Chapter 2

[Before we proceed, do you have more questions? I certainly cannot answer them all because I have a few restrictions placed on me, but I can still try answer to my capabilities]

To be honest I am quite shocked. My family will be so jealous if I tell them what happened to me.

Opposite to me, they are more direct. They should be finished with their questionnaire by now.

"Yes, I would have quite a few questions. First and foremost, what is your name?"

[Eh? That is your question?] she smiled a little bit.

[My name is Haniel, but you can just call me Hanni. That is what I am called by everyone.

The order of angels is just a bunch of brothers and sisters. While respect is expected to a certain extend it is not necessary at all times.]

"OOhh I have the same thing with my twin sister. I just use her full name in front of others or when she has done something wrong."

[Right? So, the order of angels works the same way. Just in front of our mother and on official stuff we have to act in a certain way.]

"Hey so if the order of angels and the goddess of creation exist, does that mean that other gods and even demons exist?"

[That is right. It's basically the same as in your world. I was told that the only major difference is that we have an abundance of mana and that your world doesn't]

What the actual fuck is she talking about. Is it something that she has only limited knowledge of as an AI or is something greater going on here.

"So how do you define users and players? I remember that you only called my creation player and me myself user. How do you differentiate?"

[Is that not obvious? Your Soul that was connected to this realm is the user of the connection and the player is your physical body that we have to create together.]

If gods exist in our world, it is not far fetched that souls also exist.

[Your heartrate has increased significantly. Was that something that you were not aware of? I only have some basic knowledge about your world, so please don't disclose things we talk about in here.

We both could be seriously punished if we are not cautious.]

Damn. That is something I have to be really cautious of. If gods exist in my world, I am sure they can punish me. They never showed signs of themselves for nearly 2100 years. Only occasionally doing some miracles if you believe in religion. But if mana is scarce maybe the just gather all of it the whole day?

"I will be sure not to talk about anything related to confidential information. Don't want to risk divine punishment"

[Ok with that out of the way. You know my name so what is yours? Will you use your true name in our world, or will you choose another?

Our goddess made it so that everything you will choose can be accepted by our world. She even tempered with some laws that especially dumb names can be used.]

"That is some serious meddling for a god. She sure is powerful"

[The goddess of creation holds some of the greatest powers of all gods. Of course she can do some small changes.]

"A lot of people put their faith into the goddess of creation?"

[Yes but that is not her main way of receiving strength. Do you remember the second question that I asked you? The one about value?

As one of the oldest gods she draws her power out of existential belief. So as long as people value their life, she will remain powerful.]

"Wait, so do the players also count to that power?"

[Of course. That was one of the reasons your people were allowed to come here in the first place. Did you really think that only your entertainment was the reason our gods made a deal with your gods?]

I looked at her really shocked. It felt as if I just got told a massive spoiler that I should have never heard. Sure, it's a win-win for both sides.

"I think we should change the question. Anything God related should be quite dangerous to know."

[Not really. You just have to keep quiet about it. By now you know more than the majority of players will know about that secret in a long time.

It is expected for some to know, especially if they come into contact with other gods that talk too much. They could also get this information by just asking higher ups in a church.

We don't see it as a great secret. It is just more convenient for the players to think that everything is a game.]

"Still, that should take a while. I just don't have to spoil it for others and can have a good laugh from the sidelines at all the conspiracy theories they will come up with. That will be funny."

Initially I was reserved when talking to this angel. I didn't even look at her. She was rather tall and had a pale but beautiful face. Her body was thin, and her slender fingers rustled through the sheets of paper.

She was looking for something but was not finding it.

"What are you searching for?"

She looked back up to me searching for something on my body.

[I was searching for your player avatar through the connection with the goddess. And I think I just found it]

With another snap of her fingers a small wisp appeared in front of me. I kind of looking at myself.

"That whisp is my avatar? I am but a wisp?"

I was baffled. I thought that it would look like my original body.

[You got that one wrong. That is the initial state of a soul. You can try to move it around. You should still be able to.]

In the void it was easy I just had the urge to move forward, and I perceived some kind of directional movement.

Closing my eyes I could feel my connection to the soul avatar.

Souls are quite intuitive. Just thinking about something is realizing it.

Vision should be the same as movement then.

Thinking about opening my eyes should open the eyes of my soul as well.

Without questioning my intent, the soul avatar opened his "eyes". If you can call them that.

As a wisp the avatar had no eyes so to say. Spiritual vision should be more fitting of a name for it.

I could see in every direction and could even perceive light in a different way my usual eyes could.

[It seems as if you slowly get the hang of it. Shall we now decide your race in this world? Normally your preferences for a certain race will be clear with the way you answer to topics.

Specific answers just narrow down your preference until you get to 51% of a certain race. You can get any race that exist in the world. If you answer correctly.]

That was unexpected. My father was dead wrong when he began tackling the topic of race for the game. He will likely get the human race he hates so much based on his answers.

If souls intuitively work on your beliefs, I can let the wisp take on my body shape if I believe hard enough.

Slowly but steadily the wisp began flickering and taking on shapes.

The process was slow, but I took it slow for a reason. I wanted to feel the shaping of my body.

Beginning from my feet up to my torso and lastly my head.

The whole thing took me 5 minutes, but it was worth it.

Looking at myself sitting in a chair while moving around felt wrong and cool at the same time.

Opening my own eyes as well as having open the eyes of my avatar was an experience I had to play around with for some time.

After around 10 minutes of me playing with myself and my avatar I felt great.

"That was quite fun Hanni. Thank you for bringing me and my avatar here."

[Thanking me for doing my job properly feels good. Every player will get back here. It is just that your original body will not be present the next time and that they will remain thinking that this is just a void. The plan is that this room will be customizable between logins, and you can spend some time here.]

"What happens to my original body the next time?"

[Nothing. It will remain where you are in your original world. Your soul just visits this realm for a short time to create your avatar. After that the presence of your soul being here is not needed anymore.]

"So the capsule after the first time is just for the connection to the avatar?"

At least with my reasoning that sounded plausible.

[Exactly. Although for you it should be different. The connection between your soul avatar and your real soul is just too great. You should even be able to feel it without a capsule.

The capsule will still be beneficial for you as it keeps your real body running without you doing anything.]

Did I accomplish that because I moved around with it and forming my own body? I am treading down a weird path I believe.

"That's only something good right? What happens to my original soul if I die in your world or get soul damage? Is there even something like soul damage?

[That is a great question that you should not have asked… Keeping it short, I cannot tell you the whole answer outside the fact that there is a respawn mechanic. If it doesn't happen too often there should be no problems for you.]

Not dying should be a main priority for me. If the connection is great because of the few things, I did now I cannot imagine the pain my real body will have if I die over there.

"Another thing, I can take on races that are not humanoid. Will my soul avatar just adapt to that race then?"

[You can just try for yourself. You have a good opportunity for that now. Try some races out for yourself.]

She snapped her fingers a few times and with every snap a monster appeared.

A wolf, an orc and the weirdest thing a of all, a rock.

"A rock? Are you kidding me?"

[DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE ROCK!!!] Hanni angrily shouted.

[Angry rocks can be your doom I tell you. Have you ever tried actually killing a rock? That is near impossible. Rock elementals can be the nastiest things if they hate you. Don't mess with the rock.]

She has a good point, but I don't want to be a rock.

That wolf looks cute. I try that for now.

"So how does that work? Do I just touch them, or do I have to imagine myself becoming this wolf?"

[Nearly perfect answer. Try both at the same time and you should be good.

Usually that should be my part in the creation process. I would have shaped the soul avatar first and then established the connection with the soul.]

Ok that should have been obvious. I'm just a bit oblivious sometimes.

I slowly approached the wolf and laid my palm on his head. Imagining a mirror, I locked onto the wolf and slowly started to feel a pulling force on my avatar. It felt similar to the creation of my limbs with the avatar. Still slightly different. I wasn't creating some limbs. I only changed the structure of them.

Not long after the pulling force started to reach a threshold, the change rapidly finished.

In an instant I was on the ground on four limbs.

I was standing. But now on all fours.

"I have a tail now Hanni. Look!!!"

I began chasing my own tail and started spinning.

"Moving in this nimble body is fun. I have so much energy"

I ran around the small room for I don't know how long.

After I had enough fun running around, I curled up in a ball.

"That was fun Hanni. Thank you for letting me test this one out."

[Have you decided your race then?]

"No I have not."

Changing back to my Human form as I stood up was quite easy.

"I want to try one more race before deciding."

Slowly walking around the table with my avatar I reached out my hand to get a hold of one of Hannis wings.

"I want to try flying with angel wings." I quietly said as my avatar started changing.

[H-Hey I did not agree to this!!!]

I did not want to copy Hannis body, so I only took the characteristics of the angel race and applied it to my own body.

The results were interesting. Angels and humans have the same body structure.

The differential factor being the wings and some strange force.

It felt warm. The kind of warmth that you felt in your mothers embrace.

[Is that divine power?...]