36 hours previous, 10.00 AM Game time.
Connor's POV
Connor logs into the game and spawns onto a cloud platform identical to Astaria, while being greeted by an NPC called the Guide.
With a cheerful welcome, the guide starts Connor's character creation and introduces the different races.
Connor recalls back to the meeting a few days ago to Chester's words, which had particularly caught his attention.
'You guys should treat Caelus like the real world. With how popular it will become; you guys will most likely become quite famous. So, say for example you decide to choose a dwarf as your race, expect everyone in real life to look at you as a dwarf. This is a big decision, so don't take it lightly, any racial benefits you want can be mostly made up for through other means, so you won't fall behind if you pick based on looks.'
Thinking back to these words, Connor can't help but freak out at the thought of everyone thinking of him as a squat, hairy muscle brain. Sure, there are some cool dwarves, but he prides himself on his handsome looks and his stellar personality.
What will he do if his beautiful face is overlapped by some hairy guy any time he starts talking to a girl? That will be absolutely unforgivable.
Deciding to play it safe while remembering the details in the guide Chester has given him which details a recommended class, a couple of races, and its entire progression guide up till Lv 75, Connor decides that he will go with the half elf race.
The guide also recommends him to select the paladin class, making Connor mildly surprised that Chester has chosen this class for him since this is the very class he would have picked. He is also recommended to pick the elven race since it will provide decent a magic boost to him, but if he is unhappy with the looks, he is recommended to select the half elf race.
The character model in-front of him is an identical image of himself, with the only differences being the racial traits he is able to preview. Looking closely Connor can identify that the half elf race only changes his perfectly rounded ears as they become slightly more angular with a point to the back, still mostly hidden by his hair.
Nodding that this is acceptable over long pointy ears, Connor continues on to select his looks, deciding to forego enhancing his looks as it will clearly take too long to improve on what he is currently seeing.
As soon as the Guide is starting to explain the classes she suddenly stops speaking midway through her sentence, and a flash of white catches Connor's attention from above.
Seeing the beautiful angel descending toward him, Connor realises this is not a normal occurrence, so he naturally looks up, flashing a perfect smile as the beautiful woman descended in-front of him.
With a respectful nod, Connor greets the woman in-front of him, containing the excitement within his heart.
"Greetings, mysterious angel. How may I help you?"
Fortuna, seeing this respectful greeting, smiles, thinking that Chester should have had this attitude when they first met.
"Greetings, Connor. My name is Fortuna. Let me first start by saying that I am not an entity from this game, but I help oversee it. I am the goddess of fortune, someone long forgotten by people from Earth."
Hearing this declaration, Connor creases his brow thinking that this woman was another one of those 10/10 girls that come with the additional crazy hot girl syndrome. Dismissing this thought for now, he continues to listen.
"I know what I am about to tell you will seem illogical beyond reason, but please think about what you have learned so far and take the time to speak to your other friends before forgetting my words."
Folding her hands together by her waist, Fortuna continues to speak.
"Firstly, let me start by explaining that your friend Chester has been sent back into the past by 2 years. He has deep knowledge of this game and the future events that will befall humanity, which he has started to impart to you."
Gesturing towards Connor with her palm, she smiles at him.
"2 days ago, he provided you all with a level of knowledge about this game that nobody else can manage. Since the NPC's are independent, it is impossible to predict some of the events mentioned in the Guide you received."
Upon hearing her words, Connor can't help but let out a slight gasp, realising that there may be a hint of truth in Fortuna's words. Thinking deeper, the number of people who know about the contents of that meeting are restricted to everyone who was in the room. Connor has a lot of faith in Chester's sense for people, so it is unlikely that any of those involved leaked anything, and Harold is incredibly loyal to Chester, so would say nothing.
Connor concludes that there is the possibility that there is a spy, but the chances that someone had figured out that it was an important meeting and not a gathering of friends, and then managed to infiltrate the Cranford mansion is incredibly unlikely.
Deciding to wait and see where this goes, Connor crosses his arms and looks at Fortuna with a heavy look of scrutiny as she continues her speech.
"I remember he also mentioned your choice of race impacting your real-life image. Well, that was not meant figuratively, but literally. This information you can ask Ben to confirm the details, as Chester has explained these circumstances to him."
With a change of her expression as it becomes more serious, the aura around Fortuna changes as she gets to the main point of her appearance.
"And it is because of that issue I have come to speak to you. Due to Chester returning to the past, his soul was on the path to being destroyed. I shall avoid all the complicated details; however his soul and body have been changed, taking the form of a woman so beautiful she seems otherworldly."
Upon hearing Fortuna's revelation, Connor can only inwardly laugh.
"Well, this change has also occurred in the real world, and Chester has become a woman. The reason why I am here to tell you about this is to assist Chester in explaining the situation to you, I understand this is quite unbelievable for mortals, so I wish to make things slightly easier for him."
Flapping her wings as she ascends, Fortuna gives Connor some parting advice.
"Continue with the plans you have made; you will know it is Chester when you see him."
With a flash of light, Fortuna vanishes from view, leaving Connor somewhat dumbstruck.
"What the absolute fuck… I swear that chick was on a whole new level of crazy…"
Looking up as the Guide starts speaking again, Connor ignores her as he sits cross legged on the floor pondering what just happened.
'Time travel forcing someone to have a sex change? What the hell haha. God only knows how this Fortuna knows all this stuff, maybe the capsule thing I'm in can access our memories or something, but I can only laugh at this scenario! I can only imagine Chester's face if this actually happened to him. They talk about the British stiff upper lip, and Chester embodies that perfectly, so to see him become a girl would be quite funny.'
With a deep sigh, Connor continues his internal monologue, ignoring the Guide who is currently looking at him strangely.
'Well, whatever. She seems to know a lot, so when we all meet up later, I shall mention this to them. In all seriousness, if what this Fortuna said was real, I can only shudder at the implications. And if Chester is actually a girl now? Well as amusing as it would be I imagine he would be quite distraught like I would be if in that situation. Losing my manhood? All the ladies would cry as much as me!'
Crossing his arms with furrowed brows, his aura becomes quite serious.
'Guess I need to find out more and assess the situation before deciding what to do. I can't believe anything without seeing things first hand. This situation might be quite bad for us. Someone who knows this much about us? We will need to take precautions, be it hostile espionage or actually some goddess. I was left in charge of the guild, so I must do my job right.'
Now with his internal thoughts ordered and a direction to move regarding this unexpected development, Connor stands up and pats down his crude beginner's trousers.
"Sorry about that Ms Guide, I guess you were unable to see our unexpected visitor. I wish to select paladin as my class, what should I do?"
Upon conversing with the Guide, Connor finishes the character creation process and with her help teleports to a beginner village.