I chug an entire bottle of water and release a sigh. Sometimes, I wonder if I can get out of this situation. A situation where you work your hardest, but your salary is only enough to put food on the table. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to have work, but sometimes it is tiring, you know?
After failing to get a scholarship from the government, I immediately searched for a job after I got out of high school. As a high school graduate, I don't have many options for jobs. I only get low-level jobs in the company, and with the increasing rent price, it becomes hard to get money.
Because of this, I want to search for a new way to earn money, and among them is to be a gamer. With the advancement of VR and the Gaming Industry, Gaming Currency become something that many people are willing to buy. In the biggest game in the world, with over one billion people playing every day, the currency has become real money.
The game is called Grand Adventure.
After saving money for years, I can finally buy an older version of the VR pod that I can use to play the Grand Adventure.
"Hey, Peter!"
I look to the side and see my friend and co-worker.
"Sup, Terry. I thought you were already gone home by now."
Terry has been my friend since high school and someone who hates staying in this place longer than he needs to be. In the beginning, he worked three hundred percent each day, but his behavior changed after he got a new manager for the first time. That bitch beat us too much, and now we are nothing but a husk of ourselves. Sadly, she is right about one thing. We cannot do anything about it because we need this job and don't have the power to change that.
Quit? You have a hard time getting a new job as a high school graduate. The two of us cannot afford that.
"Nah. I need to wait for my girlfriend. We are planning on moving out from that old apartment."
"Oh? Congratulations, man. I am happy for you."
"Thank you. How about you? Do you still want to buy that VR pod?"
"Yeah. It is the older model, though."
"Why can't you go to the internet cafe? It is cheaper, and you can use your money to get a better apartment."
"Nah. I prefer to own the VR pod."
"Urgh. You and your nature. Anyway, I can see my girlfriend is coming. Good luck with your gamble, man."
Right. It was a gamble. If I cannot get anything from this endeavor, I will be homeless and do not have enough money to buy food.
I take a deep breath and get up from the chair. It is time for me to buy the VR pod.
=====
"Are you sure you want to buy this version of the pod? You said you want to play Grand Adventure, right? This pod can play it, but a bug keeps happening in the character creation section. People never get a skill bigger than E-rank for their first Soul Skill."
"Ah, don't worry about it. As much as I want the newer version, I don't have enough money to buy them."
The man looks at me with pity and nods his head.
"Very well. Please write your address so we can deliver your pod. Do you want to come along, or will you go first?"
"I don't mind the free ride. I will take it."
He nods and says.
"Then, please wait for a moment while my staff prepares your pod."
I nod and sit on the chair. After a few seconds, the man returned with three people carrying a large box.
"Please follow me. The car is ready."
It does not take long for them to set up my gaming setup, and after taking a bath, I enter the pod. I take a deep breath and press the power button. A second later, I appear in a white void. I complete all the essentials and finally enter the game.
When I entered the game, I saw a blue woman in front of me. Ah, this should be AVI, right? The Artificial Virtual Intelligence. She is the one watching over the entire game for any people who try to cheat or hack the game.
With today's technology, many people try to do it, but this AI stops all of them.
"Welcome to Grand Adventure and the world of Aeda. Please choose a name for your character. Please remember that this name will be tied to your Pod System."
And that is another thing about this game. It is tied to the pod. That means if you get a bad skill in your character creation, you will use that for the rest of your life unless you want to buy a new pod.
"Glandarian"
"Do you want to use the name 'Glandarian'?"
"Yes."
The world changes, and I can see my reflection in front of me.
"Do you want to use your real face?"
"Hell no. Randomize, but make sure to have white hair."
"Randomizing…"
A few seconds later, I can see a handsome young man with white hair and golden eyes looking at me with a small smile.
"How is it?"
"Perfect! I will choose this character."
"Very well. Do you want to choose your starting class first, or do you want to take your Soul Skill first?"
"Soul Skill"
I immediately answered her question. According to the forum I read, take the Soul Skill first before starting class. The reason? If you take a class and your soul skill doesn't match, you have a hard time in the early game.
"Very well. Randomizing… ERROR! You are using the older VR Pod model. Please wait for a moment while I fix this."
Ah, this is the bug he is talking about, huh? He says something about not being able to get any Soul Skill above E-rank. It is a shame, but I will make it work.
After waiting for a few seconds, Avi returns, and a blue panel appears in front of me.
"Thank you for waiting. I have optimized the system to let you play the game without any problem from now on. Please read your Soul Skill and press continue if you want to choose your starting class."
I completely ignored her as I read the description in front of me.
[Forgotten God] [Z-Rank] [Soul Skill] [Passive]
{You are a forgotten God of this world that disappeared an eon ago. Now you return to Aeda and explore the world that you left behind an eon ago}
|Effect: Each time you complete a quest, you will get Origin Points 10x the amount of the exp the quest gives you|
This is game-changing! Origin Point is something you need to refine your weapons, armor, and skills. It does not give you stats or anything, but upgrading a basic spell will be a huge boost for me. Also, I once read that a newbie weapon is decent if you refine it to the max. Sadly, doing it in the late game is not good enough. But for me? Someone who will get a huge amount of Origin Points in the early game? It is perfect.
I press continue, and I already know what kind of class I need for this.
"The next one is your class. Please choose one of the following: [Warrior], [Archer], [Mage], [Priest], [Bard]."
Warrior is a physical class. If you want to be DPS, you will still get a good amount of durability to take a hit. I hear one of the best players in this game is a Berserker, and he is the self-healing type of Berserker. People call him the Immortal because of this trait.
Archer is the pure DPS class. All of its higher-tier classes are DPS. You pick many kinds of flavors of DPS. Poison-type, fire-type, or even corruption-type. They are the guys who usually deal the biggest damage in raids.
Mage is a DPS and Support class. Depending on the class you choose on the higher level, you can be a pure DPS or a hybrid of DPS and Support. Their support comes in the form of Buff and Debuff but not healing.
Healing comes from the Priest. They are people who specialize in support and healing. Their buff is stronger than mage, and they even heal. The only difference is that they don't have the same utility support spell as mage.
Lastly, Bard. They were the most hated class in the entire game. They are weak, and they have the same skill set as priests. They can heal and buff, but not as good as the Priest. The only good thing in this class is their higher charisma stats, which make it easier to befriend the NPC.
To the others, this class might be useless, but to me? It is perfect. I need to get close to the NPC so they can give me a quest, and through the quest, I will get more Origin Points.
"I will choose Bard"
"Very well. Glandarian the Bard, welcome to Aida, and enjoy your adventure."