[A new player has been detected. Welcome to the world of Second Life!]
Finn looked at the floating text that he remembered from his previous life.
He then touched the text with his finger, and it changed.
[Please choose a name for yourself.]
The same robotic voice from the system talked to him again and showed him a new window.
Finn already knew what he would name himself in the game.
He discussed it yesterday with Loki, and after deciding that they would base the name off of Loki, they chose a fitting name.
[The name Chained_Trickster has yet to be taken, so you are free to take it if you wish]
[Are you sure you want this to be your name?]
The system asked him, and he clicked "yes".
Suddenly, the window showing the text started glitching and kept enlarging itself to the size of a door.
"I felt your presence before, but after seeing the name you chose. I am certain it is you... Loki."
A melodious voice resounded all around Finn as a woman dressed in a simple white dress stepped out of the system's "door." She was holding a sword in her left hand and scales in her right hand.
She had caramel-brown hair tied into a bun. Her eyes were gray and sharp, as if she was judging everyone she looked at.
And with her full scarlet lips and small nose, she could become a top model if she ever chose to join any modeling agency on Earth.
She looked at Finn with her sharp eyes, as if expecting an immediate reply from him.
Finn was still in the process of appreciating her beauty. She had this older-sister vibe around her, yet when she laid her eyes on him, he could feel like he was just an ant standing in front of the sun.
He started bending his back, but before he could get on his knees to worship her, he felt something leave his body, and when he looked next to him, he saw a person standing there.
Standing 195 cm tall and having a lean, muscular build, he had long black hair that flowed down his back and green eyes that looked like they were made from emeralds.
On his perfectly chiseled face was an easy-going smile as he kept looking at the woman in front of him.
The man looked more earthlike compared to the woman, as he wore a black shirt, black pants, and black formal shoes.
He had his hands behind his back as he radiated overflowing charisma.
Finn also felt pressure from this person, but it was totally different. If the woman was as bright as the sun, the man would have been the lunar eclipse.
Covered by the moon and hidden, but if one looked closely, he could see the powerful entity behind it.
So, it was like he was concealing his pressure.
"Long time no see Themis! No need for the overbearing aura. You are just bullying my little champion."
The man had an easy-going smile on his face, and the woman stopped her pressure, allowing Finn to stand back up.
"It's really you, Loki… What are you doing here? You are supposed to be locked up in that cave right now."
The woman, whose name was Themis, looked at Loki with a questioning gaze.
"My main body is still locked up over there, together with my main consciousness. When I met Finn, I split my consciousness into a small part and put it into his body so that I could at least escape from the boredom."
Loki explained with a sigh while pointing at Finn.
"Finn? This human child? So, you have already chosen a champion... He seems ordinary to me. There doesn't seem to be anything special about him."
'Well, then, sorry for being so ordinary.'
Finn pouted at being insulted by someone he didn't know.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you."
Loki turned to look at Finn and gestured with his hand toward Themis.
"Finn, this is my friend Themis, the Goddess of Law and Order."
He then turned around and gestured toward Finn.
"Themis, this is my champion, Finn. Although he may seem ordinary right now, that won't always be the case since I'll be the one teaching him."
Themis looked Finn up and down but couldn't see why he was chosen by Loki.
Meanwhile, Finn didn't know how to respond.
'Themis is a goddess? Isn't she supposed to be an AI that controls the players?'
Finn became confused when he heard Loki introduce Themis.
Themis AI was an Artifical Inteligence made by the game developers that was tasked with overseeing every player and making sure they weren't breaking the rules.
It only judged the players based on the rules of the game and was omnipresent, thus making it the perfect administrator.
But now Finn has discovered that Themis was actually a living being, and not just any living being but a goddess.
She may have been the admin, but the game did have an AI system that gave the players automated messages, and she was both its and the players' overseer.
"Are you choosing a champion too, Themis? Maybe someone who cares about law as much as you do."
Loki asked, not waiting for Finn to get out of his dazed state.
"I don't only care about the law. I am the law, Loki!"
Themis first scrunched up her eyebrows, but then she returned to her calm state.
"And no, I won't join these childish games. I was asked to oversee the players, and that's what I will do."
Suddenly she sighed and held her head as if she were dealing with an internal crisis.
"Anyway, you know what will happen when that person finds out that a part of your consciousness had escaped, right? It will be a pain to deal with."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell him, and I trust you won't reveal my secret."
Loki chuckled and then looked at Themis with a pleading look.
"It is one of my own rules not to reveal the personal matters of others if they don't wish for it, so you don't have to worry about that."
"Thanks. Oh right! We have a request, right Finn?"
Loki nudged Finn's shoulders, forcing him out of his dazed state.
"We do? Oh yes, the spawn location, is it possible to choose it? Loki said that his friend would help us."
Finn asked with a puppy look in his eyes.
"No, I can't do that. The spawn locations are random for everyone, and I can't break the rules."
Themis instantly rejected Finn, unaffected by his look.
"Last time I looked, there was no rule that said manipulating the spawn location was forbidden, though."
Loki slyly added from the side.
"…You know I hate people who bend the laws and find loopholes, right? It feels like they are stepping all over my existence."
Themis furrowed her eyebrows.
"I know, just this once. For me, please?"
Loki, who was being glared at by Themis, looked at her as if he were a child asking his mom for candy.
Themis looked at him for a minute and thought about it. She then eased her expression and answered.
"Fine, but just because it's you, Loki. If it was any other one of those old geezers, I would have never agreed."
"Thank you very much!"
Finn shouted while doing a 90-degree bow.
"So which location do you want to go to? Maple leaf village, right? I believe that is the easiest location to start."
Indeed, Maple Leaf Village was the easiest. It was filled with a lot of opportunities to level up, and the monsters outside of the village were all easy to kill, perfect for a newbie.
But Finn had a different plan in mind.
"The Dragon's Maw Village, please!"
Finn shouted again with a resolved look on his face.
He chose the hardest location to start in.
If a player ended up in this location, 99% of the time he would choose to delete his account and restart again, hoping for a different spawn location.
To make sure players didn't abuse this, everyone had to wait a week after deleting their character to create a new one.
The player's DNA was stored in the system when he made his character, so no one could steal his identity. He could also log in with any capsule, not just his own.
This meant that one couldn't just buy a new capsule to create a new character.
Finn knew Dragon's Maw Village was the hardest spawn location, but it wasn't made the hardest just to troll the players that ended up there.
It was because of an item you could obtain from there that the difficulty of this village spiked through the roof.
This item was discovered one year after SL's launch by a player who spawned in this village.
First, he wanted to delete his character, but he didn't want to wait a week, so he decided to explore the village a bit, and he ended up finding an item that made his strength skyrocket.
With this item, he dominated everyone and even became one of the top ten players.
Finn used to support this player and was his fan, but now he would use this knowledge to take his opportunities and use them for himself.
'No hard feelings.'
Finn thought with a grin, not bothered in the slightest by the fact that he was about to ruin someone's future.
"Huh? This kid has some balls, or he is just crazy. Either way, he fits you, Loki."
Themis smiled for the first time and nodded her head.
"Alright, have a safe journey, and Loki try not to get caught, alright?"
"I love you too, Themis! You are the best!"
Loki shouted while blowing her a kiss.
He then returned back to Finn's body because he didn't want to get caught by the other gods.
"Shut up, you dumbass, and go already!"
Themis shouted with a slight blush while waving her hand, and Finn was quickly teleported.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of a crowded square with many enthusiastic players.
Once he checked that he was really sent to the Dragon's Maw Village by opening his system window, he thanked Themis again for helping him by praying to her.
He then turned around to look in a certain direction, and with a smirk, he mumbled to himself.
"Let the fun begin."