Proofread by Dark Pride
***
"Dad! You took too long!" Alex saw George said in front of him. He wore a white shirt and shorts. Behind him, his mother, Vira, wore a white dress.
They were standing in a dark space, with many stars in the background. They could also see a blue planet that was similar to the earth, but it wasn't quite the same.
"Where is it?" Alex asked. He then noticed that he also wore a white shirt and pants.
Before Vira or George could answer, they heard a voice that they couldn't find the source.
"Welcome to the Dream Portal interface. We detected that you three are a family, so we put you together. You can get a private room if you want by accessing the setting menu. If you are ready, we will begin the process to make your game characters. Are you ready?" The same woman's voice that Alex heard inside the capsule was heard again.
"So she said," Vira said with an amused expression.
Adam then asked George and Vira, "So, are you ready?"
The two said yes.
"Okay, we are ready," Alex said.
In front of each of them, some text boxes appeared.
[Loading…]
[Accessing the account's data from the database of the Union…]
[Determining suitable jobs…]
*Ding*
[Loading the compatible options]
Then, several models that had a similar appearance to Alex appeared in front of him. The same things also happened in front of George and Vira. The differences between them were that Alex and Vira had many figures that lined up in many different costumes, but George only had four.
"Dad?! Who are they? Why are they similar to us?" George then held Alex's hand. Alex could feel he was pretty nervous.
After inspecting them for a glance, Alex knew that they were job options for them to choose from.
"Hahaha, they are just figurines, you know. They are the models of jobs we can pick. Let's see, you have healer, druid, bard, and monsters tamer. What do you want?" Alex explained what he knew to George.
"But I want to be a swordsman! I can see that you have one, so why don't I have the option?" George was pretty upset.
It also made Alex doubt. Why did George only have a few job choices? Alex's and Vira's were at least a dozen or more.
Then, Vira walked over and stroked George's head, getting his attention.
"George, it isn't like that. It's because you still can't hold a sword, you don't have the option. When you grow up, I'm sure you will get the option.
By the way, you love to pet animals, right? How about becoming a monster tamer? You can have a tiger or an elephant as your pet. It will be fun, right?" Vira said.
George then looked at Alex, as if asking his opinion.
"That's a good idea. If you are a monster tamer you can play with some of them. What do you think?" Alex said.
"Okay, but I still want to be a swordsman when I am bigger," George pouted.
"Then it's a deal," Alex said while tousling his son's hair. Alex didn't know when he started to do it, but it was too late, he couldn't stop his habit. Moreover, George seemed comfortable being treated like that.
Alex then tried accessing the monster tamer by pointing it and said, "I want monster tamer to become George's job."
*Ding*
Then a statistic appeared in front of them.
[Monster Tamer]
Rarity: C (957/10,000)
Type: support
Exclusive weapon: none
Description: can communicate with monsters, tame and make them fight together.
Base state
Level 1 Exp: 0%
HP: 160
MP: 90
Strength: 25
Agility: 15
Magic: 40
Physical Defense: 20
Magic Defense: 30
Vitality: 30
HP recovery: 0.15/sec
MP recovery: 0.2/sec
Requirements: All ages, Union' recommendation
Stats growth per level
HP: 116
MP: 60
Strength: 5
Agility: 4
Magic: 10
Physical Defense: 6
Magic Defense: 7
Vitality: 8
HP recovery: 0.04/sec
MP recovery: 0.05/sec
[Do you want George to be a monster tamer? (This will require 5,000 credits as a fee)]
[Yes/No]
Alex and Vira were stunned for a while. They never thought that they would have to pay for George to be a monster tamer.
"How can you require us to pay to transfer to a job?" Alex protested with a high tone.
"You could choose a job with E rarity without any charge. Every job with D rarity above has a price," The system said.
"Does the higher rarity mean it was stronger than the lower one?" Vira, who was calmer, asked.
"Each job has advantages and weaknesses. They are designed with balance in mind," The system said.
"So why does it have a price when others don't?" Alex asked in a lower tone but it could be felt he was still angry.
"Because every job with D rarity above has a transfer quota. It means when the quota of the job is full, it can not be chosen again. Except a player has already given up on this job by deleting his character, it can be chosen again by another player," The system explained.
Alex and Vira were quiet for a while. They then looked at the thoughtful George. It seemed he was trying to digest what he heard. Instead of looking serious, he looked quite cute while doing it.
Alex couldn't help to smile, as for Vira, she pinched George's cheek.
"Mommm~... What are you doing?" George protested.
"I just felt like doing it," Vira said. She then nodded to Alex.
For an ordinary white citizen's family, 5,000 credits was a lot of money. But, for Alex's family, it was only a small chunk of their wealth.
Alex marveled at the government's ways to earn money, and he felt the quota of the job was just one of their means, and the rest will be disclosed one by one.
'But if what the system said is true, the game has been arranged to be balanced, I hope,' Alex said in his heart.
"Okay, make George a monster tamer," Alex said."
The system confirmed once more, and Adam gave it an affirmation. He then saw that his bank balance had decreased by 5,000 credits.
***