［1］Level 1 - The Beginning

After getting piled up by stacks of books from school, I thought it was only fair that I take the break I deserve. With a light toss, the heavy-weighed and over sized backpack fell onto the surface of the bed with a loud thud. In an afternoon like this is perfect to just relax and not do anything, especially when everyone else are still in class, allowing me to have a moment of solace.

I flipped open my newly bought laptop with a wide grin and browsed along the games category of the App Store. As I scrolled along, a game with a red notification mark caught my eyes. I tapped onto the game icon and was greeted by unearthly captivating screenshots of the in-game scenery. A small AI in the image of a fairy appeared on the side of the screen greeted me with a 90 degrees bow and began introducing herself.

"Please to meet you, Mistress. My name is Xin, I'll be your introduction guide as well as your in-game companion AI if you decides to participate in our beta test. "

"AI? What kind of game is this? And beta test? What do you mean?"

With a sweet smile, she replied with a cheerful human-like tone. "Of course! Our game has chosen lucky few to become the game beta testers. Each of you will be assigned a companion AI to study the behavioral patterns in order to fine tune the game to provide a better game experience for every player upon release. Xin will do her best to help Mistress out to become the strongest of them all!!" She waved her hands in delight.

I nodded and proceeded to tap onto the download button. After installation, the game launched swiftly and I was greeted by the scenery different than those of the screenshots from the App Store. I tapped the screen to summon Xin and asked for the reason why there weren't any impressive greenery or waterfalls. She looked around the empty and dull looking land with a puzzled expression.

"This is the starting area, Mistress. This is where you will originate in this game. As you grow in rank, you will be able to unlock better things to decorate your home with. For now, i could only provide you with farming tools to get started." she replied with an innocent smile.

I sighed and questioned why I wanted to torture myself even when I'm playing a game. Shouldn't a game be relaxing and not as tedious as my school work? I began to plough the land one square at a time. My character moved under the command of my cursor diligently without question or complain. I studied the appearance of the character and murmured words of annoyance for the lack of character design in the game.

With a snap of a finger, the screen was changed to the character customization screen. Xin glance over with an understanding look and nodded at me as if to wait for my words of praise.

I cleared my throat from the awkwardness. "Uhm, thanks. I appreciate it."

After spending two hours in the show room, the character I've created looked drastically different than how I appeared in real life. My character looked back at me with long flowy dusk black hair and clear violet eyes. Her skin was porcelain and smooth without the trace of demishes and acne. At the fledgling newbie level, she was given ragged clothes to wear, but her beauty shined under the rags like a pearl in a pile of haystack. She felt unreal and doll-like, different than how I appeared in real life with short male-like hairstyle.

Xin flew over to bring my attention to the class customization screen. She introduced me to the 4 basic classes: the Warrior, Swordmaster, Dancer and Healer.

"Mistress, you could essentially pick up any weapon to use at your own device, but it is recommended to choose your first class to focus on. You will be able to advance your class later on and become much stronger!"

"Huh?" I placed my head onto my left palm and stared at the screen displaying the advantages of the various classes. The Dancer has the prettiest clothes but they show too much skin, the Healer is probably the strongest since they could tip the balance of the game, the Swordmaster has the strongest attack and is very PvP focused… My attention drifted to that of the Warrior. With several impressive acrobatic moves, my character pierced the ground apart and the lava from the deepest part of the earth sprouted out like a fountain. "Those moves are so cool! Tanks will probably be a popular choice for parties apart from the Healer too. Impressive…" I exclaimed. I stared at my character, the lens of her eyes changed into the color of the Blood Moon when she fought invisible enemies for skill display. Her black leathery costume brushed the air in response of her every move.

"Wise choice, Mistress! The Warrior is one of the most irreplaceable role in a party under the influence of the Moon." Xin said joyfully.

"I'll take it! Being a tank would probably be more fun than healing ungrateful pricks all day."

Xin giggled and nodded in agreement. She then pointed at the text box floating on top of my character to choose my in-game name. "Lily. My name will be Lily. Just like the white lilies, to remain the heart of the beginning and never change."