Han Jing arrived back at his home, taking off his muddy shoes and placing it by the corner of the door. As usual, it was his mother and sister at home—his father was nowhere to be found.

"Han Jing? You're home early?" His mother shifted away from the table, turning to him with a small smile. "What do you have there?"

He moved towards the table, placing his bought items on it and smiled briefly. "Er, just a little something, Mother."

"You got anything for me?" His sister asked without even getting up from the couch.

He rolled his eyes, "I got you candy. Anyhow, I'm off to bed." His bed in this case was the one at the edge of the tiny apartment they were in. Plopping down on the mattress, he pulled out his phone and grabbed for his earphones. If there was anything his mother or sister was saying… well he wouldn't hear it anymore.

< Installation Complete >

"Phew, finally." He opened the app, and was led to a loading screen, soft ambient music played in the background as the bold logo displayed itself over the screen.

[ Welcome to Races: Online… ]

A white flash filled the entire screen and then changed the display.

[Please Input Your Name |________ ]

Han Jing blinked at the request, typing out the letters to his name but stopped. "My name? Character name?" He frowned and paused for a moment, surely it didn't meant his real name—

[ Han is accepted ]

"Well crap."

He heard a mumble in the background of being careful in his words and he muttered an apology as the screen flickered to the next initialization portion.

A female voice narrated a little background on the game development.

'Races: Online is a collaborative work that connects all of the intelligent lifeforms from across the entire universe into this singular platform. This virtual life simulation is intended to broker peace and harmony across the multiple races. Thank you for your participation!'

[ Please Choose Your Starting Race. It Is Nearly Impossible To Change In The Future, Discretion Is Highly Advised. ]

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

A list of starting races displayed themselves over the screen. It was subdivided into multiple boxes and expanded into numerous pages. Han Jing felt his phone heat up, and he bit back a curse. How many were loading?

[ Available Races: first page out of ????+ pages ]

They couldn't possibly have that many races could they? Then again, this was developed for over a long time so they might have gone a bit crazy with their characterization. He then saw the common ones that you'd see in a fantasy setting.

[ Human- Generic ]

One of the weakest beings in existence… but also with a lot of potential for growth. They start out with zero affinity to magic and inner energy that needs to be unlocked.

Multiple Sub-Races...

[ Elf ]

Blessed with a long lifespan and the ability to perform great magical feats. The Elf race is subdivided into numerous types that focuses on a specific type of magic or a preference for a specific terrain. Most often than not, they are highly attuned to their natural environment and are repulsed by the Undead.

Multiple Sub-Races…

[ Dwarf ]

With high affinity for craftsmanship and centuries to perfect them, the Dwarven race is a proud race that has produced mighty artifacts and weapons. Quite traditional and loyal to their clans, a Dwarf often finds themselves at odds with their frolicky neighbours.

Multiple Sub-Races…

[ Gnomes ]

One of the Elementals that governs with Earth. The Gnomes are a tight-knit community that is often overshadowed by their larger neighbors but despite that, their powers are certainly not one to underestimate.

Multiple Sub- Races…

[ Demon ]

Finding their beginnings in the Abyss, the Demons have varying levels of power and influence. The strongest among them will lead the others and often name themselves with titles of prestige of power as Demon Lord, Demon King etc.

Multiple Sub-Races...

Han Jing paused for a moment, now what would he choose? He skimmed over the other pages and found the other races like Orcs, Goblins and other Humanoid Races. He rolled his eyes over a squid-like humanoid called a Chut. Who wanted to be a squid?

He decided to go with a sub-race of the Elf, a Shadow Elf and clicked for the race.

[ This Race Is Locked ]

"What?" Han Jing frowned. Why would they add it if he couldn't even choose that race variant. He sighed and moved to his next choice but was once again denied.

[ This Race Is Locked ]

His brows knitted as he moved from one race to the next, Dwarf, Goblin, Fae, Halfling, Undine, Siren, Orc, Ogre.... they were all locked. "The hell is this?" He grumbled underneath his breath until he eyed the Race that he hadn't been really choosing.

"They wouldn't give me all of these options just to have this one available can they?" Han Jing pressed the [Human] option and waited for the prompt to deny him the Human or a [ Choose This? ] confirmation popup.

[ Congratulations! Han the [ Human ] has been created! ]

Han Jing was not amused as it took him to the [ Character Design ] portion. The game seemed to have wanted him to choose [ Human ] right from the start! Luckily for the Creators, this designing portion didn't instantly shoved him into the 'Generic Asian' look or forced him to choose it at all.

He messed with the design a bit, tried to make his hair flamingo pink with blue eyes just for the heck of it but ended up choosing an Avatar that looked pretty much like him. Average height and body built along with unruly dark hair.

But he also made his [ Eye Color ] Green, because why not?

Once he was satisfied, they moved on to the [ World Map ]