14 The Beginning Part 1

No. 145 Sanctuary, 1 January 131 A.R.

It was a new year's holiday. But unlike before the nuclear war, where people celebrate it with a festive atmosphere. Many people at this age were rather indifferent. 

After dozens of years of struggling for survival, humanity no longer cared too much about holidays. The 'holiday' term started again to be used after robotic technology started to replace the human's role in the production sector, but it couldn't change people's impression completely that was existing for more than decades. At best, they saw the holiday as a rest day.

But, this day was a little different. The launching of Desolate World made all people wait for the date with excitement. It was not for a boring film or a pay to win but a tasteless mobile game, or an arranged singer audition. It was the first full-immersion VR game that was also a mark of a historical moment of the start of a new era. 

An era when what people knew was more than underground space with its LED lamps that shone for 24 hours. An era where all people from the different sanctuaries, even colonies on Moon and Mars could meet each other under the blue sky.

***

"George, have you gone to the toilet?" Alex asked George who had already sat on his capsule.

"I have. Let's go online! I don't want to be late, Dad," George said.

Alex chuckled, "Ok!"

George then laid down on the bed, and then Alex closed the cover. 

"Are you ready?" Alex asked like usual.

"Yes!" George answered.

After that, Alex and the others entered their capsules.

***

Alex opened his eyes and saw everyone was already online.

In front of everyone, a large number formed a countdown.

3:57

3:56

3:55

"So, four minutes, right?" Ace said.

"Yeah. I hope we don't really go to hell," Sampson said.

*Tud*

Cloud hit Sampson's foot with her stave

"Ouch, Did I say something wrong, Mrs?" Sampson said in pain.

"That was an ominous word," Cloud said.

Ace smiled. They then waited for the countdown. Some of them sometimes said something, but most of the time they just waited silently.

"It's killing me. Why does the countdown seem very slow?" Sampson mumbled.

No one said anything. Even Geo was just staring at the numbers. Until finally…

"Here come the last 10 seconds. Let's say them together," Ace said.

Everyone then said the countdown together, "10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1."

*Ding*

[Desolate World is officially launched. Your appearance will be altered for security reasons, you can add another change if you want.]

'Huh?! The change of appearance?' Ace asked in his heart.

Everyone's body then glowed, and they looked different than their original selves.

Ace couldn't know whether his face had already been changed.  But he saw everyone's face had already been changed.

His wife's face became more delicate and pure. She lost a little bit of her sensuality and was more dignified. Her hair changed to become brown.

His son's face became more serious. His air of playfulness became calmer. His hair became brown.

His brother's face became wilder. Ace could imagine, he was a seasoned warrior. His hair became brown.

As for his mother in law, she became younger. A scholarly atmosphere couldn't be felt around her anymore, a mysteriousness replaced it instead. Her hair also became brown.

"Everyone seemed different. By the way, how can I see my face?" Ace said, even his voice changed.

Everyone then looked at him weirdly. Even his son's reaction was quite exaggerated. He started at Ace with a disturbed expression.

"What? Does my face become weird," Ace said in anxiety.

"No. It's just that, I really want to punch your face. It's annoying," Sampson said.

"Yeah. Dad's face became hateful. I just want to ask Jumpy to bite you," Geo also said.

Ace was alarmed, 'It couldn't be my face becoming ugly?'

Before Ace could inquire further, in front of him appeared a mirror. He looked at his own face with an uncomfortable feeling. His face became conceited. When he smiled, it looked really provocative. And his hair also became brown. He himself also wanted to throw an ace card to the mirror.

'Damn! What the hell is going on? How can my dignified face become like this?' Ace cursed in his heart.

Ace then edited his face. But, he couldn't make massive changes. After doing it for a few minutes it looked better, but he couldn't get rid of the conceited aura. 

"By the way, why do the Union make such unnecessary policy? And for security reasons? Are they joking?" Ace complained.

"Don't blame them. They do it for citizens' own good. There are some people who think they could buy everything with their wealth and influence. So, don't ever reveal your identity," Cloud said.

Ace could only nod. Actually, he had seen some people like that in casinos. They would make a ruckus when they lost in gambling. Because of that, Ace's favorite was always blackjack. Besides that It didn't depend on luck entirely, it could be said to be a solitaire game. As he only faced a dealer. So he never got in trouble with a troublemaker.

After everyone was satisfied with their new face, the system gave them another notification.

[The system detects that you are playing with more than 2 family members, you can have a family name. Do you want to create a family name?]

The first reaction everyone had was looking at Cloud. Many of the information that she told them were accurate and benefited them. So everyone thought she knew everything about the game.

Cloud then coughed, "As far as I know, it didn't have any significance, whether we make it or not. But, I think it is interesting."

"Okay, then what name should we have?" Ace asked.

"How about Conor?" Sampson said.

"That's too old, how about Summer," Sofia said

"Nah… I don't think it is a good name," Cloud refused.

"How about whitesmith?" Ace said.

"Oh… the combination of our two family names right. It sounds good," Sofia said.

"I don't think so… It will be easily tracked down to us. It is not safe," Cloud said.

"How about firefly?" Geo suddenly interjected.

"Sounds nice," Sofia said.

"Yeah, but it is pretty ominous, right? Don't forget it was used to call a defeated one," Sampson said.

"Then how about Nightglow?" Ace suggested.

"It is pretty," Sofia said

"Yeah, it sounds good," Cloud also agreed.

"It can also represent fireflies that shine in the night," Geo said excitedly.

"Although it was rather girly, it's a good name. Let's go with it," Sampson said.

"Okay, then Nightglow," Ace decided.

[Are you sure you want to use 'Nightglow' as your family name?]

"Yes," Adam said.

Then on top of everyone's head, there was an additional name 'Nightglow'.

After that, Ace asked the system to move on to the next scene. They then got notifications.

[Doing so will disable the shop. The shop can only be accessed again by resetting the account. Are you sure you want to advance to the next scene?]

"Yes," Ace said. As for the shops, they had cleaned them clean. They didn't have any reluctance to leave them.

[Next, you will watch the prologue of Desolate World. After that, you will be transferred to your starting point directly. Have a nice game!]

After all of the procedure was complete, the system finally showed them the game's opening.

At first, the space around them changed to be dark.

***