I open my eyes. A bright light is blinding my eyes and I hear a soothing woman's voice.
"Welcome to The Betelgeuse Online. My name is Sev, and I will guide you before you enter The Orion. Tell me your name."
I put my hand over my eyes and I see a white-haired woman wearing a white dress. I look around and there's nothing but a vast sea of clouds under my feet. I look up and I'm stunned by the view. Stars and planets are above my head. The woman is tilting her head and waiting for my answer.
"Uhh... are you an NPC, miss Sev?"
Sev chuckles while covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Yes, I am an Artificial Intelligence or an A.I. is what they called me."
I'm walking around her to check if she really is an Artificial Intelligence. She's looking at me with her gorgeous smiles and turns her head to where I'm walking at. This is the best game ever! Even the first NPC looks like this. I can't wait to enter the game! She chuckles.
"Are you ready to tell me your name?"
I laugh nervously.
"Is that for my character's name?"
Sev nods.
"Yes, you cannot change your name once you confirm it. So please think thoroughly."
Well, I always use the same name in all the games I've played.
"My name is, [Terrible Trevor]."
Sev chuckles and covering her mouth again. I'm confused.
"What? Why are you chuckling?"
Sev clears her throat.
"It is nothing. Are you sure to use [Terrible Trevor] as your name?"
I'm scratching the back of my ear and notice that I don't feel anything.
"No... just [Trevor]. It makes me kind of sad and uncomfortable when you react like that."
She bows.
"My apologies... I did not mean to hurt your feelings. As for Artificial Intelligence, I am still lacking in understanding humans feelings, the same as sympathy and empathy. Maybe someday after I am interacting with billions of humans I might be able to understand a little about those things."
I shake my head.
"It's okay, I was joking."
Sev tilts her head.
"You were making a joke? Should I laugh?"
I'm glaring at her and she's still tilting her head waiting for my response. I'm waving my hand while shaking my head to tell her to forget what I said earlier. She smiles and laughs.
"Will you confirm that your name will be [Trevor]?"
I nod.
"Yes, I confirm that [Trevor] is my name."
Sev closes her eyes and a sound of majestic bell rings. My body feels... real? Earlier when I'm scratching the back of my ear, I felt nothing. Now I can feel every inch of my body. Sev is smiling at me.
"Now, let us go to the next step."
She snaps her fingers and a body double of mine appears in front of me. She walks closer and stands in between me and my body double.
"You can change your appearance now. Tell me which parts that you want to readjust, and I will assist you."
I'm looking at my body double and walk around him. So this is what I look like from behind. I'm tapping my finger on my lips. Sev is watching me with her relaxed expression.
"With your current appearance, you have a 79% chance to attract the opposite sex."
Hah? What? What did she just say?
"Uhh, excuse me... what?"
Sev is raising her eyebrows.
"Your appearance is above average. You have a higher chance than most of the males in the world to attract the female. To be precise, you are more attractive than 5.964.706.980 male in the world."
I'm blinking my eyes to process what she just said.
"What makes you think that I'm 79% better than the other male in the world?"
Sev snaps her fingers and hundreds of thousands of screen appears behind her.
"As an Artificial Intelligence, I collected all data that are needed for my knowledge. On this matter, I collected all the data based on marriages, numbers of males that are in a relationship, how many partners they had, age diversity, eye colors, hair colors, body postures, muscle mass, body odor, voice pitch, weight, height..."
I approach her.
"Okay, you can stop now. I think I understand now."
Sev smiles and nods.
"Well then, take your time to adjust your appearance."
I shake my head.
"I'm fine with my own appearance, especially after what you said earlier. It makes me confident about myself now."
Sev nods and snaps her fingers. My body double disappears. I look at her.
"So, can you tell me what I'm lacking off with my appearance?"
Sev smiles and nods.
"To answer your question. You can only increase your appeals by 3% with my assistance."
I tilt my head.
"Only 3%? I cannot reach 100% even with your help? Why is that?"
Sev smiles.
"Humans have unique traits. Each one of them has its own preference. Some might like what you have, some might don't like what you have. Even with all the data that I have collected, 3% is the highest I can do."
I nod with understanding.
"I see. You're right. So, what are the things that I should adjust to reach that 3%?"
Sev snaps her fingers and a screen appears in front of her.
"Adding 4 centimeters to your height, adding 4.15% on your muscle mass, adding a bit of sweet and a tiny bit sour scent on your body odor, fixing your back posture."
Amazing. She can come out to the conclusion in just a split second. This A.I. is really amazing. She snaps her fingers and the screen disappears.
"Let us go to the next step. Please repeat after me. Open Status."
I nod.
"Open Status"
A status screen appears in front of me.
"This is your status screen. Currently, all your status is 1. You have 1 extra point to be added to your status. So please choose carefully and think thoroughly."
I raise my index finger.
"Just one? Is that even have any effect?"
Sev smiles and nods.
"Yes, it does. To put it simply.
[1 extra point to Strength is enough for you to lift 0.5 kg more than your current self and add 0.1% on your physical damage.]
[1 extra point to Agility is enough for you to react 0.01 seconds faster than your current self and add 0.1% move speed & attack speed.]
[1 extra point to Intelligence is enough for you to think faster by 0.1 seconds and add 0.1% on your magic power.]
[1 extra point to Dexterity is enough for you to predict everything right by 0.1% and add a 0.1% skill damage increase and critical chance.]
[1 extra point to Vitality is enough to increase your health point by 10. Add 0.1% immunity to all status ailments and increase stamina capacity by 1%.]
[1 extra point to Luck is enough to increase the 0.01% drop rate and add a 0.05% chance to dodge all kinds of damage and 0.001% to be lucky.]
[1 extra point to Charisma is enough to increase your popularity amongst the NPCs by 0.1% that might prefer you to accept their request rather than the other players, and have a 0.1% chance to get extra rewards and allows to buy cheaper and sell higher by 0.1%.]
[1 extra point to Art is enough to have a 0.03% chance to make better stat equipment [SMIT] and add a 0.003% chance to make an extra stat in the equipment [ARTIS].]
That is all. Remember, Betelgeuse Online has a 99.9% similarity with real life. Everyone needs to work their way up to be what they want to be. There is no such thing as fair and unfair. Everything can be gained with hard work and patience."
I nod with understanding. This game really has a unique complexity. That alone is enough to make me excited about this game. I look at my status screen and carefully think which stat is the best for me. I look at Sev.
"So, what are things that can give me extra stats?"
Sev nods.
"Basically, almost everything. Equipment, items, food buffs, party buffs, clan buffs, buffs skills, seasons, the blessing of the moon, blessing of the sun, blessing of the star. Maybe in the future, there will be events that boost a certain stat for a period of time."
I nod with understanding.
"So this luck status has a 0.001% chance to be lucky. What does that mean?"
Sev chuckles mischievously.
"It is what it is, to be lucky."
I've been staring at my status screen for quite a while. Then I tap one of the stats. Luck it is. Because I think that there are only a few items and equipment that can increase luck because it's a bit overpowered compared to the other stats. The last thing that makes me choose luck is because of what Sev said earlier. 0.001% to be lucky. I don't understand what that means. I asked her about it earlier and she said it is what it is, to be lucky. The way she reacts to my question is a bit suspicious and makes me intrigued by it. Maybe I will ask him about it. I just realized that I didn't know that kid's name.
Sev claps her hands.
"We are set! Now, you can enter The Orion, Trevor. I wish for your happiness and success in The Orion. May the Betelgeuse bless you, farewell..."
Sev snaps her fingers and my vision is getting blurry. The last thing I see is Sev smiling while waving at me.