Willow was still a little drowsy, so his eyes wandered around the room until he found, clutched to his chest, a white-haired woman whose pointed ears indicated she was... an elf! She stared at him with a wide, warm smile.
Next to the elf, sitting on the edge of the bed, was a woman with short hair, dyed such an intense red that it looked like flames in the warm light. Large horns curved out of her forehead like black daggers. A demon! There was a burning passion in the way she looked at Willow out of the corner of her eye.
And it didn't end there. Willow felt something heavy on his legs, so he looked down at them and saw a woman with pale blue hair who was practically naked. Her eyes, as pale and deep blue as a lake in winter, were half open, showing that she was still waking up.
Finally, a young woman with disheveled purple hair was sharing a pillow with Willow and her presence was so low, even though she was so beautiful, that Willow noticed her last, even though she was the second closest.
Willow was surrounded by women, and the exhaustion he was feeling mixed with the fact that they were all half-naked told him a little about what had happened in the early hours of the morning. Of course, it brought back wonderful memories.
Suddenly, the solid wooden double doors opened with a bang, and a woman with black hair and yellowish eyes entered the room. The moment she saw Willow in that position, she gave him a stern look, as if she were scolding him. With her shoulders hunched and a slight wrinkle in her forehead, everything about her showed discontent.
"Willow, is it possible that you've forgotten what day it is?" Her voice pierced the air with a harsh tone. "Today is your coronation day!"
*
1 year earlier...
After five years condemned to playing only the Explorer Class, Willow had managed, after a month of failed attempts, to reach the end of the Cave of Greed to change that.
"Wow..."
He was exasperated to find mountains of gold and thousands of other items scattered all over the place.
Thanks to his class's passive ability, he could see from afar the colors of the many items that were mixed in with all that gold. This ability made the items have color auras that matched their rarity. Green, yellow and purple items were unusual, rare and epic, respectively.
Willow's eyes shone with greed at that moment, as if his pupils had turned into two gold coins. If he took just a few of these items, he could retire and live a quiet life forever. Houses, cars, women and travel. He could get endless wealth... However, there were two problems.
The first problem was that six months ago, the developer and maintainer of the VRMMORPG called Ether Online announced a date for closing the servers. This was still a famous game, so nobody understood the reason for such an abrupt end. Fans' questions remained unanswered by the company, but rumors suggested the developer faced potential criminal charges or that the servers would shut down to pave the way for an upcoming sequel.
In the end, the uncertainty created chaos among the millions of active players. The most dedicated, who had put in so many hours and spent so much money, began desperately trying to sell their accounts. After that, the number of online players dropped more and more.
Willow was one of the few remaining players, and by the time he reached the end of the Cave of Greed, it was the last day of the online servers. Well, at least if he could get all that gold, maybe he could still try to become the richest player in the last hours of the online servers, but then came the second problem.
[This item cannot be obtained.]
As the rumors said, most of the items in this place were fakes and a moment after people picked them up, they disappeared like sand and returned to the place they were taken from.
"Tsk! How petty..." in frustration, Willow muttered after picking up a jewel-encrusted goblet. "But it makes sense... If someone could take all these items and the gold, the legend of this cave wouldn't even exist. The first person to get here would have taken it all and become absurdly rich on their own."
Willow already knew about these two problems, so he was neither surprised nor frustrated. The fact that he still tried to get the chalice was more about his greedy personality.
In the end, what Willow was looking for in this cave full of trolls, golems, monster nests, labyrinths and puzzles was not money, but an item that could change his class.
Willow started playing Ether Online when he was eighteen, shortly after failing to get into college. Unemployed, he had plenty of time and distracted himself with the famous Ether Online, which had been released a year earlier. At the time of its release, some of Willow's classmates asked him to play, as they knew he was a fan of games, but Willow had promised his father that he wouldn't waste his time playing games in his last year at school.
Even after that, Willow failed in his goal of getting into the best college in the country and ended up buying a NeuroGear. The first experience was simply enthralling. That first encounter was truly mesmerizing. The NeuroGear was different from the VR glasses Willow had tested before. It didn't cause him motion-sickness or vertigo, because the console picked up all his brain waves.
Willow created an account, and, like a noob, even put his real name as his nickname. After customizing his avatar to resemble him in real life, the class choice roulette wheel appeared. He wondered if he could get a Legendary Class, such as a Crimson Swordsman or a Divine Crusader. However, to his disappointment, what he got was the Explorer Class.
The Explorer Class was a class exclusive to Ether Online and there were many players in this class. Technically, it wasn't a bad class, because it had a lot of skills geared towards exploration support. Creating maps, identifying traps, being resistant to poisons - these were some of its skills. However, this class was one of the weakest in combat because it had no attack or defense skills.
In this way, bearers of the Arcane Mage Class, who could create maps, and those with the Assassin Class, who could identify traps and resist poisons, could easily replace an Explorer in any high-level party.
In short, as a bearer of the Explorer Class, Willow would never know what it was like to be a powerful player, nor would he be able to obtain fame, attention or money unless he found very powerful items to sell. He was destined to fail from level 1.
Well, you might ask yourself: "Why didn't he just create another account?"
The developer of Ether Online was averse to the scenario of high-level players creating smurfs, which was basically a low-level account for high-level players to humiliate newcomers. It therefore limited all players to one registration per ID. Willow even thought about using his father's ID to create another account, but this idea quickly fell through when he thought his father might find out. He couldn't delete the account either, because to prevent players from creating and deleting accounts until they got a Legendary, Epic or Unique Class, they limited account deletion to reaching level 500, the maximum level.
These two actions were technically 'abusive' rules, but they made the game healthier in the long run.
Willow was about to abandon Ether Online on the first day, but when he was telling his disappointment on a forum, a user told him about the myth of the Cave of Greed. This myth said that among all the fake items in the Cave of Greed, there was one that was completely real, an item that would allow anyone to change to a completely different class.
At first, Willow thought a little of it. There was no way he was going to make it through on his own and get to the end of the Cave of Greed, which was known worldwide as one of the most dangerous dungeons. His friends weren't strong enough to help him, and Willow, as an unemployed man, didn't have the money to pay high-level players to escort him there, so reaching the end of the Cave of Greed was just a dream. So this 'dream' continued for the next four years.
During those years, Willow would sometimes log on to Ether Online to play a bit, but as beautiful and impressive as the game was, it was no fun being an Explorer.
However, five years later, with a degree in public administration and a good job at the local council, he used his free time every day to advance and level up. At one point, he reached level 60, a level that no Explorer had ever reached. From then on, he began to face the Cave of Greed every day, the minimum level of which was 350. A stupid idea, but he had a month before the servers closed.
Every day, Willow failed, but one day he finally succeeded. Now, surrounded by all the false riches of this cave, he shook his head, pushing away the disparaging thoughts about how he could have used these last few months online to get a girlfriend instead of having this stupid tantrum about changing class.
Getting to the end of this cave had been an arduous task, much harder than studying for university entrance exams. Willow knew the way back, as he had made a map, and getting out of there wouldn't take more than a few hours. However, leaving was not an option. There were only five hours left before the Ether Online servers closed. So it was now or never. He had to find the genuine item in this sea of fake items.
With that in mind, he knew he had to hurry. Quickly, Willow raised his head and his eyes scanned the mountains of gold, looking for something that seemed important and remarkable. Soon, he saw something that made his eyes light up: a beautiful blue sword, probably made of meteorite crystals. Willow had always wanted a combat class, so the first thing he wanted to touch was this blue sword.
He started climbing the golden mountain where the sword was embedded and even dug with his bare hands to unearth it. It was then that he heard the voice of the system in his mind.
[You have acquired a legendary item!]
[This item is not in a suitable state. You can check the details using your
Willow stopped and looked at the item he held in his right hand. It wasn't the sword. In fact, he was about to throw it back while reaching for the blue sword. At first, he thought he had just picked up an old book, but as he looked at it more closely, he noticed how it had an orange aura.
Still shocked, Willow looked at the book in his hands and said, "Use
+
[Item: Grimoire of Eros!]
Description: This Grimoire contains the techniques and all the abilities of Eros. The first person to touch this book after Eros dropped it from the Heavens will receive his abilities.
Effects: Becomes the descendant of Eros.
Rarity: Unique
Requirement: None.
Level and stats will change when used.
+
[An item capable of changing the user's class has been found!]
[Do you want to change the Explorer Class of unusual rarity to the Divine Seducer Class? YES/NO]
Willow wondered if he had seen it wrong, so he blinked several times and read the item's description again. However, the content hadn't changed.
"I really found it..." He murmured.
Willow could hear his heart beating violently. The item had a unique rarity, which meant that no one but him would have anything like it. Having a Unique Class didn't necessarily make him as strong as someone with a Legendary Class, especially since he still didn't know exactly what this class did, but there was no way a Unique Class could be bad.
"Most of the higher rarity items have requirements for use and this one doesn't! KUAHAHAHAT! I'm the happiest guy in the world!" Willow finally laughed.
Before he knew it, tears were streaming from his eyes.
After school ended, his friends stopped playing one by one and in the end he was left to play alone, sometimes to remember those simpler times without so many responsibilities. Now, finally, at 23, he felt that he had fulfilled his purpose in this game.
"It's over... I can say goodbye to this nightmare of a game!" He thought.
[Do you want to switch from the Explorer Class of unusual rarity to the Divine Seducer Class? YES/NO]
"I wonder what a Divine Seducer does? Oh, never mind! It can't be worse than being an Explorer!"
With determination, he clicked YES.
[The class change has been authorized.]
[Initiating system change!]
[Excluding 'Explorer Class'...]
['Explorer Class' successfully deleted!]
[All your attributes have returned to the Human default. ]
[Installing 'Divine Seducer Class'...]
[0%...]
[28%...]
[67%]
[100%!]
[Congratulations, Willow! 'Divine Seducer Class' has been successfully installed!]
He laughed in a low, almost bitter way. "I don't even know what it does... but what difference does it make now?"
With a heavy sigh, he decided that enough was enough for today and forever. His personal mission was accomplished. It no longer mattered what the Divine Seducer class could do. He clicked logout without hesitation. When everything went dark, he opened his eyes in his room.
Willow had removed the NeuroGear and left the helmet on his cluttered desk. When he threw himself on his bed, he felt relieved.
"It's over..."
It wasn't long before Willow fell to the ground. That early morning, while Willow slept, the Ether Online servers shut down forever. However, everything changed for Willow.
[THE TUTORIAL WAS OVER.]
When Willow opened his eyes, this message was the first thing he saw. He was surprised, because he was sure he had logged out. Then he felt a breeze touch his face. Willow blinked several times and finally realized that instead of seeing the familiar ceiling of his room, he was looking at a clear, blue sky. He felt the floor beneath him - but it wasn't the soft mattress of his bed. It was... grass?
After such a good night's sleep, Willow's mind was naturally processing things more slowly. While he was still trying to understand what was going on, he heard a voice.
"You're finally awake. Sigh... You know you can't sleep in places like this, right?"
The voice was female, and Willow slowly turned towards the voice to see who was talking to him. When he completed the movement with the upper half of his body, he saw a stunningly beautiful woman.
This woman had white hair, blue eyes, a thin nose and a mouth with perfectly pink lips. Although all these physical features were surprising when put together like this, what really surprised Willow was this woman's ears. Her ears were long and thin, like a hobbit's, but slightly tilted back, small and delicate.
Curiously, on top of her head was a system window in a semi-transparent, bluish rectangle that displayed a series of information.
-:|:-
Name: Aria Valenwood
Race: Elf
Level: 108
Description: She's curious about you.
Emotions: Curiosity, confused?
-:|:-