Jason woke up with a start. He immediately tried to get up from the ground, but was met with a dizzying headache as soon as he lifted his head. After recollecting himself he slowly tried to get a feel for his surroundings to assess his current situation. After confirming that he didnt recognize a single thing in the area he tried to dig into his memory to figure out how he got here.
He could still remember sitting in front of his laptop last night. He had been looking at prospective secondary schools and was trying to decide which one would be the best for his little sister. Ow god, what happened to her? he thought as soon as he reached this point. He quickly decided that worrying about it right now wouldn't improve the situation at all, so he tried to go further along memory lane. I also visited those parenting forums to find a way to coax her because of her temper tantrums lately. And after that I looked for...
Blank. He couldn't remember anything more after that point, as his mind drew a blank on all fronts.
So why the hell am I here then? What happened? As these thoughts came up he suddenly got a shock as a strange blue screen appeared in front of his eyes.
Welcome to zone G026 of God's Playground, would you like to open your starter package? Yes/No
Am I hallucinating right now? Even though this was the only reasonable explanation he could come up with, he still mentally replied to the blue textbox. Yes. Following after his reply was the disappearance of the blue screen, although it was instantly replaced by a new pair of screens, which made him realize that he was not just going crazy, and these blue screens might actually hold important information.
You have opened your starter package, and will receive the following:
1× Welcome message
1× Status card
1× Contact card
1× Shop card
1× Inventory card
1× Skill card [beginner]
1× Mission card [tutorial]
1× Tutorial card
You have received a Welcome message: Yahoooooo! Hello there people, this is your favorite god of mischief speaking. The dazzling, stunning, and embezzling, the one and only Loki♪
You must be wondering why you are suddenly in an unfamiliar place right about now, and you probably expect this message to give you a good explanation for this situation. Too bad for you that the one who was on message creation duty this century was me, so all I'll say is open your tutorial and get going. Ow, and try to enjoy our little playground as much as you can♪♫
You have received a Tutorial card, would you like to activate it? Yes/No
Well, here goes nothing. Jason answered out loud this time: "Yes, activate the tutorial."
Spoiler: Spoiler
You have activated the tutorial card, the tutorial will now begin:
Welcome to God's Playground. As you probably read in the welcome message, this place was created by the combined efforts of most of the existing gods and divinities in the universe in an attempt to find forms of entertainment for themselves. This world is enormous and anyone can explore it to their heart's content. For safety reasons the area's of the world have been divided into specific levels, also called zones. People are prevented from entering areas that are above their own level unless they have a guardian or owner with the ability to enter. The zones are labeled G,F,E,D,C,B,A,S,SS,SSS,X,XX,XXX,Y,YY,YYY,Z,ZZ,ZZZ and each zone is divided into 3 types. The single digit areas are danger areas where killing is allowed and strength reigns supreme. The double digit areas also dubbed as 'noobie zones' where new players go through their initiation and all physical conflict is forbidden, and the triple digit areas where conflict among players is forbidden, but danger exists in other forms.
The zone you were placed in takes into account the average ability of your species, since all sentient creatures of the universe are able to join this world. So for example a newly arrived goblin would start in a G-zone, whereas a godling would begin in a Y-zone.
Now to continue your tutorial please activate the status card that you were granted in your starter package by holding it against your forehead.
Jason read the message with a monotone expression on his face. After rereading it a few times he was certain that he committed everything to memory, so he checked the cards that had appeared in his hands and held the status card against his forehead. After 3 seconds the card turned into motes of light that swirled around his head a few times before being sucked inside his body, and a new message appeared once more.
You have activated a status card:
You can access to the system of God's Playground. You will be able to view your status at any point in time.
New affinities can be unlocked upon reaching specific requirements.
Titles can be gained by completing achievements.
Luck is a fixed attribute for all but specific races and can only be increased or decreased by gaining special titles or equipment. It was specially created as a new type of natural law for this world.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Bloodlines can be infinitely improved in this world with continuous effort.
Skills can either be instantly learned from skill cards, learned through practise, or acquired by special means.
You have completed the next step in your tutorial:
You receive 100 CP. (character points)
Please continue the tutorial by activating the contact card.
Status? This was the only thing on his mind after reading the short message, and to his surprise there was a new screen much larger than the message screens that had appeared so far in front of him.
Name Jason Brooks Affiliation None Age 20 Original race Human Level 1 Exp 0/100 CP 100 Grade G HP 120 Mana 320 HP regen 1.6/s Mana regen 2.4/s Stamina 100 Qi none Stamina regen 0.8/s Qi regen 0/s Attributes Affinities Strength 13 Fire 1% Agility 9 Water 3% Endurance 12 Earth 2% Vitality 8 Air 4% Intelligence 16 Light 2% Wisdom 12 Darkness 2% Charisma 12 Lightning 2% Luck 10 Metal 1% Perception 6.5 Void 0% Bloodlines Fusion percentage Origin Benefits Skills Level Experience Grade Arithmatic 6 0.0% Master Running 8 0.0% Novice Cooking 4 0.0% Apprentice Handicraft 2 0.0% Novice Titles Acquisition Effect
Although a little overwhelmed, it took Jason only a few minutes to inspect everything in his status window. It seemed that the attributes were measured by taking the average of the weakest sentient creature in the universe as a benchmark for the 10 value, with perception being an exception as it was standardly measured starting from 1.0 so apparently his attributes were comparable to those of a goblin, with a remarkably higher perception. As for his affinities he didn't think too much about it, those percentages would probably not influence his life very much and he had no clue how to increase them yet.
When he looked at the top of the screen he got excited though. It clearly said 'mana' right there! This meant that he would be able to use magic sometime in the future. As for qi, he had heard about it before, but since it said he had none of it, it wasn't worth much of his attention.
When he got to the skill part the only thing that impressed him was that his arithmatic skill seemed to be of an exceedingly high level. Seems the rest of the universe isn't much into standardised education. The rest of his skills were sadly less impressive, and he was surprised that he had so few of them considering the wide variety of skills that should be available when a simple 'running' already sufficed. Apparently even the easiest skills in life had to reach a certain level of proficiency before being recognized by the system.
Now that he confirmed his standing in this new world, although it wasn't all that high, he decided he would have to find a way to find out what happened to his little sister, but for now he decided it was time to continue with his tutorial, so he took the contact card and put it on his forehead.
You have activated a contact card:
You gain access to the contact system, a special messaging system created for convenience because this world is too large for the usual long range communication appliances.
This system allows you to freely add other players to your own friend list and send system messages to them from anywhere across the world. It also allows for video messages at the cost of CP. It is possible to block friend requests, and send pre-emptive requests to those who have not arrived in this world yet. New people arrive every 10 days.
PS: don't worry about people having the exact same name, the system recognizes the intent behind your thought when adding.
There is also a seperate group message board that can be used by your affiliated guild. Be aware that you can only join 1 guild at any point in time, and the only way to leave is by disbanding the guild.
You have completed the next step in your tutorial:
You receive 100 CP.
Please continue the tutorial by activating the shop card.
That's it, I can add Diane in this system to find out where she is! Jason instantly opened the contact system and added the name Diane Brooks to his friend list, only to recieve a message that made him both relieved and disturbed at the same time.
You have tried to add 'Diane Brooks' to your friend list. This person has not yet arrived in God's Playground, you will receive a message upon her arrival.
The thoughts swirling in his head were confusing at best at this point. On one hand he was glad that his sister was not to be subjected to whatever it was that was happening to him here, or at least not yet. On the other hand he felt bad because he wasn't sure how to get back to her, and she would be on her own without him there to take care of her. I have to find a way to get back to her no matter what. With determination he took out the next card for the tutorial and held it against his forehead with expectation.