As expected, this little maneuver from Zyreth didn't garner too much attention, but as he advertised everywhere, it still caught the interest of a small part of the player community, especially some small gaming organizations.
While waiting for the release, Zyreth observed the forums in his spare time. Well, he actually had a lot of time on his hands. He didn't mind that the attention he was getting was minuscule compared to the top-rated games. It was only a matter of time.
The days were rather uneventful, and soon the day of the release arrived. Strictly speaking, his 'server' could accommodate millions of players at once, but there was no way he would have that much upon release.
Zyreth leaned on his throne, casually watching everything unfold. His game was finally online. If one looked closely, his deep crimson eyes glistened with rare anticipation.
As he expected, there were only over a hundred thousand people who downloaded his game, and that was already from all over the world. It was indeed too pitiful compared to the billions of players in the world.
Some of them were only curious after it was advertised in the player forums and planned to delete it afterward. Of course, after being tainted by the abyss, there was no way to escape.
Atlas was someone who downloaded the game after seeing the teaser. As a solo player, he didn't have attachments and would play whatever piqued his interest.
Although he didn't have a lot of expectations from an unknown game, Atlas tried it for his own amusement. After he downloaded the game, he immediately linked it to his gaming pod.
"Zero, I'll be playing all night; ignore any calls unless it's an emergency." Atlas did a routine stretch as he informed his robot assistant.
"Yes, Master." As someone living alone, Atlas only had the robot assistant as his all-around butler and even maid. After he was done and assured, Atlas laid down on his gaming pod, clicking on the icon of the game. The familiar sensation engulfed him.
Actually, there was something unfamiliar about it. Atlas could feel that something seemed to be pulling him, and his keen senses discovered something strange about it. However, he didn't have any time to examine it as the sensation disappeared.
Atlas opened his eyes; he found himself in dark surroundings. He couldn't even see himself.
In fact, Zyreth had changed the starting area and blocked out everything. After careful consideration, he admitted that not anyone would be fine after seeing their real body, and they were somewhat detached from it, which was indeed horrifying.
So, what Atlas was seeing was different from what Bell experienced. Although he was in the same location and the surroundings were blocked from their vision.
[Welcome, Player]
[You are currently in the process of transformation]
[Please choose your Race]
The races were listed similarly to what Bell saw. Unlike Bell, though, Atlas pondered seriously. He looked and read the descriptions. This game was definitely different from Fantasy Land, which was the most popular game at the moment.
"That's a whole lot of races," Atlas chuckled, but it was even more interesting. In fact, he already tried a lot of classes in different VR games, as he wasn't the one who would stick around in one game for years, and he loved to explore and challenge himself.
Crossing out the races, which were equivalent to the classes that he had already tried before, he was only left with Succubus and Necromancer. Atlas pondered, and seeing that the Succubus race wasn't compatible with him, he chose Necromancer.
Atlas was intrigued by it as it was his first time hearing about it, but the concept was actually nothing new. Commanding undeads seemed really cool.
[You chose to be born as a Necromancer]
[Please set your name, Player]
Atlas didn't have the same in-game usernames for all of his accounts, and for this name, he thought of a name that was related to his race.
"Death Whisperer," he answered.
As soon as his voice rang, his surroundings roared as he heard a faint heartbeat. Atlas raised his head; although he couldn't see anything, he had a vague intuition that something was in that direction.
[Your body is ready to be born!]
[Congratulations, Death Whisperer. The Abyss welcomes you.]
The Abyss welcomes me, huh? Atlas smiled, and his vision grew dark once more. The next thing he knew was the urge to come out. Soon, he stood up and looked where he was only a second ago.
He squinted his eyes, slightly surprised. He looked at himself and saw that he was wearing clothes. Atlas snickered at the thought of being naked inside the game.
Atlas then raised his head, and the three red moons in the skies greeted him. They were bright but extremely ominous.
[You can now open your starter supplies.]
This system message filled his vision; he lowered his gaze and saw the worm being disintegrated, leaving a small box. Atlas took the box and opened it.
Inside was a dark robe, a small wooden staff, and a small book. Atlas held the dark robe to see if he could identify it, but nothing happened; it was the same for the staff. But when he held the small book, its description appeared before him.
[Abyssal Realm's Basic Manual
- A small book that holds the basic information about Abyssal Realm. It includes, but is not limited to, monster information and the customs in the Abyss.]
[Do you want to learn Abyssal Realm's Basic Manual?]
"Yes."
The book scattered and merged with him.
[You now have basic access authority]
His brow rose; what did it mean? Atlas actually couldn't see any differences. An idea struck him, and he then held the small staff again and focused on it.
Sure enough, its descriptions appeared.
[Wooden Staff (Common)
Description: A simple and crude wooden staff crafted for novices.
Restrictions: None]
It was the same for the dark robe. Although it was a common rarity, it was basically just trash. Atlas still equipped them, as it was better than nothing.
He stood up and roamed his eyes around. At first, since he was focusing on the starter supplies, he couldn't pay attention to his surroundings yet.
Atlas tilted his head; his eyes turned sharp, and after a while, a newfound surprise appeared in his eyes. He looked at his hand as he clenched and unclenched it in front of him.
"This..." he drew a deep breath, and his expression changed. It was the first time since he played a VR game that he felt his senses were real. It wasn't just his ordinary senses, but even as he tried to move, it was like he was moving his real body.
He licked his lips and narrowed his eyes. He looked far ahead of him.
[Welcome to the Abyssal Realm]
[You are in the Abyss Edge]
The system messages then occupied his vision again. Atlas' eyes stared at it for a few seconds and then laughed. If he hadn't seen it, he was close to convincing himself that he was not inside a game.
"I feel like... This game will change the era," Atlas mumbled, his eyes exposing his ignited desire for the unknown.
In fact, this feeling might not have resonated with all of the players that logged in after the release of the game, but a few of them also smelled the change, and most of all... opportunity.