Vince held his temples and pressed his eyelids shut as the new implant calibrated itself. Like trying on a pew pair of glasses, they’d said. More like drilling a hole through his skull. The whirring sound grew, and so did the pressure in his head. “How much longer?”
Xua Yu held up a finger and leaned forward, the bright graphs on the screen reflecting his glasses. “Aaaaaand done!”
The noises stopped. Vince blinked a few times, trying to shake off the uncomfortable dizziness that followed. It did little to help.
“How do you feel?” Xua Yu turned to him and adjusted his glasses. “This is cutting edge tech. The process inserts the components one by one into your head, then the core assembles itself. It makes an otherwise intrusive surgery mundane, doesn’t it?”
“I guess so.” Vince pushed his palms against his back, stretching it with a few cracks. Installing the newer implant did take longer, but compared to the surgery he’d needed the first time around and the days of headaches that followed… This was heavenly. “Doesn’t feel any different yet though.”
“Yet,” Lana said. “Just wait until you try it in game.”
“Speaking of which, you should get around to making your new character.” Xua Yu checked his watch. “Dusk is less than an hour away. The Darkblessed will be allowed access soon.”
“Right.” Vince laid back down and breathed in deeply. After years of fighting the Darkblessed, knowing he would be one of them felt simply wrong. Then he thought of the alternative, seeing the faces of Shill and Cecilia again, and it made him want to vomit. He’d never fully understood what happened when he died, or why he lost his character. The betrayal stung too much for him to care. Perhaps it was finally time to get some answers.
Activating the new implant and connecting to Twilight were the exact same, but the familiar numbness spread so quickly through his body that he worried something had gone wrong. Colours blended together and took different forms much faster than he was used to. The change was almost frightening. Moments later, Vince found himself suspended in endless darkness, with only a mirror in front of him.
[Welcome to the character creation screen for the VRMMO, Twilight. Allow me to guide you through the process.]
A menu full of options popped up to his right, and the nostalgia came crashing back. Good lord, it’d been long since he had seen that screen. He poked the ‘appearance’ option with a finger then hurriedly drew it back. What the hell had that been? It felt too real.
“The feedback hits different, doesn’t it?” Lana’s smug voice entered his ears.
Vince looked around, confused. Could they–
“Yes, we can see through your eyes,” Lana answered. “Xua Yu found a hacky way around the party forming function, so it will only work in towns and safe areas, but it’s better than nothing. Sadly, we have yet to figure out a way to let you respond.”
“That’s something I’d have liked to know beforehand,” Vince mumbled to himself. He gave a thumbs up to himself.
“That’s one way, I guess.” Lana giggled.
Vince shook his head and went back to looking through the choices for his appearance. Originally, he hadn’t changed much about himself because he thought it’d feel weird. This time around, he decided he’d welcome the change. First order of business: Get rid of the fucking beard. He selected the option to remove all facial hair and ran a hand down his smooth cheeks and neck. If only it was that easy out of the game. Then, he raised his cheekbones a little, and shrunk his nose. He changed eye colour from brown to an emerald green and made his lips a little thinner. When he looked in the mirror again, a stranger returned his gaze.
“Hello there, handsome!” Lana giggled in his ear. “That should do it.”
Vince rolled his new eyes. This was getting annoying quick. He lengthened his hair and turned it dark, just for good measure. It wouldn’t be good to stand out with a brighter colour. Finally, he made his shoulders a little narrower, before moving onto the next section. Name.
This time he’d have to put in a bit more effort, rather than pressing backspace twice. He debated going for Inigo Montoya. Probably not a good idea. “Emrin,” he mumbled. “Emrin Sua.” Rolled off the tongue. Now, onto what really mattered.
[Welcome to the class selection screen! There are currently only 8 basic classes to choose from, but due to the dynamic nature of Twilight, specialisations are endless! While the classes may be balanced, the specialisations you could come across in game are not.]
“Endless my ass.” Vince scoffed. It took years of playing his paladin just to get a decent class upgrade. And in the end, it only ended up giving him a skill and a defence boost. It was nice, but in no way game breaking in an environment dominated by guilds. He’d read countless articles of people getting rare or unique classes then fading into obscurity, just because their class wasn’t suited for organised play. Big numbers made power in Twilight, not individuals. A fact which made his current mission all the more difficult.
Vince scrolled through the classes and their descriptions. It was a deceivingly normal line up. Knight, Paladin, Cleric were the heavy armour, frontline classes. Arcanist, Shaman and Necromancer were the mage classes. Pretty standard. His eyes fell on the last three classes at the very bottom of the class list. Ranger, Rogue and Monk. Once again, the system had lied. These classes were shit. Not only did they lack the area of effect spells that could turn the tides of battle, but the defences to withstand such spells as well. There were one or two players who’d elevated their respective classes, of course, but they too had eventually resigned to participating only in one on one tournaments. That was the only part of the game those classes excelled at. It also happened to be exactly what Vince needed. To defeat the best player in the world, there was only one option.
Vince selected Rogue.
[Masters of stealth and disguise, rogues are excellent in sneaking up behind enemies and d̷̡͉̉͋e̵̞̞̓͘l̶̥̝̎i̵̪͈͗͆v̸̛̪̳e̵̯̋̒r̷̟̃i̴͙̒̅n̵̞̎̀ǵ̸̞̅ ̶̨̱̃a̵̢̬̾̿ ̵͎͒́q̸̬̅̓ú̵̩̺̓i̵̙̜͑c̴̢͂ķ̵͕́͛ ã̶̛͙̞͍̥͙̥͇̊́͑̏͒̏͝n̴̡̠̪͇̤̬͓͝ͅd̴̹͙̟͍͔̜̻̎͐̔͆ ̸̢͈̬̙̗̯̒̇͌͆́ȗ̶̯͚͍̼͎̠́̑́͌͝n̵̻̰͚͔̣̫̈́͜͝e̴̾͂͐̉͊̇ͅx̷̨̛̠̲̰͔̐̎̃͛͊̔͘͜͠p̸͉̗̜͕̱̳͉̥͗̋͒͋ę̴̧̫̥̦̰̇̓̓ͅc̸̻̺̮̓t̸͈̋̏̈̄͆̚͠e̷̘̯̾͐̑̓͐̓̾̀̕d̶̠̰͙̭̅̌̏̀͌͂̆ ḑ̷̧̨̨̛̤͍̻͔͙̣͕͚̞̼̺̙͙̭̬̙̩͈̆̿́̀̇̆̍͊̎̔̅̽́́͋͊̓̀̚̚͘͠͠d̸͎̟̹̲̍͐̔͆̕ͅd̵̨̧̢̯̩̝̮͓̥̻̜̱̬̼̞̱̞̳̮͕̖̽̀̉̊̌̇͊̌̿̇͌͂̌͐̈̀̌͘̕͝d̷̲͂̉͛̓̃̎̈̂̈́̾̈́͜ď̸̡̢̡̨̰̲̯̗͍͚͉̰̫̲̩̭̰̰̄̏̔̊̔͋͋̋̃̓͂̉̂̾͜͠d̸̢̻̟͚̝͚͙͕̫̱͙̝͔̭̠̬͚͑̈̌͂͊̕͝ͅḍ̵̣̪͙̖̫͍͓͔͕͛̇̆͗̇͑͐̓̏̑̽̈̈́́̂͑̒̈́̐̓̃̔̕ͅd̶̟̜̩͇̱̜̳̺̰͔̥̫̙̱̻͎͖̱̻̦͔̻͊͂̔̅͐̍̎́̆̄͊̒͒ͅd̷̡̛̫̟͎̦͉̠̮̞̩̼̲͋̒̂̐͋̂̀̒̍̒̄͒̔̀̕̕͠]
Vince winced as the system’s voice slowed, then turned into a continuous screech. Was the implant malfunctioning? He opened his eyes again to find the mirror missing. Two giant, different colored irises stared at him. One blue, one purple.
“You haven’t even lived.” A deep, baritone voice sounded in his head. “And yet Araesh has marked you. How very interesting.”
“What–What are you?” Vince instinctively reached for his weapon, but found nothing. He felt cold shivers running down his spine. Never before had he heard of anything like this happening in character creation.
The giant eyes blinked and tilted to the side. “Wow, you’re rude. I’m not a what.” The voice had turned high pitched, talking almost in singsong. “I’m a who!”
“Okay,” Vince replied. “Then who are you?”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I guess you could call me a friend!” It sounded like a young boy this time. “And friends help friends, don’t they? I can help you get rid of the curse still lingering on you, if you want! Otherwise it’s gonna get tricky for ya, having to answer to that necromancer. I value independence after all.”
Vince widened his eyes. “How do you know about that?” he asked. This was supposed to be a new character. No ties to the previous one. But then again… It wasn’t the weirdest thing to have happened. “So the curse is still on me. That bitch.” He turned to the gigantic eyes again, and the outline hidden in the shadows. Whoever this was, and no matter how weird they seemed, they had to be a powerful force in the world of Twilight. How else would they be able to interfere with him here and know so much? “Okay,” he settled. “If you could help me, I’d be grateful.”
“There is something you must do for me first.” The eyes narrowed and the voice turned monotone, almost like the system’s.
“What do I have to do?” Vince asked.
“P̵̢̀u̶̇͜l̴͈̀l̵͖̿ ̵̭̾m̷͓̆y̶̼̽ ̴̜̀f̸̝͠i̸͎͛n̶͍̒g̴͖͝ḛ̵͐r̴̗̄!̶̖͋”
A massive finger flashed in front of Vince and he flinched away. The voice’s dark, sinister laughter echoed around him. “Ṡ̷̠h̴̼̀o̴̬̿u̵͔͒l̷͇͆d̷̹̕ ̷͙͒h̸̪̿ǎ̶͓v̸͉̈e̸̝͗ ̴̬͊s̴̤͛e̵̡͆ě̵̳ņ̸̾ ̵̗̆ý̷̩ô̴͉ǔ̵͎ȑ̶̡ ̴̠̆f̵̝̓a̷̭̎ç̵̅e̷̩̽!̶͓͌ ̷͔͌B̷͚͂a̷̞̾h̶̜̀ã̶̡h̸̞͋a̶͓͝!̷͔̅”
“Can you stop that?” Vince asked. “It makes a real gritty sound in my head.” His focus shifted to the system message flashing on the right of his vision.
Quest : Pull the massive finger. Difficulty : D-
Quest Clear Conditions :
Make Mizpix laugh.
Quest time limit :
???
Rewards :
Cure of all negative debuffs. Mizpix’s touch effect.
A quest? Here? This just kept getting weirder. Vince glanced up at the half closed eyes and the chuckling figure. Mizpix, he assumed. He’d never heard the name otherwise. Well, no matter how peculiar this thing was, the quest seemed purely beneficial. He hugged the giant finger with both hands and pulled with all his strength, even if he felt a little silly doing it. Damn though, that thing hardly budged. Vince was probably using the base strength score too. He leaned forward and squatted, trapping it between his shoulder blade and arm. Still, it didn’t move. Not to mention it felt smoother all of a sudden, and weirdly slippery. Vince leaned back to see that he was squeezing a giant hot dog.
Mizpix let out a quiet, girly giggle. “That was quite funny! I’ll be sure to pay you a visit again soon.”
[Quest complete.] [Araesh’s influence on you has vanished.]
[Mizpix’s touch has been applied.]
Vince’s surroundings slowly returned to normal as the giant eyes closed. The darkness was lifted and the mirror greeted him again. “That’s it? That’s the entire quest?” Vince chuckled under his breath. “Good god.”
“Not at all,” Mizpix replied, voice slowly fading.
“Huh?” Vince processed it for a moment. Did that mean what he thought it did? Did he just meet a member of Twilight’s pantheon? His mind struggled to believe it.
“He’s back, Xua!” Lana shouted in his ear. “Are you okay, Vince? We lost you for a solid five minutes there.”
Vince gave her a thumbs up again. He could share what he’d seen afterwards. For now, he should get back to the character creation. He selected Rogue and felt the weight of a small dagger strapped to his waist as it manifested. With a thought, the status screen appeared in front of him.
Name : Emrin Sua Class: Rogue
Status:
None
Strength: 10
Physical Power multiplier: 1.0
Dexterity: 10
Movement Speed: 5ft/s
Constitution: 10
Hit Points: 8/8
Magicka: 10
Magic Power multiplier : 1.0
Willpower: 0
Enemy Debuff Duration: 100%
Consecration: 0
Buff Duration: 100%
Luck: 0
Magic Find: 0%
[Backstab.] Class Passive
Level 1 (0% Experience points to next level)
You have learned how to catch foes by surprise and cut deep into their vital areas. As a rogue, you have -20% Maximum hit points but deal an additional 10% damage when striking foes from behind.
Vince cringed a little when he saw the numbers. Even if it made sense for a level one character, he was used to stats in the hundreds. Losing hit points from the class passive just to get a conditional bonus to damage felt even worse. Not fighting on the frontline anymore, he reminded himself. Perhaps it’d be more useful in PvE. He glanced below his stats, where an option flashed in soft red.
Please allocate Mastery points as you wish among the attributes above. You have 7 mastery points, and each one increases all permanent gains of its associated attribute by 10% For example, if you would gain 10 Constitution and you have 2 mastery points in Constitution, you will gain 12 instead. Once you have confirmed your selection, it cannot be undone, so choose wisely. An even spread of mastery points among attributes is recommended.
Perhaps for a character meant for all sorts of content, it would be, but Emrin had a different goal entirely. Vince put 3 of his points into Dexterity and another 4 into strength. Rogues had almost no active buffs that would justify Consecration, and if he was spotted and allowed an attack by Asire’s guild members he would be dead anyway. With the level difference they’d have, one attack from Asire would be the end of him as well.
“Woah. What the hell are you doing?” Xua Yu asked. “You can't possibly play with that set up. You'll be squishy as hell.”
“The mission is all about damage, isn't it?" Vince mumbled to himself and confirmed his selection. He could hear Xua Yu swearing in a different language in the background. Why’d they even hire an expert on the game if they didn’t want to trust his judgement?
[Your character is complete. Welcome to the world of Twilight!]
Vince let the character screen vanish and surrendered to the falling sensation. Below, the view of a city illuminated by bright torchlights grew to fill his vision. He didn’t want to admit it, but he’d missed this feeling.
“I’m back, you bastards.”