The next three weeks went by at crazy speed. Days were all the same: Liam woke up at 7a.m, went to school at 8a.m, trained at 4p.m for 2 hours, prepared lunch for his sister just after and browsed AC forum in his bed before sleeping. He couldn’t find tangible information on it, most of the threads were mere speculations and those that claimed to be true were almost instantly denied by an admin. The only new information he had were those disclosed by AC press officer which were:
A war between gods was bound to happen but the actors of this conflict had yet to be known. These gods were part of the Greek Mythology, which hearing it gave a big smile to Liam. He has always liked this mythology and its heroes, who defeated huge and ferocious creatures; the death of Cronos was his favorite story of all.
Even if there are Greek gods, the game will not take place in Ancient Greece in fact the world has yet to be finished: the AI will create new lands as players advance.
Liam woke up at 10 on monday full of energy, today was Last Hope release day but the servers would not be online before 1 p.m. His sister was still sleeping on her first day of holidays and Liam didn’t wanted to wake her up. He put on his shoes and left the house. Even with the dome the sunlight dazzled him, after a few seconds he started running. He went to the center of the dome where the largest building was erected. The building hosted the dome council where all decisions concerning this dome were made. It took him 2 hours to make the roundtrip.
When he came back sweating, his sister was watching the TV with a bowl of cereal.
“Hey Liam, dad called he takes me shopping this afternoon, do you want to come with us ? “
“Na, I’m gonna play Last Hope today.”
“My friends were talking about it yesterday, they plan to meet and play together.. Maybe i should ask dad for an helmet. ”
“But you never played video games.”
“I know but if everyone plays it, I don’t want to be left alone.”
“Well, you might have fun and find new friends… I’m gonna take a shower and prepare something to eat, do you want some ? “
“No I’m fine.”
After 50min Liam was lying on his bed with his helmet on watching Last Hope countdown.
5 min 48 seconds
5 min 47 seconds
5 min 46 seconds
…
He grew impatient as seconds pass. When the countdown reached 0 a window appeared in front of him.
Dear player, we are happy to present Last Hope but please read the following conditions of use carefully.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
----------------O----------------
I / General Conditions
1 ) User health condition
......
Liam had no time for that and scrolled down to the Accept button. Suddenly all the world around him changed. He found himself in the middle of nowhere, no light reached him, it was just void.
A powerful voice surprised him but he couldn’t tell his origin.
“Little one, why did you come here ? “
Hm ? First time a game asked him why he played it.
“ To have fun I suppose ? I mean, it’s a game.”
“A game … maybe for you but not for this world inhabitants, unlike your kind they do not resurrect. Some of them are even more intelligent than the majority of you and yet you are calling it a game.
You should see it as travelling from your world to another one. Anyway, I got carried away.”
“Yeah don’t worry , I got it, it’s a sensitive topic. I was wondering, where am I ? And what/who are you ?”
“Who am I ? I am the beginning of everything, a timeless being, I am Chaos and this is my realm The Rift. Everything you will see, every creature, god, animal was once a part of me and so you are. You’ve got to choose one of the three available races. Will you be an human or a beastkind ?”
After waiting for 2 whole minutes Liam realised something.
“ Wait, you wont give me any more details about each race ? What about humans adaptability or beastkind raw force ? And how come only 2 races are available for such a game ?”
“You build your own path, I am not one who will decide for you. Choose wisely because you won't be able to change it unless a god helps you, only them can alter life. “
After a pause that felt like eternity for Liam, Chaos added:
“The others have yet to be discovered and they will accept only worthy beings.”
“Come on, you can’t give me a hint at least ?”
Clearly annoyed Chaos answered “ Humans will be easier to handle, now choose !”. After 5 minutes of reflexion Liam answered.
“ I choose the human race.”
Without warning the invisible floor shrinked under his feet and Liam started falling. His heart almost skipped a beat as his speed increased exponentially. Soon after a planet appeared below him, at 80km from this planet surface a sharp pain invaded his lungs, he couldn’t breath. Little by little as he fell the oxygen quantity increased and the pain reduced. But Liam was still falling, wind blades rushed at him and he had to cross his arms in front of his face in order to protect it.
As he got closer, he saw houses, temples, streets full of people, even ramparts that towered the nearby houses. According to Liam they were at least 10 meters high and 5 meters width.
‘Some nasty creatures must lives in the vicinity if they need such protections.. Isn’t the temple below me really huge ? Wait, I am rushing at it and my speed doesn’t decrease. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die right at the beginning, that’s great. Thank you dad really … ‘
2 meters before crashing on the temple roof, he suddenly stopped mid-air and after a few seconds got teleported in a circular room. He was still levitating but before he could regain his senses, the power holding him vanished and he fall on the room floor. Unlike superheroes who land in a fashion way, with their cape floating in the wind, Liam landed landed on his feets unprepared and collapsed.
He slowly got back on his feets and got stunned by the view. The room was circular with white columns. There was no window but torches attached to the columns provided enough light for him to see what was situated between them. Statues representing people with differents accoutrements were towering Liam. There was enough light to illuminate their faces but the tops of the columns were in the dark. Liam recognised the one right in front of him as Poseidon. He was holding a trident in his right hand and a net in his left hand. A loincloth made of seaweed was his only garment. His muscles as well as the waves carved behind him looked almost alive due to the flames movements. His gaze was directly pointed at Liam which send shivers down his spine.
He also recognized Hades, Zeus, Artemis and Athena. All of them looking directly at him as if they were judging him. On the floor a mosaic represented a hero fighting a multi-headed hydra.
Liam remained in this room half an hour mesmerized by its beauty. When he finally left he found himself inside a typical Greek temple. On his right a priest kneeled in front of a statue of Apollon. Seeking information Liam headed toward the priest who hearing him coming standed up. He watched him advance and, once Liam was right in front of him, said:
“Welcome hero”.