''Diagnostics complete /-"
"Bond Established. Carrying integration with specie's Central Nervous System."
"Integration Successful."
''Species : Human."
"Age : 17 years, 10months 27 days."
''Connection Establised.''
"Carrying Physically and mental enhancement."
"Target is too weak to carry to survive physical alteration."
"Forcefully increasing mental strength capacity."
"Slight increase in mental capacity detected."
"Further enhancement requires a medium."
"Medium not found."
"System going under hibernation until the medium is detected."
Cao Huang regained his consciousness. The pain and discomfort lingering in his head started to fade. He sat up slowly, and after some time tried feeling the back of his head where he felt stabbing of the needles. He searched hard but couldn't find the point of intrusion. It wasn't his imagination as that kind of pain could never be imagined. Seeing the fried up Helmet lying by his bed post he knew everything that happened was real.
"What in the world just happened. I remember putting on the helmet and that agonizing pain that came after it. I can still feel the point where where the needles intruded but my scalp is still smooth as it was before."
"Could the wounds have healed when I was sleeping? Impossible!." He scoffed at his ridiculous thoughts.
"I should definitely visit the doctor. Who knows what kind of damage the helmet had on my brain." He thought.
As it was night time and being holiday he could only visit the doctor tomorrow. He checked his watch and found that it was 10 P. M. Meaning that he had been unconscious for 2 complete hours.
The pain had completely stopped. He knew that the situation was not critical as he thought. Removing these unnecessary thoughts from his head he picked up the fried gaming helmet and threw it into the trash bin.
"Never Am I ever going to use something so old looking. It is bosses fault that this happened. I should have thrown the helmet as soon as I received it." Recalling the smug face of Cang Lan he had the urge to beat himself for his own stupidity.
"May I should try using the head gear I received from Tang Tang."
He picked up the gaming head gear and again lied down on the bed. These type of latest head gears come with an inbuilt gaming cartridge and had 99% safety rate. He knew these facts because he had once tried using them so the safety was pretty much guaranteed.
Praying for his safety, he quickly logged in.
Before he knew, he was standing before a tall Pagoda. The Pagoda was covered with different ruins and glyphs giving it a very ancient feeling. Those who had searched about the game before, knew that it was the called Pagoda Of Beginnings ; the starting point for all of the players who entered the game. According to the games history, this pagoda had infinite floors, representing infinite races spread throughout the world of Parallax. Some believe that this Pagoda was created by the Supreme of Light Lumus while some believe that Supreme of Darkness Drishkil was the one created it.
Cao Huang started walking towards the Pagoda. The closer he got to the Pagoda the more he was overwhelmed. Upon reaching the gate he stopped and gazed towards the sky. He tried but couldn't see the end as the Pagoda was piercing the clouds.
Continuing forward he reached the door where he spotted a fairy floating in the air. She was small as an adults hand and had multicolored pair of wings. She was covered up in leafs and flowers signifying her affinity with nature. She was the Fairy of Guidance who helped the players in choosing and personalizing their characters.
"Greetings Adventurer, welcome to the world of Parallax. My name is Vilariun. I am the keeper of the Pagoda of Beginnings. I will introduce you to four categories which you can choose your character from. Each category is further divided into three sub-categories. Please choose wisely as you won't be able to change your category after selection has been confirmed.
With a wave for Valariun's small hand, an illustrations introducing the four main categories and three sub-categories appeared I front of Cao Huang.
Mages : Elementalist, Summoner, Shaman.
Healer : Cleric, Druid, Oracle.
Warrior : Berserker, Guardian Knight, Shield Warrior.
Weapon Masters : Swordsman, Ranger, Assassin.
"No Elves, Orcs or Necromancers?!" Cao Huang was stumped, he really wanted to choose Elves a his starting race.
"Every adventurer starts as a human. There are many hidden race quests spread throughout Parallax. If you want you can try to find them and change to a different race depending on the sub-category you have chosen but beware that each race comes with its own perks and disadvantages There are also many restrictions on race change that you will find out once you have progressed to a certain degree in Parallex." Vilariun explained to him.
In previous games, Cao Huang picked up an Elf as its race and he was extremely proficient as an assassin.
He wasn't that much familiar with other categories, so naturally, he picked up assassin under Weapons Master category.
"Category Selection complete. Please designate a name for your character."
"Drifting Leaf."
Cao Huang chose the name under which he played in other games.
"Naming successful. Do you wish to adjust your appearance? Adjustment rate limited to 20%."
After thinking for a while, Cao Huang chose to adjust his character by 20% as not to stand out. With this, nobody could recognize Cao Huang even if they saw his character.
"Please select a birthplace in Ever-Green Kingdom."
The opening of Absolute Supremacy was globally synchronized. To accommodate for hundreds of millions of players globally, the lands of Parallax were extremely vast measuring up to two or three times of Earth and Kingdoms within were even more plentiful. Moreover in addition to the main boundless world, there were also separate dimensions. A player's living area and city in reality determines the Kingdom or Empire they would start in, so players can only choose the city from the Kingdom within that area. A certain person in Beijing may start from a city in Ever-Green Kingdom while a person in Pakistan may start from a city in separate dimension of Norsgard.
A map that displayed different cities belonging to Ever-Green Kingdom appeared in front of Cao Huang.
"Ever-Green City."
Cao Huang chose this city as it was the Capital of the Ever-Green Kingdom.
"City confirmed. Player will be shortly arriving at the Morning Dew Town of Ever-Green City. Good luck."
The sight before Cao Huang blurred as he was sent away.
Cao Huang was greeted with an exceptional sight. The buildings of Morning Dew Town were setup without any arrangements but weren't displeasing to the eye, in fact when combined with all the trees and flowers around, they gave a sense of calmness and freedom to whomever saw them. The streets were bustling with NPCs and Players alike making it look like a whole new world.
"It's so freaking real. Everything here is so beautiful." exclaimed Cao Huang unable to hide his amazement.
Cao Huang had just walked a few metres when his head started to hurt.
"Not this again."
He was frightened at thought of suffering from that unbearable pain again when suddenly he heard a voice in his head.
"Medium Detected."
"Type : Virtual Reality. Object name Xerxes."
"Collecting information."
"Access denied. Alert Code : PRX071AS."
"Running force module. By passing object named Xerxes. Successful! . Collecting information. Successful."
"Transferring information to User's brain."
"Brain Capacity too low. Forcefully increasing brain capacity not recommended. Gradual process needed."
"Locking the information in several layers."
"Integrating Human Speech. Merging with object named Vilariun. Object code QX047A. Integration Successful."
Cao Huang was bewildered upon hearing the mechanical voice. He wanted to find the source of the voice but he was unable to do so since his body was paralyzed.
Slowly the pain subsided and he was able to move again.
"Greetings User." Cao Huang heard a familiar voice and he turned his head around to find the Guidance Fairy Vilariun floating in the air.
"Vilariun?" Cao Huang was puzzled to find the Guidance Fairy whose only role should be in helping the players in choosing and personalizing their characters. So it was strange for her to appear before him.
"My name is B2XPD. An Artificial Intelligence from the Planet Stasia. As I have merged with the object named Vilariun, user can just call me by this name."
Cao Huang was caught of guard by this revelation. He would have never thought that the Fairy Floating before him was an A.I.
"When Planet Stasia was destroyed, I was left to drift in space. Luckily I came across the only other Planet in the universe that possesses life which its natives call Earth. Looking for an energy source, I chose to enter the Planet only find my vessel to be destroyed by the atmospheric heat. To avoid complete destruction I had to occupy an other vessel. I found that the only energy suitable for me came from the nerve impulses of a human brain. To maximize my chances of coming in contact with a person's brain I had to occupy a VR Gaming Helmet. I waited for the day I come in contact with one so I can enter the person's brain and directly merge with person's Central Nervous System. Rest of the story, I believe you know." continued Vilariun.
Cao Huang found it hard to believe that all of this was true. He gazed around the area to confirm if someone else was behaving this way but found none.
When he thought of all the events that passed since he wore the helmet, he had no choice but to believe it. But when he thought about of something unknown present inside his brain he was greatly unnerved.
Sensing his discomfort Vilariun assured him "I was created by my master in order to help my user. Even as an A. I, I cannot change this rule so you don't need to be wary of me."
When he received the answer he came to the conclusion that all of it made sense so he changed the topic.
"In what ways can you help me?" he asked curiously.
"I can provide user with all the information about the world of Parallax. I will guide you throughout your journey and provide you with best of the ways to become an overlord of this world. In addition to this I will also help the user in enhancing himself physically and mentally."
"First thing is easy to understand but how can you help me in physical and mental enhancement?"
"At the time when user is playing the game, I will stimulate every single cell in the User's body in reality. Stimulating user's brain call will help to strengthen him mentally, while, stimulating his body cells will help train his muscles and develop strong, healthy and perfect body." said Vilariun in an enticing voice.
Cao Huang was very excited after hearing this and started imagining endless possibilities that could arise from this.
He thanked his boss Cang Lan endlessly in his mind for giving him such a wonderful chance, though unintentionally. Lastly he asked something which has been bugging him for a while.
"Would the other players be able to see you?"
"No except the User no one can see me. You can also try communicating with me in your mind, lest other players may see you as a crazy person." advised Vilariun.