— Galaxy: Andromeda, Planet: Zarkar, Year: 2200
The race that inhabits this planet is the human race. Humans over time evolved, created, destroyed. However, despite so many tragedies throughout history, they have grown, perhaps not mentally, but technologically. The human race had developed something that could change the world, a game. They thought they had developed something big, and in fact, they had developed something big. Something bigger than they thought.
-
"I've heard that humans fear the unknown. They fear what they cannot understand or understand, therefore they end up isolating it.
In a secluded place, where no human life seemed to inhabit, the lights of a beautiful mansion lit up the dark place. A young boy sat on his bed, VR glasses in hand.
"Well, it looks like they managed to develop that." Aizen looked at the VR glasses. He was a little curious about this game. When launch day came, he bought it quickly.
"Young master, won't you test the game?" an old man asked. He was Aizen's butler and his trusted assistant. His name was Moris.
'The young master has not been interested in something for a while.'
He was happy to see him like that. It had been so long since Aizen left his mansion, he just lived a monotonous life, without desires.
"I will test the game, don't bother me while I'm playing."
"Don't worry, young master." The butler nodded.
Aizen lay down on his bed and put the VR glasses on his face.
"Link Start."
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[Initializing]
[Acquiring data…]
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[Success]
[Analyzing parameters]
[????#### Error####]
[Player: Aizen LightStar
Age: 15]
[Welcome to the Arcane Universe. I am the player's guide. Add your NickName, it doesn't have to be your real name]
When starting the game, Aizen appears in a white room. The room looked like the game's home menu.
"Aizen LightStar." He answered the robotic voice.
'A guide, huh.'
'The sensations are identical to the real world. That's pretty impressive I would say.' He could say the game was 100% immersive. All of his senses were working perfectly. The feeling was… amazing!
[Aizen, Choose your player appearance]
A 3D avatar appeared in front of Aizen, along with a customization menu.
"Customize the avatar randomly, I don't feel like messing with it." Aizen said. He wanted to test the game, character customization doesn't matter to him.
[Are you sure about that? The appearance of the avatar will define its appearance in the game]
"Yea." Aizen didn't bother to make his appearance random. The game already knew players' tastes, because it was connected directly to their brains, so he was sure that his character's appearance would be to his liking, although he didn't know what he would be like.
'This guide is more human than I thought. It feels like I'm talking to a live person.'
[Alright, now we will go to the initial worlds]
"Can't I choose my class?" Aizen was confused. RPG games don't have classes?
[In the Arcane Universe, you can be whatever you want to be. There is no limit to how much you can grow and where you can go. It's just up to you]
"...Your words are a little confused. But this way it's more interesting."
[Which starting world will you choose?
Several worlds appeared in Aizen. Each world was made up of millions of players. Aizen realized the popularity of the game at this point. Just on the first day of release, the game had hundreds of millions of players. He wasn't the first player to join the game or anything like that. It had been 1 hour since the game was released.
[Each starting world is different from the other. Choose wisely]
"Can players interact even though they are in different worlds?"
[Yea. There is interdimensional travel, but that's not available to players currently]
"I chose world 1" Aizen saw that this world had a good concentration of world-famous players. This could bring you some entertainment.
[Good luck on your journey, dear player]
Aizen disappeared from the white room.
-
The gentle breeze of the wind passed over Aizen's face. He was even more pleased with this game. Everything was so… well done.
'Is this place the starting area?' Aizen looked around and saw that he was on a seemingly endless green plain. He reached down and touched the green grass. The touch sensation was also perfect. Looking at the pool of water in front of him, he saw what it looked like.
Aizen has medium-sized gray hair. One of his eyes is black while the other is red. His face has a thin, well-defined shape. On his forehead was a star symbol (✦). Your canine teeth are also longer than normal.
'It is not bad.' He found this appearance interesting.
'Looks like my avatar is short.' He was approximately 1.60 m tall. His height in real life was 1.70 m.
"So this is the starting area?"
"It seems so."
Aizen looked towards the people who had suddenly appeared. It wasn't just two, thousands of people began to pour out onto the grassy plain. They were the new players who also managed to enter world 1 at the same time as Aizen.
'players, huh.'
[Welcome players]
"Where are we?"
"Where are the NPCs?"
The players were a little confused. Shouldn't they normally spawn in a city?
[Calm down, this area is a pre-game area. Here you will learn some of the basics. First, you can see your status by saying "Status"]
"Status."
◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤
Aizen LightStar
Age: 15
Race: #####
Level: 1
Rise: 0
Skills: -
Title: -
◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤
'Simple interface.' Aizen commented mentally. He didn't care about it, but the other players were a little disappointed.
"Isn't that too simple?"
"No class system?"
"Where's my HP bar?"
(...)
Players started asking question after question.
[Arcane Universe gives the player complete freedom to do what they want. The class system does not exist]
Suddenly, several people appeared in the sky, flying.
…
"They are flying!"
"I want to fly too!"
"Are they NPCs?"
[In the Arcane Universe, the only thing that limits you is yourself. What do you want?]
The players were silent when they heard the guide's question.
"I want power!"
"I want to fly!"
"I want to be rich!"
"I want to be a wizard!"
"Me too!"
Screams echoed through the place. The players were fervent. It was the first time they had experienced such a live game. They wanted more. They wanted to fly and experience crossing the clouds. They wanted to cross the world's battle. Achieve honor and glory!
People who were flying started to move their hands. They seemed to be activating some ability. When they shook hands, things started to change. Fireballs, flying swords, aerial mounts, etc. Each individual showed a different kind of power. Aizen could even see someone shooting lasers through their eyes.
Players were shocked by the turn of events.
[Do you want to be a cultivator? You can. Do you want to be a wizard? You can. Alchemist, warriors, archers? You can. There is no limit. Just find what you want]
…
*WOOHOO!*
The players started to scream with joy. They were extremely excited about the performance.
'This welcome was exaggerated.' Aizen found this scenario a little comical, but amusing. Looks like this game is better than he expected.
'Be whatever you want, huh.' He didn't know what he was going to do, but he liked being a trader. Maybe he could be a merchant?
'Find awesome items, be the richest and most powerful player out there? Well, that's every other player's goal..' Aizen thought that would be interesting. Merchant is rarely valued because they are often weak.
'Maybe I'll find something in this world that's worth it.' The real world was no longer worth it to him—nothing there could satisfy his desires, nothing…
[Good game, players]
-
In the garden of the mansion, Moris watered the plants. Although the mansion is big, only he and Aizen live in this place. After watering the plants, Moris went back to Aizen's room to check on him. Seeing him lying on his bed with a peaceful expression on his face, Moris smiled weakly.
'I hope you find what you want, young master.'