Chapter 1

The world has changed ever since the discover of full dive virtual reality which is said to be the greatest invention of all time. Since its development VR quickly became the go to method for not only for entertainment ,but also even education and training. For the past decade or so society has experienced a kind of VR renaissance. With it there was of course a massive boost to videogame industry. What was originally a contest over who had the better console soon became about who made the better world. In the past 2 years one game created by an unknown company has had a meteoric rise to fame. The game Infinite Apostle Online is know for three main feature which are the massive map, high degree of freedom and the apostle system. In game there exists gods who crown some one there apostle. Once that happens then that player is able to use power from that gods domain and create skills regardless of class retractions. For example if a warrior got blessed by a god of fire the he can create fireballs if he wanted. Sadly becoming an apostle is easier said then done. Finding a god alone is hard enough without mentioning convincing them to make you their apostle. Regardless the game still has enough to keep people hooked.

(First POV)

Standing in my room holding the full dive gear that my little sister forced me to buy I let out a tiresome sigh. Ever since IAO came out she has been bugging me none stop to get so we can play together. To be honest while most people like VR I am more interested in retro games that came out a long time ago. So until now I have never VR for anything other then for school and whatever else I needed it for. My little sister Alice on the other hand is definitely the type to keep up with trends. At first she left me to do my own thing but ever since I retired from my job she started saying I should join to kill time. Eventually she stopping taking no for an answer and just bought it to give me. After seeing that she got everything set up in the hour I was gone I finally gave in and just accepted my fate. When used for gaming the full dive gear came with big egg shaped pod as well as the traditional head piece. With no other choice I put on the head piece while stepping into my pod. Once I sat down turning the machine on an electronic voice started to play in my ears.

[System starting up... analyzing user brain waves now confirming settings]

Speeding through all of the bothersome initial set up I finally came to the games start screen which was a beautiful sky with the title in it. The title screen soon faded bring me to a temple with a giant altar in the middle. As I was taking in the sight of the altar another voice sounded off coming from the altar. "Welcome to the world so loved by the gods that all who live in it are blessed with only the truest freedom. As one brought to this world you are of course including but first let us determine what form you will take", proclaimed the voice. When the voice finished talking a customizing screen appeared in front of me. On it there was a 2D silhouette with a body type that matches my own. Thus began my work trying to create a character that is at least a little bit decent looking. Finished the blank silhouette transformed into a handsome young with piecing red eyes and blackish red hair. His body is muscular while being lean at the same time. I based its appearance on a character from an anime. After confirming my appearance I got brought to the race screen. Apparently they designed it that way so that whatever appearance you had would then change slightly based on race. As for the race selection there is only a choice between human, elf, beast kin, and demon kin. Each race of course has each of their own benefits so with that in mind I went with demon. When I picked demon kin a pair of obsidian black horns spouted from my head along with with bat like wings. Next thing I needed to decide on is what my starting class will be but that went by quickly.

Until now I have always picked the assassin class whenever it came to playing one of these RPGs. Now that everything is done all that is left is to choose where I would like to have my character start. There are two main choices. First is whether or not I want to be spawned in a city of wilderness. Then there is also the matter of which country I wish to join as they each have their own starting zones. From what my sister said depending on which one I pick there are potentially a number of benefits. She also also explained that certain gods prefer to stay in a specific area so that is also a factor. I personally am not worried about because I plan to just play this game every so often. As I am going through the description of each country one of them drew me more than any of the others. It is a country called Tenebrous which is Latin for dark. If one word could describe the country then it would be lawless. Normally while having a great deal of freedom players still have to obey laws. In Tenebrous on the other hand there is nothing to stop you except for a stronger player.

Thinking back my sister said very few players would start there because of how absurdly hard it is for them to get going. Most people there are those that like to villain role play ,but to me it sounded like a land of opportunity. With no real laws then you can get just about anything you would want. Besides I have always been the kind of guy who would rather take the road less traveled. Without any further delay I selected to start in a beginner hunting grounds in Tenebrous. Once my character creation was complete the voice spoke again, "you have now completed your first step to joining in this world. Thus I shall give you advice as you go on to obtain all that you may desire. This is a world of freedom but you must be willing to live with the results of such choices you make." When the voice finished talking my body was wrapped in a light as I vanished from the temple.

Once the light that surrounded me disappeared I found myself in what could be called a see of dead trees. All around me was the kind of scenery you would see in those fairytales about witches or whatever. After briefly taking in my surrounding I opened my inventory to get my new player starting pack. In it there was a full set of assassin style armor with leather and metal covering important parts. I also got a knightly dagger which is a two edged weapon that is completely black with a sharp point. Spinning the dagger in my hands I became speechless over the amount of detail in this game. They actually made it so that you can feel the weight of the dagger in your hand. My appreciation was soon interrupted by a a faint howling sound.