"Finally, after years of waiting!" Albert, with dark eyebags, pumped his fists in the air. He immediately jumped off the chair and grabbed a sleek silver headgear on the desk.
He went to his bed and plugged in the headgear on the outlet. With an excited gleam in his eyes, he wore the headgear and laid down on the soft mattress. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes.
"Log in."
It's a really weird experience, having your consciousness stimulated through some weird technological bullshittery. Fortunately, it only took a second before the feeling passed. Albert does hope he can get used to the weird feeling soon.
He opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a white room. In front of him, a podium made of sleek white material was stationed. Albert was curious and touched a finger on the podium's surface. At that moment, a screen popped up in front of him.
[Welcome to Infinity Heaven]
[Proceed to character creation]
The screen disappeared, only to be replaced by several more. There are three new screens that popped up. The one on the left contained several icons labeled "Warrior", "Mage", "Priest", and so on. In the middle, a screen that contained a figure completely identical to his real body. Beside the figure are a myriad of settings that he can use to alter his appearance. Finally, on the right side hovered a screen with a lottery wheel at the center.
"Lottery?" Albert got curious. He took a closer look and realized that the wheel is separated into thousands of sections, each one looking so small it would look like a gradient if one would not look closely. On the bottom part of the screen, a bar labeled "Spin" stood out.
Above the wheel, a description was written. A talent lottery, for the first one hundred people to log-in. A chance to have an advantage over other players. After reading the description, Albert scratched his nose.
"Eh, won't lose anything." Albert muttered before slapping the button.
The wheel spun quickly, a red arrow at the top going over thousands of items each rotation. After a few seconds, the arrow stopped on an iridescent section. Because it was too small, Albert can't read the content. Then, a screen popped up in front of him.
[Ding! Congratulations, you won "Improvement"!]
[Improvement: allows the host to improve equipment, skills, and items. Exclusive talent.]
"Holy shit." Albert rubbed his eyes and read it again.
Jackpot! He finally got something good from lotteries. Spending 200 dollars on a waifu gacha game 2 years ago made him despise lotteries after not winning a single SR.
"Allows me to improve equipment, skills, and items. This talent is outright broken." He put the talent aside and looked at the two other screens. He still has to make his character. And that'll take a few minutes. Good thing he has a broken talent so he won't have to worry about being left behind.
- - - -
A pillar of light, and a human suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a town. Quite tall, red hair and eyes, and a face that looked fairly average. Wearing the starter equipment of a mage, Albert's character appeared.
"Status." Directly after spawning, he instantly opened his status.
[IGN: Ataraxia
Level: 1 (0/100)
Class: Trainee Mage
HP: 100/100
MP: 200/200
Physical Defense: 2
Magic Defense: 2
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Spirit: 2
Wisdom: 2
Talent: Improvement (Exclusive)]
"It's real. Holy fuck it's real." Albert muttered as he stared at the talent section of his status panel.
Snapping out of hysteria, Albert focused his mind. Around him, pillars of light delivered players one after another. This town is simply one of the thousands of beginner towns in the game.
"I might have a cheat, but I I'm only one of the 100 people that logged-in first. Who knows, someone might've won a better talent." Albert kept that thought in his mind and proceeded to exit the town.
The town is quite small, but the landscape surrounding it certainly isn't. A wide, green plains on the west, and a creepy forest at the east. A lot of players are already killing slimes at the plains. Albert automatically knew where he'd go. He certainly can't allow the other players to see him use his talent, lest he get harassed to death.
Entering the dark forest, Albert opened his skills list together with his equipment panel. The two screens appeared beside each other.
[Fireball:
Deals 5 Magic Damage. Ignites a small fireball at the palm of the user that does a tiny explosion once thrown.
5 second cooldown. Cost: 10 MP]
[Silk Shirt:
+1 Physical Defense
+1 Magic Defense
The most common equipment. As normal as it can get.]
[Wooden Wand:
+2 Magic Damage
A basic equipment for a mage. Basically just a twig.]
Albert noted that besides the name of each skill and equipment, a + icon stood out. With a beating heart, he tapped the + icon next to the Fireball.
[Fireball:
Deals 10 Magic Damage. Ignites a fireball at the palm of the user that does a small explosion once thrown.
4 second cooldown. Cost: 8 MP]
Albert expected this, but he was still surprised. Improving Fireball once doubled its damage, reduced the cooldown by a second, and reduced 20% cost. Amazing!
"Eh, I can do it again?" Albert noticed that the + icon is still there. Curious, he tapped it again.
[Fireball:
Deals 20 Magic Damage. Ignites a big fireball at the palm of the user that does a moderate explosion once thrown.
3 second cooldown. Cost: 6 MP]
This time, Albert is sure. He can improve stuffs more than once. Shocked by the potential of his talent, Albert forgot that he still has his finger on the + icon. He was only snapped out of it when a sub-panel appeared above the + icon.
[+ 10x | + 100x | + MAX]
"Huh?" Albert was stupefied. This talent... it's really broken as fuck.
Without hesitation, Albert slapped his grubby fingers on the MAX button. Instantly, a massive change occurred to the Fireball skill.
[Fireball:
Deals 10,000 Magic Damage. Ignites a massive blazing blue fireball at the palm of the user that does a massive explosion once thrown.
No cooldown. Cost: 0 MP]
"Holy fucking shit!"
- - - -
Of course, if it can be applied to a skill, it can also be applied on equipment. Right now, Albert was laughing like a maniac. In front of him, a screen displaying the details of his equipment hovered.
[Silk Shirt:
+1,000 Physical Defense
+1,000 Magic Defense
The most common equipment. Improved through mysterious means.]
[Wooden Wand:
+2,000 Magic Damage
A basic equipment for a mage. Not any normal twig. Or wand, for that matter.]
"I don't think I even have to level up anymore. I can just laze around and still be invincible." Albert stifled his laughter.
"Still, players can still reach my level over time. I need to leave them all in the dust." Twirling the Wooden Wand on his hand, Albert walked deeper to the forest. This time, he plans to hunt.