Character Creation
"Good, you're finally awake."
Gray finally woke up from his unconsciousness as he saw the blonde woman smiling playfully at him. To his astonishment, the once severed part on his right arm is all healed up, bringing his hand back to normal, like the incident with the rabbit never happen at all. Not to mention, he now wore the same shirt that has been restored to its perfectly good condition, seeing that he is no longer half-naked, just like the way when he first arrived here in the forest.
"How?" Gray asked while staring his right hand in seemingly good condition, unquestionably baffled by it.
"Divine Magic, mortal." The woman simply answered him with a chuckle.
Both of them are still in the same clearing, with the woman sitting down with her legs crossed as she eyed the boy with intrigue, gazing meticulously.
"Damn, I was expecting to return to my office in one piece," Gray said with a frown, rubbing the dirt off from his clothes that he got when he was sleeping on the ground. "But seeing that I'm still here, then it definitely is not a dream."
"Yes, mortal." The woman answered calmly. "To put it in simple terms for you to comprehend, you are in a world of a video game."
"A what!?" Gray's eyes widen at the sudden revelation, flabbergasted at this strange circumstance that the woman revealed nonchalantly. Then, the young man controlled his breathing to regain his composure, seeing no use in panicking right now. "I see. Perhaps that explains how the rabbit disappeared in pixels when it exploded. I guess that was your doing?"
"Yup." The woman grinned. "As such, you are in debt with me mortal."
"Mortal," Gray questioned the Goddess at what she referred to him. "You keep calling me that. Are you some kind of Goddess or something?"
"Bingo." The woman winks cheerfully. "You sure are perceptive mortal. Are you perhaps an expert in these kinds of things?"
"What do you mean 'these kinds of things'?" Gray tilted his head in confusion.
"You know," The woman replied as she began signing her finger in a counting manner. "Fantasy, games, open worlds, MMORPG, that sort of things. I bet you are wondering who I really am, right?"
Gray nodded in response, genuinely interested in the true nature of the woman conversing with him.
"Alright, allow me to introduce myself." The woman stood up straight with poise and an upright posture fitting for the divine position that she's about to reveal to Gray. "My name is Sylvia, the System Goddess of this world, the world of Silverhart."
At hearing the world's name, Gray's eyes immediately widen in extreme shock. The very name of the world itself is no doubt extremely familiar to him.
"Silverhart?"
"Yes." The Goddess, now known as Sylvia, responded, eyeing the man's perplexed expression.
"Judging by your reaction, I can say that you are awfully familiar with this world's name. Care to elaborate on the matter, mortal? In fact, the reason why I save you is that I sense a presence entering this world's boundary without my expressed permission."
"I guess." Seeing perhaps no harm to tell him about his circumstances. If she's truly a Goddess, then it would be wise to cooperate with her for now. She did save him from the brink of death after all. Gray told her of how he ended up here, regaling the story of his past memories of him overworking in the office and his team.
Sylvia nodded, understanding Gray's situation more or less. She was no doubt just as surprised as him, but she didn't entirely show that particular expression, opting to look stoic instead.
"I see." Sylvia stroke her chin. "This is certainly alarming."
"So, do you know I ended up here?" Gray asked, still curious at how he arrived here in the first place. Hopefully, the mystery will finally end with her answering his question.
"No." Sylvia shook her head while maintaining a straight and severe look. "I don't know the circumstance of your arrival, I'm afraid. Such matter shall constitute an investigation in my part."
"Damn it, that's certainly unfortunate." Gray frowned in response. "Since I'm here, I might as well exert some effort in adjusting to this world or place quickly, so I won't end up being a delectable meal for those monster rabbits again. So, what can you tell me about this place?"
Sylvia nodded, this time, however, she graced the young man with a wide grin. "Before we delve into that particular topic, a short history about this world that you step foot. I know about your world mortal. It's one of the many worlds governed by the God-Emperor Gaia as he maintains the balance of the entire multiverse. Lord Gaia is also an avid video game enthusiast because of how he witnessed his own human creations in your world, playing it to their heart's content. As such, Lord Gaia created a world based solely on MMORPG, where every citizen of Silverhart has their very own system. With me being the Goddess."
"A God being influenced by his own creations?" Gray laughed at the irony. "That's new."
"Yes." Sylvia nodded in agreement, not even offended by Gray's statement. "Anyways, I also find it strange for my world to share the same name with the ones you are developing with your team."
"Yeah." Gray shared the same feeling with her. "Still, the game is not that complete, though, being in the alpha stage and all. Even if this world also is exactly the same with the game, I still don't know every element of it, since only our boss knows it."
"Well, it wouldn't be fun if you know everything in advance know, would we?" Syliva said with a playful chuckle. "No use dwelling on it too much then. Since you are here, I suppose that as the Goddess of this world, then it's only right that I grant you the same privilege as every citizen of Silverhart possessed, your very own system similar to a video game to be more specific."
Upon hearing this, Gray's eyes twinkled in excitement, thrilled that he would have his own video game system, like a player character.
"I can't wait!!" Gray yelled in enthusiasm, his dream of living the fantasy world is about to be fulfilled.
"This is so going to be awesome!!"
"Alright, Character Creation it is." Sylvia snapped her fingers instantly.
The surrounding area suddenly turns dark, devoid of any of the trees and nature filling up with only emptiness in its wake instead. The complete darkness of the space, however, slowly faded away as blue fonts of numbers and incomprehensible words took place at every corner of the pair's vicinity.
The area now resonated with an ambiance of technological aura, akin to the matrix lines that he grew accustomed to back at his original world of Earth. Overall, Gray found the whole place quite intriguing, and his excitement was escalated even further as a result. He was undeniably an extreme geek at this sort of thing.
"Welcome to the world of Systema mortal," Sylvia said with glee as she introduced her own Divine plane to the young man. "This is my plane, where you will be customizing your character as you see fit."
"Awesome!!" Gray yelled, impatient as he could not believe that he could finally fulfill one of his dream of being a player character. Of course, almost every video game fanatic dreamt of being in a game-like world where story and adventure awaited them. The chance to be someone spectacular with a set of powers and skills certainly appealed to the hearts of gamers, very much in contrast to the bland, non-magical life on Earth where magic and other elements of a typical fantasy-driven world is non-existent.
His old world… sure he is going to miss it but being on this world of fantasy, a place where magic and adventure awaits.
The mere thought of it brings utmost excitement in his whole faculties. The possibilities are solely endless, and there are many exciting things to achieve and explore in this kind of world background.
Sylvia cleared her throat to catch Gray's attention as she began to explain the mechanics. "The Character Creation is something that I only bestow upon the most privilege of mortals in this world who are destined for great things. Thus, most of the normal denizens of this world are randomly generated with their starting attributes. You are a special case, though, being a surprising arrival of causes yet unknown. Also, You don't want to die anytime soon now, do you? Anyways, Since you already have a name, I suppose we should be skipping that. Instead, I can grant you first the liberty of changing your race."
"Wait? I can do that?!" Gray was taken aback by this revelation. "I also know that Silverhart Online allows you to pick your own race at the start, but I sincerely did not expect this!!"
"Of course, mortal." Sylvia smirk at Gray's startled expression. "I'm the System Goddess, and every element of this game is on the perfect control of my fingertips."
With a snap of Sylvia's finger again, 9 small 2D sprites of different racial figures are shown right in front of Gray.
"So, Gray Allister," Sylvia said. "Choose your race wisely for once you have made your decision, then there is no turning back.
Gray pondered deeply as he looks at the wide selection of racial choices presented to him. If he's going to start his journey here, he must make a wise decision that will undoubtedly change his life forever. If it's for better or for worse, that is up for Gray himself to decide. The future holds countless opportunities, after all.