1 A New Life

Outside the door of one of the meeting rooms within the Hall of Eternity stand five individuals. Glacia, Sömskar, Zrathno, Klaros, Ryuuko, all waiting for the signal to enter. After the group is left waiting for almost two hours, the final person arrives, Astur, who has a bottle of vodka in one hand and an extinguished blunt in the other. With her arrival, the now a group of six are given the signal to come by the occupant of the room.

Having realised the reason they weren't let in want to argue with Astur, with the exception of Glacia who just sighs at her friend's typical behaviour, but no one says anything as they enter the meeting room, some out of respect for its occupant, some just don't care to bring it up, while others are just lazy.

As the group enters the room, they see Akkre sitting back in a chair. All of them immediately notice his gaze is focused on the vodka and blunt in Astur's hands. Without a word, he turns his attention towards Astur's face and just sighs, much like Glacia did just moments earlier.

"What? You got a problem with me or something, Gramps?" Astur asks before emptying her bottle down her throat.

"Have some respect for the esteemed ancestor, you should be more respectful of your elders and address the esteemed ancestor properly," Klaros says, reprimanding Astur for her disrespectful actions.

"You should take your own advice, kid, learn to respect your elders," Astur says back towards the man who visibly appears to be the oldest.

"You-"

"Uncle Klaros, you probably don't know her since she never shows up to the family gatherings, but this 'young girl' you're trying to argue with is older than you. She's a close relative of the ancestor, like a very close relative, officially she should be considered a princess, so her bloodline is much purer than ours. If I can remember this right, she should be mostly immortal," Glacia says.

Klaros looks shocked, and not just him but Sömskar and Ryuuko too since they only barely prepared themselves mentally to answer the summons of their ancestor but then they meet a relatively young princess of the family. Other than Glacia who has a preexisting friendly relationship with Astur and Zrathno who doesn't care, show any signs of surprise.

"Astur Kojuuin, eldest Granddaughter of Akkre and Serabane. I've inherited the natural immortality of the Infinity wolves from the old man as well as the old hag's omniscience," she says as the puffs out her respectable chest with her hands to her hips.

"That ain't all she inherited," Akkre says, blatantly staring at Astur's chest.

"I wonder if I could win a case of sexual harassm--"

"Alright so let's move on to why the six of you are here. Tell me, do you know what you all have in common?" Akkre asks, not giving Astur a chance to finish her sentence.

Most of them are still stunned over what they just witnessed as they were brought up hearing grand tales of their ancestor, but after seeing him in person they start to wonder if those stories they heard as children were just that, stories. Glacia and Astur on the other hand, both having many more interactions with Akkre, understand what he was trying to accomplish, even if they aren't exactly content with the way he tried to lighten the mood, so they just ignore his actions and answer his question.

"We're all related to you," Astur says.

"Well, yes, but actually, no. The correct answer is that all six of you are NEETs who hardly ever leave their house. And Astur, you're the worst of them all. Ya' freeload off of your younger sister and your niece without doing anything but playing games all day. This is the first time you left your house in nearly three decades and I needed to have your sister, Estur, to threaten your allowance just so you'd show up today. Just where did we go wrong with your education, how could someone who graduated as the top of their class at Royal Academy turn out like you?"

"I don't know, maybe it's the part where you let me sweet talk you into giving me whatever I want."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Akkre says, crossing his arms.

Astur runs up and hugs Akkre as she immediately says, "Grampy, can I have a million USD transferred to my bank account?"

"Of course you can sweetie, anything for you," Akkre says as he immediately takes out his phone and transfers the money into his Granddaughter's account.

"Thanks Grampy, you're the best! I love you," Astur says as she checks her latest gacha funds.

"No problem swee- ah! Did you just?"

"Ehe~"

"Ehe te nandayo!"

"Nice one," Astur says, having put the entire situation behind her.

"Thanks, been wanting to use that one for a while now, but back to the topic at hand… what's that look for, you lot?" Akkre asks towards the sighing Glacia while the rest of the group, even Zrathno, is completely befuddled over the events of the last minute.

"Not a word about this, by the way, capiche?" Akkre asks but doesn't wait for a response as he continues, "so I brought you all here to bring you all out from your dwelling. I'm sure you've all heard about that new game that Eternity Studios has been working on for the past twenty-five years?"

"Yeah, it's pretty much all that gets talked about these days on all the gaming related sights on the web," Glacia says.

"I don't spend much time on the internet other than some shopping, but I do often see people on the news channels talk about it on the television," Klaros says.

"A lot of us in the business sector talk about it as well since it looks to be a good investment," Ryuuko says.

"I'm super was super excited the moment I found out that it was possible to build and pilot your own mech," Zrathno says.

"I don't play many online games nor do I particularly enjoy speaking to strangers, but even to me, this looks interesting. If I recall correctly, Eternity Studios is one of our family run businesses," Sömskar says.

"Eternal Universe Online, a game twenty-five years in the making from Eternity Studios. Earth's first Full Dive Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or Full Dive VRMMORPG. The closed beta test is set for two weeks from now and the official release is two weeks after that," Astur explains.

"Good, you're all aware of it. But did you know the game world isn't just a game, it's a subspace I created merging it with Grauntia to use as the core. Much like the universe, it's an ever expanding space with seemingly no end in sight, it was nearly as difficult to make as the universe was way back then, good thing this was my second time creating a brand new universe."

"I feel like I'm gonna simultaneously like and dislike what's next and there won't be a choice, but let's hear it, what's next?" Astur asks.

"Your intuition ruins all the fun," Akkre says.

"What can I say, the universe can hardly contain my genius," Astur says as she shrugs.

"Good, because the six of you will be going to this new world, as NPCs. A better description would be an NPC augmented by certain player benefits."

Hearing this, Glacia and Zrathno instantly become excited, while Klaros simply nods intending to follow the will of his ancestor. Sömskar and Ryuuko both have some reservations since one doesn't want to speak with strangers and the other is concerned about her money. Astur on the other hand, looks completely terrified, not because of the idea of going to a game world, she actually likes that, but she absolutely does not want to go without her phone, she can't possibly leave her gacha waifu's behind.

"Don't worry, Ryuuko, you can take your money with you, although it will be converted to the local currency. Astur, you don't need to worry either, you will all be taking your phone along with you. It will count as bound item so it can't be traded or stolen, it also won't lose power, but its functions will be limited, you can browse the internet but you won't be able to post anything to any sort of message board but you can view them, and yes, your games will still work sweetie. As for you, Sömskar, dear, you need to learn how to properly interact with people outside of the family, so suck it up and deal with it. Anyways, let's get moving," Akkre says, as our location changes to an overview of a portion of the universe at the snap of his finger.

Beneath the seven of them is a massive world surrounded by some kind of thick green barrier. The world feels as if it's the centre of the universe as everyone can see the vastness of space before them with many planets in the distance. Starships can be seen flying through space, manned by a myriad of races.

"In case you're wondering, the green shielded world is Grauntia, and it will remain like that until a certain dimwit does something. Just now it will play a part in the end game. For now, let's deal with your new bodies, you won't be able to change much in regards to your appearance and the races you can choose from are based on your most dominant bloodlines, and no I'm not an option. The only ones with enough purity to even have the choice are Astur and Glacia, but I didn't include my race in this world so it won't show up. Questions?"

Raising her hand, Glacia asks, "I have one, I read that players would start at level 0 and would advance to level one upon choosing their Main Class, but here we can choose that as well as our Sub Classes or Life Professions, so what are the other differences between us and regular players as well as NPCs?"

"Good question. As NPCs, you can give players quests when they arrive and you can manipulate the task and to a certain degree, the rewards as well. You'll be able to act as Class Instructors. Add or subtract Intimacy Points from individual players. You have the potential to obtain Skills and Talents that are exclusive to bosses. And you can also sell things to players in exchange for EXP. But like the NPCs, if you die, you won't come back like a player, so be careful."

Taking a short break to catch his breath, Akkre then continues, "As for you player augmentations, you can access most of the System as a player can, unlike NPCs who can only see their own status. So you'll be able to receive quests from the System amongst other things.

"Do we have any other bonus that neither the regular players nor NPCs get?" Zrathno asks.

"The first is obviously the matter Glacia brought up, you can freely choose you starting Main Class, within certain limitations based off of your own backgrounds. The same goes for the potential four Subclasses and Life Professions you can pick. Additionally, you'll have special unique abilities that are once again based on your current background, and these can't be sealed or restricted by any means. Oh, I forgot to mention this earlier, but in place of the player's friend list, you will have a menu that allows the six of you to communicate, although I expect a certain someone will hardly touch this.

And finally, you'll have around 300 days until the closed beta testing to establish a foothold in this new world, and then another 60 days until the official release. After that time will be set to the officially announced setting of one day IRL to three days in-game. Once you've finished making your class and race decisions you'll be sent off to one of the six starting planets at random, so make sure everything is the way you want it before you hit accept," Akkre explains, leaving him a bit winded.

With most of the questions they had out of the way, the six former shut-in NEETs, now just NEETS, began finishing their selections.

Zrathno is the first to finish, having long decided on what he wanted. Although he had a couple of options as a starting race, he chose Human as his race, so his appearance hasn't changed much, keeping his average height, skinny body, and short brown hair. Being the mech otaku he is, he naturally chose the Mechanic Class along with Sub Classes and Life Professions to support it.

Klaros and Ryuuko finished at about the same time. Klaros decided to embrace his strong Angel Bloodline, making his starting race Angel. He still, for the most part, looks like a middle-aged man but it seems the race change fixed up his receding hairline and brightened up his previously faded blonde hair, giving it more colour. Unlike the other five, Klaros is only a NEET due to retirement and seeing the option, he picked up his former job, Priest, as his Main Class.

Ryuuko on the other hand basically didn't change. Anyone could tell by looking at her that she had strong Dragon blood flowing through her, so much so that the option of selecting Human as a starting race wasn't there, so she naturally chose her starting race as a Dragonoid. And just as she naturally chose her race, her Main Class is naturally the Naturalist, a special Class available only to non-humans, its abilities depend on the race, and enhances all racial Skills and Talents.

After Ryuuko, Sömskar finished with her choices. Her changes were the most drastic as she chose to fully embrace her fairy bloodline, causing her already below average height to shrink until she just barely reached 30cm with a pair of transparent wings growing from her back. Contrary to the initial impressions she gives people, she chose Assassin as her Main Class and picked a SubClass called Dominatrix, a far cry from the shy and introverted impression she gives people meeting her for the first time.

Not long after Sömskar left, Glacia was overlooking her final status. Like Ryuuko, her physical changes were minimal, as she already had a pair of fox ears adorning her head with a fluffy fox tail behind her, so it didn't come as a surprise when she chose Fox Spirit as her starting race. Her chosen Class was no surprise to anyone who knew her, having chosen a Class that to the regular players is called a Hidden Class, Elementalist, a variant of the mage class that specialises in all basic elements. In line with her usual cheerful and energetic personality, she walks over to Astur, giving her a quick hug and saying goodbye before hitting accept on her status.

All that remains now is Astur, who has chosen her Main Class and her Sub Classes and Life Professions. But for the past while, she's been dissatisfied with her racial options.

"You're the last one sweetie, what's holding you up?" Akkre asks.

"The racial options, why do I only have Human available? Grampy, can you please give me the options I deserve?"

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Akkre says.

A few moments later, a couple more racial options appear on Astur's status window. In addition to Human, there's now one more racial option, Infinity Wolf, the near-extinct race of her Grandfather Akkre.

Looking over the details of the new option, Astur is left amazed at how great it is. High stats per level in Vitality, Endurance, Intelligence, and Mind, although Strength and Agility is a bit low while the average luck is also rather low. Compared to Human which have a stat conversion rate of 1:10 for health and such, she'd get 1:25 for Health, Stamina, Mana, QI, and Mystic Force. With my Class Bonuses, the conversion for Mystic Force and Mana go up by 10 for a 1:35 ratio. Naturally, she chose Infinity Wolf as her race, causing one transparent tail that appears as if one were gazing at stars, while a pair of wolf ears appear on top of her head as her human ones disappear. Before accepting, Astur takes one more look over her entire status.

[Astur Kojuuin]

[Infinity Wolf 1-Tail]

[Level 3]

[Alchemist (Main/Life)] Lv.1 0/2,500

[Apothecary (Sub/Life)] Lv.1 0/800

[Scholar (Sub/Life)] Lv.1 0/800

[Health] 1,525/1,525

[Stamina] 1,275/1,275

[Mana] 2,905/2,905

[Qi] 1,400/1,400

[Mystic Force] 2,905/2,905

[Strength] 16 +(0)

[Vitality] 61 +(0)

[Endurance] 51 +(0)

[Intelligence] 69 +(0)

[Mind] 83 +(0)

[Agility] 26 +(0)

[Luck] 25

[Free Stat Points] 5

[Free Skill Points] 30

[Free Experience] 0

[Resistances]

[75% Resistance to poison]

[Affinities]

[None]

[Skills and Talents]

[Synthesis (Active)]: The main skill of an Alchemist. The process of using two or more items to create a new one. Results depend on the properties of each ingredient. The duration of the Synthesis varies depending on the item being made. Cost 100 ST per hour, No Cooldown.

[Trait Identification (Active) ]: Can identify the traits of any Synthesis ingredient. No Cost, No Cooldown

[Item Novice (Passive)]: Consumable items are 8% more effective when used by you.

[Medicine Novice (Passive)]: All medical items made and used by you are 8% more effective.

[Scholar's Eye of Insight (Active)]: Upgrades Inspection Skill unique to the Scholar Class. Allows you to see basic stats even when enemies are up to 20 levels higher. Cost 100 MP, 10 second Cooldown.

[Scholar's Eye of Reading (Passive)]: Can read 50% faster.

[Racial Skills and Talents]

[Unique Ability - Blood of Infinity (Passive)]: Partial Immortality (Can't die from age, illness, or disease). Grants 75% Resistance to poison.

[Authority - She Who Shall Not Be Named (Passive/Active)]: So long as it's within the same dimension, whenever someone says her name she can eavesdrop on the conversation and the details about it (the speaker must be talking specifically about her). No Cooldown.

[Transformation - Wolf of Infinity (Active)]: Transforms into a giant wolf (size based on number of tails). Base stats are increased by 1,000%. No Cost, Duration: 1 hour, Cooldown: 2 years (this increases exponentially with every use).

[Energy Signature] 150 (higher than most due to race)

[Power Grade] F

"This looks good, later Gramps," Astur says as she disappears from Akkre's sight and finally begins her journey.