With Lizzy's help, Maria could finally install the FD equipment just next to her bed.
"Okay, that should do it!" Lizzy smiled in satisfaction at her handiwork.
"Th-thanks, Liz..."
"Don't mention it! Seriously, you're so hopeless about this! If you wanted my help, you could have just asked!"
"U-Uhhh..."
"Like seriously, you can't even operate your phone or computer correctly, so how can you expect yourself to even try and do this alone?!"
"B-But...there was the manual..."
"Heh, even with the manual, you're still hopeless!"
"...sniff..." Maria started tearing up at her friend's unrelenting teasing.
"Hahahaha~ no crocodile tears will save you this time! It's a good thing I know you well, or you'd still be in a 'bind' right now!" Lizzy said as she bonked her best friend on the head.
"Ehehehehe~" Maria, who was on the brink of tears, had brightened up immediately. "Jeez, you could have at least played along~"
"And let that old man of yours chew me out? No way, not on your life!"
"Hihihi~"
"Anyways, Mary, you should log in now! The server opens up—" Lizzy was looking at her watch when suddenly her face became pale. "OH NO!!! It's up in another 5 minutes!!! I have to go home now, Mary! I'll see you later in the game, okay!"
"Okay, bye-bye!"
"Bye!"
After seeing her best friend off, Maria immediately returned to her room. Currently, her parents and siblings were all out. Either working or still at school doing club activities. Maria wasn't much of an outgoing person, but she also wasn't an introvert.
She was hailed as one of the top beauties of Heimweld Private High School. She was intelligent and pretty. Standing at a height of 165 centimeters, Maria wasn't too tall or short. She had a cute face without any blemishes, and her eyes were sharp and pale gold in color. Her hair was beautiful and wavy, with a platinum blonde color that flowed to her knees.
For a high school girl, it was absurdly long, but she liked it that way. Her platinum blonde hair was the only remembrance she had of her late mother. She was also easily misunderstood with her sharp, intelligent-looking eyes that seemed to peer into the depths of a person's soul. Whenever her classmates called out to her, they'd go through a nerve-wracking experience just from talking with her.
It wasn't like she meant to glare at the person, but it wasn't her fault since she was taught to properly look at a person's face and eyes when speaking with them. She only followed her family's etiquette, but because of this, she was misunderstood as a cold person.
When, in fact, she was a total klutz! Maria had no sense of direction, she was technologically lame, and she had a hard time speaking up for herself. This was what caused everyone to misunderstand her as an introverted person.
Only Lizzy and a select few of her closest friends truly understood that underneath all the proverbial ice was a helpless teenager who couldn't tell right from left, north from south, and east from west. She was but a directionally and technologically challenged teenage girl in the modern age of Earth. And this girl was currently lying down on her bed, getting ready to dive into the world of Unitale.
"Okay...helmet on...power is plugged in...what do I do now?"
Maria picked up the instruction manual beside her, she quickly skimmed through it, and looked at the start-up instructions page.
"Okay...step 1, turn on...done. 2...place helmet, okay...then...oh! Connection Start!"
With those words, Maria dropped the manual on top of her head, and her consciousness was sucked into the virtual world.
********
When Maria finally regained her bearings, she found herself inside a large white void of emptiness.
"Uhm...Is this the game?"
About 3 meters in front of her, a woman in white clothes suddenly materialized out of thin air.
Welcome to Universe Tales Online!
"Oh! Is this the AI?"
I am the Avatar Creation AI; you can call me Ava.
"Hello, Ava!"
At her words, the AI, Ava, only responded with a light smile before continuing her dialogue.
Please create your Avatar!
"...Avatar?"
At her puzzled question, Ava immediately answered.
An Avatar is the in-game character that you will use to roam about and explore the world of Unitale. How others perceive you will be based on this Avatar and not your Real-Life appearance.
"Oh! So that's how it is!"
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Please select your Race!
A list of Unitale's races popped up on a screen in front of Maria's face. There were numerous races, from ordinary humans to supernatural ghosts and evil demons. There were also the beautiful elves, the stout dwarves, the all-powerful Dragonoid, and the aquatic races such as mermaids, nagas, and sirens.
"Ohhh! They even have Angels here!"
Maria was immediately smitten by the Angelic race. When she tapped on the race in front of her, a large mirror materialized that reflected her appearance, but with white angelic wings on her back.
Depending on your race, you will be given a limited choice in your starting areas.
Maria nodded at Ava's words. It made sense. Unitale's production team boasted about how realistic its game was compared to previous VRMMOs. The realistic settings in the game were unlike any earlier games as it boasted a reality setting of 99%.
Beta testers such as her best friend Lizzy gave reviews on how the beta test of the game was so realistic that they couldn't even determine if they were still on Earth or in the game. The only indication they had that they were in the game, not the real world, came from the status screens and HUD.
Due to this realistic setting, the numerous players of Unitale would be given limited starting areas depending on their selected race. The game's AI wouldn't clump players that were demons together with humans. If the AI did that, the demons who were hostile to the humans would immediately get attacked if they started in a human race's village. The same went for vice-versa.
"Okay, I'm picking the Angel Race!"
Would you like to change your appearance?
Another screen popped up in front of Maria. She didn't really understand what to do here. Should she let her appearance stay the same? Or should she change it? Judging by the numerous parameters that could be changed in the screen she was looking at... it looked like a huge hassle!
"Muuuhh... I don't get it... it looks so complicated. I'll leave my appearance as is!"
She quickly waved away the box and didn't bother changing her appearance.
Last confirmation; is this how you would like your Avatar to look?
"Ye~es," Maria replied.
Last step, please select your name!
"My name? My name's Maria, obviously?"
Inputted, Maria. Final check, will this be your Avatar's name?
"Hmmm...okay?"
Welcome to the world of Unitale, Trainee Angel Maria. You will now begin your adventure in starting village number 0012.
The next moment, Maria's body began to dematerialize and merge with Angel Maria's body. After the two bodies merged, Maria could feel two peculiar bones protruding from her back.
"Ohh!! These must be my wings!"
She tried moving the bones, but it was much more challenging than she had thought. The bones were on top of her shoulder blades. As a human, she didn't need to consciously move her shoulder blades. Usually, they moved along with her clavicle and arms, but since she had wings she needed to learn to consciously move them.
"This looks fun!"
While Maria was having fun trying to move her wings, a pulling sensation began to envelop her body.
"Huh?"
Go forth, brave adventurer! Your Epic only begins now! The Universe is boundless, and neither the sky nor earth is the limit!
With those final words from Ava, the white void around Maria began to vanish, and in its place...was the sky?
"Wait, wait, WAIT!!! Ava!! I'm in the sky!! I'm in the sky!!!"
Even with her yelling like that, the AI didn't respond to her. She could only helplessly look down as the ground quickly grew larger and larger in her eyes.
"NO, NO, NO!!!"