. Finally entering the game pod, he logged into The Lost Cosmos. Upon logging into the game, his mind went blank as he appeared in an extremely dark room with a beautiful woman in white clothes and the words ¡°Welcome to The Lost Cosmos¡± next to her. ¡°Miss, for what reason was this one transferred here?¡± ¡°Here in this room,¡± she says motioning around the room ¡°Is where you will create your character.¡± ¡°Interesting, then shall we begin, miss.¡± ¡°First thing, the question we must ask everyone, what is your gender?¡± ¡°Male.¡± ¡°Confirmed, please pick a race¡± a vast selection of races appear, including, but not limited to human, elf, dwarf, cyborg, and much more. ¡°Limit to human-like races.¡± ¡°Confirming parameters¡± all non-humanoid races, such as flying sword, unicorn, and more disappear. ¡°Limit to no mechanical races.¡± ¡°Confirming parameters¡± all mechanical races, such as cyborg, robot, and more disappear. ¡°List races.¡± A rather large list appears displaying human, demon, elf, beastman, demon, angel, and much more. ¡°There wouldn¡¯t happen to be an Immortal race, would there?¡± ¡°Immortal is not a race, but a feature.¡± ¡°Interesting¡± ¡°Immortality is a feature that will allow you to live forever, but will not grant you invincibility, thus you can still die.¡± ¡°How would one receive such a feature?¡± ¡°As of this moment in time no race has immortality, but some races can live for a long time such as elves being able to live for a few thousand years.¡± ¡°Even in a game, immortality is but a distant dream. In my previous life, it is said that if one¡¯s martial arts reaches beyond the mortal peaks, then they can shatter the void and ascend to the heavens. This is but merely legends though, for it seen since the White Robed Sword Monarch allegedly shattered the void and ascended a thousand years ago,¡± Yan Luyu thought to himself. ¡°Show this one the human race then¡± after saying this a popup appears in front of him.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. [Human Humans are innately unable to use magic, but are able to cast magic through magical weapons Age limit: 150] [Calishite Small and quick Uses small handheld weapons like knives or pistols +20% learning speed to small handheld weapon +1 to Dex +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Chondathan Slender and fast Uses normal sized ranged weapons like bows or assault rifles 25% learning speed to normal sized ranged weapons +1 to Agi +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Damaran Normal and wise Uses close up magical weapons +25% learning speed for close range magical weapons +1 Wis +1 End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Illuskan Tall and healthy Uses normal sized melee weapons like a rapier or one-handed sword +25% learning speed to normal sized melee weapons +1 to Vit +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Mulan Slim and intelligent Uses long ranged magic weapons +25% to long ranged magic weapons +1 to Int +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Rashemi Short and stocky Uses protective weapons like shields +30% learning speed to protective weapons +2 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Shou Standard Uses all weapons +10% learning speed for all weapons +1 Spr +1 End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Tethyrian Normal and wise Uses mid-range magical weapons +25% learning speed mid-range magical weapons +1 to Wis +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] [Tarumi Tall and muscular Uses two-handed weapons like a great sword or machine gun +20% learning speed to two-handed weapons +1 to Str +1 to End Allows usage of language: Common, one of your choice] ¡°Please pick a subrace.¡± ¡°Since Illuskan is more oriented towards the sword, I shall pick it. Would magic be in the same classifications as internal qi?¡± "Humans are one of the few non-magical races that exist in this universe, which means they are unable to cast magic, as they do not possess mana, while qi is a different thing entirely limited to a few classes. Qi is the requirement for using certain abilities, it can be recovered through resting or meditating.¡± ¡°Choose a class¡± the popup changes. [Warrior] [Mage] [Ranger] [Crafter] [Rogue] [Tank] ¡°Details on Warrior!¡± [Warrior A fighter focusing on damage and explosiveness] ¡°Details on Rogue!¡± [Rogue A fighter that mainly focuses on stealth and speed] ¡°Show me Warrior.¡± [Warrior A fighter focusing on damage and explosiveness] [Berserker Focuses on dealing explosive power A warrior that accumulates Rage when taking and dealing damage Grants bar: Rage Rage is granted based on how much damage you deal or take (DamageDealt/10, Damage Taken/5) When in rage, health regenerates rapidly and is not affected by debuffs The max Rage is increased by 100 every 5 levels starting at 100 at level 1] [Martial Artist Focuses on the elements A warrior that use qi technique to gather qi in the dantian unlock the meridians in their own body to become more powerful. Qi can be used to attack by using martial scriptures. Grants bar: Qi Qi is regenerated by resting or meditating different techniques (10 every hour while resting, varied amounts depending on different techniques every hour while meditating) The max Qi is unlocked all meridians and filled dantian *Varies depending on Qi techniques] [Cavalry Focuses on mounts A warrior who rides a mount into battle dealing great damage to groups Grant bar: Charge Restriction: Most attacks can only be from on top of a mount You start out with a normal mount and can buy better mounts and all damage on mount is 30% higher, while off the mount you deal 30% less damage, but when the mount dies, that changes into 60% less damage Wearing armor increases damage Using a charge attack greatly increases damage, consumes charge meter] [Brawler Focuses on melee damage and can inflict Internal damage A warrior who fights in close quarters Restriction: Can''t use ranged weapons Internal damage accumulates through time, their attacks give more damage through time Internal damage is increased every 3 level Learning fighting skills can increase their power All melee damage has a 30% increase, unable to do range] ¡°As I was a Martial Artist in my previous life, I know the ins and outs of what Qi is, so this one shall choose Martial Artist.¡± ¡°Confirmed, please pick a name for yourself.¡± ¡°Yan Luyu. Today this one is weak, but one day, I will return and get my revenge!¡± Suddenly his vision fades, and the last thing he hears is ¡°Welcome Player Yan Luyu to The Lost Cosmos.¡±