Fia presses on the last of the icons floating around us, "Annndd this is what you really bought the capsule for!" the surrounding orbs disappear into the void, plunging us further into darkness.
A horizon line is created in the distance, a sun pulls itself up from the absolute darkness, stunning me momentarily as the pink hue softly expands until the light shines in my eyes, a green landscape spreads out endlessly, an enormous wall spreads out across the distance, cutting off the entire stretch of land. The rest of the earth surrounding it casts out into greens, browns, and blues. Castles, towns, roads, lakes, forests, mountain ranges, golden fields... it's beautiful...
"Welcome to World Asunder Reality. I'm glad you get to see this with me Lilia, isn't it amazing?" She pauses and sighs out in wonder at the land, and I do the same. I feel my emotions start to get the best of me at such a sight, Fia pulls me into a side hug and ruffles my hair slightly, but I barely notice. "This is the world you'll be a part of soon".
"This is what the earth used to look like didn't it?... before we came along, so untainted and perfect..."
She shrugs a little and says "from everything I've gathered, yeah the green of the land and the untouched feeling... through satellite footage I know the earth is healing, in some places it seems to be healing a bit too much! back to a time before humanity existed, something to look forward to! regardless of all that, we've got a cute girl to create!"
Fia Presses the character creation button that's floating in front of us, one that I didn't even notice until now.
In front of me a mirrored copy appears, muscular at 6 feet tall, soft hairless skin from countless treatments, long flowing dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail, in a sports bra barely containing my bust, pale skin from all the time I had to spend in recovery after the accident, not like I ever really wanted to go outside, I get too many looks...
"Gosh what a stunner you are sweetie! I bet you have them all wrapped around your pinky finger!" I blush profusely, covering my face but looking through my fingers at the me that I had become after all the hard work of transitioning.
The model blushes too, making me feel more self-conscious, "Oops, let me turn that function off!" Fia quickly deactivates the model's response system.
"Now... the system does tweak your character's looks when it comes to games. You can change it as little or as much as you want with a move of some sliders, but the real important thing is that you can choose which race you would like and have full customization from there! We do recommend playing another race as well, get the full experience in, make it something interesting though because you get one choice! Hehe"
A selection tool opens up to a large number of different fantasy races and I scroll through them letting the possibilities of a new world wash over me, as enticing as each of the races look on my body, not that I wouldn't want to be a lithe and sexy dryad woman, I can't see what i really want.
Fidgeting, I ask tentatively, "I can't see the race I want to be, but I've always wanted to see myself as it...", I fade off embarrassed.
"You can always say what you want, there’s no judging here Lilia."
Pushing myself forward in my seat I manage to mutter out "Minotaur...", her eyes scream mischief as she puts her hand to her mouth and giggles softly, "ooh I can see how good that would be! I know exactly what tweaks you'd like too!!"
She touches the screen and inputs a code, my double changes before my eyes. The first noticeable change is that they grow another foot taller, the muscles define further while also looking softer and squishier, the feet turn into hooves, while cow ears and sharp horns sprout out from their head, a red collar with a cow bell appears around her neck.
The skin has taken on a darker brown hue as fair fine fur grows all over it although concentrating more on the legs than anywhere else, face distorting slightly with it taking on a slightly more animal appearance, the nose getting slightly larger, I'd be very tempted to get a septum piercing with those kinds of features.
The underwear that she was wearing before changing into a cow splotch pattern, alternating white and black.
The blush from my face seems to rush further red down my body at seeing this perfectly muscled woman in front of me. In astonishment I utter "She's perfect Fia..."
She looks at me with a grin. "You mean... You're perfect, right?" looking from me to my body double. I breathe deep in astonishment at what she means.
"That's... Going to be me?" She nods sagely, crossing her arms.
"All 7 feet of her! but that's not the end, what did you want your name to be in the game love?" She eyes me curiously. "Uhm, I mean, I guess the same one back when I played online games as one...", embarrassment washes over my face again. "LilMoo..." This was so much less embarrassing back in the old days!
"Alright LilMoo" She giggles again a little, more at my embarrassment then at the name itself, I'm sure she's had worse. "Now that that's sorted, we need to distribute your status points across your character, all 49 of them!"
I quickly compose myself, thankfully there's something to throw my tiny cow brain into. "Right! yeah... I've been reading up on all that but it's just too much for me, as much as I want to be the best, I also just want to be me and get to enjoy moving my body around like I used to... before i was crippled...", looking at the screen it hovers in front of me just within reach, the panels glow a dark blue with a lighter blue around the wording and numbers. The first thing I do with the panel is change the background color to a dark purple and the lettering and number outlines to different pinks and lighter shades, an important change, but definitely avoiding the issue in front of me..
Status Interface
Name: LilMoo
Level: 1
Race: Minotaur
Gender: Female, She/Her
Max Health: 15
Max Mana: 11
Max Stamina: 15
Points remaining: 49
Strength: 1 +
Dexterity: 1 +
Constitution: 1 +
Wisdom: 1 +
Intelligence: 1 +
Charisma: 1 +
Luck: 1 +
"Shall I go over the basics of the systems in the game love? Might help you think about where you want everything to go!" nodding at Fia, she pulls out a pair of horn-rimmed glasses from nowhere, pushes them up with her finger and clears her throat.
"Alright class it's time to learn about World Asunder Reality's status system!" She is cutely excited about this.
A whiteboard appears and she smacks her hand on the flat of it making it shudder at the impact, "Starting off with the basics! What are status points! World Asunder Reality starts its system basis off using a point system conceived in pre-2030's TTRPGs, from before VR systems were able to be fully utilized. The old TTRPG systems are still used today but in much more niche circles.
As you can see there are 7 status types that define who your character is".
Strength
Determines your ability to deal physical melee damage as well as your ability to hold heavier weapons, athletic ability like jumping and being able to reach your maximum speed when running.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Dexterity
Determines your body's flexibility as well as general speed movement speed, although weapons have speed classes of their own it does help, casting spells due to somatic components (that's moving your hands around dear). Dex will also help you hit better as you have better control over your body, it's all about control.
Constitution
Determines how much health you have, your ability to shrug off Ailments, and take less damage from falling. It can also help supplement strength and dexterity due to being able to increase tensile strength and let you overextend yourself more, a stronger body means being able to do more with yourself!
All the physical statuses also give you points in Stamina, so you tire less easily, although constitution gives you the most.
Wisdom
Determines your amount of mana regeneration over time, ability to perceive danger around you, better deal with mental effects like curses and ability to grow certain skills faster, generally aimed at intuitive skills, buffs and debuffs rather than damaging spells.
Intelligence
Determines your magical damage, ability to learn abilities through reading books, thought processes can operate faster, this can be useful for double casting spell incantations for magic users at a later point and crafting magical tools and weapons.
Wisdom and intelligence increase your mana points when leveled up.
Charisma
Determines your standing with NPC's, people with high charisma will get better rewards from quests and be able to gather favor better as well as be able to barter easier. NPCs are also more willing to train you in passives if they like you better, if you were looking to focus on mercantile work then high charisma would be needed.
Luck
It's a bit different, it's not just about you, events are happening all the time in World Asunder Reality, every tick of the game clock, every time a poison should do damage, when enemies are killed for their loot, heck even taking a step could incur an event. Luck very marginally increases the chance of something better occurring for you and sometimes bad for other players. When you PK someone they could instead drop a higher value piece of gear just because your luck is higher than theirs. Everything in World Asunder Reality has random chances attached to make it feel more real, like anything could happen, all the possibilities are here to find!
Oh, and luck is only able to be added at character creation, there are ways of getting additional luck through items and events, but those are rare and hard to come by, everyone generally puts at least a few points into luck, just in case".
Fia pulls up a small information box, "this is how your health, mana and stamina are calculated".
Status Pool Maximum Calculations
Health
Level x10 + Constitution x5
Mana
Level x3 + Intelligence x4 + Wisdom x4
Stamina
Level x6 + Strength x3 + Stamina x2 + Constitution x4
"Leveling up will replenish your health and mana pools, players can only add points into their character when they are not in combat"
Fia is having to take a deep breath after every explanation while slapping the whiteboard every time we get to a new section. That poor board is looking worse for wear.
"Characters, instead of having classes, will have Abilities that determine who they are in the world. Primarily you will gain Abilities from quests or skills you develop in the world; you can also learn Abilities from trainers such as sword wielding Abilities from sword master’s that increase your ability to wield and deal damage with said weapons."
"Growing Abilities to be stronger can take time from learning how to use it better, this means that you could focus on one thing or be a jack of all trades, master of none. This also applies to magic, you can play however you want to play, your style is your choice!"
"Obviously you would like your status points to match them as well. Translating over to the real world, a normal person would on average have an 8 in all stats or be better in some things and worse in others, not everyone can be Fia hehe! You also will receive 5 status points every level up to assign where you please, except luck. You can gain status points out in the world as well but they're easier to come by through leveling or from equipment."
"There are also Titles you can obtain while traveling through the world, they can be from special events or finding out something important, they help shape you as a character and usually will give you renown in a region or town!"
"Any Questions class!? Yes, you in the front!" By this point she is practically panting from her exaggerated performance and looks exhausted after throwing out all that information. I'm surprised I was able to actually catch it all. Maybe the thought of having to take a test afterwards in panic forced me to memorize everything she said.
"What happens if you leave a stat at 1?", she ponders for a second, "it's not... recommended, having a balanced character means you will feel more in line with yourself, although you could dump a status and use gear to make up for it technically, like if you have dexterity at 1 you're going to have a hard time getting used to your new body, since you have hooves now.
Low strength means you have low muscle mass and can't do much damage, low constitution means you might get one shot by monsters, and points in physical types also give you stamina so you might not be able to run much or even be in combat long before you tire out! It would make life harder is what I'm saying, and that's just for the physical stats".
"If I could make a suggestion, for a young woman of your experience if you wanted to do martial arts again you could go balanced in all stats and use your own body's muscle memory to give you an advantage. Those that have trained in swords gain an advantage as well, obviously that doesn't count for things that use magic, but I do know it's also the same for guns".
My fingers slide across the luck status, taking it from 1 -> 50.
---------
Status Interface
Name: LilMoo
Level: 1
Race: Minotaur
Gender: Female, She/Her
Max Health: 15
Max Mana: 11
Max Stamina: 15
Points remaining: 0
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Constitution: 1
Wisdom: 1
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 1
Luck: 50
[ Press to confirm ]
[ Reset Points ]
---------
I stare at it, tempted just at the fact that I would finally have some positive luck in my life, thinking back to all the times my luck has failed me, left people in my life dead, been blamed for things I didn't do just because I existed, resulting in everything going wrong again and again!
I laugh sadly at the expense of my own joke, Fia seeming to get at least some of why I did this through my records. I move my hand back over to reset my poi-
BANG "WARNING, WARNING, CONTACT WITH OUTER CAPSULE SHELL, PLEASE ADVISE IF IN DANGER" Fia and I panic, she has pulled me close to protect me after a small bit of flailing. I'm not sure if on instinct or what I didn't think an A.I. could show me this much motherly love, even if it was just a personality trait...
The room comes into focus as the missile becomes apparent. Buta, looking heartbroken, starving for what could have been days! (minutes) had climbed up on a bookshelf and flung themselves on top of the capsule.
Just as when I'm sleeping and they become a wrecking ball on my stomach, the same has been done to the capsule.
Pawing at the top as small red lights flickered near them, only to show them that they were doing something right, and not disturbing what inner peace I was cultivating. Smooshing their face into the glass in triumph, 'surely now I'll get fed', Buta thought, drooling and breathing hard, rasping for attention.
Fia releases me and turns off the alarms, bringing up a menu she makes a system notation 'owner has very active cat’, with good measure she also gives herself a note that the capsule would automatically put down times Buta was fed, which if Buta could know such a thing, would be disgusted!
Finding everything in order Fia turns to me, following my petrified gaze.
I was looking at a confirmation box... congratulating me on finishing my character, with a countdown to be brought into the world of WAR.
"Oh, oh dear, Lilia honey it's going to be okay", she whispers to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, "you are strong and brave, and this is just a very small setback!"
I turn to her, my face scrunched up with tears coming out of my eyes, "maybe I really am curse-" before I could say anything more, with the last thing I see being Fia's saddened face.
I have joined the ranks of the first wave.