Static blue and gray color, 1 0 1 phasing me into the world of the system. When the turbulence stopped, I’m greeted by a little girl waving at me. Transparent from top to bottom, she swears pixelated clothing similar to that of an adventurer outfit. Her entire body including the clothes is seen as pixels, deep blue in color. Two symbols unknown to me are carved on both sides of her forehead.
She never introduced herself but many people would just call her the Intro Girl, as lazy as people generally are, it is what she is. But the way she stares at a player without blinking her eye…
It’s creepy.
! {Welcome, it seems that this is your first time here in Ekolia. Would you like me to guide you through the Basics?}
The creepiness is gone and it turns into a good feeling.
‘Ahh, the nostalgia…’ I thought to myself.
“Yes, please!” nodding enthusiastically.
She began explaining in dramatic posture and gesture.
! {Ekolia, Home of the High Fantasy, filled with limitless possibilities. It is up to you to decide what you want to do with your life. You may either fly so high up to the endless sky or fall deep into the bottomless abyss…}
{… or maybe you just want to live normally. Having a comfortably stable normal life on the Second Earth just like any other people as an ordinary person… it is all up to you}
The girl lifted one of her arms, {You have the power to choose} and we flew through the passage of dynamic screening of many scenes and environments from Ekolia in a blink of an eye. It feels as if we are moving at a Mach speed but then we stopped abruptly.
“W-Woah.”
No damage to me at all, and the scene disappeared without me ever reacting to it, but the shocking experience felt real.
Soon, all of the somewhat familiar interfaces appeared. Social Networks like forums, video streaming site, and other option of what a normal operating system would look like is there. Though, all of them are locked except for one, the Character Creation.
! {Before you delve into the Second Earth, here is where you can customize your appearance, choose your occupation, what kind of skill you want to have, and what class you want to be. After all of those options, you can then decide whether to enable the Realism Mode}
‘The Realism mode, huh.’
I haven't tried it before, mainly because of how hard it is. At least I know that both Rakuri and Kurira have been playing on a few of their character slots with them [On].
! {Realism Mode is our…}
Her explanation is quite lengthy, but basically and fundamentally, everything that is happening is real. Or should I say, realistic? The air, the scenery, the interaction, all of them seem to be a touch above when it is enabled. But the downside is... there's no pain reduction, no aim assist, and there is a lot more survival mechanic that has been added into the gameplay as well. Hunger, thirst, and fatigue. I wonder if I can overcome those challenges. The gameplay wise though seems fun.
‘General populace usually plays at 10-15% sensitivity. They won’t have all the feel of Ekolia but enough for them to feel some feedback. It’s also the sweet spot for pain reduction.’
Like the taste of food, touch and hearing senses, exhaustion when running out of stamina, and fatigue when running out of mana, among other things. There are people out there who choose not to enable Realism Mode but go up on the sensitivity to 30 or even 50%. Getting stabbed by a knife, getting shot by a bullet, all seems normal when you play Ekolia. The pain is just on another level in that mode.
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! {The Realism Mode is our most advanced feature. It allows players to fully experience the world of Ekolia at its maximum potential}
“Are you saying by enabling this mode, I will be able to play the ‘Real Ekolia’?"
! {…}
She smiles.
! {Yes}
My eyes narrowed down to a slit. I didn’t expect her to respond like that. But no matter what she said, it doesn't change the fact that it’s potentially a dangerous thing to enable. No one dies, but it’s possible for people to experience terrible things, and I’m included.
‘To say that I’m not interested would be a lie. After all, why would Rakuri and Kurira choose to enable it in almost every single CS they have? And the idea of playing the ‘Real Ekolia’ intrigues me.’
Raising her right arm, she waved and revealed the Character Creation.
! {Ekolia features extensive character customization unlike any other. From the tip of your hair, all the way to how your toes look can be sculpted to your liking. Here you can also choose one of the three major races, Human, Elven, and Dwarven. Or if you are feeling adventurous, you can enable Realism Mode the option to choose one of the lesser races from Lizardmen, Beastmen, and many other demi-humans we have available. All are equipped with their own benefits while also offering their own unique gameplay}
! {Additionally, some races like Elven with their many variations of sub-races, can evolve into something higher. Such as ordinary wood elf can evolve into a High Elf, and it can then evolve into the higher species called the Gaia}
“What about those Heteromorphy Races?”
! {By enabling Realism Mode, the option will also be available to you. By choosing it, you can experience Ekolia from a non-human perspective}
“Hmm…” pondering, ‘It’s definitely interesting, but not something I want at the moment.’
I decided on Human with the default character. The only thing I changed is me removing my freckles, but everything else, such as my height and chest, ‘…’
“Hmph!”
I’m tempted to change them, but I decided not to because then, people wouldn’t be able to recognize me in real life when I become famous. After settling with this appearance, the girl waved her arm once more, revealing my [Profile] screen where things such as levels and attributes are shown and [Ability] screen where skills and such are shown.
===== Profile Status =====
Statistics
Name: --- / Level: 1 / Class: ---
Primary Attributes (600)
Max Health: --- | Max Mana: --- | Max Stamina: ---
Health: --- | Mana: --- | Stamina: ---
Secondary Attributes (20)
Strength: --- / Dexterity: --- / Endurance: ---
Vitality: --- / Agility: ---
Intelligence: --- / Faith: --- / Luck: ---
Combat
Physical Attack: --- / Physical Defense: ---
Magical Attack: --- / Magical Defense: ---
Health Regeneration: --- / Mana Regeneration: --- / Stamina Regeneration: ---
Gear
None
Active Effect
None
===== Profile Status =====
===== Ability Status =====
Title
None
Innate Ability
None
Skill
None
Spell
None
Miracle
None
===== Ability Status =====
! {Do you understand the term used on this screen?}
“Yes.”
! {Is there any you don’t understand?}
“No.”
! {Do you have any questions about any of what is shown here?}
“What do I need to know?”
! {…}
! {Ekolia latest update, 6.0, has brought numerous changes to the last combat system. One such example is Limitless Class System. Starting your journey, you may allocate the Attribute Points we have provided and you may choose one Class from the available 4 major Classes}
! {Warrior, Mage, Priest, and Rogue}
! {With the new Limitless Class System in place, you may choose to obtain more than one class at a time without limits throughout your gameplay}
‘Hmm, I don’t want to move around much, and there’s a problem with me not being religious and all dared to choose the priest class. Got a ton of backlash right after I made my debut. Those idiots in the media have been so out of touch to the point that it’s painful to watch.’
‘And the people supporting them are just…’
*Sigh*
In Ekolia, the NPCs in that world have their own gods, and there are many of them. Then again, I suppose it’s fair that I got criticized since back then I made a coin toss between it and mage.
‘But I like magic the most. Guess I’ll opt for a Mage this time, hmm. Besides, I can still pick up the Priest Class anytime at a church.’