Path of Heaven

"Unh?" Dalvin grunted as his alarm started blaring loudly, making him shiver with fatigue as he slowly got up.

He rubbed his blurry eyes and grabbed his phone, recoiling from the brightness and lowering it with half-lidded eyes before seeing what time it was. At the sight of 6 a.m. in the morning, he sighed and threw off the covers before going about his hygiene routine.

Finishing this, Dalvin moved behind his computer setup and booted it from sleep, the window displaying Sai on the left screen and Photoshop on the second. He groaned internally and saw that his unfinished work from yesterday was still there, waiting for him to finish.

However, it was just one of those mornings; he absolutely did not want to work just yet. He checked the Discord group in which his pals were in, but while they were online with their phones, none were home as they either had work or different matters to attend to.

Seeing that he couldn't procrastinate this way, Dalvin wracked his brain and flipped through his phone for a bit before seeing that huge app he downloaded yesterday. His eyes lit up as delving into a new game was always a great time waster, and who knew, this game might even be able to trick him into opening his already beaten and battered wallet.

Dalvin opened the app and was surprised by its abnormally fast loading time. There was no loading icon nor an intro screen, just leading him into a cutscene similar to the one from the advert before initiating him into the game.

Immediately, a faceless 2D model appeared before him, and the game began introducing things to him.

[Welcome to Path of Heaven, the number 1 game that will allow you to experience the revered path of immortality regardless of age, gender, or race!]

[In this game, you take control of your avatar to cultivate and experience the rich world of Tianzi, a cultivation world that is diverse and full of a storied history.]

[Join sects, establish clans, and even rule kingdoms; there is no limit to the kind of action you can take in Tianzi!]

[First, you have to set your avatar. Would you like to randomize the data, or would you like to base it on your real self?]

Dalvin was partially intrigued and chose to base it on his real self. He was the type to splash his picture on all his profiles because he was above average in terms of looks and was quite vain in that regard.

The game prompted him to place his front camera afar and take a full-body picture. As he did so, a strange beam of light emerged from his front camera and scanned him from head to toe.

Dalvin was startled by this as a question mark formed above his head. Since when did iPhones have this feature, and why did other apps not take advantage of this? He made a mental note to investigate this thing lest it be that this damn app installed spyware or something on his phone.

Maybe that was why it was 10 whole bloody gigabytes.

Dalvin grumbled internally and was surprised to see that the 2D avatar perfectly resembled him in terms of height, weight, and composition. His dissatisfaction was completely swept away and replaced by appreciation because he had no idea how a simple mobile app could use just one scan to perfectly replicate him.

He even wondered if the company that made this were going to revolutionize the world, but he then shook his head. He should leave that kind of stuff to manga and webtoons; if he started suspecting everything of being supernormal, he would soon earn himself a place in a ward for crazies.

Though, a small voice at the back of his head did whisper that it was possible that something extra was happening. It couldn't be helped, after consuming so much extraordinary fiction, anything that was slightly out of the norm would trigger his hope that he was about to undergo an experience similar to those protagonists.

[In the world of Tianzi, there are many races, both humanoid and otherwise. The four main playable races are the humans, the demons, the demonic humans, and the beasts.]

[The Humans are the Children of the Heavens favored by heaven in all things. They gain the following characteristics at the beginning;

- Can automatically establish/join sects and other forces with no difficulty

- Can travel to any territory without facing hostility.

- Can practice dual cultivation of Martial Arts and Immortal Cultivation.

- Face 90% reduced difficulty on all heavenly tribulations.]

[The Demons are invaders from another plane, despised by the heavens and hated by all species. They gain the following characteristics at the beginning;

- unable to join any non-demon sect unless special means are used.

- unable to enter any non-demon territory

- Can simultaneously practice the bloodline refinement art of the demon race or devour luck qi of the human race to evolve.

- Do not face heavenly tribulations, cannot be governed by the will of heaven as outsiders.]

[The Demonic Humans are offspring of a demon and human pair, possessing a mixture of the other races' benefits but some noticeable downsides. They gain the following characteristics at the beginning;

- Will invoke immediate hostility in all races.

- Can dual cultivate martial arts and immortal cultivation, as well as practice bloodline refinement.

- Face a terrifying heavenly tribulation that is almost unpassable.

- Possess superior ability in all fields compared to both parent races.]

[The Beast Race are normal animals that occasionally gain sentience and are able to cultivate the dao. They gain the following characteristics at the beginning;

- Is neutral towards all races

- Can only advance by practicing the dao of slaughter or devouring

- Heavenly tribulation is average; the heavens care not for beasts

- Suffers from lowered intelligence and poor ability until the Nascent Soul stage where sentience is acquired.]

[Please choose your race carefully as it will greatly affect your experience in Path of Heaven!]

Dalvin read up to here and frowned slightly. The options were interesting, limited too, but still interesting. However, he had read more than a few of those eastern fantasy things and knew there was a lot the game was not mentioning which were staples of the genre.

For him, the beast race was out of the question. He wasn't the type to role-play as something other than humanoid races because he didn't have fantasies of being something he was not. Then again, Dalvin wasn't born ugly, so he probably instinctively had more than a little narcissism overall.

Demonic Humans seemed fun for those who loved to be overpowered, but that heavenly tribulation thing was a problem. Especially since the game hadn't yet stated the penalty for death.

If it was just a quick respawn like most games, then who cares; let the lightning strike as much as it wanted. However, if it entailed a character wipe or progress reset, then it wouldn't be worth it.

Demons were also interesting if Dalvin wanted to play the villain route, but he thought about his purpose in playing. He was using this game to pass the time now and when he was at the gym, so it had to be easy enough to get lost into and not something he would actually be too invested in.

Then the Human race was the obvious choice since they were the so-called darling of the heavens. In fact, the way the game listed their merits and not a single demon, it's as if it was prodding players to stick to choosing the human race.