Darkness encompassed the space around her – complete inky black without a single trace of light. Then from nowhere a pleasant, female voice resounded within this vacant space:
-The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Would you like to create an account?-
She began to relax, understanding that this was a part of the process.
She whispered, “Yes please.”
-Select the name of your Avatar.-
“Skye.”
-Select a gender from Male, Female, or Neutral.-
“Can you explain what the Neutral gender is?”
-If you select Neutral, you may appear male or female to others depending on circumstances. Other information is currently unknown; you can only discover new information by experiencing it yourself. Would you like to choose Neutral?-
“… No thank you.”
-Please select a gender from Male, Female, or Neutral.-
Sigh… I really didn’t want to choose female. What’s with the gender bias on forums anyway? Thinking that women get advantages that men don’t. Besides I don’t see why girls need to act frail and depend on “manly” men in Royal Road. With real life skill excluded, a male and female character with identical stats should have identical strength…
She was tempted by the Neutral gender… but she was proud of being female. Just because half of world was overrun by sexists (in her opinion), there was no reason to not be female.
“Female please.”
-Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine.-
Before I start, I’m going to make sure.
“Are there any winged species available?”
-None are available at the moment. One may unlock them through special quests or by discovering them under specific conditions.-
The corners of her lips curved in a faint smile. She’d already known that none were available in the character creation menu. Her true intentions had been to pique her long-standing curiosity in whether such species existed in the first place. None are available at the moment, she’d said. A new goal was etched into her rather fat bucket list of to-dos in Royal Road. Now unto the brunt of the matter.
“Could I create a hybr–“ Wait a minute.
She had been waiting for this. Originally, she had decided on creating a hybrid species of either elves or a fusion of celestials and demons. But she did not know whether it was allowed or even possible since celestials and demons were of opposing natures. (Celestials and demons available for creation are humans with celestial/demonic blood, not pureblooded.) But an unexpected idea passed through her mind.
“Am I allowed to create a cross between different primary species?”
-…Normally crosses between primary species aren’t possible, but… Let me check with the administration.-
A click, and the A.I.’s voice broke off. Within moments, a new voice pervaded the endless void of black.
A female voice, less monotonous and more human asked,
“You asked for a cross between primary species?”
Skye detected a hint of puzzlement in her voice.
Did I ask for too much?
“I’d heard that Royal Road was very flexible to individual customization. I was researching about the different races - the characteristic traits of each race interested me - and the idea struck me.”
A lie, of course. She’d thought of it just now in a moment of brilliant (or possibly stupid) inspiration.
“I was hoping my request was within reasonable bounds.”
Well, technically not. I could ask for a mix of all the primary races and end up with a mutant that either had god-like powers or possessed every single penalty each specie came with. She thought dryly.
“No no no. I’m not spurning your idea. I’m just surprised… Among all the users who’ve registered, none had brought up such an idea.”
Was it just her, or did she sense a dash of excitement in the administrator's voice?
“I’m actually a member of the original development team for the different races and racial characteristics. I’d thought about merging some primary races together before but the rest of the development team had dismissed the idea, telling me the differences between races were too great to overcome, excluding humans. Who knew you’d have the same idea! Most users are too eager to create their characters and begin playing, or if they spend time, most dawdle on improving their appearances-…”
Skye was surprised by the sudden change in tone. The voice that had been polite and distant now held a kind of eagerness Skye didn't quite understand.
Who knew it would turn out so well? Skye tuned to her chatter and listened closely. But at some point, Skye lost interest. She’d been attentive at first, trying to confirm whether the administrator would grant her request; but the incessant chatter bored her. She didn't even understand why her request had surprised the woman. It had been months since Royal Road was released. How could no one have had this idea?
But she realized, the next moment, that her request was quite unusual. She'd asked, and many players assumed administrators could only work within the bounds of what was obviously stated and offered.
The majority of users had skipped through character creation, impatient to begin playing. Then those who were awarded free “wishes” for being one of the, let’s say, first hundred players to register failed to take advantage of what was presented to them. They had been in a hurry to start out in an unpopulated city (for the double experience from quests) and later exploit nearby dungeons, where they could hog the double experience from being the first to discover them. Therefore, most chose 10 bonus stats points and some extra reward rather than go through the hassle of using their brains. Furthermore, the first hundred players who’d registered had only a small selection of races to choose from. Most of the sub-races and other primary species had been unlocked only recently. Of course, most of them didn’t even realize that they could have asked for a huge boon – they thought the “additional benefit” or reward was fixed and accepted whatever given to them.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
The few of the hundred who realized and had racked their brains before launching Royal Road mostly did spend their “wishes” on race-related aspects, such as choosing undiscovered sub-species to become the first of that race. But even at that, not many thought of hybrid species, moreover, a cross between primary species. (Skye was fairly clever and determined; a majority of normal users didn’t think of hybrid races or dare ask for them even if they’d thought of it.) However, what truly differentiated her experience from others – who may have asked for something similar – was that she had stumbled into a lucky coincidental meeting with someone receptive to her idea.
One person could not attend to the needs of all players. Therefore, there was an array of available administrators at different times, and all of them had different levels of “receptiveness” - one could be open to an idea another may reject.
Skye had lucked out. She’d landed with someone who was receptive to her idea. In fact, this “administrator” was not an administrator at all – she was a temporary substitute from the research facility. Of course, Skye didn’t know this fact.
“-and so here we are! Which specific species are you thinking of combining?”
Suddenly, the administrator’s voice transitioned from muddled blabber to lucid awareness.
Most people undermine the pixie race because of their feeble physical strength, but if the specie was a cross… I can take advantage of their agility. Now for the elves… I need the Handicraft skill – which I heard Grey Elves are born with – and a natural inclination toward magic… High Elves. A Wood Elf would be nice for the natural resistance against the elements. For holy magic and dark magic, I want some celestial and demonic blood – I wonder if a fusion between the two is possible.
Her brain raced in the span of seconds. In the months after Royal Road was released, Skye had been quite thorough in her research.
“First, I want a hybrid elf born from a fusion of Grey Elves, High Elves, and Wood Elves. Then I would like a first generation cross between the hybrid elf and the pixie race. Then I want another first generation cross between the Celestials and Demonic races by mitigating resistances against one another so that their characteristics aren’t transmuted from this cross, thereby increasing their resistances against the dark or light rather than diminishing their natural talents in those fields. Then I want the third generation to be a cross between the second generation offspring mentioned above.”
The administrator seemed thoughtful. After a long pause, she replied,
“Done. Not a bad combination if I may say so.”
That was...easier than I thought.
“May I see my avatar?”
An avatar measuring only five feet hovered in mid-air, slowly turning in a circle.
Unexpectedly, it wasn’t greatly different from her current appearance.
“The pixie blood shortened your height. However, because of the elf and human races, you may increase it to a maximum of 5’2”.”
“I’m 5’4” in real life - I'd prefer to stay that way. Would 5’4” be okay?”
“Hmm, two inches aren’t too great a gap. Since this is the first of its species, ok.”
The avatar grew four inches. At this point, Skye picked out minute details. She was already slim with slender limbs, but the avatar made her more fine-boned with longer fingers and narrower feet. Squinting her metaphysical eyes, she also noticed that she had golden engravings in the inner side of her right arm and a symmetrical black engraving on her left. Perhaps the pixie race also reduced muscles. Her hard-won leg muscles were slightly less evident. The face mirrored her own, but the ears. They were no longer round, but sharp and pointed like an elf's. Her complexion was whiter and her frame more “delicate” sigh…; but overall, it seemed to resemble herself.
She was quite satisfied. Built for speed. Excellent.
“This is great! Thank you.”
“It was a pleasure working with you.”
An echo of smile, and the voice was gone. The A.I. immediately returned.
-You may alter your appearance. Would you like to do so?-
“Nope.”
-Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.-
-Select a kingdom and city you want to start in.-
“A sparsely populated kingdom please.”
-Welcome to Royal Road. Would you like to participate in the tutorial?”-
“No thank you.”
Instantly, a blinding light encompassed her.
***
Credits to Aerebes for the Handicraft skill idea from Grey Elves!
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