[Welcome to Horizon Online! Please create your character!]
Atlas appeared on top of a mountain that pierced the sky. All around him was the sea of white clouds, save for a screen panel that asked him to create his character.
In the last month, he and Ferin had planned everything. They noted all hidden quests, skills they needed to get, the equipment they needed to secure, treasure box locations, and even what kind of characters they wanted to make.
It was decided that their build from the past wasn't perfect. Their teamwork was indeed top-notch, but they could improve it if both chose different races to get their bonus. And that was the only thing they couldn't change as it was permanent from the character creation.
'We need to choose the right one, or it will hinder our plan.'
His race in the past was human, while Ferin was the Devil. Both were incompatible with their main class and actually hindered them slightly.
Humans were best at production jobs, while the Devil was best at magic-related classes. While Atlas was one of the best item producers in the past, he wouldn't need that anymore this time.
'I will get the Devil, more specifically the Archdevil, that can only be obtained by randomizing the character.'
Rare race was something that players found out after 6 months into gameplay. No one bothered to random their characters unless they were crazy. MMORPG was a roleplay ground, so they wanted to look as good as possible by customizing their character.
That was why Ferin mentioned that the character creation would take most of their time today if their luck wasn't great. Coincidentally, she also aimed for a rare character that could only be obtained by randomizing their character at this phase.
"Let's do this."
Atlas pressed the random button, which was slightly hidden under all the character customization options. Once he pressed that, the button turned gray and had a countdown of 10 minutes written on it. He wouldn't be able to randomize his character in 10 minutes now.
At the same time, an avatar on the screen changed. His appearance also changed constantly. Hair, face, skin color, and height; there were even horns or animal ears that appeared every now and then.
After 5 seconds, the change stopped, and his final appearance was on the screen—a young man with green hair and long ears. The race written beside the character was 'Elf.' It wasn't the race he wanted to be.
'This will take a long time…'
***
Just as Atlas had thought, it took him more than an hour to get his desired Archdevil Race.
"Finally!" He exclaimed happily as he looked at the character reflected on the screen.
A tall man with a sharp look and slicked-back black hair. There was no horn that indicated he was a Devil, but Archdevil was different from a regular Devil. Instead of a pair of black horns, Archdevils had tattoos on their arms as a Race trait that made them different from the others.
The race's effect increased any magic skill's effectiveness by 5%. It didn't seem much, but it would shine at the middle to end game part.
As for the appearance, he had nothing to say about it. It was good enough. Besides, he could change it in the future.
"And confirm."
[Character Confirmed]
Another screen popped up after he pressed confirm. It was a class selection window.
[Please Choose A Class]
[Warrior] [Rogue] [Mage] [Support]
There were only four choices for the first classes. In this case, there was nothing hidden, so Atlas quickly chose [Mage] as his main class.
[Mage Has Been Chosen as Main Class]
[Welcome to Horizon Online. Please enjoy your stay and adventure in the world of Ufuk.]
Just like when he started the game before, Atlas' body was covered in bluish light, and he was teleported away.
This time, he appeared in a crowded village surrounded by tall wooden fences and lush forests. His clothes also changed to that of a citizen from the medieval era, with a brown leather chest plate. Staff, the primary weapon that all Mage used, was in his hand.
"Newbie village… To think that I would step in here again."
Many people were looking around in amazement. Some were clueless about what they were even doing. While they were doing that, Atlas checked his status.
"Status."
===
Name: Atlas
Race: Archdevil
Class: Mage [0]
Reputation: 0 [Neutral]
HP: 100%
MP: 50
Stats: [STR: 2] [AGI: 2] [MAG: 5] [VIT: 2]
Free Stat Points: 0
Skills:
– Mana Bolt (Lv 1): Launch a bolt of pure mana at a target. Damage scales with MAG x 1.1 [2 MP, 3 seconds cooldown]
Attribute:
– Archdevil: You are the Archdevil, born from the deepest of Hell, to experience the world's pleasure. Being a spawn of magic, you can handle magic better than anyone.
Effect: Magic Effectiveness +5%
Title:
– None
===
Everything was as he remembered. The race bonus also properly appeared in the attribute section. Seeing that, he nodded, satisfied.
'Good. For now, let's go to the meeting place. There should be enough time before the other players finish the useless tutorial.'
Thinking so, Atlas began to move with purpose. He hoped that Ferin would be there for him already so they could move to the next step. They needed to finish something in the newbie village before moving out. And the faster they finished it, the better it was.
Atlas and Ferin agreed to meet in the forest, at the side of a large tree just right outside the newbie village. People seldom visited there, and it wasn't as crowded as inside the village, so it was the perfect place for them to meet.
When he stepped out of the village, he saw a beautiful woman with silver hair leaning against the largest tree near the area. Her long bunny ears, with a similar color to her hair, jutted out of her head and moved ever so slightly. They looked so fluffy and soft to be touched.
Her ruby red eyes, with long eyelashes encasing them, moved toward Atlas as he walked closer. At that moment, a sparkle seemed to appear around her as she jumped happily.
"At! You're finally here!"
She hugged him tightly.
"Sorry that I am late, Fer. My RNG isn't very good." He said, caressing her hair. And indeed, those pairs of bunny ears really felt soft to the touch. "It seems you properly get Moon Bunny as your Race. And the sword in your waist, you choose Warrior?"
"Hehehe, yes. Our Classes are already good enough, so I didn't change as planned. But with these new Races, we're unbeatable!"
"That's right. We were number one before, and it will stay the same this time." He said, agreeing with her. "Well then, shall we go hunting now?"
"Of course. It's been a month since we last played. Hunting will be perfect to regain my senses."
"Let's go then. Screw the tutorial. We won't need the reward."
"Indeed. The other players can suck the village mayor's feet for all they want."
With that, both of them walked deeper into the forest side-by-side.