4

The month was over before he knew it and Izak was standing in front of the pod about three hours before the launch of the game. His new shipment of supplements were already in place and he was ready to go. He took a look at the mirror one last time and saw that the softness of his physique had been blasted away thought the intense workout routine from Greg along with the sword work from Ben. He looked a lot closer to an actor from the old war movies than the person that he was only a month before. The workout and the supplements had worked wonders. Now it was time for him to log in and get things started.

Izak stepped into the pod and hit the button that closed the lid. It was automatic to prevent the owner from hurting themselves with the door of the needle. He heard the click of the closed door and felt the pinch of the needle as it started his supplements. "Start link Earth: Reboot." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he felt like he was drifting to sleep to open his eyes in a different location.

'First time user confirmed.'

'Enter login code.'

"Code is AIVEN."

'Code confirmed. Welcome Izak Smith.'

When his identity was confirmed automatically the mail notification started blinking. Since the letter said that he would have mail he was not surprised. He quickly opened it, in case it was something he needed to know before he made his character.

'Mr. Smith. This is the system AI. I know that you may have questions and that is fine but you will have to find the answers yourself since you are an investigator. This pod and the early entry are a thank you for bringing the situation to our attention. This letter is to see if you would like to take it one step further and assist us in stopping them.'

[Yes/No]

Izak quickly clicked on the yes since he felt like they had crossed him in his old life. A new mail notification popped up.

'Thank you for your support. As the AI I have to do what is best for the balance of the game, so I cannot do too much. But that is not to say that there is nothing that I can do. Please create you character before the hour until launch deadline. If that is done correctly you will be launched into the game to a beginner village that none of the previously made characters will be located. I will analyze your character creation and send you to the spot that I feel will be most appropriate to you. You will also receive other rewards as the game progresses to ensure that you are able to keep up with them. This will be dangerous to you both in the game and in real life do you still wish to continue?'

[Yes/No]

Izak immediately selected yes again.

'Thank you Mr. Smith and good luck.'

Select Race

[Human]

[Dwarf]

[Half-orc]

[Elf]

[Halfling]

[Dragonkin]

[Beastman]

Izak quickly selected Human. There was nothing against the other races they each had good and bad the thing with the human was it was the most adaptable in the game.

[Human - gains a free class skill upon creation and an additional skill point every five levels, skill mastery is 10% higher than any other race and experience gain is 5% faster than any other race.]

[Please confirm Human Yes/No]

Izak quickly accepted his race.

[Body is confirmed to be male if this is not correct or you do not identify this way please contact customer service for the necessary procedures.]

Izak was fine with this and was starting to get anxious to get started.

Select Class

[Swordsman]

[Mage]

[Priest]

[Rogue]

[Ranger]

[Summoner]

Izak looked over the list and almost second guessed the idea he had before he sat down in the pod but then he chose the Ranger. He was not that excited about the first split on the job he was after the hidden class that he could get pretty close to the beginning.

Ranger selected, chose specialty.

[Archer/Gunner]

The ranger was known as the ranged combat expert who was also able to summon an animal companion to cover their shortcomings. The bows were fast and accurate but the damage was lower but the gunner was very slow and not as accurate but was a huge damage dealer when it hit. Izak selected the archer since he did not intend to do it for long but he was already proficient with a bow in real life.

Class confirmed.

Body analyzed.

Strength 12

Vitality 12

Agility 12

Dexterity 10

Intelligence 10

Speed 14

Points available: 2.

If it was possible Izak's mouth would have dropped open. He was not sure what was going on but he had only heard one a few people with one stat over ten when the game started. He had a feeling that it was part of the advantage that the system was giving him. And he also noticed that he had two extra stat points and not the one that everyone got. Although he was a lot more balanced than anyone he had seen yet. Honestly the one that he was the most surprised about was the intelligence stat. He was still not sure how it was measured but he figured it was something to do with the activity it scanned. Izak put one point each into his Strength and Agility. That would give him five more points of damage and increase his accuracy.

Choose Racial Bonus Skill

[Rapid Shot – Level 1 (Active) for thirty seconds all arrows can be shot 50% faster with a 25% reduction in accuracy. Rate will increase and accuracy reduction will decrease with levels. Cost 10 Mana Cool down 2 minutes]

[Eagle Eye – Level 1 (Passive) increases vision by 10% per level. (Active) increases the threat range of any ranged weapon user is proficient in by 10%. Passive vision increase and range increase at higher levels. Cost 2 Mana per sec No Cool Down]

[Boost Summon – Level 1 increases the stats and abilities of bonded summon by 10% for 10 minutes. Stat boost will increase and mana cost will decrease at higher levels. Cost 25 Mana Cool Down 30 minutes]

[Track – Level 1 puts a mark on any 1 target within a hundred yards of the user and user knows targets location within a thousand yards for one hour. Breaks with a magical dispel or when target get more than a thousand yards from the user. Range, number of targets and the level of spell necessary to break track will increase as levels increase. Cost 10 Mana No Cool Down only available for one target at a time.]

[Camouflage – Level 1 (passive) user becomes invisible in a wooded area while they remain motionless. Broken upon contact or movement. Amount of cover required decrease and amount of movement required to break camouflage will increase at higher levels. No Cost or Cool Down.]

Izak knew about all of these skills and quickly picked Boost Summon. They are all available within the first ten levels so it was not a concern but he picked that one because it was the most expensive and the one that he was most likely to use. If he got the hidden class that he remembered the first two would be almost useless to him so why waste the free pick.

Physical Characteristics registered would you like to make any changes? No more than 10% from original appearance.

[Yes/No]

Izak clicked yes. "System please make minor alteration to the facial region only no more than three percent." An image of him popped up in front of him just like a mirror. He could still see himself a little easier than he thought should have been possible. "System increase facial alterations by two more percent." His face slide around a little more and while he could still kind of see himself he doubted if anyone that was not very close to him would have been able to pick him out of a line up. "Accept current modification."

Please confirm alteration one final time. Remember if you would like any changes in the future you will have to find and NPC and pay to have your body further altered.

Confirm?

[Yes/No]

Izak confirmed the look of his character. Now all that was left was to name his character and he would be transported to the world of Earth: Reboot to get started on his adventures. He just had to remember to hide his level and abilities as the other players started to log in.

Please name character for verification.

Vindictus

Izak picked the slightly altered Latin term for vengeance, vindicta. Since a huge part of his reason for playing the game was vengeance for his death in his previous life and honestly if felt a little like he was retribution for the code that was hidden in the AI.

Name is available. Please confirm.

[Yes/No]

Izak quickly hit yes.

Welcome to Earth: Reboot, Vindictus please enjoy.