A Feline Transformation  

Later that night, when he heard the snores from the adjacent room, Xin looked over his phone to check this game called Guildbane.

He was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, and the only light was coming from his phone.

Xiaxia was telling the truth. Playing this game would yield money, and pro players were more popular than celebrities at this point.

He was even amazed that top players earned like a million a month at a minimum!

Xin was happy and contented if he could earn enough to pay his debt and get their house back. Though he didn't know about games, he had nothing to lose if he tried his luck in this virtual world.

Xin heard the opening and closing of the door, and after that was his sister's voice.

"I know that you couldn't sleep. Are you searching about Guildbane?"

Xin nodded.

Xiaxia stopped in front of him.

"Here"

Xin turned his attention to his sister, who was holding out a worn-out headgear. Despite the dim lighting, he could see that it had seen better days. The paint was peeling, revealing the shiny metal beneath.

Curiosity filled his voice as he asked, "What's that?"

Xiaxia smiled and replied, "It's a gift. Your birthday is just a few minutes away, and you'll need this if you want to play the game."

Glancing at the clock, which showed [11:44 PM], Xin shifted his gaze back to Xiaxia. "You're still awake? Don't you have classes tomorrow?"

Taking a deep breath, Xiaxia responded eagerly, "I won't be sleeping anytime soon. Guildbane's anniversary is about to begin, and they're giving away gifts! I can't afford to miss that!"

Xin gingerly accepted the helmet, realizing that it was the necessary headgear for playing the game. However, he noticed that it appeared old and slightly outdated.

It must be an earlier model, he thought to himself.

Xiaxia's voice broke the silence, cautioning him, "Be careful with that, alright? It's the very first headgear from when Guildbane was launched. It could fetch a hefty price if sold."

"Then why didn't you sell it?"

Xiaxia's reaction was almost explosive. "Because it holds sentimental value that can't be bought with any amount of money, okay?!"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she continued, "I should have realized that someone as emotionally detached as you wouldn't understand. Anyway, let me show you how to use it first."

Xiaxia went to his side and explained the many buttons on the headgear. It was only a simple mechanism of on and off, and the machine would do the rest.

Xiaxia explained the limitations of the old headgear, saying, "This model is relatively safe, but you can only play the game for about two hours a day before it needs to be recharged. And you can't play while it's charging. The newer models have unlimited gaming time even when charging, but they come with a hefty price tag, costing hundreds of thousands nowadays."

She encouraged Xin, saying, "Give it a try. It might be a bit confusing at first, but you'll get used to it. Just make sure Mother doesn't catch you wearing it."

"But how will you play if Mom is sleeping right next to you?"

Xiaxia's smirk grew wider. "I make enough money now, so Mom doesn't mind."

"Is that so?" Xin asked dully.

Xiaxia's smile fell. "Can't you at least show a little pride for your sister? I've even helped pay off some of your hospital bills, you know."

"Ahh . . . thank you . . . ?"

Xiaxia's vein bulged on her head. "What's with that tone? Do you want me to hit you?"

"It's my usual voice," Xin commented and inspected the helmet.

Xiaxia sighed. "Forget it. I'll be late for the event if I keep talking to an ice block like you."

Xiaxia rose from the floor and headed towards her room. Just before opening the door, she offered a final warning, "By the way, the machine will scan you first to prevent multiple accounts. Once you create your Avatar, you'll be transported to a beginner's island along with other new players."

"You'll have to stay on that island until you're familiar with the game. Once you leave, you won't be able to go back, so make sure you complete all the quests there before deciding to move on, okay?"

"I take it you didn't finish all the quests?" With the helmet securely on his head, Xin pressed the power button.

"GuuKk!" a large arrow pierced Xiaxia's heart before she gritted her teeth. "You're really are infuriating!"

She shot him a final glance before closing her door.

"Good luck."

=======

As Xin entered the game, he found himself in a stark white room. In front of him, small hologram boxes formed the shape of a face.

Feeling a bit disoriented, Xin regained his composure when the face spoke with a robotic female voice.

<Welcome to Guildbane, Player Xin. I am Nexus, your assigned system AI. Would you like to create an avatar that resembles you?>

Xin hesitated for a moment before responding, "Um . . . yes?"

<Very well. Please wait for five seconds while I scan your appearance. Scanning complete. Avatar generation will commence in ten . . . nine . . . two . . . one . . .>

As the AI finished counting down, a figure materialized, closely resembling Xin's own features.

Xin was amazed when the Avatar looked exactly like him, and he took his time to process this virtual reality before him.

<You can alter your avatar with these options.>

A sizable hologram appeared before Xin, presenting a range of options to modify his avatar's appearance. With a press of a button, he could alter various features to create a different persona.

The thought of making his avatar a girl didn't sit right with him, so he discarded the idea.

After careful consideration, Xin decided to make his avatar slightly younger and shorter, with black hair accented by streaks of white strands and silver eyes.

There was no semblance of this Avatar to him, but he was satisfied with the outcome and pressed <Proceed>

<Congratulations on making your Avatar. Take note that your Avatar couldn't be altered once finalized. However, you can put props on it in the future like horns, ears, tails, wings, etc.>

". . . Okay."

<Then please choose a name for your Avatar>

Name . . . Xin paused and thought for a moment.

Nothing came up in his head, except the name of his fat tiger cat a long time ago.

"Lord Schrodinger."

What could possibly go wrong, right?

[WARNING! Once you choose a name, you can't change it for the next 30 days!]

<PROCEED>

<BACK>

Xin pressed proceed.

<Your real name and personal information would stay safe and hidden in our database. No one could access this information except the Central AI system, LUMINA>

"Er . . . Yes?"

<Now, choose your race and class from the list>

At the next prompt were different races and classes, and Xin had a headache from the list and information.

The game presented Xin with a wide variety of classes to choose from. Swordsmen, fighters, tanks, bards, clerics, thieves, hunters, paladins, sorcerers, druids, and the list went on and on.

The races also has a long list, but Xin wasn't interested in playing any of them, except for this interesting race . . . Beastfolk.

From the animals, he chose the cat since . . . his Avatar's name was already the name of his previous cat, so why not?

He grew dark cat ears, and a tail minus the whiskers since the mere thought made his nose scrunched.

As for the class . . .

He wasn't decided yet, so he chose not to have a class first.

He would ask Xiaxia's opinion about this later when he was back in the real world.

For now, he finished with his Avatar and clicked [Proceed].