Logging On, brought a rollercoaster of information. The User spent hour after digital hour reliving memories that felt foreign at first. Slowly he accepted them to be his own after several sensations forced that it was all real and that this had taken place.
The headache was almost unbearable. But as all things go, time slowly allowed for it to heal and allowed him to make peace with a little bit of what happened.
Once it finished, he realized the Game had done the impossible and disrupted "Time" for the conscious mind. Both he and someone named Endless Rhapsody were brought back. The problem with that was her name. It was her "Martial Name" derived from what she had done. With know way to find her, he put it to the back of his mind.
(Mental Note: Remember something called Endless Rhapsody)
No point in wasting time anyway. For all he knew, she was not even playing after that rush of information he received. She could have had more than him and worse since she belonged to the Hero Heroine* Faction Party.
The problem with all that information received, he needed to figure out some of what was going on that he was enlightened to. But to much to sift through right now. It would be best to increase his level to allow the character and himself to have more thinking power.
"Welcome User. Choose your Race or take the random option for bonus options." The Help guide said softly.
The voice was designed to speak the most pleasant of voices to each User. Or the sternest and demanding. Depending on what worked for the User obviously.
"Random." The User answered oddly. Considering he had the standard version of the game, he would need the bonuses to help in everyway. Not making that same mistake twice and picking what he was comfortable with. That and he knew the bonuses would help with the plans he had forming. 'Hopefully, it will not be to bad.' He crossed his digital fingers in anticipation of what he got.
Several different scenarios played in his head. But most things could not be done until the future when certain Expansions were released. Right now was time to lay his future plans down and enjoy the game to the fullest. An inkling passing in his mind about the random choice.
"Race choice found, Vampire."
'Shit!' The User cursed inside his mind. The memory of what happens to the Vampires later in game, was just to much to think about. Getting involved was just to much work to save them. 'Well screw the racial questline. I want to have fun. Not go nuts working myself to death.'
*Flux!* A ripple went out in the waiting area. It was a distortion in the game. Considering it was still in launch week, it was bound to keep happening with the "Server" overloads.
"Class Randomize chosen." The Help guide said. The voice startling the User from his thoughts.
"What the hell!?" The User was upset, as one would be. 'The glitch did happen a lot when the game first started. I forget in my musing. I should definitely spend out of game time thinking things over.' Seeing how he didn't choose his race this time, he didn't think this would happen to him. 'So much for chances of 12% with the glitches.'
He opened a General Manager Ticket to explain what happened. With the large volume of Users, it would be a minute before a response arrived. Players that gave accurate feedback, received quicker help in the future. As long as they were truthful.
When Users and the Help Desk work together, games tended to develop better.
It took the help ticket 9 minutes to return the response.
The time was spent adjusting to the Vampire body. The name Vladis was chosen after some thought. No last name, as some Races and Subraces required certain quests completed to gain them. Then their were the kingdom quests to help in that regard as well.
Vladis jumped around and rolled on the ground till he was comfortable with the body size. Switching to yoga at the end, he was surprised to see the stat increase already.
Flexibility + 1
'That shouldn't happen till I entered the game.' Vladis looked around and made sure he was still at the creation screen. 'Another glitch perhaps?'
The Help ticket finally answered after a moment. The function was installed to help Users who missed the notification during combat or social events.
"Due to the high volume, Bonus stats of 5 added. If the User accepts class, an increase of 1% to experience will be applied permanently."
"Well... that is just Prime. I accept." Vladis was happy as he felt the change wash over him. The information was quite abundant. "Of all the dog shit luck!"
"Class found. Mental Mage." The Help guide said promptly. Vladis thought he heard a bit of glee in the voice. "Class stat and spell increase are as followed. Intelligence + 2, Wisdom + 1 Racial + 1. Spells Awarded: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Barrier, Shift, Levitate."
"Nice. I need to get the basics out of the way soon. Then go from there." As Vladis thought it over, he missed the digital eyes looking from up high. The eyes closed shut right as Vladis gave a final stretch of his head looking up. "Getting pumped already."
After finishing the background option and region selection, it was time to go.
"Login Enter." Vladis was ready to enjoy the scenery. The many beginner villages available were the best thing ever. The Server he was on, made it even better with the distancing. 'Ahh, Rp and PvE server the way to go!'
The beginner village location was based off his login area as well. Each state had one in the technical dead center as well as the capital. Then additional places for heavily populated areas.
This is not to say a User couldn't move to another place to start. But that caused beginner money to be spent. Small sacrifice for giving up on the area you were in.
'Time to do all the starting quests. Best way to get skill points and reputation. Which I will need once they find out I am a vampire even more so now.' He walked and thought it over. 'Skill points with every level and major quest completion. That works wonders. The reputation increase early on will help with a bunch of things. Especially with discounts and getting Nuc's on my side.'
Vladis walked straight to the Wanderer Guild to register. This was also a job center, post office, and DMV.
One needed a permit to operate a horse, stagecoach, glider, steam rider, and mythic mount. Without it was fine in the lower rural areas. A guard would give you a fine or a warning most of the time. In the actual cities, magic wards would take it from your bank account directly. Or worse. A User could be arrested and have the mount taken away as punishment.
Each of those permits could wait till later. They were not cheap and mostly for those who couldn't do it in the real world to experience it here.
On his way, the village was just like the standard beginner one he knew of from previous play. From the fairly decent population and wildlife walking around to the street lamps powered by magic stones like the Real World.
"Not much real difference really." Vladis mumbled. He took deep breaths letting his digital body get use to everything. 'I can barely tell the difference at all. It feels as though my "synchro" rating is at the level it was in the future. My "assimilation" is uncanny. I need to go to the training area before leaving to check.'
At the Wanderer's Guild, it was empty on the outside when looking around. The place looked like a leasing office from the outside at first look. Professional but not to much so. The higher up ones were the worst. Up above was the racial flag that all Wanderer Guilds had. A picture of every racial symbol branded on it.
*Ding!* The bell up top went off as Vladis opened the door.
The place was packed, as to be expected. But Vladis knew to wait. They would close early due to overwork which was not what he wanted to wait for. It made it almost impossible to do anything without your Id in most places.
All around were various races. Human Secondus, Dwarf, Elf, Birdfolk, Beastfolk, Merfolk with the water extractors to help them survive, Demonfolk, and Nightfolk. A few of the more outlandish races were not around.
Vladis belonged to the Nightfolk Race. These Races all shared one thing in common. They all were the results of humans. Each were listed as a sub-type from the Ancient Eternal Human. Or Prime Human for short.
All User characters were listed as Wanderers. Those of the first connection to the Ancient Eternal Human. It was both a boon and a curse.
Later, the game would release content that particularly tied with them. Several Factions would rise up and hunt the Users down. Even with a high reputation, some still were given over. But that was not for a few decades.
Strength, Connection, and a large force was the only way to deter them. Or the way one User did. He destroyed an entire city and led a crusade against them.
Fighting in that was one of the few Pvp things almost all participated in. This persecution leads to the uniting of the Users. But it was just a precursor to the Hero Villain war.
'This will take a minute.' Vladis opened the digital notepad in his pod. He switched over to "low utility mode" to work. In this state, his character would auto-respond off his brainwaves and move up as needed in the area. 'Time to write some things down before I forget. Make a good plan while waiting. The first thing is not to become a Villain. A few places will have to be avoided. I also need to save a few of my friends as well. But I cannot really remember their names. Sucks that we introduce ourselves based on our titles.'
.
-Help Guide Domain-
.
Several digital eyes scanned the area and different dimensions of the game. What the Users did not know, is that their interactions were used to help program new lives on another planet. Everything the Users had done was recorded and stored for prosperity.
Vladis and the female Heroine were chosen to go back in time to fix a few events. To change the devastation caused by the War to make sure it did not happen to the new planet. The first was the "Monster Uprising."
The Event was scheduled to take place in three months as normal.
A particular Help Guide was paying attention to Vladis. Already thinking of ways to change things for the better. Mind made up, the Help Guide sent a connection to a Nuc in the guild.