Alter Ego
A message flashed in the centre of Traey Rin's view.
<<Closing Game Store>>
The 'Game Store' window closed, and in its place another window that took all of the Traey Rin's view space opened. This window was split into three sections. The first section took 5% of the window, the second section took 80% of the window, and the last, the third section took 5% of the window. The first section was on the very top of the window, and in it – the game's name could be seen. The second section was below the first section, and in it – multiple lines of text could be seen. The third section was below the second section and in it – two numbers, one that showed which page Traey Rin was viewing, and the second one that showed how many pages there were in total could be seen. Besides the two numbers, a button could be seen as well.
<<Parallel World Online>>
<<Welcome to the Parallel World Online>>
<<The game takes place in the real world!>>
<<Please be aware of you your surroundings at all times!>>
<<For safety reasons, the game will only be accessible in the user's own home, parks, schools at recess times, and designated PWO play areas (You can find the list of play areas at PWO.playareas) for anyone below under 21 years of age>>
<<We wish you an enjoyable experience!>>
<<1/4>> <<Next>>
Traey Rin didn't read the game's name in the first section, or the messages in the second section as he saw that there was only a single button in the entire window. He tapped it with his left hand's index finger as he thought, "Faster! I don't have much time!" After the button 'Next' was tapped, the contents of the second and the third sections changed. In the second section, there was now an image, and this image showed the heads up display, and the HUD (heads up display) elements were marked with letters. Below the image, explanations for the said elements could be seen.
<<Parallel World Online>>
<<|F...E|>>
<<|G.....|>>
<<|H...DCBA|>>
<<A – Inventory>>
<<B – Character>>
<<C – Talents>>
<<D – Quest Log>>
<<E – Minimap and the name of your current location (only available in dungeons (designated play areas))>>
<<F – Level, Health, Mana>>
<<G – Party>>
<<H – PVP and PVE>>
<<2/4>> <<Next>>
Traey Rin once again didn't read the game's name or look at the image that was in the second section or read the explanations below the image as he saw that there was only a single button in the entire window. He just tapped the button 'Next' with his left hand's index finger as he thought, "Two more and I can play!" After the button was tapped, the contents of the second and third sections changed. The button from the third section disappeared, and in the second section, there was a single line of text and two buttons.
<<Would you like to set your current location as your home?>>
<<Yes>> <<Set later>>
<<3/4>>
Traey Rin didn't immediately tap any of the buttons as he saw that there were two of them, and not one. He first read all the messages that were in the window in his head; then he tapped the button <<Yes>> as he thought, "Yes, this is my home—one more to go." After the button 'Yes' was tapped, the contents of the second section changed. In the second section, there was now a few lines of text and a button.
<<Parallel World Online>>
<<Click the button to create your Alter Ego>>
<<Created Alter Ego will be based on yourself>>
<<Create Alter Ego>>
<<4/4>>
Like before, Traey Rin didn't immediately tap any of the buttons. But this time it was not because there were two buttons, but because the button was in the middle of the window instead of the bottom. He first read all the messages that were in the window; then he thought, "I know that already! I watched the trailer more than a million times! My Alter Ego will be created. It will fight, and I will give it orders! Faster! Faster!" After this thought concluded, he tapped the button – <<Create Alter Ego>>.
The window disappeared, the game's HUD appeared and a message appeared in front of Traey Rin.
<<Generating>>
10 seconds passed, Traey Rin furrowed his eyebrows, "Faster!" he thought.
<<Generating>>
30 more seconds passed, Traey Rin furrowed his eyebrows deeper, "Cmon! Faster!" he thought.
<<Generating>>
2 more minutes passed, Traey Rin furrowed his eyebrows even deeper and let out a heavy sigh, "How much longer?!" he mumbled.
<<Generating>>
3 more minutes passed; Traey Rin's eyes lit up, shining with excitement, and the corners of his lips rose, forming a wide smile on his face. "Finally!" he couldn't help but shout out, and a series of notification messages flashed in front of him.
<<Alter Ego has been created>>
<<Name: Yue, Gender: Female, Race: Human, Age: 7, Class: Ice Sword Mage>>
<<Element: Ice (Damage received from Fire element is doubled, damage done to Water element is doubled)>>
<<Health: 350 Mana: 250>>
<<Strength: 2, Dexterity: 3, Vitality: 5, Endurance: 3 Intellect: 7, Knowledge: 5, Spirit: 5>>
After the last message disappeared, a girl of Traey Rin's height appeared in front of him. She had a cute round face, long straight black hair, clear blue eyes, slim figure, wore a pretty, colourful dress, and held a dark-blue katana in her right hand. She bowed her head slightly and said with an emotionless voice, and an emotionless face, "Master, my name is Yue. I have no wishes or desires. Use me however you like. I will obey your every command without fail."
Traey Rin blinked his eyes and nodded with a wide smile on his face, "Yeah, let's beat everyone." After his last word, the door to his room opened; both Traey Rin and Yue turned their heads and they saw a woman in her late thirties enter the room.
"You are up? Good, you didn't forget that you are starting school today, Rin. Go clean your teeth and wash your face and hands, dress up in your school uniform and come eat breakfast," the woman whose name was Traey Mia said with a broad smile on her face while looking at her son.
Traey Rin nodded his head as he thought, "I guess my time is up." After this thought, he opened his mouth, "Okay mom," he said; then he thought, "Parallel World Online, close."
Yue vanished into thin air, the game's HUD disappeared and a notification flashed in the top left corner of Traey Rin's vision.
<<Yue: …>>