POV – 1st Person (MC)
>>> >>> 8:12AM – Temple of Time
>>> [Virtual Time Dilation 2x]
‘…this pre-game region looks like a temple of some sort.’
I find myself in a temple complex floating in the skies. The temple walls are a whitish-beige color, creating a calm, wonderous tone that soothes the soul. The marble-like pillars holding up the structure are quite classical, imitating the architecture of Greek Antiquity. There is a soft background music that reminds me of an old massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed in South Korea, published on the 29th of April, 2003.
‘Something like… I forget what the name is….’
A shimmer of light coalesces into a figure, allowing me to see a humanoid shape in front of me. As soon as the light dies down, the figure, a woman, begins speaking in a feminine, soft but melodic voice.
“Thank you for purchasing the
It seems the A.I. messed up somewhere. The A.I.’s character model is a young woman with long, slightly wavy golden hair. Standing at 173cm (approx. 5’8) in height, Aria is a gorgeous supermodel-like woman with her soft, pale skin and large, mesmerizing ice blue eyes. A single-piece white, sleeveless dress outlines and accentuates her elegant curves in all the right places. The clothing leaves her soft, slender arms uncovered and have golden thread embroidery designs all around the dress.
She is not wearing anything on her feet, leaving them exposed for everyone to observe. It looks like the developers and designers have brought together their best team for creating such a beautiful display.
‘I wonder how a male model would look….’
“…sorry about that. I am programmed to emulate a full human being except I seem to have inherited a tendency to lose my own train of thought.”
Artificial Intelligence in this day and age have advanced to the point where they are essentially computerized “humans”. Although they will never be able to feel emotions a biological creature can, scientists and technology engineers are working to see if that is possible in the future.
“Anyways, welcome to Worldfall Astraea, a high fantasy world where almost anything is possible. Now, first things first. Since there is approximately one hour and forty-eight minutes before the servers officially opens, would you like to create your character first or would you like to apply your Collector’s Bonuses before you do so?”
“Hm…” I wonder aloud, “what would you suggest?”
“I think it would be better for you to receive the bonuses first. Some of the gifts may be well received by certain races, professions, and other attributes.”
“All right then,” I answer, “I will go with your suggestion.”
The woman smiles.
“Okay, the first thing you’ll receive is the
The A.I. brings her hand up, raising her right palm facing upwards. The title and the design appears, floating on top of her raised palm.
“The next bonus is to pick one of five special sets of Growth Equipment. The equipment pieces in the sets will level up along with your character, starting from Level 10, ending with a maximum of Level 45.”
A colorful wheel with more than ten spots appear in front of me and Aria. The A.I. touches the wheel and a single slot lights up. It begins to spin around the wheel, lighting up each slot quickly before it slows down.
“So is this luck based?”
I ask Aria.
“Ah,” Aria speaks, “this wheel will reveal a set certain of different equipment you can pick from. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses and none of them are better than another. Based on the questionnaire you answered before entering this game, there will be at least two choices that you will like.”
“I see,” I reply, “thank you for clarifying.”
The wheel’s lit up zone slowly stops on the very top slot. Four pairs and a lone character model lights up to the right of me, revealing the possible choices I have.
Aria walks to the first pair; a rather handsome male and a beautiful female both with blonde hair but with green and blue eyes respectively. The lean, solidly built man sports a small ponytail while the slim but athletic-looking woman has a long ponytail. They are both pale-skinned, Caucasian-Type humans. They are wearing some sort of western renaissance-style cross between a duelist outfit and a modern day rendition of a pirate. The costumes for both sex have quite a nice flair to them. Surprisingly, the female version is just as modest as the male version, hinting at the game company’s professional style. The female version’s top is a more feminine blouse, however.
“This is the first special outfit; the
A window with more detailed information appears in front of me. I go over it carefully before looking back at Aria. The A.I. immediately understands and walks over to the next pair of models. The previous model’s lighting dims, reducing its visibility like it had been deselected.
The male and female models were slightly taller than the previous two. The male has shorter, frazzled brown hair where the female has medium length, wild brown hair. Their eyes are amber in color, the man having sharper eyes while the woman has eyes that are slightly rounder. The models are wearing rather… well, it’s more like their bodies lack a lot of clothing….
The man’s chest is completely bare, revealing his bronze-tanned abdominal six-pack. There is some sort of red and brown belt wrapped around the left shoulder, down to the right waist or the man, connected to a silver metal loop of a pair of rugged, fitting pair of deep beige shorts. The man wears a pair of copper-colored metal rings around his ankles on top of a pair of dark brown sandals. On his head is a circlet with several black, brown, and grey feathers adorning it while he wields a large, steel-grey hatchet in each hand.
The woman, about two inches taller and more muscular than the man, is clothed in a little more than the man due to certain anatomical additions. Her… naturally bountiful chest is hidden by a thick, hide-like piece of cloth which has the same red and brown belt wrapped from her left shoulder down to the right waist. The belt is looped into the silver metal cuff from the rugged deep beige shorts. Like the man, the woman has the anklets, sandals, and headdress as well. Her weapon, however, is a large brown wooden stick with a ball-like knob on one end. She holds it in both hands; a war club resembling a large version of the “knobkierie” used by ethnic groups from eastern and southern regions of Africa.
These two models are the epitome of the wild.
“This is the
‘Interesting, although the lack of clothing is a bit of a concern to my tastes, this set is quite interesting to wear when using powerful physical-type characters.’
I read the description on the window before looking up at Aria. She moves to the third pair of models, the second pair dims in response.
This third pair of models are similar to the first models: pale-skinned, slim, slender, and solid. The male has a head of short brownish-red hair with a pair of wise, brown eyes. The female model is slightly shorter than the male and has long, platinum-blonde hair that flows down to her waist. Her sapphire blue eyes shine with mirth, complementing her lithe figure in a way that gives her a curious, perky aura. Both models have on a pair of powder blue gloves, beaver brown boots that reach up to the middle of their shins, a Celtic blue wizard’s hat, and a silver metal staff with a sapphire blue gem embedded at the top.
The male model’s clothing is less restrictive-looking and is a flowing Celtic blue magus robe with gold and red designs and lines. The female model’s clothing is a form-fitting magus robe of the same color and designs… it also sports a deep v-neck design when the collars are unbuttoned that clearly shows off the woman’s cleavage.
‘I guess the developers do need to attract business after all….’
“Perfect for magical users that would like to use magic more often than others, this is the
I take a brief look at the detailed information on the window that appears before signalling Aria to head to the next pair. Aria does so and steps over to the last pair of models, the one before a lone, nondescript model.
The fourth pair of models are similar to the first and third pairs with their bodies being pale-skinned, slim, slender, and solidly built. The male is slightly shorter than the female, with the former baring storm grey eyes with a head of slick, greyish-black hair while the latter has a rather long and elegant red hair with sparkling emeralds for eyes. They both are wearing mostly black clothing with dull silver-grey armor plates underneath the dark mantles. With a wide, black traveler’s hat on top of their heads, a pair of black leather gloves with silver studs on their hands, and a pair of long boots with dull silver-grey plates on all sides, this costume looks like that of modern day depictions of vampire hunter outfits.
Both the male and female models’ clothing are both form-fitting, with the exception of the dark mantle. The female’s highly outlines the beautiful curves of her body while the male’s highlights his strong, robust build. Both models are highly covered up, revealing almost no skin other than the face and a small portion of the neck. The male model holds a black, grey, and silver crossbow while the female model wields two small silver-bladed swords.
“This is the fourth set you can pick: the
I take a look at the details before turning my attention to the last, singular model.
Aria nods and walks over to the final model. It lights up, bringing a rather familiar outfit that is quite well designed and embellished upon.
“Huh,” Aria murmurs, “isn’t this….”
This model is a smaller, petite female model with a long, black, hime-cut hairstyle with long bangs on the side. The hair style is quite similar to my own in real life though mine is a modified version of the hime-cut, not the original style. Her hair has a cherry-blossom clip attached to the right bang that has three long flowery strings hanging from the clip.
This model is wearing a rather unique but understandable outfit for her appearance: a layered, pure white haori (kimono jacket) rests on top of her short kimono inner garment that ends in a short v-neck line that does not reveal her cleavage. The inner short kimono has a lavender stripe on the edges, giving the kimono some color. The almost detached white sleeves reveal her pale shoulders; only the bottom portion of the sleeve is attached to the inner garment. The outfit's sleeves are tied firmly at the middle upper arms of the model, red ribbons adorning the side and tied into a bow at the top.
The haori is held together at the front with ribbon connected to two dull silver cherry blossom crests on each side, resting on top of her modest but perky breasts. At her waist is a silver ribbon-like cloth that is tied into a bow around her waist, keeping the kimono and haori together.
The female model wears a slightly pleated lavender skirt that reaches an inch or so above the middle of her thighs. Not so short that it feels like fan-service material, but not so long as to inhibit movement. The skirt’s bottom edge is fringed with a white frilly cloth generates a pure and cute look. Upon her legs are a pair of silky black stockings that reach up to the middle of her slim thighs. She also wears a pair of red-lined white boots that has a geta image-like design. The boots reach half way up to the middle of her shins.
I can see a beautifully designed ring on her left hand, placed around her ring finger. It is a small gold ring with a very transparent, pale white, cabochon-cut moonstone with a bluish-lilac sheen. The model also has a silver-chained necklace that contain the same moonstone as the ring as the pendant. I can also see a pair of fingerless white gloves with silver metal plates on the dorsal side of the hand (the back side).
The model has two nihonto in sheathes on her left waist, held in place by a white cloth extension attached to the black ribbon-like cloth that keeps the kimono and haori together. I can identity the shorter one as a kodachi, a smaller Japanese sword that is easier to handle; it is paired with another sword that is shorter than the kodachi, so it cannot be called a wakizashi. The shorter sword is most likely a second, smaller kodachi.
The handles of the swords are elegantly designed, both having a black cloth with silver threads. The sheathes are both white with inky black lotus patterns near the hilt and guard of the swords.
After examining this outfit carefully, I find that the outfit looks like something ripped out of an anime or manga that does not thrive on fan-service.
‘…’
I am quite speechless at this cute yet alluring, modified miko outfit. It does look quite nice... I wonder what kind of abilities it provides.....
“This is the
Aria calls up the system window, checking what I assume to be a list. It is most likely a list of the equipment sets available for the Collector’s version of the game.
“Well, it seems that the twelve sets are legitimately placed in this bonus gift. They can only be discovered once and if you pick this set, it will become unavailable for everyone else unless someone is capable of recreating it with tailoring and enchanting.”
“Please let me see the details of this set.”
“As you wish.”
A window with the information of the set opens.
“I would like to compare this set to the other four sets as well as the basic clothing for the basic classes. I believe the basic class equipment are Level 5 minimum?”
Aria opens several windows for me to compare the characteristics for the other sets I call up. I compare the boosts to the stats from the equipment and reflect on what I have read.
‘The stats of the
Despite the rather cosplay-esque nature of this outfit, I believe I will pick this outfit for the special ability. Even though it has a slightly lower total stat boost than the other four sets, the protection ability makes it well worth it.
Making my choice I nod to Aria and tell her my decision.
“I would like to choose this last set.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Confirmed, you shall be receiving the
The four pairs of male and female models disappear, leaving only the modified-Miko outfit model in the dim, temple-like setting of this room in virtual reality. The model glows before the body disappears, leaving the glittering outfit behind. The pieces from the set floats slowly into a white, cube-shaped box with it’s lid open. When every piece is placed inside (blatantly violating the law of conservation of mass in the process), the lid closes, and a gold ribbon forms a ribbon at the top of the box.
Aria takes the box and it disappears into thin air.
“You will find the box in the temporary storage inventory for system and administration purposes once you are in the game. Remember to take it out and place it into your basic inventory window within fourteen days or else it will disappear.”
The A.I. then follows up with the next gift that comes with the collector’s edition.
“This is the third gift you will receive: a chance to choose one of five locations to start from instead of the basic three locations. The new two locations have their own unique profession choices to pick from. When you chose your starting location, you will be allowed to pick the first three locations as well as
Aria explains the profession system and the class system to me, the differences between each region and the two exclusive regions. There are Fighters, Rangers, Rogues, Mages, and Healers in the
The two bonus locations are the
Despite having the profession name of Oiran and Kagema, these are actually switched Japanese kanji names that instead mean “Flower Empress” and “Negativity”. They are specialized types of support and misdirection mages that do not have many offensive options but are great for teams.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Hm… are the Purifiers like Shrine Maidens and Shinto Priests?”
I ask Aria about the purifiers.
“Ah… no,” Aria replies, “Purifiers are more in the line of ‘Light Mages’ that have the stereotypical role of healing. Of course, they are more unique in that they can also use neutral element ‘heal’ and a few other non-elemental spells as well.”
Well that is a little disappointing. With the equipment set I have received I had hoped to learn to be a shrine maiden. Although I have been an actual Shrine Maiden in accordance to my family’s traditions, there are no magical powers that mikos in real life can use. I am quite interested to see what they have in this virtual world.
No matter how long time runs in the world, there will always be traditional practices and beliefs that merge into cultures.
“Hm… is it possible for me to become a shrine maiden in the beginning?”
“Well,” Aria ponders, “I don’t have an answer for that. Let me check with one of the administrators.”
The A.I. placed a dainty jade-like white hand to her right ear, cupping it like she was trying to listen carefully to an earpiece. She closes her eyes and lower her head slightly, giving off an alluring charm that even mesmerizes me slightly. I patiently wait for Aria’s response. Unlike Aria, a game administrator should be human, meaning he or she will take longer to consider and respond.
A minute or so pass and Aria opens her eyes. She removes her left hand from her ear and looks straight at me.
“Given your purchase of the
Aria places her left hand’s index finger to her mouth, thinking of something.
“However, this place is within a
I think for a while and then give my answer.
“Yes.”
“All right then,” Aria says, “You have chosen your starting location. Let me give you your fourth gift now.”
Five brown wooden treasure-chests appeared, each rimmed with golden metal plates.
“This is the fourth gift you will receive, a chance to receive items from one chest of your choosing. There is no item that is better than the other, simply different in their uses. These are all items that will help you on your journey to whatever goal you wish for.”
I look at each one quickly before selecting the one of the far left.
The treasure chest opens with a click, revealing a glowing golden light that shines brightly. Five items fly out of the chest and position themselves in front of me in a single file line. Although I can see their names, I will not know what they are for until I receive the items inside of the game.
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The items then drop into another white box before the lid closes and is tied with a golden ribbon.
The box disappears after a few seconds.
Aria claps her hands and then continues her explanation of the bonuses I receive from the collector’s edition.
“The fifth and final gift allows you to select a starting race that does not belong to the basic choices. I will go over those when you create your character.”
Aria looks around before asking if I am ready to go on to the character creation. I take a look at the time and find that only thirty minutes have passed in reality. It seems the time dilation is quite accurate as one hour has passed in virtual reality.
“I think I am ready. There is nothing else to do but wait for the server to open so creating the character will use up the time.”
“All right. Let’s bring up the character creation menus.”
Aria snaps her fingers and four new character model pairs appear. Well, the fourth “pair” is more like the “fourth group”, as it contains more than two models. All of the models are wearing a basic beige shirt, brown shorts, and a pair of brown sandals. I guess those are the clothes you get when you first start. Maybe they allow you to pick starter clothing as well.
The first pair are the most human-looking male and female avatars. I can hazard a guess: they are the humans of this world. With their dark brown hair, the male having short hair while the female has a medium length ponytail, and their bright chocolate-colored eyes, I am sure they are humans. The woman has rather tan skin while the man has fair, typical Caucasian-type skin. It looks like both of them are standing at the same height of 168cm (5’6).
The second pair have slightly longer, pointed ears but otherwise look like beautiful humans, regardless of the male and female models. Their long, silky, light blonde hair and jewel-like blue eyes shimmer in the virtual lighting, accenting both models’ attractiveness. The models are slightly shorter than the first pair – the female is a few centimetres shorter than the male here – but their skin are all whiter than the fair-skinned male human model. The female model is the portrait of ideal feminine beauty with a figure that many women would die to have. Although the male model has slightly sharper features that define biological masculinity, others could easily have mistaken him as a female if seen at a distance.
‘Most likely some sort of elf….’
The third pair of models are very noticeably shorter and are rather thickly built. Not in the sense that they are obese, but rather, they are strong builds that make them look like the stereotypical dwarves of fire and steel. The man has a very bushy brown beard, matching his equally bushy, brown hair. His eyes are like grey steel, piercing and showing his power. The woman, slightly taller than the man, has no beard, a head of short, fiery-red hair that is tied into a small ponytail off to the left. Her storm grey eyes match and may even exceed the man’s own steel grey eyes. These two models are the standard of strength and perseverance: it does not matter whether you are born male or female, hard work will pay off and you will enjoy the fruits of your labor.
The fourth group of models consists of three pairs. There are four models that look mostly human, with only animal aspects that make people feel a bit fuzzy inside. The first is a small male with short black hair. On top of his head is a pair of black cat ears and he sports a black furred tail. In all, he looks like an adorable cat boy with rich amber eyes. No, the pupils are not cat-like slits, at least… not right now.
The model to the right of the cat boy is a fierce female model with sharp tawny eyes and a head of long, grizzled grey hair. On top of her head are grey animal ears… possibly a wolf as well as a bushy wolf tail. The possibly of the woman being a grey wolfkin is high. Standing at approximately 173cm (5’8), this slightly tan wolfkin looks strong and powerful.
On the left of the cat boy, there stands a prim and pristine male model with long golden hair and beautiful blue eyes. There is a pair of pure white avian wings that are folded behind the man. His fair skin accentuates his elegance. Maybe he is from some sort of dove-type avian species… though with his hair and white wings, he looks more like an angel.
To the left of the angel-like man is a female model with black avian wings. Her long, crimson red hair and blood red eyes make her look rather dangerous yet alluring. She is slightly shorter than the male avian but looks like she could kill with a single gaze.
The last two models look like anthropomorphized beasts that stand on two legs. The male model looks like a bluish-grey furred, slightly hunched werewolf with a muscular build. His eyes are a shining emerald color that makes him look less bestial and more intelligent. The female model looks similar to the male werewolf but resembles a brown bear instead. Because the female is more beast than humanoid, you cannot see the mammary tissue that could be seen on mammals, especially the bipedal humans.
I listen to Aria’s explanations of the seven different races and come up with a summary of each race’s special characteristics.
Humans are make up the majority of the world. They are almost the same as the generic human race archetype with their balanced learning capability, statistics, and magic. The main difference is that the human race has a moderate affinity bonus for the element of fire while being moderately weak against dark elements.
Elves are not numerous but are still stalwart protectors of the forests and nature. The only sub-type of elf available at the moment is the Lanis Elf, a named version of the generic elven race. They are more agile and magical than humans but have lower vitality. They are naturally beautiful creatures but are even more susceptible to dark elements than humans. They have minor bonuses towards the natural elements of wind, earth, and water.
Dwarves are substantially different than their archetype found in fantasy role-playing games. They carry the same common statistic of higher vitality but are rather inept in magic. Do not mess with a strong dwarf; his or her agility will surprise most first-time battles against dwarves. The only subtype of dwarf available at this time is the Sturgem Dwarf which have no weaknesses nor bonuses to any elemental affinity.
The last of the four starting races is the beastkin. They come in several starter sub-races such as the Avians with their bird wings, Wolfkin, Foxkin, Cat Sidhe, and a few other common animals that displays only animal ears and a tail if they have one. There is also the Wolfenger and Bearnstein that are more beast than humanoid, looking like bipedal animals with only human-like arms, hands, and legs. There are many differences between each beastkin to display in all but they are all more physically inclined than humans. There is one thing certain: the winged beastkin cannot fly until they reach a certain level.
After pondering the decisions, I finally decide on a base race for my character.
“Foxkin.”
The models disappeared from view and a single female character model appeared. This one looks just like me, with long, silky, black hair in the modified hime-cut I like. Her eyes mirror my crystal blue ones, shining with many white rays that make them clear and luminous. Wearing a nondescript set of dusty beige clothing that I assume to be beginner’s equipment, I find a soft black fox tail swishing around freely. There is a hole in the pair of shorts for the tail to slip through.
‘Ah… so the foxkin can have both human ears and fox ears….’
The information window reveals that normally the foxkin will be using the fox ears while the human ears remain non-functioning. If the foxkin gains the ability to transform into a human, then the human ears will start working while the fox ears disappear.
The black fox ears with white tufts flick cutely, mesmerizing me with the adorable scene. I quickly snap out of it though and disregard the option to modify the avatar.
Normally, one has the option to modify the avatar by approximately twenty percent. It will not allow you to swap your sex/gender because there are proven studies on the negative effects of playing as the opposite sex when you are in a full-immersion.
After completing character creation, Aria snaps her fingers, revealing nine separate windows that appear in front of me. The six windows reveal six different variations of the race I have picked.
“Since you have purchased the limited edition, you are able to choose a variation for your race, giving you additional properties that may become unique aspects for your gameplay. These six choices have been randomized with the system and cannot be changed.”
I carefully read over each window so that I will not pick something would disadvantage me.
‘Hm… the first one okay, but it has too much of a lean on physical attributes. I want magic since this is a fantasy world. Even if this character type can use magic, the efficacy is too low.’
Bronze Foxkin Base Foxkin Type Battle Foxkin The
I switch to the second window.
‘Ice fox? The weakness to heat is quite debilitating though.’
I decide not to choose the second one either.
Frostwind Foxkin Base Foxkin Type Snow Foxkin The
I glance towards the third window.
‘The third one is pretty nice… though the physical is a little concerning.’
Mystic Fox Base Foxkin/Spirit Type Magical Fox Although considered a type of foxkin, the
‘The fourth one is interesting, there is no outstanding weakness for this variant….’
Vivace Base Foxkin Type Heroic Fox The
‘Hm… I wonder if this one can be used to replace battery-required equipment in the game?’
Storm Fox Base Foxkin Type Elemental Foxkin The
I finally turn to look at the last window. As I read through the description, I slowly find myself becoming stunned at the last variant I am able to pick from the six.
Arc Fox Base Fox Spirit Type Royal Kitsune The
‘I guess the Arc Fox bloodline are focused a bit too much on the magic and knowledge side of life….’
The numerical stats in Worldfall Astraea work a bit differently in comparison to other MMORPGs. The three main resources that every player will have are Health, Mana, and Stamina. These three are fairly standard stats. Health indicates the amount of damage your character can take before he or she dies. Mana is the stat used for spells, techniques, and other abilities. Stamina is fixed at exactly one hundred and cannot be increased; all effects related to stamina will either increase or decrease the amount of stamina used per action or movement. Stamina is used for performing any actions, just like real life.
The ability stats are as follows: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Endurance, Magic, Mentality, Agility, Reflex, Charisma, and Luck. It looks like agility and reflex are used differently than dexterity in this game.
According to the starter guide….
Strength determines the character’s physical power and also has a small effect on physical resistance.
Dexterity determines one’s aim, physical nimbleness, and fine motor skills. This effects mostly the hands and arms; the higher the stat, the more precise one gets with their hands. It also increases one’s attack speed slightly.
Vitality is the stat that deals with the character’s resistance against life-type status conditions like diseases and poisons while also affecting physical resistance slightly.
Endurance affects physical defense and heightens one’s physical-type status conditions like burns and bleeding cuts.
Magic deals with the character’s magic power and ability to learn new magic-related techniques/skills.
Mentality deals with the character’s mind-type status condition resistance and magic resistance. Clear-cut and concise.
Agility is the character’s ability to move quickly. It affects the nimbleness using one’s legs and feet as well as their attack speed.
Reflex controls the character’s evasive ability and control of their movement. Having too much speed and too little reflex may cause problems with one’s coordination.
Charisma is mostly the same as many roleplaying games: It determines the character’s ability to influence others with their presence, conversations, and demeanor. Physical attractiveness is not affected by this stat, only likability of the person him or herself.
Luck is a mysterious stat that does not have a known use… at least, it is only given a short description in the starter guide: “This is your power over the universe”. I believe this is called, the Random Number Generator stat to the maximum-minimum damage roll and chance-based effect activations. Other gamers say “proc”, short of spec_proc. This a programming term from someone… eh, I forgot.
Simply speaking, spec_proc is simply “special process”, events attached to an entity so that when a certain event occurs, the special process activates.
There are also many hidden stats that will not be revealed unless the individual passes certain actions or explicitly gains stats in that particular stat. In any case, the bonus stat points you can receive from leveling up, completing certain quests, and others cannot be added to the hidden stats, it can only be raised through special conditions.
After ten or so minutes of contemplating, I take a look at the time remaining until the server opens.
‘Okay, fifty-two minutes in the system is left until the server opens. Ugh, if only I did not accept that bet with my friends to reach the top one hundred players in this game….’
“I will pick the Arc Fox variant.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Arc Fox, confirmed.”
The character model shines, turning the hair and tail into a snowy white color while the eyes of the avatar become a lavender-blue. The long bang framing the left side of her face is the same as her eyes.
‘…I guess this will do.’
Combat is not the way to play this game.
The avatar disappears, breaking up into particles that rush towards me. The particles of lights cover my virtual body as I shut my eyes from the brightness. A few seconds latter, the light dies down and I re-open my eyes. I can feel something different about myself already.
A strange weight is moving around behind me as if there is something….
I turn my head and look down to see a large, bushy white fox tail swishing about. Gasping slightly, I tried turning around and end up falling over.
“Ouch!”
Virtual reality still simulates the pain from falling on the ground.
“Yeah…” Aria advises me a bit late, “…for avatars with extra physical traits like many of the beastkin, we will have to calibrate the motions before you play and after you wish to quit….”
“Please wait,” I reply, “hm….”
I slowly stand up, wobbling slightly as my newly acquired tail twitches. I can clearly feel the strangeness of the new appendage connected to my body and that I can somehow control it like it is originally part of my body. A shiver shoots up my body and ends up flicking my right…
‘Oh… fox ears.’
…fox ear. I practice controlling my new tail, swishing it back and forth before taking a deep breath.
I take a shaky step forward with my left foot. Stop.
Tail swishes.
I then take a second step forwards; this time with my right foot. Stop.
Tail swishes. Ear flick.
I start walking slowly, wobbling slightly at first and turn to my left. I continue practicing my movements with the new fluffy tail. Fifteen minutes pass by and I can pretty much move normally, with almost ninety-percent certainty that I will not trip again. Sprinting, jumping, lunging, rolling, and finally coming to a stop, Aria applauds my acclimation as she walks to me.
“I’m really impressed,” Aria compliments, “there are many people testing their movement with as beastkin but most of them would use the calibration. You are the fastest to acclimate with the tail; the others that wish to get used to it themselves are not ready to move normally yet.”
“It’s the reason I chose
“I can definitely see that. Well, there is five minutes left in virtual space before the server opens. You still need to choose a name for your avatar. You are not allowed to pick a family name.”
“Hm… let me see…. Senna.”
“The name ‘Senna’ has not been taken yet. Do you wish for your character name to be Senna?”
“Yes, please.”
“All right, Senna it is.”
“Your character ID will be auto-generated for you. You will be able to view it in your system settings window when you are in game.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“No, thank you for choosing to play Worldfall Astraea. In three and a half minutes, the server will open, and you will be sent to your designated starting location. Please have a good time in game and try not to skip meals or sleep to play, I do not wish for anyone to collapse or weaken themselves just for a game.”
After a minute or so of pleasant, idle chatter with Aria, the server countdown starts.
“10 seconds till server opening.”
‘Okay, I’m ready for this.”
“9… 8… 7… 6… 5….”
I tense slightly.
“...4, 3… 2… and 1. Please have a good time!”
My vision fades out as Aria waves her right hand. I fall unconscious shortly afterwards.
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