I Am Logging In

IT has been six months since the beta version of the VR MMORPG, Desolate Frontier, was released. Unfortunately, I, Arthur Saville, was among the millions of gamers who failed to get a chance to participate in the beta testing. After all, there were only a total of 10,000 people chosen for it.

But fortunately, the long-awaited time has finally arrived—the official launch of Desolate Frontier. The time has come for the rest of the players to enjoy the official game.

The clock hit eight at night as I climbed into my latest VR pod with the most advanced features and highest synchronisation rate. I pressed the start button on the console next to my hand. I felt my consciousness drift away as I found myself in a white room with hundreds of posters floating in front of me.

I quickly searched for the newest one. It was a poster of a beautiful piece of floating landmass with mesmerising greenery, majestic mountain ranges, and sparkling water bodies. At the top of the poster were the words, Desolate Frontier.

'Yes, finally it's here.' I thought in excitement as I launched the game software. I felt whiteness around me, followed by the words 'Welcome to Desolate Frontier!'. I found myself in a white room engraved with criss-cross blue lines.

An interface popped in front of me with a 3D model of myself and a blank space.

<Enter your player name.>

I quickly typed in 'Atomic Zero' and pressed 'Enter'. A green tick mark appeared next to my name, causing me to sigh in relief. Most of the time, I would have to add a few numbers after my name since it would have already been taken, but since the game was just launched and it allowed spaces as well, it was simply wonderful.

After completing the most important thing, I focused on the 3D model of myself. It was a character-designing panel. In Desolate Frontier, one cannot change their appearance but could still add some chances, like hairstyle, hair colour, or even facial hair. Additionally, their physique would remain similar to their real-life counterpart, except for those who were too fat or too thin. They had the option to choose an average physique instead of copying their real-world physique.

I kept my hair black but changed my eye colour from brown to crystal blue with a black shuriken pattern. Upon pressing confirm, a confirmation prompt popped up. I pressed confirm once again, and a huge, ancient-looking door appeared before me.

The doors opened as a blinding light encased my vision. I walked past the ancient door with slow but steady steps. I have already read about it in some posts by beta testers. This door leads to an altar where one can select ten skills from an array of choices.

After passing through the door, I found myself in an ancient temple, but instead of a god or goddess idol, there was an ancient, ruined altar at the very centre with a crystal orb at the centre.

I quickly walked towards the altar, as I was in a hurry to be one of the first players to log in. According to the beta testers, one just had to put their hand on the orb to proceed further. As for those who didn't know about this, a prompt would appear after a minute if the player didn't put their hand on the orb.

I placed my hand on the orb, and a system prompt popped up.

<Awakening Talents.>

"Huh? That's new." I muttered to myself, as I had never heard of talents from beta testers. Maybe it's a special feature saved for the official game. I made a random guess as a new prompt appeared.

<Talents awakened: Gifted Archer (F), Nature's Blessings Equivalent Exchange (EX).>

"Three talents? That sounds wonderful, but really, two F's and an E-" Looking at the grade of the last talent, I rubbed my eyes and looked at it once again. Only then was I able to say with certainty that it was indeed an EX-grade talent.

I don't know what it represents in Desolate Frontier, since in beta testing, the highest grade was only A, but I know for one that in most Gacha games, EX was the highest grade available. I tapped on the prompt, and a description of the talents appeared.

= = = = = = = = = =

|> Gifted Archer (F)

Type: Talent

Description: A talent in the art of archery.

Effect: Archery Proficiency +5%

= = = = = = = = = =

= = = = = = = = = =

|> Nature's Blessing (F)

Type: Talent

Description: Blessed by Mother Nature.

Effect: Experience Gain +5%

= = = = = = = = = =

= = = = = = = = = =

|> Equivalent Exchange (EX)

Type: Talent (Unique)

Description: By the universe's will, you can buy, add or upgrade anything by sacrificing stored experience points.

Effect: Removes automatic levelling up feature and stores the gained experience points in the Exp Bank, Adds the hidden system function 'Exp Shop'.

= = = = = = = = = =

"I can't wait to try it out," I muttered in excitement as I quickly dismissed the talent descriptions and started selecting the beginning skills. But I was surprised to find '0/20' instead of the standard '0/10' that was in the beta test.

"Maybe that's the standard now or it's due to me getting an EX talent. Also, if I guessed right, all EX talents would be unique." I mused in careful consideration as I quickly selected the twenty skills that I wanted to choose.

The skills that I selected were:

= = = = = = = = = =

|> Sword Mastery

|> Spear Mastery

|> Axe Mastery

|> Shield Mastery

|> Archery

|> Hammer Mastery

|> Trident Mastery

|> Dagger Mastery

|> Knife Throw

|> Sneak

|> Dodge

|> Martial Arts

|> Apothecary

|> Forging

|> Runic Scholar

|> Cooking

|> Taming

|> Sharp Vision

|> Crafting

|> Hunting

= = = = = = = = = =

After taking a final glance at the list, I tapped on confirm after which I got teleported to what looked like a town square.

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